Your Majesty is Poisonous – Chapter 14

The Empress Dowager is Terrifying

Clutching the painting scroll tightly, Yao Xi ran through the imperial palace, sobbing.

The palaces she passed all lit their lamps. The path before her was pitch black, but behind her was a trail of brilliant light.

            

Beauty Yu was startled from her dreams by the mournful cries. She quickly summoned the night-duty palace maid and asked, “Did you hear a woman crying?”

The night-duty maid was already scared witless. She stammered, “Ever since the Hai Hour,​¹ the sounds of ghosts wailing and wolves howling have been coming from the Cold Palace without end.​² Just now, that crying was right outside our palace gate, then it gradually moved away…” The maid glanced fearfully toward the palace gate.

Beauty Yu hugged her quilt tighter in fright. “The palace is haunted?”

            

The palace maid nodded with certainty. She had been tormented all night by the crying and wailing from the Cold Palace. Later, when she heard the crying get closer and closer, right at her own palace gate, she had quickly lit a lamp, and only then did the sound gradually recede. What kind of thing would be afraid of light? It had to be the vengeful spirit of someone who had died in the palace.

“Quick, quick. Light every lamp in the palace that can be lit.” Beauty Yu was a timid person, and she had done her fair share of wicked deeds after gaining favor. The Noble Lady who had recently died in the Cold Palace was one she had framed.

“Light them all?” The palace maid was hesitant. “But Her Majesty the Empress just instructed all the palaces to be frugal…”

            

Beauty Yu had newly won the Emperor’s favor, and Emperor Ming Cheng had granted her a new residence so she wouldn’t have to squeeze into one palace with the other minor consorts. But no matter how favored she was, her rank was not high. It was one thing for the Empress, busy pretending to be virtuous and magnanimous, not to bother with her. But if one day she truly decided to get serious, Emperor Ming Cheng would certainly not side with Beauty Yu.

Her Majesty the Empress had over a decade of marriage with the Emperor, she had the Second Prince, she had the rightful position of Empress, and she had a powerful and wealthy maternal family. What did Beauty Yu have? Beauty? The one thing the palace didn’t lack was all sorts of beautiful women. Today the Emperor liked Beauty Yu, but tomorrow he might like some Jieyu or some Noble Lady.

Even a little palace maid understood such a simple truth, yet Beauty Yu, currently basking in her success, did not. “It’s ‘the Empress said’ this and ‘the Empress said’ that. Whose slave are you, anyway? Hurry up and light the lamps!” Beauty Yu was terrified. Even now, she could faintly hear that mournful crying echoing in the distance.

            

Yao Xi heard a sudden clamor from the palace quarters she had just passed. Within that courtyard, palace maids ran about with lanterns, shouting to one another, “It’s a ghost! It’s a ghost!”

Her heart leaped in shock. She looked back at the long palace road behind her. Could the female ghost from Jingling Palace have followed her?

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh—” Having just recovered a bit from her terror and despair, Yao Xi forgot about crying and, with a scream, bolted toward Ning’an Palace. When she had been scared out of her wits in Jingling Palace, she hadn’t felt the fear this acutely. But now, fully lucid and hearing everyone shouting about seeing a ghost, how could she not be afraid?

            

Her legs were no longer weak, her stomach no longer hurt. Her small body twisted with speed as she sprinted with all her might down the empty palace road in the dead of night.

The little palace maids who had been running and shouting were so frightened by Yao Xi’s scream that they huddled together. An older maid came up with an idea, “Quick, go to the rear kitchen and get coarse salt! Sprinkle it along the base of the walls by the gate. That female ghost has gone elsewhere for now, but she might come back. Hurry, sprinkle salt to drive away the ghost!”

When Yao Xi reached Ning’an Palace, it was exactly the third quarter of the Chou Hour.[efn_noteThe third ‘ke’ (quarter-hour) of the ‘chou’ hour (1-3 AM), making it approximately 2:45 AM.[/efn_note] Fortunately, the “ghost” had given her a scare, making her run to Ning’an Palace without a second thought and arrive on time.

            

“Your Majesty, Yao Xi has arrived,” Yuanqian reported to Wan Bi.

Wan Bi got down from her couch and pushed the window open a crack to look outside. She saw the little castrated donkey kneeling outside the hall, shivering and panting heavily, clearly having run all the way here. His little face was as white as paper, with not a trace of color even from a distance. His hair was a mess, and his clothes were so dirty they looked as if he had rolled around in the mud. He looked as haggard as if he’d been tormented by a ghost all night.

“Should we call him in?” Yuanqian turned away after her report, covering her mouth to hide a yawn. She was getting on in years, not like the young Empress Dowager who could stay up all night.

            

“No need.” Wan Bi shook her head. She found the little castrated donkey too filthy; letting him in would only dirty the place. Besides, the scheme she had come up with had tormented the boy so miserably that she felt a pang of guilt. She wanted to let the little castrated donkey return to the Bureau of Imperial Gardens to rest sooner.

Yao Xi knelt outside the hall, awaiting the Empress Dowager’s decree. The red tassel binding the painting scroll had come loose at some point. Yao Xi unrolled the painting, intending to roll it up and tie it again.

Wan Bi, peeking from behind the window, couldn’t help but frown.

            

“Ah—” Yao Xi cried out in shock, then immediately realized she was at Ning’an Palace and clapped a hand over her mouth. The painting was of a green-faced, long-fanged fierce ghost with a savage and terrifying expression. All night, she had been breaking down and pulling herself together, over and over. She had thought she would be fine once she escaped Jingling Palace, but then the ghost had followed her out, throwing the entire palace into turmoil. She had thought she would finally be safe upon reaching Ning’an Palace, but the painting she had carried all this way delivered another critical blow.

Yao Xi threw the painting aside and collapsed on the ground, weeping inconsolably. Tonight was like a nightmare from which she would never wake. She was truly tired and afraid. She cried with her mouth covered, not daring to make a sound that would disturb the Empress Dowager. She had endured all that fear and terror in Jingling Palace just to save her own life. She couldn’t let it all be for nothing, or else all that fear and terror would have been in vain.

Wan Bi closed the window, her mind filled with the image of that small figure kneeling before her hall, prostrate and sobbing. “Let him go back. Tomorrow, send an imperial physician to the Bureau of Imperial Gardens to see to him. Have him prescribe some medicine to calm his nerves.” Wan Bi was afraid the little castrated donkey might really be scared mad.

            

“About the night duty…” Yuanqian also felt some pity for Yao Xi. He was just a child in his teens, so frightened he couldn’t even speak a complete sentence.

“Have the Directorate of Palace Attendants send someone brave and sturdy. As for that slave’s frail little body, he’d best return to the Bureau of Imperial Gardens to tend to melons and fruits.” Wan Bi couldn’t bear to listen to Yao Xi’s suppressed sobs outside the hall. She instructed Yuanqian, “Go on, now! This bereaved one is tired.”

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Yao Xi didn’t remember how she got back to the Bureau of Imperial Gardens. She vaguely recalled that it was still dark when she returned. She went into her room and fell asleep without even changing her clothes. She slept for a very, very long time. The last time she had slept so soundly and for so long was the night before she entered the palace…

            

Yao Xi awoke with a start. She opened her eyes and saw that the room was still the same room, and only then did she feel relieved. She had been terrified that she had been sold off by someone again in her sleep.

Last night, Maiden Yuanqian from Ning’an Palace had told her that from now on, she would only have to do her duties at the Bureau of Imperial Gardens. She no longer needed to go to Ning’an Palace, nor to Jingling Palace. Although she had been scared enough to roll around on the ground last night, thinking back on it now, trading a night of terror for her life was worth it, no matter how you looked at it.

The Empress Dowager may be petty, vengeful, and inhumane, but at least she was true to her word.

            

Yao Xi stretched, planning to get something to eat and then hurry to report to the supervisor. She had taken one day of leave, spent one day at Ning’an Palace, and one day at Jingling Palace. She hadn’t done her duties at the Bureau for three whole days and was worried people would gossip.

She had woken up late and arrived just as the dining hall was serving lunch. Yao Xi got some porridge and side dishes and found a secluded spot to sit. Liao Bing, who had returned to the Bureau at some unknown time, walked past her with a slight limp, his eyes glaring at her viciously.

“Bing-ge, take it easy,” a young eunuch solicitously brought a stool for Liao Bing.

            

Liao Bing slammed his bowl down, his fierce gaze still fixed on Yao Xi. He had suffered a great deal at the Directorate of Ceremonial last night. That Zheng Dayun, who seemed so polite and gentle with Yao Xi, was ruthless when it came to interrogating people. He had used torture to force him to name his accomplices. He didn’t have any, but under duress, he had no choice but to give a few names—all people in the bureau who didn’t get along with him.

But even after he gave the names, Zheng Dayun had no intention of letting him go. If his uncle, Liao Yaoming, hadn’t gone to the Directorate of Ceremonial to plead for him, it likely wouldn’t have ended with just a crippled leg.

And all this was just because he had touched some of Yao Xi’s things. Having a pretty face really gave one an advantage. So what if his uncle was the head of the Bureau of Imperial Gardens? It couldn’t stand up against someone having a powerful lover. Liao Bing rested a hand on the knee of his ruined leg and took a large bite of the mantou dipped in sauce. He imagined the sauce was Yao Xi’s blood, the mantou was Yao Xi’s flesh, and the green onions were Yao Xi’s bones.

            

He wished he could eat Yao Xi’s flesh and sleep on her skin.​³ There would come a day when Zheng Dayun grew tired of playing with Yao Xi. When that time came, he would make Yao Xi pay back several times over for the suffering he endured last night at the Directorate of Ceremonial.

Yao Xi felt uneasy under his stare. Liao Bing’s desire to kill her was written all over his face. Yao Xi knew she couldn’t stay in the Bureau of Imperial Gardens for long. She avoided Liao Bing’s gaze and wolfed down her porridge, planning to find Zheng Dayun and ask him to help transfer her to serve Beauty Xu.

Zheng Dayun had just finished his work in the Punishment Room. Last night, he had crippled one of Liao Bing’s legs and had the men Liao Bing named severely beaten.

            

Normally, one wouldn’t cripple a man’s leg over some possessions, especially when that man was the nephew of Liao Yaoming, the head of the Bureau of Imperial Gardens. They were all colleagues; why make relations so sour?

Zheng Dayun had done it on purpose. He wanted to make it impossible for Yao Xi to stay in the Bureau of Imperial Gardens. If Liao Bing weren’t Liao Yaoming’s nephew, it would have been fine, but Zheng Dayun had intentionally offended Liao Yaoming under the pretext of standing up for Yao Xi. Liao Yaoming wouldn’t dare to touch him, so he would naturally take it out on Yao Xi. Once Yao Xi couldn’t stay in the Bureau, he could take the opportunity to transfer Yao Xi to his side as a personal attendant to serve him in his daily life.

By then, Yao Xi would be grateful to him for saving her life, and being together day and night would easily foster affection. When Zheng Dayun wanted to get someone into his bed, he was unwilling to use force, but he wasn’t the type to wait around foolishly either. When necessary, he didn’t mind using a few little tricks.

            

“Zheng-dage.” When Yao Xi came to the Directorate of Ceremonial, she heard that Zheng Dayun had gone to the Punishment Room and wasn’t in his office. She waited at the door for a while before seeing the returning Zheng Dayun, who was indeed wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

Zheng Dayun took out a handkerchief to wipe away a bloodstain he had accidentally gotten on his hand, then smiled at Yao Xi. “How was your night at the Cold Palace?”

Last night? The Cold Palace? A living hell!

            

Yao Xi had learned her lesson. Even though it was just the two of them, she didn’t dare complain about the task the Empress Dowager had given her. So, against her conscience, she said, “It was fine.”

Zheng Dayun walked into the room. Yao Xi quickly followed and asked, “I just saw Liao Bing… his leg…”

“It’s crippled.” Zheng Dayun smiled as he pushed open the door, sat down, and took a sip of tea before saying, “I should have destroyed that man’s thieving hands, but considering he could still use them to serve the masters, I had his leg crippled instead.” Zheng Dayun spoke as if the clouds were light and the wind was gentle, not as if he had injured a person’s leg, but as if he had casually snapped a twig.​⁴

            

Although Yao Xi knew that Zheng Dayun must have some tricks up his sleeve to have become Eunuch Tang’s favorite, she never thought he would be so cruel. She had been in this bleak place for a year, but only now did she realize that the things she had witnessed before were just minor darkness.

But since Zheng Dayun had crippled Liao Bing’s leg, even if Eunuch Liao and Liao Bing had all the courage in the world, they wouldn’t dare go against Eunuch Tang. Their resentment would surely be directed at her.

“Zheng-dage, could you do me a favor? I want to transfer out of the Bureau of Imperial Gardens.” Yao Xi didn’t even dare to spend another night there. Offending Eunuch Liao was the same as offending everyone in the Bureau of Imperial Gardens. Eunuch Liao was the top dog there; even the eunuchs on good terms with her wouldn’t dare to help her in this situation. It would be considered loyal of them not to join in and kick her while she was down.

            

“What’s so difficult about that?” Zheng Dayun said with a smile. Everything was going according to his plan. Besides him, no one else would help Yao Xi. “I’ll have a word with the supervisor at the Directorate of Palace Attendants and have you transferred to the Directorate of Ceremonial. For now, you can be a junior personal attendant by my side. When a vacancy opens up, I’ll promote you to fill it.”

“I want to go work by Beauty Xu’s side…” Yao Xi politely declined Zheng Dayun’s offer. She knew what kind of intentions he had for her. If she became his personal attendant, it would only be a matter of time before her identity as a woman was discovered.

“Alright. I’ll ask for you.” Zheng Dayun agreed readily. In any case, he had no real intention of transferring Yao Xi to Beauty Xu’s side. At worst, he would just drag the matter out. He could afford to wait, but Yao Xi might not be able to. After the scene he made yesterday, the Bureau of Imperial Gardens was no different from a living hell for Yao Xi.

            

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The author has something to say:

To make it easier for babies to follow the story, I will start updating at a fixed time starting tomorrow.

First update: 12:00 PM (noon)
Second update: 10:00 PM (night)

            

If I can’t update for some reason, I will post a notice in the comments section.

Thank you to all the babies who have supported me with comments and urged me to update. Being urged to update makes me super happy (≧m≦)

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