Her Majesty Chose Violence, They Chose Her

Chapter 33: Chapter 33: Next Is the Moment to Witness a Miracle

Xiao Lv was in charge of screening the guards, so Xiao Yang simply handed all the current Imperial Guards over for him to vet. Thirty men or three hundred—close enough.

Xiao Lv: "..."

’Your Majesty, check your own conscience and see if it’s still there.’

Xiao Lv walked out carrying a thick stack of dossiers, brushing past a hurrying Xiao Cheng.

Xiao Cheng knelt and stated his request. "Your Majesty, I wish to ask for an opportunity for my elder sister to enter the palace and serve Your Majesty."

Xiao Yang looked up, quite surprised. "Did you come up with this?"

Xiao Cheng: "It was Xiao Lv who suggested it to me."

Xiao Yang discovered one of Xiao Cheng’s few virtues: though simple, he was honest.

He was a native of this world, his thoughts naturally influenced by it, but even so, his love and protectiveness for his sister were genuine.

Xiao Jinsu was a woman of the Royal Family, so it was appropriate for her to enter the palace as a female official.

Female officials were different from palace maids. Although they referred to themselves as servants, they weren’t slaves in essence. They were management, responsible for food, textiles, and other such matters, managing the daily lives of the Emperor and the imperial concubines.

In the Six Imperial Departments and Twenty-four Divisions, the Palace Chief Lady was a fifth-rank official who reported directly to the Empress.

Fifth-rank—the highest official position a woman could hold, and the only one.

’Xiao Jinsu is a capable woman, so it would be a good post for her. But the people in the Shanggong Bureau still belong to the Empress Dowager. Besides, that mess with her family isn’t something she can escape just by entering the palace.’

’Marquis Pingchuan might be willing to let his daughter escape her sea of suffering, but the Junior Minister of the Imperial College is a third-rank official. Would his family tolerate their daughter-in-law escaping their control, only to potentially hold power over them in return?’

’I could intervene, but I hate trouble.’

"Does your sister want to enter the palace too?"

Xiao Cheng nodded. "After I told her, she immediately agreed. Under all of heaven, only the Imperial Palace can give her a few days of peace."

’...This Imperial Palace, a fortress besieged. Some want out, and some want in.’

Xiao Yang said, "Have your sister come see me tomorrow."

Xiao Cheng was overjoyed. "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

-----

That night, Xiao Yang went to bathe. As per the rules, she had people prepare everything, then bathed alone.

Just as she was about to enter, she noticed that the person who had made the arrangements today was a young little eunuch she had never seen before.

Seeing this, Bi Fang stepped forward to introduce him. "Your Majesty, this boy is named Sun Yi. This servant found and raised him. He’s young but very clever."

Sun Yi bowed deeply, his head lowered, as if awaiting a reprimand.

Xiao Yang nodded to show she understood. "You may withdraw."

The doors to the Dragon Spring Pool closed. Sun Yi, who had been bent over, straightened up, revealing the somewhat tender face of a young man. His features were handsome, and he exuded a coldness that didn’t belong to a servant, showing not the slightest hint of humility.

Bi Fang gave Sun Yi a deep look. "Since you’re here, you’ll stand guard. Don’t forget the rules."

Sun Yi nodded slightly, his somewhat hoarse voice replying, "Understood."

When Xiao Yang came out from her bath, Sun Yi immediately came forward with a towel to dry her hair.

He wiped it over and over with a dry towel until it was almost free of moisture, then applied a layer of conditioning oil to ensure that combing it later wouldn’t pull and hurt the Emperor.

’This Sun Yi looks young, but he’s learned how to serve people quite well.’

When the Emperor slept, someone was supposed to keep watch just beyond a curtain.

’I can’t stand having someone watch by my bed while I sleep. It gives me absolutely no sense of security.’

So, when she slept, everyone stood guard at the doors. She was the only one in the vast Zichen Palace.

Deep in the night, a ghostly shadow appeared silently inside Zichen Palace.

Hugging the hanging curtains to hide its form, it stealthily crept toward the Dragon Bed.

When the Emperor slept, there were two layers of curtains in front of the bed, and finally the Dragon Tent.

He was extremely familiar with the place, reaching the front of the bed without bumping into anything. Carefully, he lifted the final, bright yellow Dragon Tent.

The quilt, embroidered with coiled dragons, was bunched up, revealing a curled-up human shape. The quilt was pulled up to the head, with only a bit of hair showing.

This was all thanks to the Little Emperor’s habit of sleeping with two lamps lit, which allowed one to see everything in the hall clearly.

The intruder pulled out a poisoned dagger and, in the instant he violently ripped open the quilt, thrust it downward forcefully.

He had been ready to clamp a hand over the Emperor’s mouth, but all he touched was a pillow. The feeling of the blade sinking in was also wrong.

He looked down and saw that it was just a rolled-up quilt.

The Little Emperor wasn’t sleeping here at all.

His first strike having missed, he began to panic, but he didn’t move.

He knew the Little Emperor knew martial arts and might be hiding in the shadows.

However, he waited and waited for a full quarter of an hour, and nothing happened.

He even checked under the bed and in the wardrobe but found nothing.

In the end, he could only leave the way he came.

Under the mattress, Xiao Yang let out a slow yawn, hugged her pillow, and went back to her dreams of Zhou Gong.

’Being an emperor is such a high-risk profession. I’m never doing this in my next life.’

Before the sky was light, Bi Fang and Nanny Yang led people inside.

A group of people holding washing utensils and clothes waited beyond a curtain.

"Your Majesty, it’s time to get up."

There was no movement from within. Nanny Yang called out again, "Your Majesty, it is time to rise."

Sun Yi, holding the imperial crown, looked up and quietly watched the motionless curtain.

After three calls with no response, Nanny Yang and Bi Fang lifted the curtain together.

On the Dragon Bed, the Little Emperor was hugging the quilt, sleeping soundly.

Her lotus-root white arms hugged the bright yellow quilt, so pale they were dazzling. One leg was even draped over the side of the bed, her jade-like foot fair and round, like a perfectly carved masterpiece.

But no matter how beautiful the Emperor was, or how fair her skin, it was hard to ignore her completely undignified sleeping posture.

The young ladies of great aristocratic families had to learn the proper way to sleep, to say nothing of the noble personages in the palace, for whom the requirements were even stricter.

A noble who slept as wildly as the Emperor was a rare sight indeed. However, she was the Emperor, and no one dared to reprimand her now.

Nanny Yang and Bi Fang went at it together, directly pulling her out from the quilt.

What followed was the moment to witness a miracle.

Washing up, brushing teeth, combing hair, changing clothes, putting on shoes.

Throughout the entire process, the Emperor never once opened her eyes.

Yet Bi Fang and Nanny Yang seemed to have grown accustomed to it. With a clear division of labor, they completed the whole routine with brisk efficiency.

Bi Fang and Nanny Yang: They looked proficient, but in reality, they were just out of ideas.

They were also helpless in the face of an emperor who loved to sleep in.

But although the Emperor loved to sleep in, she had one good quality: she was very obedient.

As long as they didn’t hurt her, she would quietly let them serve her, not interrupting her sleep, nor their duties.

Once she was properly dressed, the two of them helped the Emperor to a chair and began to lay out the meal.

This wasn’t considered a proper breakfast. The Emperor couldn’t attend the morning court on an empty stomach, but it was too early to eat much. So it was mainly light congee and clear soup, primarily to give the Emperor a little something and help her wake up.

The moment the bowls were set down, something magical happened.

The Little Emperor slowly opened her eyes, then picked up a bowl and began to drink the congee.

However, she had little appetite. She took two sips and put the bowl down, rinsed her mouth with clear tea, and then stared with lifeless eyes at the dark sky outside, murmuring in despair, "Who on earth invented morning court?"

’Was it decreed by an emperor?’

’Attending court before the sun is even up—is that torturing others or torturing yourself?’

’Even the ultimate try-hard wouldn’t take it this far!’