The Emperor’s Beloved Ugly Girl

11. The Extremely Heartless Emperor

Translator: Iris Guo

The guard with dark skin, Kong Wenjie, looked at A’Chou. It seemed that he had something to say, but he said nothing at last and followed Lao Jiang as well as his brother into the carriage. The vehicle faded from view with a creaking sound. All were still, as if there were only A’Chou and the torch in the knocker left in the world.

Oh, she forgot the paralytic.

A’Chou crouched on the ground for a long while before she was aroused from the terror and disturbance. She held on to the doorframe to stand up, but the embroidered shoes were so small that she grimaced in pain when she moved. Actually, A’Chou couldn’t figure out why girls from rich and noble families would bind their feet and suffer from such pain. She held up the torch and looked into the courtyard. The three rooms in the main hall were all dark and silent. Apparently, the owner had already gone to bed. A’Chou dared not bother him, so she checked the kitchen, which was not far ahead, and determined to crash there tonight and pay her respects to the deposed Crown Prince tomorrow. No, she should call him Master.

After she made up her mind, A’Chou moved towards the kitchen step by step. After taking three steps, A’Chou really couldn’t bear the pain, so she took off the shoes that kept pinching her toes and walked barefoot in the mud with ease, although a chill went through her feet.

A’Chou walked in the kitchen with the torch and examined the room. It was quite large, but was plainly furnished. The most noticeable were several crude pottery pots and jars against the wall. She had a check and found that there was rice, flour, and maybe pickles inside. Among other things, it seemed that the food could last for two weeks for them. A’Chou breathed a sigh of relief.

A’Chou got satisfied, and hastened to carry the seven or eight large bags to the kitchen. She was exhausted after moving the luggage, so she skipped cleaning up and eating, took out a mattress and a blanket, and fell asleep with a snore on the firewood.

On the next day, A’Chou woke up before dawn thanks to her consistently precise biological clock.

She opened her eyes and saw a black wall smudged by smoke and fire. It took her a long time to realize where she was.

Now she was in NingGuTa, where she could never get out. Besides, she replaced Duan Rulan to marry the deposed Crown Prince. No, according to Lao Jiang, she was still a maid serving the paralyzed Master.

From the Imperial Palace to the world outside, from the capital to Kyakhta, A’Chou had always been a maid. However, her situation became far much better because she wouldn’t serve a group of people but only one person.

A’Chou drew a deep sigh. She couldn’t tell whether she was emotional or relieved. There was not the time for her to be oversensitive. She hastened to make the bed and lit a fire to boil a big pot of water neatly in a short while since she was accustomed to doing such chores. Afterwards, she rinsed the rice and made some porridge. As a newcomer, she didn’t know the deposed Crown Prince’s favorite dish; besides, there were no more ingredients, so she could only select some pickles from jars, cut them up, and put them in a plate.

The sky already brightened up when A’Chou finished cooking. She figured that the deposed Crown Prince might have woken up, so she got the courage to walk out to the yard.

The yard was quite large, but it was overgrown with weeds. Fortunately, A’Chou didn’t see such a scene of desolation last night, or she wouldn’t have dared to sleep. A’Chou got stunned by what she saw. After all, the deposed Crown Prince was the eldest son of the late Empress. Even if he committed felonies, how could his father be this heartless?