The Emperor’s Beloved Ugly Girl

22. Five Liang

Translator: Iris Guo

Zhong Mingwei nodded: “Yes.”

A’Chou put the bowl down and tucked him in first. Despite the fact that he wouldn’t turn over, she still worried that he might catch a cold. Although it was already May, the night was still chilly in NingGuTa.

A’Chou blew out the candle and went out with the bowl.

Zhong Mingwei was lying on his stomach. The sheet was dry and comfortable, which was rarely seen. There was no longer a greasy and stinky pillow but A’Chou’s soft pink pillow with a touch of the fragrance of osmanthus flowers.

He hadn’t had such a cozy night for a long time, but he wasn’t sleepy at all and kept thinking about what A’Chou asked.

“What do you think is home?”

He had no answer. He couldn’t figure it out.

No one had ever told him what home was. Empress Dowager took care of him after the early death of his mother, but he barely saw her because she focused on studying Buddhism and praying. Besides, his father was too busy to see him. Every time they met, the Emperor would only check his homework, and he would get terrified and even dared not speak loud, let alone having a heart-to-heart talk.

However, Imperial Preceptor once told him that for an Emperor, the world was his home.

Zhong Mingwei understood him and followed his instructions all these years.

But today, he couldn’t answer the simple question which was randomly raised by a maid.

…

After doing heavy chores for a whole day, A’Chou finally got a rest. The firewood under her body wasn’t very smooth, but she was too tired to flatten it. She turned around and stared at the black wall blankly. Despite her exhaustion, A’Chou could not put her mind at ease since she had many things to deal with.

A’Chou planned to get up earlier tomorrow, clean up the house, rinse the table in the wing-room and move it to the kitchen so that she could make noodles for Zhong Mingwei. Further, she needed to remove the weeds in the courtyard and look for some seeds to plant vegetables. She could bear eating pickles all the time, but he couldn’t. He was already weak and had bedsores, so he really needed nutrition.

Right, his bedsores.

She had to go out and find a doctor… Forget it. Afraid that he didn’t want to see a doctor at all, she decided to buy some unguent for him. But where could she go? She only had five liang of silver ingots, which she tried to save all these years by working at the Yuqing Palace. The little money must be spent sensibly, because she had to buy enough ointment, several sheets, and comfortable clothes for Zhong Mingwei. She also needed to buy some meat, and perhaps more rice and flour.

…

While thinking about the distribution of her savings, A’Chou finally fell asleep.

The next day, A’Chou got up very early as she planned. She didn’t hasten to make a fire for cooking but boiled some water before entering the chamber gently with the basin.

Last night, she almost forgot to change the sheet for Zhong Mingwei. At that time, she warned herself repeatedly that this should be the last time. Now that she was with him, he didn’t need to suffer anymore.

Besides, Zhong Mingwei was very sensitive. A’Chou planned to change the sheet after he fell asleep so that he wouldn’t feel bad.