The Emperor’s Beloved Ugly Girl

86. So Embarrassing

Translator: Iris Guo

“I’m sixteen.” said A’Chou.

“You’re already sixteen?” Mrs. Chen looked A’Chou up and down in surprise, shook her head, and sighed: “If you hadn’t told me, I would have figured you are only twelve or thirteen.”

Mrs. Chen was telling the truth. Normally, girls would enter puberty at the age of twelve or thirteen, but A’Chou reached sexual maturity when she was sixteen, which suggested that she had been living a hard life. When she was a child, she had been sent to the Imperial Palace, where she suffered from hard work and malnutrition. Therefore, now she still looked like a child.

“Ma’am, what exactly does puberty mean?” A’Chou was still uneasy, “Am I sick? Is that serious? How… How much does the treatment cost?”

“Alas!” Mrs. Chen sighed deeply and leaned over to hold A’Chou’s hand, “Girl, come with me, and I’ll explain.”

Then, A’Chou followed Mrs. Chen into the bedroom.

When Chen Qingxuan walked out from the study with the teacup, he glimpsed the unpleasant dark red mark on the cushion and immediately blushed. He hastened to return to the study, and was in no mood for tea anymore. After a while, he walked out again quietly, looked around to make sure that no one was out, and entered the main hall quickly. Then, he flipped the cushion over to hide the bloodstain and sneaked away.

…

Mrs. Chen lent A’Chou a floral frilly dress to replace her linen cloth. A’Chou blushed and walked out from Mrs. Chen’s room awkwardly. Mrs. Chen followed her, couldn’t help laughing when seeing her moves, and said gently: “Girl, it doesn’t matter. Easy! You can walk as usual.”

“Okay!” answered A’Chou. However, she looked even more flushed and uncomfortable.

Mrs. Chen stopped talking to save A’Chou’s face, asked her to rest in the main hall, and went to the kitchen to make ginger tea with brown sugar for her.

Previously, A’Chou saw the bloodstain on her cloth when she changed, and worried that she might damage the cushion. Therefore, when she saw cushion still looked clean, she breathed a sigh of relief and sat down cautiously.

No one had ever told A’Chou about puberty. When she worked at the Imperial Washhouse, she lived with Mammy Xiang. However, she was just a kid then, so there was no way that Mammy Xiang would talk about it. Later on, she was assigned to the Yanxi Palace, where all the maids were older than her and already got their periods, but they wouldn’t blaze it around, so she still knew nothing at all until Mrs. Chen told her today. In fact, she was maturing.

A’Chou could still feel the stomachache, but it didn’t bother that much anymore. She sat in the main hall bashfully and uneasily, staring at the closed door to the study.

Mr. Chen must know it. It was so embarrassing.

If Zhong Mingwei knew…

No, there was no way that he would know!

However, he was already in his thirties and had married several times, so he must know about women.

A’Chou became unhappy when she realized some facts about Zhong Mingwei. She rubbed the dress subconsciously, suddenly stopped and hastened to flatten the cloth.

Mrs. Chen used to wear this dress when she was young, and it was obvious that she loved it since it still looked so tidy and neat.

A’Chou didn’t want to mess it up, and she planned to give it back when she washed it clean.

…

After a while, Mrs. Chen came out with a bowl of strong ginger tea with brown sugar and handed it to A’Chou: “Girl, drink up while it’s still hot, and your stomachache will be cured.”

“Oh, thank you, ma’am.” A’Chou listened to Mrs. Chen and took the bowl. The tea had a strong smell of ginger, but she still drank it up while Mrs. Chen gazed at her with concern.

“How about now? Feeling better?” asked Mrs. Chen with a smile.