NOVEL NEXT With tears all over her face, Lv Li wriggled free from my hand and started kowtowing again, “It’s all my fault. It’s me who got Your Majesty in this situation. I should be punished for this.”
Seeing her like this, I didn’t know what to do and so I replied, “It has nothing to do with you.”
Lv Li paused and held up her head to look at me.
I only felt tired, and there was no way I could explained this thing to her without going into the details. So, I simply nodded and said, “That’s right. It’s not your fault. Go get someone to prepare hot water for me. I need to take a bath. It can wait until tomorrow.
Lv Li cast a few skeptical looks at me and then quietly walked away. Not long after, some of the maids came into the back of the palace with hot water. After I heard the splashing sound of water, Lv Li came to help me up. She whispered, “I have asked them to clear the room. I will serve Your Majesty myself.”
My legs felt a bit limp after all this time sitting on the floor crying and so I needed Lv Li’s help to get up. Seeing this, Lv Li resumed sobbing. This really started to get on my nerves, so I halted my steps and said, “Would you just stop this already? I am still alive and kicking, right?”
Much to my dismay, when Lv Li heard me saying that, she immediately covered up her mouth as she cried with a muffled sound.
Not knowing what to do with her, I sighed, “Well, cry all you want…”
Women were weird creatures. You told her not to cry, and she would cry anyway. But when you told her to cry, she would stop crying immediately. Lv Li took out her handkerchief to wipe her face and said, “I won’t cry. I will stop now.”
I nodded in agreement and stepped into the bath barrel.
The water was a bit hot, but the temperature was suitable for a comforting bath. I rested my head on the brim of the barrel and allowed Lv Li to massage my head. It was only then that I felt really relaxed and the drowsiness soon followed. While I was in daze, I heard Lv Li whispering to me, “Don’t fall asleep, Your Majesty. You will catch a cold. Your Majesty, Your Majesty…”
However, my mind was in a state of an utter chaos. The only thing I could remember was the last line Qi Sheng said to me when he left. “Pengpeng, do you know how much I want to kill you and be done with it?”
Actually, I could relate to his frustration. If I were him, I too would want to kill me.
The one who slept with you and gave birth to your child turned out to be a man. The mere thought of this would give anyone goose bumps.
Was being alive really that important? But if I died, there was a great chance that the little memory I had right now would be erased. If that happened, then even if I were to be reborn, there would be nothing left in me that I would be able to recognize.
In my dream, Heavenly Lord of Life, who I had not been in contact for ages, reappeared. He stood by my bedside and said, “Look at you. You call this gender issue a problem? Those who really had it tough had gone through many life times without ever complaining about their genders. Why is this a problem to you?”
His mere presence was already enough to piss me off without him accusing me, and so I jumped off the bed and pointed my finger at his nose, yelling, “Get the hell out of here! What those people experienced have nothing to compare to what I was going through right now! How about you make me forget my previous life? That way I could be reborn as Qi Sheng’s concubine and none of these would bother me anymore!”
He didn’t know how to answer me and so he kept waving his hands, “No, there is no enough time.”
Upon hearing what he said, I was afraid that he might be gone in the next second and so I lunged forward to grab him. But he just disappeared, and I grabbed the empty air before I woke up .
I opened my eyes and found myself still in bed. The day had turned bright and Lv Li, who was kneeling right beside my bed with tears on her face, crawled forward to my side when she noticed that I was awake. She whispered, “Your Majesty, Your Majesty?”
I noticed her swollen, red eyes and realized that she must have stayed up all night. So I said, “Go get some rest, and get Xie Yi in here.”
Lv Li refused to go. She opened up her mouth as if trying to say something, tears welling up again in her eyes. At that moment, Xie Yi came sweeping in the palace, all the while yelling, “Your Majesty! The Emperor has sent someone, to, to kill Lv Li!”
We were both struck dumb by this news.
Lv Li was my chamber maid and the one who escorted me when I got married. She was the one who had always accompanied me since I came to this world. There was no one closer to me than her. She used to take an arrow for me and I too fell into the river trying to save her once.
I was utterly shocked, but soon, I figured out what Qi Sheng really wanted.
Lv Li too was shocked, but then she sprang up and walked up to me to give me a kowtow. She said in a sobbing voice, “It was all my fault. I should be punished for this. Your Majesty, please don’t fight against the Emperor over this. From now on, I won’t be able to serve at your side anymore, and I only hope that Your Majesty will take care of yourself and go easy on yourself, and stop being…”
Lv Li was in such a bad shape that she was unable to finish the rest of her words. She simply kowtowed to me once more, got up and started walking out.
I hurriedly grabbed her and commanded, “Halt up!”
Then, I turned back at Xie Yi and asked, “How many men does he send?”
Xie Yi promptly replied, “Three.”
Three? It would appear that Qi Sheng didn’t want this thing to go big. Right now he should be still in court. If I made haste, I might just be able to help Lv Li!
I thought for a while and gave orders, “Xie Yi, go intercept those three men and treat them nicely. But do not let them leave! Remember, you will intercept whoever Qi Sheng sent here. If they ask, you just tell them that I am sleeping and don’t not wish to be disturbed. Whatever they are trying to do can wait until I wake up. Lv Li, you go prepare yourself. Let’s get out of here!”
Lv Li was still on the floor with reddened eyes. She wanted to say something, but I interrupted her in a cold voice, “Get up! Stop crying! This isn’t just about you. It’s also about me!”
Realizing that I was being serious, Lv Li dared not say anything and simply got up from the floor. She wiped off the tears and started preparing what was to come.
After a short while, Lv Li came back, wearing the attire of an ordinary maid. She also brought me a maid’s dress and helped me get changed. She whispered to me, “Your Majesty, should we take the sedan chair or the horse-drawn carriage?”
Now it is not the time for decency! Let’s just take the horse! What were you thinking, Lv Li!
And so together, we both rode out towards the mansion of Zhao wang.
Just outside Zhao wang’s mansion, I turned the horse around and instructed Lv Li, “Remember, staying alive is the most important thing, always!”
Lv Li, with her ashen face and swollen red eyes, nodded obediently.
I took a deep breath, jumped off the horse and walked up to the mansion. I had someone deliver my message, telling them that the Empress was here to visit Zhao wang.
The butler of the mansion had already got wind of my arrival and he led both of us into the mansion, while sending people to inform Zhao wang.
However, Zhao wang refused to meet me, claiming that he was still hungover and was now lying in bed, unable to greet guests.
I was infuriated and gave the butler the taste of my whip. I then started dashing into the mansion. The butler was obviously stunned by my action and it took him a while to pull himself together and ran after me. The moment he caught up with me, he tried to pull me with his hands. But before he could lay his hands on me, Lv Li yelled, “How dare you stand in the way of the Empress!”
The butler was struck dumb by her exclamation and withdrew his hands immediately, his eyes looking at me with horror.
Just when he was still in shock, I had already made my entry into the living quarter of Qi Ming. I shouted, “Qi Ming. Get your ass out of here!”
I waited for a while, and instead of Zhao wang, a group of Zhao wang’s maids and servants came scurrying out with their heads held down and they all quickly exited the place.
Silence fell over this place again, and then I saw Zhao wang pacing out of his room. He stopped at the corridor and asked with a wry face, “Why does Your Majesty come here all of sudden?”
I pulled Lv Li over to the front and said, “Tell me, how do we settle this thing?”
Lv Li, feeling surprised, wanted to kneel down, but I pulled her up in time and scowled, “You violated my maid. Tell me, how do you plan on making this right?”
Upon hearing what I said, both of them were struck dumb.
Zhao wang looked at me in shock and pointed his finger at Lv Li, saying, “I violated her?”
I nodded, saying, “Last night, didn’t you force yourself on her? Why else would you get that scratch on your face?”
Zhao wang was rendered speechless. He touched his swollen face and asked Lv Li, “Lv Li, you tell me! I was nice enough not to punish you, and yet you have the cheeks to accuse me?”
Lv Li looked at me with timidity and then she looked at Zhao wang. She then dropped to her knees, crying, “Your Majesty. This is not Zhao wang’s fault. His Grace is drunken… It’s all my fault. I should have struggled harder. I don’t expect Your Majesty to forgive me. I deserve to be punished, and I only hope Your Majesty would not blame Zhao wang.”
Her plead was touching. Though technically she didn’t say it was Zhao wang’s fault, but the insinuation was clear. If it were not for the fact that I had to continue this act, I would have given her a big thumbs up. She indeed had what it took to be a great actress!
Although there was no one around, there were definitely people outside the courtyard. Added to the fact that I was shouting my way in here and that we had just thrown this on Zhao wang’s face, there was little Zhao wang could do to suppress this news from leaking out.
Zhao wang’s hands were trembling with anger and he pointed his fingers at Lv Li, “You… You… I… I…”
He stuttered for a few seconds and still couldn’t managed to say anything.