Chapter 455: Play Along with Her Act
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation | Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Zhou Qing walked to the front of the convoy and knelt down. “Your humble servant Zhou Qing hereby greets Your Imperial Highness.”
The people outside the horse carriage had already noticed Zhou Qing. They all looked at her warily when she approached.
Zhou Qing was blocking the convoy’s way. A chilly voice rang out from the horse carriage. “You may rise.”
“Thank you, Your Imperial Highness.”
After Zhou Qing stood up, she heard the Empress say, “For this period of time,
you will follow me.”
“Yes, Your Imperial Highness.”
Zhou Qing withheld the excitement in her heart and got onto the horse. She then rode next to the horse carriage.
The convoy soon arrived outside the city gate.
When the disaster victims who were waiting outside the city saw such a bright and elegant convoy coming toward them, they stared at the convoy curiously. They were hoping that the people on the carriage could give them a bite of food.
The convoy stopped outside the city gate and the guard at the front looked at the disaster victims and said, “The Empress has arrived. Get on your knees and kowtow to pay your respects.”
The guard’s voice reverberated like a loud bell, and all the disaster victims nearby could hear it.
The disaster victims stared in the direction of the horse carriage in shock. Then all of them got up from the ground and came forward to kowtow to Su Ying.
“We beg Your Imperial Highness to save us. We are starving to death.”
“Your Imperial Highness, save us…”
A slender hand drew the curtain of the carriage aside, and Su Ying, dressed in a long green dress, stepped out of the carriage. Her icy eyes were brimming with determination that made people believe in her. As she stood on the steps of the horse carriage, she swept her gaze across the faces of the victims.
“I heard that there was a drought in Luo City that caused the people of Luo City to suffer greatly. It is really abominable that the government office didn’t do anything to settle all of you down. But don’t worry. Since I am already here, I will definitely settle everyone down properly.” As she spoke, Su Ying returned to the horse carriage and took out sack after sack of dry food.
“There isn’t much dry food. In a while, everyone will line up. The guards will distribute half a pancake according to the queue sequence. If you don’t get a share, don’t worry either. In two days at the latest, I will definitely send people to the outside of the city to distribute porridge to all of you.”
The disaster victims stared at the dry food in the sacks until their eyes almost popped out, but they did not dare to act rashly in the presence of the Empress. “You guys stay behind to distribute food to the people,” Su Ying said to two of the guards.
The guards acknowledged her order and kept taking the sacks from Su Ying’s hands. Behind them was another horse carriage which was carrying sacks of dry food. Su Ying had instructed the Red Demon Sect members to prepare these dry food sacks in a nearby city.
Although the food wasn’t much, it could at least bring some disaster victims back from the brink of death.
After this matter was settled, a guard came forward and knocked on the city gate.
The soldiers guarding the city had already heard the commotion outside the door, but they didn’t go out to check. When they heard someone knocking on the gate, they opened the small door and walked out. When they saw Su Ying standing in the horse carriage exuding an extraordinary aura, they were also very puzzled.
“Who are you guys?”
“How dare you! Why are you not kneeling and paying your respects when you see the Empress!” The guard berated in a deep voice.
The city gate guard stared at Su Ying in shock. The Empress? Why was the Empress here? Previously, he had heard from the officials that the Empress had fallen into the floodwaters and drowned a few months ago.
Yet now, the Empress had come to Luo City. What was going on?
However, impersonating the Empress was a serious crime. Who would be so brainless at this juncture?
The city gate guard couldn’t make up his mind for a moment. He gave an eye signal to the person behind him, indicating to him to hurry to the government office to inform Lord Wei of the situation.
The city gate guard felt that the person in front of him was more likely to be a fake. “You say she is the Empress. Do you guys have anything to prove her identity?”
The convoy guard took out Su Ying’s phoenix token.
The city gate guard was not capable enough to tell whether that phoenix token was real or fake. However, the fiery phoenix carved on that gold token made him feel that it was real!
The city gate guard’s knees gave way and he knelt down before Su Ying. “Please forgive me, Your Imperial Highness. I didn’t know that Your Imperial Highness had arrived. Please don’t punish me.”
Su Ying looked down at the kneeling city gate guards from her high vantage point and barked, “Open the city gate.”
The city gate guards had no way of confirming Su Ying’s identity now, so they hesitated to open the gate.
“Impudent! How dare you block Her Imperial Highness from entering the city!” The city gate guards were so terrified that chills shot down their spines. With a shudder, they quickly got up to open the city gate.
Meanwhile, the guard who went to the government office to report the situation to Lord Wei had also arrived.
When Lord Wei heard the news, he immediately sat up straight from his chair. “What did you say? The Empress is here?”
“Yes. She brought a convoy of retainers with her.”
Lord Wei was astounded for a moment before he laughed mockingly. “What nerve this fellow has. This swindler has even come to me to scheme against me.” Ordinary people might not know that the Empress had gone to hell, but how could he, a City Guardian, not know?
Although the Emperor still sent people to search for her, how was it possible to locate her? They couldn’t even find her corpse, let alone a living person. Now, someone actually came to his door to claim that she was the Empress. It was simply the biggest joke in the world!
“I want to meet this ‘Empress.’ Go. Let her into the city.
“Yes, Sir.”
After the guard left, the caretaker said, “My Lord, what do you think this person is trying to do by impersonating the Empress?
“Who cares what she does? If she dares to offend me, I will let her know why flowers are so red!”
Lord Wei had just finished uttering his threat when a servant came to report that the Empress’s phoenix carriage had already arrived outside the door.
Lord Wei thought for a while and got up to walk out. He intended to play along with this impostor in her act.
Lord Wei walked to the door with the mentality of waiting to watch a good show.
“Your humble servant greets Your Imperial Highness.”
Lord Wei raised his eyes slightly and saw a figure coming down from the horse carriage. His gaze rose upwards starting from the tip of her feet and when he met the pair of almond-shaped eyes that were as deep as the sea, his eyebrows twitched violently.
Su Ying merely glanced at him indifferently before speaking faintly, “Rise.”
Lord Wei subconsciously straightened his body, but when he met Su Ying s gaze, he instinctively bowed his body in a show of submissive allegiance. When he finally recovered himself, he couldn’t help feeling surprised. She was just a woman pretending to be the Empress, yet he actually felt fear?
Lord Wei hurriedly straightened his body, but Su Ying had already entered the government office, so he could only hurry after her.
Lord Wei jogged until he caught up with Su Ying and said, “Your Imperial Highness, this way please.”
Su Ying was invited into the main hall. As soon as she sat down, Lord Wei stepped forward and said with a smile, “I didn’t know that Your Imperial Highness was coming here and wasn’t prepared to welcome you. I hope Your Imperial Highness can forgive me.”
Su Ying’s almond-shaped eyes fell on Lord Wei indifferently. “I heard that there was a drought in Luo City. I was worried about the situation of the disaster victims, so I turned back while I was on my way to the capital city. I saw a large number of disaster victims waiting outside the city. Lord Wei, are you going to give me a reasonable explanation?”
Lord Wei gave a scornful sneer inwardly. He was just playing along with her in her act. Did she really think that she was that important? Did she really think that she was the Empress? She actually dared to question him.
“Your humble servant heard that previously, Your Imperial Highness fell from the Aquarius River dam and has been missing ever since.. May I know how Your Imperial Highness escaped from those surging torrential floodwaters?”