Chapter 105
Chapter 105
By the time Shengsheng Zhou finally sent Fusheng Duan away, night had fallen completely.
This time, Shengsheng directly asked A-Pang for Growing Stronger Every Time I Wander.
The sensation of wings growing from her back was truly marvelous. Though she could not see them, she could feel them–especially the feathers. She tried stroking them. They were as soft and comfortable as the finest down.
If touching them had not tickled, she might even have buried her face in them to savor the sensation.
But that would look far too foolish. Better not.
When something abruptly appeared atop her head, Shengsheng was clearly accustomed to her bird’s ghostly comings and goings.
*Come to think of it… Pecky has never once met Fusheng. Fusheng always appears when Pecky isn’t around. Is that a coincidence?*
She failed to notice the bird on her head narrow his eyes the instant the thought emerged.
Do not ask how a bird narrows its eyes. Use your imagination.
Traveling by night at the Jiang residence had gone smoothly, but the palace was different. Security was tight, and the emperor’s sleeping quarters were guarded by secret sentries. She could not act easily.
But Shengsheng had never planned to attack Xunlan Liu directly.
Others did not know, but she knew perfectly well that Xunlan liked to get up for water in the middle of the night.
The Empress Dowager had warned him repeatedly that someone with ill intentions might exploit the habit. But Xunlan let everything go in one ear and out the other. As if he would listen.
And so, Shengsheng Zhou, Person with Ill Intentions, appeared.
She could help the Empress Dowager cure his bad habit and satisfy herself at the same time.
Look at that. Having a palace maid like her was surely the old Liu family’s reward for admitting their mistake in a previous life and returning Ultraman Tiga’s light.
Sitting on the roof awaiting good news from A-Pang, Shengsheng stroked the bird with one hand and watched the moon.
Since coming to this world, she had never truly looked at the moon.
When she was a ghost, she had either drifted around in a daze or perched on that silly woman’s head to watch her phone. She had never had time for scenery.
*Soon… Very soon…*
Shengsheng could not help murmuring.
Fusheng keenly sensed something wrong.
What was coming soon?
What was she waiting for?
For some reason, Shengsheng at that moment filled Fusheng with panic.
She was clearly within reach, yet seemed ready to dissolve into dust in the moonlight at any moment. He felt unable to hold on to her.
“Chirp,” he tried.
Shengsheng immediately returned to herself. Stroking his tiny beak, she smiled until her eyes became slits. “Oh, darling, say it again. Why are you acting spoiled?”
Fusheng turned around, presenting her with a fluffy bird bottom.
An illusion. It had to be an illusion created by the atmosphere.
When A-Pang returned with bleary eyes, he yawned.
“Did you put it in?” Shengsheng caught him and asked.
A-Pang’s head bobbed. “Don’t worry, Shengsheng. I watched him drink it myself. That cup will keep him running to the privy for three days.”
Shengsheng smiled maternally. “Our A-Pang is so reliable. What a good A-Pang.”
A-Pang had just begun to tug his mouth into a response when a piercing scream rose below. “Ah! His Majesty is missing!”
Shengsheng fell silent. “I take that back.”
Who was on night duty? Were they truly unafraid of letting the whole world know?
Before she could interrogate A-Pang, Shengsheng fled with one bird and one panda.
What a joke. If she were caught as an assassin…
Wait.
Could they catch her?
Those people had two legs. Could they outrun someone with wings?
With that thought, Shengsheng Zhou slowed down and stopped panicking.
The little bird held tightly in her arms struggled free, perched on the shoulder of Giant Shengsheng, and gazed thoughtfully toward the palace.
After Shengsheng left, a small black dog stumbled out of Xunlan Liu’s bedchamber. It looked ready to fall at any moment, evidently unused to walking on four legs.
A young palace maid struck it wildly with a broom, cursing, “Filthy beast, get out! Get out! Is this a place you can enter?”
The black dog whimpered in pain, then bared his teeth at the maid. But he was only a puppy and had almost no power to intimidate. Caught defenseless, he was kicked again.
Late that night, the Empress Dowager secretly came to the emperor’s sleeping quarters.
“Bring me every servant who stood night watch. I will question them myself!” Yan Yu commanded with authority.
She was exhausted. Where had her idiot son run off to? Did he know how much trouble he was causing her?
Damn it. Staying up late caused fine lines!
——
*A-Pang, how did Xunlan disappear?*
Only after returning to her room in the Jiang residence did Shengsheng begin her interrogation.
A-Pang had no idea. He had only slipped Xunlan a laxative, not made him vanish.
Looking at his bewildered eyes, Shengsheng remembered that he was only a panda. Questioning him would accomplish nothing.
Besides, Xunlan had still been there when A-Pang left. He disappeared afterward. Who knew whether Xunlan had become horny in the night and gone searching for some wild flavor?
Shengsheng sent the exhausted A-Pang to sleep and prepared to undress.
But the exertion had made her sweat again. She should bathe first.
Two baths in one night. Come, say it with her:
Thank you, Noble Consort.
Without disturbing the servants, Shengsheng efficiently heated the water herself.
Looking at Pecky standing motionless on her shoulder, she teased, “What’s wrong, darling? Want to bathe with me?”
Little Pecky Duan remained as steady as an old dog.
Shengsheng placed him on the clothes rack beside the tub. “You can’t go in. Your legs are so short you’ll drown.”
She slowly removed her clothes. Wearing only her undergarment and trousers, Shengsheng noticed the bird staring without blinking and conceived a wicked idea.
She casually picked up the clothes on the floor and flung them over him.
Bird Duan was thoroughly covered, completely unprepared.
So absorbed in watching her, he reacted half a beat too slowly for once.
By the time he freed himself from the pile and flew out, Shengsheng was already in the tub.
Bird Duan fluttered to the rim and settled there, his tiny black eyes peering into the water.
Shengsheng saw him but paid no attention.
Not until she finished bathing and turned to climb out.
“Holy crap! Pecky, my captain, what happened to you?” Shengsheng exclaimed.
The Little Pecky Duan who had stood at the tub’s edge now looked completely different.
How to describe it? His feathers remained pale yellow, yet they carried a strange pink cast.
Almost like… embarrassment?
“No way, darling. What’s wrong with you?”
Before Shengsheng’s bare arm could reach him, Bird Duan shot away as though violently startled.
He flew as if a savage beast were pursuing him.
Shengsheng looked utterly baffled.