Chapter 36 – So Useless

Ning Zhaorou wasn’t sure what he meant by “handle it” or how far he intended to go. But in this moment, hearing those words, she couldn’t help feeling flattered and overwhelmed.

She blinked and looked at him without blinking once, eyes fixed on him.

“Let me see—still a bit feverish. Have you taken your medicine?” Yin Mingyu didn’t seem inclined to explain what he meant by handling things. Instead, he smoothly changed the topic and reached out to feel her forehead.

“I have. The physician said I should be fine in a couple of days,” Ning Zhaorou replied weakly. Perhaps from sleeping all day, her whole body felt soft and her head was starting to ache again.

She mentioned what the doctor said—partly unintentionally, partly deliberately—to assure Yin Mingyu that her illness wasn’t serious and that she’d definitely recover before the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet.

She had no idea whether His Majesty caught the hint.

“So you really knelt the whole night,” Yin Mingyu said, seemingly unfazed, tapping her knee with his finger.

Ning Zhaorou lowered her head in dejection, revealing her delicate, slender neck.

She gave a small nod and said, “It’s alright. Shuangwu brought a long cloak for me—I folded it and used it as a cushion under my knees.”

She really did kneel the entire night…

Yin Mingyu patted her leg and motioned for her to sit sideways. Then he lifted her trousers up to the knees and saw the marks left behind.

“I never even make you kneel for an audience with me, and yet you went and knelt all night for this?” And she even tried to justify it with the cloak? Was he supposed to praise her for it?

Ning Zhaorou, feeling guilty, added, “Later I got sleepy… so I fell asleep on the floor. I wasn’t kneeling the whole time…”

Her head was lightly tapped.

Yin Mingyu didn’t say anything else.

“Did Your Majesty come to see me specifically because of what happened yesterday?” Ning Zhaorou asked when he fell silent. Now she couldn’t stop talking.

Yin Mingyu said yes.

Ning Zhaorou smiled to herself, nervously clutching at her robe. Then she added, “When I was coming down the mountain yesterday, I ran into Lady An from the Minister of Revenue’s residence. It was thanks to her that I made it back.”

Yin Mingyu made a noncommittal sound and pulled down her trouser leg.

Ning Zhaorou immediately leaned back into his arms and asked again, “Does Your Majesty know Lady An?”

It seemed that falling ill had made her unusually clingy.

Yin Mingyu thought as much. Then he suddenly tilted her chin up to observe her expression and gently asked, “Did you hear some sort of rumor?”

Ning Zhaorou froze, quickly turning her head aside and stammering, “No—nothing, I didn’t hear anything.”

That didn’t sound like someone who hadn’t heard anything.

Yin Mingyu didn’t press her further.

“Lady An from the Minister of Revenue’s household…” he repeated slowly, lifting Ning Zhaorou’s wrist with his palm. “I do know that Lady An.”

He shouldn’t have said that.

Because right after, he noticed that Ning Zhaorou fell completely silent.

Just as he was about to explain the situation, she suddenly straightened up, as if eager to show how understanding she was, and said, “I’ll get along well with Lady An.”

…What kind of nonsense was that?

“Didn’t you just say you hadn’t heard anything?” he shot back.

Ning Zhaorou bit her lip and said, “…They were all talking about it. I didn’t want to listen.”

Yin Mingyu gave her palm a light smack, loud enough to echo in the room.

Ning Zhaorou wasn’t hurt by the smack, but she reacted a little slowly. She looked down at her palm, then blushed and tried to pull her hand back.

But her wrist was still held firmly—Yin Mingyu wouldn’t let go.

Seeing this, she obediently opened her hand again.

“Don’t go taking every rumor to heart. I just praised you for being clever,” Yin Mingyu said lazily, closing her fingers into a fist.

Ning Zhaorou nodded repeatedly and said she understood.

He hoped she truly did.

Yin Mingyu pinched her earlobe, but considering she was still sick, he decided to let her off this time.

Outside the door, Zhou Lu couldn’t hear a sound from within. But His Majesty couldn’t possibly stay outside the palace all night, could he? Anxious, he raised his hand to knock softly and give a reminder, when a voice came from inside.

“Bring them in.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The ones Yin Mingyu had Zhou Lu bring in were two palace maids specially assigned to watch over Ning Zhaorou’s well-being and report back to the palace if needed.

When the two maids entered the inner chamber, Ning Zhaorou had already climbed off Yin Mingyu and was now sitting properly on the edge of the bed. Meanwhile, Yin Mingyu had stood up. His tall figure standing beside her gave off a palpable sense of authority.

“I’m Muxi,” one maid said.

“I’m Mutan,” said the other.

“Greetings to the Young Lady.”

Ning Zhaorou had tried to get out of bed earlier but was pressed back down by the emperor himself. He wouldn’t let her move, and now he stood there like rules didn’t apply to him.

“You may rise,” Ning Zhaorou said, her voice hoarse. Seeing their respectful demeanor as they stood, she gave a faint smile. “I’ll be troubling you both for the next few days.”

“We wouldn’t dare. Protecting the Young Lady is our duty,” the maids replied.

Ning Zhaorou gave a dry little nod, then looked toward the emperor at her side. The silent pleading in her bright eyes was obvious—so obvious it was impossible for Yin Mingyu to ignore.

He lifted his hand slightly, gesturing for the two maids to withdraw.

Once the room was empty again, he leaned down and, without warning, bit Ning Zhaorou’s lip—not too harshly, but enough to make his point. “Zhaozhao,” he said, “once you enter the palace, I won’t be there to teach you everything. If you can’t even handle a couple of servants, that’s truly pathetic.”

He watched as her eyes welled up slightly with a rosy red hue. Her cheeks flushed from embarrassment, and then she seemed to mull over his words—her face slowly going pale.

If she couldn’t even adjust to a couple of palace maids, how would she cope with the consorts in the inner court?

Yin Mingyu bit her lip again, then deepened the kiss, teaching her a hard lesson in his own way before finally pulling back. With his forehead resting against hers, he seemed satisfied, and said leisurely, “Still, if Zhaozhao comes to see me in the imperial court, I might soften and help you anyway.”

The way he said that made it sound as if she was bound to be bullied once she entered the palace.

But the whole idea of her entering the palace in the first place was something he had orchestrated—half pushing, half coaxing until she became his. If she were truly bullied by one of his consorts, he would naturally have to stand up for her.

Ning Zhaorou remained unaware of the deeper meaning. All she grasped was the surface of his words, and she eagerly followed his lead, pleasing him with: “I will, I’ll come to Your Majesty if I need help…”

“I’ll also work hard to learn… I won’t… won’t be this useless again…” Her tone faltered a bit toward the end, full of self-reproach. But she truly couldn’t bring herself to act haughty and commanding—it just wasn’t how she was raised.

Yin Mingyu pinched the tip of her chin and lifted her face gently. He gave a soft “Mm,” then kissed the place he had just bitten earlier.

Though he’d bitten her, he hadn’t broken the skin. The girl liked to look pretty, and she still had to make an impression at the Empress Dowager’s banquet in a few days.

“It’s time I left. Take good care of yourself. Next time we meet will be in front of the Empress Dowager.”

Ning Zhaorou’s breathing was slightly quickened. She rubbed her cheek against his palm and softly said, “Yes. Your Majesty, I respectfully see you off.”