Your Majesty is Poisonous – Chapter 129
by Little PandaThe Empress Dowager Refuses
Yao Xi saw that the time was almost up, so she stood and took her leave of the listeners.
The shopkeeper came over to persuade her. “Why doesn’t the young master have a meal in my shop? You can order whatever we have, anything you like.” He was extremely reluctant to let Yao Xi leave. Once Yao Xi left, the patrons would disperse to their homes, and the teahouse would fall quiet and desolate once more.
“Thank you for your kind offer, Boss. However, I promised my wife that I would return home to eat when the time came…” Yao Xi smiled apologetically at the shopkeeper, then raised her voice to address the crowd. “Until tomorrow, everyone. I’ll take my leave first.”
The few eunuchs who had followed her out of the palace were startled when they heard her refer to the Empress Dowager as her wife. Junior Director Yao’s guts were truly massive! To dare say such a thing—did he think he was the Late Emperor himself?
Several young ladies sitting in the front row on the first floor felt their hearts shatter into pieces. Had Young Master Wan already taken a wife?
A considerate girl tried to comfort her heartbroken friend. “Think of it this way. Young Master Wan is handsome, but he’s so short! As the saying goes, ‘fair skin hides three flaws, but short height ruins it all’1.”
The sad girl rolled her eyes at her friend. “He’s still so young! He’s bound to grow taller!”
Stepping down from the stage, Yao Xi caught their conversation and laughed. “I’ll take your auspicious words to heart, ladies. I’ll certainly do my best to grow a bit taller.” After cracking the joke, she was about to head out when she turned and found a burly man blocking her path.
“Hold on, Young Master! My mistress would like to invite you to the private room on the second floor for a chat. She only caught the latter half of your first story today, so she wants you to tell her yesterday’s first half in person.” The man’s tone was incredibly abrasive, his head tilted back so he was practically looking down his nose at Yao Xi.
Yao Xi looked up at the second floor. Scanning the row of private rooms, she indeed spotted a middle-aged woman adorned in splendid jewels, staring down at her with a blank expression. “My deepest apologies. If your mistress is curious, she may ask the other patrons.” With that, Yao Xi attempted to bypass the burly man and continue toward the entrance.
“If you knew who my mistress was, Young Master, perhaps you wouldn’t be so rude,” the man sneered, grabbing Yao Xi’s slender arm with smug arrogance.
Heh. Yao Xi couldn’t help but sneer in her mind. If you knew who my wife was, perhaps you wouldn’t dare to be so rude. She threw the man’s words right back at him in her thoughts. However, she had no wish to stir up trouble. Seeing that the few eunuchs were getting restless and about to rush over, she quickly shot them a look, signaling them to stay calm.
Meng Li’an hurried over anyway. He didn’t resort to violence; instead, he put on a friendly smile and said to the man, “Why can’t we discuss this calmly? Everything can be worked out with a little talk, right?” Smiling all the while, he grasped the wrist of the hand that was tightly gripping Yao Xi’s arm, then secretly exerted his internal force.
The pain forced the burly man to let go of Yao Xi immediately. He knew he’d run into a master; if he didn’t let go, his hand would likely be ruined. But desperate to save face, he kept his expression unchanged and blustered, “Since the young master is unwilling, I won’t force you.” Though he said this, his eyes drifted anxiously toward the second-floor private room. Failing to bring the young master up meant he’d surely face a severe punishment from his mistress.
“After you, Young Master.” Meng Li’an stepped between the man and Yao Xi, gesturing for her to lead the way.
As Yao Xi walked out, she was still puzzled by how agreeable the man had suddenly become. Once they boarded the carriage, she couldn’t help but ask Meng Li’an.
“I threatened him by pressing a small knife against his wrist,” Meng Li’an explained. “I told him I’d cut him if he didn’t let go!” He revealed a tiny blade tip from his sleeve and smiled. “My body is weak, so I’m used to carrying something for self-defense.” Unless it was absolutely necessary, he would never let Yao Xi find out he knew martial arts.
“Impressive!” Yao Xi gave him a thumbs-up in admiration. Threats were indeed far better than getting into a fight.
“It was nothing. Two of the attendants accompanying you out of the palace are skilled fighters, so there’d be nothing to fear even if we got into a fight,” Meng Li’an said with a smile. His words were true; Yao Xi didn’t actually need his help. How could the Empress Dowager not have planned everything out? He had only rushed to her rescue, ignoring her warning glances, because he wanted Yao Xi to owe him a favor.
A favor owed by Yao Xi might very well become his saving grace one day.
The moment the carriage stopped back at the palace, Yao Xi leaped down and dashed toward the main hall. She was not sure if she was late. Telling time in ancient times was truly inconvenient, and she hadn’t mastered the divine skill of looking up at the sun and guessing the time with near-perfect accuracy.
Yet the moment she saw the Empress Dowager’s face, Yao Xi had her answer. She was late, and not just by a little bit.
“Your Highness… did I return late?” Yao Xi shuffled forward and quietly closed the doors. She stood by the entrance with her hands clasped behind her back, like a child who’d done something wrong, not daring to move an inch.
Wan Bi could no longer recall how she had endured those two shichen. It felt as though she had traversed a long, lonely epoch by herself—a terrifying prospect to look back on.
“So you do know you’re late!” Wan Bi cast a reproachful look at Yao Xi. Her gloomy mood instantly brightened the moment she saw the girl return.
“Was I very late?” Yao Xi only dared to step forward when she saw that Her Highness’s expression had softened.
Wan Bi let out a cold snort. “Half a quarter of an hour!”
“Oh, that’s not too bad then. Not too bad at all.” Yao Xi breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing how dreadful the Empress Dowager’s countenance had been when she first walked in, she’d thought she was late by an hour or two! To think it was only half a quarter of an hour.
Not too bad? Wan Bi rolled her eyes in annoyance. To her, every second had felt like a year, alright? Aside from her anger, she felt a trace of bitterness. It seemed that from beginning to end, she was the only one suffering from their separation. “Heartless little thing,” Wan Bi muttered under her breath.
“What did you say, Your Highness?” Yao Xi didn’t catch her words.
“Nothing.” Seeing how drenched in sweat Yao Xi was from her run, Wan Bi couldn’t bring herself to stay angry. With a pang of tenderness, she said, “Go take a bath and get ready to eat.”
While Yao Xi went to the washroom to bathe, Wan Bi ordered her attendants to summon the most senior eunuch among those who had accompanied Yao Xi out of the palace.
“Tell this bereaved one everything that transpired after you left the palace, down to the absolute smallest detail!” Wan Bi sat regally in her chair, holding her teacup as she spoke in a slow, measured tone.
The eunuch knelt on the floor and reported honestly, “After leaving the palace, Eunuch Yao went straight to the teahouse. It was packed to the brim with people, all of whom had apparently come specifically for him. When the shopkeeper approached to ask for his name, Eunuch Yao lied for some reason and claimed to be named Wan Xi.”
“Wan Xi?” Wan Bi couldn’t help but lower her head and smile. She could guess what Yao Xi had been thinking when she chose that name. A wife taking her husband’s surname… her silly girl was really outdoing herself. “Go on!” Wan Bi listened, highly amused.
“Afterward, the eunuch began his storytelling in earnest. He spoke for quite a while,” the eunuch recalled.
“Oh? What kind of story did he tell?” Wan Bi asked, her curiosity piqued.
The eunuch thought back carefully. “It was about a fake eunuch who snuck into the palace and ended up marrying seven wives.”
My, my! Wan Bi let out a soft sneer.
Her little eunuch wasn’t just doing well; she was downright ambitious! Seven wives? Could Yao Xi’s tiny frame even handle that? She couldn’t even satisfy the single one right in front of her, yet she dared to dream of seven?!
Taking a deep breath, Wan Bi suppressed her fury and continued listening to the eunuch.
“After finishing the story, the eunuch was in a hurry to return to the palace, so he excused himself by saying he had to rush home to eat with his wife…” The eunuch didn’t dare hide a single word, recounting everything he had seen and heard. He spoke with trepidation, fearing that if the Empress Dowager unleashed her fury upon Eunuch Yao, he’d be swept up as collateral damage.
Hearing this, Wan Bi’s expression softened once more. Just listening to a servant’s report had caused her emotions to swing wildly back and forth. That little goblin Yao Xi! She really made one love and hate her at the same time; the more she loved her, the angrier she became.
“But a small incident occurred when the eunuch was stepping down from the stage. Someone tried to force him to the second floor to tell a story, and they nearly came to blows. Fortunately, that person was talked down by a junior eunuch from our palace, so he let Eunuch Yao go.”
“Someone laid hands on Yao Xi?” A tiny flame of vengeance ignited in Wan Bi’s heart. The matter of Yao Xi imagining marrying seven wives wasn’t settled yet, but that was a private affair between them. External grudges, however, must still be avenged!
“To reply to Your Highness, it wasn’t exactly a physical fight,” the eunuch explained. “It was just a burly man who grabbed and pulled Eunuch Yao once or twice.”
Having served in Ning’an Palace for at least five or six years, the eunuch understood the Empress Dowager’s temperament all too well. If the Empress Dowager truly lost her temper with someone, that person would surely end up dead or injured. He didn’t dare hide anything when she questioned him, but he couldn’t bear it and wanted to make some excuses for those people.
“Investigate this immediately and find out who it was!” Wan Bi slammed her teacup down in anger. “That’s enough. You may leave.”
“This slave obeys.” The eunuch backed out.
When Yao Xi came out of her bath, she kept her hands behind her back. She walked over with a mysterious air and said to the Empress Dowager, “Your Highness, guess what good thing I brought back for you?”
“What is it?” Wan Bi couldn’t muster any enthusiasm. She sat in the dining hall, facing a table full of delicious food, yet she didn’t have a shred of appetite. Seven wives? It really infuriated her. Of course, she knew Yao Xi was only talking big during her storytelling and could never make it a reality in this lifetime, but Yao Xi shouldn’t have even had such thoughts!
“Ta-da!” Yao Xi produced an exquisite small water cup with a hook from behind her back.
“Your Highness, do you still remember the canary I gave you? I bought a tiny water cup for it. Isn’t it adorable? But I haven’t seen that bird for a long time. Where are you keeping it, Your Highness?”
“Oh. That bird,” Wan Bi said resentfully. “I gave it to the kitchen to test for poison. It’s probably been poisoned to death by now.” The bird wasn’t dead; she’d found it too noisy and sent it to Ning’an Palace for Yuanqian to look after. But Yao Xi’s gift was truly something else—how was this for her? It was clearly a gift for the bird!
“Poisoned to death…” A chill rose in Yao Xi’s heart. What a cute little bird! She must never give the Empress Dowager any living creatures again.
“Why don’t you tell this bereaved one what story you told during your storytelling today?” Wan Bi didn’t feel like beating around the bush and went straight to the point. “I heard it was about a fake eunuch who married seven wives. I must say, you have quite the lofty ambition, Eunuch Yao!”
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