Male Lead Is Always That Heartless

Chapter 32

Eunuch Wu of the Ceremony Room sized up Eunuch Gao’s expression and smiled, “Eunuch Gao, is there something wrong?”

Eunuch Gao faked a cough, “Nothing, you can go in.”

Take care!

Eunuch Wu was unsure but still shook his robe and entered the pavilion with his head hanging down, “Greetings, Your Majesty.”

Xiao Yan took a few steps down the stairs so fast that Eunuch Wu was stunned.

Your Majesty, did you finally enlighten?

Xiao Yan saw the two red sticks on the tray at a glance. Caiwei Hall’s Consort Shufei, and the other, ranked in the third row, was Noble Lady Gu from Heluo Hall.

Eunuch Wu buried his head high and hung the tray at the top, but he didn’t receive any reaction from the emperor for a long time. He braced to raise his eyes to look. Yet, all he saw was the emperor’s tense lower jaw, expressionless face, and the dark pupils of his eyes, implying fierceness. He did not dare to look again and immediately buried his head. But his hands were suddenly light. The emperor overturned the pearwood tray that Eunuch Wu was holding high on the top.

The tray crashed to the ground, crackling. Several loud sounds in succession, and the jade plaques spilled out all over the place.

Eunuch Wu’s knees softened, kneeling and bowing: “I have not served you well, Your Majesty. Forgive me, Your Majesty, rest your anger!”

Eunuch Gao stood outside the pavilion, startled at the sound, immediately entered the hall and bowed: “Your Majesty, rest your anger!”

There was a momentary silence in the Tianlu Pavilion. Xiao Yan saw the two men kneeling with their heads hanging down, trembling with fear, and suddenly laughed, “All of you get up.”

Eunuch Wu didn’t dare pick up the scattered jade plaques. He only buried his head and squeezed the side of the tray, bowed his waist, and stood up. “Your Majesty… I’ll retire… first!”

But his ears heard the emperor slowly say: “Call for Talent Lady Zhao from Heluo Hall.”

Eunuch Wu stopped his footsteps to go out and answered: “I obey the decree.”

This was the first time the emperor flipped the plaques after returning from the Wu Shan Palace, and he still chose the newly appointed Talent Lady Zhao. The whole palace was shocked. They thought it was just the emperor’s whim to promote a Talent Lady in Wushan, and it was nothing, but after returning to the palace, she still favored!

Gu Yi stood by the window, watching the Shang Yi Bureau’s people come to the Heluo Hall side hall one after another.

Indeed, the plot is online!

Tao Jia frowned anxiously: “Noble Lady …… what should we do?”

Gu Yi retracted her eyes. “This is not a big deal. It’s a good thing that Talent Lady Zhao receives favor.”

Tao Jia looked at the bunches of palace maids outside the door, “Noble Lady, if we don’t extinguish her heart at this time, just in case Talent Lady Zhao’s heart gets bigger in the future ……”

Gu Yi waved her hand, “I believe that Talent Lady Zhao is not that kind of person.” Saying that, she got up and walked a few steps, taking a long breath.

“Let’s go, Tao Jia, to the Imperial Garden to feed the fish.”

Tao Jia moved her lips and still wanted to persuade again. When she saw Gu Yi slightly frown, she whirled around to get fish food; her mouth muttered: “Noble Lady, the light is just right. Going to the imperial garden to walk is also good.”

Gu Yi changed her clothes into a moon-white jacket covered with a green wool jacket and walked outside Heluo Hall.

Zhao Wan walked to the door of the side hall. When she saw Gu Yi exit the main hall door, she asked Xiu He, “Has Tao Jia been to the Sibin Bureau today?”

Xiu He nodded and said, “Sister Tao Jia said that she went to weigh the weight of the balls of Cuiwan Games. Each one has been weighed and recorded in the booklet.”

Zhao Wan stared and thought for a moment. Was Noble Lady initially such a cautious person?……

The palace maidservant of the Shang Yi Bureau came to call: “Talent Lady, the hot water is ready. Let me serve you to bathe.”

Zhao Wan came back to her senses and walked into the chamber. The palace maidservant washed her body and combed her hair. On the makeup mirror table was a book sent by the palace maid of the Shang Yi Bureau.

Zhao Wan glanced at it and turned away with a blush, her eyes slightly closed. The palace maid couldn’t help but laugh and say, “Talent Lady, you have served the Emperor, but you are still so shy.”

Zhao Wan’s heart sank, restrained her expression, and lightly scolded: “You talk too much.”

The palace maid could not help but stiffen her face and converge her smile, “I know my mistakes.”

At three-quarters past Xushi (7-9 pm), moonlight sprinkles down the lake, reflecting the waves. Two yellow lanterns lit the fish viewing platform by the lake.

Gu Yi held fish food in her hand and tossed it into the lake in bursts. Tao Jia couldn’t help but advise, “Noble Lady has been here for several hours. The night wind is cold; it’s better to go back to the palace.”

Gu Yi asked Tao Jia, “What time is it now?”

Tao Jia looked around and saw that the sky was dark. “I think it should be past Xushi. There’s a copper watch in the imperial garden flower room; do you want me to see it?”

Gu Yi made an uh sound, “Be fast. I want the exact time.”

Tao Jia turned around and left. After a few moments, the night wind gently blew the lake, causing Gu Yi to shiver, so she lowered her head to tie the ribbon on her cloak. There seemed to be footsteps behind her, the shoes lightly rubbing the stone floor, rustling lightly.

“Back so soon?” Gu Yi turned her head but saw an utterly unfamiliar face, half a face, to be exact. It was a young man in a gray robe, thin, not tall, remarkably similar to an ordinary eunuch, and if he fell into a pile of people, others would never give him more than a glance. However, half of his face was covered with a black cloth, revealing a pair of gloomy eyes.

Oh no!

Cold sweat immediately crawled all over Gu Yi’s back as she turned to run, but the gray-robed man’s arm dragged her back. The strength of his hand was terrifying, seeming to crush Gu Yi’s bones.

Gu Yi couldn’t help but scream, “There’s an outlaw! There’s assa — ” He reached out his other hand and covered her mouth.

Gu Yi suddenly smelled an odor of oil mixed with charcoal. She turned her eyes to see a short knife revealed in his sleeve; the tip of the knife shone bright and immediately scared her to death!

Who wants to harm her? Or is the plot screwing her!

Gu Yi raised her foot and kicked at his crotch.

The gray-robed man’s eyes flashed, and he steered to the side to avoid it, his arm slightly relaxing its grip on her!

Gu Yi bit hard on a handful of flesh at the center of his hand. “Hiss ……” The man retracted his palm in pain.

Gu Yi immediately broke free of his bonds and leaped from the fish viewing platform in two steps and the man raised his knife and stabbed at her violently, slicing through her moonlight-white jacket.

Gu Yi resisted the pain in her calf and jumped into the lake. With a loud bang and a splash, she shouted at the top of her lungs, “There’s an assassin! Someone come!”

Seeing this, the gray-robed man turned around and ran into a dark place in the garden where the lights were not as bright.

Tao Jia heard the sound of water and ran to the fish viewing platform, exclaiming, “Noble Lady has fallen into the water!”

When the patrolling guards heard the yelling, they hurriedly came. The man at the lead was none other than Qi Zhuang.

Seeing Gu Yi fall into the water, he clasped his fists and asked, “Noble Lady, can you swim? Come towards the shore, and I’ll pull you up!”

Where did you go? The Imperial Garden is full of thieves! Doggy Xiao’s Great Mu Dynasty is about to end!

Gu Yi was full of grief and anger, paddling to the shore.

Qi Zhuang grabbed her with both hands, lifting her out of the lake like a chicken. Then, he took off his cloak and covered Gu Yi.

Tao Jia exclaimed, “Noble Lady, your leg is bleeding a lot!”

Qi Zhuang saw that red had dyed the moon-white dress at her calf.

Gu Yi let out a slow “ah,” and the pain that she had suppressed out of fear and nervousness suddenly became vivid.

Tao Jia saw her face getting paler and anxiously said, “What should we do, Noble Lady? I’ll ask the doctor, but at this hour, it will take some time for the soft sedan chair to come. Noble Lady certainly couldn’t walk the road, but you cannot wait that long!”

Gu Yi tried to take two steps, and instantly, the pain caused her face to crumple into a ball.

Qi Zhuang cupped his fists and said, “I will escort you, but Tao Jia should quickly go and ask a doctor. Don’t delay!”

Tao Jia glanced at Gu Yi, “I will go to the Imperial Hospital!”

After saying that, she ran away.

Gu Yi had no choice but to tell Qi Zhuang, “I’m sorry to trouble Chief Qi.”

Qi Zhuang picked Gu Yi up horizontally.

Gu Yi was soaked to the skin and cowered in her overcoat, but she saw the sky was red in the west. Scarlet flames raced across the sky, and black smoke rolled up.

“Tanyuan Hall is on fire!”

Xiao Yan paused his footsteps and listened to the palace staff sprinting up to report. He frowned slightly, his tone icy, “Where is Consort Dowager Liu?  Is she safe?”

The palace staff kowtowed and said, “Thanks to the Buddha’s blessing, Consort Dowager is safe. The servants are putting out the fire at this moment. Fortunately, only the Buddhist hall is on fire, and the main hall is not. I believe it will be doused soon.”

Xiao Yan: “Got it. Quickly send people out to put out the fire.”

The palace staff said yes and sped away.

Xiao Yan stood with his hands on the narrow path and waited for a moment. Two black-clothed shadow guards hurriedly came, kneeling on one knee, and said: “Your Majesty, forgive me. We are incompetent; the arsonist is cunning, leaving Consort Dowager Liu and running away. We can only take the most important thing first and bring back Consort Dowager.”

Xiao Yan laughed lightly, “What?! Xiao Lu has sent someone from a long distance to rescue his Mother Consort but gave up halfway? What kind of waste they had raised!”

The two shadow guards listened to his chilly tone and buried their heads even lower: “We are incompetent. Please punish us, Your Majesty!”

Xiao Yan: “You guys go get your punishment. I’ll keep your heads for now, and you can make up for your mistakes in the future.”

The two shadow guards said, “Yes.”

When Eunuch Gao saw the shadow guards leave, he looked at the Heluo Hall at the end of the red wall, “Your Majesty, are you still going to the Heluo Hall?”

Xiao Yan said unhappily, “Go back to the Tianlu Pavilion …… Consort Dowager has been frightened this night, so I must see her later ……”

Eunuch Gao Gui nodded, “I’ll send someone to inform Talent Lady Zhao.”

Xiao Yan turned around and headed back toward the front hall. After a few steps, he saw a tall figure walking in front of the road.

Xiao Yan recognized his armor.

Qi Zhuang. He was holding a figure wrapped in a cloak in his hands.

Xiao Yan stared and looked closely; his heart fell hard, and he walked quickly.

Gu Yi raised her eyes and saw Xiao Yan walking towards her, and instantly wanted to cry a little. Doggy Xiao, your imperial garden hides dirt; what kind of people come and go?

Xiao Yan walked closer before seeing that it was indeed Gu Yi. He saw that her hair was damp at the temples, her face was pale as she shrank in her cloak, and her lips were blue.

Gu Yi called out, “Your Majesty! Tonight, when I was feeding the fish in the imperial garden, I met an outlaw. He covered half of his face, grabbed me down, and covered my mouth. He suddenly revealed a short knife in his sleeve, and as soon as I looked at it, I kicked at his crotch and bit his hand, and then I jumped into the lake when he let go of his hand. Only then did I narrowly save my little life! Then, Chief Qi passed by and saved me. But my leg got stabbed, so Chief Qi sent me back to Heluo Hall.” As she spoke, she lifted the cloak between her legs, revealing her blood-stained skirt. Her spirit was still good, so it was evident that the injury was not serious.

Xiao Yan’s brows twitched as he reached out and steadily held her waist, bringing her into his arms.

“Qi Zhuang, withdrew.”

Qi Zhuang saw Xiao Yan’s expression and was instantly startled. He hastily avoided his eyes, hanging his head and cupping his fists, “I’ll excuse myself.”