Beloved Empress

Chapter 101

Mo Qi Qi goodnaturedly comforts them, "Let’s not let her ruin our mood. Since we all know that she is the one at fault, let’s not get angry. Why must we punish ourselves over her mistake? Let’s continue practicing."

"Alright! Alright!" the rest of the concubines say, appeased.

Since the weather is getting warmer, Mo Qi Qi has ordered people to prepare sour plum soup for them. They tastes so good under the hot sun.

As for Yang Shi Han, she heads straight for the imperial study after that incident. "Your Majesty, you must give chenqie justice!" Yang Shi Han walks over to him coquettishly and looks at him in grievance.

Jun Qian Che glances at her before returning to his memorial, "What happened?"

"Someone bullied chenqie," complained Yang Shi Han.

A mocking smile can be seen at the corner of Jun Qian Che’s lips before he says, "Someone actually dared to bully this Guifei? Who would have that much courage inside the palace?"

"Who else if not your Empress? Hmph! She has never liked chenqie. Now that chenqie has entered the palace and become a Guifei, she hates chenqie even more! She keeps trying to bully chenqie! Chenqie bumped into her in the Imperial Garden just now and she admonished chenqie really severely! Your Majesty, you must give chenqie her justice!" she tugs on his arm coquettishly.

Jun Qian Che stares at her before asking, "How did the Empress admonish you?" He usually does not care about whatever is happening inside the harem, but he is kind of interested when it comes to Mo Qi Qi.

Yang Shi Han begin reiterating what happened in the Imperial Garden just now, just she distorts it a little to be biased towards herself, "After that, the Empress said that men cannot be counted on. She also said that not getting Your Majesty’s love is alright as long as she can live happily. Is that something that the Mother of the Kingdom should be saying? Does that means that young maidens out there should follow her footsteps and starts taking their husbands for granted?"

Husband? Bitterness rises inside Jun Qian Che’s heart. The thing is, Mo Qi Qi probably does not even consider him her husband now. That’s why she no longer covets his love.

"This is an important matter, Your Majesty. You must not let this slide," says Yang Shi Han, fanning the fire.

Jun Qian Che nods, "Zhen understand. Zhen will handle this. You should leave first."

"Yes. You must not forget about this, Your Majesty! Chenqie shall retreat first." The moment Yang Shi Han steps out of the imperial study, she smirks proudly, ’Mo Qi Qi, I want to see how long you can be haughty for. Hmph, I will treat you the way you treated me back then!"

After dinner, the idle Mo Qi Qi suddenly decides to learn embroidery from Ban Xiang. Unfortunately, she is not very good at it and ends up piercing her fingers more than the fabric itself.

Just as she is lamenting over her lack of womanly skills, an announcement comes from outside, informing them of Jun Qian Che’s arrival.

"Why is this trash coming over so late at night?" groans Mo Qi Qi to herself.

Jun Qian Che walks in and Mo Qi Qi elegantly curtsies in front of him, "Chenqie greets Your Majesty."

"Forego the formality," says Jun Qian Che simply before sitting in front of the table.

Mo Qi Qi mumbles inside her heart: if you really want to forego the formality, why did you wait for me to curtsy first before saying that? Lame~

Jun Qian Che looks at the embroidering tools on the table before looking at Mo Qi Qi, "These are yours?"

Mo Qi Qi hastily puts them away and hands them over to Ban Xiang, "Hehe, chenqie was idle and had nothing else to do, so chenqie decided to learn a little from Ban Xiang."

"What are you planning to make?" asks Jun Qian Che, trying to sound casual.

Mo Qi Qi thinks for a moment, "Chenqie plans to make a bird." She wants to be a little bird that can freely fly out of this cage.

"Who are you planning to give it to?" asks Jun Qian Che while sipping on tea. Although he tries to appear casual, his heart is beating rather rapidly as he waits for her answer.

"Chenqie has not really considered that part. Chenqie told you, this is just a heat of the moment thing." It’s not like I will give it to you anyway, hmph! You tried to kill me over and over again. If only I can chase you out of my palace!

"You indeed should learn these things. They might help improve your temperament," says Jun Qian Che calmly. To tell the truth, he really wants a scented pouch from her, but, as the Emperor, he cannot really ask for it from her. He hoped that she can understand the hint, but turns out, Mo Qi Qi is duller than he thought.

"You are right, Your Majesty! Chenqie should learn these things whenever chenqie has time. Anyway, it is so late now, why haven’t you gone to rest?" smiles Mo Qi Qi, hoping he will leave as soon as he can.

Jun Qian Che looks at her.

The smile on Mo Qi Qi’s face turns rigid for a moment, but she continues smiling anyway.

"Zhen heard that something unpleasant has transpired between the Empress and Yang Guifei earlier today," Jun Qian Che’s voice is calm, without any hint of emotion.

Mo Qi Qi grumbles in dissatisfaction, "Oh, so Yang Guifei complained at you again! That’s why you are here tonight! To interrogate chenqie! To punish chenqie!"

Jun Qian Che frowns before helplessly saying, "Zhen did not say that zhen is here to question or punish you."

"Since you believed Yang Guifei, doesn’t that mean that you are here to question chenqie? After all, Yang Guifei is the woman that you love, you will believe in anything she said! As for chenqie, whatever chenqie does is wrong. If you really think chenqie does not deserve this position, why don’t you just depose chenqie and make Yang Guifei your Empress!" At least I won’t have to handle so many women for you everyday.

"Is zhen that unreasonable to you?" Jun Qian Che’s voice is a lot colder now. Why does she keep treating him with such enmity?

"Chenqie does not have that much guts," says Mo Qi Qi in grievance, tacitly affirming his question.

Jun Qian Che glares at her for a good few seconds before leaving angrily.

Mo Qi Qi scowls at him behind his back, "Hmph, go on, get angry. It was not my fault to begin with!"

For the next couple of days, Mo Qi Qi continues studying the map. She begins visiting the toilets inside the palace as well.

As for Jun Qian Che, although he does not know why she is so fascinated with toilets, since she does not cause any trouble, he is too lazy to deal with her. The court is very busy at the moment anyway.

Today, a foreign king is visiting the kingdom and Jun Qian Che has arranged a reception to welcome him in.

Mo Qi Qi is overjoyed when she hears that because that means that Jun Qian Che will not be in Yu Jing Palace. This is her chance to check his toilet. She got there too late last time, by then, he had already reached Yu Jing Palace. She must not repeat the same mistake this time.

And so, clutching her map, Mo Qi Qi sneakily makes her way to Yu Jing Palace.

As for the visiting foreign king, the court is encountering a little problem right now: no one can understand what he is saying.

Jun Qian Che and the ministers can only stare at the king as he speaks animatedly.

"What is the king saying?"

"I have no idea. The language that he is speaking in does not seem to come from the western region."

"Oh," sighs the foreign king in frustration.

Jun Qian Che’s eyes light up when he hears that familiar phrase. His head goes straight to Mo Qi Qi; she always speaks unintelligible words in front of him. She seems to say that word a lot too. He turns to Eunuch Lin, "Hurry and dispatch the Empress over."

"Yes!" Eunuch Lin immediately goes to fetch Mo Qi Qi. It is when Eunuch Lin passes Yu Jing Palace does he see Mo Qi Qi standing there, skulking around like a thief.

Eunuch Lin walks over to her with a question mark hovering above his head.

Mo Qi Qi has been waiting for the guards in charge to march to other places, and when they do, she rushes towards Yu Jing Palace’s gate. It is then that she hears a voice behind her greeting her, "This servant greets the Empress."

S*it! Mo Qi Qi almost collapse on the ground. Why is she so unlucky? That voice belongs to Eunuch Lin, he has always been inseparable from Jun Qian Che. She lowers her head like a guilty child before turning around to get herself out of this mess. "Your Majesty, chenqie is wrong. Chenqie shouldn’t have sneaked into Yu Jing Palace."

Eunuch Lin respectfully replies her, "Are you looking for His Majesty, Your Ladyship? His Majesty is at the court, he is not here."

Mo Qi Qi quickly raises her head. When she realizes that there is only Eunuch Lin in front of her, she sighs in relief. Then, she awkwardly fixes her messy hair before saying, "Since His Majesty is not here, bengong shall leave first."

"Please wait a minute, Your Ladyship," says Eunuch Lin respectfully.

"What is it, Eunuch Lin?" asks Mo Qi Qi impatiently.

"Your Ladyship, His Majesty has invited you over to the court," replies Eunuch Lin.

Mo Qi Qi massages her forehead while mumbling to herself, "Don’t tell me Jun Qian Che has a superpower and can see into the future? He knew I am going to be here today, so he ordered his eunuch to wait for me here." Then, she turns to Eunuch Lin, "Do you know why His Majesty is calling for bengong? The court is a place for men, it is inappropriate for bengong to be there."

"This servant has no idea why His Majesty called you over, but His Majesty is waiting, it is not good to make His Majesty wait for too long," replies Eunuch Lin politely while smiling.

Mo Qi Qi shakes her head helplessly. In the end, she simply consoles herself with thinking that this might be a blessing, and not a bad thing; and if it is indeed a bad thing, it’s not like she can escape it anyway. She pats herself in the chest before saying, "Alright, let’s go!"

She follows Eunuch Lin to the court, where the ministers are all still trying to figure out what the foreign king is trying to say.

When Mo Qi Qi walks in, she greets Jun Qian Che particularly jovially out of guilt. "Your Majesty!" she waves at him with a big smile on her face.

The foreign king sees that gesture and excitedly holds her hand, "This is great!"

Jun Qian Che’s face turns blue when he sees the king holding her hand.