Chapter 39: Miss Handicap (39)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The Great Yuan Dynasty collapsed on June 19th of the eleventh year. Prince-regent Jun Mo ascended the throne and changed the name of the dynasty to Xia. He gained the title of Emperor Shun Yu, and the imperial consort was also canonized as the empress.

Throughout his entire life, Emperor Shun Yu only had the empress in his harem. Both of them loved each other with all their hearts and souls.

Although they did not have children, he still treated the empress with love. According to folklore, the two of them had never quarrelled with each other from the time they got married. This caused others to be envious.

Emperor Shun Yu’s respect for the empress had greatly enhanced the views that bureaucrats and commoners had toward women in the Xia Dynasty. The status of a legitimate wife had been rising with the times. Bureaucrats who took in a concubine might even have their careers affected. A few loving couples were born as a result.

Therefore, the women from the whole dynasty highly respected Su Kui. If a modern term was used to describe it, there would only be two words—devoted fans.

It was not exaggerated at all.

One time after they both got intimate, Su Kui lay on Jun Mo’s chest as she panted, and with a smile, she asked him why he chose Xia as the name of the country.

Jun Mo smiled but did not reply. He caressed her smooth back with his big palm and slowly spoke after a long time. “It was summer when we met. The sunflowers were blooming beautifully.”

During the third year of the Xia Dynasty, extremely stunning fireworks exploded in the night sky in celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Dazzling streams burst forth, and the light shone upon the mottled ground. Some of it shone through a dilapidated lattice window.

Inside, a woman was sitting absent-mindedly. She was thin and haggard while her hair was dry and damaged. She looked like a thirty-five-year-old woman.

She was awakened by a thunderous sound, and her sluggish eyes gradually regained clarity. She slowly got up and walked to the window. She looked out the shabby courtyard, but where she cast her eyes was unknown.

“Xiang He, what day is it? It’s so lively…” The woman’s voice was soft and monotone.

A palace maid named Xiang He shuddered intensely and looked at her hesitantly. “Your Highness…” No, the woman was no longer a consort. Xiang He quickly changed her words. “Mis-Mistress, today is the Mid-Autumn Festival…”

“Mid-Autumn Festival? Mid-Autumn Festival…” the woman repeated. 

The pale moonlight shone on her face. It made her seem even more ghostly.

“What about Father? Did he come?!” she thought of something and suddenly became excited.

Xiang He could not help but take a few steps back. She forced herself to speak. “Mis-Mistress, the former imperial chancellor has resigned, but the young Imperial Chancellor Feng should be coming—”

“Hahahahaha…”

Before she could finish her words, the woman was already laughing. The sad and shrill sound echoed in the palace hall as if hundreds of ghosts were crying. Her eyes slowly became crazy.

She vaguely felt that things should not be like this, but what was wrong?

“No, no… It shouldn’t be like this…” An image of her flashed across her mind. She was wearing a bright yellow phoenix robe and a phoenix coronet on her head. The seal of the empress was in her hands.

She was just like a passer-by as she witnessed this unfamiliar yet familiar woman, who was proud and decorous. Clad in the phoenix robe, she wrapped those who offended her around her fingers step by step.

And that woman…

She was supposed to spend the rest of her miserable life with the statue of Buddha!

“Right, I remember! That’s right! Things are supposed to be like that!” The woman clapped her hands and laughed. Her expression became even more manic. “I’m the empress, I’m the empress! You all should die! Should die! Hahahahaha…”

Su Kui only lifted her gaze slightly when Lu Yao came to report that Feng Qingqing had gone crazy. Then, she ordered the young palace maid to continue painting her nails.

The bright red liquid made her fingers even fairer like jade.

During the thirty-ninth year of the Xia Dynasty, the emperor passed away. The whole country mourned his death.

Since there was no crown prince, a member from the Imperial Clan would be selected to become the emperor after Emperor Shun Yu’s death according to his will.

On the same day, the empress grieved and followed Emperor Shun Yu. Both of them were secretly buried together in the same coffin in a cemetery that Emperor Shun Yu had chosen before his death.