Your Majesty is Poisonous – Chapter 154
by Little PandaExtra 3
Longyi × Shuanglan (Childhood)
“Where did you go running wild this time?” Empress Su held her tea bowl and looked with exasperation at her daughter, who had been led in by the wet nurse. She also noticed the little girl who had come in holding Longyi’s hand. The Emperor had said he was appointing a Hanlin Scholar’s daughter as Longyi’s reading companion—this must be the one.
The girl the Emperor personally selected ought to be exceptional, yet as Empress Su studied Shuanglan, she couldn’t help feeling disappointed. The little girl was trembling all over, her expression vacant—not a trace of cleverness about her.
Longyi’s small mouth puckered high. She let go of Shuanglan’s hand and obediently curtsied to her Mother Empress. Seeing Shuanglan standing motionless beside her, she tugged secretly at Shuanglan’s sleeve. Shuanglan, still paralyzed with terror from the giant snake, knelt dazedly on the ground and bowed to Her Highness the Empress.
Empress Su’s expression darkened further. This little girl was far too wanting in manners. How could someone so dull and impertinent serve as a princess’s reading companion? But since the Emperor had personally appointed her, she couldn’t very well send the girl back without cause.
“Yi’er, Mother Empress is asking you a question!” Seeing Longyi refuse to answer, Empress Su raised her voice slightly.
Longyi looked down, fidgeting with her small hands, too afraid to respond. After a long while, she mumbled, “Went to see the serpents1.”
“Again?” Empress Su pressed a hand to her forehead in exasperation. She had only this one precious daughter—she couldn’t bear to strike or scold her too harshly—yet every time the child misbehaved, a light punishment never taught her a lesson. “Nanny, take Princess Yi back to her room to change into clean clothes first.”
After Longyi left, Empress Su turned to Shuanglan. With a gentle smile and warm tone, she asked, “Did your father, Hanlin Yao, tell you why you were summoned to the palace this time?”
Still reeling from her fright, Shuanglan couldn’t speak—she only nodded.
“Since you know, then regarding today’s snake-viewing incident—did you try to dissuade the Princess? Or did the Princess drag you along against your will?” Empress Su felt a flush of embarrassment. She was actually playing mind games with a little wench—not exactly dignified. Besides, as a mother herself, she naturally felt fondness toward children. She had no intention of making things difficult for the Yao family girl; she simply didn’t want a dull girl as her precious daughter’s reading companion, and needed a pretext to send her back.
Shuanglan had not tried to dissuade her. She had only just arrived at the palace and hadn’t even collected her wits before Princess Yi gleefully dragged her off to the Beast Enclosure. But even if she had, she wouldn’t dare tell Her Highness the Empress that she had—doing so would mean shielding herself by casting the Princess as the wrongdoer. Yet if she honestly admitted she hadn’t, that would be dereliction of duty. She had been brought to the palace to encourage the Princess in her studies, not to accompany her in wild play.
“Shuanglan was just about to report this matter to Your Highness.” Shuanglan steadied herself, struggling to banish the phantom of the giant snake from her mind, and knelt. “Shuanglan has a plan that may awaken the Princess’s desire to learn, but I must ask Your Highness for help.”
Empress Su watched as the little girl’s once-vacant eyes turned sharp and resolute. She beckoned for Shuanglan to continue.
Shuanglan laid out her idea in a calm, methodical tone, concluding, “That is why Shuanglan did not try to dissuade the Princess, and accompanied her to see the snakes.”
Empress Su was startled—and somewhat unnerved. She had misjudged this girl. A child of barely seven had come up with such a scheme—that was more than mere cleverness.
A dull girl was unfit to stay by Yi’er’s side, but a clever one with such deep scheming was even worse!
“This palace2 feared you were too young and too fond of play—it seems this palace misjudged you.” Empress Su rose, stepped forward, and helped Shuanglan to her feet. She took out a silk handkerchief and wiped the fine sweat from the child’s forehead, smiling. “Your plan is excellent. Let us do exactly that. Only—you will have to suffer a little.”
Empress Su did not stay long. When Longyi emerged in fresh clothes, she repeated her usual admonitions about studying hard and not getting into trouble, then left.
“Strange. Mother Empress didn’t scold me…” Longyi leaned against the doorframe, watching Empress Su’s retreating figure in puzzlement.
Shuanglan asked cautiously from the side, “But Her Highness the Empress said she would check on your studies in a few days? Perhaps—”
“Why bring that up again?” Longyi turned and glared at Shuanglan, utterly unconcerned. “Worst case, I get a smack on the palms!”
“Mm-hm.” Shuanglan lowered her head obediently.
Seeing the little girl so docile, Longyi’s brow smoothed at once. She stepped forward cheerfully and took Shuanglan’s hand. “We were suddenly called back by Mother Empress—you must not have had your fill of looking yet, right?”
Shuanglan’s limbs turned ice-cold in an instant. Look at what? The snakes? No!
“Don’t want to go?” Longyi knew Shuanglan was afraid of serpents. Seeing the girl’s face go pale with fright, she couldn’t bear to tease her further and thoughtfully suggested, “Then how about we go to the pond and fish?”
“Mm-hm.” Shuanglan breathed a sigh of relief and nodded quickly. Thank goodness—she wasn’t afraid of fish.
Longyi led Shuanglan toward the courtyard and instructed the wet nurse behind her, “Nanny, have someone bring the jar of earth dragons3.” Then she turned to Shuanglan happily. “It snowed the day before yesterday, didn’t it? Now that the snow’s melted, the soil is soft—perfect for digging.”
Dig up earth dragons? Shuanglan’s heart, just settled, leapt again. There were countless kinds of fishing bait—why did the Princess have to like earthworms? The Princess was smiling radiantly, but Shuanglan couldn’t muster even a sliver of a smile. She missed her parents so much. She wanted to go home.
“Your Highness, I’m very afraid of bugs.” Shuanglan took the small iron shovel the Princess handed her and spoke honestly. On the ground beneath her feet, earthworms were wriggling through the damp soil, and goose bumps rose all over her.
Longyi couldn’t believe it. Earthworms were so small and couldn’t hurt anyone—what was there to be afraid of?
“Fine. Shall we go explore the cave?” The willful Longyi, for the first time in her life, made a concession for someone else.
“I’m afraid of the dark.” Shuanglan clasped her small hands behind her back, head drooping, and spoke softly.
“Then how about the top of the pavilion? You can see the whole palace from up there!”
Shuanglan could see the towering pavilion at a glance. She shook her head and mumbled, “Afraid of heights…”
“Then how about catching butterflies in the garden?”
“Butterflies… afraid of those too.” Shuanglan’s voice grew fainter and fainter. To her, a butterfly was just a flying caterpillar.
Longyi lost patience. Afraid of this, afraid of that—how had this girl even survived this long? “Boring. I thought you’d be fun to play with. Since you’re afraid of everything, go hide in your room. I’ll play by myself.”
Shuanglan didn’t leave. She had just made a grand boast before Her Highness the Empress—she absolutely could not let the Princess despise her. She forced out a smile and said to Longyi with feigned nonchalance, “I was just teasing you, Princess. I’m not afraid of anything, really. Let’s go dig earthworms!”
“Truly not afraid? You don’t have to push yourself.” Seeing Shuanglan like this, Longyi felt a pang of sympathy she couldn’t explain.
“Mm-hm.” Shuanglan squatted down, pushed aside the damp soil with the small shovel, and fighting down her revulsion, picked up an earthworm. She held it up with a smile. “Let’s see who can dig up the biggest one!”
“Okay!” Longyi, never one for complicated thoughts, squatted down with a grin and started digging too.
That day left Shuanglan exhausted. When night came, she washed up, went to her room, and fell asleep the moment she touched the bed. She was normally a picky sleeper—even staying at her grandfather’s house, she never rested well—yet tonight in the palace, she slept more soundly than ever.
But she hadn’t been asleep long before a nightmare jolted her awake!
In the dream, it was raining—but the rain wasn’t rain. It was earthworms. Falling everywhere, inescapable.
“Ahhhh—” Shuanglan woke up screaming. She forgot she was in the palace and instinctively called for Mother.
Longyi’s room was just one wall away. Hearing the commotion, she rushed over with a palace maid, sat down beside the bed, and asked through a yawn, “What’s wrong? Do you miss your mother?” She had heard Shuanglan’s cries.
“Shuanglan deserves to die. I have disturbed Your Highness’s rest.” Shuanglan struggled to get out of bed and bow, but Longyi immediately pushed her back down.
“When I first moved here to live on my own, I missed my Mother Empress so much I couldn’t sleep either.” Longyi leaned in and wrapped her arms around Shuanglan, gently patting her back. “Come sleep in my room. It’s not so bad missing home when someone’s with you.”
Shuanglan obediently followed her. Oddly enough, held in the Princess’s arms, she didn’t have another nightmare for the rest of the night.
Empress Su came by every day, though she didn’t press Longyi about her studies. After several days had passed and the timing seemed right, she visited again and asked Longyi, “Have you memorized those scrolls Mother Empress assigned you?”
Longyi was being fed sweet soup by the wet nurse and nearly choked to death.
“Cough, cough, cough…” Longyi coughed incessantly, her little face flushing red. Empress Su walked over and tenderly patted her daughter’s back. No one knew the girl better than her mother. “Look at how frightened you are—you haven’t memorized them, have you?”
Longyi caught her breath, looked up with an embarrassed smile, and threw herself into her Mother Empress’s arms, wheedling. “Hehe~ how did Mother Empress know?”
Seeing that Longyi had stopped coughing, Empress Su released her coolly. “Did you not memorize them fully, or did you not even try? If you genuinely tried and couldn’t manage it, Mother Empress won’t blame you. But if you’ve simply been playing and neglecting your studies, Mother Empress will have to punish you.”
Seeing her Mother Empress genuinely angry, Longyi was too frightened to speak. Beside her, Shuanglan rose to her feet as well, barely daring to breathe.
“Mother Empress has heard you’ve been very busy lately. Catching fish in the water, raiding bird nests in trees, climbing heights and scaling walls! A grand princess of Daxing, running wild like some mountain urchin.” Empress Su barked, “Smacking your palms hasn’t taught you a lesson—so don’t blame Mother Empress for coming down hard. Someone! Bring the rattan whip!”
A palace maid brought a rattan whip as thick as two fingers and a bench.
Empress Su ordered Longyi, “Yi’er! Lie facedown on the bench!”
Longyi was momentarily dazed. She couldn’t believe her Mother Empress would truly bear to strike her so harshly. But so be it—Mother Empress couldn’t actually beat her to death, could she? Once she healed, she’d be as good as new! Longyi was all ready to take the beating, when suddenly a small figure stepped in front of her…
Shuanglan blocked Longyi and said to Her Highness the Empress, “Your Highness, please don’t punish the Princess. It was Shuanglan who was playful and foolish and begged the Princess to take me along. The Princess had nothing to do with it.”
Empress Su’s grip on the rattan whip tightened. She looked down at Shuanglan and snapped, “As the Princess’s reading companion, your duty is to urge her to study diligently. Not only did you fail to do so, you dared lead the Princess into play? Fine! Nanny, take the Princess outside to stand against the wall and reflect. This palace will teach this Yao family girl a proper lesson.”
“That’s not true! Mother Empress, I made Shuanglan play with me. She tried to stop me—she really did.” Longyi’s arms were seized by the wet nurse. She cried and struggled desperately, trying to shield Shuanglan. Shuanglan was young and frail—how could she withstand a beating? If Mother Empress were hitting her, she would surely hold back somewhat, being her own flesh and blood. But with Shuanglan, there was no such guarantee. “Mother Empress!!”
“Nanny? Why haven’t you taken the Princess out yet?” Seeing Longyi in tears, Empress Su felt a pang in her heart. In just a few short days, she didn’t know what the Yao family girl had done, but she had actually made the fearless, indifferent wench Yi show concern for someone else. She rarely saw her daughter cry—why was she crying like this at the mere mention of punishing the Yao family girl?
The moment Longyi was led outside, Empress Su raised the long whip and brought it crashing down against the ground.
Thwack! The whip struck the stone-brick floor, kicking up a faint layer of dust.
Unscathed, Shuanglan began wailing at the top of her lungs, timed perfectly to the Empress’s strokes.
Outside against the corner wall, Longyi listened to the sounds from within, gripped by an unbearable guilt. She sobbed, “Mother Empress, stop! I’ll be good.” She hadn’t expected Shuanglan to step forward and take the punishment in her place—when she was the one who had been willful.
Hearing Princess Yi’s sobs from outside, Shuanglan’s mind drifted for a moment. The Princess truly cared about her.
Footnotes
- Colloquial northern Chinese dialect term for a snake, literally 'long worm.'
- A self-referential used by an empress or high-ranking royal woman, literally meaning 'this palace.'
- Literally 'earth dragon,' a traditional Chinese term for earthworms. The name draws on the dragon's association with burrowing through the earth.
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