My Cruel Little Empress
Chapter 26

The day went by so quickly, it did not feel like the morning was coming back to say hello. Today was the first day that Bo Qing had settled in Shi Rong's warrior hideout, he had yet to attend training as he was still recovering. Crown Prince Liang said last night, my personal bodyguard may need a 2-day break before taking military training along with the other Shi Rong soldiers.

This morning I welcomed my morning without Bo Qing, when he should have been standing at the door of Shan's pavilion waiting for me. But because I personally brought him to crown prince Liang to be trained, then I have to accept the risk that for the next 1 month the existence of Bo Qing's duty to take care of me while in disbandment.

I sighed softly, whereas Bo Qing had just taken on his role yesterday as my personal bodyguard, but not even a day had he gone to fulfill the task I had given him to hone his talent and fighting skills. I shook off my thick blanket as I got down from the contest. The maids and waiters who had been waiting for me got up from my seat on the contest and followed me who was now entering the bathhouse in one of the rooms right beside my room.

The maids and servants began to prepare the water in the pond for me, they put the perfume liquid and some red and white rose petals on the bath water. I took off my sleeping robe, and shamelessly stepped past those who were now lined up bowing with my innocent body.

I dipped my right leg while measuring the temperature of the warm water in the bath pool, when I felt the water was right, I went to lower my whole body while soaking. Three ladies-in-waiting began to approach me who was now leaning back while enjoying a soak this morning. One of them started rubbing my back and the other two took over my hand while giving me a therapeutic massage for this morning.

After the three of them finished their tasks, I got up from the bath. Two other ladies-in-waiting rushed over to my wet body and after that put a bathrobe on my body. During this time while doing the ritual bath, I always scolded them if either the perfume or petals mixed in my bath pond did not comply with the advice of Ma Mei Rong, who was not involved in the bath, my bad temper as well as the rejection General Wu Cheng made of me often made me vent my anger on them.

But at the opportunity of life given this time, I will certainly not listen to any words or suggestions from Ma Mei Rong. I have had enough of being fooled and humiliated by him because of all the advice he has given me, in my present life I will only believe what I believe.

"Your Majesty, you must be quick to dress. Scholar Lao Yu Zhu is already waiting for you in the gasebo behind the Shan pavilions" said a lady-in-waiting who jolted me from the daydream.

"What did you say?" ask me on that day

"Responding to your highness, scholar Lao Yu Zhu has been waiting for you at the gasebo behind the Shan pavilions" the lady repeated.

Hearing the lady's reply, I remembered my conversation with the Emperor's father when we had dinner together last night. Emperor Wei's father said I should immediately continue my lessons that are far behind from young ladies or young men who are my age. I know that in the past everyone said that I was very stupid and only concerned with pursuing the love of young general Wu Cheng compared to my lessons.

In my memory of the nightmares that were so real I had or in my previous life, before time brought me back to life and was reborn as Zhang Mu Lan at the age of 14. One of the reasons why I was not considered the wife of young general Wu Cheng was because I was so stupid, my appearance was so bad that young general Wu Cheng was ashamed to admit me. He survived only because I was the weakness of Zhang's work and in the end, when he got what he had planned to do with Ma Mei Rong and his supporters, I was thrown out and killed with my own hands.

Because I was so blinded by love, I didn't even realize that young general Wu Cheng had been playing with Ma Mei Rong behind me. The reason why young general Wu Cheng is often not at home is because he always conducts secret meetings with Ma Mei Rong who turns out to be the second wife of young general Wu Cheng. She appointed Ma Mei Rong as a concubine without my knowledge, she was more with me than me and the reason why she chose Ma Mei Rong, was because they had the same ambition, Mei Rong is the flower of the capital Zhang is also a smart and talented girl. Compared to me, to everyone I am only lucky to be born in the royal family.

Maybe because of the reason I was so foolish to make the father of the emperor and the empress mother worried and began to find me a good teacher to teach me. The goal is that I do not fall behind with lessons like the other students in Zhang's capital, also so that I do not become a subject of ridicule and humiliate the name of Zhang's kingdom for the umpteenth time.

It's just..among the many talented scholars in the Zhang capital, why should Lao Yu Zhu? It's not that I don't like him, anyways in the future life in my memory he doesn't have any problems with me. Just the thought of who his wife was was enough to make my blood boil, after all Ma Xiao Qing was my greatest enemy.

I shook my mind and shook my head, and after that I said, "Help me get dressed, it's not good to make a new teacher wait a long time" my door is directly obeyed by the ladies and servants who are still with me.

My personal problems with Ma Xiao Qing clearly had nothing to do with the scholar Lao Yu Zhu or my studies, especially in my memory, I remember very well that the marriage of Lao Yu Zhu or Ma Xiao Qing was not what they showed to many people.

Not many know if Lao Yu Zhu accepted the engagement until her marriage to Ma Xiao Qing just because it covered up her perverted bad behavior, He only covered up the fact that he was a same-sex lover by marrying Ma Xiao Qing whom he used as a display doll to cover up his jerkiness. While Ma Xiao Qing accepted an engagement or marriage to Lao Yu Zhu only because of Ma's prime minister's request, Ma's prime minister used his daughter to blackmail the Lao family and enrich their family.

The relationship problems of the two are not yet known on the Lao family side, also the problem of the aberrant disease of scholar Lao Yu Zhu and also the indifference of Ma Xiao Qing with the future of their marriage makes the married couple until now have no harmony even though their marriage has been for years.

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**TBC

Thursday, 4 June 2020**