CH 16

Zhou Xin said through gritted teeth, “Please wait, Liu-gonggong will go over immediately.”

I shook my head at him, how could I go with a face like this?

I only saw Zhou Xin pull out a handkerchief and tie it around my face, and then he whispered in my ear, “Liu Xiaoyu, you take a gamble, see how much the Emperor actually cares about you. You tell him the truth about last night, don’t conceal a thing.”

I looked at him hesitantly, “Will this work? What if the Imperial Concubine Shu……”

“If you don’t tell him, she will come for you again.” Zhou Xin looked at me resolutely, “But how you tell the Emperor, well that’s up to you, go quickly.”

He pushed me out of the door, I kept turning my head to look back at him, but he just silently warned me, “Don’t be afraid.”

I apprehensively walked over to the main hall, my brain was filled with random thoughts. How should I tell him, I absolutely didn’t dare to. As soon as I remembered the frightening scene from last night my entire body went numb. I had never seen the imperial harem’s masters use such methods to warn the servants, but last night, I finally witnessed it for myself.

But I hoped that there wouldn’t be a second incident like this in this lifetime….

The Emperor was sitting behind his desk reading, I slowly went over and carefully greeted him, “Auspicious Greetings to the Emperor.”

The Emperor raised his head and glanced at me, his eyebrows immediately raised interrogatively, “Liu Xiaoyu, what are you doing?”

“Responding… Responding to Your Majesty, this servant is unwell….” I replied equally quietly as before.

The Emperor reached out wanting to pull off the handkerchief, I naturally avoided his hand.

“Come here!” The Emperor’s tone became severe, “Didn’t you have a stomach ache? What’s wrong with your face?”

I didn’t dare to resist an imperial decree, I slowly shuffled over, as the Emperor pulled off the handkerchief, my tears also began to fall.

I didn’t dare to look up and see the Emperor’s face, instead I saw his hands ball up into a fist.

“Who did this?”

The Emperor’s voice contained an element of fury, but I didn’t dare speak, I could only shake my head.

“I command you to speak quickly!”

The Emperor’s tone became even more severe, I couldn’t help but feel even more aggrieved. I was already miserable enough, why did the Emperor have to be so fierce?

Therefore, I couldn’t hold back anymore and began to wail.

Who knew that the Emperor would suddenly soften up, he pulled me by the arm and dragged me to his lap, and then suddenly raised my chin, making my eyes meet with his.

I saw the worry and concern in his eyes; it didn’t seem fake.

“What exactly happened? Quickly tell me everything.” His face became more gentle, I unwittedly felt even more aggrieved.

Mainly because last night truly scared me to death, just from the way the Imperial Concubine Shu looked at me, I really thought that she was going to kill me.

So, I lost all control and began to wail loudly, and because crying made my face hurt even more, I cried even louder.

The Emperor quickly covered my mouth and shouted a little agitatedly, “Shut up, if you cry that loudly, others will wonder what I am doing to you.”

But I did not stop at all.

“I told you to stop, otherwise I will smack your bottom.”

“I…… I…. I also want to stop but…. But, I can’t seem to.”

After that, the Emperor embraced me and incessantly tried to comfort me like he was coaxing a child, “It’s okay, it’s okay, just tell me okay, who did this to you?”

This time, my heart that was filled with grievance had already turned into courage, I continued to cry as I said, “Im…. Imperial Concubine Shu-niangniang, she hit me, wuwuwu……”

I saw a dark shadow flash across the Emperor’s eyes, completely transient, and then he lightly stroked my face, “Does it hurt a lot?”

I nodded, as he comforted me, I gradually calmed down and stopped crying so loudly.

Seeing that I had calmed down, the Emperor stroked my head and then told me to get up, he then pulled me by the collar out of the door.

“Your Majesty, where are you taking this servant?” I wiped away my tears, my heart filled with apprehensiveness.

The Emperor answered very calmly, “To go and raise your morale, this lowly ranked Imperial Concubine would deign to be so bold. One must check the owner before beating a dog1打狗还得看主人 dǎ gǒu hái dé kàn zhǔ rén – it’s an expression, meaning is obvious I think, she would dare to touch my person, she must be tired of living.”

Oh? What did that mean, the Emperor was helping me get revenge? But why did I feel like something was off…..

What does it mean one must check the owner before beating a dog, I’m not a dog….

So I quietly muttered to myself, “I’m no dog though.”

Who knew that just as we stepped out of the main gates, the Emperor turned around and pulled to behind the door, bit my nose and said, “Then you’re my little goldfish2小金鱼 xiǎojīn yú – a play on his name Xiaoyu – little goldfish cuz he’s face is all swollen, little demon3妖精 yāojing – means evil spirit/demon, it’s also an insult to women who are like alluring mistresses because of the whole Fox Demon legend, also can mean ‘troublemaker’ – especially when referring to naughty kids.”

Then the Emperor let go of me and walked out of the door first, “Quit dilly-dally and hurry up and follow.”

My face began to burn, I quickly chased after him, luckily my face was red from the beating, otherwise, I didn’t know how I would have concealed my current feelings.