Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Perhaps she still could not set her mind at ease, because several days later, My Lady came to see me in secret.
She looked much thinner than before. Against her enormous belly, her body seemed especially slender and frail, as though a single gust of wind could carry her away.
When she saw me bracing myself against the wall and slowly practicing how to walk, she hurried over to support me, but I sidestepped and avoided her.
“Take care not to tire yourself, Your Highness.”
At my words, My Lady’s arm froze in midair.
Tears quickly gathered in her eyes. A dull pain twisted through my chest, but I still hardened my heart and refused her.
“You are already an exalted consort. Why would you still concern yourself with a lowly maid like me?”
“Little Cat…”
The beauty before me drew her brows together, clear tears falling in drops. “The dead are gone. Those of us who are alive should look forward.”
Her pleading gaze made my heart feel as if it were being carved apart.
Looking back on the past decade and more, My Lady had shown me kindness.
But the master and mistress had shown me the same kindness.
I did not know how I should treat this child, just as I did not know how I should treat My Lady as she was now.
Everyone else was dead, yet she had stepped over their bones to ascend to power. She even stroked her belly and boasted to me, “Once I give birth to a son, His Majesty will raise me to Empress, and my child will become the Crown Prince…
“Little Cat, aren’t you happy for me?”
“…”
I looked at the happiness glowing across her face, and my feelings grew unbearably complicated.
“Then what about the Late Crown Prince?”
“Who?”
She stared blankly for a while, as though recalling that name took great effort.
“You mean Zhao Rang?”
“The Late Crown Prince has barely been laid to rest, yet you have already remarried another man. Isn’t that enough to chill anyone’s heart?”
My Lady dismissed my questioning. “No matter who becomes His Majesty, I am destined to become Empress.
“In the future, whether you want to be a female Hanlin Academician or a female general, you may do as you please. Isn’t that good?”
At her words, waves of disappointment swallowed me whole.
“No need.”
“Why?” she asked in surprise. “Haven’t you always longed to enter court like a man?”
“The tendons in my hands and feet have already been severed. I can no longer draw a bow, nor can I shoot an arrow.”
I lowered my head. “Zhao Rui does not want me to be a soldier or a commander. He only wants me to be a slave, a whore…”
“…”
As I wept bitterly, I thought My Lady would be just as heartbroken.
But never in my wildest dreams did I expect that the beauty before me not only would not cry, but that her expression would rapidly turn cold instead.
“Look at that pathetic face of yours. What a waste of the ten-odd years I spent raising you.”
“Sister…”
“Don’t call me sister!”
It was as if she had suddenly become an entirely different person, sharp and cold. “I have no sister as stupid as you!
“How many times have I told you? You must not address His Majesty by name!
“Doing this will only implicate me, and implicate the child in my womb!”
“…”
Seeing me struck dumb, My Lady quickly regained her composure and became the dignified Consort Liu once more. “If you want to die, then die sooner.
“In any case, everyone in my Su Family is already dead. We are not lacking one more troublesome ancestor like you.”
With that, she gave a light wave of her hand, and two rows of brocade-clad eunuchs filed in, surrounding her and escorting her all at once onto the carriage.
Only I remained where I was, dazed.
In my ears, that vicious curse still echoed again and again.