Chapter 27: The Splendid Country Part 1

Xiao Luo seemed to catch the Empress’s unspoken message: “You can cling to my coattails!”

She was instantly overwhelmed with emotion, and she hurriedly said, “Your Majesty, this humble woman has no way to repay you…”

“Then offer yourself to me.” Xia Lingyu leaned close to her ear and whispered.

Xiao Luo was startled by those words. A blush spread across her face, and she grew bashful. Her eyes shimmered like rippling autumn water, too shy to meet Xia Lingyu’s gaze again.

She already thought she was rather improper, but she never expected the Empress to be even more improper than her, actually asking her to offer herself?

“Your Majesty~” Xiao Luo’s voice was tender and alluring, like a seductive demon.

Xia Lingyu’s eyes stirred. She couldn’t help but reach out and tidy Xiao Luo’s collar, finally resting her hand on her waist. She felt the woman’s body tremble slightly. Was she afraid?

She was mistaken. Xiao Luo was trembling with uncontrollable excitement.

“I’m sorry. Zhen was joking. Princess, don’t be afraid.” In the end, pity won out, and Xia Lingyu sighed softly.

Xiao Luo wanted to say she wasn’t afraid at all.

“How old is the Princess this year?”

Xiao Luo thought for a moment and said, “I’ll be eighteen next month.”

“Hmm…” Xia Lingyu nodded. Eighteen, no longer too young. She could slowly devour her. “Princess, take some time to adapt to the palace environment. After your eighteenth birthday…”

She stopped her words there, leaving Xiao Luo with a profoundly meaningful glance. It was incredibly suggestive.

The moment Xiao Luo imagined herself being pinned down after her eighteenth birthday and thoroughly devoured by the woman before her, every cell in her body shivered uncontrollably.

Her eyes reddened, giving her a pitifully delicate look.

“Princess, don’t be afraid. Zhen is no demon. I won’t eat you,” Xia Lingyu patiently coaxed.

No, she would. She would flip her over and devour her thoroughly, inside and out, until she was completely satisfied. After all, after living such a long, dull life, she had finally stumbled upon a fascinating little thing.

The Princess Xiao before her was coolly elegant yet charmingly alluring, but still young, so tender she seemed to drip with moisture. She couldn’t help but wonder what her cries would sound like.

On the surface, the Empress appeared gentle, but a dark thought stirred within her heart.

“Mm, Your Majesty is very kind,” Xiao Luo nodded in agreement.

Xia Lingyu said warmly, “Is the Princess hungry? Keep Zhen company for a meal. It just so happens that Zhen hasn’t had breakfast yet.”

So she instructed the palace maids to prepare breakfast.

Even as she was sitting with the Empress and eating breakfast, Xiao Luo still felt a little dizzy in the head. She suspected that the fake poisoning the System had given her hadn’t fully worn off yet.

Xia Lingyu glanced at her, then placed a piece of meat in her bowl, saying softly, “The Princess is too thin. You must eat more and put on some flesh.”

This body of hers was so slender and delicate that a little rough handling might just snap it in two.

Xiao Luo’s face flushed slightly as she nodded and ate in small bites, one part of her mind wondering where the Empress wanted her to grow more flesh. Probably on her chest, right? She thought this body was developing reasonably well and should be able to satisfy the Empress’s needs…

But maybe she preferred them even bigger?

No, she couldn’t think about this anymore. If she kept going, she was afraid her excitement would make her true self show.

“Princess Xiao, did you sleep well last night?” Xia Lingyu suddenly asked.

Xiao Luo said, “I slept… very well.”

But the moment she recalled that she had slept in the Dragon Bed, she wondered where the Empress had slept instead.

She put on an expression of sudden realization mixed with panic and said, “Your Majesty, this commoner deserves death ten thousand times over for taking your Dragon Bed.”

“It’s nothing.” Xia Lingyu looked at her expression, lowered her gaze, and said softly, “Last night, Zhen shared the bed with the Princess.”

Xiao Luo’s heart trembled again. So that was it. They had slept together.

Struggling to find the words, she eventually asked, “Then… did this commoner disturb Your Majesty?”

Xia Lingyu looked at her with a gentle face, reached out, and traced her finger along Xiao Luo’s slender neck. Her voice was exceedingly soft. “The Princess is a perfect sleeper. You curled up very obediently in Zhen’s arms and didn’t make a single sound.”

A blush rose on Xiao Luo’s face again, and her body shamefully went weak.

Damn it, why is this Empress such a flirt?

“The Princess need not be shy. After all, we have plenty of time ahead. You can slowly get used to the temperature of the Dragon Bed.” As she spoke, Xia Lingyu continued to put food in her bowl with a straight face.

Xiao Luo lowered her head to eat and murmured a soft “Mm.”

She dared not look at the Empress, afraid that one more glance would cause the Empress to tease her again.

She already thought she was seductive enough. She never expected to be teased until she was blushing and completely flustered by someone else.

After breakfast, Xia Lingyu finally let her go and ordered someone to escort her back to her palace.

The person escorting her was Chief Lady Fang, the high-ranking female official at Xia Lingyu’s side. Chief Lady Fang walked behind her, and even though the woman tried her best to look elsewhere, Xiao Luo could still feel her curious gaze.

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Luo took the initiative to strike up a conversation. “Chief Lady Fang, may I ask you a few questions?”

Chief Lady Fang frowned. She hadn’t wanted to engage, but thinking of how Her Majesty seemed to show this person an inexplicable amount of care, she steeled herself and nodded. “Speak.”

“In this palace, does Her Majesty have any men she favors?”

The original novel only ever mentioned how the male and female leads endured humiliation and conspired to usurp the throne. The Empress only appeared as an obstacle on their career path. Xiao Luo knew absolutely nothing about other aspects.

For instance, this Empress had been on the throne for seven years. Did she have anyone in the Imperial Harem? And did she even like men or women?

Chief Lady Fang nearly choked on this question. Her expression turned strange. “Princess Xiao, you’d best not inquire about Her Majesty’s affairs. And this is not something I can speak of.”

She was the Empress’s trusted confidant. How could she reveal the Empress’s secrets to an irrelevant person?

A look of regret flashed across Xiao Luo’s face. “I’m truly sorry, that was presumptuous of me.”

But not getting an answer was truly making her itch with curiosity.

So did the Empress like men or women? Or perhaps both?

She suppressed this thought and changed the question. “Last night, after I was poisoned, I knew nothing of what happened at the banquet. Chief Lady, could you tell me what happened afterward?”

Having refused to answer the first question, the other party would be too embarrassed to refuse the second.

Chief Lady Fang thought for a moment and said, “Last night, Her Majesty returned to the banquet, summoned the Imperial Physicians, and had them inspect the banquet food together. They checked all the palace maids who served the wine one by one, but found nothing. So Her Majesty demoted all those palace maids to Fifth-Rank Menial Palace Maids.”

Palace maids had ranks. Fifth-Rank was the lowest, and First-Rank was the highest. Reaching the position of First-Rank Palace Maid allowed one to continue climbing the ladder, transforming into a female official.

The female lead, Lin Qiao’er, had stayed in the palace for a year and worked hard to climb from Fourth-Rank to Second-Rank Palace Maid. But because of this incident, she had been demoted to the lowest rank in one fell swoop.

Xiao Luo inwardly apologized to the female lead, but regarding the poisoning of the Empress, she was still somewhat displeased with the female lead’s actions.

“System, how is the Mission Progress?”

“Mission Progress: 10%. Keep working hard, Host!”

Excellent. This time, triggering the mission had knocked 10 points of the Male Lead’s Aura off. She was very satisfied.

As they walked on, they passed the Imperial Garden, and Xiao Luo spotted a familiar figure.

Lin Qiao’er was wearing the coarse cloth uniform of a Fifth-Rank palace maid, moving potted plants under the scorching sun. Suddenly, her foot was tripped by another palace maid, and she fell toward the ground, still clutching the potted plant.

She had expected the pot to shatter upon landing. To her surprise, even though she fell, the potted plant remained safely cradled in her arms.

Regret showed on the faces of the surrounding palace maids.

Lin Qiao’er had martial arts training, which was why she could catch the plant so steadily. However, working for so long without food had left her dizzy and seeing stars.

The potted plant was also quite heavy. Pinned down by it, she felt like she could barely breathe.

Under the blinding sunlight, she vaguely saw the smug expression on the face of the palace maid nearby.

“What are you doing?! The potted plants in your arms are worth more than your worthless lives! If you break one, even beating you to death wouldn’t be enough to pay for it!” The Head Eunuch walked over cursing. Seeing Lin Qiao’er, he continued to berate her, “How do you walk? It’s lucky the potted plant is fine. Get up right now and keep moving!”

Lin Qiao’er looked at the Head Eunuch, her vision already doubling. She felt weak. She tried to prop herself up but was crushed by the heavy potted plant on her chest. No one came to help her. They all just stood by, laughing at her misfortune.

In that moment, she thought of Xia Wuheng. The man she loved just yesterday had assured her, “Qiao’er, endure this a little longer. Once I ascend the throne, I will definitely make you my Empress!”

But today, she heard that a new concubine had been carried into his mansion.

Lin Qiao’er’s heart sank. What she wanted had never been the position of Empress. All she wanted was his love.

Did he love her or not? She truly didn’t know, and she couldn’t figure it out.

The Head Eunuch saw her lying on the ground motionless, and a flash of fury crossed his face. He raised his whip to lash her. “You damn cheap slave! Still daring to be lazy?!”

But a hand firmly caught the whip. A sharp “Slap!” echoed as the blow landed on that slender, snow-white palm, drawing blood.

“Ah~” It hurt so much!

Xiao Luo released the whip, only to see a hideous, bleeding welt across her palm. The skin was broken, dripping blood.

The Head Eunuch saw the newcomer and shouted, “Who are you? Meddling in other people’s business?”

“How dare you! This is Her Highness, Princess Xiao!” Chief Lady Fang reprimanded him.

The Head Eunuch didn’t know any Princess Xiao, but he recognized Chief Lady Fang. Chief Lady Fang was a female official at Her Majesty’s side. Cold sweat beaded all over his body, and he instantly dropped to his knees. “Chief Lady, forgive me! This slave didn’t mean to! This slave was only trying to teach this maid a lesson!”

Why did this Princess Xiao have to be so full and have nothing better to do than take the blow of his whip? This was going to be the death of him!

Wait, wasn’t Princess Xiao that hostage princess sent by the defeated country? A lowly hostage princess—why was Chief Lady Fang following her around?

The Head Eunuch couldn’t figure it out, so he just started kowtowing to Xiao Luo. “Princess, forgive me! Princess, forgive me!”

Xiao Luo ignored him and instead looked at the female lead on the ground. Lin Qiao’er was also looking at her with dazed eyes, watching her crouch down and move the heavy potted plant off her body.

This woman before her, as beautiful as a fairy, had actually helped her.

A flicker of confusion mixed with growing gratitude appeared in Lin Qiao’er’s eyes.

“Get up,” Xiao Luo said coldly and aloofly.

Lin Qiao’er instantly felt clearer-headed and could breathe smoothly again. She slowly climbed to her feet and knelt on the ground, saying, “Thank you, Your Highness.”

This girl was the hostage princess who arrived yesterday. She had heard that Princess Xiao’s first days in the palace hadn’t been easy either.

Lin Qiao’er couldn’t help but steal another glance at Xiao Luo, noticing that she was dressed very simply and that the wound on her palm was still dripping blood.

“Your Highness, your hand…”

Xiao Luo wasn’t too concerned. She casually wrapped it with a handkerchief and said to her, “It’s nothing.”

Lin Qiao’er’s gaze remained fixed on that blood-soaked hand.

The Head Eunuch kept kowtowing non-stop, and Xiao Luo eventually told him to rise. Then she looked at the shifty-eyed palace maid nearby, dragged her out, and pushed her to the ground. She said, “Eunuch, I saw her deliberately trip someone with her foot. How do you think she should be punished?”

The female lead in this story had a misfortune-attracting constitution. She was targeted by different people practically from beginning to end and got stepped on by all sorts of people at every stage.