The Employed Empress

The Empress, who is standing at the shallow waters of the stream, laughed herself silly until she was clutching on her knees.

Continuing, "Almost drown himself on the water as deep as a toddler height! Pft!"

Jiang Liu who refuse to face anyone and thus, facing a tree, "..."

"Empress, a toddler definitely do not reach that high," Tang Mei said while throwing twigs to feed the fire.

The twin blushed madly and bit on their lips. As much as they wanted to pretend to not witness anything, the empress laughter wouldn"t let them.

"Ahahaha, what were you doing Jiang Liu? You sank like a solid freaking rock!"

If only cameras exist, she would have taken a burst shot of it! Ai! She must engrave it to her mind so she could use it as a bedtime story for lil" one!

"You do know that you"re being annoying at this point, right?" Jiang Liu felt wronged.

"I know! But I"m hilarious as heck so who cares?! How tall are you again? Oh gawd you drown in a kiddy pool!"

"Big Sister!" Jiang Liu cried. "What are you even saying?!"

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Back at the palace, the morning was quieter than usual without the empress running front and back.

As the tyrant is absent, Jiang Chen woke up already late in the morning.

At first, Jiang Chen panicked after seeing the sun, however, after remembering that his Aunt left him, he groaned, flung the blankets over his head, and return to sleep.

The servants dare not bother Jiang Chen and let him act on what he desires.

This young prince is known to have the empress" sole favor and no one inside Xian Feng Palace has enough guts offend this young ancestor.

But that was not case everywhere inside the inner palace...

After waking up in the afternoon, which was supposed to be the time of his usual afternoon naps, Jiang Chen sleeping pattern took ma.s.sive damage in just a day.

As Wei Yi Yi would say, silly kids cannot be left unsupervised without destroying the surrounding or themselves.

Since he cannot reverse his predicament, Jiang Chen decided to stroll outside until he got tired enough to take his afternoon nap.

As a result, like they are some sort of fated souls, he met one of his sworn enemies.

A battle of unblinking stare commences without warning.

Jiang Chen, "..."

Feng Lei, "..."

Cold sweats run over their servants. These two different groups of servants, in a blink of an eye, came to a sincere understanding: Avoid clas.h.!.+

Jiang Chen"s utter dislike and annoyance are written all over his face. Despite what he believes, his emotions hung on his sleeves.

As he stares over at the concubine who occupies his and his aunt place, Jiang Chen eyes landed on the noticeable scar on the woman"s supposed-to-be beautiful face.

"Your Highness..." Xiao w.a.n.g Xi called out. In a whisper, he added, "It is rude to openly stare at a woman like that."

Unlike the young prince, Feng Lei simply gaze over at the child. She seemingly lost interest after looking a bit.

Shen Ying paled after witnessing her mistress who deliberately ignored the young prince.

"You are at the Lake Pavillion," Jiang Chen was the first to spoke up. He dislikes Feng Lei"s presence on the place he have many memories with his auntie.

With how much Wei Yi Yi stirs trouble, Jiang Chen slowly learned to be unafraid of the adults around. Although the feeling of fleeting is still there, he could now hold out his ground and act like the prince he is to a certain extent.

"And so?" Feng Lei answered with the rise of her brow.

"This is my, Chen w.a.n.gye, and my auntie, the empress" place. You, out of most people, is not allowed here!"

"Oh?" Feng Lei taunted. "What might be our young prince meaning? The Empress did not say anything that disallowed us, concubines, to stroll at the Lake Pavillion."

At the side, Shen Ying almost falls over. Her mistress really is just so great at picking any fights. Even to the young prince!

Didn"t you said that, after knowing whose fault the incident is, the previous scores were settled and you accepted the punishment wholeheartedly?!

It was true that in reality, Feng Lei never hold grudges nor nurse anger in her belly. She simply settles scores then pick a new fight after!

Obviously, Jiang Chen is displeased with Feng Lei"s tone. "Aren"t you supposed to be grounded at your courtyard?"

Feng Lei simply smirked. "Your Highness, although you are indeed higher than this concubine and now has the backing of the empress, I"m still considered your elder. Calling this concubine "you" is simply disrespectful. Is the empress not educating the prince well?"

Jiang Chen was caught unprepared with the sudden turn about of the conversation. Not only he was labeled unrespectful and uneducated, but the empress got questioned as well because of his conduct. "You... Lady Feng is speaking out of context. My auntie is..."

"Your Highness, "Imperial Aunt" is the right term, not "Auntie". The young prince cannot address the empress in that manner outside of Xian Feng Palace. This act simply destroys reputations," Feng Lei said. "Along all this time, maybe the young prince was not being educated at all."

With this as the final straw, the empress intentions towards the young prince were now dyed with dirt.

"Lady Feng," Xiao w.a.n.g Xi interfere. "That should be enough. Any more than this and this servant will a.s.sume that the concubine is trying to create misunderstanding between the young prince and the Empress."

"What misunderstanding? That he is being treated as a decorative vase just like us, concubines? It"s not like it"s anything new. Didn"t he enter the palace originally with that purpose?" Landing a glare towards the now paling Jiang Chen, Feng Lei wasn"t done yet. "I"m just saying... Don"t get ahead of yourself, you are still at the same place as you were back there. Just like the emperor"s favor, the empress" is fleeting as well---"

"Your Ladys.h.i.+p! Please think before to speak!" Shen Ying spoke up which stopped Feng Lei.

The place was then drowned in silence.

At this point, Jiang Chen paled up until you"ll doubt whether his blood was drained. His heartbeat raised up and he started heaving.

As the atmosphere stagnant, Feng Lei finally noticed Jiang Chen"s situation. At that moment, she knew she indeed runs off her mouth. "Hey! Don"t come in strong if you can"t last! If your aunt held me accountable for making you cry, do you think I could face her wrath without another scar or two?!"

That always-with-warm-smile empress is surprisingly scary when mad! It"s like she switches with a different person! She wouldn"t even give a chance to someone explain properly without bursting into a bolt of anger. Who knows, maybe that"s the real her.

The servants circled around the two in an attempt to contain the commotion.

They all thought: But you are indeed making him cry!!!!

At her wit"s end, Feng Lei offered, "How about we make a deal?"