The Emperor’s Beloved Ugly Girl

28. The Jade Pendant

Translator: Iris Guo

Zhong Mingwei felt that he had changed to an insecure and useless person. His heart was extremely cold and hard, but it had become incredibly soft because of these trivial sounds A’Chou made. When she left for the market, he felt lonely and empty for half a day, even anxious and afraid. He thought that he had become a different person.

…

The door creaked open.

Zhong Mingwei swallowed hard and turned his face to the window. The thin window paper was torn by the wind, and he saw through the crack that A’Chou bent and walked in with a bamboo basket, which was almost bigger than her. She probably intended to walk gently, and moved into the woodhouse slowly step by step. After a while, she walked towards his chamber step by step carrying something, and he hastened to turn his face.

A’Chou approached Zhong Mingwei’s bed and stopped. Perhaps she brought the ointment. The chamber was filled with a touch of herbs’ fragrance.

“Still asleep?” A’Chou murmured and put the ointment on his bed. Then, she climbed into the bed gently and saw Zhong Mingwei turning his face and squinting, as if he had just woken up. She was very happy: “You awake?”

“Yeah,” said Zhong Mingwei indifferently. He looked at A’Chou’s sweaty forehead and saw a white jade pendant carved like the Buddhist Goddess falling out from her collar. The quality of the pendant was good, and the pendant should be made of ancient jade. Even though he had seen priceless treasures in the Imperial Palace, he couldn’t help looking at it, “Your pendant looks nice.”

“Of course. My mother left it to me,” A’Chou was pleased. She took the pendant, looked at it, wiped the sweat on her forehead with the sleeve, and put the pendant under her collar, “I cherish it most.”

“Your mother…left it to you?” Zhong Mingwei was a little surprised. A’Chou told him that she was a maid with misconduct. However, apparently, the material of the pendent was uncommon. Her family must be rich, or they wouldn’t have had such a treasure.

“I wasn’t born to be a maid,” A’Chou understood Zhong Mingwei’s doubt perfectly. She rolled her eyes, stirred the ointment, and said: “My father was a government official. He offended his superiors, so our family was in straitened circumstances. They killed my parents, but cut me some slack because I was just a little kid. I was thereafter enslaved in the Imperial Washhouse.”

“Your father was?” asked Zhong Mingwei again. He thought that he might know about her family.

“No idea. I don’t even know my last name. I was only four when I became an imperial maid and couldn’t remember anything,” A’Chou lifted the quilt, applied some ointment on his back, and massaged him gently, “The doctor said that as long as we keep applying the ointment, your bedsores will be cured soon. It’s just gonna hurt a little, take it easy!”

It did hurt. Zhong Mingwei gritted his teeth and tried to bear the pain. Naturally, he was no longer in the mood to ask about A’Chou’s parents. The cold ointment on his skin became extremely burning and he felt painful after her rubbing, from his shoulder to waist. However, he didn’t feel bad at all and even liked the pain somehow. The pain at least proved that he was still a living person, and his body wasn’t numb yet. He appreciated all A’Chou had done for him.