Chapter 18
Chapter 18
“Wife, is it possible that this creature isn’t a chicken at all, but a bird?”
Siran Ming sat in a wicker recliner in the courtyard. Shengsheng Zhou stood beside him. Together, they gazed upward with complicated expressions.
The creature they had mistaken for a chick was perched high in a birch tree, meticulously grooming his feathers.
“Chickens can’t fly that high, can they? Your Majesty is wise. So it really is a bird.”
Shengsheng stuffed a jujube into his mouth and nodded repeatedly.
They had lived with Ai Liu and Daniu for nearly a week. Siran’s wounds were healing rapidly, yet every time Shengsheng suggested leaving, one part of him hurt or another suddenly felt unwell.
After so many incidents, she began to suspect that he had not lost his memory at all. Perhaps some idle spirit had possessed him.
This creature bore no resemblance to the emperor in the original novel, who had governed diligently without the slightest affection for his people.
Siran basked comfortably in the sun.
It had been a very long time since he had enjoyed such an idle life. Once he returned to the Yong Kingdom, countless tedious affairs would undoubtedly be waiting. Now that he was emperor, he could only be busier than he remembered.
Unfortunately, heaven would never permit the male lead and a cannon-fodder character to remain alone together for long.
That afternoon, Daniu returned with a woman.
Her clothes were filthy and disheveled, yet nothing could hide her breathtaking beauty.
“Xiaoyu!”
Shengsheng’s delight burst from her. She raced over like a puppy finally let off its leash.
Siran looked down.
The banana she had been peeling for him lay abandoned on the ground.
He pressed his lips together and directed a hostile stare at the lovely stranger. The moment he saw her face, however, he froze. Then he quickly looked away.
Shengsheng caught the woman by the hands.
Zhiyu Jiang jerked free with an unexpectedly violent reaction. Confusion and fear filled her eyes.
“Who are you? Why did you call me Xiaoyu? Do you know me?”
Shengsheng fell silent.
Her lips parted, but no expression seemed adequate for this accursed new development.
Daniu explained that he had encountered the woman while hunting. A hyena had been chasing her.
The bird fluttered down from the branch and landed atop Shengsheng’s head. His beadlike eyes studied the lost and bewildered Zhiyu with intense suspicion.
Shengsheng brought over a stool and seated the newest member of the amnesia club beside Siran.
Ai looked between them.
“Miss Shengsheng, do you know her?”
Shengsheng nodded. “She’s my friend.”
At once, Ai tugged Daniu away. Two people close to her had lost their memories; poor Miss Shengsheng must be heartbroken.
Shengsheng folded her arms and studied Zhiyu for a long moment.
“How much do you remember?”
Zhiyu hesitated, then pointed at Siran. He raised a brow as she said, “I remember him.”
*Holy hell. She really is the heroine. Even with amnesia, her memories of the male lead cannot be erased.*
“What do you remember about me?” Siran asked coldly.
This woman resembled his little sister Yanyan, yet something about her inspired immediate dislike. She had better not be some romantic debt his older self had left behind. If he had chosen a woman merely because she resembled Yanyan, then his future self was truly scum.
Zhiyu paused again. Her gaze drifted toward Shengsheng, as if what she remembered was too frightening to say aloud.
Shengsheng gave her a benevolent look of encouragement.
The heroine might have amnesia, but the plot could still be saved.
After several rounds of hesitation, Zhiyu finally spoke.
“I remember that he had diarrhea,” she whispered. “Really… violent diarrhea.”
*Violent* was already the tactful version.
Embarrassed, she glanced at Siran’s stomach, then quickly looked away, plainly afraid.
Shengsheng did not dare look at his face. She turned around, shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
Even the little bird atop Shengsheng Zhou’s head seemed to understand.
He gave Siran Ming a look of disgust, then covered his eyes with one soft wing, as though the sight was too dreadful to bear.
Siran felt his blood surge. His lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing.
Being forced to shoulder the blame for his future self left him with grievances he could not explain.
The sixteen-year-old prince could not imagine how the older Siran normally behaved if this was the impression he left on young women.
At dinner that evening, he ate even less than usual. His entire bearing said that he was troubled and wished not to be spoken to.
That night, Zhiyu Jiang shared Shengsheng’s pallet on the floor.
The room had just settled into quiet. Three people and one bird had barely closed their eyes when thundering hoofbeats shattered the silence outside.
Shengsheng scrambled up. When Zhiyu tried to follow, she shoved her firmly back beneath the quilt.
“Don’t make a sound. Stay here. I’ll go look.”
In the darkness, Siran frowned. He rose and moved Shengsheng behind him, intending to go first.
She seized his sleeve and pulled him back. Leaning close, she whispered, “Your wounds haven’t healed. Why are you rushing toward danger? Hide behind me.”
Siran, who had spent his entire life charging at the front, did not know how to respond.
The faint scent lingering on Shengsheng seemed to remain beneath his nose.
The bird had left the little nest she had made especially for him at some point. He landed on her shoulder–and promptly resumed sleeping.
Nothing was important enough to interrupt his rest.
Ai Liu and Daniu threw clothes over their nightwear, grabbed whatever weapons lay at hand, and hurried outside. Neither could hide their terror.
Not a cloud crossed the sky. A full moon hung overhead, its cool, gentle light faintly illuminating the earth.
Dozens of torches flared in the darkness not far away.
Shengsheng realized that people from the Yong Kingdom must have come searching for them.
In the original novel, Zhiyu had hidden in this enormous forest for days with the unconscious Siran. By chance, she eventually found a path down the mountain and reached a small town.
To pay for Siran’s treatment, she pawned the only possession she carried–a hairpin left by her mother.
Siran had spent his entire life surrounded by schemes and conspiracies. When he learned what she had sacrificed, his feelings for Zhiyu finally began to extend beyond seeing her as another woman’s substitute.
Later, the pair found a way to contact Rong Li and were rescued.
Now the plot had changed.
Apparently, Rong had found them first.
And all because this amnesiac brat Siran kept refusing to leave the mountain.
“Your Majesty!”
A figure leaped from horseback ahead of the others and hurried toward him, face taut with worry.
Only after seeing Siran intact did she drop to one knee.
“This subordinate failed in her duty. Your Majesty, please punish me.”
Rong Li?
Pulled from his private thoughts, Siran lowered his eyes to the tall woman kneeling before him.
In his memories, Rong had been a scrawny, sallow, malnourished little girl who stubbornly declared that she would one day become an important official.
Had she truly grown so much?
“We are unharmed. Rise. Our first concern should be returning as quickly as possible.”
His voice was flat, his expression unreadable, and imperial authority pressed down on everyone around him.
If Siran had not winked at Shengsheng while Rong’s head was lowered, she would have believed his memory had returned. He looked exactly like the old Siran.
Ai and Daniu stared, stunned.
They could not reconcile the emperor before them with the idle man who had spent every day doing nothing and relying on his wife to support him.
“Then… Miss Shengsheng,” Ai said in a voice filled with wonder, “does that mean you’re really the empress?”
Rong lifted her head and finally noticed Shengsheng.
Confusion spread across her face.
Empress?