Chapter 119: The Abandoned Little Emperor (23)
By the pavilion near the steaming hot spring…
Overjoyed by the unexpected words, the little emperor pulled Su Mingxiu into the tower. The center of the tower had been converted into a library, surrounded by a staircase lined with warm fur. The hot spring flowed through the walls of the tower, so it wouldn’t damage the books.
The little emperor had used the excuse of showing Su Mingxiu around. But before they even reached the second floor, she pushed Su Mingxiu against the window, holding the frail, illness-ridden woman in her arms. Feeling how thin she had become, she tightened her embrace.
“Your Majesty hasn’t finished showing me around yet.”
“You seem too light,” the now officially acknowledged lover said, her voice possessive, refusing to let Su Mingxiu go. “Zhen has to hold you tight, so you won’t be blown away by the wind.”
Su Mingxiu had initially wanted to push her away, a coughing fit rising in her chest.
But sensing Xiao Miyun’s joy, she couldn’t bring herself to interrupt. So she let herself be held, only turning her head away, a sickly flush appearing on her face from suppressing the cough.
The person holding her sensed something amiss. Turning to look at her, her eyes widened in concern.
But before she could speak, Su Mingxiu coughed, her chest shaking, her words broken. “It’s… it’s nothing… cough, cough, cough…”
The little emperor’s budding romantic feelings were swept away by Su Mingxiu’s condition. She quickly helped her sit down and tried to pull the curtains, shielding her from the wind.
Su Mingxiu was amused by her overprotective behavior. But her amusement triggered another coughing fit, even more violent than before, making Xiao Miyun’s worry return. “Stop laughing! Do you want to scare Zhen to death?!”
The Prince of Zhenbei shook her head gently, the smile still lingering on her lips. She grabbed Xiao Miyun’s sleeve, signaling her not to say such ominous words. After catching her breath, she stood up straight, looked at the worried Xiao Miyun for a moment, then said: “I’m a bit hungry.”
“Should Zhen have someone bring us food?”
“The food from the Imperial Kitchen is a bit bland,” Su Mingxiu casually dismissed her suggestion and continued, “Has Your Majesty ever… cooked?”
Xiao Miyun had cooked before.
When she was young, living in a secluded palace, the eunuchs often withheld her food. Driven by hunger, she had tried to steal food from the imperial kitchen. On rare occasions, she managed to snag some bird’s nest porridge meant for the former emperor’s consorts.
But most of the time, she only found leftover steamed buns in the cold stoves.
She didn’t share this experience, only asking seriously: “What do you want to eat?”
Su Mingxiu, having lived through so many lifetimes, knew the limits of Xiao Miyun’s culinary skills, so she didn’t make any requests, letting Xiao Miyun choose.
Since the warm pavilion was comfortable, the little emperor didn’t bother with a palanquin. The Imperial Kitchen wasn’t far, so they walked there, accompanied by a few palace maids.
Su Mingxiu leaned against the window on the first floor of the tower, her drowsy eyes looking at the flowers outside. The little emperor hadn’t planted her favorite peonies here. The flower in Su Mingxiu’s hand was a pink rose.
Recently, whenever she was with the little emperor, the surrounding servants were dismissed. So she had become accustomed to the quiet. But as she was admiring the flowers, she suddenly heard two figures approaching stealthily.
Her hand, caressing the rose, didn’t slow down, her ears already picking up their conversation.
“Are you sure the emperor is here? Isn’t she always pretending to care about the people, spending most of her time in the Qinzheng Palace? Or the Qian Yuan Palace for resting?”
“Heh, those foolish rulers love to put on an act. What do they know about the common people? Anyway, our master said that the little emperor has been keeping a beauty in this warm pavilion recently. The information is accurate. We might be the first to see this beauty. Then, we’ll eliminate these two traitors together—”
“Hey, our master said that the emperor is actually a woman, that’s why there have been so many disasters. Do you think the person she’s keeping is a man or a woman? If it’s a man, which man would be so spineless as to be a woman’s kept man? If it’s a woman… eww.”
“Shh, be quiet, we almost alerted those eunuchs and imperial guards earlier, we’re still within their patrol area.”
Su Mingxiu, the subject of their discussion, opened her eyes slightly and looked in their direction, guessing that the palace guards hadn’t been able to keep up with their movements. If it weren’t for their voices, even she might not have noticed them.
Interesting.
The tiger, whose senses had dulled from staying in the palace for too long, was intrigued. She plucked the rose, its petals crushed in her hand, the purple juice dripping down her fingers. She saw the two assassins.
They appeared in her sight so boldly, their knives drawn. A flash of surprise in her eyes, she let them place the blade against her neck. “Don’t move! Don’t scream! Or I’ll kill you!”
Su Mingxiu’s lips curved into a smile. She raised an eyebrow, looking at the knife against her neck. Not smelling any blood, her smile deepened. She remained silent, her eyes glancing at the palace guards finally catching up.
She discreetly signaled them not to approach. As the two assassins were tense, she asked calmly: “Who sent you?”
“Shut up!”
The person holding her hostage snapped, confirming that her clothes weren’t the emperor’s, then pressed the knife closer. “Just tell us where that dog emperor is, and we’ll spare your life.”
“Dog emperor?”
She repeated the phrase slowly, shaking her head slightly. “I don’t like you calling her that. I shall reward you with… having your tongue cut out.”
“Hmm?” Before the assassin could react, she continued, as if talking to herself: “Forget it, you don’t seem very intelligent, I can’t be bothered interrogating you—”
“Someone!”
As she called out, the person holding her hostage, startled, instinctively moved the knife. But a clang rang out. Before the assassin could even see what had blocked their blade, a sharp blow to their neck.
The next moment, an arrow flew from afar, pinning the other assassin’s hand, which was holding a weapon, to the wall.
Su Mingxiu turned and saw the bloodstain on the white wall of the tower, frowning slightly. She saw a figure kneeling before her, apologizing: “This subordinate is late in protecting you, I deserve to die!”
Rose petals, along with the severed stem, fell at her feet. She glanced at the kneeling guard and said calmly: “The emperor entrusted her safety to you, yet you almost allowed her to be harmed. You do deserve to die.”
But this was the little emperor’s appointed guard, she wasn’t interested in overstepping her authority. After this brief reprimand, she had the two assassins taken away.
The emperor, busy in the Imperial Kitchen, heard the report and rushed towards the warm pavilion, her hands still covered in flour, her face pale with fright upon seeing the bloodstain on the wall. “You—”
“It’s not my blood.”
Su Mingxiu, seeing the flour on Xiao Miyun’s face, smiled reassuringly, wiping it away with her fingertip. She suddenly leaned closer and whispered: “I rarely see Your Majesty in a dress.”
“Huh?”
Xiao Miyun, still shaken by the assassination attempt, hadn’t recovered yet. Caught off guard by Su Mingxiu’s sudden change of topic, she stared at her blankly.
“Wear a dress for me tonight.”
What?
Why was this person always so unpredictable?
Xiao Miyun’s eyes held a hint of helplessness. The dough on her hands had dried, but she casually kneaded it and asked, “Why?”
The woman, whose beauty could captivate even assassins, leaned closer, coughing slightly, then playfully blew on Xiao Miyun’s reddening ear, satisfied as the blush deepened. She said with a smile: “Because—”
“I want to be Your Majesty’s… humble servant.”
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