Chapter 283: Empress Dowager Xie"s tears
After a night of torrential rain, it got rid of the scorching summer heat. The sky was rinsed into a dark blue colour.
Despite this comfortable weather, Ning Xiaoyao was grumpily standing outside the courtyard. The groundwater wouldn"t stop flowing out. With the additional rainstorm from last night, her entire bedroom was submerged.
"Is this place going to become a pond from now on?" Shadowthunder quietly asked. He had just returned from the Empress Dowager"s palace.
Shadowgale stared at the furniture that were being carried out for sun exposure. "Your Majesty, the furniture have been soaked in water. If you want to sell it, the prices would be lower."
Shadowrain asked out of curiosity. "Your Majesty, you and Supreme Commander spent the whole night talking in a flooding room?"
We were rolling in the bedsheets…
Right now, Ning Xiaoyao wasn"t in the mood to talk. This is a huge loss of profit for her!
"Supreme Commander has left the capital." Shadowgale informed Ning Xiaoyao.
Ning Xiaoyao"s mouth looked deflated. "It"s not his fault. It"s because I lacked willpower." She wasn"t able to resist Supreme Commander"s charm. As a result, she didn"t immediately rescued her a.s.sets. It was her own fault. No matter how painful, she had to bear the burden herself.
Shadowgale turned his head and whispered to the other three. "What happened last night?"
The three commanders: ….who knows?
Ning Xiaoyao patted her dragon bed and sighed in despair. Her money ah!!
Shadowbolt could hear Ning Xiaoyao"s sorrows. After thinking about it, he still decided to notify His Majesty. "His Majesty, Empress Dowager wants to see you. Um, she also wants to see your master."
*bang*
It was the sound of an iron cooking pot smas.h.i.+ng against the ground. Ning Xiaoyao and the four commanders turned around simultaneously. Chef Huang looked like he wanted to die. Next to his feet was a pot of porridge.
"Aow!" Little White Fatty quickly ran to Chef Huang and dug his head in to eat.
"F**k!" Ning Xiaoyao swore under her breath. She has already lost her house and furniture. Now, she lost another pot of porridge? "This isn"t going to get any better." Ning Xiaoyao muttered in her shaky voice as she stared at the spilled porridge.
"I-I still have to see the Empress Dowager?" Chef Huang wailed. His mood wasn"t any better than Ning Xiaoyao"s. "Your Majesty, I still have to pretend to be your master?" Please spare me! Even an extra glance at a woman like the empress dowager could cost him his life!
"A pot of porridge is gone!" Ning Xiaoyao harped on.
"I don"t wanna see the Empress Dowager!" Chef Huang repeated.
"Little White Fatty can eat so much. Do you think he"ll burst?" Shadowthunder watched as Little White Fatty wolfed down his food. He was very concerned.
Ning Xiaoyao turned to leave. Her heart was bleeding. She couldn"t bear to watch anymore.
"Your Majesty?" Chef Huang cried.
"See the Empress Dowager!?" Ning Xiaoyao suddenly halted her steps and turned to scream at Chef Huang. "See the Empress Dowager!? If you don"t want to see her, why did you waste a bowl of porridge huh? Those who wastes food will be hacked by lightning!"
Chef Huang: … as long as he doesn"t have to see the Empress Dowager, he"s willing to be hacked by lightning!
"Humph!" Ning Xiaoyao stomped her feet and ran.
"So you"re not going to see the Empress Dowager?" Shadowgale chased after Ning Xiaoyao.
"No!" Ning Xiaoyao ran to a small stone pavilion of the Supreme Splendor Hall and sat down. "At this point, what would I have to say to the Empress Dowager?"
"The Empress Dowager wants you to take Prince Cheng out of the palace." Shadowrain quietly murmured.
Ning Xiaoyao gazed at Shadowrain. "Where can Ning Xin go right now? You want Supreme Commander to protect him?"
"I highly doubt Supreme Commander would be willing to do so?" Shadowbolt interrupted.
"Even if Supreme Commander wants to, he"s too busy. We"re fighting a war. How is he gonna go all out if he"s carrying a baby in his arms?" muttered Ning Xiaoyao.
"True," agreed Shadowthunder. "Supreme Commander can"t even protect Your Majesty. Why would he be in the mood to care for Prince Cheng?"
"You should still go see the Empress Dowager," Shadowgale persuaded. "At this time, Your Majesty should make the Empress Dowager feel calm. Otherwise, when the troops invade, we may have issues on the Empress Dowager"s side. What would you do then, Your Majesty?"
Ning Xiaoyao thought about it while sitting down. Shadowgale took another step forward. "What if Grand Preceptor convinced the Empress Dowager to help him again?"
"I"m in a terrible mood today." Ning Xiaoyao replied with a grouchy expression. Based on her current mood, if she sees Empress Dowager Xie, she may not be able to hold back her anger. What if she beats her up?
"So you"ll go tomorrow?" Shadowthunder asked.
"I"ll go now." Ning Xiaoyao stood up. "Who knows if the war will happen sooner than we expected?"
"Then I"ll accompany you, Your Majesty." Shadowgale was planning to join Ning Xiaoyao to Empress Dowager"s palace.
"I"m going to go alone," Ning Xiaoyao waved her hand to reject Shadowgale"s offer. "It"s not a good idea if I let you guys see me beat up the Empress Dowager."
Shadowgale and the group stood and watched as Ning Xiaoyao walked away. The second ranked Dragon Guard commander was feeling uncertain. "What did His Majesty just say? He wants to beat the Empress Dowager?"
The rest of the commanders: … His Majesty did say something like that.
—–
In one of the palace rooms, Empress Dowager Xie was sitting on her couch with Ning Xin her arms. When she saw Ning Xiaoyao flipping in through the window, she was bewildered. "You can already get off the bed and walk around?"
Ning Xiaoyao stood in front of Empress Dowager Xie and rubbed her nose. "Tell me, why are you looking for me?"
Ning Xiaoyao"s question stopped all the caring questions Empress Dowager Xie would have had. She lightly placed Ning Xin on the couch. "What did the three Dragon Guards say? How did they pa.s.s This Dowager"s words?"
"Taking Ning Xin out of the palace is unrealistic. You should give up." replied Ning Xiaoyao.
Empress Dowager Xie glared at Ning Xiaoyao and was about to lose her temper.
"Grand Preceptor is about to revolt. Where do you want to send Ning Xin?"
"Isn"t there a safe place outside the capital?" asked Empress Dowager Xie.
"Nope." Ning Xiaoyao"s response was crisp.
"You!"
"Aren"t you scared that your son will end up in Grand Preceptor"s hands?" Ning Xiaoyao stared at Empress Dowager Xie. "Did you turn stupid because you can"t fight palace battles? If Ning Xin ends up in Grand Preceptor"s hands, want to bet Grand Preceptor will make him the emperor right away?"
Empress Dowager Xie didn"t say a word.
"Plus, why should the Dragon Guards and our military men die for your son?"
"What rights do those servants…"
"Enough!" Ning Xiaoyao cut off Empress Dowager Xie"s words, "Right now, you"re alive because of them. You need to respect your benefactors. Either go pick up a weapon and join the battle, or shut up if you don"t have the ability."
Tears welled up in Empress Dowager Xie"s eyes. "Is this how you speak to your mother?"
"Mother?" Ning Xiaoyao laughed. "When you and the empress worked together to screw me over, why didn"t it occur to you that you"re my mother? You want to chat using affection? Well, we got none."
Empress Dowager Xie was rendered speechless by Ning Xiaoyao.
"I won"t continue doing this forever either." Ning Xiaoyao gazed at Empress Dowager Xie and spoke in a low tone. "When Ning Xin gets older, he can be the emperor."
Empress Dowager Xie"s eyes flickered.
"You can choose to believe it or not." Ning Xiaoyao looked like she didn"t give a s.h.i.+t. "Between Grand Preceptor and myself, you have to choose one to trust. No matter how I see it, I"m much more of a person than he is."
Empress Dowager Xie coldly laughed.
"Grand Preceptor wants you dead." Ning Xiaoyao bent her waist and whispered in Empress Dowager Xie"s ear. "The Empress joined forces with the Grand Preceptor. How does it feel to be treated like a monkey by them?"
If looks could kill, Ning Xiaoyao would probably have already died seventeen to eighteen times by now.
Ning Xiaoyao straightened her body and continued, "No matter how bad I am, I won"t let you die. But I can"t say for sure about Grand Preceptor."
"I don"t need you to tell me this." Empress Dowager Xie coldly refuted. "This Dowager doesn"t need you to teach her what to do."
"Hey hey, you"re the one who wants to see me, alright?" Ning Xiaoyao rolled her eyes at Empress Dowager Xie.
Empress Dowager Xie was speechless again. After waiting for a bit with no response, Ning Xiaoyao turned to the window. She still hasn"t eaten her breakfast yet!
"What arrangements do you have for the two children by your side?" Suddenly, Empress Dowager Xie appeared behind Ning Xiaoyao and asked in a low voice.
"I"ve already sent them out."
"Ha!" Empress Dowager Xie icily laughed. They were back to facing each other.
"You could send those two unrelated children away to take refuge. Yet, you refuse to do anything for your biological younger brother?" Empress Dowager Xie suddenly turned hysterical. "This Dowager may have wronged you, but when did your brother offend you?"
"If he wants to offend me, he has to have the abilities to do so." Ning Xiaoyao was clearly running out of patience. "Erya and Xiaoqiu could survive on their own outside. But wouldn"t your son need someone to take care of him? Put him on the ground and let him run a circle for me."
"You"re treating your brother as a dog?" Empress Dowager Xie screeched. Run a circle?
"Don"t look down on dogs. During a life and death situation, dogs can run. Can your son run?"
"You!" Empress Dowager Xie was so mad that she couldn"t utter another word.
"Plus," It was as if Ning Xiaoyao felt like she hadn"t triggered the Empress Dowager enough. She added another line, "You think Ning Xin can compare to Erya and Xiaoqiu? You think your treasure is automatically be my treasure?"
"N-Ning Yu!" Empress Dowager Xie"s voice was trembling.
"Hope we"ll all be able to survive." After this line, Ning Xiaoyao pushed open the windows and flipped over.
Empress Dowager Xie looked down at the sleeping Ning Xin. Unconsciously, tears began to stream down her face. When she thought of the sister and brother getting along together now, it was easy to disregard Ning Xin since he was still too young to understand anything. But how much care could Ning Yu really spare for Ning Xin?
Ning Xiaoyao was standing outside the window. She could hear Empress Dowager Xie sobbing and she reexamined her behaviour. Were her words too harsh?
"Ah, pah!" Ning Xiaoyao spat on the ground. So many lives have perished under Empress Dowager"s hands. Feel sorry my a.s.s!?!
Ning Xiaoyao flipped over the Empress Dowager"s palace walls. By now, most of the people from her palace had gathered at the Empress Dowager"s palace. Those who weren"t at the Empress Dowager"s palace were ordered not to leave their residence. As a result, there were no one else in Xiaoyao"s palace right now. Ning Xiaoyao walked with her hands behind her back and swayed back to Supreme Splendor Hall.
"Xiaoyao," Cousin Magpie landed on her shoulder.
"Mm?" Ning Xiaoyao tilted her head to touch Cousin Magpie"s little head. "What brings you here, Cousin Magpie?"
"Grand Preceptor Xie is still not talking. He"s only writing. After he writes his messages on paper, he burns them." chirped Cousin Magpie.
"That b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" Ning Xiaoyao cursed.
"Xiaoyao, what are we going to do?" Cousin Magpie was stressed.
"Don"t worry," Ning Xiaoyao patted Cousin Magpie on the head, "I"m not going to play with him. In two days, we"re gonna go to war. I"m going to compete with our fists, not intellects."
"Alright, Xiaoyao, make sure you don"t let the evil man get away!" Cousin Magpie immediately added.
"Mm! If I can"t kill him this time, I"ll kill myself." declared Ning Xiaoyao.
"Didn"t you promise Supreme Commander that you would run if you can"t beat them?" Big Boss Black drilled himself out of the grove and stood in front of Ning Xiaoyao. "How could you lie to Supreme Commander? I"m going to go tell Supreme Commander. You"re a liar! Miaow gah!"
Ning Xiaoyao: … why does Black Tubby always appear everywhere?
No time for teaser. Come back tomorrow?? (and no next b.u.t.ton today)