Chen Jing: ...
Lady Li, do you think that as a maidservant of advanced age, my ears and eyes have become useless?
Hehe.
Li Yuyu gave a cute smile back at Chen Jing.
That expression was like a child caught doing something wrong, trying hard to be adorable to seek forgiveness.
Chen Jing, seeing Li Yuyu like this, inexplicably felt her heart soften, and found it hard to speak harsh words.
"Please wait for a moment, Concubine, the Empress Dowager is resting."
"Oh, okay, okay." Li Yuyu glanced at the bench beside her, obediently sat down, and smiled warmly at Chen Jing: "Aunt Chen, go ahead and tend to your duties. You don’t have to mind me, I can take care of myself."
Chen Jing: ...
She shouldn’t have softened her heart.
But since Lady Li was already seated, she couldn’t very well say that the Empress Dowager hadn’t allowed her to sit and that she should stand and wait.
Turning to enter the inner chamber, she saw the Empress Dowager lying on the bed with her eyes closed and lazily asked upon hearing the sound, "Did you punish her?"
"Empress, this servant has failed in my duty," Chen Jing apologized.
Hmm?
The Empress Dowager opened her eyes, looking at her with puzzlement.
Chen Jing smiled wryly: "Empress, this servant feels that while Lady Li may have been willful in the past, disregarding the dignity of the Royal Family, but now, she is truly different from before. Every time I see her trying to please with that smile, it, it softens my heart."
The Empress Dowager spoke gently: "Do not be deceived by that girl, she has the knack for charming others."
Unexpectedly, after saying this, the Empress Dowager’s lips curled slightly, as if recalling something, and realizing that Chen Jing was still watching her, she readjusted her posture and closed her eyes again.
"I am very tired, let’s sleep for a while, Lady Li can just wait."
Chen Jing chuckled softly and shook her head, responded "Yes" and then drew down the curtains around the bed.
When Yan Xiu entered silently, he saw Li Yuyu slouched bonelessly over the table, using her finger to dab tea and drawing some symbols on the table which he couldn’t decipher but found vaguely familiar.
"Oh, Yan... Emperor?"
Li Yuyu quickly straightened up, her little face displaying a cute smile, and her little hand, that had been scribbling on the table, seized the chance to wipe away the symbols.
Yan Xiu raised an eyebrow: "What are those?"
"Ah, nothing, really." Li Yuyu glanced at the tea table, noting how she’d rubbed it clean, and leaned towards Yan Xiu with a twist of her waist: "Emperor, why are you here? Are you worried about me and came to fetch me back?"
"Bold!" Yan Xiu mildly admonished: "Why should I worry when my beloved concubine is at my mother’s place?"
Li Yuyu was not frightened at all and instead rolled her eyes slightly: Hypocrite!
"The Emperor scolds me, I’m so afraid. Emperor, you should just go back, I’m doing fine here with the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager is so gentle, never scolds me, unlike you, who always puts on a stern face and frightens me."
Ugh!
After saying this, Li Yuyu used her handkerchief to cover her mouth, sticking out her tongue pretending to retch while maintaining her facial expression.
Darn!
Almost gave it away, luckily she held back.
What Li Yuyu didn’t know was that while she held in, Yan Xiu couldn’t.
After listening to Li Yuyu’s affected words, Yan Xiu quietly gazed at her for a while, his thin lips tightly pressed, and then abruptly turned and left.
Aye?
Li Yuyu, confused, followed him a few steps, lifted the curtain, and saw Yan Xiu’s back. She pinched her own arm in secret and began to lament pitifully: "Emperor, are you bored of me, don’t want to see me anymore?"
Yan Xiu: ...
Could I really answer ’yes’ to that?