Chapter 101: The Abandoned Little Emperor (5)
The shadow Su Mingxiu cast over the little emperor was so deep that she tossed and turned, unable to sleep for the rest of the night. She worried about the Xu family’s unfulfilled promise of soldiers, and the chipped corner of the pink jade landscape ornament.
When she finally drifted off, she dreamt of Su Mingxiu smiling faintly, pinning her hand to the table, and asking: “Which hand did you use?”
Xiao Miyun was jolted awake by the nightmare.
She felt as if she had fallen into an icy cave, her entire body chilled to the bone.
Ayue appeared by her bedside at some point, whispering that it was a day of rest, she didn’t have to attend court, and she could sleep a little longer.
Looking at the golden canopy above her, Xiao Miyun blinked, her mind clearing. Realizing that she didn’t have to face Su Mingxiu’s interrogation about her secret dealings with the Xu family, she breathed a sigh of relief, then asked Ayue to help her get up and prepare a bath. She hadn’t slept well all night.
After soaking in the petal-filled bathtub and washing away the lingering chill, she thought she had also washed away the shadows of last night.
But after changing into fresh clothes, Xiao Miyun discovered that without her orders, no one had dared to touch the mountain of gifts Su Mingxiu had left behind.
Those large and small wooden boxes filled the Qian Yuan Palace. Even without looking, she knew that they must be filled with rare treasures from all over the Xiao Zhou dynasty, gifts from Su Mingxiu.
If these gifts were from anyone else, she would have opened them excitedly. But they were from…
…the Prince of Zhenbei.
Her feelings were complex. After staring at the boxes for a while, she decided not to open any of them. As long as she didn’t look, she wouldn’t be tempted.
“Ayue, have someone—”
Just as she spoke, Xiao Miyun remembered the person who had helped Su Mingxiu thwart her plan and changed her words: “Have someone invite General Sun. Tell her Zhen has important matters to discuss with her.”
An hour later.
Sun Feiyan arrived from the training grounds, still in her armor. She casually handed her spear to someone outside the palace gates, then entered and, after greeting the little emperor, stared at the countless wooden boxes filling the hall.
Silence fell over the Qian Yuan Palace.
Xiao Miyun sat on the warm couch, a faint smile playing on her lips. “What, is General Sun unwilling to help Zhen? These are precious gifts from the Right Chancellor. If those clumsy palace maids were to handle them, and something happened, how would Zhen face the Right Chancellor?”
Any other general, even the most straightforward one, would be furious at such a blatant request to act as a laborer. They would have refused on the spot.
But Sun Feiyan only stood there silently for a moment. Hearing Xiao Miyun’s urging, she walked towards a nearby wooden chest and bent down without a word.
Ayue, hidden behind a curtain, quietly retreated, and other palace maids took her place.
Xiao Miyun, who had been planning to goad Sun Feiyan further, was surprised by her compliance.
She didn’t know what was inside this particular box, but it was one of the larger ones. Even though Sun Feiyan had braced herself, she still struggled to lift it.
After all, it had been carried in by soldiers from the Zhenbei Manor, it must be quite heavy.
Sun Feiyan instinctively loosened her grip slightly, and the box tilted downwards. Xiao Miyun, who had been sipping her freshly brewed tea, immediately slammed the lid of her cup down and shouted: “Don’t break my treasures!”
Last night’s tragedy couldn’t happen again!
Sun Feiyan, hearing the little emperor’s words, didn’t even flinch. As the edge of the box hit the floor, her fingers, still gripping it, were crushed beneath its weight, a cracking sound echoing in the air.
The little emperor winced.
Xiao Miyun’s eyes widened, watching Sun Feiyan’s fingers trapped beneath the box. She thought she heard the sound of bones breaking, and she instinctively felt a pain in her own hand.
She thought, I’m doomed.
It had been a prank, a way to vent her frustration. But now, if Sun Feiyan’s hand was crippled, and the news reached Su Mingxiu, the cunning Prince of Zhenbei would definitely read between the lines…
The little emperor, well-versed in political maneuvering, instinctively thought of this.
Then, a second thought arose…
She must be in a lot of pain.
But Sun Feiyan didn’t show any sign of distress, as if it wasn’t her fingers that had been crushed. She even tried to lift the box again.
A red bloodstain was left on the floor.
Xiao Miyun, watching her act like a puppet, suddenly felt bored and waved her hand dismissively: “Forget it, it seems General Sun isn’t suited for this task. Zhen will find some strong laborers.”
Sun Feiyan carefully put the box back and bowed, her voice calm. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
As she turned and left the palace, her right hand hanging by her side, dark red blood dripping from her fingertips, Xiao Miyun stared at her retreating figure.
Only after Sun Feiyan disappeared did she look away and instruct the palace maids: “Have the best bone doctor from the Imperial Hospital bring the finest medicine to the West Palace later.”
The palace maids acknowledged her order and retreated.
Xiao Miyun reached for her tea, intending to drink it. But her gaze fell on her own slender, delicate fingers, so different from Sun Feiyan’s. She was lost in thought for a moment.
“Your Majesty is so kind,” Ayue, who had reappeared beside her at some point, praised.
Xiao Miyun looked at Ayue’s ordinary, unremarkable face, her voice equally nondescript, and thought, If it weren’t for her, a woman like Ayue wouldn’t be able to survive in the palace.
It was said that life in the imperial palace was the best, but Xiao Miyun, having been born and raised within these walls, had seen too much filth. Beautiful women suffered tragic fates, treated worse than beautiful clothes, while ordinary-looking ones died unnoticed, like falling leaves.
She looked away and said, contradicting Ayue: “No.”
“A benevolent ruler in turbulent times won’t have a good ending. Zhen is not benevolent.”
Xiao Miyun thought, She simply didn’t want the news to reach Su Mingxiu, not out of any sympathy.
Outside the Qian Yuan Palace…
Sun Feiyan came out, her left hand taking her spear. After a few steps, she encountered a group of patrolling soldiers.
“General Sun!”
The leader of the group approached her, a seventh-grade military badge on his waist. As he reached her, he noticed the injury on her right hand. He was about to ask who had hurt her when he saw the palace behind her, his expression changing immediately.
“That little emperor again…”
He was a fellow countryman of Sun Feiyan’s, having fought alongside her through life and death. He felt indignant on her behalf: “A mere puppet, she only sits on the throne because of our Wangye’s support. If Wangye changes her mind one day, she won’t even have a whole corpse left. Just a bastard of the Xiao Zhou dynasty, General, as long as you give the order—”
His rambling was stopped by Sun Feiyan’s cold gaze.
“Finished?”
“Uh…”
“Either hold your tongue and receive a hundred lashes now, or finish your sentence and lose your head. Choose.”
Sun Feiyan planted her spear in the snow, tore a piece of cloth from her inner robe, and casually wrapped it around her injured hand. Seeing the soldier scurry away to receive his punishment, she also turned and left.
Upon returning to her palace, she heard that the emperor had sent an imperial physician. Her expression darkened, and she refused the physician’s treatment, not even accepting the medicine.
Xiao Miyun, lying on the couch in the Qian Yuan Palace, reading a book, heard the news and said with displeasure: “Let her be. It’s not Zhen’s hand that’s broken.”
That being said, she put the book aside, still feeling a lingering discomfort, both mentally and physically, even though she had almost forgotten about the nightmare.
Was it because the fruit she had eaten after lunch was too cold?
Or was she not dressed warmly enough?
Seeing Xiao Miyun unconsciously rubbing her stomach, Ayue asked if she was feeling unwell. The little emperor waved her hand dismissively: “It’s nothing.”
“Dr. Cheng’s lesson is about to start, Zhen has to finish reading this policy paper.”
Half an hour later.
Su Mingxiu, resting at her manor, heard that the little emperor had fainted in the Qinzheng Palace.
Qian Yuan Palace.
The imperial physicians were gathered around. Cheng Qing and his servant waited outside the palace. Thinking about the bloodstains on the chair where Xiao Miyun had been sitting, he wasn’t too worried.
After all, he knew exactly what those stains were.
Soon, the sound of carriage wheels rolling over the palace paths could be heard. Everyone in the palace knew who it was.
The palace maids and eunuchs of the Qian Yuan Palace lined up on both sides, their heads lowered respectfully, their gazes fixed on the fluttering hem of the Prince of Zhenbei’s robe.
As soon as Su Mingxiu arrived, the imperial physicians gave their diagnosis: the little emperor’s current condition was due to some old injuries from childhood, aggravated by recent stress, resulting in a severe reaction to her first menstrual cycle. She needed to take some medicine to regulate her body and keep warm, and she would recover soon.
Oh.
Su Mingxiu thought, So it’s her period.
Actually, with the imperial physicians attending to her, she didn’t need to stay here. After all, there was no apparent connection between Xiao Miyun and her lover from the previous world.
She didn’t need to transfer her affections to this little girl.
Despite this thought, Su Mingxiu still walked towards the inner chambers and saw the little emperor’s peaceful sleeping face.
Without those feigned flattery and fear, the little emperor looked much more pleasing to the eye.
And even more endearing.
Su Mingxiu warmed her palms with her internal energy, intending to pull the blanket up for the little girl, knowing that she would touch her skin, not wanting to startle her awake with her cold fingertips.
As expected, Xiao Miyun didn’t wake up.
But as Su Mingxiu’s fingers withdrew, Xiao Miyun mumbled in her sleep: “Stomach ache…”
Such weak defenses, and she wants to fight against the original owner? Su Mingxiu looked down at her sleeping face, this thought crossing her mind.
But perhaps Xiao Miyun’s coquettishness was too natural. After the little emperor mumbled a few more times, the woman sitting by the bed finally reached into the quilt and, through her clothes, started massaging her stomach.
The imperial physicians and palace maids nearby pretended to be invisible.
Ayue, who had been staying away from Su Mingxiu, looked up and stared at this scene for a long time, a strange glint in her eyes.
Su Mingxiu vaguely sensed the gaze, but she didn’t see anything when she looked up.
The sleeping little emperor was difficult to please. As soon as Su Mingxiu’s hand moved away, she would whimper in pain, clingy and coquettish.
By the time it was dark outside, Su Mingxiu still hadn’t left the palace.
She hadn’t planned to stay, but the sleeping person grabbed her wrist, and in her half-asleep state, unconsciously pulled Su Mingxiu’s hand upwards, past her abdomen, to a softer place.
“Massage this too…”
“Uh…” Su Mingxiu froze.
Perhaps because of her relationship with the mermaid in the last world, and her own unique constitution, she had almost forgotten the various symptoms a girl might experience during her first period.
Some couldn’t sleep from the pain all night, some had backaches…
Breast tenderness was indeed one of the possible symptoms.
But looking at Xiao Miyun’s face, she felt torn, not knowing whether to help or not.
Xiao Miyun, soothed by her gentle massage, had woken up slightly, but she didn’t realize that the person beside her was Su Mingxiu. So, still relaxed, she kept her eyes closed.
Only her soft voice carried a commanding tone:
“Hurry up…”
Why was Ayue so slow today?
Besides, she didn’t mind, what were these palace maids so concerned about?
Xiao Miyun lazily opened one eye, her hand still holding Su Mingxiu’s wrist. Her words were faster than her thoughts: “Zhen pardons you, quickly—”
Before she could say “massage,” she was met with those deep, black eyes.
The little emperor was instantly speechless. Su Mingxiu, her eyes lowered, replied with a playful smile: “Then this minister shall obey your command?”
Leave a Reply