This Eunuch Isn't Cold - Chapter 3

Chapter 3
Wei Qing and I had always observed propriety and restraint with each other.

On the rare occasions passion stirred, we did nothing more than kiss and embrace.

But somehow, he had learned ways to please a woman. Even without baring ourselves completely to each other, he could still leave me craving more, send me soaring into bliss.

Yet more than once, I had seen him endure until his body burned hot, unable to sleep through the night.

I had offered to help ease him.

But Wei Qing always refused with quiet restraint.

I had thought it was because he felt inferior.

Until I saw those strange Heavenly Scripts.

They said Wei Qing was not truly a eunuch.

He possessed a man’s ability. He simply never gave it to me.

He was the protagonist of the storybooks, and even more than that, the future ruler, destined for unimaginable honor.

The current Imperial Noble Consort would one day become his Empress.

And I was merely one of his dispensable women.

In the near future, to please the Imperial Noble Consort, he would have my entire family killed.

I clutched my pounding chest.

The terror of seeing my whole clan exterminated, and the agony of being betrayed by the man I loved, were like vines growing wild, taking over my mind.

I could hardly breathe.

Ignoring the dense swarm of floating comments above my head, I summoned my personal palace maid. “Where has Wei Qing been sent on errands lately?”

“Aside from his regular duties, the place he visits most often is Your Highness’s residence.

“But recently, he also went to the Imperial Noble Consort’s palace.

“This servant heard that the weather has been hot of late, and the Imperial Noble Consort has been sleeping poorly. Eunuch Wei Qing had a folk remedy for sleeplessness, so he went to attend upon her in her palace.”

A muscle jumped between my brows.

He had never mentioned this to me.

“Keep watching Wei Qing.”

Kunning Palace.

After we paid our respects to the Empress, the Imperial Noble Consort caught sight of my emerald-green dress and could not help mocking me.

“A mere Noble Lady dares to imitate me so openly?

“His Majesty praised me only yesterday, saying green suited me and delighted his eyes, that I was the one unique splash of brightness in the harem. And today, you simply couldn’t wait to copy me?

“What a fine case of aping your betters. A pity, though. Some people can’t even catch a glimpse of His Majesty’s shadow.”

With that, she let out a laugh, making no attempt to hide her ridicule.

The others seated around us laughed along with her.

In the entire harem, I truly was the only one who had attended His Majesty in bed just once.

In the past, I would not have cared about such sneers and taunts.

If anything, I had found the quiet and solitude comfortable.

But now, as I looked at the green robe on the Imperial Noble Consort, my once-calm heart surged again.

When Wei Qing had praised how well green suited me, had he truly been praising me? Or had he been thinking of the Imperial Noble Consort, the woman he loved but could not have, while looking through me?

The latter seemed far more likely.

If he truly loved the Imperial Noble Consort, yet put on every manner of disguise before me…

Then a hypocrite so deep and calculating might indeed one day make my entire family pay with their lives for her sake.

I bit my lower lip until it bled.

Seeing this, the Imperial Noble Consort gave a cold snort.

“You ought to put more effort into getting close to His Majesty. Otherwise, if something happens to your family one day, you won’t even have anyone to plead for you.

“How pitiful.”

My brow twitched as I heard it.

A faint unease stirred in the depths of my heart.