Your Majesty is Poisonous – Chapter 19

The Empress Dowager is Terrifying

When Imperial Physician Fu left the Bureau of Imperial Gardens, Yao Xi went out with him. She couldn’t be bothered with her duties at the Bureau anymore; she just wanted to find Zheng Dayun as quickly as possible and ask him to transfer her to serve Beauty Xu.

It wasn’t easy to find a vacant position serving one of the palace masters. Aside from the master of Ning’an Palace, who could do as she pleased, the number of attendants for the various consorts and ladies was fixed according to rank. One couldn’t have more or fewer.

            

Her best option now was to enter the inner palace and serve a master, regardless of whether it was a Beauty, a Noble Lady, a Concubine, or a Consort. Any backer, big or small, would do. The Twenty-Four Offices were all connected; having offended the head of the Bureau of Imperial Gardens, her life wouldn’t necessarily be any better even if she transferred to another bureau.

No matter how many flattering words the people who had just been fawning over her had said, Yao Xi was very clear about her own worth. The same people who were now rushing to curry favor with her because the Empress Dowager had bestowed some medicine were the very same ones who had bullied her yesterday to please Eunuch Liao. When Liao Bing came to settle scores, this group might not dare to help him bully her, but they certainly wouldn’t help her either.

It was false that she had won the Empress Dowager’s favor, but it was true that she had offended Eunuch Liao and his nephew. She couldn’t stay in the Bureau of Imperial Gardens for another second. She didn’t dare sleep there at night, and she didn’t even dare stay in the bureau during the day. Liao Bing was staring at her like a hyena, ready to pounce and devour her alive at any moment.

            

Thankfully, her descendant-severing kick​¹ had been forceful enough, and Liao Bing’s leg was also injured. Otherwise, Imperial Physician Fu wouldn’t have been delivering medicine to the Bureau of Imperial Gardens, but performing an autopsy.

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Zheng Dayun was woken by the sound of Yao Xi knocking on his window. He had imagined countless times in his dreams that he would wake up to the sight of Yao Xi, but in his dreams, the two of them were lying in bed together, not like this, with Yao Xi standing by the window like a ghost, waving at him.

“You’re certainly early.” Zheng Dayun casually washed his face, threw on some clothes, and went into the courtyard to sit and talk with Yao Xi. “Coming over so early in the morning, you must need something from me, right?”

            

Yao Xi said, embarrassed, “Did I disturb your rest? I came to ask if the position with Beauty Xu has been filled.”

“I was just about to go to your bureau to find you. The Directorate of Palace Attendants has already assigned someone to the vacancy in Beauty Xu’s palace.” Zheng Dayun looked up at Yao Xi, his gaze traveling down from that handsome little face, and he swallowed imperceptibly. He had been craving Yao Xi for over a year, and the early morning was a time of heightened passion. His mind couldn’t help but become restless and lustful.​²

“What about the palaces of other masters? Are there any other vacancies?” Yao Xi told Zheng Dayun honestly, “I can’t stay in the Bureau of Imperial Gardens for another moment.”

            

Zheng Dayun’s eyes were glued to Yao Xi’s small chest. For some reason, he always felt that Yao Xi’s chest was strange. For such a thin body with a waist as narrow as a bowl, his chest was even more robust than his own. Hearing Yao Xi’s words, Zheng Dayun retracted his gaze and feigned ignorance. “Can’t stay? What’s wrong?”

Yao Xi told Zheng Dayun everything—how the people at the Bureau of Imperial Gardens had troubled her, and how Liao Bing had broken into her room at night. “You tell me, how could I possibly dare to stay there?”

“That’s fine. Just come work for me here!” Zheng Dayun reached out, took Yao Xi’s small hand, and rubbed it suggestively in his palm. “You know how I feel about you. Come to the Directorate of Ceremonial. With me here, no one will dare bully you again. I’ll even teach that bunch from the Bureau of Imperial Gardens a lesson for you.”

            

Yao Xi seemed to smell a conspiracy.

Staying at the Bureau of Imperial Gardens was a dead end. Going to Zheng Dayun’s side meant her identity as a fake eunuch would be exposed sooner or later, which was also a dead end. Losing her life was one thing, but what she feared most was losing her virtue! Zheng Dayun was famous for being an equal-opportunity lecher.

“Hehehehe…” Yao Xi forced a laugh and tried to pull her hand back. “Zheng-dage knows that I… I only like girls.”

            

This time, Zheng Dayun didn’t let go as he usually did, allowing Yao Xi to break free. His patience was limited. Every thought of Yao Xi made his heart itch, to say nothing of the fact that he was currently caressing Yao Xi’s soft, smooth hand…

With a hard tug, Zheng Dayun pulled Yao Xi from the stone bench into his lap, her soft little bottom landing on his thighs.

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t like me now. I’ll transfer you to the Directorate of Ceremonial first, and we can… take our time.” Zheng Dayun buried his head in the crook of Yao Xi’s neck, ecstatically inhaling her milky scent. The person he had coveted for so long was now in his arms, soft and fragrant as jade. Zheng Dayun was no saint, and because he was so fixated on Yao Xi, he had been restraining himself and hadn’t sought release with anyone else. Under this dual assault on his body and mind, how could he possibly hold back? His hand moved to the back of Yao Xi’s neck as he leaned in for a kiss.

            

He felt that, based on Yao Xi’s usual attitude, the boy must have some good feelings for him. Thus, in Zheng Dayun’s eyes, Yao Xi’s refusal was merely a case of half pushing and half yielding, of wanting to refuse but still welcoming.​³

Yao Xi forcefully pushed away Zheng Dayun’s approaching head and scolded angrily, “Zheng-dage is a man of noble character! How can you force someone against their will!” In broad daylight, under a clear sky!​⁴ He had just told her they could take their time, and not a moment later, his mouth was on its way. Did Zheng Dayun have some kind of misunderstanding about what “take our time” meant?

“No. I’m a beast in clothing.”​⁵ Yao Xi’s struggling and squirming completely shattered Zheng Dayun’s last shred of reason. He decided to just do it first and talk later. If he made the boy angry, he could just coax him slowly afterward.

            

SLAP!!!

In her frantic struggle, Yao Xi slapped Zheng Dayun across the face.

Zheng Dayun was stunned by the slap. He froze, staring at Yao Xi in disbelief.

            

“I didn’t mean to. Let me go first. We can talk things out.” Yao Xi’s courage evaporated the moment she landed the slap. She didn’t want to completely enrage Zheng Dayun. The difference in strength between a man and a woman was right there. If Zheng Dayun really threw all decorum to the wind and got rough with her, the outcome would surely be perilous.​⁶

With a cold face, Zheng Dayun clamped one hand tightly around Yao Xi’s waist and began to undo her sash with the other. “It’s fine. I don’t blame you.” Rationally, he didn’t want to force Yao Xi, but the fire in his heart burned hotter and hotter, gradually incinerating that last wisp of reason.

Zheng Dayun was truly a veteran of love affairs; he was incredibly deft at undoing clothes. Yao Xi didn’t scream or shout, because it would be fucking useless.​⁷ The Directorate of Ceremonial was Zheng Dayun’s territory. If she screamed, would she just summon people to help Zheng Dayun hold her down?

            

In the chaos, Yao Xi decisively slammed her knee into Zheng Dayun’s groin…

Zheng Dayun was stunned again. This time, it was accompanied by a miserable shriek…

Clutching her loosened clothes, Yao Xi fled the Directorate of Ceremonial in a mad dash.

            

She knew, of course, the consequences of her actions. That knee hadn’t just shattered Zheng Dayun’s little brother,​⁸ but also her only support in the palace. But she also knew the consequences of not doing it. Once Zheng Dayun had stripped her clothes off, he would first be stunned.

“Fuck! You’re actually a woman.” Then he would pounce again…

Sacrifice her body for glory, or die with her innocence intact? Sorry, she chose the latter. Still, the experiences with Liao Bing and Zheng Dayun had at least taught Yao Xi that even if eunuchs didn’t have balls, it still hurt.

            

Yao Xi thought again of the large tree by Wangyue Pavilion.

No, no, no! She couldn’t just threaten suicide​⁹ every time something happened. She had survived the terrifying night in Jingling Palace. As long as she was alive, there was no obstacle she couldn’t overcome.

Not only had she offended the head of the Bureau of Imperial Gardens, but now she had also offended the adopted son of the head of the eunuchs. As a fake eunuch, Yao Xi felt her future was pitch black. Now, there was no place for her in any of the Twenty-Four Offices. She decided to find Maiden Hanqiu and ask if what Zheng Dayun said about the Directorate of Palace Attendants sending someone to Beauty Xu was true. She had a feeling Zheng Dayun had been lying to keep her in the Directorate of Ceremonial.

            

Even if it was true, she could still ask Maiden Hanqiu if any other master’s palace was recently short-staffed.

Usually, the eunuchs serving the masters in each palace were assigned by the Directorate of Palace Attendants. However, favored ladies or higher-ranking consorts could simply send someone to the Directorate to handle the paperwork if they took a liking to a particular servant. Beauty Xu had a low rank and was not favored, so she could only wait for the Directorate to assign someone.

Yao Xi walked at a frantic pace, no longer caring if her feet hurt. She was afraid Zheng Dayun would send people to chase after her.

            

Beauty Xu lived in a side hall of Concubine Li’s Zhongling Palace. Across from Zhongling Palace was Beauty Yu’s Yixiu Palace.

Both were Beauties. But there were those like Beauty Yu, who was currently in the Emperor’s favor, and those like Beauty Xu, whom the Emperor completely ignored.

Just as they were all eunuchs. There were those like Eunuch Tang, who served before the Emperor and held immense power, and then there was her, helpless and bullied by all.

            

Yao Xi stood outside Zhongling Palace, waiting for the eunuch at the gate to ask Maiden Hanqiu to come out and speak with her.

About a hundred feet away, two young palace maids approached, carrying a box half a person’s height. They walked for a bit, then suddenly stopped.

“Qin’er-jiejie, I don’t dare go back.” A young palace maid in a primrose-colored dress set down the carrying pole. “The tip of the pagoda was broken off! The Beauty won’t let us off. This is the pagoda the Beauty is using to pray for a son!”

            

The maid called Qin’er was also afraid. Beauty Yu was not a good-tempered person to begin with. After being favored for so long, her belly hadn’t shown the slightest movement. She had taken a lot of medicine and prayed to the Goddess of Childbirth, and a few days ago, she heard from someone that she should place a Fortune-Gathering Pagoda in her room. Not only would she conceive, but she would give birth to a fortune baby.

The pagoda had been acquired from outside the palace. The people who transported it were clumsy and broke the tip. Fearing punishment from Beauty Yu, they stuck the tip back on with wax and sent it into the palace. When the two of them went to the palace gate to inspect it, they didn’t notice anything wrong at a glance. But after carrying it bumpily for half the way, they suddenly heard a tap.

When they opened the box, the tip had fallen off, and the seam was full of wax. Only then did they realize they had been made scapegoats.​¹⁰

            

Qin’er nudged the young palace maid beside her with her elbow. “Hey~ you go over there and ask that little eunuch at the gate of Concubine Li’s palace to help us carry the box.”

“Qin’er-jiejie, you mean?” The young palace maid gave a wicked smile. “Find a scapegoat?”

Qin’er nodded and urged, “Hurry up. That little eunuch looks like a sickly weakling. If we say he dropped the box, the Beauty will definitely believe it.”

            

Yao Xi was anxiously tapping her feet, wondering why Maiden Hanqiu hadn’t come out yet. Suddenly, someone tapped her on the shoulder. Yao Xi cried out in alarm and spun around, thinking Zheng Dayun or Liao Bing had sent someone after her. Seeing it was just a young palace maid, she relaxed.

“Eunuch, could you please help us carry something?” The young palace maid smiled sweetly at Yao Xi and pointed to the box in the distance.

If Yao Xi were an ordinary eunuch, she might have helped after such a coquettish plea. But she wasn’t. She wasn’t particularly helpful, nor was she susceptible to a girl’s charms, especially when she was in such a foul mood.

            

“I can’t,” Yao Xi replied with a smile, rejecting the palace maid’s request.

The young palace maid was rather pretty and was used to being fawned over by the junior eunuchs. She never expected to be refused.

“It’s just to Yixiu Palace, it’s not far. Please, Eunuch,” the young palace maid persisted, looking at Yao Xi with a delicate and pleading expression.

            

Yao Xi remained unmoved, smiling politely at the maid. “The two jiejies have already carried it this far, what’s a little more distance?” Normally, if Yao Xi saw someone who needed a hand, she would offer to help. But when someone came to her asking for help, she had to think twice. The palace was full of traps; it was better to mind her own business. She shouldn’t go around learning from Lei Feng;​¹¹ she’d get screwed over.

The young palace maid stomped away in a huff.

“Qin’er-jiejie, that eunuch won’t help.”

            

The palace road was empty this early in the morning, and they couldn’t find anyone else to take the fall. Qin’er gritted her teeth, picked up the carrying pole, and said, “If he won’t come to us, we can go to him! In any case, you and I can’t take responsibility for this.”

“”Touch porcelain?”​¹² The young palace maid, still resentful after being so coldly rejected by the little eunuch, smiled. “Good idea.”

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The author has something to say:

            

These two chapters are transitional chapters for Little Yao-zi’s entry into Ning’an Palace, so there’s temporarily no interaction with the Empress Dowager. Everyone, please don’t be impatient~

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