Chapter 1: A wild seed

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Little Princess   

Chapter 1: A wild seed

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“Is it true that Princess Zhao Yang is still kneeling at Wen De Palace?”

“I passed by Wen De Palace in the afternoon and she was still kneeling there. Under such a hot sun...”

“I say, how can the majesty still meet her? How can he pretend as if nothing had happened?”

“The noble consort did something wrong and waited for something bad to happen. This is an act of treason against the emperor! How will his majesty be able to pardon the mother and daughter?”

“I am afraid that after a few days, there will be two less people in the palace!”

Three court ladies huddled together at the corner, gossiping about the recent palace scandal that shocked everyone. Yesterday, the noble consort and Princess Zhao Yang still held their heads up high above everyone else. Before a day had even passed, the gossip had spread among the lower court ladies.

Someone exposed the affair between the noble consort and the imperial guard. Before they could prove it otherwise, the noble consort admitted to the sin herself and even claimed that Princess Zhao Yang was not his majesty’s biological daughter!

On the day when Princess Zhao Yang was born, auspicious clouds descended upon the living. His majesty had finally ascended to the throne.

Even though his majesty had so many princesses, he loved the youngest 11th princess the most.

Once she was born, he bestowed a title on her. The little princess was then brought up by his majesty himself. Other princesses spent their life mostly beside their own mothers, only Princess Zhao Yang grew up in Wen De Palace and was taught solely by the emperor.

The noble consort was awarded her title because of her daughter. She was originally only a beauty without title or placements, but in the previous 10 over years she rose through the ranks without fail until she achieved the title of noble consort. After the empress had passed away, she became the highest ranking person inside the harem.

How could anyone not despise and get jealous at all?

After the incident happened, the whole court sat back and enjoyed their scandal. The extremely angry emperor had not given an official imperial order yet. He only told the imperial soldiers to arrest the noble consort and abandon her in the cold palace.

When the emperor left the noble consort’s Guan Ju Palace, Princess Zhao Yang face paled and tried to chase after the emperor, begging him to stop for a while but the emperor did not heed her words.

That was the moment that the whole imperial court knew that this mother daughter duo’s future was utterly ruined.

It made everyone celebrate with glee!

They thought that this was not yet enough, they wanted to see the mother and daughter pair descend to even miserable depths.

Li Zhen Zhen kneeled on the jade brick road in front of Wen De Palace.

She, Jiao Jiao was brought up lovingly. If she was even forced to walk a few steps more, it would bring pain to her Fu Huang’s heart. She now kneeled at this place for the entirety of the whole day under the scorching hot sun.

TL: Fu Huang means imperial father in Chinese. I am going to change all the subsequent chapters to this instead as it kept bugging me

She almost could not bear it any longer but when she thought of her Consort mother who was now abandoned inside the cold palace and thought of the merciless retreating back of her Fu Huang, she straightened her back with even more resolve.

Gao Sheng, the head eunuch, stood under the imperial porch. It was probably because he watched her grow up so he could not bear to see her as such. He walked until he was next to Li Zhen Zhen:

“Princess, his majesty will never want to see you so you should go back...”

Li Zhen Zhen raised her elegant neck, her whole face was pale, yet she somehow broke into a stunning smile and said in a delicate tone:

“Many thanks to the head eunuch, I, will wait for Fu Huang...”

Her lips finally trembled, her heart breaking while saying, 

“Wait for his majesty to accept my request to meet him.”

The 11th princess had a weak and petite body. She still had a small stature at the age of ten. She spent a lot of her nights in the emperor’s arms while he soothed her to sleep. Everyone who met her, treated her as if she had a delicately weak disposition.

No one thought that she would even display such strong willpower. The head eunuch was about to give her another advice, but then his words fell off. He retreated from the imperial porch. His disciples would often see the 11th princess and they also could not bear the sight so they asked him:

“Master, will his majesty, will he impose a death sentence on her?”

The head eunuch shook his head dejectedly, signaling that it was very hard discern what would happen.

Li Yue sat beside the window, the sun slowly moved to the west, the brightness inside the room slowly replaced with darkness. Half of his body was in the light, but half of it was hidden in the shadows.

The pair of ice cold eyes lost its lights within. He stretched his hands to lift open the heavy curtains, his gaze lingered on the lone young girl who was kneeling in the middle of the road.

Li Yue tightened his grip.

How can he not despair?

Jiao Jiao has been lovingly spoiled by him for the entirety of 15 years yet she is not his daughter?!

Yes, this is the fact that he hates the most. He has not touched Noble consort Wan who betrayed him by committing adultery for the past ten years. If it wasn’t for Princess Zhao Yang, he wouldn’t even remember what the noble consort looked like.

He loved and spoiled his little darling so much, but, but she is a wild seed!

Li Yue put down the curtain, the black night has yet to descend upon the view outside. He wished for night to arrive early today.

Li Yue raised his hand to reach for his teacup when the thunder resonated two to three times continuously, ringing in his ears. The wind and rain in the midsummer’s day arrived just in time in its spontaneity. He had not open the cover of his tea cup yet when the massive rain poured down, the sound of rain crashing, exchanging with the sound of thunder from time to time making the sky turn dark in just a moment's notice.

Gao Sheng immediately brought another eunuch with him to light up the room. Nobody dared to raise the news of the Princess Zhao Yang outside.

Once the building inside was lighted up, it regained its usual bright atmosphere. The servants knew that his majesty was not in good spirits, so after they finished lighting up, they immediately retreated back willingly, fearing the emperor’s wrath.

Once they have withdrawn, the thunder sounded as if it was splitting the sky. Li Yue’s hand momentarily paused, he thought about Zhen Zhen who will cry while reaching for him every time there was a heavy rain. She will want him to hug her and softly tell him that she is afraid.

How did he respond to her?

He cannot help but pulled open the curtains again, the black night suddenly arrived outside, a flash of lightning split down the sky, illuminating everything in white. In the middle of it, a young girl’s body was drenched completely, her back straightened without fail.

Li Yue felt his breath hitched.

He wanted to drink a sip of tea, but he could not even raise his hands.

“Gao Sheng.” He called out.

Gao Sheng personally went down and gave Li Zhen Zhen a hand to help her up. Li Zhen Zhen’s legs were aching so badly that it felt as if it was about to break off, yet she raised her eyes excitedly:

“Is Father, his majesty, willing to see me?”

Gao Sheng’s heart was aching when he hurriedly draped a windbreaker on her body snugly. He nodded:

“His majesty wants to see you!”

Li Zhen Zhen wept.

She did not even shed a drop of tear when she was going through that kind of torment, but in that moment the tears poured from her eyes.

She couldn’t even walk a step forward. She never had to bear this kind of sin throughout her life. Gao Sheng and a few eunuchs literally had to hold her up to lift her to Wen De Palace where the emperor was residing in the East Wing.

The door curtains were dragged open, Li Yue originally wanted to be indifferent, but then he heard his eunuchs’ shocked outburst:

“Princess, please be careful!”

Li Yue raised his head to look at them immediately, Li Zhen Zhen was carried in by the eunuchs, her thigh fell limply downwards. His heart ached for she was the little darling that he lovingly cared for for the past 15 years!

Li Zhen Zhen also looked in his direction, her tears streaming down her face, her voice pleading:

“Fu Huang, Fu Huang, woo... ...”

Li Yue’s heart shattered at Li Zhen Zhen’s cries, he almost wanted to get down from the dais to hug his darling, only logic, an emperor’s sense of clarity and dignity was stopping him.

He sat up straight uneasily, his eyes held his reluctance to stay still while coldly saying:

“Is she some kind of treasure that you have to pay such delicate attention to? Gao Sheng, as a eunuch, who do you belong to!”

Gao Sheng could feel both his thighs weaken, he straightaway kneeled down on the floor, shocking the rest of his subordinates to follow suit as well.

Li Zhen Zhen fell on the floor when she was no longer held up.

“Ah.” she cried out a few times. Li Yue felt his heart ache even more, his thoughts were in a mess. How could he still pity this little wild seed?!

His gaze then went to his windbreaker which was draped on Li Zhen Zhen’s body. Although she would often be seen with it on a normal day, but at that moment, it felt even more like an eyesore.

Li Yue laughed coldly again: 

“Why is a wild seed fit to wear clothing that have been made specifically for Zen?”

TL: Zen is the way emperors addressed themselves back in ancient China.

Li Zhen Zhen was sprawled on the floor. She lifted her eyes to look at him incredulously. Fu Huang, Fu Huang called her a wild seed?

Her tears flooded her whole face.

Gao Sheng immediately ripped down the windbreaker that was on Li Zhen Zhen’s body.

Li Zhen Zhen was raised tenderly so all her clothing were made from the best quality tributes, the softest materials, and were carefully crafted by the best seamstress.

Although she didn’t like blatant display of luxury, she loved the colors of jade green, goose yellow and lilac. She wore a jade green Ruqun* but the shawl that was on her arms went missing early on. The top panel of her skirt was embroidered with scattered hibiscus flowers, which made her facial features even more alluring. Her skirt that was made out of soft material now stuck closely to her body after being drenched in rain water.

TL: Ruqun - traditional Han attire which consists of a short jacket worn under a long skirt which acts more like a modern maxi strapless dress which is worn from underneath the armpits onwards.

The eunuchs didn’t dare to look at how the young lady matured physically.

“Get out.” Li Yue bellowed.

Gao Sheng led the whole team of eunuchs out of the room.

Li Zhen Zhen wept while she laid on the floor, her whole thoughts concentrated on how her Fu Huang had used the term “wild seed”, her heart was filled with pain as she realized she was no longer worthy enough to be next to him.

Li Yue’s heart was in a mess when he heard her cry. He opened his mouth to deliver a diatribe that was increasingly icy:

“You are a wild seed, how dare you think you are worthy enough to cry in front of Zen?”

Li Zhen Zhen raised her gaze and looked at the Fu Huang who adored her the most. She was brought up blind to worldly affairs, and her Fu Huang unforgivingly labelled her a “wild seed”. Her sorrow was so deep that she had lost hope.

She unknowingly asked: : ”Fu Huang, are you going to kill Zhen Zhen?”

“You dare think you are worthy enough to call Zen that?”

Li Zhen Zhen’s tears flowed resembling a hibiscus caught in the middle of the rain. She then asked: “Your majesty, are you going to execute Zhen Zhen?”

Li Yue coldly laughed: “Zen won’t just kill you alone. Your wh05e of a mother, and your whole maternal line leading up those who are nine times removed will be fully executed.”

When Li Zhen Zhen heard this, her face blanched even further, she sobbed while saying: “Fu Huang, no, your majesty, your majesty, please I beg you to pardon the life of my Consort mother. Zhen Zhen will die wholeheartedly in place of Consort mother. If you agree to pardon my Consort mother and my maternal family, Zhen Zhen is willing to die, I swear... ...”

When Li Yue heard those words, his expression darkened even further.

Li Zhen Zhen was scared when she looked at him. Her whole body was infused with pain as she crawled forward, depleting her nearly empty energy even further.

Li Yue’s mind blanked out on other things while he looked at her crawling in his direction. In the midst of her movements, the short jacket that was on her shoulders slipped down, exposing the exquisitely rounded snowy left shoulder.

Li Zhen Zhen didn’t realize her state of undress then. She clenched her teeth while dragging herself to reach the dais, then she lifted her head up. Her dripping tears were even more lustrous than the pearls in her hairpin.

She begged while crying: “Your majesty, Zhen Zhen is a wild seed. You should only kill Zhen Zhen, your, your majesty should let Zhen Zhen’s Consort mother and my maternal family go. Zhen Zhen is begging you, your majesty.”

Li Zhen Zhen stubbornly held on to a half kneeling position, kowtowing while hitting her head on the floor again and again. Her forehead started to become red but Li Yue didn’t move from his position from the start till the end.

Li Zhen Zhen could feel her sorrow spread further to deaden her heart, her desperate cries rising in agony, yet she continued hitting her head on the ground.

Her hair was already in a mess. She originally wore a full set of pearl hair ornaments and it fell off little by little until only one was left. Now that hairpin was swaying precariously on its last hold.

Wisps of hair floated down to cover her temples.

Li Yue was like a war weapon when he coldly assessed her face in one sweep, his gaze then moved downwards, the young girl’s shoulders were fully exposed from the jacket that slipped off. The wisp of jet black hair swept occasionally on the white luster of her rounded shoulders.

His gaze moved downwards and he saw that her waist strap was getting looser due to her movements. The short jacket had already slipped off early on, so the white dudou that was embroidered with more hibiscus flowers was now half exposed.

TL: Dudou is an undergarment that Han Chinese women used to wear in the past. It is fashioned quite similarly to a halter top.

The dudou was exquisite and yet it could not completely cover the young girl’s voluptuous chest.

The two pale and tender t1ts were squeezed inside the dudou, so when she kowtowed, her two t1ts jiggled with her movements.

When she bowed down, the outline from her back till her a5s was shown clearly.

When Li Zhen Zhen had her period at 14, she was so frightened that she hid in her bed and cried. When he knew what had happened, he cheerfully went in to hug her and kissed her face. He soothed her by saying: 

“Be good and don’t be scared, Zen’s little princess has finally grown up.”

Li Zhen Zhen could not comprehend his words: “Grown up?”

“Zen’s princess is now ready for marriage.” Li Yue begrudgingly said.

Li Zhen Zhen was so shocked that she buried her face on his chest and cried: 

“Zhen Zhen don’t want to marry, Zhen Zhen wants to be beside Fu Huang forever.”

After that, Li Yue did not hug her any longer, because his daughter had grown up.

Within the year that he avoided hugging her, she was slowly blossoming.

Li Zhen Zhen sobs broke him from his reverie: 

“Your majesty, please pardon Consort mother and spare her life, Your majesty, Zhen Zhen is begging you... ... woo... ...” Li Zhen Zhen wept until her voice was hoarse and her vision blurred.

Li Yue bent down his head, her dudou had loosened even further, the young girl’s beautiful t1ts were now within his reach.

Li Yue softly said: “It is possible to spare her life.”

“Your majesty!” Li Zhen Zhen raised her head to look at him, her face was full of surprise and delight.

She always had this expression every time she received something she liked from him.

So much so that it became an instinctual habit of hers.

Li Yue bent his waist, his fingers reached out to slowly caress the young girl’s face. In the end he raised his hands to rest it on top of her head and pulled out the pearl hairpin so that her jet black hair fluttered down in a curtain. Zhen Zhen raised her head up in a daze then called him subconsciously: 

“Fu Huang?”

Li Yue went mute while his eyes started to dry up.

Index    <Chapter 2>