After Discovering The Emperor Was A Woman… - Chapter 15

Putting everything else aside for now, Liu Jiuning’s head was spinning, her chest felt tight, and her stomach was painfully bloated. The floor beneath her also seemed rather warm, while the atmosphere around her felt indescribably strange.

In short, she was extremely uncomfortable.

She turned her head and looked at the imperial physicians and female doctors beside her, all of whom had their foreheads pressed firmly against the floor. Even when her gaze landed on her eldest brother, she still could not understand what had happened.

Hadn’t she gone to buy some oran—

No, she had gone to pick up her hairpin.

Then her vision had apparently gone dark. After that, she opened her eyes and found herself in this situation.

Liu Jiuning was still trying to piece everything together when she suddenly heard her eldest brother’s familiar, forceful voice.

“Your Majesty, please calm your anger! My younger sister must have been delirious when she uttered such treasonous words. It was merely an unintentional offense. Considering this subject’s unwavering loyalty and the Liu family’s three generations of faithful service, I beg Your Majesty to show leniency. Even shaving her head and sending her to a nunnery would be acceptable. I only ask that Your Majesty spare her life.”

As he spoke, Liu Zhuoyi struck his forehead heavily against the ground once more.

The family had spent a long time before finally coming up with this possible escape.

No matter what happened, at least her life would be preserved. A life of austerity would be bearable, and the Liu family could still look after her from a distance.

If she truly entered the imperial palace, however, the family would be powerless to protect her. Whether she could even survive until the morning after the wedding remained uncertain.

The moment Liu Jiuning heard the word nunnery, her spirits lifted.

She instantly became much more alert and stared directly at her eldest brother, whose voice was filled with guilt and fear.

After going around in such a large circle, was she still destined to become a nun?

Did she truly possess such a profound affinity with Buddhism that she was fated to become Master Jiuning, a great Buddhist figure equal to the old monk?

But something about that felt wrong!

Now that she could become empress, returning to the idea of becoming a nun no longer seemed quite as appealing.

Besides, being ordered by the emperor to enter a nunnery was completely different from doing so voluntarily. Liu Jiuning merely wanted to become a fake enlightened master who believed that wine and meat could pass through the stomach while the Buddha remained in one’s heart!

Li Nanchu watched the dazed girl on the ground sink into deep thought and gave a cold snort.

“If We shave her head, would We not lose Our empress?”

Become a nun?

Would that not be granting the wish of this noisy, gluttonous little tabby cat?

Li Nanchu still needed an empress.

At last, Liu Jiuning understood what was happening.

She must have offended the emperor at some point, and her eldest brother was pleading for her life!

The emperor did not look particularly pleased, but she had worn the same cold, severe expression from the moment Liu Jiuning first met her.

If she were truly furious, Liu Jiuning’s head would already have been chopped off.

Thinking this, Liu Jiuning felt she had to do something.

She clutched her head with both hands and murmured, “My head is spinning. Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to be doing? My chest feels so tight. I can hardly breathe…”

Li Nanchu watched the girl’s less-than-convincing performance, then let her gaze fall on Liu Jiuning’s pale lips.

Sweeping her sleeve, she turned away.

“Minister Liu, do not mention this again. Since she is unwell, the imperial physicians shall accompany her and continue treatment. Three months from now, We expect to see a healthy empress who does not faint.”

With that, she strode out of the pavilion.

Then, as though suddenly remembering something, Li Nanchu stopped and added, “Bestow three chests of oranges upon Ninth Young Miss Liu.”

Since she was so preoccupied with oranges, she could take some home and avoid thinking such nonsense again.

Still clutching her head and pretending to be ill, Liu Jiuning finally realized what she had done wrong.

She had actually said she was going to buy oranges!

But was buying oranges truly such a terrible offense?

Couldn’t she make a joke?

Had people in ancient times somehow understood the reference too?

That was impossible, wasn’t it?

Liu Jiuning did not manage to remain conscious for much longer.

After being helped into a small sedan chair that the emperor had “thoughtfully” provided, she soon drifted into a state somewhere between sleep and unconsciousness.

She truly felt awful.

Sleeping made her slightly more comfortable.

It would have been even better if her stomach were not so painfully full.

After returning home, Liu Jiuning developed another fever. The accompanying imperial physicians and the female doctors already stationed at the Liu residence immediately rushed about in a panic.

After hearing Liu Zhuoyi’s explanation, the elders of the Liu family could only sigh.

Xie Danxue and Liu Yucheng leaned against one another with tearful eyes, looking at their ill-fated daughter lying on the bed. They wanted to say something, but neither knew where to begin.

The imperial palace truly was a place that devoured people.

And the emperor genuinely possessed no tenderness toward women.

Three enormous plates of pastries!

How could she force a young woman who had only just recovered from a grave illness to eat all of them?

They also had no idea what else had happened to frighten Jiuning so badly that she lost consciousness.

What a miserable fate their daughter had suffered.

News that Ninth Young Miss Liu had entered the palace on her own feet only to be carried out in a sedan chair spread through the capital’s noble estates like a summer breeze.

Those who had never held much hope for this “beautiful marriage” could now only sigh that fate was cruel.

Who could have expected it?

Ninth Young Miss had already seemed ready to step into her coffin, yet she had somehow recovered.

How could that possibly please the emperor?

If Ninth Young Miss truly survived and entered the palace, her life there would probably become even more difficult.

Of course, that assumed she could safely survive her wedding night.

The emperor’s strange condition had not begun recently.

It was said that no one had been able to approach her since birth. Apart from the late emperor and the Empress Dowager, no one else could get close to her.

After ascending the throne, the condition had not improved in the slightest. Instead, it had worsened. The emperor now cut down imperial consorts without hesitation.

They could only pity Ninth Young Miss Liu.

The pitied Liu Jiuning recovered her energy in less than two days.

However, perhaps because she had eaten far too many pastries, the smell of medicine now made her nauseated, while anything sweet made her feel painfully full.

After thinking it over, she began longing for a few pieces of tender, savory meat.

She did not care what kind of meat it was.

She simply wanted meat.

Unfortunately, the female physicians refused to give her even the slightest opportunity to eat any.

Every day, Liu Jiuning was fed nothing but clear soup and bland dishes.

After nearly half a month of this, she had gained an extremely authentic taste of what life as a nun would be like—and quickly abandoned the idea forever.

It was terrifying.

She felt that even without a wooden fish, her mouth had become so deprived of flavor that she might ascend to heaven without needing to chant a single sutra.

Just as she was plotting how to obtain a few pieces of meat, Guan Feilan arrived with gifts to visit her again!

This time, Guan Feilan had not come alone.

Several young ladies dressed in plain, subdued clothing followed behind her. Had Liu Jiuning’s eyesight not been so good, she might not have recognized them as the same friends who usually wore brightly colored dresses.

“Have all of you changed your style? Why are you dressed more plainly than the last? You don’t even have flowers in your hair. Did you sell all your jewelry just to buy me gifts?”

Liu Jiuning teased her friends with a smile.

She had just begun lifting the blanket so she could move around when one of the girls rushed forward with remarkable speed and pressed it firmly back down.

“Stay there and rest. Whatever you need, call a maid—or call one of us,” Xu Yuexi said solemnly, her small face tense with concern.

They had not known how bad things were until they came.

Jiuning had become frighteningly thin. Now she looked like a pitiful little creature. Apart from her lively tongue, which still clung stubbornly to its former cheerfulness, everything else about her had changed.

The emperor truly was no decent human being.

She would not even spare poor Jiuning, who was visibly still recovering from a severe illness.

They had heard that the emperor had already drawn her sword that day and nearly brought it down. Had the eldest young master of the Liu family not arrived in time, they might now be standing before Jiuning’s grave instead of beside her bed.

And for some inexplicable reason, the emperor had even forced Jiuning to eat pastries!

An entire table full of them!

Even a grown man might not have been able to finish so much, much less a young lady who had little appetite and was still ill.