Your Majesty is Poisonous – Chapter 130
by Little PandaThe Empress Dowager Refuses
Yao Xi knew the Empress Dowager must have questioned the eunuchs who accompanied her out of the palace, and mistakenly assumed she was projecting herself onto Wei Xiaobao in her storytelling. Her decision to tell 《The Deer and the Cauldron》1 was entirely because she found the story amusing. Besides, she was already living in the imperial palace and had served as a eunuch herself, so speaking of the matters within those walls came second nature to her.
As for the sensitive plotlines from the original work—such as resisting the Qing to restore the Ming, or a demonic woman from Divine Dragon Island posing as the Empress Dowager—she had cut them all out entirely. Although the Qing Dynasty was something that would occur long after the demise of Daxing, she didn’t dare mention a single word of of it now. Rebelling against the imperial court was a heinous, treasonous crime, and the trope of a demonic woman impersonating an Empress Dowager could easily stir up trouble for Her Highness, who already bore the reputation of being a Demon Empress.
Yao Xi believed she’d been thoroughly circumspect, steering clear of any potential dangers, but she’d never expected the fire to start in her own backyard…
“Your Highness. The one who married seven wives is the fake eunuch in the story, not me!” Yao Xi said, attentively serving dishes to the Empress Dowager. “In this life and every lifetime hereafter, I only want Your Highness.”
“Is that so? Or is it that the Eunuch finds having only this bereaved one too great a grievance, and thus took the opportunity of storytelling to indulge in the fantasy of being surrounded by beauties?” Wan Bi spared Yao Xi a cool glance, placing a generous portion of food into her bowl. “In this bereaved one’s view, seven is far too few. Why not change it to seventy? Eat more, Eunuch. If your body isn’t strong enough, you’ll hardly be able to enjoy so many beauties!”
“Your Highness, please don’t be angry anymore.” Yao Xi held a morsel of food to the Empress Dowager’s lips. “Every time you get angry, you forget to eat. If this continues, you’ll fall ill. If Your Highness is unhappy, I can simply tell another story. Surely you know my feelings for you; is there any need to get jealous over this?”
“Of course there is!” Wan Bi pouted as she argued with Yao Xi, yet she still obediently opened her mouth to eat what was fed to her. Romantic jealousy seemed entirely beyond her control. Rationally, she believed in Yao Xi’s love for her, but she still couldn’t help but feel jealous over all kinds of things.
“Alright, alright,” Yao Xi chuckled. “Whatever Your Highness wishes. In any case, I’ll always coax you.”
“That eunuch in your story is truly not yourself?” Wan Bi couldn’t bear to lose her temper at Yao Xi, but the matter still sat like a thorn in her heart.
Yao Xi gave a wry smile and said, “Didn’t the reporting eunuch tell Your Highness? The fake eunuch in the story was born in a brothel. His mother was a courtesan from Yangzhou, and his father’s identity remains a mystery. If I truly saw him as myself, why would I concoct such a pitiful background? I’d have to harbor a massive grudge against my own birth parents to do that!”
Hearing Yao Xi say this, Wan Bi finally let it go completely. However, as Yao Xi mentioned her birth parents, she couldn’t help but ask, “Can you truly remember nothing at all from when you were little?”
“Why do you always ask about my childhood, Your Highness?” Although a smile remained on Yao Xi’s face and she didn’t pause in serving the Empress Dowager, her heart instantly tightened.
The Empress Dowager might occasionally act on impulse and lose her head in matters of affection, but her mind was exceptionally sharp in all other affairs. Had Her Highness noticed something strange about her? Did she suspect she wasn’t Sun Xibao at all?
She had confessed everything to Her Highness, and given the Empress Dowager’s way of doing things, she would definitely have sent someone to the Sun family to verify it. Sun Xibao had never received any schooling, yet she knew how to write and calculate. The Empress Dowager must have noticed this discrepancy as well…
“It’s nothing. This bereaved one simply wished to hear you speak of your past, to recover the memories of those years when I was not by your side,” Wan Bi replied evasively. Unless she actually found Yao Xi’s biological parents, she had no intention of letting her know that she wasn’t a child of the Sun family.
Yao Xi was suddenly deeply moved by the Empress Dowager’s words. How deeply must Her Highness love her to regret the years they’d missed! In truth, Yao Xi also wished to know of Wan Bi’s past, but the extermination of the Empress Dowager’s maternal clan was a matter of public knowledge. She didn’t wish to dredge up those painful memories.
“I did have a nightmare last night, though,” Yao Xi said, changing the subject.
“What nightmare? Why didn’t you wake this bereaved one?” Seeing that Yao Xi was so focused on serving her that she’d neglected herself, Wan Bi picked up a piece of food Yao Xi liked and fed it to her. In this way, they shared an incredibly sweet yet rather fussy meal, using their own chopsticks to feed each other.
Yao Xi tilted her head, trying to recall. Human memory of dreams always seemed fleeting; she had to ponder for a long while before remembering a fragment that had startled her awake. “A terrifying villain was chasing me from behind. I was very small, crying loudly as I ran in circles inside a courtyard. In that yard, there was a giant banyan tree, so massive it would take several people to span. Its foliage blotted out the entire sky… it was truly frightening…”
Yao Xi’s voice trailed off. She murmured mysteriously, “Your Highness, perhaps I visited that place in a past life.” As she recalled the dream, it felt as if some deep memory in her mind had been awakened. She didn’t just see the giant banyan tree; she also saw a row of crab-claw chrysanthemums in the corner of the yard, one of which lay shattered on the ground.
Even before the image materialized in her mind, she’d already known that one of the chrysanthemum pots was broken!
“Did you see clearly what that place looked like?” Wan Bi suspected that Yao Xi had mistaken a long-buried childhood memory for a mere dream.
Recalling the images in her mind, Yao Xi nodded. Ordinarily, dreams faded as one woke, yet her dream was growing clearer by the moment.
“Draw it…” Wan Bi initially wanted to tell Yao Xi to sketch the image, but considering Yao Xi’s rather underwhelming artistic skills, she kept her mouth shut. She remembered Yao Xi mentioning a giant banyan tree that required several people to span. Such massive trees were rare; she would first have her people search and inquire around the capital.
After they finished their midday meal, Yao Xi suggested going out for a stroll.
“Aren’t there enough gardens in our palace for you to wander?” Wan Bi was reluctant to go out. The people from the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Palace Administration Bureau were likely already busy organizing the street market. She planned to give Yao Xi a surprise tomorrow morning, and she absolutely couldn’t let the girl find out ahead of time.
Another night passed. Yao Xi had already developed the core trait of a modern corporate employee—rising earlier than a rooster!
She yawned, sitting up with her eyes still half-closed. Her entire body felt sore and exhausted, all thanks to the way the Empress Dowager had worked her over the previous night. Her Highness was truly a heroine among women; even with her period, her combat power actually increased instead of decreasing! Had Yao Xi not ended up so exhausted she could barely move, weeping and begging for mercy, she likely wouldn’t have slept at all.
Even the bath afterward was handled by the tireless Empress Dowager, who’d carried her all the way. And during the bath, they had done it again… It was truly a happy sort of trouble!
In the end, it was all the fault of Lord Wei’s romantic escapades! The matter had clearly blown over during their midday meal, yet the Empress Dowager had brought it up again at night. As she took her, she repeatedly demanded to know if Yao Xi still dared to want seven wives.
She’d truly never harbored such thoughts! But being on the bottom, she could only obediently go along with it, repeatedly declaring her devotion. She promised she would only love Her Highness in this lifetime, and only ever want her.
“Yaaawn—” Yao Xi covered her mouth as she let out another yawn, groping her way off the bed with her eyes shut. She was incredibly sleepy! She began to put on her clothes with stealthy, delicate movements, not daring to make any noise for fear of waking the Empress Dowager.
Wan Bi had long been awake. Her sleep was naturally light, and last night she’d been so excited that she’d barely slept a wink.
Yao Xi leaned down to press a kiss to the Empress Dowager’s forehead, gently smoothing her tousled hair. “Sleep a little longer, Your Highness. I’ll be back by the time you wake.”
“Why on the forehead? You still disdain this bereaved one!” Wan Bi was highly dissatisfied with Yao Xi’s kiss.
Yao Xi could only smile as she leaned in closer, pressing a deep, firm kiss to her lips. She held the Empress Dowager’s head and kissed her thoroughly before finally pulling away. “I’m leaving then, Your Highness. Sleep well and wait for me to return.”
“Don’t go storytelling today. How about you accompany this bereaved one to wander the streets instead?” Wan Bi frequently noticed the changes in herself. For instance, she found herself asking Yao Xi questions more and more, while issuing direct commands less and less.
Yao Xi felt somewhat torn. Storytelling was a minor matter, but the Empress Dowager’s safety was of paramount importance. There were countless people in the world who wished to see Her Highness dead. If assassins could infiltrate the palace, how much easier would it be outside?
“It’s far too dangerous outside the palace, Your Highness. If you’re feeling bored, how about I stay in the palace to accompany you today? If there’s anything from the outside world that you like, we can simply have someone purchase it and bring it back. Why must you take such a risk?”
Wan Bi rested her cheek in her hand, leaning halfway against the couch as she smiled at Yao Xi’s furrowed brow. “But what if this bereaved one insists on going out? If I’m confined to this palace for a lifetime, how is it any different from being locked in a dungeon?”
“Then how about we wait a few days? During these few days, you mustn’t get too hot, too cold, or too tired. It’s truly not suitable for you to go out right now!” Yao Xi pleaded, almost begging. The Empress Dowager was incredibly capricious, sometimes acting exactly like a spoiled child—albeit an exceptionally intelligent one. The more one worried, the more she would deliberately do the exact opposite.
“Very well. Attend to this bereaved one’s bath and attire, and then we’ll head to the city gates to watch the sunrise.” Wan Bi laughed as she wrapped her arms around Yao Xi’s neck, expecting her to carry her to Lanye Pool.
Yao Xi held her breath to muster her strength, forcing a smile as she gathered the Empress Dowager into her arms.
“Is this bereaved one heavy?” Wan Bi asked, her arms securely wrapped around Yao Xi’s neck.
Squeezing out a smile, Yao Xi said, “Your Highness is simply… light! As! A! Swallow!” It wasn’t that the Empress Dowager was heavy, but rather that Yao Xi had been thoroughly drained of all physical strength the night before. On the way to Lanye Pool with Her Highness in her arms, she lost count of how many times she wanted to simply drop her.
After bathing and without even stopping for breakfast, Wan Bi led Yao Xi toward the city gates.
The sun hadn’t yet risen, and the entire imperial city was shrouded in a hazy gray, save for one area that was exceptionally bright and vibrant.
“It looks so lively over there.” Yao Xi held the Empress Dowager’s arm and pointed toward the brilliant lights and bustling crowds on the main palace road. “Should we go over and take a look, Your Highness? Is there some kind of lantern festival in the palace?”
Wan Bi cast a fond glance at Yao Xi, unable to hide the smug pride in her voice. “Of course we have to go look. This bereaved one prepared this specifically for you.”
“For me?” Yao Xi was left utterly dumbfounded as they arrived at the entrance of the market.
For a moment, she genuinely believed she had been transported outside the palace gates. The street scene was incredibly realistic. Everything one could find on the streets of the capital was present here, though in a more consolidated and far more luxurious fashion. There was a restaurant run by the Directorate of Imperial Meals, a carpentry workshop run by the Directorate of Palace Utensils, a tailor shop run by the Directorate of Palace Clothing, a theater run by the Music and Theater Office, a bathhouse run by the Bathing Service, a gold and silver shop run by the Silverware Bureau, a blacksmith shop run by the Armory, a grain and oil shop run by the Wine, Vinegar, and Flour Bureau…
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