Free Web NovelChapter 252: Chapter 252: Never Appear Before Me Again
Standing at the entrance, Li Yuzong saw a graceful figure approaching from the end of the path.
Smiling, he hurried into the hall. "Holy Emperor, Miss Ji is here," Li Yuzong announced happily.
Emperor Wu Su raised his head, his dark eyes gazing toward the hall’s entrance.
Ji Qingwu walked in front, a Maid carrying a food box behind her. The moment she stepped into Zhaoyang Hall, she saw the Emperor’s gloomy expression.
Her steps faltered. The joyful excitement she had felt on her way here vanished in an instant.
’With an expression like that, something major must have happened.’
Ji Qingwu first exchanged a look with Li Yuzong, hoping to get some hint from the trusted Eunuch Li.
She took a few steps forward and said, "Eunuch Li, this is the ginseng soup the Empress Dowager asked me to deliver."
Ji Qingwu had the Maid from the Empress Dowager’s palace take out the soup and hand it to Li Yuzong for inspection first.
She leaned in and whispered, "Eunuch Li, what’s wrong with His Majesty? He doesn’t look very happy. Did something big happen today?"
Li Yuzong put away the silver needle, feeling even more bewildered than Ji Qingwu.
He whispered back, "Miss Ji, nothing major happened. The Holy Emperor has just been like this ever since he returned from sparring with Mr. Duan of the Imperial City Department at Hongsheng Hall."
Ji Qingwu gestured toward Emperor Wu Su, covering her lips with her hand as she whispered, "He lost?"
Li Yuzong shook his head.
’He didn’t lose the sparring match, so what’s going on...? Is a man’s heart as unfathomable as a needle in the ocean?’
"Do you take me for a dead man?"
Emperor Wu Su’s voice was cold and heavy. "Conspiring so loudly, do you think I can’t hear?"
The Emperor rarely spoke to her with such severity. The smile on Ji Qingwu’s lips vanished immediately.
But more than fear, she felt surprise.
She quickly picked up the soup bowl and walked gracefully to Emperor Wu Su’s side. ’Perhaps he’s sulking because I didn’t show my concern for him the moment I arrived.’
Ji Qingwu said softly, "Your Majesty, have a bowl of ginseng soup to cool your temper."
As she spoke, she took the soup bowl from the food box, her fair fingers setting the spoon just so.
Emperor Wu Su’s voice remained cold and hard as he asked, "What are you doing here?"
The young palace maid sent by the Empress Dowager was still in the hall. Ji Qingwu glanced at her.
Then, she said gently, "The Empress Dowager is concerned for you. She specially ordered the small kitchen to prepare this; it’s been simmering for two hours."
Emperor Wu Su retorted mercilessly, "It’s not noon, and it’s not evening. What kind of time is this to be drinking soup?"
Ji Qingwu blinked, tilting her head to observe his reaction.
She asked, "If Your Majesty doesn’t want to drink it, then don’t. Shall I take it back?"
’Bringing soup every other day...’ Ji Qingwu thought, putting herself in his shoes. ’If I had to drink soup every day, I’d get tired of it too.’
She saw the Emperor’s brow furrow even deeper.
Ji Qingwu picked up the white porcelain soup bowl from the table, about to put it back in the food box.
Suddenly, a gust of force swept past.
The bowl in Ji Qingwu’s hand fell to the floor, shattering into pieces. The soup splashed everywhere, staining her feet and the hem of her skirt.
Emperor Wu Su’s hand had just fallen back to his side, his wide sleeve still settling.
He had been the one to strike.
Ji Qingwu stared at him in astonishment, her hands still frozen in the air as if holding the bowl.
She lowered her gaze. The floor tiles of Zhaoyang Hall, unlike the golden bricks of Diligent Governance Hall, were paved with warm, white jade.
A splatter of soup on the floor served as a stark reminder of what had just happened.
The Emperor had smashed the bowl. Li Yuzong and all the Palace Attendants in the hall had already fallen to their knees, prostrating on the floor without daring to make a sound.
Ji Qingwu understood the saying "serving a monarch is like accompanying a tiger," but a person couldn’t just fly into a rage for no reason. ’Where on earth did I provoke his anger?’
Only she remained standing in the hall.
Ji Qingwu faced him from across the desk and asked, "Your Majesty, what has displeased you? Could you tell me?"
Emperor Wu Su flicked a speck of non-existent dust from his robe and leaned back in his chair, his face expressionless.
"On what grounds do you stand to question me?"
A chill ran through Ji Qingwu’s heart.
She thought his current appearance was just like the cold, heartless demeanor he’d had when she first met him in the West Wing of Cining Palace.
She mentally retraced her steps, trying to recall what she might have done.
Ji Qingwu said cautiously, "Princess Wei came to find me today at Boxin Pavilion near Cining Palace. She expressed some concern for her brother."
Emperor Wu Su replied coldly, "I am not interested in what you do every day."
Ever since they had revealed their feelings for each other a few days ago, Ji Qingwu’s heart had been filled with affection. Even with the Emperor angry, she would not cower or retreat.
Instead, she wanted to do her best to resolve whatever problem had come between them.
Ji Qingwu said, "Then shall I find a topic that interests Your Majesty to talk about?"
Emperor Wu Su turned his head away, staring at a corner of the room. "Have I not made myself clear enough?"
Ji Qingwu’s face turned pale.
She asked, "What exactly does Your Majesty mean? Please, Your Majesty, speak plainly."
Emperor Wu Su’s Adam’s apple bobbed. "Don’t come before me again."
Ji Qingwu’s eyelashes trembled. "Why?"
Emperor Wu Su’s hand, hidden beneath the table, clenched into a fist. He lowered his gaze and said, "I’m sick of it. I’m tired of it."
Ji Qingwu stared at his indifferent profile, at how he refused to look at her. She frowned, processing his words.
Then, her gaze fell on the painted tureen still inside the food box.
’Was it not the soup he was sick of, but her...?’
Ji Qingwu reached out, her hand gripping the handle of the food box tightly.
Her eyes grew hot and heavy with unshed tears.
SPLASH! Ji Qingwu poured the remaining ginseng soup from the tureen onto the floor tiles.
She said decisively, "Since Your Majesty dislikes it so much, then forget it!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she smashed the tureen on the floor as well.
The kneeling Palace Attendants let out suppressed gasps. To dare to smash things in front of the Emperor—Ji Qingwu was truly the first.
After throwing it, she paid no mind to the reactions of those inside.
Biting her lip, Ji Qingwu strode quickly out of Zhaoyang Hall.
She walked aimlessly, her heart aching and swollen with a burning rage.
’They say people don’t cherish what they’ve already obtained, but it’s only been a few days!’
’Besides, it’s not like he’s truly "obtained" me yet... Didn’t we agree to wait until his birthday...?’
The more Ji Qingwu thought, the more desolate she felt. She had finally, painstakingly, given her heart away, only to have it rejected so casually.
She tilted her head up, gazing at the vast expanse of stars, forcing back the tears that threatened to fall. At least the stars in the sky were there to blink along with her.
She didn’t know how long she had walked, but eventually, the ache in her heart turned into an ache in her feet.
Her calves were sore and swollen. She squatted down at an unfamiliar path crossing. ’Why did they have to build this Imperial Palace so big?’
In front of her was a patch of grass. She plucked at the flowers and blades, and her emotions began to settle.
She felt more and more that she couldn’t understand Emperor Wu Su.
Earlier in the day, she had found his handling of Wei Ting strange. She never expected that just half a day later, it would be her turn.
While destroying the poor blades of grass, Ji Qingwu muttered under her breath, "Fickle, moody dog of an Emperor..."
"What are you doing?"
A face suddenly appeared before her.
Ji Qingwu looked up and jumped, startled so badly that she fell backward.
’Why does he look so much like the person I was just cursing?’
He reached out a small arm to pull her up, but she ended up pulling him down with her.
Instinctively, Ji Qingwu moved to protect him first, pulling him into her arms.
