Chapter 4: The Empress Dowager – The Male Protagonist’s Position is About to be Threatened

Returning home after her shift, the courtyard was filled with the aroma of food, instantly sweeping away all the frustrations in the palace.

Seeing her return, Qiu Qiushuang immediately brought over a basin of clean water for her to wash her hands.

Qiu Qiushuang had sought refuge with her family at the age of 13. Because his entire family had suffered misfortune and he himself was a mute, he had always been cautious in her family, lest he did something wrong and was driven out by the Qiu family.

Later, the Qiu family fell into decline and all the servants scattered.

When Qiu Shuzhi wanted to study for the imperial examination, Qiu Qiushuang naturally took on the role of a male companion, managing all the household affairs, attentive and considerate like a little husband.

Now that Qiu Shuzhi had passed the imperial examination with high honors, she originally wanted to hire a few servants to reduce his workload, but Qiu Qiushuang adamantly disagreed, so she had to let it go.

“Brother, you seem to be in low spirits today?” While eating, Qiu Shuzhi noticed that Qiu Qiushuang was different from usual today, not even touching his food.

Qiu Qiushuang put down his chopsticks and shook his head.

Thinking carefully, it seemed that since returning from the night market last night, Qiu Qiushuang hadn’t been using sign language with her much, and his enthusiasm was very cold.

“Could it be that you were frightened by that woman last night?” Thinking carefully, it seemed that this was the only reason.

Qiu Qiushuang pursed his lips and gestured, “The weather has been getting hot lately, I don’t have much of an appetite. Don’t think too much.”

“Is that so?” Qiu Shuzhi raised her slender eyebrows but didn’t ask further.

After dinner, Qiu Shuzhi lit a lamp in the study to read, while Qiu Qiushuang sat beside her embroidering a handkerchief.

The flickering light of the lamp cast a deep shadow on the side of Qiu Shuzhi’s face, her skin like frost and jade, her slender shadow swaying on the wall with the movement of her turning pages.

He sat behind Qiu Shuzhi, gazing at her slim and upright back, her long hair sliding down her side, revealing the snow-white and moist skin on the back of her neck.

The evening breeze blew in through the window, startling Qiu Qiushuang’s eyes. He lowered his head in panic, looking at the slightly swaying shadow on the wall. The warm breeze made him dizzy, making his fingertips tremble uncontrollably, stroking the outline on the wall that he had been longing for day and night.

His fingertips traced her figure carefully, imagining the soft warmth of Qiu Shuzhi’s body, as if the cold wall had become warm.

Her slender waist, rounded shoulders, soft long hair – his fingertips seemed to be bewitched by something, slowly moving up along the texture of the wall. Just as he was about to touch her face, Qiu Shuzhi rubbed her sore shoulders, and the shadow rippled like a stone thrown into a calm lake.

As if awakening from a dream, Qiu Qiushuang quickly returned to his room, picked up a sharp embroidery needle, and fiercely stabbed it into his palm. Scarlet blood seeped out of the wound, and the dense pain finally restored a bit of his sanity.

—

Arriving at the door of the Imperial Study for the second time, Qiu Shuzhi hesitated outside. Yesterday, she had offended the young emperor, but for some reason, the emperor did not lash out at her. Today, going to give a lecture again, it might not be the same.

She didn’t want to end up like Lord Wang, with a hole in her head.

“Master Qiu!” Knowing it was time for Qiu Shuzhi’s lecture, the attendant Yu Ye had been waiting eagerly for Qiu Shuzhi. Seeing her hesitating outside and not entering, Yu Ye simply went out to greet her himself.

“Master Qiu, why don’t you go in? The Emperor has been waiting for you for a long time.” Yu Ye’s eyes curved, his gaze charming.

Yu Ye was the young emperor’s personal attendant, equivalent to the chief eunuch who followed the emperor in the previous life. He was well-informed and had great authority in the palace. It was only because this was a female-dominant country that Yu Ye did not need to be castrated.

Qiu Shuzhi bowed slightly to him, “May I ask Attendant Yu Ye, is the Emperor in a good mood today?”

“Master Qiu, you flatter me.” Yu Ye laughed coquettishly and helped Qiu Shuzhi up, his eyes enchanting. “The Emperor is in a good mood today. You don’t need to worry. Quickly follow me inside.”

Qiu Shuzhi followed him into the Imperial Study. The young emperor sat upright at the desk. Seeing her come in, her eyes lit up, but quickly concealed it.

“What are we learning today?” She straightened her body, deliberately lowering her doll-like voice to make her words sound a little more intimidating.

Yu Ye served them tea on the side while also acting as the eyes and ears of the Empress Dowager Qin Qing, monitoring the two.

“Your Majesty, today we will study ‘The Book of Documents: The Mandate of Cai Zhong.'” She spread out the book in front of Yue Shen, her slender, fair fingers pointing to a line of pre-annotated text.

“The heavens have no affection, only virtue is their support. The people’s hearts are not constant, only kindness touches them,” Yue Shen recited softly.

“Does Your Majesty know what this means?”

Yue Shen shook her head, “I don’t know.”

“This sentence means that the heavens do not differentiate between people based on closeness or distance, only assisting those with noble character; the people’s hearts do not always belong to one ruler, only to those who show them kindness will their hearts be devoted.”

Yue Shen showed a look of disdain, “I thought you were different from the other scholars, but it turns out you also teach these old cliché things.”

Yu Ye explained on behalf of Qiu Shuzhi while serving tea, “The Book of Documents is one of the Four Books and Five Classics. Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven and must certainly study it.”

“Presumptuous! Did I ask you?” Yue Shen picked up the freshly poured hot tea and splashed it on Yu Ye’s face, gritting her teeth in hatred.

Yu Ye knelt down with a thud, “This servant knows his fault. Please forgive me, Your Majesty.”

Yue Shen grasped his chin. That delicate face was drenched with tea. With a wicked interest, she cruelly wiped his face, the makeup smearing all over, making him look extremely wretched.

The doll-faced girl laughed coldly and let go, “Look at you now. Why aren’t you getting out of here to clean up!”

Yu Ye covered his face and left in shame.

It turned out that the good mood was all pretense. The young emperor could only endure and wait for her to come to vent.

With Yu Ye gone, the next target would be her. Qiu Shuzhi, being tactful, knelt down, “Please forgive me, Your Majesty.”

“Who told you to kneel!” The young emperor was stunned for a moment and hurriedly grabbed her wrist to pull her up from the ground.

The emperor’s heart was hard to fathom. Qiu Shuzhi was getting more and more confused by the young emperor.

“If Your Majesty does not like ‘The Book of Documents,’ this subject will not teach it anymore in the future.” Although Yue Shen had pulled her up, she still bowed her body, utterly submissive.

Her ink-like long hair fell in front of her, the ends landing in Yue Shen’s palm. The soft strands felt like a light goose feather in Yue Shen’s hand, making her palm tingle and itch.

The young emperor’s face suddenly flushed red, “I didn’t say you were bad.”

Qiu Shuzhi was stunned for a moment.

“I just deliberately sent Yu Ye away,” she stammered. “I understood what you said yesterday. It was I who misunderstood you. I can compensate you, I can reward you. What do you want? Money or fertile land, I can bestow them upon you.”

Qiu Shuzhi looked at her chubby face that was slightly flushed and realized that the young emperor was still very innocent.

“This subject does not need rewards. Serving the ruler is the duty of a subject. Moreover, if you reward me now, it will make the Empress Dowager even more suspicious.”

Yue Shen pursed her lips tightly, “What you said makes sense too. It was I who did not consider it carefully.”

Qiu Shuzhi smiled slightly and knelt on one knee beside her, her clear eyes full of gentle laughter, “This subject dares to teach Your Majesty one more saying: A gentleman hides his abilities and bides his time.”

Yue Shen gazed at her eyes brimming with gentleness, seeing only her own reflection. Her fingers involuntarily clenched tightly, entangled with Qiu Shuzhi’s long hair.

She was grateful that during the imperial examination, she had defied Qin Qing and forcibly promoted Qiu Shuzhi’s ranking into the top three. It was the most correct decision she had made in more than ten years.

—

Covering his face, Yu Ye ran out, wanting to get water to wash his face. He happened to run into Qin Qing and her entourage.

“Yu Ye, how did you end up like this?” Yu Zhi was shocked to see Yu Ye’s face, which was smeared beyond recognition.

Yu Ye knelt down in front of Qin Qing and cried piteously, “Empress Dowager, please, you must stand up for this servant.”

While crying, he recounted everything that had happened in the Imperial Study, and at the end, he didn’t forget to embellish a little, “Her Majesty knew that I am your person, yet she still treated this servant like this. I’m afraid that in the future, even you, Empress Dowager, will not be taken seriously.”

Yu Ye’s words didn’t stir any ripples in his heart.

He only asked lightly, “So you’re saying that now in the Imperial Study, there are only Her Majesty and Master Qiu?”

Yu Ye sobbed and replied, “Yes.”

Qin Qing’s eyes moved slightly, and he gently smoothed his ink-colored cloak and said softly, “If that’s the case, I also want to go over and take a look.”

The group came in a grand procession. Qin Qing dismissed the calling attendant and pushed the door open directly without waiting to be announced.

As soon as he entered, he saw Qiu Shuzhi kneeling on the cold ground, her tied-up long hair slightly disheveled, and the torn book pages scattered all over the floor. But her frail and slender back was straight as an arrow, like a bamboo, strong and resilient.

The young emperor Yue Shen sat on the high seat, staring at her closely, her face cold and gloomy.

Seeing Qin Qing suddenly enter, she was a little surprised, “Imperial Father, why are you here?”

Qin Qing walked over slowly, the silver belt around his waist emitting a faint cold light with each step. He casually sat sideways on the rosewood chair next to Yue Shen, lazily supporting his chin, with a vague smile on his lips.

“Master Qiu, why are you kneeling on the ground?”

Yue Shen snorted, “The number one scholar is nothing but a pedantic and stale literati. I don’t like listening to her lectures and was about to punish her.”

Qin Qing’s gaze fell gently on Qiu Shuzhi, her exquisite face radiating peerless elegance. The slightly loosened collar revealed a glimpse of her white and flawless collarbone. Different from the brightness in her eyes when they first met, at this moment, her eyes were lowered, her pale brows furrowed, and the locks of hair falling on both sides of her cheeks added a touch of fragility and melancholy to her demeanor.

It was not hard to imagine how much impact Qiu Shuzhi’s words yesterday in defense of Qin Shu had on her.

But this was obviously not to Yue Shen’s satisfaction. Today, her attitude made it clear that she wanted to deal with Qiu Shuzhi.

However, Qin Qing did not want to please Yue Shen.

He was worried about how to solve Qin Shu’s problem, and Qiu Shuzhi’s suggestion happened to be the perfect solution to his current predicament, pulling Qin Shu out of the quagmire of the murder case.

Even kneeling at his feet, the woman before him still had unyielding and pure eyes, as if standing amidst a storm of wind and snow, making one not dare to look directly at her.

If it weren’t for Yue Shen’s presence, he really wanted to personally step forward to help her up and win her over properly.