The Emperor’s Beloved Ugly Girl

20. We Are Both Despised

Translator: Iris Guo

Looking at A’Chou’s hair and her tears falling to the bed, at the moment, Zhong Mingwei felt sad. He intended to say something to comfort this girl, who was sixteen years younger than him, but only said toughly: “Just go.”

“Go where?” A’Chou suddenly raised her head, and her face was full of tears. She got extremely disappointed, straightened her neck, and said in a fit of pique, “I came here for you in a wedding dress, so I belong to you. Now where do you want me to go?”

“Anywhere but here. I’m half-dead, and I don’t want you to be buried with me when I’m gone.” said Zhong Mingwei with a sigh. He closed his eyes again. He used to have a cold and hard heart, like every emperor did. However, seeing A’Chou’s eyes full of tears, he even felt terribly sorry for her.

“They said that I will never get out of NingGuTa. If I am caught, I will die,” A’Chou wiped her tears with a pout and tried to swallow her grievance, “Since I’ll die anyway, I prefer to die here with you rather than run away.”

“How can you be so thoughtless? Why do you want to be buried with a half-dead paralytic? Don’t you want a family? Go find a good man somewhere! You can spend the rest of your life and have children with him. That’s what you want. Why are you wasting your time on me?” Zhong Mingwei opened his eyes impatiently and looked at A’Chou’s red eyes. He couldn’t figure out why such a skinny girl could be so stubborn.

“I want to be here! I’m used to being a maid, and I was born to serve people. I just want to serve you.” A’Chou sniffed, and her eyes turned red again. She hastened to look away, paused, and pretended to relax, “In a word, you’re a paralyzed man, and I’m an ugly girl. We are both despised by others, so we’d better stop loathing each other.”

Zhong Mingwei’s lips moved, but he didn’t say anything and closed his eyes.

A’Chou didn’t expect him to say anything either. She climbed out of his bed gently, and took out the bowl. The little porridge left in the kitchen was totally cold.  A’Chou didn’t mind a bit but finished it with a small plate of pickles.

Then, she washed the pot, drew water from the well in the courtyard, and boiled two pots of water. Afterwards, A’Chou crept into the main hall again. She hadn’t got the chance to check the place carefully until then. The main hall was empty. The chamber where Zhong Mingwei lived was on her left, and a wing-room was on her right. She entered the wing-room and found several large wooden boxes left about inside. As soon as she opened a box, the strong musty smell forced her to cover her mouth and nose immediately. She took out the moldy clothes and quilts from the boxes, and assumed that the clothes belonged to Zhong Mingwei judging from their style and size.

A’Chou intended to throw the clothes away, but she couldn’t do it since Zhong Mingwei couldn’t be naked all the time. Therefore, she took them out and put them in the sun.