Li Yi carried Noble Lady Chen inside. The sweetly charming beauty wore only a layer of gauze; when she smiled, her eyes curved like little crescents, and on her rosy cheeks were two dimples sweet enough to melt a person’s heart.
After she was tossed onto the bed, she said in a soft, charming voice, “Your Majesty, this concubine has been waiting for you for ever so long…”
Noble Lady Chen’s long hair spilled loose. She sat up ingratiatingly, her eyes full of adoration.
She adored the man before her.
The man before her held a status beyond compare, possessed a face of devastating beauty, and was the Emperor of Great Yan.
Noble Lady Chen had meant to lean softly into him. She tugged the gauzy robe on her body halfway down, then swept her gaze carelessly into the distance.
Suddenly, Noble Lady Chen let out a scream, yanked her slipping gauze robe back into place, and shrank backward.
“Y-Your Majesty, there’s someone!”
Noble Lady Chen seized the blanket to cover herself and said in a panic, “This concubine saw a pair of eyes.”
In the dim candlelight, a tiny figure stood up. Li Yi turned his head and saw a little girl dressed in a dark-gold broad-sleeved gown. A girl of about — years of age, with long hair hanging loose, her clothing rich and heavy; she was sitting on the floor, biting her finger, and with an expressionless face she asked, “Your Majesty, what are you doing?”
Only then did Noble Lady Chen finally react.
She tossed aside the blanket and got off the bed, smiling as she said, “So it is Her Majesty the Empress. Your Majesty, if you are not in Zhengyang Palace playing, how have you come here to play instead? Come, this concubine will carry you up.”
With a sharp pa, a vivid red handprint appeared on Noble Lady Chen’s tender face.
The little girl’s right hand was covered in gemstone rings. They looked heavy, yet were magnificent to the extreme.
Li Yi smiled and said, “The little girl’s temper is still as fiery as ever.”
Then he bent down and lifted the little girl into his arms. “Qi Yue, how did you come here?”
Qi Yue bit her finger and said timidly, “Bored.”
Li Yi could not help laughing. “Such a little girl, and you already know what boredom is.”
Noble Lady Chen had been slapped by Qi Yue; not only had she lost all face, even His Majesty had been snatched away. Her heart felt so miserable she could hardly bear it.
She shot Qi Yue a venomous glance.
The little girl lay upon Li Yi’s shoulder and smiled coolly at Noble Lady Chen.
She suddenly said in a sweet voice, “Your Majesty, this concubine wants hers…”
Li Yi stroked Qi Yue’s head. “What do you want? I will give you anything.”
Qi Yue’s eyes were black and still. She stared fixedly at Noble Lady Chen’s eyes, those eyes that bent like crescents when she smiled; then she narrowed her own slightly and revealed a smile that meant no good at all.
Noble Lady Chen suddenly felt cold all over, her scalp turning numb. She retreated backward, all the way to the bedside.
In her tender, childish voice, innocent and harmless, Qi Yue pointed at Noble Lady Chen’s eyes. “This concubine wants her eyes.”
Noble Lady Chen gave a cry of “Ah!” and scrambled onto the bed in fright.
Even Li Yi was startled by Qi Yue. He had no idea how this little girl could make such a strange request.
Qi Yue pushed at Li Yi. “Put this concubine down.”
The moment her feet touched the ground, she pattered toward Noble Lady Chen. Wearing her shoes, she climbed onto the bed and seized the trembling Noble Lady Chen.
Noble Lady Chen was so frightened her beauty lost all color, yet she did not dare resist in the slightest, afraid that in the struggle she might injure this exalted little Empress.
Suppressing her trembling, she looked helplessly at Li Yi. “Your Majesty, save this concubine…”
Qi Yue’s quiet eyes fixed on Noble Lady Chen as she smiled coldly. “Noble Lady Chen, you are so pretty.”
Five rings adorned her right hand, each set with hard, glittering gemstones. A moment ago, it was this very hand with which she had struck Noble Lady Chen. Qi Yue had grown her nails long; little by little, she traced them upward along the cheek she had just swollen with that slap, touched Noble Lady Chen’s eye socket, then suddenly turned her head and flashed Li Yi a sweet smile. “Your Majesty, Noble Lady Chen is truly very good-looking.”
Noble Lady Chen trembled from head to toe and did not dare move at all, afraid that if she stirred even a little, her eyes would be gone.
She was too terrified, too tense, and so she did not even notice when Qi Yue’s left hand caught her wrist and removed the cat’s-eye bracelet from it.
Qi Yue released her hand and skipped off the bed. Raising the cat’s-eye bracelet in her hand, she smiled sweetly at Li Yi. “Eyes like these—are they pretty?”
Li Yi stroked Qi Yue’s head. “Pretty.”
Holding up the cat’s-eye bracelet, Qi Yue examined it with grave seriousness, then skipped happily out.
Her back was slender and frail. The heavy, layered robe trailing to the floor reflected a splendid golden gleam. Her long hair was unbound and fell all the way to her calves, cascading from top to bottom like a waterfall, so beautiful one could not look away.
Li Yi, however, did not look much longer. In his eyes, Qi Yue was nothing more than a little girl with something wrong in her head, a child who would never quite grow up.
Only then did Noble Lady Chen recover herself. She smiled ingratiatingly and looked toward Li Yi. “Your Majesty…”
Li Yi swept her a disgusted glance. “Men, Noble Lady Chen has behaved improperly before Us. Drag her back.”
Noble Lady Chen gave a shriek, then suddenly clapped a hand over her mouth.
Only then did Noble Lady Chen remember that Li Yi hated women who made a fuss more than anything. Though she was beautiful, in this imperial city there were far more beautiful women hoping to climb into Li Yi’s favor.
Holding the cat’s-eye stone in her hand, Qi Yue leaned lazily against the vermilion palace wall. Before long, she saw Noble Lady Chen, disheveled and miserable, upon her ceremonial carriage. As the procession approached Qi Yue’s direction, the leading eunuch saw Qi Yue and was just about to have them halt and pay their respects, but Qi Yue made a gesture indicating there was no need to stop.
She raised the cat’s-eye stone and gave it a little shake toward Noble Lady Chen.
At once, tears brimmed in Noble Lady Chen’s eyes. Qi Yue tilted her head and smiled.
Dragging her heavy clothes, she swayed and staggered back to Zhengyang Palace. The palace maids and older matrons had already been waiting at the entrance for a long while, craning their necks to look.
When Qi Yue went out, she never allowed a single person to follow. In the enormous Zhengyang Palace, from top to bottom, there was no one who dared disobey this little girl.
The palace maids and eunuchs who had refused to obey Qi Yue were now all lying in the mass burial grounds, turned into lonely wandering ghosts.
Qi Yue’s wet nurse, Aunt Yun, came over at once, hurrying to usher Qi Yue inside. “Your Majesty, quickly come in and change your clothes. In weather this hot, you insist on wearing such heavy garments while walking about outside.”
Qi Yue placed her hand in Aunt Yun’s palm.
It was the height of the sixth month, yet Qi Yue’s little hand was icy cool. Aunt Yun noticed that Qi Yue seemed to be clutching something in her left hand and could not help asking, “Your Majesty, what is it you are holding?”
Qi Yue lifted the cat’s-eye bracelet before her eyes, examined it seriously, then handed it to Aunt Yun. “Bestowed upon you.”
Aunt Yun accepted it. “Then this servant thanks Your Majesty.”
Warm water had already been prepared in the bath barrel, with a thick layer of flower petals scattered over the surface. After removing her clothes, Qi Yue stepped into the bath.
The warm water came just to her collarbone.
Aunt Yun had attended quite a few noble ladies and had also attended princesses, but among them all, there had never been a young girl like Qi Yue, whose outward appearance was so flawlessly perfect that not a single fault could be found.
Translator’s Anecdote:
Our little Empress is, in the gentlest possible terms, not to be trifled with. She smiles sweetly, speaks softly, and robs a rival of her “eyes” without smudging a single ring—truly, palace survival with style. 😏