Unparalleled Beauty

Chapter C120 pt2

In the silent hall, the chamberlains holding trays all held their breath and lowered their gaze.

Emperor Qianwu lowered his head, glanced at her flushed face, and coughed lightly: "Be quicker."

Wushuang didn't dare to daze off any longer and, with trembling hands, tied the remaining ribbons for him. She then helped him put on his outer robe. Because she was flustered and hurried, the clothes were not put on smoothly, and the knots were tied very roughly. Fortunately, he was dressed quickly.

Emperor Qianwu left, and a large group of chamberlains followed him. Wushuang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She returned to the bed, feeling as though she had no face to show anyone. How could she have been so stunned by looking at someone's body? She wondered if he had noticed. At this moment, the palace maid who usually served her arrived.

"Has His Majesty left?"

The palace maid replied that he had. Wushuang quickly sat up and had the palace maid help her change her clothes.

Usually, she would have breakfast before leaving, but today she didn't even have breakfast. She had just gotten into the palanquin and traveled a short distance when the palanquin was suddenly stopped.

"Her Majesty the Empress summons the Lady to speak with her."

Mei Wuxia?

This was Wushuang's first time at Fengqi Palace.

The extravagance of Fengqi Palace goes without saying, but Wushuang had no intention of taking a closer look.

From the moment she walked in, countless gazes were fixed upon her, gazes that made Mei Wushuang feel as though she were stripped bare.

Little Quanzi supported her, yet was quietly speaking to her in a low voice.

"Madam, you really didn't need to come. Or, should this servant find some excuse so that Madam can leave first?"

Wushuang saw Little Quanzi's difficulty; otherwise, he, who usually seemed respectful yet spoke freely and jovially, wouldn't reveal such an anxious expression.

Mei Wuxia was, after all, the Empress. The Empress was the female master of this imperial palace, and also the female master of this empire. Since the Empress summoned her, there was absolutely no reason for her to refuse. Moreover, she also wanted to know what Mei Wuxia wanted from her.

Was it to threaten her, humiliate her, or to scorn her and punish her?

She felt fear and shame in her heart, but in truth, she was also prepared, even feeling as though after waiting for so long, everything had finally settled.

Entering the palace was not her wish. She also knew that her actions were against worldly ethics and morality, but she had no choice and dared not refuse, just as she could not refuse the Empress's summons.

"She is the Empress; even if we evade her today, we cannot evade her tomorrow or the day after."

"But…" Little Quanzi hesitated for a moment and said, "This servant has already sent someone to report to Eunuch Fu."

Hearing these words, Wushuang felt relieved again. She thought that even if Mei Wuxia truly wanted to deal with her, to punish her, someone would come to save her.

But, would he come to save her?

The Empress was, after all, the Empress. Would he disregard the Empress's dignity to save her?

Harboring such complex emotions, Wushuang saw the Empress.

She hadn't seen the Empress for a very, very long time, so long that she had forgotten when their last meeting was. The current Empress was nothing like the Mei Wuxia in her memory.

Her attire was so magnificent and dignified, sitting upon the phoenix throne, appearing so high and above.

Like a Bodhisattva in a temple.

"Upon seeing the Empress, you still do not kneel?"

A female voice interrupted Wushuang's wild thoughts. Before she could react, she heard another female voice say, "Enough, Wushuang is, after all, this Majesty's younger sister."

That sense of estrangement suddenly vanished. Wushuang recognized the two speakers; one was the Empress, and the other was Hupo?

Hupo, on the other hand, had been following Eldest Sister for quite some time.

"Eldest Sister," Mei Wushuang said, performing a blessing curtsey, just as they had before either of them were married.

The smile on the Empress's lips stiffened for a moment, then she said with a smile, "Move a seat for the Second Madam Zhao."

Hearing the title "Second Madam Zhao," Wushuang froze slightly.

She sat down below, lowering her eyes and composing herself.

The Empress watched her from above.

Looking at Wushuang below, who wore no makeup and was dressed in plain, somber colors, the Empress also wondered, what exactly did His Majesty see in her?

This face?

The Empress admitted that her good cousin indeed possessed a beautiful face; otherwise, her grandmother wouldn't have disliked her for being foxy and made her keep thick bangs.

Later, after she married, her forehead hair naturally had to be styled up, revealing her stunningly beautiful face. But it wasn't as if there weren't more beautiful women than her in the palace, so what exactly did His Majesty see in her?

Each had her own thoughts, and both remained silent, slowly making the atmosphere awkward.

In the end, it was Wushuang who broke the silence.

"I wonder what matter Eldest Sister has summoned me here for?"

The Empress returned to her senses and said, "It's nothing much, but I heard that Younger Sister has been frequenting the palace lately, yet has never come to see Eldest Sister."

"This Majesty wonders if Younger Sister has some misunderstanding towards Eldest Sister, or perhaps resents Eldest Sister for some reason."

In truth, sometimes Wushuang admired this Eldest Sister of hers. Just like back then, when the other party got married, she, according to custom, returned to her maiden home to see her off. Clearly, she was uncomfortable, and the other party was also uncomfortable, but Mei Wuxia was able to smile brightly and say some deceitful words to her face. The implied meaning in her words was that she was also bearing the debt of her regretting the engagement and marrying someone else on her behalf.

But at that time, Wushuang had just experienced a series of blows and setbacks. Initially, she had been misled and encouraged by Mei Wuxia, and she hadn't thought deeply when doing things. It wasn't until after the incident that she realized everything was beyond her imagination.

She schemed against Zhao Jianzhi, and at the same time, ruined her own reputation. And how could a family like the Zhao family willingly marry a woman who was not a good match for their son? Even if they married her, they wouldn't give her a kind look, and she would forever bear the guilt of being scheming and harming others, never being able to hold her head up for the rest of her life.

She couldn't think of these things because for many years she had been confined to the Marquis Changyang's Mansion, and her horizons were narrow. She didn't believe that her always clever Eldest Sister couldn't think of these things either, but the other party was able to say some high-sounding words to her face, and then righteously become the Princess Consort Wei, and even say a few words to make her feel grateful to her.

Just like this sentence now, every word implied that it was her fault, that she was not only trying to win favor with her sister's husband, but also avoiding her sister. What a vile and shameless woman!

But it was indeed her fault, and how could she possibly involve her mother-in-law and the esteemed Noble Consort Hui in front of everyone? She could only lower her head and say, "The imperial decree is difficult to disobey. I hope Eldest Sister will forgive me."

"What imperial decree? Could it be that His Majesty forbade you from seeing this Majesty?" the Empress joked.

Mei Wushuang raised her eyes to look at her. The Empress was smiling, but her eyes held a hint of sharpness.

In that instant, the resentment that had been hidden in her heart for so long surged forth.

Yes, she was foolish, falling for someone else's scheme without realizing it. Even after realizing it, she had nowhere to voice her grievances, because all of this was what she had initially wanted!

She was already avoiding the topic, so why did she have to provoke her like this? Did she really want her to say, 'I resent you, that's why I don't want to see you. Who told you to plot against me?'

Mei Wushuang didn't speak, knowing that it would be useless to say anything. Instead, it would be easy for others to turn the tables on her. Others only needed to say, "You agreed to it in the first place," to silence her thousands of words. It would only make her seem like she was being unreasonable, jealous of her Eldest Sister, with a hateful face, despicable and vile.

She closed her eyes, forcing the tears back, and replied in the same joking tone.

"Since Eldest Sister already knows, why ask the obvious?"

The Empress's gaze instantly sharpened.

Just then, someone suddenly arrived.

No one announced their arrival, but in an instant, from outside the door to inside, the palace servants knelt down one by one, which was enough to prove the identity of the person who had come.

Mei Wushuang turned her head to look, and when she saw that yellow figure, her mind went blank. She immediately stood up and ran towards him. Only when she arrived in front of him and grabbed his sleeve did she realize what she had done.

She stiffened like a stone, wanting to withdraw her hand, but it was grasped by someone else.

At this moment, the Empress also came over.

"This concubine greets Your Majesty." She curtsied and said, "Isn't Your Majesty holding court? How could you..." The Empress couldn't continue speaking, her eyes fixed on the two hands clasped together.

Emperor Qianwu's eyelids were half-lowered, seemingly listening to the Empress, but in reality, his gaze was fixed on her. Seeing her red eyes and pitiful expression, his jaw tightened slightly, and his brows furrowed.

"This Emperor just came to take a look. Empress, you don't need to stand on ceremony."

Then he left, pulling Wushuang around and walking away.

The Empress stared, watching the two figures disappear outside the door.

She gazed for a long, long time, until Hupo, trembling with fear, called out, "Your Majesty."