Chapter 21: Being Flexible With Your Husband (4)
On the court, the yellow and green teams divide themselves up on both sides. Riding a horse, the Emperor climbed onto a high platform to address the audience and confer an award. Qi Sheng urged his horse to leave his team before he elegantly leapt onto the platform and took the embroidered flag the Emperor offered. Then, he urged his horse to the area in front of the platform. With a hand on his reins to control his horse, he used his other hand to raise the flag and let it dance in the wind. It made all the hundred officials and soldiers shout the word ‘Formidable’ loud enough to shake the heavens……
For this feeling, this scenery, I couldn’t help but admit that although Qi Sheng was a bit sb1, his military force was really bh2enough.
The Empress Dowager took a look at Qi Sheng before turning back to me. While everyone was cheering, she spoke to me in a low voice, “I was sixteen when I first saw the previous Emperor. The previous Emperor said he would marry me. He finally did so when I was twenty-three years old, making me his Empress. In between was a whole seven years. For girls, how many ‘seven years’ do we have?
Everyone urged me to stop waiting, but I stubbornly refused to listen. Since he already said he would marry me, I decided to believe him and wait for him. And although later, the silhouettes of other people appeared in his heart, I knew that within his heart, I was there too. So I didn’t regret my past actions nor changed my beliefs and only silently waited. And in the end, the previous Emperor didn’t turn his back on me.
The previous Emperor has once said that Sheng’er3 resembles him the most. Although his temper was a bit crabby, his mind was clever. I believed in the previous Emperor. Since PengPeng has already married Sheng’er, then you must believe in him.”
The words the Empress Dowager confided in me with complete sincerity almost made me shed tears.
Dear god ah! Why were you so unfair to me?! When I was a man, you didn’t let me encounter such a wise, kind, and sensible woman! And now that I am a woman, you want to make me become such a wise, kind, and sensible woman……
The Empress Dowager was still watching me with hope and expectation. She asked, “PengPeng, do you trust him?”
My eyes were filled with hot tears as I nodded, “I trust……”
I trust……like hell I trust him ah! Why don’t you go and ask Qi Sheng if he trusts me first?
Someone had placed a steel needle under Jiang YingYue’s saddle. Everyone in this public venue knew only I was at odds with her. Now that she suffered two bone fractures, how would I live well? Would that sb Qi Sheng kindly let me off, huh?
I……wanted to cry. Empress Dowager ah Empress Dowager, why can’t you call over Qi Sheng first and lecture him a bit?
Since the ballgame had ended, the Emperor accompanied the Empress Dowager and led all his young and old wives back to the palace. After everyone tidied up, they also scattered as well.
Although Zhao wang was still here in person, his heart had long flew back to his wangfu with Jiang-shi. Now that everyone could finally leave, he didn’t even say his farewells before directly mounting his horse and speeding off.
Before he left, the Bathroom Lord gave me a very sympathetic glance. The Tree-Climbing Lord was even more-so as he directly came over to scold me in whispers, “You’re really foolish! Why didn’t you find an excuse to live with the Empress Dowager for a few days before confronting him?”
I wanted to argue but couldn’t find any words to refute him with and I wanted to cry but I had no tears. Why did everyone believe I was the one who had harmed Jiang-shi?
When I turned my head, Qi Sheng was staring at me with a gloomy face. When he saw me looking at him, he snorted coldly before giving his horse a push and leaving. I pondered and pondered, but still ended up carefully following him back to the Eastern Palace.
Sure enough, when we reached the gates of the Eastern Palace, Qi Sheng was still sitting on his horse as he glared at me. He only flipped off his horse when he saw me arrive as well. Then, not even wasting any time to give his horse whip to an inner-palace servant, he grabbed my arm and dragged me into the palace.
On one hand, I expended a great deal of effort to keep up with his pace. On the other, I flung my arm around in an attempt to throw off his hand. In my heart, I was rejoicing that he luckily did not grab my injured arm.
The whole time Qi Sheng walked, I struggled against him silently. Mentally, I kept repeating a sentence to myself: If you try reasoning with an sb, you’ll be more sb than a sb!
Qi Sheng pulled me along for a bit, and then, probably angry that I was walking too slowly, or perhaps it was because the strength I was using to struggle was a bit too strong, he finally became impatient. He straightforwardly threw me over his shoulder before taking large strides to my palace hall.
With my big head facing the ground, I finally couldn’t remain calm and collected anymore. At the top of my voice, I started cursing, “Qi Sheng you sb, put me4 down!”
Qi Sheng had already carried me into my palace hall. With a clang, he kicked the door to my room open, before happily following my suggestion and throwing me onto my bed. Then, he waved the horsewhip in his hands and with a crispy ‘pop’ sound, the porcelain vase arranged by the bedside got whipped onto the ground by Qi Sheng. I had been scared into subconsciously closing my eyes. Then, I heard Qi Sheng instruct me in a calm and composed manner, “Undress.”
I stared blankly, huh? This tone and the content of his words really didn’t match each other!
I opened my eyes to look at him. Qi Sheng was fiddling with the horsewhip in his hands. He slanted a glance at me out of the corner of his eyes, before instructing me again in a tone that wasn’t urgent or unhurried. “Undress”
My heartbeat temporarily became a few beats faster. This, he……was going to commit domestic violence?
Qi Sheng was already impatient from waiting so long. He lifted the horsewhip in his hand……alright! The porcelain vase on the other side of the bed followed its spouse and died as well.
With encouragement like that, my hands and feet became nimble as I began to undress myself. In only a moment, I had already taken off all the clothes on my body. Then, using both hands to lift the only remaining underwear, I raised my head to ask Qi Sheng for his opinion. “This……do I take this off too?”
Qi Sheng’s expression……uh, it was very……marvelous?
I didn’t understand. It was the same nose and two eyes, so how could his face convey so many meanings?
Shock, doubt, shame, anger……
For a short while, I didn’t know what was up with this comrade. Weren’t you the one who told me to undress? I nimbly undressed, so what’s with your expression now? Could it be possible that he disliked how……efficient I had been when I took off my clothes? Or was I supposed to first clutch my collar and yell a few, “Yamete, yamete……5”
No matter what, I had been someone who was a guy. Wouldn’t doing that be a bit too pretentious?
Qi Sheng’s gaze was still on my body. I followed his gaze and suddenly understood. Immediately, I raised my hands to cover those two dots on my chest.
The moment I made this move, the frozen Qi Sheng finally moved a bit as well.
This was correct, I thought. Sure enough, the problem had been here!
Although, this couldn’t be completely blamed on me. For the past twenty or so years, my hands had been used to protect only a single place. Since you were suddenly giving me another two points, you had to give me some time to get used to it, no?
Qi Sheng was still silently staring at me.
Inwardly, I secretly rejoiced that I had fortunately asked him before taking off my underwear. Otherwise, if I had really stripped naked, it was truly impossible for me, as a single person with only a pair of hands, to completely protect all of those three points that were so far from each other. In that case, the only path I could take was to cover my face.
Sigh, female comrades, it wasn’t easy for you guys……
I was here lamenting over things, but surprisingly, the Qi Sheng who had been silent till now suddenly moved. With two steps, he walked forward. In a single move, he pulled over the comforter on the bed and threw it at my face. In a fierce voice, he said, “Wrap it around you!”
I was speechless and thought that this man was a bit too hypocritical. He had even topped me before, was there a need to cover me up like this?
I rather strenuously popped my head out of the comforter and gave Qi Sheng a glance. When I saw his furrowed brows and blazing eyes, I was obliged to wrap the blanket around myself before asking Qi Sheng. “And then?”
The veins on Qi Sheng’s forehead jumped twice in an awfully lively manner. He didn’t say anything and instead, pressed me down onto the bed. Then, he reached out an arm again and started pulling on the quilt wrapped around me.
With this, I became truly confused. At the same time, I became very conflicted. He was pulling at my blanket. Was I supposed to yell “yamete, yamete” as I struggled to evade him, or should I just release my hands straightforwardly?
My thoughts were truly entangled. In the past, I believed that only the thoughts of women were impossible to guess. Now, I concede I was wrong.
My hands tightly grabbed my blankets as I calmly asked Qi Sheng, “What exactly do you wish to accomplish?”
My mind was mulling things over. If he truly wanted to use his whip, it was better if I held tightly to these blankets. If he dared to do something else, my odds of success were slightly higher if I went into the battlefield with light armor.
Qi Sheng’s hand shook once, before he grit his teeth and pulled away part of the blankets, exposing my shoulder.
When I tumbled off my horse, my shoulder had touched the ground first. I had taken advantage of a forward flip and a roll to get rid of the falling momentum. Although I hadn’t broken an arm or a leg, my shoulder had bruised over in purple. At the same time, my arm had been sprained.
Qi Sheng carefully took two looks at the bruise on my shoulder, before he grabbed my arm and gave it a pull.
It hurt so much, I sucked in a breath of cold air. When he saw this, Qi Sheng coldly laughed twice in a low tone. While he moved around my muscles, he sneered, “Now you know it hurts? When you fell, why weren’t you afraid of breaking your neck? It’s also fortunate the one you ran into was He BingZe. If it had been someone else, once they temporarily lost control of their horse, the horse would’ve either trampled you to death or broken a few of your bones! ……”
In order to show how I hadn’t faked my fall, I kept hissing as I sucked in pained breaths of air.
Qi Sheng kept talking while ridiculing and mocking me.
The f*ck, how could a guy be this annoying?
I tolerated it, and kept tolerating until I didn’t even have the mood to keep sucking in pained breaths of air. I only silently gritted my teeth.
However, Qi Sheng suddenly said, “If it hurts, then just cry out.”
How could it hurt to that degree? Besides, I wasn’t a young lady, what could I cry about?
Qi Sheng’s hand suddenly tightened. It hurt so much, I immediately screamed.
However, Qi Sheng smiled. He leaned toward my ear and softly said, “Cry a few more times, or else all the acting we did from before would amount to nothing.”
I gave a sideways glance at him. I didn’t quite understand the meaning behind his words.
Qi Sheng once again threatened me, “If you don’t cry out, don’t blame me when I really use my whip on you.”
I glanced at the horsewhip he had placed beside the bed, and decided that it was better to take an opportunity when it’s given. Thus, I said, “Please grant me some time to think a bit.”
Qi Sheng stared at me without speaking.
Thus, I began recalling the movies and resources I had watched in my past life. I hadn’t watched too many horror films, but I did watch a number of romantic and action movies.
I turned my head to ask Qi Sheng, “Do you want a high-pitched one or a low-pitched one?”
Like before, Qi Sheng still didn’t say anything.
I thought he was also having conflicting thoughts, so I helped him make a decision. “Enduring whips ought to be a high-pitched scream.”
After saying that, I used a hand to pinch my throat, and then, copying the female protagonist of a horror film, suddenly shrieked.
Qi Sheng’s body jolted once.
I turned my head to ask him, “Is that okay?”
The veins on Qi Sheng’s forehead jumped twice again. He inhaled deeply before saying, “A little lower.”
Since the boss already raised a request, a part-time worker like me naturally didn’t dare to disobey. Thus, I lowered my pitch by an octave before crying out with pauses in between.
Qi Sheng was still kneading my injured shoulder. He suddenly asked, “Why did you run into He BingZe?”
I replied in a bad mood, “I don’t have eyes growing out of my back. Whoever was there at the time would be the one I crashed into.”
Qi Sheng didn’t say anything.
However, my heart began to beat faster. I pondered over whether or not he had seen through my intentions. I had wanted to deliberately rope in the power of He family. However, I still haven’t done anything yet ah! Wasn’t he too godly to be able to find out with just this?
SB is slang for 傻逼(shǎbì) which means stupid person. bh is slang for 暴力 (Bàolì) which means forceful/violent. 儿 (ér): means child, you can add it on to a name as an affectionate nickname to someone younger than you. The raws here were 老子 (Lǎozǐ) which means “I, your father” (in anger, or out of contempt) . This is Japanese (raws were like this too LOL) for stop, if people were wondering. A nice picture to explain this is