Your Majesty is Poisonous – Chapter 139
by Little PandaThe Empress Dowager Refuses
“Your Highness, you still haven’t told me why you wanted me to look at this.” Yao Xi saw the Empress Dowager staring blankly at the booklet, growing more and more uneasy. Was Her Highness really trying to help her interpret her dream? Was the result bad?
Wan Bi stared at the two characters “Feng Qing” on the booklet for a long time, until her vision began to blur. Shock had dulled her mind—she could clearly hear Yao Xi talking to her, but her thoughts seemed to have wandered far away, slow to return.
Yao Xi was her niece? Wan Bi refused to believe it.
True, the Feng family had many branches and flourished in the capital, a place thick with royal relatives—anyone you stopped on the street could be a Feng. But why did it have to be Yao Xi?
“Your Highness?” Yao Xi reached out and waved her hand in front of the Empress Dowager, smiling. “What are you thinking about so deeply? Was there some secret in those paintings? Does the house from my dream really exist?”
“No! It doesn’t exist!” Wan Bi hastily denied Yao Xi’s guess.
Her mind was in chaos. She had no idea what to do. Knowing the truth and hiding it from Yao Xi, keeping her from reuniting with her biological parents, was too cruel—but telling Yao Xi everything might be even crueler. If Yao Xi learned that the person she loved was actually her Imperial Aunt1—and that they had done those things—she would fall apart, wouldn’t she?
“This bereaved one has actually dreamed of a similar house, so I had someone paint it and tucked it among the other paintings, wanting to see whether you and I were connected in our dreams…” Wan Bi closed the booklet and fed Yao Xi a lie.
Yao Xi noticed the Empress Dowager’s mood seemed off and asked nervously, “And the result?”
“Naturally, we are connected. This bereaved one dreamed of the same house.” Wan Bi smiled bitterly.
“That’s incredible!” Yao Xi threw herself into the Empress Dowager’s arms, blissfully oblivious, and coaxed shyly, “Could it be that we lived there in a past life? So Your Highness and I are destined for each other, aren’t we?”
She had once watched a film about the cycle of reincarnation, which said that reincarnation had no fixed pattern—some people cycled every ten years, others every hundred. Perhaps she and Her Highness had met in a past life and promised each other the next one, only to miss each other by centuries in the cycle of rebirth. Had she transmigrated in order to meet Her Highness again?
Wan Bi’s hands hesitated in the air for a moment before she held Yao Xi tightly. Tears flashed in her eyes as she said, “Of course we are destined.”
The moment she held Yao Xi, a wave of revulsion crashed over her, making Wan Bi’s skin crawl. This discomfort was completely different from when she had thought Yao Xi was a eunuch—back then, it had been fear and distaste. Now, knowing that Yao Xi might be her niece, she felt a natural, instinctive rejection of Yao Xi’s body.
Remembering the times she and Yao Xi had shared in intimacy, Wan Bi felt both heartache and self-reproach.
Tomorrow, she would have to summon Feng Qing to the palace and get to the bottom of this. Perhaps Yao Xi had only played at Prince Kang’s residence as a child? Yao Xi and Feng Qing didn’t look alike in the slightest—how could she possibly be Feng Qing’s daughter? As the old saying went, daughters took after their fathers.
In any case, Yao Xi absolutely could not be a Feng girl!
Wan Bi’s arms tightened around Yao Xi. Could it be that she had committed so many wicked deeds that heaven, unable to punish her directly, had sent Yao Xi to punish her instead?
“Your Highness… it hurts.” Yao Xi was still sore from her workout and couldn’t handle the Empress Dowager’s fierce embrace.
Wan Bi loosened her grip but did not let go of Yao Xi.
Night fell. Wan Bi and Yao Xi went about their respective tasks in the study as usual.
Wan Bi closed her book and rose to go bathe.
Yao Xi, who had been exercising despite her injuries, scrambled up from the floor. “Your Highness, wait for me!”
“Then go ahead first!” Wan Bi stopped in her tracks, her heart twisting. She had to keep a proper distance from Yao Xi. She couldn’t compound one mistake with another.
“Your Highness isn’t going with me?” Even the normally obtuse Yao Xi had noticed something was off. The Empress Dowager had been quiet and withdrawn since returning to the palace, no longer clinging to her, as if deliberately keeping away.
Wan Bi shook her head with a smile. “No. Go ahead first. This bereaved one wants to read a while longer.”
Yao Xi stood rooted in place, biting her lip as she stared dazedly at the Empress Dowager, who had sat back down and resumed reading as though nothing had happened. She asked cautiously, “Is Your Highness upset?”
“No.” Wan Bi looked up and smiled gently at Yao Xi. “You know what condition this bereaved one’s body has been in these past two days.”
Oh—right, right, right. Yao Xi silently scolded herself for overthinking. Her Highness had her monthly letter these past two days, of course she couldn’t bathe together. “Then I’ll wash up and wait for Your Highness in the warm pavilion.”
Wan Bi kept her eyes on her book and said softly without looking up, “No need. This bereaved one will sleep in the bedchamber tonight. Finish up and go to bed early. You have to go out to tell stories tomorrow.”
Her Highness didn’t even want to sleep together anymore? What else could it be but anger? “Is Your Highness angry because of Miss Tao?” Yao Xi couldn’t think of another reason.
“This bereaved one is not angry.” Wan Bi felt so very tired. She didn’t know how to face Yao Xi, or how to explain things to her. She would never allow anyone to take Yao Xi from her side, but she needed a little time to confirm Yao Xi’s relationship with Prince Kang. If Yao Xi truly was her niece, she would need even more time to face her anew.
At the end of the day, she and Yao Xi were not blood relatives. If it came to it, she would simply stop being the Empress Dowager. There was nothing she couldn’t accept, nothing she couldn’t give up for Yao Xi’s sake.
But right now, in this moment, she just wanted to be alone.
Yao Xi wasn’t blind—she could tell whether the Empress Dowager’s mood was good or bad. “I really didn’t know about Miss Tao buying the teahouse. If Your Highness doesn’t believe me, you can ask the eunuchs who went with us.”
“This bereaved one knows.” Wan Bi said wearily, “Go wash up and sleep. Be good.”
Yao Xi was deeply worried about the Empress Dowager’s attitude. In the past, when Her Highness was jealous, she loved to needle her with barbed words—but today, her calm was terrifying. “I swear I’ll never go out again. Your Highness, please don’t be angry with me, all right? If you’re upset, take it out on me however you like—just don’t ignore me.” As she spoke, Yao Xi grew so miserable that she began to cry.
She couldn’t stand the silent treatment. If Her Highness had something to say, she should say it. If she was angry, she should let it out. To clearly have something on her mind but pretend everything was fine—Yao Xi didn’t even know how to comfort her.
“Why are you crying? This bereaved one really isn’t angry with you.” Wan Bi’s heart hurt far more than Yao Xi’s. Since returning to the palace, she had been tormented by Yao Xi’s origins, all while forcing herself to keep her distance through the pain. She walked over to Yao Xi wearily, pulled out a handkerchief, and wiped the tears from her face, saying softly, “Stop crying. It pains this bereaved one to see you like this.”
“Then why won’t Your Highness sleep with me?” Yao Xi asked between sobs.
Wan Bi made an excuse. “Aren’t you sore? This bereaved one is afraid of crowding you if we sleep together.”
“Your Highness…” Yao Xi was deeply moved. Her Highness was the type who quietly cared for her—cold on the surface, saying nothing, yet thinking things through even more thoughtfully than she did herself. Yao Xi shyly rose on her toes, wanting to kiss Her Highness.
Wan Bi sensed Yao Xi’s intent and recoiled several steps in alarm.
Yao Xi’s brief ray of sunshine was swallowed by another downpour. “Why is Your Highness dodging?”
“…” Wan Bi was speechless for a moment. Why was she dodging? Because she wasn’t ready to accept her own niece like that.
“Does Your Highness… not love me anymore?” Yao Xi choked, stepping back two paces. It took her a long while to force out those words. Her Highness wouldn’t bathe with her, wouldn’t sleep with her—even if those two things could be explained away. But why wouldn’t she even touch her? What happened to destined?
Silly girl. If I didn’t love you, I wouldn’t be hurting this much myself.
Wan Bi’s heart felt as if it were being torn apart, her chest so tight she could barely breathe. For a moment, she couldn’t speak.
Seeing the Empress Dowager’s silence, Yao Xi took it as confirmation. Her tears fell in sheets, and she broke down completely.
“If you say such foolish things again, this bereaved one really will be angry!” Wan Bi tossed aside the handkerchief, soaked through with Yao Xi’s tears, and used her sleeve to dry her face instead. “You heartless little thing. You even dare say this bereaved one doesn’t love you—doesn’t your conscience bother you at all?”
“Then why does Your Highness dodge me? If you love me, why do you act like you can’t get away fast enough?” Yao Xi demanded, aggrieved.
“The 10,000 taels you owe this bereaved one still haven’t been repaid, Eunuch. Of course I can’t let you touch me!” Wan Bi decided to find a casual excuse to placate Yao Xi for now.
Yao Xi froze. Her Highness actually still remembered that? She had thought about it too—that she wouldn’t touch Her Highness again until she had earned 10,000 taels. But 10,000 taels wasn’t so easy to come by. She might not earn that much in eight lifetimes. Gradually, she had pragmatically lowered her goal to just more than the 1,000 taels she’d given to Miss Tao.
“Is Your Highness serious?” Yao Xi’s heart was in a panic. Was Her Highness planning to say goodbye to her X life forever?
“Mm. Serious.” Wan Bi said dismissively.
Yao Xi thought about it—Her Highness’s sudden change in behavior since returning from the outing couldn’t be without cause.
Her Highness had once said to her in a fit of pique: “Touching this bereaved one costs 10,000 taels. No credit accepted. Or does the Eunuch’s silver only go to Tao Xiaolin?”
Today, after going out and seeing Miss Tao, Her Highness came back and brought up the 10,000 taels again. Clearly, there was a thorn in her heart.
“Fine!” Yao Xi made up her mind. No matter what, she would pull that thorn from Her Highness’s heart.
The night had grown deep.
Yao Xi tossed and turned in the warm pavilion, listening intently for the sound of the Empress Dowager’s breathing beyond the screen in the bedchamber.
Wan Bi wasn’t asleep either. She lay with her eyes open, gazing toward the warm pavilion. She was used to sleeping in Yao Xi’s arms; the sudden separation made sleep impossible.
The night wind rustled the trees in the courtyard.
Yao Xi got up and closed the window of the warm pavilion, then shuffled past the screen in her slippers to check whether the Empress Dowager had covered herself properly with the quilt.
Hearing movement, Wan Bi immediately closed her eyes and feigned sleep. She sensed a shadow lean over her, felt her hand being gently taken and tucked into the quilt. A certain expectation she shouldn’t have had stirred within her…
When she opened her eyes again, Yao Xi had already returned to the warm pavilion.
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