Ex-Girlfriend – Chapter 33.2
by Little PandaVolume 2: Power Over Court and Country
The Deposed Empress 08
Covering The Heaven With One Hand
“Zhi’an truly understands my heart. Those people couldn’t hold back for even a day after the Left Chancellor was imprisoned and came to plead with me. If one didn’t know better, they’d think this was the Left Chancellor’s court.”
The Emperor snorted coldly, and both Qu Zhi’an and Qiu Peizhen remained silent.
As Qu Zhi’an and Qiu Peizhen left the hall together, Qiu Peizhen quietly congratulated Qu Zhi’an.
“Huai Cheng, what’s there to congratulate me on?”
“I’m giving an early congratulations to our esteemed Lord Qu on the upcoming promotion. The Emperor said you truly understand him. With your skills, moving up shouldn’t be a problem.”
Qiu Peizhen’s words weren’t meant to tease, but were sincere congratulations.
“I should be the one congratulating Huaicheng instead. This time going down to Jiangnan, you must be very careful. I heard the bandits are fierce, and the local officials aren’t doing their proper duties. Huaicheng, you’ll surely have a lot to worry about.”
“Taking on His Majesty’s worries is our duty.”
“That’s true indeed.”
Qu Zhi’an agreed, but was sighing in her heart.
Just as Xin Lan expected, the Left Chancellor was released from prison after just three days.
The Left Chancellor’s disciples and those who were on the same side as him submitted memorials daily, kneeling and begging, saying the emperor couldn’t slander a loyal minister. This angered the emperor so much that he threw the memorials around in the Imperial Study, but in the end, he grudgingly released the man.
This major incident not only made the emperor more determined in his resolve, but also let him see clearly just how many people in the court stood on the Left Chancellor’s side.
He noted them down one by one, waiting to remove them in the future.
Though the days seemed to pass without incident on the surface, things weren’t peaceful underneath.
Xin Lan’s medicinal herb shop had been well taken over by Ah Rou, and a pharmacist who used to work in the herb shop was kept on, working together with Ah Rou to maintain the shop.
Ah Rou was working hard to learn the trade, with Qu Zhi’an constantly giving her guidance, and she had learned quite a lot.
Xin Lan had told her what kind of items she needed, and Ah Rou was purchasing them for her.
It was late in the seventh month, and Great Heat (dashu, the 12th solar term in the traditional Chinese calendar, typically the hottest period of summer) had arrived.
The weather was getting more and more stuffy, and the Cold Palace wasn’t much cooler either.
The back palace (imperial harem) had returned to its former state, except the Empress had been replaced, Consort Man had fallen from power, and now there was a three-legged cauldron standing (power struggle), though the Empress’s faction appeared somewhat weaker.
Everyone had grown used to Consort Man’s disappearance, after all, the Former Empress had fallen from power in an instant too, and so did Consort Man.
Xin Lan was truly living a peaceful life, this place seemed forgotten, as if no disturbances could reach here.
But the more it was like this, the more suspicious she became.
She kept waiting, waiting for the emperor to make his move again, but the emperor had yet to take action.
Could he really have been so kind-hearted as to let her go?
Not planning to torment her, just intending to let her grow old and die in this place?
Xin Lan felt that, given Wu Yanqing’s personality, this should be impossible.
After being woken up by Ling Jiu one night, she knew that, just like how a dog can’t change its habit of eating feces (a Chinese idiom meaning bad habits are hard to break), Wu Yanqing wouldn’t let her off.
Her eyes carried suppressed anger, and her face was gloomy.
Since coming to this mission world, she didn’t know how many times she’d been woken up at night. It would have been fine if each time was for something urgent, but this time was different.
A stream of knockout smoke was blown in, and Xin Lan held her breath, pretending to be unconscious.
Someone pushed open the door and sneaked in. There was no movement outside, and Xin Lan thought Chunyue might have been affected too.
It was a man, who crept to her bedside and reached out to undo her clothes.
Xin Lan opened her eyes and, appearing ‘panicked and flustered,’ slammed her pillow at the man.
She used great force, and since this pillow wasn’t some soft cushion stuffed with cotton, it knocked the person unconscious in one hit.
Xin Lan got up and stuffed the person under her bed.
Ling Jiu: Host, the emperor has arrived, he’s at the door.
Xin Lan stood up, patted off the dust from herself, with suppression showing in her eyes and brows.
Is this emperor sick in the head or what, does he especially enjoy being greened? This time he’s so eager to catch someone in the act of adultery?
He truly deserves to be cuckolded by Consort Man, this kind of person should really die without descendants.
Using such dirty tactics once wasn’t enough, he actually used them twice.
At least the first time it was a woman, this time he actually sent a man, and the first thing he did was try to touch her chest.
Xin Lan was very angry, angry at being woken up, and even angrier at these disgusting actions.
She could barely contain her agitated heart anymore, wishing she could beat up the emperor right now to vent her anger.
Wu Yanqing brought only Mei’an with him, saying he wanted to come out for a walk, and just so happened to walk to the entrance of Biyue Palace.
“Speaking of which, I haven’t seen her in a long time, and I wonder if she’s truly repenting here with sincerity.”
Wu Yanqing sighed, but his eyes carried a slight smile.
“I’m sure she must be. Would this lowly servant knock on the door?”
Mei’an didn’t know why his master was in such a good mood tonight, wanting to visit this person in the Cold Palace, but since his master wished it, he just followed along.
Wu Yanqing nodded, and Mei’an went forward to knock on the door.
After knocking twice with no response, he tried pushing the door, and the door was pushed open the next moment.
Xin Lan’s eyes were dark and heavy, and she could hardly show any pleasant expression.
She remembered that before going to sleep, Chunyue had clearly bolted the main door shut, who knows how this person got in and even specially opened the door.
She had to use all her strength to control her violent rage to keep from greeting Wu Yanqing’s entrance with her fists.
Since he likes being greened so much, then she’ll wish for him to be cuckolded for his entire life.
When Wu Yanqing pushed open the door, he didn’t see the scene he had imagined, but instead saw Xin Lan sitting on the bed in her undergarments, staring straight at him as he entered.
In that instant, he almost couldn’t maintain his expression, looking at Xin Lan’s manner, as if she knew everything.
“Your Majesty really has leisure time, coming to my Biyue Palace so late at night for what purpose?”
Wu Yanqing was somewhat speechless, managing to squeeze out a “came to check on you” to this former principal wife.
Being stared at by those pitch-black eyes, he somehow felt the urge to flee in panic.
Come to think of it, it had been a long time since he had properly looked at this face.
“Now that you’ve seen, you can leave, right?”
Xin Lan suppressed her anger, unable to fake any pleasant expression, so she appeared somewhat wooden.
Wu Yanqing thought of his previous arrangements, and for some reason couldn’t bring himself to meet those eyes, nodded his head and hurriedly left.
The moment he stepped out the door, he turned back in confusion, wondering why the person he arranged wasn’t there?
He turned his head, and once again met those eyes, which now held a mocking expression, as if seeing through everything.
Wu Yanqing’s feelings were complicated, and rarely, a hint of regret arose in his heart.
He wanted Xin Lan to die here without dignity, to be humiliated, but when he came to see it with his own eyes, he suddenly felt somewhat reluctant.
Actually, she hadn’t done anything wrong, Wu Yanqing understood this in his heart.
At the beginning, he did have some genuine feelings for her, but now that things had come to this point, it was all because the Xin family brought it upon themselves.
If Xin Lan could hear his current thoughts, she would probably give a few cold laughs.
Some genuine feelings?
Does having some genuine feelings mean giving her sterilization medicine in the first year after she married into the family?
What kind of disgusting sincerity is this.
Xin Lan sat on the bed and dragged the man out from under it.
She kicked him awake, and the man, startled and remembering his mission, steeled his heart and decided to force himself on her.
Xin Lan stepped on his chest, pinning him down firmly.
“I don’t know how you got in, but you should know who I am. Even as a deposed empress, I’m not someone that people like you can disrespect.”
Xin Lan’s foot moved downward. The man tried to grab her foot but was violently kicked in the groin by Xin Lan, letting out a muffled groan and curling up.
“If you enjoy freely entering and exiting the imperial palace’s inner quarters (the restricted area where imperial women reside) so much, why not cleanse yourself and become a eunuch?”
Xin Lan’s foot pressed down with increasing force, and her fists were clenched so tight they made cracking sounds.
“Your Highness, spare me, please spare me!”
The man was wearing a palace guard’s uniform and begged like this, but his face was extremely dark with malice. He tried to grab Xin Lan’s foot to counter-attack, but Xin Lan grabbed his hair and smashed his head against the bedpost, knocking him unconscious.
Xin Lan stood up, dragged him and threw him at the entrance of Biyue Palace, then continued dragging him forward and dumped him not far away.
If she wasn’t worried that this person’s disappearance would alert the emperor, she would have killed him already.
Xin Lan turned around, bolted the main door of Biyue Palace, and saw Chunyue still lying on the bed. Since there was no danger anyway, Xin Lan didn’t wake her up.
She sat on the bed, waiting for the right moment to come.
Ling Jiu didn’t dare to talk to her at all – the host’s mood was already terrible, and now it was like whoever provoked her would die.
After about half a shichen (two hours), Ling Jiu said the emperor was asleep.
Xin Lan got up, leaped onto the roof, and headed towards her destination.
The first time she didn’t settle scores with him, but this time, even if she couldn’t quickly pull him down from that position up there, she at least needed to vent her anger.
Wu Yanqing was in light sleep when he sensed someone approaching.
He immediately opened his eyes alertly, but found he couldn’t move, and was even turned over by someone to lie on his side on the bed, facing the wall.
Just as he wanted to angrily rebuke, he discovered he couldn’t speak either.
His heart was greatly alarmed, and his eyes widened.
If this was an assassin coming to kill him, he would almost certainly lose his life.
But the person behind him just remained silent, carrying a cold and gloomy aura.
Wu Yanqing couldn’t speak, and had no way to beg for mercy or call for help.
Xin Lan actually really wanted to see his terrified and desperate expression, but since she couldn’t let Wu Yanqing see what she looked like, she had to give up on that idea.
“It seems the imperial palace isn’t all that secure after all.”
She deliberately made her voice coarse and strange, like a weird old man.
Wu Yanqing thought the same thing, as he lay there with his eyes staring at the wall, an intense unwillingness rising in his heart.
As the most noble person under heaven, how could he allow others to insult him so freely?
“I wonder how it feels to be emperor, it must be quite satisfying, right?”
Xin Lan chuckled softly and said, using the dagger to slice open Wu Yanqing’s thin undergarment.
A large area of skin was exposed, and Xin Lan stabbed the dagger into Wu Yanqing’s back, then pulled it out. Wu Yanqing’s already rigid body became even more tense from the sharp pain.
“I wonder what it would be like to peel off this human skin. Come to think of it, I don’t have any human skin collections yet. If I could collect a set of emperor’s skin, that would be perfect.”
Xin Lan’s fake voice was hoarse and rough, with a drawn-out tone carrying malice and sharpness, completely taking on the appearance of a villain.
Wu Yanqing was frustrated that he couldn’t speak, otherwise he would definitely have people come in to capture this absurd man and subject him to all forms of torture.
He wasn’t calm either – if his skin was really peeled off and he died from it, then all his planning these past few years would have been wasted.
Xin Lan wasn’t just talking – she really wanted to dig out this person’s heart and liver, but the time hadn’t come yet.
This scum should really thank the mercy of this mission that required only face-slapping, otherwise she would have beaten him to death when she first arrived.
Blood flowed from the wound on his back, but Xin Lan didn’t continue cutting. Instead, she used the tip of the knife to dip in the blood and wrote in Wu Kingdom’s common language on his back.
Wu Yanqing’s body became more sensitive due to the pain, and after that person performed what seemed like painting on his back, he followed the traces of the knife tip in his mind, piecing together the content which almost made him faint from anger.
“Been here for a visit”? (a common Chinese phrase written at tourist spots)
This person really dares!
Simply outrageous!
Xin Lan couldn’t see Wu Yanqing’s reaction and felt that torturing someone in single-player mode was a bit boring.
So she decided to let Wu Yanqing participate himself, and she had a brilliant idea that would definitely make Wu Yanqing remember this for life.
Since he likes to find people to mess with others so much, then he should experience that feeling himself properly.
Xin Lan’s knife tip moved downward, pressing against an unspeakable place.
“If I’m not careful, you’ll have to become a eunuch. This must be interesting – there’s never been an emperor who was a eunuch before. I remember you don’t seem to have any children yet, could it be that you’ve already been unable to perform?”
That coarse voice carried mockery, and Wu Yanqing’s face alternated between green and white.
He must kill this person!
“Since it’s just a useless decoration, there’s no need for it to exist.”
The knife tip made a light cut on it, and Wu Yanqing was so nervous he almost fainted.
Xin Lan felt his skin tense up and smiled like she was watching a good show.
So this dog creature knows how to be afraid too.
She used the knife tip to lift Wu Yanqing’s waistband, and when the skin was exposed, she had Ling Jiu apply mosaic censoring for her.
She didn’t want to see this trash’s body at all, to avoid hurting her eyes.
The mosaic function was quite useful – in the next moment, instead of seeing what she didn’t want to see, there was a large area of blurred mosaic.
She could vaguely make out what was where through that, and after putting the knife back in its sheath, Xin Lan jabbed Wu Yanqing with the pointed end.
Wu Yanqing’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, his body trembling non-stop.
This person actually dares!
If he knew who this person was, he would definitely have them chopped into pieces and fed to dogs!
How could Xin Lan show any mercy – her vengeful actions directly caused Wu Yanqing to suffer.
Xin Lan couldn’t see it, and the mosaic protection made her very pleased as she pushed the dagger deeper and deeper.
It was so satisfying to put physical pressure on someone.
How could she get rid of the anger in her heart without teaching this kind of person a lesson?
Using someone’s own methods taste of their own medicine was the most satisfying way.
If Xin Lan wasn’t afraid of being exposed, she would have tied this person up and thrown him in some shady place.
Let this high and mighty emperor taste what it’s like to have no dignity.
See if he dares to use such methods to frame people again – once wasn’t enough, he did it twice. She managed to avoid it this time, but who knows what vicious scheme he’ll come up with next.
The more Xin Lan thought about it, the angrier she became, and the irritation from not sleeping well surged up again.
The small dagger had already been completely pushed into Wu Yanqing’s body.
Wu Yanqing’s face was twisted and deathly pale, sweat dripping from his forehead, his clothes soaked through.
Xin Lan felt some satisfaction and laughed mockingly at Wu Yanqing.
“It seems the emperor’s body isn’t much different from those people in dark alleys. If you were thrown out there, I’m afraid you’d be devoured without even bone fragments left. People might even praise you – Your Majesty truly is a dragon among men, managing to be better than others even as someone from the lowest ranks.”
She was deliberately disgusting Wu Yanqing out, since Wu Yanqing came to disgust her in the middle of the night.
Wu Yanqing was almost fainting from anger, frantically cursing the person behind him in his heart, directing all venomous curses at this person behind him.
Xin Lan grabbed the emperor’s hand, forcing him to use his own fingers to push in the knife handle that hadn’t fully entered his body, and then stuffed in one of his own fingers as well.
What extreme humiliation!
Xin Lan folded her arms and withdrew her hand in disgust.
Thankfully she hadn’t touched it – just thinking about it made her feel sick.
A cold sneer appeared on her face – this was just a small punishment. When Wu Yanqing has nothing left, he’ll really suffer.
This kind of person deserves no sympathy. If he had any real ability, he would go after the Xin family or the Left Chancellor directly. Always bullying the original host and even going after her – what kind of man is that, what kind of ability is that?
There are thousands of types of people, but some people just don’t deserve to be called human.
Wu Yanqing suffered both physical and psychological blows, and for a moment couldn’t catch his breath, fainting from anger.
Xin Lan had nothing else to use and didn’t want to touch Wu Yanqing with her hands, so she simply pushed his finger further into his body. When Ling Jiu indicated the tearing was quite severe, she dusted off her hands, got onto the roof eaves, covered the tiles, and quietly left.
Satisfying.
The author has something to say:
Prosperity, democracy, civility, harmony, patriotism, dedication, integrity, friendliness, freedom, equality, justice, rule of law. Firmly practice the core socialist values, support the comprehensive internet cleansing campaign, love the country and love the Party, my wish is world peace (crying in frustration)
LP: Re-translated on December 13, 2024
Hehe~ Author-san, having that scumbag have his as*hole ruined is fitting, don’t worry about it~
Very deserved for this trash.
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