Chapter 61: The Choice Between Life and Death (1)
Translator: Sissy That Walk
Spring Festival’s Eve was followed by the Lantern Festival, and as a tradition, a royal banquet would be held in Yan Chun Palace at the same time every year.

I told Lv Li that Concubine Huang wanted to become a nun. Lv Li despised those concubines as before, so she angrily said, “Your Majesty is always so nice, and they know that, so they dare come to you. If they really want to be nuns, they could just close the door and cut their hair. Why did they come and tell us that?

Xie Yi was fumbling for a dress in the closet for me to wear in the dinner party, and when she heard those words, she hurriedly added, “That’s it. Look at Concubine Huang. Every time she meets the Emperor, she could not wait to show her body. She is eager to show her big breasts to everyone, so she walks like a chicken all day.”

After hearing those words, I involuntarily looked down at my chest.

Zhang’s figure was originally exquisite, and now that she had a baby, her chests got bigger than ever. No one would call those breasts shabby in comparison to that of Concubine Huang.

Lv Li began to cough seriously beside me, then Xie Yi suddenly stopped talking, turned back and looked at me timidly with red eyes. It seemed she would kneel down and apologize to me as long as I show any discontentment.

“It’s all right, it’s all right.” I waved my hand indifferently. “Actually, you shouldn’t blame Huang. There is no shame in showing off your advantages. You should take some nutrient for bigger breasts. Women should be allowed to make the best out of their big breasts.

Lv Li and Xie Yi looked at each other.

Seeing that, I thought that they might have been persuaded by me and decided to take some nutrients. But after a while, Lv Li picked out a low-cut palace dress out of the closet and said cheerfully, “Your Majesty. How about this one for the banquet? It really brings out your figure.”

I glanced at the skirt, and said helplessly, “Xie Yi, it’s still winter. Do you want me to freeze to death?!”

Lv Li hurriedly took out a fur cape and laughed, “Don’t worry. I will prepare a handwarmer and put another brazier on the cart for you.”

Xie Yi also added, “There will be fire lit up in the Yan Chuan Hall, so after you get in, you won’t feel cold at all.”

She came forward with Lv Li to help me change and I hurriedly pushed them away.

Stop. I’m an Empress now, a good woman, and the first lady of the country! Do you know what is the first lady of the country? She should be dignified, noble and decent! How can I wear this? It would be like writing “seduction” on my clothes!

Besides, back when I fell into the Wan River, I was wearing Qi Sheng’s wet suit and there was only Bathroom Lord in front of me. Qi Sheng’s face was as dark as the bottom of the pot! Right now, in the middle of the winter, you tell me to go out and show half of my breasts to the old and young men of the royal family? He would kill me for it!

No, absolutely no!

I solemnly rejected the proposal of Lv Li and Xie Yi. Instead, I put on a ceremonial dress and went to the Da Ming Palace to wait for Qi Sheng. Then I went with him to the places of Dowager Empress and Grand Dowager Empress. After all of us were ready, we went to the Yan Chun Hall together.

The Yan Chun Hall was as warm as the name suggested. Concubine Huang and some others dressed up in beautiful clothes with appealing eyes. They looked as if they wanted to tie Qie Sheng firmly to their side. They looked nothing like a group of women who wanted to serve in the nunnery.

The way I saw it, those women had better stay here, lest they disturbed the peace of the Buddha…

The Bathroom Lord and the Zhao wang were still the same, one single and the other widowed. They were seated opposite to each other.

The Dowager Empress was very anxious about finding a bride for Bathroom Lord, and the Grand Dowager Empress was equally concerned. But the two of them remained unmoved no matter what.

As soon as the Empress Dowager mentioned the marriage, Bathroom Lord made it clear that marriage could not be forced. He said that he had been waiting for a perfect woman to spend the rest of his life with.

Just as the Grand Dowager Empress stole a look at Zhao wang, he immediately took up his cup with a sad face. His look effectively dissuaded the Grand Dowager Empress from asking him to remarry.

I turned around to look at Qi Sheng who seemed not having the slightest interest in woman and thought that those brothers did share some common ground when it came to woman! The fact that the former Emperor managed to have such weird three sons was in itself a miracle!

Halfway through the banquet, Zhao wang stood up and left. I thought he must have gone to the bathroom and so I also stood up quietly with Lv Li on my side.

Ever since we left the palace, Lv Li had been stretching her legs and flexing her arms. She happily said to me, “Your Majesty, rest assured. I will not stand in your way this year.”

I understood that Lv Li had misinterpret my intention and so I explained, “This year, we will not be hitting Zhao wang.”

Lv Li was struck dumb by my reply and she looked at me with widened eyes, “We won’t? Then who are we going to beat up this year?”

I looked at her, feeling speechless, “No one!”

Not able to process my words, Lv Li felt dejected.

I smiled and brought her to the back of the palace where we waited for Zhao wang in the corridor.

As soon as Zhao wang came out of the bathroom, he noticed us and felt nervous at once, he bowed and pleaded, “Your Majesty, please don’t hit me this year!”

I thought he and Lv Li were such a perfect match. Their way of thinking was so alike that if they ever were to get together, they would definitely have no trouble communicating.

I smiled, and waved my hands, “You misunderstood. Today I have something to talk to you.”

Zhao wang was befuddled and asked, “What orders does Your Majesty have for me?”

I looked around and felt this was no place for a proper talk, and so I led him to the nearby pavilion, instructing Lv Li to stay guard, and leading the way with Zhao wang following closely.

On the stair, Zhao wang paused and looked at me with a solemn face, “Your Majesty, how about we send Lv Li inside and we will just talk outside like we did last year.”

I understood that he didn’t want the whole thing to look suspicious and so I gestured Lv Li to come and said, “You go in and get yourself warm. We have something to discuss here.”

Lv Li was surprised, “Me, inside? Is that okay?”

“Absolutely fine,” I stole a glance at Zhao wang and smiled, “Last year you even slept in there for a while.”

Zhao wang was a bit embarrassed by what I said and so he subconsciously bowed a bit to Lv Li.

Lv Li hesitated, but in the end she did what I asked and entered the pavilion. Zhao wang closed the door for her and turned around to face me, “What is it that you want to talk about?”

I wanted to sit down and talk, but after I swept a look around, I realized that there was nowhere for us to sit. So, I simply sat on the stair like I did last year.

Zhao wang was obviously nervous over my move as he picked a spot further away from the door and sat down. He then said, “Your Majesty, I have been meaning to move on and I don’t want to talk about anything that involves Jiang shi.”

I paused over what he said and was reminded of that fact that I used to describe Jiang shi as dung beetle.

Zhao wang looked at me vigilantly.

I smiled, “We will not talk about the dung beetle today…” Seeing that Zhao wang secretly breathed a sigh of relief, I continued, “Let’s talk about the dung then.”

The expression on Zhao wang’s face was extremely awkward.

I causally asked, “You have been closed to the Emperor since childhood, right?”

Not expecting that I would ask him this, Zhao wang paused for a while and replied, “My mother passed away when I was little and so I grew up in Empress Jingxian’s palace. That’s why among all the brothers, the Emperor felt closer to me.”

I nodded. The Empress Jingxian that he referred to was the birth mother of Qi Sheng and the first wife of Qi Sheng’s father. Her family name was Zhou. She died a few days after she had been promoted from Crown Princess to Empress, and after short period of feigned grief, the former Emperor claimed that he needed a wife to attend to the household matters, and so he immediately named Concubine Song the next Empress, who was now the Dowager Empress, also the birth mother of Bathroom Lord.

It was said that when Empress Jingxian had been alive, the Former Emperor had been actually quite nice towards Qi Sheng. It was only after she passed away that the Former Emperor had begun to distant himself from Qi Sheng. As Qi sheng grew up, so did his military influence, and so the former Emperor’s feeling towards Qi Sheng had also changed from indifference to fear.

Nothing changes the relationship between a father and a son so utterly like the arrival of a stepmother.

I didn’t mean to pry into his history, but I just wanted to know what Qi Sheng’s problem was with beautiful women.

But I couldn’t very well ask this myself, so I said, “Hey, do you know why your brother would choose to live like a monk when he is powerful Emperor who usually is accompanied by thousands of beautiful women?”

I thought for a while and decided that I shouldn’t be too blunt with my question, and so I turned around to Zhao wang and asked, “Has the Emperor… ever suffered any trauma before?”

Zhao wang looked at me, not knowing what I meant.

I expounded on my question, “Like, has he ever had… any bad memory about women?”

Zhao wang was obviously more confused by what I said.

I had no other options but to adopt a more direct approach. I smacked and said, “I always have this feeling that the Emperor doesn’t like women much. I looked over the royal log and found out that since spring, the Emperor hasn’t slept with anyone.”

Zhao wang was ostensibly shocked by my straightforwardness and so he stammered, “Not even once?”

“Not even once. He just stays in his Da Ming Palace and doesn’t even bother to visit those concubines like Huang…” I didn’t finish this sentence and simply shrugged my shoulder and shook my head.