Chapter 98: The Abandoned Little Emperor (2)
As Su Mingxiu left the Qian Yuan Palace, a fragrant floral scent wafted towards her. She glanced at the flowerbed outside the palace, where peonies bloomed in vibrant colors, their majestic beauty illuminating the gloomy sky.
Dressed in a dark purple robe embroidered with python patterns, as the highest-ranking non-imperial official in the Xiao Zhou dynasty and the current Prime Minister, she had been granted the privilege of having her carriage enter the inner palace.
Within a few steps, a eunuch hurried over, holding an umbrella respectfully to shield her from the falling snow. Her silk boots stepped on the stone steps, barely touching the surface before she was greeted by her guards and escorted to the warm carriage.
Inside the carriage, a servant knelt beside her, helping her remove her slightly cold boots.
A silver-threaded charcoal brazier, filled with fragrant fruitwood, emitted a gentle warmth. Hot tea and snacks were kept warm on a small stove. Inside and outside the carriage were two vastly different worlds.
The warmth flushed Su Mingxiu’s cheeks slightly, making her already striking features even more alluring. A maid, kneeling beside her, inadvertently glanced at her mistress and blushed.
The original owner had suffered from the cold. After falling into an icy lake during a battle, she had developed a chronic illness. Despite her martial arts skills, she couldn’t completely eradicate the cold poison from her body, leaving her with a sensitivity to cold.
Su Mingxiu sat in the carriage for a while, her hands and feet still cold. She hugged a hand warmer wrapped in exquisite fabric and instructed the coachman to return to the manor.
“Come out and talk, System,” she said lazily, amidst the soothing warmth, ready to settle the score with the thing in her head.
“Talk about what?” It actually responded.
A faint smile appeared in the woman’s eyes, a soft yet dangerous glint amidst her sharp features, like a flexible sword, its gentle movements concealing a deadly strike.
[How many lifetimes of memories have I lost?]
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the system replied, its tone dripping with sarcasm.
Su Mingxiu, who had been casually tracing the embroidered patterns on the hand warmer’s silk cover, paused. Just then, the carriage bumped over a small stone.
The maid who had just helped her change her shoes and socks let out a soft cry and fell against her knees, her voice as delicate as her appearance.
Su Mingxiu had been thinking about how to force the truth out of the system. But the system, knowing her thoughts and having learned its lesson, had deliberately chosen a world with a low level of technological development to avoid the scenario of being extracted and beaten up, like in the cultivation or ABO worlds.
*A/B/O (an abbreviation for alpha/beta/omega)*
So, after pondering for a while, still unable to find an answer, Su Mingxiu, trapped in this seemingly inescapable situation, felt her mood sour. Seeing the maid fall against her knees, her flushed face and suggestive glances,
Su Mingxiu’s household didn’t have such presumptuous servants. But now, with her power and influence, countless people wanted to curry favor with her, sending her “gifts” endlessly.
Because of her close relationship with Xiao Miyun, the young emperor had often sat on her lap during court sessions. Even now, as Xiao Miyun entered her teenage years, Su Mingxiu still enjoyed teaching her how to write and review memorials personally. Therefore, rumors circulated in the court, whispering that she had a preference for women.
So, the beauties in the Zhenbei Manor were as numerous as the peonies outside the Qian Yuan Palace, blooming in all seasons.
She narrowed her eyes and remained silent.
The woman leaning against her knees, taking her silence as tacit approval, became bolder and leaned closer, like a snake coiling around a staff, deliberately showcasing her beauty to the Right Chancellor, who held the power of life and death in the Xiao Zhou dynasty.
“Right Chancellor…”
Su Mingxiu’s title of Zhenbei Wang (Prince of Zhenbei) was earned through genuine merit, her position as Prime Minister solidified by the blood on her sword. Those fearless officials had long become souls under her blade, only the spineless ones could retain their positions in the court.
Perhaps it was because they lacked something that they insisted on emphasizing it. The original owner didn’t like being addressed as “Wangye (Your Highness),” preferring the title “Right Chancellor,” perhaps to irritate those civil officials.
The same title, coming from the little emperor’s mouth, sounded like the innocent attachment of a fledgling, a dependence on a powerful figure. Coming from this maid’s mouth, it sounded like blatant flirtation.
Perhaps because of her fondness for Suhui’s face, Su Mingxiu had some tolerance for the little emperor.
But this audacious maid, daring to extend her claws towards her master, was not within the scope of her forgiveness.
A smile suddenly appeared on her lips, the coldness of her usually pale face melting away, giving the illusion of warmth: “Do you like what you see?”
The maid, captivated by her sudden smile, her eyes filled with amazement, couldn’t respond, only nodding unconsciously under her spell.
“Since you like it so much, how about I gouge out your eyes and keep them in my room, so they can watch me day and night? How about that?”
The amusement in her voice was like strands of spun sugar, so sweet that it was intoxicating, tempting one to lean closer, only to find that the sweetness was a deadly poison.
The maid suddenly snapped out of her daze, realizing what Su Mingxiu had said. Her face turned pale as she knelt at Su Mingxiu’s feet, kowtowing repeatedly. “Y-Your Highness, spare me! I didn’t mean it!”
Su Mingxiu wasn’t the original owner, the sickly prince who would casually maim people. To avoid suspicion, she feigned annoyance and had the noisy maid dragged away.
After the scent of cosmetics dissipated, the empty carriage, devoid of another person’s warmth, felt even colder.
By the time she returned to the Zhenbei Manor, the light snow had turned into a heavy blizzard, the sky so dark that it was hard to tell day from night. Su Mingxiu got out of the carriage, wrapped in a sable cloak, a hand warmer clutched in her arms. Her delicate features and frail appearance made her look like a palace consort returning home for a visit.
But the servants in the manor respectfully lowered their gazes. The housekeeper greeted her and asked if she wanted to have dinner, then mentioned that there was a guest in the study, from the Xu family.
The Xu family—a prominent family from the previous dynasty. They had fled before Su Mingxiu’s army entered the capital. Now, seeing that the new dynasty had stabilized, they were hoping to regain their position.
“I understand.”
Su Mingxiu had her own plans for these aristocratic families. She dismissed the housekeeper without a second glance, showing no intention of going to the study.
As she sat down in the main hall, the housekeeper, understanding her intentions, instructed the servants to prepare dinner. Then, he stood beside her, reporting on the manor’s affairs, such as which officials had sent gifts, who had tried to make connections with the manor’s staff.
After a pause, he said: “His Majesty’s coming-of-age ceremony is approaching. We have prepared gifts, would you like to choose them personally?”
“Bring them for me to see.”
Since it was Xiao Miyun’s important birthday, although she presented herself as a male to the public, the officials knew her true gender. Her fifteenth birthday would naturally be a grand celebration.
Xiao Miyun had been neglected in the palace since childhood, living a life worse than a palace maid despite her status as a princess. So, after gaining power, she became fond of luxury.
The gifts prepared by the housekeeper were also to Xiao Miyun’s liking. For example, a carving of the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, made of red agate, its color as vibrant as pigeon blood;
A folding screen embroidered by dozens of artisans, depicting a vast landscape with shimmering clouds and rivers, its imagery so vivid that it seemed to come alive…
Dozens of gifts were brought in one after another, treasures from all over the country, from the coast to the inland, all within reach of Su Mingxiu’s sword, now filling her manor.
She could also sense the original owner’s indulgence towards Xiao Miyun.
“There’s no need to choose, send them all to the palace—”
Su Mingxiu leaned back against the sandalwood chair, her eyes closed as if resting, her voice soft: “His Majesty is still a child at heart, fond of lively occasions. Birthdays are a rare celebration, send more gifts to the palace to make her happy.”
“Yes,” the housekeeper retreated with the gifts.
A moment later, a figure in black appeared silently and knelt before her. This was Su Mingxiu’s true informant, responsible for reporting the officials’ private affairs, and the happenings within the palace.
When he mentioned that “the eldest son of the Xu family has recently received an imperial token and has been frequently entering the palace for private audiences with the emperor,” Su Mingxiu slowly opened her eyes.
“Oh?”
She asked with a playful smile: “An imperial token?”
At the same time.
Outside the Tangquan Palace.
Xiao Miyun, ignoring the palace maids’ pleas, kicked the eunuch blocking her imperial carriage. “I hate eunuchs the most, get out of my sight.”
But the figure remained kneeling, his back bent under the weight of the wind and snow: “Your Majesty, please forgive me. The wind and snow are too strong outside, please return to the Qian Yuan Palace and rest. If you were to fall ill in this weather, this servant wouldn’t know how to explain it to the Right Chancellor.”
Xiao Miyun, who had an appointment with the Xu family’s eldest son but couldn’t meet him in the Qian Yuan Palace, sneered upon hearing this. She was the emperor, Su Mingxiu was merely a minister, and she had to explain her actions to Su Mingxiu?
But she knew that the palace wasn’t a monolith, especially these eunuchs who weren’t favored by her. They would definitely side with the most powerful force, like grass swaying in the wind.
So she paused for a moment. “I know the Right Chancellor cares about my well-being, there’s no need for you to relay this—”
“My birthday is approaching. Last night, I dreamt of my mother crying. Moved by this dream, I simply want to visit her palace and pay my respects.”
“You may leave, I have others to attend to me.”
The eunuch refused to leave, so he was kicked aside by a palace maid beside Xiao Miyun, who spat at him: “Eunuch dog, don’t block the way.”
Before entering the Tangquan Palace, Xiao Miyun even glanced back to make sure the eunuch wasn’t following her, then she hurried towards the side palace, lifting her robes.
This neglected palace was usually deserted and incredibly cold. Xiao Miyun stamped her feet and paced back and forth, blowing on her hands and rubbing her ears. After a long while, she finally heard the faint creak of a door opening.
She was already irritated by the cold, but when she turned around, a delighted expression appeared on her face, and she called out sweetly: “Brother Xu!”
The newcomer also hurried towards her, calling out affectionately: “Sister Xiao.”
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