Chapter 6

In the end, Xiao Xuechi failed to kill me.

Because I chose:

“Of old age.”

To prevent him from dreaming up some way to torment me, I cautiously added:

“Peacefully, in comfort, without illness or disaster.”

Xiao Xuechi said nothing.

I stole a glance at his unreadable profile and was about to remind him that a gentleman’s word was binding when he suddenly laughed.

“Very well. Granted.”

…What?

He could be this reasonable?

I glanced at him suspiciously, but he had already released me and turned to Liu Guiyan, who was still kneeling.

“Since it is the empress’s wish, drag Lady Liu away and beat her to death.”

…Excuse me?

So that was it. He couldn’t kill me himself, so he was going to have the Duke of Jingguo do it!

Liu Guiyan went pale with terror.

Not daring to beg Xiao Xuechi, she crawled on her knees toward me and frantically knocked her head against the floor.

“Your Highness! I was wrong!”

Whether she was a duke’s or a marquis’s daughter meant nothing to Xiao Xuechi. In one of his fits, this tyrant would dare kill even her grandfather. What chance did she have?

But she soon discovered that I was just as pale with terror.

“Your Majesty, I’ve calmed down. I’m no longer angry with the noble consort. Please spare her.”

At his leisure, Xiao Xuechi slandered me.

“Didn’t you say you would never rest unless I killed Lady Liu?”

Our earlier conversation had been in whispers.

Nobody else could hear it clearly.

Unable to defend myself, I could only plead humbly.

“I spoke in a moment of anger. Please forgive me, Your Majesty.”

When he still said nothing, I gritted my teeth and prepared to kneel.

Xiao Xuechi caught my wrist.

“Did I permit you to kneel?”

I looked up and found that he seemed displeased.

I simply couldn’t fathom these tyrants. “You didn’t say I couldn’t.”

“Then I’m saying it now,” he said coldly. “The top of your head is ugly. I don’t like looking at it.”

I forced a smile through clenched teeth. “Yes. And the noble consort?”

“What noble consort?”

He let go of me, all interest gone. “I don’t like her. Keep her here as a palace maid, and don’t let her wander in front of me.”

With that, he left without so much as glancing at Liu Guiyan on the floor.

Left behind, Liu Guiyan scrambled up, looking at me as though she had something to say.

“Empress, although you pleaded for me, I won’t thank you. This happened because of you in the first…”

Her voice grew softer and softer. When I turned toward her, she trembled.

“W-what? Are you going to complain about me again?”

“…No.”

Looking at Liu Guiyan in her splendid consort’s robes gave me a headache. In the end, I could only have the maids prepare a side hall a little farther away and settle this troublesome guest there.

I hoped the Duke of Jingguo would trouble only my father.

Please let him leave Grandmother alone.

After Liu Guiyan left, I dismissed the other maids.

Only Yuanyuan and I remained in the hall.

Thus far, I had impersonated Xiao Xuechi with considerable trepidation. He hadn’t bothered impersonating me at all. Yuanyuan must have noticed something wrong.

Sure enough, before I could speak, she approached hesitantly.

“Miss, do… do you still know who I am?”

I nodded.

She immediately flung herself at me, wailing, and hugged my arm. “Miss! You frightened me to death! I thought that tyrant’s illness was catching. This morning, you were like someone possessed!”

“…In a way, it was much the same.”

Yuanyuan and I had grown up together. Apart from Grandmother, she was the person I trusted most in the world.

So I concealed nothing and briefly told her what had happened last night. It frightened her into finding a Buddha statue and placing it beside my bed, to prevent anything so unlucky from happening again.