Chapter 578: Go Serve Other People
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Zhou Qing, is the Empress angry with me and wants to chase me away?” Bai Shuang could not help asking. Before she had even finished speaking, she sounded like she was about to cry.
Zhou Qing held back the smile on her lips, and when she turned around, her face was very stern. “Bai Shuang, you’ve been serving by the Empress’s side for so many years, but you haven’t learned to be smart at all. The Empress said that it wouldn’t be too late for you to return to serve her after you have become smarter.”
When Bai Shuang heard this, she immediately burst into tears. “It’s… it’s my fault. I’ll go apologize to Her Imperial Highness. I will beg Her Imperial Highness to spare me this time. I… I’ll definitely learn to be smart. Sob, sob, sob, sob…”
Zhou Qing cleared her throat softly and said, “It’s already late now. Her Imperial Highness said to send you out of the palace tomorrow morning. You are on your own now.”
Bai Shuang couldn’t sleep that night. In the past, she had dreamed of being able to serve the Empress for the rest of her life. To her chagrin, she was to be sent away tomorrow!
Sob, sob, sob…
Zhou Qing listened to Bai Shuang’s sobbing and whimpering the entire night. She shook her head inwardly and could only suffer from insomnia together with her.
The next day early in the morning, Su Ying had just come out of the inner hall to stretch her muscles when she saw Bai Shuang kneeling in the courtyard. When she heard the sound of movement, Bai Shuang begged for mercy with a guilt-stricken face. “Please give me another chance, Your Imperial Highness. I won’t dare to do it again…”
Su Ying’s expression froze. Those who didn’t know better would think that she had confiscated all the assets of Bai Shuang’s family.
“Have you packed everything?”
When Bai Shuang heard Su Ying’s question, she felt even more despair. “Your Imperial Highness…”
Su Ying gestured with her hand, indicating to her to stop talking. “Enough. You can go there first. We’ll talk about other things later. Hurry up and go.” “Your Imperial Highness…” Bai Shuang wanted to say something more, but Aunt Zhao heard what was happening and hurriedly rushed here to pull Bai Shuang up. “Why are you kneeling on the snow-covered floor? You don’t want this body anymore, is it? Be good and listen to Her Imperial Highness. I’ve already packed your luggage for you. Hurry up and leave the palace.”
When she saw that even Aunt Zhao was telling her to go, Bai Shuang knew that there was no way for her to reverse her plight anymore.
She was extremely sad. Before she left, she walked up to Su Ying and kowtowed a few times. “I have no way to repay Your Imperial Highness’s kindness to me. I only hope that I will have the opportunity to serve Your Imperial Highness again in my next life.”
Su Ying frowned slightly. Who on earth would curse herself to come back as a slave in her next life? “Enough. Go now.”
“Your servant… your servant will take her leave.”
Bai Shuang actually did not have much belongings. She only had some clothes to change into and the things that Lin Zhuyu had given her previously.
She only packed her own clothes and took out the chest to give it to Zhou Qing. “Zhou Qing, we’ve known each other for a while. I genuinely look upon you as my sister. I don’t have anything good. Take these and consider it a way to confirm our friendship.”
Zhou Qing felt a little helpless when she saw Bai Shuang acting like this. “You’re only leaving the palace. Why do you make it seem like we are going to be separated by life and death?”
Bai Shuang shook her head in sorrow. She understood the Empress’s personality. Since Her Imperial Highness had already decided that she did not need her, then Bai Shuang could never come back again.
“You take care of yourself, okay?” After Bai Shuang finished speaking, she carried her little bundle and left the Conjugal Phoenix Palace.
Aunt Zhao personally sent her to the palace gates.
Aunt Zhao watched Bai Shuang grow up. In her heart, she treated Bai Shuang as her own daughter. In the blink of an eye, the little lass had grown up. “Don’t let your imagination run wild. If you lack anything, get someone to come back and pass a message to me. I will get someone to send it to you.”
Bai Shuang shook her head and held Aunt Zhao’s hand tightly. However, she felt that it was not enough and hugged Aunt Zhao tightly when she got into the horse carriage.
“Aunt Zhao, you must take care of your body. If you’re really too tired, just just tell Her Imperial Highness. Her Imperial Highness has a soft spot for you and will definitely understand.”
Aunt Zhao felt comforted when she heard her words. “Silly girl, why are you crying? She’s just sending you out of the palace for a while.”
Bai Shuang pursed her lips. She knew that Aunt Zhao was only saying this to comfort her. The Empress had only told her to leave the palace and did not kill her. It was already very compassionate of her.
Bai Shuang got into the horse carriage. The snow on the bluestone path of the palace had been swept clean, and the horse carriage was particularly stable as it moved along the path.
Bai Shuang didn’t know where she would be sent to, but she felt extremely sad. After an unknown period of time, the horse carriage slowly came to a stop. Bai Shuang only heard the coachman say, “Miss Bai Shuang, we’ve arrived.” Bai Shuang returned to her senses and got off the horse carriage.
The horse carriage had been driven straight into a courtyard house. The courtyard did not look big, but every corner was kept clean and tidy. The snow in the back courtyard had been swept to one side and piled up in the corner.
As she was sizing up the place, a middle-aged woman in her fifties walked towards her. “You must be Miss Bai Shuang. Come with me. I’ll bring you to your room to take a look.”
Bai Shuang wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes and asked for the middle-aged woman’s name.
The middle-aged woman said that her surname was Li. Ever since her husband passed away and her child got his own family, she had been doing the cleaning chores in this courtyard house for the owner.
“This is your room, Miss. Put down your luggage first. I will bring you around the courtyard house in a while to let you familiarize yourself, Miss.”
Bai Shuang nodded. After putting down her bundle, she followed Aunt Li around the courtyard compound. When she passed by a house, she stopped in her tracks and looked into the house with a puzzled expression.
“Is there someone else living in this house?”
Aunt Li nodded. “This is the young master that you will be taking care of after this, Miss Bai Shuang. Please follow me in.”
Aunt Zhao had said that she would send her out to serve other people, but she wasn’t expecting to be really assigned to someone.
Bai Shuang walked into the house with a baffled look. She then saw a thin figure leaning against the bed with his back facing the door.
He was only wearing a thin inner garment. Even though the charcoal brazier was burning in the room, one could still feel the palpable chill.
Even without seeing his face, Bai Shuang could see that he was so weak that he could not take care of himself.
“Young Master, Miss Bai Shuang is here.”
The person on the bed heard the movement and slowly turned around. The moment he saw Bai Shuang, he froze in shock.
Bai Shuang was also stunned.
She never expected that the person she was going to serve was Si Chen.
“Miss, why… why are you here?” Si Chen was the first to come back to his senses and asked in bewilderment.
Bai Shuang blinked in shock. “You… you’re still alive…”
Si Chen’s expression froze for a moment. Thereafter, he said with a smile, “Yes. It’s all thanks to you, Miss.”
Bai Shuang looked at his face which was so pale that it was almost transparent and was dumbfounded again. All she could think of was how nice he looked when he smiled…
He was so squeaky-clean that he was like a hibiscus flower on the mountain. It was really hard to look away.
Aunt Li was a perceptive person. When she saw that the atmosphere between the two of them was not quite normal, she quietly retreated out of the house and even closed the door considerately.
Bai Shuang’s heart was filled with bewilderment. She wanted badly to know what was going on.
However, Si Chen wanted even more badly to know who Bai Shuang was.
“Are… are you really not a lewd pervert?”
Si Chen recalled Bai Shuang’s furious look when he was taken away by the officials and shook his head with an air of innocence. “No, I am not. Honest..”