Chapter 21
Chapter 21
Siran Ming regarded the several large bumps on Shengsheng Zhou’s forehead and the bird dozing on her shoulder. His expression grew steadily more complicated.
So she had refused to sleep with him last night because she wanted to fight with a bird?
Had the creature resisted because she was determined to name him Pecker?
Brother Bird, had she ultimately gotten her way?
Feeling the heat of Siran’s stare, the little bird shifted and turned his back on him.
Then, apparently deciding that presenting his backside was improper, he rotated again and settled sideways.
With Qingming behind them, there were no immediate plot events left to complete.
*So next, Zhiyu Jiang follows Siran back to the palace, and Qingwan Xie–the female court official serving at his side–tries every possible way to make her life difficult?*
A-Pang cautiously poked their head out. They wanted to pet the bird but seemed a little shy. Only after hearing Shengsheng’s question did they fly in front of her and nod.
[Yes. But with the heroine’s current intelligence… can she actually defeat Qingwan Xie?]
Shengsheng considered the matter.
Would her silly daughter truly survive the vicious supporting woman from the original novel without being swallowed whole?
*I’m allowed to help so long as I don’t disrupt the plot, right?*
A-Pang nodded.
Only then did Shengsheng relax. She stroked the head of Zhiyu, who was stuffing sugar-roasted chestnuts into her mouth and looking none too clever.
Zhiyu had no idea why Shengsheng was petting her, but she rubbed sweetly against her palm.
Across from them, Siran held an ancient volume and stared in disbelief.
Why was this fool the heroine?
Why would he fall in love with her and keep her at home as a decorative mascot?
The mention of Qingwan clarified one point, at least. She was evidently an official close to him–and not a gentle-tempered one.
Siran quietly began making plans.
***
After three days on the road, the party finally reached Anming, the imperial capital of the Yong Kingdom.
Shengsheng had no opportunity to admire the foreign architecture. They went straight into the palace.
“Your Majesty!”
An elderly eunuch hurried toward Siran the moment he appeared. He dropped to his knees, tears streaming down his face.
“You have finally returned! When this old servant heard that Your Majesty had fallen from a cliff, I wished I could have suffered in your place!”
Siran looked at Shan Hai, who was clearly even older than in his memories, and pressed his lips together.
Everyone he knew had changed.
Only the towering, solemn palace remained as noble and ancient as ever.
Not until that moment did Siran understand how profoundly he no longer belonged here.
“Your Majesty?” Shan called anxiously when he received no answer.
“We are fine. Rise, Uncle Shan.”
Siran reached down to help him.
The long-abandoned form of address brought fresh tears to Shan’s eyes.
His Majesty had not called him that in all the years since ascending the throne.
Once the others had been settled, Shengsheng naturally followed Siran. She was, after all, the palace maid he had brought from the Zhu Kingdom.
Zhiyu had never known what status she held on the journey. Now that she had lost her memory, she understood even less, so she trailed behind Shengsheng.
Siran had initially planned to place her somewhere out of the way. At present, however, he needed her for certain matters and silently permitted her to follow.
He had beaten Shengsheng to the pawnshop and redeemed the jade pendant. Therefore, he owed Zhiyu nothing.
At the entrance to Qianhe Palace, he stopped.
The residence felt both foreign and familiar.
In his memories, it belonged to his aged, muddleheaded father.
Now it was his.
Sensing his unease, Shengsheng used her wide sleeves as cover and gently squeezed his hand.
The delicate warmth against his palm scattered Siran’s uncertainty like clouds before the sun.
Siran Ming turned his head slightly and smiled at her.
Eight perfect teeth flashed beneath the red palace walls. He looked exceptionally handsome.
Shengsheng Zhou glanced once, then looked away.
*What a shameless flirt.*
Truthfully, Shengsheng rather liked Siran after his memory loss.
Compared with the tyrant he had been, he now seemed like a half-grown boy. He looked clever but was secretly rather foolish. Whatever mystery and danger he had first projected vanished the moment he whined at Shengsheng to peel him one more pomegranate.
Had Siran truly been like this when he was young?
If so, what a pity.
What could transform a graceful youth into a tyrant who reached for murder whenever anything displeased him?
“Your Majesty!”
They had barely entered when a tearful cry floated toward them.
A white figure came running from the distance with movements of carefully cultivated elegance.
*Is that Qingwan Xie?* Shengsheng asked in astonishment.
A-Pang confirmed it.
Shengsheng looked at Zhiyu Jiang, clean and lovely as a magnolia, then at the coldly beautiful woman approaching from the opposite direction. Suddenly, she understood why Qingwan had persecuted the heroine so viciously in the original novel.
Zhiyu resembled Yanyan Yu, but beyond that, her unusually pure air must have made Qingwan feel instantly threatened.
Now that amnesia had made her even more innocent, the effect was overwhelming.
Almost at once, Qingwan’s gaze swept like a searching beam toward Zhiyu, who was hiding beside Shengsheng.
“Your Majesty, thank heaven you are unharmed! When this servant heard that you had fallen from a cliff, she wished she could have taken your place!”
Qingwan dropped to her knees. Her lovely face crumpled with grief, and tears glistened in her upturned eyes.
Any man in the world might have gathered her into his arms and comforted her tenderly.
Unfortunately, Siran was not yet a man in the ways that mattered. Within, he remained a youth who believed love and death were the only things one must never betray.
Besides, he had already heard precisely the same speech once today.
He gave her a single glance, withdrew his gaze, and walked inside without acknowledging her.
Qingwan had spent the entire day perfecting her appearance.
She remained kneeling in silence.
After rising and smoothing her skirts, Qingwan finally behaved as though she had noticed Shengsheng and Zhiyu.
“May I ask which young lady fell from the cliff with His Majesty? As one of the people who serves him, Qingwan must thank her properly.”
Her words sounded utterly sincere.
Although she addressed both women, her eyes remained locked on Zhiyu. Shengsheng might as well have been invisible.
Siran, who had already walked away, abruptly came back.
Under everyone’s startled gaze, he wrapped an arm around the bewildered Zhiyu’s shoulders and told Qingwan, “This young lady.”
Joy blossomed in Shengsheng’s heart.
*Xiao Ming has grown up! He knows how to advance the plot all by himself. Mother is so proud!*
Siran’s grip made Zhiyu’s shoulder ache. She looked up at his unreadable face.
“Xiao Ming, what’s wrong?”
Qingwan’s suspicion hardened into certainty.
From the first glance, she had recognized this woman as the exact likeness of the wretch in the portrait His Majesty kept hidden.
And now the two of them even shared an intimate nickname.
Shameless creature.
How dared she address His Majesty that way? What gave her the right?
No matter how viciously Qingwan cursed inside, Siran remained present. Her face retained a gentle, composed smile.
“And who might this younger sister be?”
At last, she turned toward the woman she had instinctively ignored.
Shengsheng curtsied.
“Sister Qingwan, this servant is a palace maid His Majesty brought back from the Zhu Kingdom.”
Qingwan’s pupils contracted.
Was this one here to steal her position?