Chapter 25
Chapter 25
The entire group knelt in Shengsheng Zhou’s little courtyard, packed tightly together and scarcely daring to breathe.
Their noble and supreme emperor was furious.
“Shengsheng, come here,” Siran Ming said heavily.
This was no time for Shengsheng to play games with him. She went to his side at once.
“What happened?”
His gaze swept over her from head to toe. Only after confirming that she bore no injuries did he relax.
He already knew that this was the plot event Shengsheng had repeatedly rehearsed over the past few days.
But the people he had just seen appeared to be targeting more than Zhiyu Jiang.
That was a serious problem.
Qingwan Xie suddenly whimpered from among those kneeling. As though grievously wronged, she pressed a hand to her wounded left cheek and gazed up at Siran with tears brimming in her beautiful eyes.
He behaved as if she did not exist.
“Be quiet. We were not asking you.”
Qingwan swayed.
She could not believe that her emperor would treat her this way.
Shengsheng quietly recounted everything that had happened, then added, “Miss Jiang has been staying with me this entire time.”
The implication was obvious.
Zhiyu had not even returned to her assigned residence. How could she possibly have abused the maid there?
Qingwan trembled and shot the kneeling maid beside her a vicious look.
Feeling that gaze, the maid scrambled forward.
“Your Majesty! This servant did not lie! If I have spoken falsely, may heaven strike me with lightning!”
Crack!
Without warning, a bolt of lightning split the clear sky.
Everyone jumped.
What?
Shengsheng looked compassionately at the maid, who was now too frightened to speak.
*See? What did I tell you? Call the heroine an idiot and lightning will strike you.*
Siran’s fingers moved beneath his sleeves.
He had called Zhiyu an idiot countless times in his thoughts.
Shengsheng glanced at Zhiyu, who was staring curiously into the sky.
Zhiyu understood her cue at once.
“Your Majesty, I will swear an oath as well. If I ever abused this maid, may the sun shine brilliantly!”
The moment she finished, clouds massed across the sky that had produced only a single peal of thunder. A fine rain began to fall.
Even Zhiyu froze.
Rain made feathers wet and sticky. Duan-bird decisively flew into Shengsheng’s sleeve to take shelter.
Shengsheng surveyed the speechless crowd in satisfaction.
*You ignorant mortals never expected this, did you? Tremble! Behold the power of the heroine, darling of the world!*
She laughed wildly inside.
Was it absurd?
Of course it was.
In the original novel, the heroine cleared her name by clinging directly to heaven’s mighty leg.
When Shengsheng first read this scene, she nearly choked on her own saliva. She had suspected that the author could not invent a reasonable escape and had simply forced another cheat ability onto the heroine.
Palace attendants hurried forward with oiled-paper umbrellas to shield Siran.
“Your Majesty,” Shan Hai prompted.
Siran’s lips moved.
“You have all seen the truth. Does anyone still wish to defend her?”
Silence answered.
No one was stupid enough to argue against heaven itself.
“Beat her to death.”
The order left Siran’s mouth without emotion. He turned and walked away.
Behind him, the condemned maid collapsed to the ground, her mind blank. She seemed unable to believe that this was how her life would end.
Shengsheng waved to the stunned Zhiyu, took her hand, and followed.
Before leaving, she glanced at Qingwan.
The woman’s face was pale as a ghost.
Once the conspiracy was fully investigated, Siran would most likely expel Qingwan from the palace in a fury born of love.
Because Qingwan Xie was Shan Hai’s niece, Siran Ming would spare her life.
For a woman who dreamed of becoming an imperial consort, however, expulsion from the palace might be crueler than death.
The rain continued until the group was halfway back to Qianhe Palace. Then the drizzle ceased and the clouds parted, revealing a deep blue sky washed clean.
“Everyone leave us.”
Outside the study, Siran dismissed his attendants. Shan even guided Zhiyu Jiang away to a side hall.
Only Siran and Shengsheng Zhou remained.
The study was enormous, yet for some reason it suddenly felt cramped. Shengsheng found it difficult to draw a full breath.
The incense burning in the hall carried the same scent as Siran’s robes.
Every time Shengsheng left the study, Zhiyu complained that she smelled entirely of Xiao Ming.
“Shengsheng, grind ink for me.”
Siran’s voice came from nearby, unusually gentle.
Shengsheng shook her head to clear it. Perhaps the rain had chilled her, because her thoughts felt muffled and heavy.
“All right.”
Her answer echoed through the room.
She had worked as his ink-grinder for several days now, but today an inexplicable exhaustion settled over her.
After only a few turns of the inkstick, her arm became weak and sore.
Then, as if her body wished to confirm the thought, all strength abandoned her. She collapsed.
By the time Shengsheng understood what was happening, she had fallen into a firm embrace saturated with the scent of imperial ambergris.
She frowned and tried to push herself upright.
A voice stopped her, forceful yet tender.
“Don’t move. If you’re tired, sleep for a while.”
“I’ll watch over you.”
His words seemed to carry magic. Shengsheng’s heavy eyelids surrendered.
An instant later, she was deeply asleep.
***
When Shengsheng opened her eyes again, the sea of red before her nearly blinded her.
What was this?
She forced her still-weak body upright and examined the unfamiliar room.
Red dominated everything.
On a round table nearby, an exquisitely carved candle burned. Its elaborate patterns did not prevent Shengsheng from recognizing it as a wedding candle.
She stared for two seconds.
Only then did she notice the unnatural weight on her head. It felt as though she wore ten pounds of gold bars.
Frowning, she reached up.
The clear clink of iron chains immediately drew her attention elsewhere.
Shengsheng stared in disbelief at the chain around her pale wrist. It was as thick as her thumb.
After a long silence, she began to wonder whether something had gone terribly wrong with her recent efforts to educate Siran.
She sighed. Sympathy briefly crossed her face, then vanished beneath resolve.
*A-Pang, I want to redeem medicine that will restore his memories.*
Silence.
The bright answer she expected never came.
Shengsheng’s expression changed.
*A-Pang? A-Pang?*
*Are you there?*
Her own voice echoed inside her mind, unanswered.
Panic rose.
Shengsheng tried to climb out of bed and leave, but the door moved the instant she shifted.
The unhurried footsteps of an adult man approached.
She pulled back the foot she had lowered from the bed.
The chain around her ankle chimed.
The footsteps paused.
Then a familiar voice came from beyond the bed curtains.
“You’re awake.”