Chapter 72: Did the Pure and Innocent Shadow Guard Get Domineeringly Doted on by Your Majesty Today? p2
The hall door slammed shut.
Huaguang, who had just been so graceful and composed in the court, her back was now tense. She leaned on the desk, her breathing chaotic.
Her mother emperor’s scrutinizing gaze, the ministers’ seemingly submissive but actually secretly probing eyes—they were all like sharp needles, piercing every inch of her skin.
As the crown prince, she could not take a single wrong step. She was indeed pampered, but she was also strict. As she grew older, after the Mid-Autumn Festival, she would be 16.
She was about to stand on her own.
But that dragon robe had not yet been put on, and it was already so heavy it was suffocating. She had to be hypocritical with people, had to consider the overall situation, had to scheme…
Only when she returned to her own palace and dismissed all the palace attendants could she take off her mask and come out of the shell of the crown prince. She was too tense.
She needed to vent that restless anxiety.
At the same time, in the night, Yuan You was stumbling back to the East Palace.
There was a bleeding sword wound under her right shoulder. She had returned in a hurry and had not bandaged it carefully, just roughly tied it with a strip of cloth.
The moment she stepped into her own room, just as she was about to treat the wound, a maid hurried over. “My Lady Yuan You, Your Highness summons you to the bedchamber immediately.”
Yuan You’s face changed slightly.
Since when had Huaguang become more and more violent? She was still proper and decent outside, but when she returned to the East Palace, she would beat and scold her at every turn…
Especially at night.
Yuan You suppressed the blood that was churning in her throat, did not treat the wound, did not dare to delay for a single moment, and hurried to Huaguang’s bedchamber.
Every step would pull at the wound on her shoulder. She was in so much pain her vision went black. She almost fell several times. By the time she reached Huaguang’s hall, she took a few deep breaths, steadied her breathing, wiped the sweat from her face, and hid all traces of her pathetic state before she entered and knelt.
In the hall, Huaguang had her back to her, her whole body exuding a chill.
“The evidence of those old things’ rebellion, have you found it?”
Huaguang’s desire for control was growing by the day. She had to have everything in her palm to resist the anxiety brought by the unknown.
Yuan You lowered her head even further, her voice hoarse, trying her best to endure the pain in her shoulder. “To Your Highness, your subordinate is incompetent. I have not yet found any definite letters or evidence…”
“Useless!”
Huaguang abruptly turned around. The accumulated anger immediately found an outlet. She didn’t even see Yuan You’s state clearly and kicked her on the shoulder.
That kick contained all her frustration, and it hit her right shoulder!
“Mmph…”
Yuan You didn’t dare to dodge and took the kick head-on. Her whole body was kicked backward and she collapsed on the floor.
The knife wound was completely torn open. Cold sweat poured down. Yuan You’s face instantly turned ashen.
“I’ve spoiled you! Who are you putting on this act for?!”
Huaguang thought she was pretending.
In her heart, Yuan You had always been very strong, had never cried out in pain, had never been absent for a single moment all year round, and had never cried or made a fuss even when she was vented on…
What does this mean now?! Is she taking advantage of being in her favor to act up?!
It’s lonely at the top. Huaguang was covered in thorns. She suspected everyone!
The pain in her shoulder was nothing compared to the pain in her heart. Yuan You knew Huaguang’s precarious situation. She hated that she couldn’t share a single bit of it, and she was even more afraid that Huaguang would despise her.
Yuan You trembled like a sieve, crawled two steps closer, and touched her head to the ground. “Your subordinate was wrong. Please, Your Highness, calm your anger…”
This look of admitting her mistake and accepting punishment only angered Huaguang even more.
She didn’t want to see this. This was not what she wanted… but what did she want?!
She herself didn’t know.
Huaguang only felt extremely irritable and shouted sharply, “Get out! Get out right now!”
“Yes…”
Yuan You, holding on with her last bit of strength, dragged her unsteady legs and left. The hall quickly became deathly silent.
Huaguang paced back and forth anxiously. Her gaze inadvertently swept over the place where Yuan You had just prostrated herself—
On the bricks, a few drops of blood were exceptionally glaring.
Huaguang’s footsteps paused.
She had just kicked her once. How could there be blood?!
Huaguang’s mind flashed with Yuan You’s pale face. A thought suddenly emerged.
Yuan You wasn’t pretending to be in pain.
She was really in pain.
She was really injured, and perhaps very seriously…
Huaguang looked at the few drops of blood that had not yet dried. Her breath was trembling. She shouted, “Summon the imperial physician! Summon the imperial physician!!”
Yuan You was trembling. She closed the door. The last of her strength was exhausted. She leaned against the cold door and slid to the floor. After a long while, she slowly crawled toward the bed.
The blood-soaked clothes stuck to her flesh. She carefully cut the cloth, exposing the wound. She reached for the medicine box under the bed, but the styptic powder had long since been used up…
She leaned against the edge of the bed, powerless. Tears quickly filled the corners of her eyes.
So painful…
Especially the word “useless” that Huaguang had cursed her with.
Your Highness was so angry because she had found nothing. Your Highness kicked her, scolded her, and told her to get out, also because she was useless.
She hadn’t even been able to hide her injuries, had lost her composure in front of Your Highness, and had made Your Highness’s venting unpleasant.
Such a useless person, Your Highness must not like her anymore…
Yuan You tried her best to hold it in, but the tears flowed even more fiercely.
She took out an empty bottle from the medicine box. It was the scar-removing ointment that Huaguang had given her back then. She had long since used it up.
The scars had faded completely, but this bottle, she had always treasured it secretly.
Huaguang was actually very good to her. She had given her a lot of money and had even set up a residence for her outside the imperial city. She would give her any good things she had. Although she had become a little violent in the past two years, she didn’t mind.
This life of hers belonged to Huaguang.
But now…
Would Your Highness still want such a useless person?
More teardrops rolled down uncontrollably, sliding down her pale cheeks. Yuan You sobbed softly, afraid of disturbing the golden-branched, jade-leaved noble.
But the noble burst in herself.
“Yuan You.”
Huaguang’s voice came from outside.
Yuan You hadn’t even wiped her tears when she subconsciously answered, “Eh!”
Huaguang pushed open the door directly. The bright yellow figure led a group of imperial physicians and walked in in a mighty stream. The imperial physicians were all carrying medicine boxes. They were on high alert, as if they were about to treat some great person.
In fact, the one who looked down on Yuan You the most in the palace was herself.
Besides the emperor, no one else dared to be rude to her. To give her a hard time was tantamount to giving Huaguang a hard time.
Who would dare?
Huaguang rushed in, her gaze eagerly searching for Yuan You. Then, she met a pair of wet eyes.
Yuan You was covered in tear tracks, curled up by the bed, her clothes half-torn, the wound underneath shocking.
Huaguang’s breath hitched. She stared at Yuan You, who was looking at her with teary eyes. For the first time, she felt she had done something very, very wrong.
She had thought she would see a person who was treating her wounds, or resting weakly. But she had never expected to see such a pitiful little puppy. The eyes that were always calm and submissive were soaked with water. Panic, helplessness, and a blatant vulnerability intertwined, shattering her heart.
Yuan You’s clothes were half-open. The skin that had once been hidden under her tight-fitting clothes was also exposed to Huaguang’s eyes.
Yuan You was not an invulnerable god. She was also a person. She would also feel pain.
Huaguang realized this but did not feel her own overflowing pity.
“Imperial physician!” Her voice was tight. She turned to the side and said, “Quick! Treat her wounds!”
The imperial physicians saw the shadow guard’s waist token on Yuan You. Although they were surprised, they did not dare to ask another word and hurried forward.
Yuan You wanted to get up and bow, but was stopped by Huaguang’s “don’t move.”
So she gave up all her movements, lowered her eyelashes, and hid all her emotions.
The imperial physician tore off all the cloth on the wound. The second tear was displayed before everyone. The originally snow-white skin was covered with a large patch of blood, swollen beyond recognition.
How did the second tear happen?
Huaguang knew very well. Her face was calm, but her hands were long since clenched. She looked at that gruesome wound, at Yuan You’s pitiful appearance, who was in so much pain she couldn’t bear it, but did not make a sound, only silently shedding tears. Her lips were tightly pursed.
When she had kicked her, she had no idea there was this wound. If she had known…
This assumption made her back go cold.
How many times had Yuan You come back with injuries, and she had still bullied her…
In the end, she just didn’t care about Yuan You.
But!
She was a proud crown prince. To a subordinate, she had been good enough, right! If it weren’t for her, Yuan You would have long since died. If it weren’t for her, would Yuan You have her current power and status?
What was there to be guilty about?
Huaguang tried to convince herself, but her heart was still not at ease.
The imperial physicians were quick and efficient. From cleaning the wound to applying the medicine, and then to bandaging, it was all done in one go.
Yuan You did not make a sound from beginning to end. In the end, she simply closed her eyes, afraid that her twisted features would defile her master’s eyes.
She also didn’t want Huaguang to see too much of her ugliness.
“Your Highness.” The head imperial physician bowed and said with a hint of flattery, “This lord’s wound has been treated. It has not damaged the root. With a good period of recuperation, there will be no major problem. Your Highness’s benevolent heart is admirable.”
This compliment, when it fell into Huaguang’s ears, only felt exceptionally ironic.
Benevolent?
Perhaps the side she showed to outsiders was indeed benevolent.
But to Yuan You, she was cruel.
The imperial physicians soon retreated. Only Huaguang and Yuan You were left in the room.
The smell of medicine mixed with blood filled the not-so-spacious room.
Yuan You, with a strength from who knows where, knelt on the floor and said weakly, “Your subordinate is useless… to have troubled Your Highness… your subordinate deserves to die ten thousand times. Please, Your Highness, punish me…”
She was so ashamed.
Not only had she failed in her mission, but she had also injured herself, could not serve her master well, and had even alarmed her master to summon the imperial physicians in the middle of the night. If this matter got out, it would only make people think that something had happened in the East Palace, adding to the rumors and speculation.
She was really too incompetent.
Huaguang looked at her, who would kneel and admit her mistake at every turn. A nameless fire shot to her scalp.
She walked to the bed in a few steps, sat down directly on Yuan You’s simple little bed, and asked in a cold voice, “What kind of tantrum are you throwing with me?”
Huaguang felt she had already made up for it and had even found an imperial physician for her. What did this person mean by putting on this trembling appearance? Was she that tyrannical?
Yuan You was stunned for a moment, then became even more flustered. “Your subordinate… your subordinate would not dare. How could your subordinate throw a tantrum with you?”
“You wouldn’t dare?” Huaguang said, “They had just complimented me on my benevolence, and you were kneeling on the floor, trembling. What do you mean by that? Are you mocking me for being hypocritical? Didn’t I just kick you once?!”
By the end, it had become a roar.
Huaguang was angry and ashamed. She knew she was in the wrong, but as a noble, she was unwilling to lower her face and apologize to a shadow guard.
So, she started to find fault.
Yuan You was full of question marks but did not argue. She looked at Huaguang, her tear-filled eyelashes drooping submissively. She had no idea why Your Highness was angry again.
She just… just felt that she was not worthy, was just scared.
“Your subordinate was wrong.” She began to apologize again. “Your subordinate just feels that she is very useless, cannot share Your Highness’s worries, and has even troubled you. Your subordinate deserves to die…”
Huaguang’s face was ugly.
Yuan You thought it was because she felt her apology was not sincere enough, so she added, “Your Highness, please punish me. No matter what… your subordinate will not have a single complaint…”
A breath was stuck in Huaguang’s throat. The anger had burned her heart. Her pity for Yuan You leaked out.
Her gaze fell on Yuan You’s wrist, and she noticed her overly prominent wrist bone.
When did she get so thin?
Huaguang’s mind was in a mess. In the end, she said, “Take it off.”
Yuan You was prepared to be whipped, but…
She let out an “ah.”
Huaguang leaned over directly and pulled her in front of her. “Forget it. You’re injured. I’ll help you take it off.”
