Chapter 4 The Male Imperial Dowager – The Male Protagonist is About to Have His Partner Stolen

Returning home after finishing her shift, the fragrance of food filled the courtyard, instantly sweeping away all the frustrations from the imperial palace.

Qiu Qiushuang saw her return and immediately brought a basin of clear water for her to wash her hands.

Qiu Qiushuang had sought refuge with her family at the age of 13, because his entire family had met with misfortune and he himself was mute. He had always been cautious and careful in her household, fearing that if he did anything wrong, he would be driven out by the Qiu family.

Later, the Qiu family fell on hard times, and all the servants dispersed.

Qiu Shuzhi needed to study to take the imperial examinations, so Qiu Qiushuang naturally took on the duties of a male family member, managing all the household affairs, being as considerate as a little husband.

Now that Qiu Shuzhi had achieved high honors in the imperial examinations, she had wanted to hire a few servants to lighten his burden, but Qiu Qiushuang adamantly refused, so she had to give up the idea.

“Brother, you don’t seem to be in high spirits today?” While eating, Qiu Shuzhi noticed that Qiu Qiushuang was different from usual today, not even touching his food.

Qiu Qiushuang put down his chopsticks and shook his head.

Thinking carefully, it seemed that since returning from the night market last night, Qiu Qiushuang hadn’t been using much sign language with her, his mood very subdued.

“Could it be that woman from last night scared you?” Thinking carefully, this seemed to be the only reason.

Qiu Qiushuang pursed his lips and signed, “The weather has been getting hot recently, I don’t have much appetite. Don’t overthink it.”

“Is that so?” Qiu Shuzhi raised a fine eyebrow but didn’t ask further.

After dinner, Qiu Shuzhi lit a lamp in the study to read, while Qiu Qiushuang sat beside her embroidering a handkerchief.

The flickering lamplight cast a deep shadow on Qiu Shuzhi’s profile, her skin like frost and jade. Her slender shadow projected on the wall swayed with her movements as she turned the pages.

He sat behind Qiu Shuzhi, looking at her thin, straight back, her long hair falling to her sides, revealing the snow-white, lustrous skin at the nape of her neck.

The evening breeze blew in through the window, dazzling Qiu Qiushuang’s eyes. He hurriedly lowered his head, looking at the slightly swaying shadow on the wall. The warm wind made his head dizzy, causing his fingertips to twitch involuntarily, caressing the outline on the wall that he longed for day and night.

His fingertips delicately traced her silhouette, imagining the soft warmth of Qiu Shuzhi’s body, as if even the cold wall had become warm.

Her waist that he could encircle with one hand, her rounded shoulders, her soft long hair – his fingertips seemed to be enchanted by something, slowly moving up along the texture of the wall. Just as he was about to touch her face, Qiu Shuzhi massaged her aching shoulders, and the shadow rippled like a stone thrown into a calm lake.

Qiu Qiushuang, as if waking from a dream, quickly returned to his own room, picked up a thin embroidery needle, and viciously stabbed it into his palm. Crimson blood seeped out of the small wound, and the dense, numbing pain finally restored a bit of his sanity.

The second time she came to the door of the imperial study, Qiu Shuzhi hesitated outside. Yesterday she had displeased the young Emperor, but for some reason, she hadn’t been angry at her. Going to teach today, it might not be the same.

She didn’t want to end up like Lord Wang, with her head cracked open.

“Minister Qiu!” Knowing it was time for Qiu Shuzhi’s lecture, the attendant Yu Ye had been eagerly awaiting her arrival. Seeing her hesitating outside without entering, Yu Ye simply went out to welcome her himself.

“Minister Qiu, why don’t you go in? Her Majesty has been waiting for you for some time.” Yu Ye’s eyes curved in a smile, his gaze very coquettish.

Yu Ye was the young Emperor’s personal attendant, equivalent to the grand eunuch who followed the emperor in the previous life. He was well-informed and had considerable power in the palace. Only because this was a female-dominated country, Yu Ye didn’t need to be castrated.

Qiu Shuzhi bowed slightly to him: “May I ask Attendant Yu Ye, is Her Majesty in a good mood today?”

“Minister Qiu, you flatter this servant.” Yu Ye laughed coyly as he helped Qiu Shuzhi up, his eyes flirtatiously fluttering, “Her Majesty is in a good mood today, you need not worry. Come with me quickly.”

Qiu Shuzhi followed him into the imperial study. The young Emperor was sitting properly at the desk. Seeing her come in, her eyes lit up, but she quickly concealed it.

“What are we studying today?” She straightened her posture, deliberately lowering her childish voice to try to make her words sound more intimidating.

Yu Ye was adding tea and water for them on the side, while also acting as Imperial Dowager Qin Qing’s ears to monitor the two.

“In response to Your Majesty, today we will study ‘The Mandate of Cai Zhong’ from the Book of Documents.” She opened the book and placed it in front of Yue Shen, her long, slender white fingers pointing to a line of text she had annotated in advance.

“Heaven shows no partiality; only the virtuous are aided. The people’s hearts are fickle; only those who benefit them are embraced.” Yue Shen read softly.

“Does Your Majesty know what this means?”

Yue Shen shook her head: “I don’t know.”

“This passage means that Heaven shows no favoritism towards people, it only assists those who are virtuous. The hearts of the people do not belong to one ruler forever; they will only be loyal to those who benefit them.”

Yue Shen’s face showed disdain: “I thought you were different from other scholars, but it turns out you’re also teaching these same old things.”

While adding tea, Yu Ye explained on behalf of Qiu Shuzhi: “The Book of Documents is one of the Four Books and Five Classics. Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, so you must certainly study it.”

“Impertinent! Did I ask for your opinion?” Yue Shen took the freshly poured hot tea and splashed it on Yu Ye’s face, gritting her teeth in anger.

Yu Ye fell to his knees with a thud: “This slave knows his mistake, please forgive me, Your Majesty.”

Yue Shen gripped his chin, that delicate face now drenched with tea. She maliciously wiped his face hard, smearing his makeup all over, leaving him in an extremely sorry state.

The baby-faced young girl smiled coldly and released her hand: “Look at yourself now, get out of here and clean up!”

Yu Ye covered his face and left in shame.

So it turned out that the good mood was all fake; the young Emperor had just been holding back, waiting for her to come to vent her frustrations.

With Yu Ye gone, the next target would be her. Qiu Shuzhi, being very tactful, knelt down: “Please forgive me, Your Majesty.”

“Who told you to kneel!” The young Emperor was startled and quickly grabbed her wrist to pull her up from the ground.

The imperial heart was hard to fathom; Qiu Shuzhi was increasingly unable to understand the young Emperor.

“If Your Majesty doesn’t like the Book of Documents, this subject will not teach it anymore.” Although she had been pulled up by Yue Shen, she still bowed her body, completely submissive.

Her long black hair fell in front of her body, the tips landing in Yue Shen’s palm. The soft strands in Yue Shen’s hand were like light goose feathers, making her palm tingle and itch.

The young Emperor’s face suddenly reddened: “I didn’t say you were not good.”

Qiu Shuzhi was stunned for a moment.

“I just deliberately sent Yu Ye away,” she mumbled, “I understood everything you said yesterday. It was I who misunderstood you. I can make it up to you, I can reward you. What do you want? Whether it’s money or good fields, I can give them to you.”

Qiu Shuzhi looked at her chubby face, slightly flushed. So the young Emperor was still quite innocent.

“This subject doesn’t need rewards. Serving the ruler is the duty of a subject. Moreover, if you reward me now, it will make the Imperial Dowager more suspicious.”

Yue Shen pressed her lips tightly: “What you say makes sense. I didn’t think it through.”

Qiu Shuzhi smiled slightly, kneeling on one knee beside her, her clear eyes filled with gentle laughter: “This subject dares to teach Your Majesty one more phrase: A gentleman conceals her abilities, waiting for the right time to act.”

Yue Shen saw her own reflection in those eyes full of gentle laughter, her fingers unconsciously gripping tightly, entangled with her long hair.

She was grateful that she had defied Qin Qing during the imperial examinations and insisted on raising Qiu Shuzhi’s rank to the top three. This was the most correct decision she had made in over ten years.

Yu Ye ran out covering his face all the way, wanting to fetch water to wash his face, and happened to bump into Qin Qing and his entourage.

“Yu Ye, how did you end up in such a state?” Yu Zhi exclaimed, looking at Yu Ye’s face, which was in such a pitiful mess.

Yu Ye immediately knelt before Qin Qing, crying like a pear blossom in the rain: “Imperial Dowager, please, you must seek justice for this slave!”

While crying, he recounted everything that had happened in the imperial study in detail, and at the end, he didn’t forget to add a few exaggerating words: “Her Majesty clearly knows that I am your person, yet she still treats me like this. I’m afraid that in the future, she won’t even respect you, Imperial Dowager.”

Yu Ye’s words didn’t cause the slightest ripple in his heart.

He only asked calmly: “So, right now there are only Her Majesty and Minister Qiu in the imperial study?”

Yu Ye, while sobbing, answered: “Yes.”

Qin Qing’s eyes flickered slightly as he gently adjusted his ink-colored robe and said softly: “If that’s the case, I’d like to go and take a look.”

The entourage arrived in grand fashion. Qin Qing dismissed the announcing attendants and, without waiting for an announcement, pushed the door open and entered.

As soon as he entered, he saw Qiu Shuzhi kneeling on the cold floor, her tied-up long hair slightly disheveled, books torn and scattered on the ground. Her thin, delicate back was straight as an arrow, like a green bamboo, vigorous and resilient.

The young Emperor Yue Shen sat in the high position, staring at her intently, her face dark and cold.

Seeing Qin Qing suddenly enter, she was somewhat surprised: “Father, why have you come?”

Qin Qing walked in slowly, the silver belt around his waist emitting a faint cold light as he moved. He casually sat sideways on the huanghuali chair next to Yue Shen, lazily supporting his chin, a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips.

“Why is Minister Qiu kneeling on the ground?”

Yue Shen snorted: “The illustrious third-ranked scholar is nothing but a pedantic, sour scholar after all. I don’t like listening to her lectures and was about to punish her.”

Qin Qing’s gaze fell softly on Qiu Shuzhi. Her exquisite face was beautifully clear, the slightly loosened collar revealing a hint of flawless white collarbone. Unlike the bright look in her eyes when they first met, now her eyes were downcast, her fine brows furrowed, the hair falling at her cheeks adding a touch of fragile, lost quality to her.

It was easy to imagine how much impact Qiu Shuzhi’s words in defense of Qin Shu yesterday had on her.

But this clearly didn’t suit Yue Shen’s intentions. Her attitude today was clearly aimed at punishing Qiu Shuzhi.

However, Qin Qing didn’t want to satisfy Yue Shen.

He was currently worrying about how to resolve Qin Shu’s matter, and Qiu Shuzhi’s suggestion could perfectly solve his current predicament, pulling Qin Shu out of the quagmire of the murder case.

The woman before him, even kneeling at his feet, still had that unyielding and pure look in her eyes, as if standing amidst a fierce snowstorm, making one unable to look directly at her.

If it weren’t for Yue Shen’s presence, he truly wanted to step forward and help her up, to win her over properly.