Chapter 172 – The Concubine’s Counterattack: The Most Favored Empress – The Crime of Theft (02)
As it turned out, good luck doesn’t last forever.
The two palace maids were not in service to the emperor. They carried a tray of pastries and other items to a pavilion in the imperial garden.
After they set everything down, the husky emerged from the side, struggling to unfold a handkerchief it had stolen from one of the maids. Using its head, it tried to push the pastries onto the cloth.
Being neither human nor fully adept at using its body yet, the husky found the task quite difficult. It had only managed to steal a few pastries when it heard the chirping voices of a group of young women approaching from nearby.
The system took a closer look and saw that it was this season’s young palace ladies. Among the group of beauties, the female lead, Ma Aoshan, walked at the front, her face full of confident determination.
In terms of rank, wasn’t Ma Aoshan the most favored among the candidates?
The system dared not linger. It quickly bit down on the corners of the handkerchief and leapt off the table to make its escape.
When the palace ladies approached, the supervising matron immediately noticed the empty plates on the pavilion’s stone table, with only some pastry crumbs left behind.
The matron flew into a rage and summoned the palace maids who had delivered the food. “Is this how you do your work?”
The two maids were low-ranking servants. The matron, who was responsible for teaching the palace ladies proper etiquette, was not someone they could afford to offend. They dropped to their knees at once to beg for forgiveness.
One of them cried, “Matron, we have no idea what happened. We truly did bring the pastries just as you instructed!”
The other kept kowtowing and pleading for mercy.
Although the two maids wept pitifully, none of the palace ladies spoke up for them. A master is a master, and a servant is a servant. If they couldn’t even complete a simple task as ordered, what use were they?
Most of the candidates for this selection came from official or noble families. Though they now spoke politely to the matron, at home they were all highborn young ladies. Naturally, they looked down on two low-ranking palace maids.
The husky had run quite a distance, but when it looked back and saw the supervising matron about to drag the two maids out for a beating, it felt deeply guilty.
Sorry, ladies.
Losing some pastries wasn’t a huge matter in itself. The two maids might die from the punishment, or they might not. But if it didn’t steal those pastries, Tang Tang would definitely die.
The system hurried back with the pastries. It swore that once this world ended, it would use its points to give the two maids it had implicated a better family and brighter future in their next life.
[Ding—Rescued two palace maids. Reward: +2 Popularity. Received 1 Beauty Pill.]
When Ma Aoshan heard the system’s notification—especially the reward at the end—her eyes lit up.
She smiled slightly and stepped in to stop the furious supervising matron. “Matron Cai, I believe these two young maids acted unintentionally. Besides, they left the pastries and quickly retreated to avoid disturbing us palace ladies. How could they have expected that some audacious servant would steal the food?”
Since it was Ma Aoshan speaking, Matron Cai had to give her face—and by extension, the Empress Dowager’s face. She no longer made things difficult for the two maids.
“Since Noble Lady Ma has spoken on your behalf, we’ll let it go this time. You’ll be docked three months’ wages as a warning.”
The two maids wept with gratitude. “Thank you, Noble Lady Ma! Thank you, Matron Cai…”
[Mission complete: Rescued two palace maids. Issuing Beauty Pill now.]
Ma Aoshan’s system was named [Xiao A.] It had a pleasant young male voice and was quite human-like in behavior.
During the rest of the flower-viewing outing, Ma Aoshan casually chatted with the other palace ladies, but in reality, she was listening to Little A analyze the political dynamics of the inner court.
“Tell me,” she asked in her mind, “who stole the pastries?” She didn’t know why, but she had a vague sense of unease.
“Based on the scent and footprints left in the pavilion, the thief was a black-and-white husky. It carried the scent of camphor trees. Within the inner palace, camphor trees are grown in three locations: Cishou Palace, Luoque Hall, and the Jewelry Workshop.”
Ma Aoshan tapped her fingers absently on the table. The Empress Dowager doesn’t keep pets, so Cishou Palace can be ruled out. The Jewelry Workshop handles accessories, and palace staff there aren’t allowed pets either. That only leaves Luoque Hall.
But Luoque Hall was the Cold Palace, abandoned and uninhabited for a long time. Finding a stray dog there wouldn’t be unusual.
“Currently, Bai Tang is living in Luoque Hall,” Little A said.
Bai Tang—the beautiful young man who had nearly ruined her plans a month ago and was beaten and sent to the Cold Palace.
Ma Aoshan recalled how, when they first entered the palace, everyone praised and admired Bai Tang. Of all the candidates, his beauty was unmatched.
She had orchestrated Bai Tang’s downfall and ensured his exile to the Cold Palace. There was no way she could allow him to make a comeback—if he did, she feared she wouldn’t survive.
Ma Aoshan was quick-witted, and it didn’t take long for a plan to form in her mind.
…
Meanwhile, the husky was carrying the pastries, trying to return to the Cold Palace—but it got lost.
The Cold Palace wasn’t exactly easy to find, and this time, it seemed no one would be there to lead the way.
The system was both anxious and frustrated, and could only run around the palace aimlessly, hoping that Lady Luck would once again smile upon it and guide it back to the Cold Palace.
…
After admiring the flowers in the Imperial Garden, the young palace ladies began to return. Ma Aoshan, however, used the excuse that the flowers were especially beautiful and said she wanted to pick a few to offer at Cishou Palace for the Empress Dowager to enjoy. With that, she parted ways with the others.
The other palace ladies were inwardly angry but didn’t dare say a word. They knew she was just playing tricks. But what could they do? Ma Aoshan had the Empress Dowager’s favor—there was nothing they could say.
After Matron Cai led the group out of the garden, Ma Aoshan instructed her maid to pick some flowers, then started down the path toward Cishou Palace.
Halfway there, Ma Aoshan suddenly cried out, “My bracelet is missing! I think I left it on the stone table in the garden pavilion—it was a gift from the Empress Dowager herself.”
She pointed at a passing young palace maid and ordered her to go search in the Imperial Garden.
The maid agreed at once and hurried off to look—but of course, she didn’t find anything, because the bracelet was still hidden in Ma Aoshan’s sleeve.
She wore an anxious expression on her face, but in her mind, she had Little A locate the husky’s position.
“There it is! I see it—my bracelet!” Ma Aoshan suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the little dog that darted across the path in front of them.
Her maid, Caixia, quickly called over the palace guards on patrol. When she turned back, she saw her mistress already chasing after the dog.
Although the emperor was diligent and cared for his people, he was not interested in women and had spent three years mourning the late emperor, ignoring all matters of the inner court. Even so, Noble Lady Ma was favored by the Empress Dowager and clearly had a promising future. She might even become the next empress of Great Zhou. The guards didn’t dare delay and promptly joined the pursuit of the little dog.
The system felt like calling on the god of luck had been a waste. Not only had luck not arrived, it had somehow provoked a group of people to come chasing after it.
“It was just a few pastries—so stingy. Is it really worth this many people chasing me?” the system muttered to itself.
After all, it was a system that had experienced many worlds. Its body was formed from energy—there was no way it would be caught so easily by mere mortals.
Using its small size and squirrel-like agility, it managed to dodge the guards and even found its way back to the Cold Palace.
The husky crawled through a dog hole and found Bai Tang, who was barely clinging to life.
“Woof woof woof~~~” Tang Tang, I’m back. I brought food!
The husky nudged Bai Tang’s hand with its head. The groggy boy slowly opened his eyes and gave a faint smile.
“Little dog… so you didn’t leave after all… cough, cough…”
“Woof woof~~” Let’s eat pastries!
The husky tore open the handkerchief with its teeth, revealing the squished and misshapen pastries inside.
“Where did you steal this from? You didn’t get caught, did you?” Bai Tang asked with concern. Stealing, if discovered, could lead to harsh punishment.
He figured the husky must be a stray without a master—otherwise, it wouldn’t be wandering the Cold Palace, a place even ghosts didn’t want to visit.
“Little dog, from now on, it’ll just be the two of us relying on each other. You’re all round and chubby, so I’ll call you Qiu’er. Cough, cough…”
Urged on by the system, Bai Tang, with trembling hands, broke the pastry in half—one half for him, and the other for the husky.
Just as they were about to eat, the Cold Palace gates were suddenly thrown open, and a group of guards escorted Noble Lady Ma inside.
“So it was you who stole from the Imperial Garden.” Caixia immediately spotted the pastries on the ground. “As expected, someone from a small place can’t be brought into proper circles. Not only did you leave the Cold Palace without permission and steal, you even had the nerve to steal from my mistress.”
Ma Aoshan put on a face of kind-hearted pain. “B-Bai Tang, as a member of the inner palace, how could you… Even if you resent me, you shouldn’t have stolen the bracelet that Her Majesty the Empress Dowager gave me. That’s a capital offense!”
“No, I—I didn’t steal your—cough, cough… your bracelet!” Bai Tang hurriedly tried to defend himself, but the cold wind poured into his mouth, sending him into a violent fit of coughing.
The guards exchanged uncertain glances. The little dog they had seen earlier was right in front of them. Word had it that pastries had been stolen in the Imperial Garden, and judging by how protectively the dog acted toward Bai Tang, he was likely its owner. That meant Bai Tang probably instructed it to steal.
“Search him. You must find the bracelet,” Ma Aoshan ordered decisively, closing her eyes as if she could no longer bear to look at Bai Tang.
“I—I didn’t…”
Caixia quietly accepted the bracelet that Ma Aoshan slipped to her, then strode toward Bai Tang with a fierce look.
A young, handsome emperor was walking with his attendants when he noticed a group of guards hurrying toward the Cold Palace. He asked, “Xiao Fangzi, what’s going on up ahead?”
Xiao Fangzi stepped forward, called out to one of the guards, and soon returned to report to Luo Dai.
“Your Majesty, it’s said that the Bai household member from the Cold Palace ordered a dog to steal Noble Lady Ma’s bracelet.”
“Oh? A dog that steals? Seems quite clever,” the man said with a faint smile. Such a trivial matter should be handled by palace rules. Yet just as he turned away, a sudden pang struck his chest.
Luo Dai furrowed his brows and clutched his chest, and Xiao Fangzi quickly rushed to support him.
“Your Majesty, are you all right? Someone, call the imperial physician—!” Xiao Fangzi shouted.
“No. Let’s go. We’re heading to Luoque Hall.”
The young emperor brushed Xiao Fangzi aside and started walking toward the Cold Palace.
He had an urgent feeling—if he didn’t go to the Cold Palace today, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
As expected, the closer he got to Luoque Hall, the more violently his heart pounded in his chest. Faintly, he could hear a boy’s cries and a woman’s scolding drifting through the air.
“I didn’t… I didn’t steal anything…”
“Still denying it? We already found the evidence on you!”
The husky was kicked hard by a guard and sent flying, while Bai Tang was roughly dragged to his feet.
Madam Li, the matron in charge of the Cold Palace, eager to curry favor with Ma Aoshan, showed Bai Tang no mercy.
“Strip him. Let’s see what else he’s hiding!”
The system, despite the pain in its own body, caught a familiar scent in the air. Without hesitation, it dashed off.
It ran and ran, and just as it reached the palace gates, it saw a man rushing toward it, his face filled with anxiety.
It was the male lead—it was his scent!
“Woof woof woof~~~” The system barked furiously at Luo Dai.
The guards immediately grabbed the husky to keep it from lunging at the emperor and dropped to their knees in apology.
“Woof woof woof~~~” Go save Tang Tang! Your wife is going to die!
Luo Dai had no patience for their explanations. With a burst of inner strength, he launched himself into the air and used qinggong to leap over the palace wall straight into Luoque Hall.
What he saw nearly made his eyes burst with fury.
The boy was crying out in despair, surrounded by people stripping him of his clothes. His thin, frail body was covered in old and new lash marks crisscrossing like a cruel tapestry.
“Stop!”
Before Madam Li could even see who had arrived, she was struck in the chest and sent flying in a graceful arc through the air.
Luo Dai caught the boy and picked up the clothes from the ground, wrapping them around him.
“I didn’t steal… it wasn’t me…” the boy sobbed, nearly passing out from the anguish.
“I know, I know. You didn’t steal anything. It wasn’t you. Don’t cry… don’t cry…” Luo Dai soothed him, his heart breaking at the sight.
It felt as if a thousand blades were carving into Luo Dai’s chest—there wasn’t a single place that didn’t ache. A violent, bloodthirsty rage surged through him.
He turned to the gathered crowd, his eyes cold and merciless.
“All of you… will die.”
Author’s Note:
The male lead has arrived. No more angst, no more angst, no more angst! (Triple life-saving assurance!)