Chapter 319: My man is so very handsome
Shadowgale and Shadowrain couldn"t begin to answer Ning Xiaoyao"s question. How would they know what this Rebel Chieftain Xiang Nong is thinking?
Back in Supreme Splendor Hall three days later, Lou Zigui put down his teacup and frowned. He turned to Ning Xiaoyao. "Rebels? Most likely, this is done by Xie Wenyuan"s men."
"You think so?" Ning Xiaoyao appeared very disturbed. "Why do I feel like it"s somehow related to Big Boss Xiang?
Upon hearing what Ning Xiaoyao said, Lou Zigui turned solemn and asked, "Did you receive some information?" Ning Xiaoyao pointed to her head and earnestly replied, "My sixth sense told me."
Supreme Commander Lou didn"t know how to continue the conversation. What is sixth sense?
Ning Xiaoyao heavily sighed a few times. Unless one has the ability to read minds, one will never know what"s going on the other person"s mind. Guessing is useless. Shaking her head and putting this worry aside, Ning Xiaoyao appeared before Lou Zigui and a.n.a.lyzed at his face. "Are you hurt?"
The sudden change of topic to private matters caught Lou Zigui off guard. He paused for a moment before shaking his head. "A war has yet to break out, so naturally it"s not possible for me to get hurt."
"Xiang City…" Ning Xiaoyao sunk her fingernails into her palm as she stumbled word by word. It took her forever just to say a sentence. "How many casualties do we have at Xiang City?"
The sight of an overcooked rotten corpse in a pool flashed before him. Lou Zigui grabbed Ning Xiaoyao"s hand and caressed it for a while before lowering his voice. "A lot of people died."
As Lou Zigui predicted, Ning Xiaoyao"s hand trembled several times. Lou Zigui squeezed her hand tightly. "However, we acted right away when we realized what was going on. So, there are also many who didn"t die. We are fortunate that Xu Feiyu"s fleet of three thousand elite cavaliers suffered zero casualties."
Ning Xiaoyao didn"t speak a word. Supreme Commander Lou didn"t seem to be able to comfort her with his sincere words.
"Xiaoyao," Lou Zigui asked. "Do you blame me?"
"Whaa?" Ning Xiaoyao looked back with a vacant stare and a painful look on her face.
"The fact that I didn"t kill Xie Wenyuan."
"Oh my goodness!" Ning Xiaoyao was frowning so hard that her face looked like a dumpling with eighteen creases. "You"re still worried about that? You were almost burned to death. Thank G.o.d you"re alive! Supreme Commander, you should forget about the name Xie Wenyuan for the time being."
"Xiaoyao…"
"One, two, three, eh? Who is Xie Wenyuan?" Ning Xiaoyao scratched her head. "I don"t know him."
Lou Zigui looked at Ning Xiaoyao for a long time before breaking into a laugh. She took it better than he did.
"It will be fine." Ning Xiaoyao continued when she saw Lou Zigui laugh. "When I first became Emperor, Xie Wenyuan was Grand Preceptor, someone who could plot a rebellion anytime he wanted to. But now? He is a fugitive. Almost all his family members are dead. Supreme Commander, we shouldn"t be afraid of him. Sooner or later, I"ll make sure he"s dead."
Lou Zigui heaved a sigh of relief and embraced Ning Xiaoyao. At the end of the day, he was the useless one. To him, Xie Wenyuan was like a homeless dog. He didn"t think a homeless dog could bite. As a result, Xie Wenyuan had nearly bitten him to death along with the three thousand elite cavalry.
Ning Xiaoyao gave Lou Zigui a reverse hug. Although she felt suffocated on the inside, she knew Supreme Commander Lou must be feeling even worse about Grand Preceptor"s escape than her. Ning Xiaoyao couldn"t bring herself to complain to Lou Zigui.
Sure enough, I"m a kind person. Hugging a seated Lou Zigui, Ning Xiaoyao rubbed her chin against his forehead, thinking, could my kindness be the reason why I can"t beat the sinister Grand Preceptor Xie? (Author: Stop with your foolish thoughts…)
Shadowgale"s voice could be heard from the other side of the closed door. "Your Majesty?"
The two had no choice but to release each other. Seeing Ning Xiaoyao pout, Lou Zigui answered on her behalf. "Come in."
Shadowgale pushed to door and let himself in. Standing on the centre of the palace room, Ning Xiaoyao looked at Shadowgale. "If it"s got anything to do with Empress Dowager, you can keep it to yourself, Windy."
Shadowgale looked at Ning Xiaoyao and forced a laugh.
"Oh my G.o.d!" Ning Xiaoyao hugged her head. "It"s related to Empress Dowager again?"
"Empress Dowager wishes to see Your Majesty." Shadowgale replied.
"It"s not my idea to kick her out of the palace. Did you not tell her that it"s useless to talk to me about it?"
Shadowgale lowered his voice. "How could Empress Dowager believe it? You are the emperor after all."
"Yeah." Ning Xiaoyao refused to yield. "I"m Emperor. Does it mean I should die?"
Shadowgale felt helpless. Empress Dowager has a dagger pointing at her own neck. Who would dare to proceed? After all, she is the biological mother of His Majesty.
"Empress Dowager refuses to leave her palace?" Lou Zigui asked. Ning Xiaoyao and Shadowgale looked at Lou Zigui and nodded in unison.
"Then just remove everyone from Empress Dowager"s palace and seal the doors." Lou Zigui icily instructed. "Just leave Empress Dowager and Prince Cheng by themselves."
"Do you intent to starve her to death?" Ning Xiaoyao asked.
"If she knows she"ll die, Empress Dowager will take her own initiative to request to leave the palace immediately." Lou Zigui replied as he looked at Ning Xiaoyao.
Ning Xiaoyao snuffled and whispered to Shadowgale. "It"s so distressing. Why didn"t I think of it? I"m really too kind hearted.."
Actually, Shadowgale had thought of it, he just didn"t dare to suggest to Ning Xiaoyao. After all, he couldn"t instigate a son to coerce against his own mother. No matter how much Head Commander hated Empress Dowager Xie, he just couldn"t do it.
"Should Your Majesty want to avoid this meeting, I can go…"
"No, hold it." Ning Xiaoyao interrupted Lou Zigui. "Empress Dowager might really go insane if she sees you. I"ll go talk to her again. Windy, go remove all the people from Empress Dowager"s palace.
Shadowgale accepted the imperial decree and dismissed himself.
Ning Xiaoyao stood in the middle of her palace room and regulated her breathing. It"s going to be another battle when she sees Empress Dowager Xie later.
Lou Zigui stood up and walked to Ning Xiaoyao"s side. "Are you afraid Empress Dowager will expose that you"re female?" he murmured.
"Nope. If she were to say it and I were to die, she and Ning Xin won"t be able to live either."
"Then why do you need to see her?"
"She made a scene just to see me, it means that she still harbors hope," a painful expression crossed Ning Xiaoyao"s face, "If I don"t see her, how do I destroy all her hope? Supreme Commander, what do you think Empress Dowager is thinking? She is always thinking of ways to kill me. At this point, do you think she"s going to talk about a relations.h.i.+p a mother-daughter pair should have?"
"She is your birth mother, I"m not going to say anything about her." Lou Zigui lowered his voice.
Ning Xiaoyao pouted. But deep down, she knew that Empress Dowager was merely a low life to Supreme Commander Lou.
"I"ll accompany you to see her." Lou Zigui suggested.
"No need for that." Ning Xiaoyao replied. "Supreme Commander, you are a man! Don"t quarrel with a woman like Empress Dowager. It will ruin your image."
Lou Zigui … He wasn"t thinking of quarreling with a woman like Empress Dowager at all.
"I have captured Song Xu." Ning Xiaoyu swung Lou Zigui"s hand and whispered. "Supreme Commander, I think you need to talk about your life with this person yo!"
"Song Xu is at the Hall of Punishment?"
"No, ah. He"s at Supreme Splendor Hall, I"ll let Third Rain bring you over." Ning Xiaoyao looked at Lou Zigui. "Talk nicely and don"t get angry with him. Things had already happened, so there"s no point in getting mad, right?"
"You"re still concerned about him?" Lou Zigui asked
"Why do I need to show my concern to a traitor? Ning Xiaoyao puffed out her cheeks. "I don"t want you to get mad, ah. It"s not healthy to be angry all the time. Grand Preceptor"s escape is enough to anger our Supreme Commander right?
So it turns out this lady is just concerned about him.
Lou Zigui eased up his expression. He lowered his forehead to touch Ning Xiaoyao"s forehead. "Alright, I won"t be mad."
"Mhm. That"s right." Ning Xiaoyao nodded. "I"ll go see Empress Dowager and you"ll go see Song Xu. You promised not to get angry."
"Then you shouldn"t be angry with Empress Dowager too." Lou Zigui reached out and tidy up her fringes.
"I"m not going to get angry. There"s nothing to get angry at a widow for. My man is not only young, but also super duper handsome. If anyone should be mad, it"s Empress Dowager. She"s jealous of me."
"Your man?" Lou Zigui asked. Looking up at Lou Zigui, Ning Xiaoyao tiptoed and pecked Lou Zigui on his lips before she turned around and ran off. Grand Preceptor was still alive, Xie Anqi fled and many people had died. She needed to give herself some material benefit.
Lou Zigui watched as Ning Xiaoyao dashed out of the room like a wisp of smoke. He touched the lip that Ning Xiaoyao kissed and he couldn"t help but laugh. My man is not only young but also super duper handsome. Those words released Supreme Commander Lou"s pent up emotion and allowed them to bask under the sunlight.
Ning Xiaoyao walked with Shadowgale and upon seeing the gate of Empress Dowager"s palace, Ning Xiaoyao developed a headache like a conditioned reflex. She muttered to Shadowgale, "The thought of talking to Empress Dowager makes me wanna kill myself."
"Does Your Majesty want to return to Supreme Splendor Hall instead?" Shadowgale asked.
"Return to Supreme Splendor Hall and see how Supreme Commander slaughters Song Xu? Ning Xiaoyao sighed. "Then I"d rather have Empress Dowager and myself torture each other."
"Should Your Majesty want to keep Song Xu alive, you can talk to Supreme Commander." Shadowgale suggested.
Ning Xiaoyao waved her hand and replied to Shadowgale. "That"s not something I should meddle in. The betrayal of bros can only be settled among the bros. Woman should stay far away from men"s betrayal and resentment among the bros." Ning Xiaoyao smacked her lip and marched into Empress Dowager"s palace.
Shadowgale didn"t understand. His Majesty shouldn"t meddle with Black Frost Cavalry"s affairs?
Emperor Dowager"s palace was filled with silence. When the maids and eunuchs saw Ning Xiaoyao, they knelt on the ground. Many even trembled with fear.
"What are you guys doing? I don"t intend to do anything to you." Ning Xiaoyao frowned.
Upon hearing Ning Xiaoyao speak, the maids and eunuchs trembled even harder – as if they would be executed the very next moment.
"Your Majesty, I"ll arrange the things here." Shadowgale spoke.
Ning Xiaoyao felt like those around treated her as if she was a monster. So, she headed to find Empress Dowager Xie on her own. Shadowgale watched as Ning Xiaoyao head to the rear palace hall. Then, he ordered the Dragon Guards on his side. "Take these people out. If they want to scream, stuff something in their mouths."
The Dragon Guards proceeded with capturing the people at the palace. The servants knew that it was of no use crying out to Empress Dowager – she couldn"t even save herself. So, when the Dragon Guards took them away, no one spoke out of the hundred plus servants. There were only sounds of quiet sobbing.
Empress Dowager Xie took a dagger and pointed at her throat when Ning Xiaoyao entered her room.
Ning Xiaoyao"s eyelid wouldn"t stop twitching. "You don"t want to perish together anymore? You want to die alone?"
"Ning Yu!" Empress Dowager Xie shouted
"Just say what you want to say." Ning Xiaoyao responded. "Stop shouting, alright? Shouting won"t solve any problems."
"This Dowager demand you keep your mouth shut." Empress Dowager Xie shrieked.
Ning Xiaoyao… Empress Dowager threatened to kill herself in order to see her. So she came. But now, she won"t let her talk? Empress Dowager was being too difficult.