Chapter 190
Chapter 190
Shengsheng Zhou lay in bed, eyes dull, moaning weakly.
Little Nine knelt tearfully by the bed, clutching one of her hands. His voice choked. “Imperial Sister…”
At his voice, Shengsheng’s eyes moved. She rasped, “Xiaohe, I’m afraid Imperial Sister won’t be able to watch you grow up with my own eyes.”
She forced a smile as though it exhausted every last ounce of strength in her body.
Weihe Song shook his head. Tears ran down his narrow chin. “No, Imperial Sister, you’ll get better. Imperial Sister, you must watch Xiaohe grow up.”
Shengsheng shook her head. Her lips moved as though she wished to speak, but she had no strength left.
Weihe turned to the imperial physician beside them, his voice trembling. “Imperial Physician! You must save Imperial Sister!”
The physician shook his head and sighed. “Forgive this subject’s incompetence.”
He cast an unbearably sorrowful glance at Shengsheng on the bed and said gravely, “This old physician is truly powerless against that itty-bitty patch of skin scraped off the princess’s knee.”
“Cut!”
Shengsheng threw back the quilt and sat bolt upright. “Well, Imperial Brother?!”
Weiqing Song sat nearby without expression and offered utterly insincere praise. “As good as ever.”
Shengsheng rubbed her head bashfully, then stroked Weihe’s. “Not bad. You’re the next Best Actor.”
Accepting a handkerchief from a palace maid, Weihe smiled. “So-so. Third-best in the world.”
Shengsheng: “…” If this continued, would he grow up into a comedian?
The imperial physician coughed at precisely the right moment.
Shengsheng immediately said, “Someone! Reward him! And see Imperial Physician Yan out.”
*Shengsheng… Xiaosui sent word. The story has reached the minor Plot Point where the female lead clashes with the Empress and engages in palace intrigue,* A-Pang’s weak voice said.
Shengsheng paused while climbing out of bed and analyzed, *The key to this Plot Point is palace battle. In that case, we can–*
“Call landlord.”
“Pass.”
“Pass.”
Having successfully claimed the landlord, Shengsheng gave a crooked grin.
The Empress doted on her and watched the arrogant landlord with indulgent affection. The other consorts were even more willing to humor her.
Holding her cards, Shengsheng offered the other consorts at the table a polite smile.
If vague interpretation of the plot was allowed, then could the key phrase “palace battle” not be understood as–
a battle of Fight the Landlord inside the palace?
Exactly. At this point, the plot was no longer supposed to involve Shengsheng. But for A-Pang’s energy, she had no choice but to bind Xiaosui to A-Pang and keep him beside Zhiyu Jiang to deceive the World Consciousness, while Shengsheng personally entered the field and exploited every possible loophole in the Plot Point keywords to sustain A-Pang.
Xiaosui had no objections. He could earn Task Energy Points without personally acting through the plot. Why would he refuse?
“I hear the Yong Emperor has been finding all sorts of excuses to send His Majesty gifts. Pair of twos,” Consort Jing said.
“Oh, I pass.” Concubine Li pursed her lips, then smiled. “They call it friendly exchange between nations, but everything he sends is meant for a young woman. His true interest plainly isn’t in diplomacy…”
After speaking, she cast a smiling glance at Shengsheng, who was showing the Ninth Prince her cards.
The Empress smiled without speaking.
“The last time I saw the Ninth Prince, he was still an infant. He has grown so much.”
One consort spoke teasingly. Seeing no change in the Empress’s expression, Concubine Li continued, “Isn’t that the truth? Look at his brows and eyes. He resembles His Majesty so closely.”
Whether the boy was called a bringer of disaster depended entirely on the attitude of those in power.
His Majesty’s health was failing.
The palace was clearly on its way to becoming the domain of the Crown Prince and Empress. If the Empress adopted the Ninth Prince from Consort Rong because of Princess Nanmo, his position would become very different indeed.
“He does resemble His Majesty,” the Empress said mildly.
Several consorts paused, various emotions flashing through their eyes.
“Little Eighth should be released from confinement as well. They are brothers and attend the same Imperial Academy. The two children should grow closer, don’t you agree, Consort Jing?” the Empress asked with a smile.
Consort Jing’s heart trembled. She lowered her eyes. “Your Majesty is correct.”
Shengsheng Zhou had remained silent throughout, doing nothing but playing cards and amusing the child as she listened quietly to the others speak.
Triumphant delight flashed through her eyes at the Empress’s words.
All those days massaging Imperial Mother’s shoulders and legs had not been wasted, she thought with emotion.
The Ninth Prince had not expected the Empress to speak on his behalf. He glanced at the woman whose brows and eyes closely resembled Imperial Sister’s and whose bearing radiated nobility. He could not name the feeling in his heart.
Once, driven out of his palace by hunger, he encountered the Empress’s palanquin on the road.
He remembered clearly how the exalted mother of the nation, beneath one person and above all others, had looked at him with extraordinary coldness.
That glance had treated him like an insect lower than dust. It was exactly the same as the gaze of her son, the current Crown Prince.
But now,
he suddenly felt she was not so frightening. Especially after seeing her stroke Shengsheng’s head with a gentle smile for the first time.
This person had given him everything.
With one hand, he clutched Shengsheng’s sleeve. In the other, he held the pastry she had secretly passed him and ate it in tiny bites.
*I must work hard to become a good person and repay Imperial Sister’s kindness.*
His grip tightened around Shengsheng’s sleeve as the young Weihe Song made the solemn vow in his heart.
The Energy Points from the “palace battle” Plot Point successfully gathered inside A-Pang.
Picking his nose, A-Pang regained a little strength and thought, *That actually worked?*
*A-Pang…* Shengsheng called.
*What?*
*If you pick your nose in my hair again, I’ll summon A-Xuan and have it pluck you bald.*
A-Pang: !!!∑(ﾟДﾟノ)ノ
*Think twice, Your Majesty! The villain did not leave you his secret weapon for this!*
Shengsheng snorted. Then her expression softened. Hooking a finger through its cord, she drew out the silver whistle from beneath her clothes and stroked the metal, still warm from her body.
She wondered how Fusheng Duan was doing.
Meanwhile, Fusheng, whom Shengsheng was thinking of–
“M-My lord, are you certain we’re going the right way?” one of Fusheng’s subordinates asked uncertainly.
“Hi, honey. Are you dating? I’m huge!”
Fusheng looked at the blond man buzzing incomprehensibly before him like a fly and impatiently dodged the man’s wandering arm.
After the group departed, only a corpse remained on the ground, its head and right hand severed with perfect precision.
Day one of wanting to go home: annoyed.
…
“Imperial Father, isn’t this pattern beautiful?”
The Emperor stroked his youngest daughter’s head. “Sheng’er is very thoughtful. Your embroidery has improved tremendously.”
Shengsheng pouted. “No. Fifth Sister embroidered this. When I visited her the other day, I saw that she had many pieces of embroidery. I asked about them out of curiosity and learned they were all for Imperial Father. She was too embarrassed to bring them to you, so I delivered this one for her.”
The Emperor studied it again with his slightly clouded eyes and finally recognized the extremely familiar needlework.
Come to think of it, he had not seen this daughter for a very long time.
He remembered the young Fifth Princess sitting on his knee and grinning foolishly with two front teeth missing. Nostalgia flashed through his eyes.
Shengsheng suppressed the successful smile threatening to rise to her lips and asked, “What is it, Imperial Father?”
The Emperor shook his head and instructed an attendant, “Summon the Fifth Princess.”
“Imperial Father knew it. How could you possibly embroider this well?” The Emperor tapped Shengsheng’s nose and smiled indulgently.
Shengsheng feigned anger. “Yes, yes, my embroidery is so terrible that I mustn’t frighten Imperial Father with it.”
In truth, that was not the case. Her embroidery was far better than the Fifth Princess’s.
Her skill had been beaten into her, ruler strike by ruler strike, by the finest embroiderer in the Zhu Kingdom. Other than Fusheng Duan, she would never embroider anything for anyone again. (The mangy-dog sachet for Siran Ming was an exception.)
That had been true before.
It remained true now.