Chapter 117 Name Changed to Paner

“Your Highness, I was just following order. I never meant to hurt you.” “Don’t you understand how I became such a cruel evil empress?” “Your Highness, I...” “Answer me, will you keep reporting to Yun Su about my situation or will you not?” Xiaoba had witnessed Shui Yinzhu’s life ever since she came back into the palace. He saw the empress almost dying for her love of Xuan Zhi. Wu Chen saved her life and brought her some simple and safe days. Just like all other human beings, Xiaoba pitied Shui Yinzhu when he wasn’t in love with her. But what about when he was? He started to realize how innocent Shui Yinzhu used to be. The death of Wu Chen, however, changed her. Xiaoba heard about Shui Yinzhu’s past but never cared about it. The part that he knew was already so miserable that she was turned to a cruel and fearless being. All of a sudden, he believed that Shui Yinzhu wasn’t making things up. Maybe she would really die. As a confidential guard, he had his duty. But he couldn’t let her die. What was he supposed to do? Shui Yinzhu stood there without urging Xiaoba. She looked into his eyes and waited for him to make up his mind. After a long time, Xiaoba finally opened up his mouth. “Okay,” He murmured and then left. But that would be enough to get Shui Yinzhu assured. Xiaoba left. Shui Yinzhu knew that he was simply hiding in the dark watching her. But she understood that this guard would never do such report. She paved to the gate and called Xiaoxin. She intended to send the maid to bring Madam Li a message for the next meeting. But as she looked up to the sky, she realized that there wasn’t enough time and the morning session was coming to an end. Yun Su would always come to visit her from time to time. And he always popped up without noticing her. For safety reasons, she decided to summon Madam Li tomorrow. But she still sent Xiaoxin to Madam Li to pick up the innocent girl she asked for. “Xiaoxin, go pick up that girl and arrange her the job of a palace maid. Just keep her in my palace. Don’t let anyone know that I asked for her.” “Understood.” “Besides, send someone to bully her. Don’t make it too harsh. Just ignore her. Keep it appropriate so that it would make her feel lonely but not abandoned.” “Yes, I understand that.” There wasn’t snow in Huaiyang City that afternoon. But still, it was a bit cold. Gentle breeze snuck into Shui Yinzhu’s bedroom. The woman in red felt tired after lunch and took a nap on her bed. There was a hairpin with two pearls on her bun. When she was sleeping on the bed, she became part of a beautiful picture. She closed her eyes and her fatal charm faded away. One would only recognize her as a banished fairy instead of an evil empress. She used to be a little fairy indeed. But her life experience turned her into this evil empress. Kindness was a part of her heart until others forced it out. A little palace maid opened the door of the the empress’ palace. A fellow maid named Xiaoxin brought her back from Madam Li. The little girl had just started working for a few days before coming to serve Empress Xi. Her palms began to sweat as they shivered. The girl had learned that Empress Xi was a monster that would kill and eat people. Her voice quivered. “G... Greetings, Your Majesty. His Majesty invited you to... to the Imperial Garden.” The shaking voice gained Shui Yinzhu’s attention. She raised her head and knew that the girl must have been the innocent maid coming from Madam Li. She was as cute as a little bunny. Her fearful eyes were filled with unworldly purity. Shui Yinzhu was pretty satisfied with this palace maid. She kept that charming smile on her face and said “Is there any tusk in my mouth? Get up on your feet. It must be cold on the floor.” “No, I... I never thought that. I... I am...” The little maid shivered and remained uncertain if she should stand up. Shui Yinzhu walked towards her. She took up her shaking hand and helped her stand. The empress rubbed her head kindly but that only made her more terrified as she kneeled down again. Was this evil empress trying to eat her up? “Well, stay away from me would surely help you live longer.” Shui Yinzhu’s eyes turned mild, and she was surrounded by an aura of loneliness. Everyone would feel like caring for her, not to mention that Shui Yinzhu was putting on a show for this white little bunny. “What’s your name?” “My name is Yuer.” The little maid didn’t stammer anymore as she felt sympathy for her. Even though the girl didn’t make it clear, the evil empress appeared to be a different person from what she heard of. It seemed like Shui Yinzhu was a rather poor woman. But it didn’t matter whether she would speak it out since it was written clearly on her face. “Yuer, I don’t like that name.” Shui Yinzhu felt disgusted when hearing this name. If it weren’t for that old maid Yuer, Kong Yue wouldn’t have died, the general of the Kingdom of Shui wouldn’t have got killed. Even though she put an end to Yuer’s life and made her into a human stick, Shui Yinzhu wasn’t willing to hear that name ever again. This innocent girl in front of her shouldn’t be called that way. “I’ll call you Paner, pan stands for hope.” “Sure. Greetings to Your Majesty from Paner.” “Get up, Paner.” Shui Yinzhu helped the little maid to get up again, and the girl didn’t hesitate to do it this time. What surprised the little girl was that Shui Yinzhu took her hand and stood with her on the stool. “Just stay with me from now on. There’s no need to restrain yourself. Make this place your home. But never look at me when His Majesty is around. Stay as far as you can.” “I remember that.” “How old are you?” “Fourteen. I will be fifteen two months later when the new year comes.” As the girl observed this evil empress, she didn’t feel any monster inside her. The woman looked too pretty to be evil. Empress Xi had been very kind to her, making her more of a fairy than a patronizing master. “Hmm, that’s a beautiful age. Your princess used to be a pure girl when I was fourteen or fifteen.” “Your Majesty, would you mind me asking you why you would call yourself a princess?” She regretted it the moment she said that. The careless girl just spoke her mind. She looked at Shui Yinshu with fear in her eyes, “Your Majesty, I never meant to probe.” However, Shui Yinzhu couldn’t help pinching on her chubby face. The thin little girl wasn’t tall. However, she had a round face with baby-fat. Those big eyes rounded and rounded and they made her extremely cute. Her innocence and naivety slightly earned Shui Yinzhu’s heart. “It’s all right, silly girl. I never wanted to be the empress of the Empire of Yun. All I ever wanted to be was the princess of the long-dead Kingdom of Shui.” “Why is that?” “I’ll tell you later. Did you say that His Majesty asked for me? You should leave me for now.” “Of course.” Before Empress Xi came out of her palace, she didn’t dress herself up. That charm around her had become a part of her and covered her true features like armor. Her red dress appeared as if it was soaked in blood. There was a hairpin with two pearls in her simple bun. She walked towards the Imperial Garden. Xiaoxin was quite a satisfying maid. She arranged Paner to stay at the back of the group, knowing that Yun Su wouldn’t like Shui Yinzhu to pay attention to anyone, even if it was a girl. This would be a protection to the simple-minded girl. As Shui Yinzhu cleared up the spies and garrulous servants, those who remained here wouldn’t talk too much even if they weren’t fully trusted. “Yun Su.” As always, Shui Yinzhu never called him “His Majesty.” Yun Su didn’t mind. As his empress came, he walked up joyfully and held her in the arms. “Sister Xi, I’ve got you some snacks from around our country. Shall we give them a try?” “Okay.” Shui Yinzhu sat with Yun Su in the pavilion of the Imperial Garden. She picked up the chopsticks and ate a little. The empress had lost her interest in any basic necessities of life. She didn’t have any appetite. Her life was for her revenge. “Yun Su, I would like to join the morning session.” “Sister Xi, you can do whatever you want inside the harem. But politics is for men. The ministers won’t agree to it.” Yun Su never expected that Sister Xi would like to join the morning session. He wasn’t mean with sharing power but there was a chance for him to lose Shui Yinzhu once she grew powerful. Shui Yinzhu was a clever and fearless woman. It wouldn’t matter if she was only clever but things would be different when she would give up everything for her purpose. Besides, Yun Su understood that Shui Yinzhu wasn’t really in love with him. Once she grew powerful, she would mercilessly leave him or even kill him and go to find Xuan Zhi. “Yun Su, are you afraid of your ministers?” “Sister Xi, I can agree on any other things except this one.” “You told me you would give me anything.” As she insisted, Yun Su pulled her into his arms and kissed her on the tender lips, ignoring all the maids, eunuchs and guards around them. Yun Su panicked. As the emperor, he was supposed to own everything. But that didn’t include Shui Yinzhu’s heart. Xuan Zhi was like a thorn in his heart. As he lost all the sources of information on Xuan Zhi, he felt worried as his Sister Xi could possibly vanish again. After getting Shui Yinzhu by his side, Yun Zhi wouldn’t and couldn’t let go of her. Sister Xi belonged to him and him only. He had to wrap his arms around her and own her to feel appeased. The kiss went on and went wild. His hands started to slither downwards. The surrounding people all started to leave. For those who couldn’t, they turned back to stay blind and deaf, trying their best to keep a low profile. They didn’t want to get killed. Besides, this private show of the royal family could probably curse their eyes. Yun Su didn’t take off the clothes of Shui Yinzhu or himself. He swiped all the bowls and plates off from the table and pressed Shui Yinzhu onto that surface. He lifted the hem and turned on his piston. Until Shui Yinzhu started to breathe heavily, moan and lean on Yun Su’s chest, Yun Su speeded up and let go of himself. This wasn’t the first time for Yun Su to lose control. Even though he owned Shui Yinzhu, everything still felt unreal. He could feel his empress only when he got inside her over and over again. He looked at the tired woman in red. This was the love of his life. Yun Su did up their clothing and held her into his arms. He touched that flat belly through her dress, finding it hard to understand why she was still not pregnant.