"A widow? What is a widow?" Helian Qi suddenly asked, looking puzzled.
"Er..." Dongfang Yi didn't expect that in her haste, she had blurted out a modern term.
"A widow is a bereaved woman. Right, a bereaved woman!" she quickly explained.
Helian Qi stared at her intently, lifting her chin with one hand. He saw his own reflection in her blinking big eyes. Her thin eyelashes were trembling slightly, and her cherry - like lips were slightly parting and closing.
His heart skipped a beat, and his other hand unconsciously stroked her hairpin. The cold touch suddenly brought him back to his senses.
He suddenly turned around and took a few steps forward. Without looking back, he said, "I'm going out of the palace in a couple of days. Get ready to accompany me."
With that, he strode out of Dongfang Yi's sight.
Still in a daze where she stood, Dongfang Yi's mind started to wander as soon as she heard his words. Going out of the palace? With me?
Isn't this just incognito travel? Yes! It's incognito travel! Then wouldn't it be just like in the TV shows, eating and drinking along the way, making a secret promise of marriage with the handsome male protagonist, and then traveling around the world!
"Yeah! Incognito travel!" Dongfang Yi jumped up excitedly without caring about her image at all.
Helian Qi, who was standing in the dark, happened to see this scene. The smile in his eyes deepened, and even the corners of his lips curved into a warm arc. Realizing that he was smiling, Helian Qi stiffened his face as if annoyed and turned to leave the back garden.
She had a good night's sleep. Early in the morning, Dongfang Yi was getting ready to go to Qiwu Palace to visit Concubine Luo. After all, in that critical moment yesterday, only Concubine Luo had stood up to plead for her.
Although her plea had had little effect, Dongfang Yi was such a person. She would surely repay a kindness ten - fold. On the contrary, if anyone dared to cross her bottom line, she would surely retaliate ten times over.
Dongfang Yi was humming a song as she walked on the palace avenue. Suddenly, she heard a scolding voice. That shrill voice made it seem as if there was a whistle in his throat.
After turning a palace wall, she saw a eunuch whipping a little maid who was kneeling on the ground, spouting obscenities.
Dongfang Yi stopped and listened for a while. She roughly understood what was going on.
This eunuch wanted to offer this little maid to their eunuch supervisor, but the little maid refused to submit no matter what, so this had happened.
Dongfang Yi really respected the little maid's character. In this huge palace, it was already very difficult to protect oneself, let alone having the courage to resist when facing the arrangement of fate.
"Stop!" Dongfang Yi shouted.
The little eunuch was startled by the shout and stopped his hand. He looked up at Dongfang Yi in a hurry, a look of confusion crossing his face.
"Who are you?" the little eunuch shrilled in his duck - like voice.
What the hell? Dongfang Yi was about to collapse. How timid must the original owner of this body be that even a eunuch didn't recognize her?
"I am the Empress! Get out of here quickly!" she roared.
The little eunuch hesitated a bit when he heard she was the Empress. He had heard of the Empress. It was said that the Empress had been unknown for many years, but recently, she had suddenly gained the emperor's favor.
But which Empress traveled alone without a single attendant? The little eunuch craned his neck to look behind Dongfang Yi.
After making sure there was really no one there, he became even more presumptuous. "You get out! Which palace's maid are you? How dare you impersonate the Empress here! Go and take your punishment quickly!"
As he said this, the little eunuch was thinking to himself: These maids nowadays are really lawless. They even dare to impersonate the Empress. If I don't teach her a lesson, I'm sorry for my job!
That shrill voice immediately enraged Dongfang Yi. She immediately strode up to the little eunuch and "slap—" raised her hand and gave him a slap.
The little eunuch was stunned by the slap. In a moment of panic, Dongfang Yi snatched the whip from him. When the eunuch came to his senses and wanted to grab the whip back, he was whipped to the ground.
One whip, two whips, three whips... The sound of the whip cracking echoed through the inner courtyard of the palace. The little eunuch kept begging for mercy, and the little maid beside him shrank into a corner, trembling.
At this time, the little eunuch didn't dare or have the mind to question anything. He even forgot to resist.
When the eunuch was whipped until he couldn't even cry out, Dongfang Yi calmed down. She threw the whip away, clapped her hands, and turned to look at the little maid. Seeing her look as panicked as a little rabbit, she burst out laughing. "It wasn't you I was hitting. What are you afraid of?"
She looked so carefree that she seemed like a different person from the one who had been beating someone just now.
The little maid was like a frightened quail, shivering and looking extremely pitiful.
"What's your name?" Dongfang Yi asked gently, unable to bear it.
"I... I'm Xiaoxing," the little maid replied timidly. Looking up, she saw the woman in front of her reaching out her hand, indicating that she wanted to help her up. A feeling of gratitude welled up in her heart.
"Then Xiaoxing, you'll follow me from now on," Dongfang Yi said.
"Ah? You... Are you really the Empress?!" Xiaoxing asked in disbelief, her mouth wide open.
"Yes," Dongfang Yi said. Then she walked towards Concubine Luo's Qiwu Palace without looking back.
Xiaoxing hurriedly followed behind her.
When they arrived at Qiwu Palace, Concubine Luo saw the Empress with dirt on her clothes and Xiaoxing with bloodstains all over her body following behind.
"Haha, the Empress always surprises me every time she shows up," Concubine Luo said teasingly.
Dongfang Yi gave an embarrassed smile in response. "Sister Concubine Luo, please take this little maid down to clean up." She pointed at Xiaoxing behind her.
Then she said, "I've come to have breakfast with you."
Concubine Luo was amused by her. "My dear sister, it's already noon. There's no more breakfast. It's time for lunch!"
Dongfang Yi didn't expect that she had wasted so much time on the way. Watching Xiaoxing being taken down to receive treatment for her wounds, she followed Concubine Luo to have lunch.
On the other side, in the Empress's palace, as soon as Helian Qi entered, the news he heard was that the Empress had gone to have a meal with Concubine Luo and had forbidden anyone to follow, saying that she wouldn't have fun if someone followed.
Helian Qi twitched the corner of his mouth. How did this woman want to have fun?
In Concubine Chu's palace.
"Your Majesty, Dongfang Yi was just lucky this time. Next time, we will surely be able to kill her," Concubine Lian said.
Her eyes were as gentle as water, and it was hard to imagine that such vicious words would come from her mouth.
"Next time? You always say next time! How many more next times do we need!" Concubine Chu roared.
Concubine Lian was immediately frightened and knelt on the ground. Her watery eyes were also filled with panic.
"Your Majesty, calm down. I still have a plan..."