“Dong, dong, dong.”
The door was knocked.
“Madam wishes to see you.”
Xunian had only just lain down and was about to fall asleep when Li Momo called her up.
She smoothed her slightly messy bangs, forced down the irritation in her heart, and followed Li Momo all the way to the Main Hall.
Late at night, all was silent; outside the Main Hall, everything was pitch-black except for Li Momo, who carried a lantern.
What could the Empress possibly want from her in the middle of the night?
“Madam, this serv—… I have come.”
Xunian almost blurted out the word “servant,” but the Empress had forbidden her from using that term.
Fortunately, the word circled on the tip of her tongue a few times before she managed to swallow it back.
That was close; she nearly broke the Rules.
The Empress was nothing like the gentle person she had been in the morning.
Her gaze was icy, her entire aura as cold as the snow atop a mountain that never melts, making anyone who glanced at her too afraid to look her in the eyes again.
She gave Xunian a sidelong glance, then nodded toward the bed and ordered,
“Kneel.”
The Empress’s command exploded in Xunian’s heart like a timed bomb. She looked sharply at the Empress, who stared back at her coldly, her clear black eyes filled with disbelief.
She seemed to be asking, Are you sure?
The Empress said nothing, waiting quietly for Xunian to carry out her command.
After a long moment, under the double pressure of the Empress’s gaze cold enough to drop ice shards and those damned bizarre Rules…
Xunian caved.
Humiliated, she shuffled to the side of the bed, slowly climbed up, and knelt on the bedding that had already been laid out.
A slender hand lifted the girl’s chin; the touch was so soft it made one reluctant to press any harder.
The corners of the girl’s mouth tensed; beneath trembling, thick lashes, her gaze was stubborn, refusing to look at the Empress, her eyes full of defiance.
So you’re that unwilling to look at me?
A flash of anger and a hint of helplessness flickered through the Empress’s eyes. She hardened her heart and pinched the soft cheek in her hand.
Xunian’s face flushed red, her eyes turned moist as she looked at the Empress, a mist forming in her eyes, her lower lip bitten, as if she were enduring something.
Seeing her look so fragile and bullied, the Empress’s heart pounded madly.
She really wanted to bite her.
The thought came, and the Empress instantly let go of Xunian’s face, as if to hide something, and walked to the edge of the bed to remove her jewelry, saying softly,
“Sleep with me tonight.”
Xunian had only just escaped those cold, demonic claws, yet the Empress’s words struck her dumb, leaving her frozen on the bed.
Sleep with the Empress?!
Is this… one of those… palace unspoken Rules?!
The key was, she couldn’t refuse any request from the Empress. What should she do?!
Xunian still knelt at the head of the bed, watching as the Empress took off her jewelry and went to the golden basin to wash her hands.
After removing the jewelry, her clean, slender fingers traced ripples across the water.
The girl’s body trembled in fear, and she swallowed nervously.
Maybe she should try to die with dignity?
With a trembling heart, she forced herself to say to the Empress, “No…”
The Empress pressed her down onto the pillow. Xunian’s heart skipped a beat; she reflexively closed her eyes, then opened them in a panic.
Nothing unspeakable happened as she’d imagined. After a bit of rustling, the Empress had already pulled up the covers and was lying next to her.
Prepared to die, Xunian blinked her eyes, only to feel a rush of heat creep up her cheeks.
So it was just pulling up the quilt and chatting.
When the Empress thoughtfully pulled the quilt over Xunian’s side, covering her, Xunian shamefully buried her face—still marked with red—under the covers, exposing only a pair of eyes filled with embarrassment and shyness.
She couldn’t face anyone anymore.
She actually thought the gentle Empress would do such things to her, and just imagining it made her blush and her heart race.
She was hopeless.
Xunian had thought her shame would keep her awake, but to her surprise, the lingering scent of herbal medicine somehow calmed her, and she drifted off into a deep sleep.
The Empress waited until the person beside her was breathing steadily before cautiously opening her eyes.
Her phoenix-shaped eyes shone, and she silently gazed at the sleeping Xunian in the moonlight spilling onto the bed from the window.
Her heart softened without her realizing. Her gaze traced Xunian’s closed eyes, swept over her delicate nose, and finally landed on those cherry-pink lips.
She wanted so badly…
To kiss her.
No.
She couldn’t kiss her.
Absolutely not—such treacherous thoughts were forbidden!
The Empress’s eyes were full of inner turmoil. How could she, the dignified Empress, harbor such thoughts toward a lowly palace maid she’d only met a few times?
They were so close, she could even feel Xunian’s every breath. Unconsciously, she slowed her own breathing to match Xunian’s rhythm.
Her breathing slowed, but her heart kept racing faster.
No… She was the Empress!
Avoiding Xunian’s gaze, the Empress tried not to look at her again, but after a few seconds, her eyes involuntarily searched for Xunian’s figure, just to make sure she was still there.
The Empress spent the entire night trying to digest one thing.
She had developed feelings she shouldn’t have for a palace maid.
She completely forgot her original intention was to punish Xunian. In the end, she’d only punished herself.
She did not sleep at all that night.
……
The next day.
“Cough, cough, cough, cough…”
Xunian was awakened by a fit of coughing. She looked over and saw the Empress clutching the edge of the quilt tightly, trying hard to suppress the cough but unable to stop it.
“Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough…”
Her face was even paler than yesterday, dark circles under her eyes, brows tightly furrowed, one hand covering her mouth but unable to stifle the persistent cough.
“Madam, are you alright?” Xunian looked at her with concern, wanting to check her temperature, but not daring to touch the Empress lightly.
“I’m fine. Cough, cough…”
She didn’t look fine at all. Was her illness getting worse?
“Wait right here!”
Her heart tightened, and she even forgot to use a proper address.
Xunian hurriedly got out of bed, didn’t even bother to put on her outer robe, hair disheveled as she rushed out, running all the way to the Side Hall.
Xia He saw her in this disheveled state and couldn’t help but take a step back, looking at her warily.
Why was she coming out like this?
Wait.
Xia He thought of something, her eyes widened slightly.
Xunian seemed to be coming from the direction of the Main Hall, looking as if she’d just woken up in a rush.
Could it be… Xunian spent the night in the Empress’s Fuhua Hall?!
Did Xunian have something on Madam the Empress?!
“Where’s the Empress’s medicine?”
“In the pot, not done yet.”
Saying so, Xia He continued to tend to the medicine.
Xunian anxiously put her hand on Xia He’s shoulder, shaking her, “Please, tell me, how do I call for the Imperial Physician?!”
“Just inform the guard at the door, and have him fetch the Imperial Physician.”
Xunian memorized this, nodded in agreement, and just as she was about to turn and call for the Imperial Physician, a voice stopped her.
“Stop.”
Hearing this voice, Xunian froze on the spot.
She stood motionless until…
A slight weight settled on her back, an arm looped around her neck, and someone behind her buried their face in her neck, warm breaths short and even against her skin, and a soft voice drifted into her ear,
“Don’t… call the Imperial Physician.”
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