Chapter 82: A War between Man and Woman (3)

Translator: Storm in a Teacup
Xie Yi smiled, “His Majesty has gone to the court. It’s about time he came back.”

I was stunned and turned back to look at the messy bed. Then I hurriedly urged Xie Yi, “Let’s go, hurry.”

After finishing those words, I scurried out Qi Sheng’s chamber like a criminal trying to get out of the crime scene.

Xie Yi followed closely behind with a befuddled face and asked in a low voice, “Your Majesty, what’s the hurry?”

Hurry? If I don’t hurry and run into Qi Sheng, what do I say to him? Am I to ask him if he could have another round with me again?

A perfect woman was the one who was slutty on bed and shy off the bed. It was only when Qi Sheng went back to his chamber and found the room emptied, could he truly begin to miss what had happened.

I looked back and gave her a stern look. As sly as she might look, deep down, she was still just an ignorant little girl.

With this thought, I strode forward in a much better mood. But surprisingly, I ran into Jiang shi when I was half way in the corridor.

Jiang shi looked a bit pale and stepped aside to give me the way. She looked at me with eyes full of mockery and disdain. When I walked past her, I heard she say, “You will not last long if the only thing you could offer is sex.”

Oh my, talking about jealousy, if this is not it, then I don’t know what is!

I stopped and turned around to look at her. Then I said, “If a woman can’t even make it to her man’s bed, then one should be careful about her idea of what makes a long-lasting relationship.”

Upon hearing what I said, her face immediately turned ashen. While she was in a state of fury, I walked right past her, all the while laughing out loud.

Don’t even misjudge a lion for a cat!

Xie Yi hurriedly caught up with me from behind and asked in admiration, “Your Majesty! How do you know that His Majesty never touched that bitch?”

How? By the sorry look on her face, that’s how! That’s obviously a face of a woman who has never had sex with her man. Qi Sheng and she have been together in that palace for a long time, and it’s obvious that Qi Sheng never touched her.

I turned around and smiled, “Silly girl, you will know after you are married.”

Xie Yi paused and immediately flushed.

Before we set foot in Xing Sheng Palace, there was a maid approaching us to inform that Concubine Huang and the rest of them were still waiting for me inside. I looked up to observe the sun. It was almost lunchtime and they still refused to go. What a bunch of persistent women! I hope they were not hoping that I would offer them lunch.

When I entered the hall, those women came to greet me. I nodded in acknowledgement and told them to sit. They thanked me and then all sat down.

They looked at each other, but none of them said anything.

I was starved as I didn’t have breakfast this morning and so I was in no mood to cheer them up.

Although these women looked pretty, but they had more or less done some pretty ugly things in secret. I had always wanted to do something about it, but whenever I saw those women who had invested all their youths and futures into this harem, I just couldn’t bear to hurt them.

After all, they were just a bunch of pathetic women.

They just stood there with their heads held low, not uttering a word.

I really wanted to tell them that there was only one Qi Sheng, and he couldn’t possibly sleep with them all. Their time would be better spent on seeking satisfaction elsewhere, like touching themselves to ease the desires.

But I could not very well say it out loud, as it would make Qi Sheng look bad and he would probably kill me for it.

Absent of a better idea, I had to comfort them by saying that I would continue to persuade Qi Sheng to take turns to visit them. Having received my reassurance, they finally left.

I was tired and gobbled something down and told the servants to prepare a hot bath for me. After taking a bath, I climbed back to bed for a sleep. It was only when Qi Sheng came to see Wei’er did Xie Yi dragged me out of the bed. After I got up, I reluctantly went to deal with him.

Qi Sheng’s face was composed without a trace of emotion, as if nothing had happened that night.

In my mind, sex was not something to be embarrassed about, and so I stayed by his side while he teased little Wei’er. When the sky got dark, I asked him nonchalantly, “Your Majesty, tonight, would you be…”

“I still have some official papers to review,” interrupted Qi Sheng. He looked at me and said slowly, “plus, I am still a bit tired.”

I was rendered speechless by what he said and for a moment. I didn’t know what to say.

Qi Sheng lifted up his lips, and then he turned back and left.

Watching him leave, I suddenly realized that he must have misunderstood what I was trying to say.

Xie Yi entered the room with a bowl of porridge in her hands. She said happily, “Your Majesty, I noticed that when His Majesty left, he was obviously smiling.”

I nodded. That’s because I was cut short by his interruption and didn’t get to finish the whole sentence. What I meant to say was that it was Concubine Chen’s turn tonight and Qi Sheng should go there.

If he heard the latter half of that sentence, I bet he wouldn’t be that happy.

Xie Yi had been in a happy mood for a while and then she smiled, “Your Majesty, you know what?”

I was eating my porridge when she said that, so I asked, “What?”

Xie Yi’s eyes were beaming with light as she leaned over and said, “His Majesty was late for court this morning and those officials waited outside for a long time!”

Stunned by this news, I almost hurt my lips on the brim of the bowl. I stuttered, “What… What did you say?”

Xie Yi giggled, “It is the first time for the Emperor to be late.”

Stupefied, I put down the bowl, feeling rather nervous that this should happen.

The whole Da Ming Palace knew that I was the one who brought Qi Sheng the soup and that I spent the night there. People would start connecting dots and in a day or two, news would spread across the harem and then to the whole court.

If people should add something to the story, I feared that my reputation would be ruined.

Not knowing what I was thinking, Xie Yi took the bowl and backed down in a delighted mood.

The next day, The Grand Empress Dowager summoned me over.

My heart kept beating hard, afraid that she would bring up the topic that Qi Sheng was late for his court. Unexpectedly, she just took my hand and smiled, “It’s only natural for a young couple at their prime to argue once in a while. But as the saying goes, the fight between the couple never last long. I believe you two could find a way to sort it out.”

As thick-skinned as I was, I still flushed when I heard what she said.

This old lady couldn’t have been more right. The struggles between men and women all boiled down to the eternal subject of sex.

A couple day later, Xie Yi went to visit me. She said with a delightful tone, “I am glad that Your Majesty finally come around.”

I asked in surprise, “You heard it too?”

Lv Li nodded and took out a lot of baby clothes from her bag.

I was taken aback by this. What? Not again?! Last time she did that, I got pregnant after sleeping with Qi Sheng.

Lv Li raised her head up and looked at me, “Your Majesty, may you give birth to a prince soon.”

Moved by her words, I really wanted to take her hands and asked her about what would happen if I gave birth to another princess.

Lv Li hopped that I could have the Emperor all to myself. But Qi Sheng was now taking turns to visit his harem, and he was being quite diligent with his duty. He frequented the palaces of those concubines, but also prioritized me when taking his tours. Once in a short while, he would go to my place.

I also played along and did my duty as the Empress.

Surprisingly, Qi Sheng was even more hard-working than me. He was being very active during sex and often exhausted himself till he could not do it anymore.

Someone should really give him a medal for this.

The more I experienced his fervent passion, the more I came to pity him. He was as tired as it was by being a diligent Emperor, now he had to satisfy his entire harem for the sake of its harmony. The constant sex would take a heavy toll on his health and I feared that he might ended up like the late Emperor.

I became quite sympathetic with his situation and one day, during intermission, I said, “If you are tired, you can take a rest. There are simply too many women for you. You will get too exhausted. Take it easy, I am sure they would understand.”

Upon hearing what I said, Qi Sheng suddenly got angry and then moved his hands all over my body. He then pinned me down on the bed with his hands pressing hard on mine and asked, “Is this what you want? Trying to enrage me?”

After saying that, he lowered his head to kiss down on my lips. He kissed so hard that my lips were hurt.

After he was done, I touched my swollen lips and thought that he was really an ungrateful man.

It was April and the weather had become hotter by the day. The clothes on the maids were also becoming thinner and thinner. The whole palace was inundated with hormone. I had thought that with the increased frequency of Qi Sheng’s visits, those concubines would be satisfied, but unexpectedly, they all cast me a pitiful look whenever I ran into them.

Honestly, I thought Qi Sheng had done enough for them on bed and those women were simply being a bit greedy.