Ye Chuchu: [Ah… Help, help me…]
Zhazha: [Ah… Help, help, Zhazha is afraid of heights!]
Ye Chuchu, having missed her footing, tumbled toward the ground.
The high wall of the Imperial Palace was quite steep; hitting the ground would certainly result in a bruised bottom.
But alas, Ye Chuchu’s throat had been poisoned into muteness, and she couldn’t make a sound.
It’s over!
I’m going to die young…
Just as Ye Chuchu braced herself for a bruised bottom or death, a pair of hands grabbed the back of her collar and hoisted her up.
When her feet landed firmly on the ground, the person was still holding her by the collar like a hawk grabbing a chick.
Emperor Shangde, Eunuch Lin, and the others watching from below had also broken into a cold sweat when they saw Ye Chuchu fall.
They had finally discovered this magical little anomaly, and it had nearly been broken!
Zhazha: [Goodness gracious, we’re saved!]
[Little Chuchu, don’t worry, your sister is fine. She’s fine; she didn’t get hurt. It was just Jinxiu and Jinli making a mountain out of a molehill!]
Ye Chuchu: [You could have told me sooner!]
Zhazha: [You didn’t give me the chance!]
Shaken, Ye Chuchu patted her chest and looked up at the person who was still holding her by the collar.
She blinked her eyes, stars dancing in them.
[Wow, Zhazha, it’s the handsome Yun Songming! This face is so easy on the eyes!]
[Does this count as a hero saving a beauty?]
[I really want to offer myself in return!]
Zhazha: [Little Chuchu, it should be ‘an invalid saving a beauty’ instead.]
[Let’s not think about handsome faces right now; we should solve the immediate problem first.]
Ye Chuchu continued to stare at Yun Songming without blinking, batting her eyelashes at him in a love-struck manner.
[Solve the problem? What problem?]
Zhazha: [Handsome men really do cause trouble.]
[Little Chuchu, you snuck into the inner palace to watch the show and eat ‘melons’ (gossip).]
[Even though you’re a mute and couldn’t scream when you fell, the Emperor has already looked over this way.]
[Trespassing into the inner palace is a major crime; you’re going to get a beating.]
Ye Chuchu’s smiling face vanished bit by bit.
[I… I was discovered?]
Ye Chuchu hurriedly looked toward Emperor Shangde, Eunuch Lin, and the others standing in front.
Meeting the Emperor’s heavy gaze, Ye Chuchu wailed internally: [It’s over, it’s over, I was discovered!]
[I really wish the Emperor would go blind right now.]
Emperor Shangde: …
Yun Songming: … I really want to laugh. This is the first time I’ve seen Imperial Father look so stifled!
Ye Chuchu: [Zhazha, what happens again if you trespass in the inner palace?]
Zhazha: [It seems you get your bottom beaten to a pulp, or in severe cases, your head gets separated from your neck!]
Ye Chuchu: [So, is climbing over a concubine’s wall considered severe?]
Zhazha: [Logically speaking, yes. It’s over, Little Chuchu; your head is not going to be kept.]
Ye Chuchu: [Zhazha, I want to cry. I don’t want to go ‘on-site’ for gossip anymore.]
Zhazha: [Don’t say that, Little Chuchu. Look at how fast our points are growing from eating gossip on-site.]
[We already have seven thousand two hundred points; we earned six thousand points in just one night!]
Ye Chuchu timidly withdrew her gaze from Emperor Shangde.
[My head is about to be separated from my body; no amount of points will be useful then.]
Zhazha: [Don’t panic, don’t panic. You won’t die tonight, Little Chuchu.]
[After all, the Emperor is a wise monarch, your father is a high-ranking official, your older brother just gained military merit, and your second sister is Consort Shu, who is carrying the Emperor’s child. Don’t panic, you won’t die.]
Ye Chuchu nodded pitifully: [It seems I have quite a few life-saving talismans.]
She felt her neck was very uncomfortable and realized she was still being held by her collar.
Ye Chuchu was indignant, pursing her lips and cursing internally: [Why hasn’t this damn ghost let go yet?]
Although she was seething, she cautiously looked up at Yun Songming the next second, looking like a frightened rabbit with tears glistening in her eyes.
If Yun Songming hadn’t heard her inner voice, he would have truly been deceived by this weak and fragile appearance.
Hidden beneath this little white rabbit exterior was the heart of a big bad wolf!
Yun Songming thought silently to himself: ‘Damn ghost’?
These words… really make one’s imagination run wild!
At this moment, Yun Songming stepped forward, arrived before Emperor Shangde, bowed respectfully, and then covered his mouth with his hand, coughing lightly a few times before saying, “Imperial Father, Third Miss Ye misses Consort Shu dearly. Unfamiliar with palace rules, she intruded into the inner palace.”
“This son was afraid she would offend an important person, so I was entrusted by Minister Ye and Young General Ye to bring her back to the residence.”
After Yun Songming finished speaking, he coughed lightly a few more times, his complexion pale, looking as if he might die at any moment.
Ye Chuchu: [Zhazha, why does it feel like everything the Second Prince said is wrong?]
[Did my father and older brother really ask him to bring me back?]
[If so, why didn’t I see him earlier?]
[When did he arrive?]
[How did he know I was here?]
Everyone else: … Heh, everyone knows you’re here, alright!
Zhazha: [This Second Prince is truly clever.]
[Little Chuchu, hurry up and win him over; Zhazha likes him too.]
Ye Chuchu: [Fine, I’ll find a time to seduce him!]
Yun Songming: “Cough, cough, cough…”
A young girl like her, thinking like that… is that really appropriate?
Yet, in Yun Songming’s mind, an image had already appeared of Ye Chuchu wearing a light gauze dress and trying to seduce him.
Emperor Shangde curled his lips and laughed twice: “Since you miss your second sister, then follow me to the Fanghua Palace to see her.”
Ye Chuchu was overjoyed and wanted to thank the Emperor, but as she was a little mute and couldn’t make a sound, she could only nod.
The group walked forward, and Yun Songming followed closely beside Ye Chuchu.
Suddenly, Emperor Shangde, who was walking in front, turned his head and looked heavily at Yun Songming: “Is the Dali Temple very idle lately?”
Yun Songming: … Could it be that my coughing wasn’t loud enough?
I’ve been so busy I look like I’m about to die; how can Imperial Father say something like this?
“Imperial Father, this son has been so busy recently that my feet haven’t touched the ground and I cannot sleep at night. Each and every case at the Dali Temple is…”
Emperor Shangde gave a cold laugh: “Has the case of the headless female corpse been solved?”
“Has the case of the missing daughter of the Vice Minister of Revenue been solved?”
Yun Songming: …
I really have been working hard on those cases; can’t I just come to watch the fun?
Imperial Father is truly something!
Emperor Shangde: “You’re a grown man, yet you still don’t know your etiquette!”
“The inner palace is no place for an adult prince to visit.”
“Get out!”
Yun Songming covered his lips and coughed violently.
He is truly narrow-minded. Imperial Father wants to eat gossip himself but won’t allow me to.
However, Yun Songming remained respectful: “Yes, Imperial Father. This son will go back now to organize the case files… cough, cough, cough…”