Little Palace Maid Desires a Higher Seat of Honor - Chapter 102

Chapter 102: “Unpleasant to hear, or hard to say?”

Lu Song was dead, and Yun Shi still hadn’t fully come back to her senses.

In truth, whether Tan Yuanchu came or not today, Yun Si had never intended to let Lu Song leave alive. That so-called note of his was without proof once he was dead, keeping him alive would only leave room for trouble to grow.

The result was a good one, just as she had wished.

But the series of events that followed left Yun Si completely stunned.

She had plotted so carefully, afraid that Tan Yuanchu might find out, yet he had caught her completely off guard.
In the end, Lu Song’s death should probably be counted as having been at Tan Yuanchu’s hand.

On the way back to Panju Hall with Tan Yuanchu, Yun Si was like a quail, head lowered, not daring to say a word.

Xu Shunfu led Qiu Yuan and the others far behind. Aside from the sound of footsteps, the surroundings were utterly silent, so silent that Yun Si began to feel uneasy.

Tan Yuanchu glanced at the woman, then withdrew his gaze as if nothing were amiss.
After a moment, he asked coolly, “Do you know what time it is now?”

Yun Si glanced at the sky, everything around them was pitch-dark. She didn’t know how long she had been delayed at Zhaiyue Tower, but she guessed it must be close to the chou hour (1–3 a.m.).

However, Yun Si didn’t dare tell the truth. She could only mumble in a muffled voice:

“This concubine… is not sure.”

Tan Yuanchu gave a faint, ambiguous laugh, not caring about her evasiveness, and asked again,
“Then do you know where you’re supposed to be right now?”

If Yun Si still didn’t know what he meant, she really would be stupid.

She tugged at Tan Yuanchu’s sleeve, her delicate brows knitting slightly, the pale moonlight giving her an added softness. She lowered her voice uneasily and said, “Your Majesty, this concubine knows she was wrong. Please punish me, but don’t speak to me like this. It makes me uncomfortable.”

She bit her lip, as if she truly felt aggrieved.

Tan Yuanchu almost laughed from anger. With what had happened tonight, if even one other concubine in the harem had been present, they could have accused her of secretly meeting with a eunuch at midnight, and she claimed she was the one feeling uncomfortable?

Who exactly was supposed to be feeling wronged here?

He made as if to shake off her hand, and her almond eyes trembled slightly, as if tears might fall at any moment.

After a pause, Tan Yuanchu ultimately didn’t move, though his voice remained cold and hard.

“About what happened with him, you’d better explain it clearly to me today.”

The moment his words fell, Yun Si quickly replied, “I was planning to tell you anyway.”

Tan Yuanchu gave her a doubtful look, clearly not believing her.

Yun Si hesitated, then explained softly, “When we were in Yuzhou City, this concubine said that if Your Majesty wanted to know, I would tell you everything. But later, you never asked me, and I couldn’t find a chance to bring it up.”

Tan Yuanchu’s lips twitched faintly.

So in the end, she was making it sound like it was his fault?

Unwilling to continue humoring her, he kept his face cold and strode ahead. Even after entering Panju Hall, he still hadn’t let go of her hand.

Inside, the lamps were lit.
Tan Yuanchu sat calmly on the bed, waiting for someone’s explanation.

Before she could speak, she let out a weary yawn, looking utterly drowsy.

Tan Yuanchu’s face darkened.

“Keep pretending for me.”

She’d always been one to put on an act, Tan Yuanchu didn’t believe for a second that she was truly sleepy.
Besides, how big-hearted would she have to be to feel sleepy at a time like this?

Yun Si’s almond eyes glistened slightly, and at his words she only felt wronged. Sleepiness wasn’t something she could control.

But she didn’t add fuel to the fire. The fact that Tan Yuanchu was sitting here talking to her calmly meant he didn’t really take Lu Song to heart, yet he still wanted an explanation.

Realizing this, Yun Si also understood what sort of attitude she should adopt toward the matter. She sniffed softly, lifted her almond-shaped eyes to look at Tan Yuanchu, and said in a low voice.

“Your Majesty, do you still remember how Uncle Li from Li Family Village once mentioned the Lu family?”

Tan Yuanchu raised his gaze slightly.

He had a faint impression, only that there’d been a disaster in Yuzhou City, and the Lu husband and wife had perished in it.

He looked toward the woman. When she brought up the Lu family, she lowered her eyes, making it hard to read her expression, but Tan Yuanchu had the vague sense that he’d seen this look before.

It was just like when she once mentioned Qi Guipin.

But compared to then, her emotions now seemed far more muted. Tan Yuanchu frowned, suddenly feeling that what he was about to hear next would not be good news.

At least, not good news for her.

Yun Si’s mind kept flashing back to the past. Perhaps some people could let go of old grudges after weathering many storms, but Yun Si couldn’t.

She would forever remember her helplessness and confusion back then, and she would forever despise the Lu family and Lu Song.

Not to mention that Lu Song had continued to disgust her afterwards.

Even if Lu Song had truly tried to make amends later, her attitude toward him would never have changed.

Yun Si closed her eyes.

“They were Lu Song’s father and mother.”

“I once stayed at their house.”

Stayed?

Tan Yuanchu’s gaze darkened almost imperceptibly.

Yun Si spoke as if she were talking about strangers, briefly summarizing everything. Tan Yuanchu listened to her even tone, his eyes never leaving her.

Only when he heard her say that the Lu couple had plotted to sell her did his expression turn completely cold.

“And he has the face to say the two of you were fated to be a pair?”

Yun Si froze.
For the first time when recalling this incident, her feelings weren’t purely disgust or coldness, there was something else, complicated and hard to name, surging inside her.

So, even if he seemed outwardly calm, he actually still cared very much about that one line from Lu Song.

She suddenly turned her head, lightly wiping her face, and muttered in a low, muffled voice.

“You’re always interrupting me… are you even going to listen to what I have to say or not…”

Tan Yuanchu reached a hand toward her. Yun Si looked up in puzzlement and placed her hand in his. He pulled her over, letting her sit in his lap, his voice low:

“No need to say any more.”

She had been so repulsed by what Qi Guipin had once done, what kind of people the Lu couple had ultimately tried to sell her to was self-evident.

Since that was the case, why would he make her peel away her own scab?

She was thin-skinned, and from time to time a flicker of self-abasement would surface. Now, to make her say aloud to him that she had almost been sold to such a filthy place, how could her heart feel anything but wretched?

Did it matter whether she and Lu Song had truly once had a marriage agreement?

Tan Yuanchu admitted he felt a twinge of discomfort, but he didn’t think it was of much importance.

Not to mention that she and Lu Song had merely once spoken of an unfulfilled engagement, even if they had truly been married, so what?

As long as Lu Song was gone, all those so-called entanglements of the past would naturally vanish as well.

In the end, she was his.
From now on, she would only be by his side.

That was true today, and it would be true in the days to come.

The rest was not all that important.

As for whether any trace of Lu Song still lingered in her heart, Tan Yuanchu wasn’t worried in the slightest.
What a joke, he had given her glory and wealth, yet couldn’t even be certain she held him in her heart; what claim could Lu Song possibly have?

Yun Si looked at him, bewildered. He had just told her to explain everything clearly, and now he was the one who didn’t want to hear it.

Why did he change so quickly?

Tan Yuanchu didn’t explain. He only lowered his gaze and lifted the hem of her skirt. She had taken off her cloak and outer robe, wearing only a single undergarment now. Startled by his action, Yun Si instinctively widened her almond eyes.

“What are you going to do?”

As the skirt hem was lifted, the fair, delicate skin beneath was instantly revealed, a sudden flash of spring scenery.

The woman bit her lip, her whole body stiff, not daring to move.

Tan Yuanchu gave her a glance, not asking what she was thinking, and instead asked calmly,

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

It was the second time that day he had asked her that.

The first time had been at Zhaiyue Tower.

Yun Si suddenly realized what he meant, and her tense spine loosened. She sniffled, her tears nearly falling.

“You frightened me…”

Tan Yuanchu lowered his gaze. After a long moment, he spoke in a quiet, even tone.

“I’m not them.”

A cold, clear sentence, without any trace of emotion.

Yet Yun Si was startled. He wasn’t them… who were “they”? The ones who had nearly pushed her into humiliation.

His tone was calm, but Yun Si seemed to hear in it a faint trace of tenderness and discontent.

He felt pity for her past experiences, yet also displeasure that she would mention him in the same breath as them.

Yun Si’s nose suddenly stung with a rush of emotion. She thought she might be overly sensitive today. She bit her lip and suddenly grasped Tan Yuanchu’s hand.

“I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t compare you to them.”

It was just that, having spoken of how the Lu couple had treated her, his sudden actions, no matter that he had every right to do as he wished, had startled her on instinct, sending a faint chill through her.

Her voice was muffled, soft and tender.

“You’re my husband. It’s only natural for us to be close.”

Tan Yuanchu’s movement to examine the wound on her knee paused. In the dimly lit hall, he suddenly lifted his gaze. At first glance, his eyes seemed calm, but on closer look, they were shadowed. His tone was even.

“What did you just say?”

Yun Si didn’t react immediately. She sniffled, “I said I didn’t compare you to them.”

Tan Yuanchu. “No. That’s not it.”

Yun Si froze. Realization flickered in her almond eyes, and her voice grew softer.

“You’re my husband?”

Yun Si felt, right after her words fell, a hand tighten around her ankle, not too hard, not too light, but enough to make her heart tremble.

He lowered his gaze, appearing indifferent, yet he said, “Say it again.”

Her earlier emotions were nearly gone. She bit her lip lightly. It was such a simple sentence, yet now it felt strangely embarrassing. She rubbed her legs together slightly, only to have them pressed down in the next moment.

“Don’t move.”

Then, with a casual tone, he repeated, “Say it again.”

Yun Si lowered her head, her neck and cheeks flushing pink.

“Your Majesty…”

Seeing her so shy she couldn’t lift her head, Tan Yuanchu suddenly felt that “Your Majesty” ruined the mood.
His voice dropped. “Which sounds better, Your Majesty, or Tan Yuanchu?”

Yun Si looked up in astonishment.

Who asked questions like this?

Any answer would be wrong.

Tan Yuanchu lazily pressed her. “Hm?”

Yun Si closed her eyes and chose the safest possible answer. “I… can’t tell the difference.”

“Then say both.”

Yun Si was struck speechless.

Usually, calling him “Your Majesty” came naturally. But now, she couldn’t bring herself to say either.

For some reason, calling him anything at this moment felt like flirting.

Tan Yuanchu directly ignored the first title and asked unhurriedly, “So is it that these three words sound bad, or that they’re hard to say?”

Yun Si was cornered, almost in tears, biting her lip. “They… sound good.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Then it’s just that they’re hard to say.”

Yun Si pouted.

Tan Yuanchu waited patiently.

At last, in the silent, ambiguous air of the hall came a faint, barely audible whisper,

“Tan… Tan Yuanchu…”

Yun Si clearly noticed that when she said it, his eyes darkened in an instant, making her afraid to look at him.

She felt a strange discomfort and swallowed hard.

For a long time, he did nothing, only said with an unreadable tone.

“If only you’d always be this obedient.”

But obviously, she was only this compliant for a moment after doing something wrong.

Before Yun Si could retort, his gaze landed on the bruises on her knees, and his voice suddenly rose.

“Someone, summon the imperial physician.”