“Your Majesty, Prime Minister Lin requests an urgent audience; please proceed to the imperial study immediately,” a eunuch’s voice suddenly burst out from outside, interrupting Li Qin’s next move. He stopped, stunned and forgetting to react. Suddenly, he clenched his fist and smashed it hard against the bed frame, cursing under his breath, though the words were indistinct. Qingqing quickly got up, trying to compose herself: “Your… Majesty, you should go quickly. National affairs are important.” Li Qin stared at her for a long time, then with a flick of his sleeve, he left in anger.
Qingqing sat down on the ground alone, watching the light and shadows dance across the bright marble tiles. Suddenly, she buried her head into her knees and began to sob softly. “I don’t want to be Consort Lin, I want to be Lin Qingqing… I want to be Lin Qingqing…” After a while, the sound of light footsteps came from the doorway, probably Li Hua not daring to come over to comfort her. Qingqing didn’t care, continuing to cry with her head down.
The footsteps grew closer, stopping right beside Qingqing. “Li Hua” seemed to squat down, gently patting Qingqing’s shoulder in comfort. Qingqing, feeling wronged, was touched by this gesture, and without restraint, she threw herself onto “Li Hua” to cry her heart out. Only then did she realize something was off. Li Hua was a woman; how could she have such broad shoulders?
Looking up through her tear-filled eyes, she saw the concerned face of Prince Four. His voice was hoarse and gentle: “Cry, you’ll feel better.”
“Wah—” Qingqing could no longer hold back and burst into tears, hugging Prince Four. He said nothing, just patted her trembling shoulders in comfort. After crying for a long time, Qingqing gradually stopped. Half of Prince Four’s robe was soaked with her tears. Seeing her look up, he gave a bitter smile: “This is my most expensive robe.”
Qingqing looked at him in confusion, “Ah?” Then, realizing what he meant, she burst into laughter, only to cover her mouth again, pretending to be angry: “So petty? Then why did you come to see me?” She raised her fist to hit him, but Prince Four quickly caught her hand: “I know you’ve been wronged, but this grievance won’t last long.”
Chapter 153: The Most Ordinary Little Eunuch
