Chapter 246: Untitled
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Upon hearing the word “eunuch,” Meng Fuyao’s heart ached. She slammed the bowl on the table and turned to the ladies having the meal with her. “Such disgusting food. I wouldn’t force you guys, go back to your own residences to have your meal.”
The concubines dropped their filled bowls like a hot potato, as they gave their thanks as though they were granted amnesty, scurrying out of the palace.
After a while, in the opened doors, a tall, skinny figure appeared. Little Seven trudged over with his head hung down.
Meng Fuyao stared at his shadow—she couldn’t look straight at him; her heart would hurt so bad.
It was all her fault. Why was she being so petulant? To act out over something like this? The consequence of this joke was beyond imagination.
At the corner of her eyes, she saw the shadow gradually pulling closer. How many hardships did he go through this few months? She remembered that he had never once hung his head down in the past. He always strutted with confidence, looking forward with a face full of pride. He even dared to ignore Zhan Beiye’s orders. But what was it that had taught him to bow down, to lower himself in front of mere mortals?
A pure child… Who was it that carved the scars of the world onto his heart? Who was it that tainted his snow white heart?
Bam!
A crisp, loud smack shocked the servants as their skin jumped uniformly.
Meng Fuyao looked up with hot tears swirling in her eyes. Mustering up an ugly smile, she choked as she got an excuse out. “It’s so weird that there are actually mosquitoes in this cold winter!”
Tie Cheng turned away without a word. An Zi chased everyone out, leaving only Meng Fuyao and Little Seven.
Meng Fuyao stared at Little Seven, sniffling, as she closely observed his footsteps. According to Tie Cheng, before he entered the room, Little Seven had already broken free. But under what circumstances did he break free was something that Tie Cheng did not manage to clarify… there was blood… how serious was the wound? Looking at the way he walked, she couldn’t tell anything. She also couldn’t deduct the condition of his wounds from the timing—wounds that would take other people months to heal would not be able to confine him to bed for more than seven days.
She couldn’t tell, she couldn’t ask. Meng Fuyao was almost going crazy. She could only pray to the Heavens. ‘Heavens, y’all better be nice, else I’ll curse your entire family every time, every day…’
Heavens obviously did not care, refusing to give her any hints about his current condition.
Little Seven had no inkling of her current dilemma. He made his way over to her, quietly watched her before stripping off his outer robe. He reached behind him and took out something.
He took a step forward. Then, he knelt down and lifted the item in his hand high up for Meng Fuyao.
That item was black, long and covered in dust. Yet somehow, it glistened ominously in his palms.
The whip!
Meng Fuyao trembled. She swayed a little, slowly pressing her hand to her heart as she leaned back against her chair.
Her pale face struck a stark contrast with the golden screen embroidered with eighteen phoenixes that glimmered under the light, making her look paler than ever.
Two streams of tears rolled down her pale face.
Under the light of luminous pearls, her tears glistened. She did not wipe them away but took a deep breath and stepped forward, accepting the whip.
Even if she was dying, her leg was broken, her head had fallen, she would climb over to accept this whip, not to mention she was absolutely fine at the moment.
This child had wandered around for months, trying to look for her. He had used his life as an exchange to bring this whip to her. If she were to reject it, it would be letting him down.
Whoever refused to take the whip was a b*tch!
His promise weighed a thousand tonnes; Her whip that could not hesitate!
She, who understood him, knew that she had to whip him!
Bam!
That whip landed on his back with a force to be reckoned with. A red, swollen line immediately formed on his skin.
Little Seven swayed as he revealed a smile of relief.
Finally…
Meng Fuyao turned away. She didn’t dare to face that relieved expression. With a ‘swish,’ the whip wrapped itself around Little Seven’s wrist.
Bewildered, Little Seven looked out but saw Meng Fuyao’s calm eyes reflected back in his eyes. With a flick of a finger, he could feel a rush of warmth heading towards his core. Where the warmth had passed through the meridians, it was as though the impurities within him were being purified. The inner energy that entered his body continuously filled him generously.
Little Seven’s face changed.
He was a practitioner of martial arts, and naturally, he was familiar with the concept of transferring of inner energy. It was the essence of those that trained—extremely valuable. The amount of inner energy that Meng Fuyao had given him was equivalent of ten years worth of training for him.
Meng Fuyao smiled as she tossed the whip aside. She walked back towards her chair, exhausted. The loss of inner energy was rather significant for her, especially given that she was right about to enter the sixth level, third section of the “Cleaving Nine Heavens.” Now, it was postponed.
The sixth level of “Cleaving Nine Heavens” was a division. Before the sixth level, the martial arts focused on the “Fundamental Arts” while only after the sixth level would the practitioner enter the legendary “Arts of God.” Only upon entering the seventh level could one master the laws of nature and reach the pinnacle of martial arts. Between the sixth and seventh level was a decisive leap, and it’s also the hardest to break through. When she truly got past this, her skills would be on a completely different scale. So this postponement was not one without sacrifice.
But she had no regrets.
Ever since she had come to this place, she had spent all her time training—not even sparing the time used to sleep and eat. Even though she had devoted all her time and energy to refining and strengthening herself in order to reach her goal, in this very moment, she was willing to take on this loss.
In every loss, there were gains.
How could anyone expect to take without giving?
Behind her, Little Seven tugged her sleeves.
Meng Fuyao turned back with a smile.
“Little Seven, those who persevere deserve compensation.”
Day 15 since the Empress was crowned. On this day, according to the traditions, the wives of the officials and the daughters that were related to the imperial family were required to enter the palace to pay their respects.
Meng Fuyao got up early in the morning to meet people. She was extremely polite to the mothers of those concubines who had authority—she did not want them to pay their respects by kneeling down. She decided to order An Zi to announce her decision to “consider the proposal and event details.”
Upon hearing that, the ladies struggled to maintain their expressions—half the day was filled with activities, including looking at embroideries, visiting the weaving rooms, the fields, etc. According to tradition, the ladies would go back to the palaces of their respective daughters to reminisce, but the overly enthusiastic Meng Fuyao was so excited that she insisted on a banquet in Chong Xing Palace so as to allow the ladies to partake in the honor of the royals and also have a taste of the vegetables that their virtuous daughters had personally grown.
She even decreed that every lady was to use an ingredient from their own vegetable field to cook a dish for their mother personally as an act of filial piety. Most ladies were compliant enough, but the concubine that had her vegetable field flattened by the Emperor could only weep silently beside her worm-infested field. In the end, the Emperor took pity on her and went to steal some vegetables from the field next door. That particular concubine threw herself at the Emperor gratefully and whispered, ” Your Majesty, I was blind… I have something to tell you…”
Whatever it was she wanted to say, no one ever found out, except that after the Emperor managed to coax the concubine to leave, he murmured in the direction of Meng Fuyao’s palace, “I didn’t think that growing vegetables would open these cans of worms…”
Mid-afternoon came around, and it was time for the doors of the palace to close. They had finished paying their respects, and the ladies said their goodbyes and left. Throughout the entire event, they were under the public eye and could only discuss their embroidery skills and how succulent the vegetables were while looking at their vegetables tearfully, for they were not given a single chance to have a private word with each other.
Meng Fuyao only allowed Xuanyuan Yun to stay.
‘Now, after all these days, that rabbit princess should have finally thought everything through, right?’
The princess wrapped her hands around her hand warmer and sat on the toasty grounds of her residence. Her fluffy pink collar furs framed her round cute face, but the innocence and purity in her eyes were now fading.
“Your Highness…” She sat in the residence for an entire hour without muttering a single sentence. Meng Fuyao followed suit, staying silent while staring at her in amusement. After an hour, the princess, lost in her own daze, finally returned to earth. “… What should I do now?”
‘Ah yes, your loss of soul is getting more and more serious. Seriously a tough nut to crack.’
“Looking at it, father has harmed Brother Yue…” The princess could not bear it any longer, and finally, tearfully, confided in her “best friend.” “I must save him!”
Meng Fuyao glanced over and asked, “Who is Brother Yue?”
“Brother Yue is Brother Yue.”
With a silent groan at this retarded answer, Meng Fuyao officially gave up on playing games with this little girl and patted her shoulder. “You wanna save him? Knowing your enemies is the key to victory. How else are you going to save him? Do you know where your Brother Yue is?”
The princess shook her head.
“Have you thought of how to save him?” Meng Fuyao sighed in exasperation.
She shook her head again…
“Have you thought of the consequences of saving him?”
She shook her head once more…
Sympathetically, she stated, “My poor niece. Looks like you really have to rely on me.”
The princess looked up at the sky, displaying the epitome of puppy eyes.
‘En, remember that super cute angle and use it to your advantage when needed…’
“Aw, you look so skinny. Guess I’ll have to do this for you once.” Meng Fuyao bit down on her teeth. “Yun Er, think of a way to obtain the map of the Regent King’s residence, especially the important places, schedule for shift changes, guards placement and where your father meets people frequently. We can then properly decipher and determine where your Brother Yue is likely to be locked up by your father.”
Xuanyuan Yun was no idiot. She frowned hesitating.
“You are afraid that once you hand over the secret information regarding the Regent King’s residence to me, it will be detrimental to your father?” Meng Fuyao chuckled. “Yun Er, in what ways would I harm your father with this information? On the one hand, you have the powerless me that is nothing more than a puppet empress. On the other hand, you have the all mighty Regent King that holds the power to control the soldiers. With this comparison, is there anything else that needs to be said?”
Stammering, the princess tried to explain herself. “No… I… that was not my intention…”
The “angry” Meng Fuyao waved her sleeves. “Wasn’t it all because I was taking pity on you that I wanted to help you? Putting aside the rest, you are equipped with martial arts while I am just a weak, helpless lady. If you think that there’s anything wrong with me, you can just choke me to death! That easily!”