Chapter 443: Playing with Fire and Burning Yourself (1)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Boom-!

Boom-!

In the silent bedchamber, the faint sound of bells rang out, and the light gradually brightened.

On the bed, the empress dowager, who was sleeping soundly with her eyes closed, was disturbed by the bell chimes day after day. She frowned slightly, then turned over and touched her side.

Rustle-

Bustle, rustle-

?

The empress dowager’s right hand paused. Then she opened her eyes and looked over, only to see that the outside of the bed was empty, and the dress hanging beside the dressing table was gone. “Where is she…”

The empress dowager was a little puzzled. She thought that Daoist Xuanji had gone out for something at night. Just as she was about to continue lying down, she found a fluffy white ball on the tea couch by the window of the outer room.

The empress dowager propped up her upper body and took a closer look. Only then did she discover that the fluffy thing was the big white bird. It was sleeping soundly with its head tilted, and it was even very particular about lying on her soft pillow.

“Huh?” The empress dowager’s eyes lit up. She flipped over, put on her palace shoes, went to the outer room, and looked at it carefully. “Cluck Cluck? Beloved Consort?”

Beloved Consort was what Liren called the bird, and Cluck Cluck was what Daoist Xuanji called it. Because the bird had freeloaded on the ship for a long time, the empress dowager also started calling it these names.

Unfortunately, the bird had a regular schedule. When it shouldn’t sleep, it would get up and play like crazy. When it should sleep, people shouldn’t even think about waking it up.

The empress dowager called out for a long time, but when she saw that the bird was ignoring her, her eyes moved slightly. She thought for a moment and said, “Big fat bird?”

“Chirp?!” The bird, who was sleeping on the soft pillow, raised its head when it heard the name. Its round eyes were full of shock.

The empress dowager was satisfied. She raised her hand and gestured gently. “It’s nothing. 1 just woke you up because I saw that you were sleeping too soundly. Go back to sleep.”

The bird became even more shocked, but it immediately tilted its head and rolled to the side. It fell into the gap between the soft pillow and the backrest and stopped moving.

The empress dowager didn’t disturb the bird, who was sleeping like a pig, anymore and began to search the resting palace.

Since the bird is in my room, Ye Jingtang must have been here, and Shuishui is gone. The two of them…

?

When the empress dowager thought of this, what she was about to shout out stopped in her throat, and her footsteps stopped. She opened the door quietly and went to the next door to take a look.

Next door was Hongyu’s residence. Although Hongyu looked like a palace maid, she had been with the empress dowager since they were children. After entering the palace, she had the official position of ‘maid-in-waiting’. In fact, her status was quite high, and her residence was very spacious.

Although the sky was just starting to brighten, Hongyu had already woken up and was sitting in front of her dressing table, getting dressed. She didn’t seem to realize that someone had come to the Longevity Palace.

Seeing this, the empress dowager didn’t alarm Hongyu. She walked out of the door and headed for the tea room in the side hall. Before she got close, she heard the soft clinking of cups and the words of a man and a woman.

“Don’t drink too much. You have something important to do today.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t fall even if 1 drink a thousand cups- This is nothing…”

“You’re boasting too much. You won’t fall from a thousand cups… The empress dowager is here…”

?

The empress dowager had been so careful, but she didn’t expect that Ye Jingtang could still tell who she was. Hearing this, she hurriedly ran to the corner of the corridor and looked around. In the end, she saw Daoist Xuanji sitting on a couch, leaning against a small table with a flushed face.

Ye Jingtang was sitting on the other side of the small table. The left side of his clothes was intact, but the right side had been taken off, revealing his slender arm with perfect lines. As he quickly pulled his clothes, the empress dowager could clearly see the bulging muscles under his skin…

The empress dowager’s eyes widened a little. She walked out from the corner and put on the dignified aura of an empress dowager. “Shui’er, what are you two doing?”

Ye Jingtang wanted to pull up his clothes, but the left side of clothes had been torn by Daoist Xuanji, so he couldn’t do it. Seeing the empress dowager running over, he could only stand up and cup his hands. “Your Majesty.”

Daoist Xuanji’s reaction was calm. She swirled her small wine cup and replied softly, “I’m drinking with a man. What else can I do? Why are you awake so early?”

The empress dowager was clearly unhappy, but the reason for her unhappiness was that her best friend didn’t bring her along to drink. She walked over to her with a dignified bearing and was about to say something when her sharp eyes noticed dark red scratches on the inner side of Ye Jingtang’s arm. She frowned. “Ye Jingtang, are you injured?”

It wasn’t appropriate for Ye Jingtang to talk about what had happened last night. While he was still thinking, Daoist Xuanji helped answer. “We sparred earlier. 1 did it.”

Just as Ye Jingtang was about to nod, the empress dowager’s smooth face darkened. She picked up the sword beside her and was about to slap Daoist Xuanji’s butt with the scabbard. “You drank too much again, didn’t you? Why did you use so much strength?”

“Uh…” Ye Jingtang felt flattered by the empress dowager’s protectiveness, but he couldn’t let Daoist Xuanji be hit for nothing. He hurriedly stood between them and said amiably, “It’s common for there to be some minor injuries during spars. Your Majesty, don’t worry…”

The empress dowager was using this as an excuse to make a fuss. Her expression was still slightly fierce as she slapped her best friend’s butt for not calling her to drink.

Pa-

Daoist Xuanji wasn’t angry at all. She just leaned against the small table and looked at Ye Jingtang, who wanted to protect her but couldn’t stop the empress dowager. “Go do your work first. Her Majesty is setting off at noon. You have to accompany Her Majesty. Go pack up and have a meal first. Don’t be late.”

The empress dowager originally wanted to chat for a while, but she was about to go to Clear Water Villa for vacation. She wasn’t in a hurry, so she nodded. “Her Majesty’s honor guard walks slowly. Go eat something first. Don’t starve for half a day on the way.”

Ye Jingtang nodded with a smile. After bidding farewell to the empress dowager, he carried his sword out of the side hall and whistled..