Chapter 276: Volume 1, Chapter 276: Empress and Courtesan (6)

She lifted the curtain, rose, and had the palace attendants serve her washing and dressing; in the dressing segment, she specifically ordered Wen Ci to attend to her undressing closely.

Wen Ci hadn't slept all night, his head felt a bit dizzy; he rubbed his knees, which ached faintly from sitting too long, and staggered over to her side.

His movements were clumsy, his beautiful-jointed fingers often brushing against her body.

Jiang Zhi grabbed his wrist, furrowed her brows, and spoke in a somber, icy tone: "Did Pine Bamboo Pavilion never teach you how to serve someone?"

Clumsy-handed and clumsy-footed, like a foolish penguin.

Wen Ci whispered an explanation: "I… I did learn, but… but… I, the slave, accidentally forgot."

As he spoke, he seemed rather embarrassed, and the dust-free visage of his cheeks flushed with a thin scarlet.

Jiang Zhi saw this, her phantom limb became hard.

Yun Jin, this guy actually has such an adorable side.

I really want to give him a good beating!

Naturally she could only think that in her heart; she hastily let go of his hand, feigned disgust by shaking her palm, and said, "Get lost."

Wen Ci sensed that her mood was very bad, seemingly because of him.

The boy drooped his curled eyelashes, his fingers unconsciously tensed, he bent his legs and knelt on the ground to lower his posture.

"Sorry, Your Majesty, however you punish Wu Huan, Wu Huan is willing."

The head matron of Pine Bamboo Pavilion had told him many times: never anger the master; if you make the master unhappy, you must proactively admit fault.

Jiang Zhi was in a hurry to go to work (attend court); there was no time to waste here, and if she was late, Yan Yao would catch her mistakes and nag her in front of a hundred officials.

"I order you to pull out all the weeds in the Yuhua Yuan."

Having said that, she flicked her sleeves and left.

The boy stood there a moment, then immediately rose, rubbed his sleepy eyes, walked to the iron cage, and first fed Little Gray.

"Little Gray, is the Empress disgusted with Wu Huan? I'll secretly tell you: when the Empress sleeps, she's gentle and beautiful; I love watching the Empress sleep."

He spoke while again taking meat from the wooden bucket filled with raw meat and feeding it to the gray wolf in the cage.

The gray wolf had eaten too much the previous night, was overfull; now it was resting time, it lay lazily in the cage, gave him a glance neither cold nor hot, opened its blood‑filled maw and yawned.

Wen Ci seeing this, piled chunks of raw meat inside the cage, after finishing he reached out and rubbed its head, a smile appearing in his dark eyes.

"Sleep now; I'll come back tonight to feed you."

The gray wolf didn't struggle, nor bite his arm, letting him rub it, as docile as a golden retriever.

Wen Ci found a palace attendant to get weeding tools: a golden shovel and a wooden bucket, tightened his skirt hem, went into the Yuhua Yuan, and bent over to weed earnestly.

The straw sun hat on his head was still given by a palace attendant; the boy's appearance was so endearing that every attendant who had seen him tried every way to help him.

Patrolling Imperial Guards came and went; a few guards couldn't help but stare deeply at the boy in the flowerbed, like a beautiful youth from a flower field catching the eye, they had never seen such a beautiful person.

The few palace maids responsible for the Yuhua Yuan's greenery wanted him to rest; the midday sun was extremely toxic, landing on the boy's delicate porcelain-white skin, soon producing patches of burned red marks.

"Thanks, I like weeding; you go rest." Wen Ci, thinking of the Empress who punished him this way, felt his body grow lighter.

The Empress is a good person; he could feel that.

She wasn't the cruel and heartless figure of rumor; indeed, she was kind-hearted at heart and had never truly harmed him.

In this vast palace he had nothing to do; fortunately the Empress assigned him to weed the Yuhua Yuan, and he would surely not betray her kindness.

If Jiang Zhi, far above in the court, knew his innermost thoughts, she would spit out a mouthful of blood.

No wonder he is the naturally simple-minded, pure‑good primary personality.

"So that's the servant boy the Empress brought from Pine Bamboo Pavilion?"

"Just that."

"I heard the Empress punished him to deal with the weeds in the Yuhua Yuan; hehe, the Empress merely sees him as a flowerpot— a pot of flower will eventually grow boring."

"Look at his lower skirt— in broad daylight he actually shows his pant legs; truly shameless."

"The servant boys of Pine Bamboo Pavilion are just lowly."

Three consorts stood in the Yuhua Yuan pavilion, commenting on the boy in the flowerbed.

Their tone was full of jealousy and malice.

At that moment, Cherished Consort Xu Rui passed by, saw so many consorts halted, and involuntarily walked over.

The consorts seeing the arrival all bowed: "We pay respects to Cherished Consort."

Although Xu Rui's appearance among those consorts wasn't the most outstanding, her whole bearing was refined and otherworldly; a glance would make one involuntarily notice him.

"'What are you all gathered here for?' His voice sounded like a mountain spring zither, lingering and pleasant."

Among them, the lady in the pink skirt, highest in rank, said sourly: "Reporting, Lady, my sisters and I passed by the Yuhua Yuan and ran into that shameless person from Snow Peace Hall weeding in the flowerbed."

Xu Rui hearing this, turned her gaze to the slender figure intently weeding in the flowerbed; the boy perhaps sensed their looks, lifted his sore neck, and that cold‑white beautiful face was exposed before them— his features were excessively handsome, as if finely carved, his pupils clear and pure, yet inexplicably a hint of allure arose.

Xu Rui's gaze lost focus, she stared blankly at the boy's face, and suddenly a sense of crisis welled up in her heart.

Before the boy, his proud aura instantly dimmed and became not worth mentioning.

No wonder the Empress took a liking to him, bringing him into the harem, housing him in a newly built palace not far from the sleeping quarters, and even when he fell ill, she unprecedentedly skipped morning court to accompany him all day.

Although Xu Rui didn't care about the Empress with her fickle temperament, she was unwilling to let a servant boy from Pine Bamboo Pavilion rise above her.

"'What right does he have? The boy merely has a bewitching face; what right does he have to stand equal with me?'"

Xu Rui rarely showed her inner feelings; her jealousy flashed and subsided, and she softly asked: "Why is he weeding here?"

The lady in the pink skirt said: "I heard the Empress ordered him to come; I don't know why, but I guess he angered the Empress and was punished to weed the Yuhua Yuan."

Xu Rui smirked inwardly; others don't understand this Empress, but he does.

If Empress Jiang Zhi wanted to punish someone, she would certainly not make it as simple as just weeding.

Looking at the boy's smile in the flowerbed, it must be the Empress letting him come to the Yuhua Yuan to relieve boredom.

Seeing Cherished Consort also seeming to dislike the Pine Bamboo Pavilion servant boy, a lady in a blue skirt seized the chance: "Lady, this servant boy in broad daylight lifts his skirt to show his legs; clearly he is disgracing the Empress and you; I wish to mildly punish and severely admonish him."

This was exactly to Xu Rui's liking; he said calmly, "Mind your bounds."

The consort in blue replied and walked over to the flowerbed.

Seeing this, the other consorts, unwilling to be outdone, all made their requests and followed.