When Spring Comes

Chapter 47 – Insufferable Punishment (2)

Huo Zhaoyi, on the other hand, waited for the emperor to go and rest, before continuing to read the pile of books with feminine fragrance. After a while, Huo Zhaoyi came out again, standing three steps away, and said, “These are all written by hand, and the words are a little messy. Do you still understand?”

“You wrote all of it?” Hua Chun was taken aback.

She looked at the words with the font so clear and pretty that it could genuinely be mistaken as a printed one. She immediately liked her so much more, “I understand perfectly. Your calligraphy skills are highly admired by me.”

Huo Zhaoyi laughed a laugh so pleasantly fascinating that Hua Chun was mesmerized. She even forgave her for being beautiful, thinking that it really wasn’t her fault that she was so gorgeous. She can even read and write well. Even though she was a concubine, the queen mother should have nothing against her.

“You are being too polite,” Huo Zhaoyi delighted with the expression of the prime minister in front of her, squeezed her veil and said, “I knew that the Queen Mother was not at ease with me, so she let you come over. However, you have quite a reputation in the palace. You must be a very honest and subjective person. If I may, I would like to request you to kindly say a few gentle words to the Mother about me.”

“I understand,” Hua Chun nodded.

The Queen Mother also said that she had heard that Huo Zhao had an obnoxious personality, but without concrete evidence, Hua Chun could not make a one-sided conclusion and was unwilling to believe the rumor.

The Huo Zhaoyi she saw today had not one bad quality except that she danced in a rather slutty way. Should the Queen Mother ask, she would happily give her a glowing recommendation for Huo Zhaoyi.

It was time for lunch and Hua Chun was famished; she was willing to bet that she could finish a horse in an hour.

Eunuch Qin had already begun preparing lunch for the emperor. The plates of exquisite dishes were, however, delivered directly to the apse.

“Minister,” Eunuch Qin was extremely embarrassed and uncomfortable. After all, how was it acceptable to starve a dignified minister in the outer hall while a hot and delicious meal was being served right in front of her?

But the emperor declared, “Don’t worry about it, the Minister has a way.”

All Eunuch Qin could do was to salute the emperor in acknowledgment of the orders while he churned with guilt on the inside.

Hua Chun sat upright, accepting the fate that the emperor would not let her off today. She nodded calmly to assure the eunuch, “Eunuch Qin, don’t worry.”

“Oh…” Duke Qin sighed; shaking his head, walked into the apse to serve.

By the time tee Emperor finished eating, it was already twelve. Hua Chun looked at the feast laid out in the palace, thinking of her favorite food, steamed pork ribs, braised pork ribs, spicy pork ribs…

“Minister,” Yu Wenjie called her.

Still not out of her daze, she inadvertently said, “The ribs are here.”

For a second, the emperor thought that there was something wrong with his ears. He frowned and stared impassively at the person in front of him, “What?”

Hua Chun quickly shook herself out of the trance and saluted the emperor respectfully, “Minister is here!”

Glancing at her with disapproval evident in his eyes, the emperor said, “Come to the Zǐchen Hall with me. We need to discuss some business.”

‘Discussion?’ Hua Chun wanted to grab her hair and howl in frustration. The emperor had slept and ate, and she hadn’t even drunk a drop of water! Why wasn’t she being treated as a human being? Cursing him with everything she knew, ten thousand times in her heart, she could only smile benignly at him and said, “Will do.”

‘Why doesn’t God come and kill this cruel creature?’

Following him outside in the shining sun, she felt bedazzled. It was apparent that Yu Wenjie was in a good mood. He dragged the minister into a meeting that dragged on for more than an hour, and then left Hua alone for the first half-hour outside the Imperial Study Room.

Even at the end of dinner, he didn’t mean to let her eat, so he gave her the book, and let her read in the outer area of the temple.

While the emperor was impervious to the anguish he caused, Eunuch Qin was tormented by the situation. He was itching to give the minister something to eat and was heartbroken that he couldn’t. The emperor, however, seemed to be aware of this emotion as if he were omniscient. He curbed all plans to aid the minister by declaring firmly, “No one is allowed to give her anything to eat.”

Eunuch Qin felt helpless, knowing that when his majesty planned to torment people, he didn’t stop until he was content.

The queen mother was uncomfortable too, knowing that it was difficult for Minister Hua to protect herself and that the queen mother herself put her in this mess.

Apart from the minister, no one else in the palace had the courage to offend the emperor, without risking being put to death.

Only Hua Chun could stand it.