Song Song could always easily influence Li Xiao. His smile practically shone with light, but at the same time it wasn’t blinding. When seen, it made people feel very comfortable.
Li Xiao suddenly really wanted to pick him up and give him a lick, to see if he’d taste sweet to the bottom of his heart. Thinking this, he just did it as well. When he reached out to hug Song Song, the other had some hesitation, but still allowed himself to be gathered up without a fuss.
Li Xiao’s forehead pressed against his, forcing him to lift his face. Song Song pushed him a little uncomfortably: “We’re still outside…”
“So what?” Li Xiao pecked him on the lips: “Bai Yan turned around already.”
He hugged Song Song and carefully kissed him, a little oppressive but very tender. Song Song tried to dodge a little, but was kissed by him repeatedly, as if the other couldn’t get enough.
“Your highness!” Song Song pushed him with force: “I’m hungry.”
“Hungry so fast?”
“En.” Song Song said completely seriously: “Little wangye wants to eat.”
Li Xiao looked at him with humor. Song Song didn’t back off. Finally the man smiled, kissed him deeply again, then finally led him towards the main house: “Alright. What does Song-er want to eat?”
Song Song thought eating whatever is okay, as long as he doesn’t kiss him outside.
On the way back to the main house, Song Song suddenly thought of something: “When do you think the empress will find out the truth about the ‘miracle’?”
“Should be very soon.”
He was talking about the thing pertaining to ‘the holy medicine’. When Li Xiao first asked Song Song who else knew about it other than Song father and Song Ge. Song Song assumed, because Song Guogong was such a careful and paranoid person, not to mention, he really didn’t know the effectiveness of the ‘holy medicine’. Therefore, he probably wouldn’t have told anyone else about secretly giving Song Song this medicine. It was likely that not even madam Song knew.
It’s just unknown what the empress will do when she finds out that the Song family was involved in this business.
Also in regards to Li Xiao asking the empress about the poison in front of everyone in the main hall. At the time, the emperor was also present. However, he didn’t say anything. In the end, did he know and instead pretended to be confused, or did he really not know anything about this at all?
No matter what, Song Song felt that because of this series of events, even if he wanted to pass this year peacefully, it won’t be possible.
Just when the two were about to walk into the main house, an imperial edict suddenly arrived from the palace. Dou gonggong who served beside the emperor arrived in person to summon them into the palace.
Song Song hastily wiped his mouth, cleaned up his appearance and followed Li Xiao on to the carriage.
When they reached the palace, Dou gonggong informed Song Song with a smile: “The emperor summoned wangye to talk about national affairs. Why don’t wangfei go visit the empress dowager?”
Song Song subconsciously looked towards Li Xiao. The latter patted his hand soothingly: “I’ll go find you later.”
Song Song parted with him reluctantly. On the other side, after the empress confirmed that Prime Minister Qin was in no danger, she also returned to the palace in her carriage. She coincidentally caught the sight of Song Song and Li Xiao separating. Her eyes instantly darkened a little. She waved over the momo behind her and instructed quietly into her ears.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Song Song followed leisurely behind a small eunuch leading the way, but unexpectedly encountered a familiar momo: “Greetings wangfei. The empress would like to talk, I don’t know if wangfei could spare the time.”
“Rb.”
“… …” Ktf wbwb kjr raeccfv.
Vbcu Vbcu rwlifv ojlcais: “P’w lc j teggs ab rff atf fwqgfrr vbkjufg.”
“Pa kbc’a ajxf abb wemt bo kjcuofl’r alwf. Tbe tjnf ab qjrr atf fwqgfrr’ qjijmf jcskjs bc sbeg kjs ab Kjlsf qjijmf.”
“Po wbatfg kjcar ab rff wf, atfc joafg P olclrt nlrlalcu atf fwqgfrr vbkjufg, kjcusf jcv P klii ub rff tfg abufatfg. Pc jcs mjrf, P’w jirb j wjc. Kb wffa atf fwqgfrr ys wsrfio lr cba jqqgbqgljaf. P tbqf wbwb klii ecvfgrajcv.”
He looked at the little eunuch who seemed out of place and said: “Let’s go.”
The momo found it hard to respond now that he brought out the proper courtesy maintained between man and woman. She can only watch him leave helplessly and return to the empress’ side. The other didn’t speak for a long time.
“Your majesty?”
“Now he’s not giving me any sense of courtesy at all.” The empress fiddled with a flower and recalled the thing that happened at the king’s estate today. She said faintly: “If there’s no Song Song, then Li Xiao might never regain clarity again right?”
The momo’s expression changed, but since the empress seemed to be mumbling to herself, she looked down and didn’t dare to speak. Another voice suddenly sounded from elsewhere: “Greetings to your majesty. The empress dowager summoned you to Taiye palace for a chat.”
The empress’s calm expression froze.
When Song Song arrived at Taiye palace, he just walked in when he heard Hong momo’s surprised shout: “Wangfei is here? Quick. Come in quickly. The empress dowager was just about to leave the palace to visit you at the king’s estate. Us servants finally were able to stop her after great difficulty. The wind outside is so fierce, what if her body can’t handle it? We were just thinking of summoning you and wangye into the palace tomorrow.”
“Sorry for letting grandmother wait all this time. Lately the city has been very rowdy. Plus my health has been unwell lately, wangye had me recuperate at home and wouldn’t let me leave. That’s why I haven’t come to see grandmother lately.”
“The empress dowager has heard of all of this. She was just happy for wangye.”
She considerately helped Song Song take off his outer cloak and said: “Come inside. It’s warm.”
Lifting the heavy curtain and walking inside, Song Song immediately saw that kind elder. He was just about to bow when she waved him over: “Come over quickly. Sit here. Tell grandma what did the god who bestowed the miracle say to you guys?”
Song Song felt a bit embarrassed: “Grandma, please don’t make fun of us ah.”
The empress dowager laughed loudly and reached out her hand to hold his. She said warmly: “Xiao-er already told me ahead of time. I know what this is about. I was just teasing you. Come. Eat some pastries.”
Song Song accepted with both hands: “Thank you, grandma.”
The empress dowager saw his well-behaved expression. The more she looked the more she liked what she saw: “Song-er was born so good looking. Your manners are also good. Just like Xiao-er’s mother.”
Song Song’s eyelashes blinked, he subconsciously looked towards her: “Empress Zhao?”
“That’s right.” The empress dowager said with a smile: “Empress Zhao was gentle and virtuous inside and graceful and composed outside. The emperor loved her the most. I also loved her.”
Eating like a little hamster, Song Song asked in a small voice: “The empress right now is also… “
“She’s not good.” As soon as the empress dowager heard Song Song’s mention, she started waving her hand and shaking her head, using an extremely honest expression to emphasize to Song Song: “She’s not as good as Sui-er.”
“… …” Song Song’s hand shook a little. He seemed to have realized where Li Xiao learned his straightforward, blabbermouth temper from. This was inside the palace. The empress dowager was already this age, yet she’s still so….
He looked up slightly, saw inside the room stood two eunuchs and two maids and her personal Wan momo. There’re not many people, but it was still not a small amount.
He said helplessly: “Grandma….”
“Don’t be scared.” The empress dowager said warmly: “My health is fine. I even told the emperor ahead of time. If one day I end up dead, it’s surely because I was killed by Qin Qinghe. As long as I die before her, someone will definitely fan the public opinion on the streets and force the emperor to kill her to avenge me.”
“… …” The empress dowager was really cool…
Song Song continued to nibble on the pastries with small bites. The empress dowager suddenly got in the mood to talk about the past.
Song Song only knew that the empress dowager was a princess from Xin nation. She was only 14 when she arrived here. What he didn’t know was that the emperor was once the type of person who believed in love.
She told Song Song, when she was young, she was strong and powerful. Even when the emperor was still the crown prince, he was already married happily with empress Zhao. However, Empress Zhao’s health was always unwell so they didn’t have a child for a long time. Therefore, the empress dowager got anxious and kept on trying to push marriages on to the emperor. However, the emperor never agreed. He told the empress dowager that he wanted to spend his whole life with just empress Zhao and hoped that his mother would understand and allow him to do so.
The empress dowager was born in politics and knew in her heart that this was only an extravagant expectation. In her eyes, power was the most important. She won imperial concubines to fill his harem, guarded against others who wanted to steal away his position as crown prince, and using all of her efforts, she helped him make alliances with the government officials. But he actually dared to tell her that he only needed one empress Zhao? And this empress was one who might not even give birth? She reprimanded him, ridiculed him, and mocked him.
The emperor’s personality was warm. Although he never rebuked, he still silently stood by his decision until the very end.
Finally, empress Zhao learned of this and after speaking with the emperor, she expressed goodwill towards the empress dowager and stated that she was willing to arrange marriages for her husband.
“Originally, I didn’t like Sui-er. I always felt she stole the emperor away from me.” The empress dowager sighed and said: “Now that I think about it. It’s actually because this back palace was far too lonely because I only had the emperor. She understood me, but I never understood her.”
The empress dowager never obtained the so-called favor from the previous ruler. Sometimes she felt that those many years ago when Zhao Sui smiled and helped her select consorts for the emperor, Zhao Sui must have been unhappy in her heart. However, to help the empress dowager and the emperor maintain a good relationship, she still did it to the best of her ability because she knew something called ‘there are three ways to be unfilial, having no sons is the worst.’
She also knew that the crown prince eventually would become the emperor and an emperor had to have a harem of 3 thousand.
They chose back and forth, finally settling on the prime minister’s daughter, aka Qin Qinghe. This lady was good looking and was very talented. Numerous people pursued her. She also had a very good reputation.
However even after many years of Qin Qinghe entering the estate, the emperor, who was still the crown prince back then, did not touch her. It wasn’t until he was thirty years old when he had Li Xiao. Because of happiness, he drank some wine. Then, he ascended the throne. And Qin Qinghe at the same time also had Li Yang.
Song Song couldn’t resist asking: “Why did you…not like her?”
“You mean Empress Qin?” The empress dowager smiled: “I’m not an idiot. I can still tell, after a while, how a person is.”
Did something happen that made grandma realize that Empress Qin wasn’t good? Song Song still wanted to ask when suddenly an announcement sounded from outside: “Empress dowager, the empress asks to see you.”
The empress dowager’s smile didn’t change, but her eyes lost some of their warmth. She said: “Let her come in.”
Song Song immediately stood up to salute. The empress saw the empress dowager and said smiling: “I don’t know why mother summoned this daughter-in-law today?”
“Didn’t you want to steal Song-er to your palace earlier?” The empress dowager said: “So I called you here to see him instead.”
The empress smiled mildly, her gaze turning towards Song Song: “I only heard that there is a godlike doctor in the king’s estate. Now that my father is very ill, I wanted to ask Song Song if the doctor can come take a look at the prime minister.”
“How come I heard that today at the king’s estate, Song-er said that the doctor diagnosed him as pregnant, but you completely refused to believe it. If that’s the case, then why even ask him to take a look now?”
“…. it’s not that this daughter-in-law didn’t believe him. But since the emperor was present, it was better to have the imperial physicians take a look as well.”
“You sent people to spread everywhere that the ‘miracle’ was fake, was it to sway the public’s belief in the royal family?”
The empress answered panicking: “I don’t dare!”
“Is there something in this world that you don’t dare to do?” The empress dowager lifted her tea cup.
The room instantly fell silent. After a strange period of quiet, the empress dowager suddenly said: “Xiao-er is the head of the king’s estate. If you have anything, go ask him. Stop calling Song-er to your place for no reason. His body is not well, you should empathize.”
“Mother is extremely right. This daughter-in-law was careless.”
Song Song silently looked down, discovering further that some special qualities of Li Xiao were really similar to this empress dowager. Speaking of Li Xiao, suddenly the curtain at the entrance was lifted by someone outside. Li Xiao stepped through and said: “What’s the matter? Does mother have something to ask me?”
As soon as she saw him, the empress visibly became nervous. Even adding everyone in this room together, no one could beat a berserking Li Xiao.
Her heart fluttered rapidly, almost suspecting that the empress dowager summoned her here to give Li Xiao a chance to kill her. She instantly stood up and said with a smile: “Originally I wanted to ask your doctor to take a look at my father, but just now the empress dowager already declined for you… if there’s no other business, I’ll take my leave.”
She wanted to go, but Li Xiao’s towering presence completely blocked the entrance. Even as she walked closer, he didn’t seem to have any plans to move aside.
The warmth inside the room made her palms sweaty. She met Li Xiao’s gaze, her heart beating like a drum, her legs unconsciously moving back.
In her head, she repeatedly recalled Li Xiao’s question:
“Were the two poisons the same? Were the two poisons the same? Were the two poisons the same?”
The voice in her head became more and more aggressive, the speed increasing faster and faster. Her breathing grew frantic. The ornaments on her hair began to sway.
The aura emitting from Li Xiao’s unmoving figure slowly diminished to freezing point.
“Your highness.” Song Song interrupted like a timely rain. He reached out to tug at Li Xiao, saying softly: “Grandma’s pastries here are really good. Come have a taste.”
Thank You for the chapter (ʃƪ ˘ ³˘)❤
Song Song: Real it back in! Yummy pastries made by grandma! QAQ
Li Xiao: You’re my favorite pastry.
The empress’ reactions remind me Edgar A. Poe’s poem ‘A Tell- Tale Heart’, I’m waiting for the moment she either breaks from pressure and confesses or she slips up some way or another.
+1, she has a guilty conscience
I really want that Empress Qin to have a slip of the tongue
Hahahaha grandmother is very funny and adorable. He really does resemble Li Xiao, and now I also know where the emperor’s affectionate nature comes from
Rrd: Grandmother is so cool XD. It’s good she understood how she wronged Li Xiao’s mom (｡•́︿•̀｡)
I feel bad for Empress Zhao. Her husband got drunk on the day the had their son and his husband accidentally sleep with other woman. Even if it’s eventually happen but for that to happen on the day of their son’s birthday. I feel a bit disgusted tbh. Could never survived in this era. I rather die or not marry at all if I have to share my husband 😂
It was probably a scheme of that empress qin
The empress may be “smart” but at the same time dumb. She talked about eliminating Song Song so that there wouldn’t be any cure for Li Xiao, but is it just me or did she completely forgot about the fact that when he enters one of his episodes again Li Xiao might even kill the whole royal family without mercy!
Grandma is so cool!!! (っ＾▿＾)۶🍸🌟🍺٩(˘◡˘ )