Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
She clapped her face, dismissing the idea from her mind.
When Ji Linghui saw her father appear once more, she raised her head expectantly. “Dad, did the Emperor agree? What did he say?”
At the sight of her father’s unhappy face, she presumed that the Emperor must not have granted his request so readily.
After all, she was an imperial consort, and even though the Emperor did not like her, he would not let her leave the palace so easily.
“The Emperor has given his approval. I’ll take you out of the palace right now.” Ji Qingyuan’s quiet voice interrupted all of Ji Linghui’s thoughts.
She was stunned. “Dad, what did you say?”
Ji Qingyuan forced a smile and said, “Thank goodness you had that jade bangle bestowed by the late Empress Dowager, or else you probably wouldn’t be able to leave the palace so easily.”
Ji Linghui felt a little better when she heard this—so it seemed that the Emperor had let her go out of respect for the late Empress Dowager.
If not for this jade bangle, she would probably be unable to ever leave the palace.
Not knowing what his daughter was thinking, Ji Qingyuan picked her up and walked toward the palace gates.
Ji Linghui watched the towering palace as it grew more and more distant behind her, her eyes ablaze with fiery indignance.
One day, she would come back, and she would do it in style.
As the Emperor had allowed Ji Qingyuan to retrieve Ji Linghui, Bright Refine Palace—her living quarters—naturally had to be cleaned up all over again, and the servants there had to be relocated as well.
“You are First Miss Ji’s personal maidservant. Now that His Majesty has shown mercy and allowed her to leave the palace, you don’t have to stay here anymore. I’ll have someone send you back to the Duke Ji Mansion in a while.”
Zhao Qian had barely finished speaking when Xiao Xia fell to her knees with a thud. She tugged at a corner of Zhao Qian’s clothes, her voice trembling. “Butler Zhao, I beg you not to drive me away. Even if you give me the hardest job, I’m willing to accept it.”
Seeing this, Zhao Qian stared at her in bewilderment. “There are people who long to leave the palace but can’t. The perfect opportunity is right in front of you, but you would refuse it and rather do hard labor instead? Do you know what that means? Freedom, you silly girl!”
Unwavering, Xiao Xia bit her lip and pleaded, “If you let me stay, you’ll be my utmost savior. Even if I have to slave away in the future, I’ll definitely repay you.”
Zhao Qian was astonished, but seeing her persistence, he thought for a while and said, “I guess I can let you stay, but you still have to give me a good reason, yes?”
Xiao Xia lowered her head, conflict raging in her heart as she remembered the terror when serving her mistress. In the end, she gritted her teeth, rolled back her sleeve, and raised her arm high before Zhao Qian. “Butler Zhao, this is my reason. I don’t want to live a life in fear anymore. I want a normal life.”
The young girl’s arm, which should have been delicate and fair, was covered in needle marks densely packed together to the point where there was nearly not a single patch of undamaged skin.
Startled, Zhao Qian hurriedly pulled up her other sleeve, only to see the same mass of needle marks on her arm. The mere sight of it was horrifying.
Even a man like him who had already seen a great deal in life could not help being taken aback.
“Good heavens, what kind of heartless beast would do this to a young girl?”
The other palace servants saw it too, and they all felt great sympathy for Xiao Xia.
It was painfully obvious who did this to her.
It was no wonder Xiao Xia would rather stay in the palace than return to her mistress.
She had been serving a callous devil as her mistress..