Go Princess Go Chapter 35

Shoutout to Tachibanaswife for the commission!

His life would be spared, but as for what kind of life he could live, that would no longer be up to him.

For some reason, I suddenly felt a bit of heartache. I reached out and patted Lord Toilet’s shoulder, advising him, “Try to broaden your mind a little. Being alive is always better than being dead!”

Lord Toilet parted his lips slightly and looked at me in surprise.

I withdrew my hand awkwardly, went back to sit down, sighed pretentiously, then opened my mouth again and asked, “You say he asked you to preside over this grand ceremony, what’s he thinking? Is he trying to catch hold of your weakness or mine?”

Lord Toilet thought for a moment and replied, “He’s probably trying to make things difficult for me.”

I froze for a moment. I pondered it for quite a while but still couldn’t understand how this would make things difficult for Lord Toilet.

Yet Lord Toilet merely laughed softly and said, “Since you can’t figure it out, then don’t bother. Let me ask you instead, do you still hate him for putting you in danger before?”

He changed the subject so quickly that I couldn’t quite keep up. After a beat, I answered, “What’s the use of hating or not hating? I still have to make a living under him. Besides, why so much hatred? He doesn’t owe me anything. There’s no reason he should hold me in the palm of his hand and dote on me. Thinking about it afterward, I actually feel this isn’t so bad. He didn’t sell me out once, so if he wants to sell me out next time, he’ll at least have to think twice first.”

Lord Toilet seemed somewhat surprised. After staring at me blankly for a moment, he said, “You don’t seem like someone raised by a human trafficker. He doesn’t have that kind of insight, nor could he raise a woman with your breadth of mind.”

I felt a little embarrassed at his praise and waved my hand with a smile. “What breadth of mind? I just don’t have any other choice. I can only take things one step at a time and go with the flow.”

What else could I do?

Lord Toilet plotted against Qi Sheng and started with me, hoping to throw Qi Sheng into confusion. But Qi Sheng didn’t lose his footing; instead, he turned the tables and used me to lure Lord Toilet into the trap. The two brothers schemed against each other like this, tripping each other up, yet neither guarded against Zhao Wang in Shengdu, who stabbed them both in the back.

In struggles like this, if you’re too close, you’re bound to get caught in the crossfire. Was I annoyed? Of course I was. It’s like being slapped on the left cheek, do you want to slap back? Only a fool wouldn’t. But my arms aren’t that long. Rather than stretching them out and failing, I might as well pull them back quickly and guard my right cheek, so I don’t get slapped again.

Once you see it clearly, you actually feel a bit freer.

Lord Toilet and I sat facing each other in silence. After sitting quietly for a while, he got up and left.

Luli came in from outside the hall, her eyes full of worry, and murmured reproachfully, “Niang Niang is truly muddleheaded. At a time like this you should be avoiding suspicion, yet you’re alone with him. If someone with ill intentions reports it to the Emperor, you won’t be able to clear your name.”

I pretended not to hear, quickly got up and moved into the inner chamber, lay face down on the bed, and told Luli to pound my back.

Her hands were busy, but her mouth wasn’t idle. She muttered softly, “Niang Niang, you can’t keep being like this. So many people in the palace are watching you. If you stay inside all day, those vixens will get carried away. These days, for the sake of rank, they’re scrambling up and down. Every one of them is dressing in a bewitching way, trying every means to get close to the Emperor.”

I couldn’t help sighing. Thinking about those concubines, they were rather pitiful too, so young, yet living in such drought day after day. What Qi Sheng was doing was really d*mned improper! You can love Lady Jiang all you want, but you should at least water the other flowers now and then!

Hearing me sigh, Luli surely misunderstood again. She said resentfully, “Niang Niang should bring out some of your old methods and properly discipline those little vixens!”

Oh, give me a break. I have nothing better to do than stir up trouble?

I hurriedly stopped her and earnestly advised, “Luli, even though fighting with others can be endlessly entertaining, can’t we broaden our perspective a bit? Why fixate on those flowers and grasses? Dressing enchantingly is good, it’s pleasing to the eye. Haven’t you heard? One flower doesn’t make spring; only when all the blossoms compete in beauty does it become a scene.”

The little girl tilted her head and thought very seriously for a moment. Suddenly enlightened, she looked at me with admiration and praised, “Niang Niang truly understands!”

I nodded, not even having time to feel pleased before Luli continued, “I understand now. Let them compete among themselves and fight until both sides are injured. We’ll just sit back and reap the benefits!”

I froze. Girl, girl, the key word in what I said was “beauty,” not “compete,” okay? Okay?

Still, Luli’s words reminded me of something. Expecting women’s petty jealousies to spontaneously maintain stability and harmony in the harem was unrealistic. Rather than letting them fight chaotically and make this future empress look incompetent, it would be better to find a way to make them unable to fight at all.

But there were so many of them, like wolves and tigers, and there was only one piece of “meat”, Qi Sheng, and it was still clamped in Lady Jiang’s mouth. How could that possibly be divided evenly? Oh heavens, this is killing me.

While I was fretting, Qi Sheng, who hadn’t shown himself for many days, suddenly came to my palace.

Luli looked as though she had swallowed a magpie’s egg, her face unable to contain her joy. I, however, was secretly alarmed. Lord Toilet had just seen me during the day, and Qi Sheng came at night, what was he up to? Even catching someone in the act isn’t done like this!

Qi Sheng wasn’t wearing his dragon robe, only a dark brocade gown. He walked alone into the inner chamber and, without a word, grabbed my hand and led me outside.

I hurriedly waved at Luli, signaling her to follow quickly.

Luli hid behind a pillar and cheerfully waved her little handkerchief at me.

I immediately felt like crying without tears.

Qi Sheng pulled me through corridors and along small paths until we reached an extremely secluded little palace chamber in the northeast corner of the imperial palace. Only then did he stop. He released my hand and stared silently at the dim lamplight inside, lost in thought.

I couldn’t fathom his intentions. At a time like this, dragging me to such a secluded place, what was he planning?

Qi Sheng suddenly said, out of nowhere, “She’s inside. She’s suffered greatly. I’ve wronged her.”

My heart tightened. I immediately realized who this “she” referred to. I quickly grabbed Qi Sheng’s hand in return and cried, “You can’t do this! This isn’t the time to provoke the Zhang family. You must stay calm. Love is precious, but the throne is more so! She’s suffered, who in this palace hasn’t? Huang Liangyuan, Li Chenghui, Chen Liangdi, they live like widows every day. Aren’t they suffering too?”

Qi Sheng turned to look at me, his expression dark and unreadable.

Afraid that once he stood before Lady Jiang he’d lose all reason, I hurriedly analyzed the pros and cons for him. “It doesn’t matter whether I become empress or not. As long as I have food and drink, it’s even better not to. The problem is, how will you placate the Zhang family? Without my position as empress, why would they continue to support you? And if the Zhang family turns against you and supports the Ninth Prince instead, what then? Wouldn’t there be another war?”

Actually, I wasn’t afraid of war. The problem was that my current position was too awkward. No matter which side won, it wouldn’t benefit me. This wasn’t something I could solve just by hiding in a palace and ignoring the world.

After a moment of silence, Qi Sheng suddenly asked, “Can you tolerate her?”

“Tolerate? Absolutely!” I cried at once. Afraid he’d think I wasn’t sincere enough, I hurriedly raised my right hand as if swearing an oath. “You can have me enshrine her like an ancestor if you want, just don’t go off to live a lifetime of monogamous bliss with her yet! Tell her not to worry. I promise I’ll keep a tight watch on Huang Liangyuan and the others. They absolutely won’t appear before you two! Even if a fly accidentally comes near you, it’ll be a male!”

Seeing that Qi Sheng still showed no reaction, I felt more and more uneasy. In the end, a surge of perverse anger suddenly flared up inside me, and I couldn’t help but curse out loud, “D*mn it! If women don’t understand and act foolishly, fine, but how can you, a grown man, be confused too? A lifetime of one man and one woman, is that something an emperor should do? Instead of thinking about how to govern the country and handle state affairs, you spend all day obsessing over the waistband of some fire-stoking stick. Is that interesting? What are women, anyway? Fat or thin, beautiful or ugly, once the lights are out, what’s the difference? Huh? What’s the difference? If they want to fool themselves with love and romance, then just go along and humor them. Why are you taking it seriously? You’re a grown man! You’re the emperor! You’ve got a perfectly good harem and you don’t want it, are you even a man? Are you stupid?”

I felt immensely satisfied after that tirade.

Qi Sheng was stunned into stupidity by my scolding.

I stopped and took several deep breaths to calm myself down. Then I, too, was stunned.

Who’s the biggest idiot in this world? Not Yang Yan, not Lord Toilet, not Qi Sheng, it’s me! Me! What exactly did I just shout at an emperor?

Thinking that if you want to fool others, you must first fool yourself, I quickly hypnotized myself into believing nothing had happened. I flicked at my sleeves, brushed myself off a few times, and said lightly, “Quite a lot of mosquitoes, huh?”

Qi Sheng remained silent.

He was much taller than I was, and with the moonlight at his back, I couldn’t see his expression clearly. I only felt a chilling coldness seeping from him.

I hurriedly wondered, if I ran now and contacted the Zhang family and Lord Toilet to raise troops temporarily, what were our chances of winning? Could that unfortunate Zhao Wang be of any use?