Beloved Empress

(TN: Kacha is the sound effect for karate-chop.)

Ban Xiang helplessly shakes her head.

On the other side, Jun Qian Che is walking while chatting with Han Yi Xiao.

"How did it go, Yi Xiao?" Jun Qian Che asks.

Han Yi Xiao respectfully replies him, "Everything has been done according to your instruction, Your Majesty."

Jun Qian Che nods before he stops at one end of an arch bridge, "No need to make a fuss over zhen’s trip this year. No need to take many people either. We must not alert the common people. Zhen wants to make a surprise visit to zhen’s officials to see how they normally conduct things."

"Yes! This general will keep that in mind!" Han Yi Xiao replies.

Mo Qi Qi and Ban Xiang are on the other side of the said arch bridge. Ban Xiang whispers something to Mo Qi Qi, "Your Ladyship, the Shen Wu Gate is located right beyond this arch bridge."

Mo Qi Qi cannot contain her excitement, "Great! We can leave this golden cage soon! Come on, hurry up!" Both of them cross the bridge.

Jun Qian Che and Han Yi Xiao also start to make their way across the bridge.

Both parties bump into each other in the middle of the bridge.

(TN: The picture above is that of an arch bridge. Due to the way they are constructed, we usually cannot see who is on the other side of the bridge unless we are at the center of the bridge. )

When Mo Qi Qi spots the incoming people, she quickly turns around and runs away.

Although Jun Qian Che is surprised by what he sees, he keeps his calm. When he sees that hastily running figure, he slowly says, "Stop!"

That calm voice contains a lot of threats in Mo Qi Qi’s ears. Her legs listen to that threat instead of logic and immediately stop moving.

Jun Qian Che slowly moves towards her. When he sees that bag of bundle that she keeps wrapped around her shoulder, he struggles to suppress his anger. "Turn around," he calmly says.

Mo Qi Qi’s heart wants to run, but her body refuses to listen. She turns around to face him. She smiles when she looks at him, enthusiastically greeting him, "Hehe, what a coincidence, Your Majesty!"

Jun Qian Che inconspicuously sweeps his eyes over her, "Where are you going so late at night, empress?"

"Huh? Nowhere, really! Chenqie thought the moon looks really good tonight, so chenqie came out to appreciate the moon." When she points at the sky, the moon that was hung so brightly in the sky is now covered in clouds. She awkwardly grins at him, "Hehe, maybe the moon is embarrassed. You are too handsome that the moon is too embarrassed to see you! Hehe—-" She really hated him before, but when she found out about what the previous owner did to him, her hatred mellows down. Jun Qian Che is too pitiful. He is the ruler of the entire kingdom, but his own wife goes around humiliating him.

"Wearing that? Is this kind of plain cotton dress compatible with your position?" Jun Qian Che’s voice becomes icy.

Mo Qi Qi’s brain turns like a gear, "Chenqie ate too much during dinner, so chenqie wanted to exercise a little. It is hard to walk while wearing palace dresses, so chenqie chose to wear this. It absorbs sweat really well and is easy to walk in."

Jun Qian Che’s eyes fall on the bundle in her shoulders, "Exercising while carrying a bag?"

Huh! "Hehe, this is called weight-lifting. It helps with exercise." She purposely jogs in her place in front of him, before turning to Han Yi Xiao, "You must have heard of this method, General Han, you must have used it in your camp!"

Han Yi Xiao calmly and indifferently replies her, "But you are not a soldier, Your Ladyship."

Black crows fly past Mo Qi Qi’s head.

This Han Yi Xiao is too good at talking back!

"Hehe, your General Han is very good at joking, Your Majesty. Are people not allowed to carry weights if they are not soldiers?"

Jun Qian Che’s face becomes uglier by the second. He coldly looks at her, "Speak honestly!"

When she realizes that her performance is not of any use in front of Jun Qian Che, Mo Qi Qi takes a deep breath before earnestly looking at him, "The world is big, Your Majesty. I want to see them."

"You want to leave the palace."

"Hehe, you understood what I meant? You are so smart," she gives Jun Qian Che a thumbs up.

Jun Qian Che narrows his eyes dangerously, "You are the empress."

Mo Qi Qi purses her lips as she unwillingly retorts back, "I know, empresses are not allowed to simply leave the palace." She hands over the bundle to Ban Xiang before unhappily turning to Jun Qian Che, "Is there anything else you would like to say, Your Majesty? If not, chenqie should returns to chenqie’s palace."

"Tomorrow, zhen

will leave the palace to check on the wellbeing of the common people," Jun Qian Che casually says.

Mo Qi Qi turns back around with a face with barely concealed excitement, "Really? That is great! I hope you have a wonderful journey, Your Majesty! I hope you can help lessen the common people’s plight!" I hope you die outside! I will be promoted to become the empress dowager, I will not have to run anymore!

Jun Qian Che can read Mo Qi Qi’s thought. He unhappily says, "Don’t even dream about it. If zhen dies outside, the unluckiest person will be you. If you want to be the empress dowager, you will have to give birth to zhen’s child first! If not, you will not be able to be one!"

"Hehe, then chenqie does not want to be one. From now onwards, chenqie will not even harbour the thoughts of becoming one!" She would rather die than to give him a child!

Jun Qian Che’s heart is full of anger.

Mo Qi Qi quickly says, "The night is deep, Your Majesty. You will go on a trip starting from tomorrow, you should rest early so that you can start your day all refreshed. Chenqie will obediently wait for your return in the palace!"

"You will come with zhen," Jun Qian Che calmly states.

Mo Qi Qi’s temper flares up, "What? No! I don’t want to."

"You want to resist the emperor’s decree?" Jun Qian Che icily asks.

Mo Qi Qi fight back, "What is the point of taking chenqie with you? Chenqie does not understand things like that!"

"You said you want to visit the outside world! Zhen wants to fulfil your wish! At least you can leave the palace in an upright manner."

"Chenqie wants to see the rivers and the mountains while the purpose of this trip is to see the common people’s plight, how is it the same?" If she had known he will leave tomorrow, she would have wait until tomorrow before running away. Now look what happened! She got caught and now has to follow him on his trip. Don’t tell her he is planning to order his people to get rid of her during this trip? Wuwuwu, Jun Qian Che is too cruel!

"There is no difference between the two. You should be grateful that zhen is giving you what you want. No need to thank zhen, go home and starts packing. Zhen will wait for you in Hua Yang Gate tomorrow." With that parting word, Jun Qian Che walks away from her.

Mo Qi Qi sits on the ground helplessly, almost in tears, "You are too despicable, Jun Qian Che! Wuwuwu—-"

Her plan to flee has failed and now she has to come with Jun Qian Che on his trip. No matter how she thinks about it, her road ahead feels more and more dangerous.

Mo Qi Qi spends the rest of the night plagued by nightmares.

When the sky lights up, Ban Xiang helps her bath, change and do her hair.

"It is not early anymore, Your Ladyship. We should join His Majesty in Hua Yang Gate."

"I don’t want to go with him! I really don’t want to go with him! Why don’t you go and tell him that I am sick and cannot join him!"

Ban Xiang hesitantly looks at her, "Do you think His Majesty will believe you?"

"Ah! Wuwuwuwuwu, did I owe him something in our past life? Why, God, why? Just kill me!" Mo Qi Qi looks at the sky and yells.

As for Jun Qian Che, he and his entourage are set to go. They are only waiting for Mo Qi Qi.

Han Yi Xiao will follow him on this trip while Chu Ling Xiao will stay in the capital to oversee the court along with Duke Zhen. If he brings Mo Qi Qi with him, the Mo Clan will not dare to act preposterous unless they are willing to forfeit the empress’ life. But, judging from Duke Zhen’s personality, he will not jeopardize his daughter’s life over anything.

When the empress still hasn’t arrived, Han Yi Xiao respectfully speaks with Jun Qian Che, "Should we dispatch people to invite the empress over?"

"She does not have the guts to not to come. Keep on waiting," Jun Qian Che calmly says.

"Yes!" his entourage reply.

Under the entourage’s expectant gazes, Mo Qi Qi reluctantly gets dragged over by Ban Xiang.

"Your Majesty-" she unwillingly greets Jun Qian Che.

"Let’s set forth!" Jun Qian Che announces, before grabbing Mo Qi Qi’s hand and leading her towards a carriage.

From the corner of Mo Qi Qi’s eyes, she can see Jun Yue Hen staring at her.

He smiles at her.

Jun Qian Che helps her get on the carriage that they will use throughout the trip.

The dozens of people dressed as merchants then leave the palace.

Inside the carriage, Jun Qian Che studies Mo Qi Qi’s face and the dark circles adorning her eyes, "You didn’t rest well last night?"

Mo Qi Qi purses her lips, "I had a nightmare last night, how could I sleep?"

"Nightmare? What did you dream of?" Jun Qian Che asks in interest.

Mo Qi Qi thinks for a while before saying, "Chenqie dreamed of you killing chenqie."

Jun Qian Che does not make any sound.

She carefully asks him, "You will not do that, will you?"

Jun Qian Che suddenly closes his eyes, not answering her question. If he really wants to kill her, she wouldn’t be alive right now. Is he that unreliable in her eyes? Never mind, just let her think what she wants to think.

Mo Qi Qi becomes worried when she does not get any reply. Is she right? Is he really planning to take advantage of this trip to construct an ’accident’ to get rid of her? Wuwu, no! She must find another chance to run!

The carriage’s speed begins to pick up after they leave the capital. Jun Qian Che and Mo Qi Qi does not speak with each other.

After one day worth of journey, Han Yi Xiao asks for Jun Qian Che’s permission to rest out in the forest area, near a creek. Jun Qian Che gets down from the carriage and walks towards the river.

Mo Qi Qi opens the curtain on her window and accidentally sees a familiar figure. She gets down from the carriage, wondering if she has seen wrong.