Chapter 6
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: If You Don't Like It, Then Don't
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"Oh my, why does it feel so empty... Kyaaack?!"
Baek Noble Consort's scream shook the Cold Palace.
The situation unfolded in an instant. With a snap, her waistband broke, and the heavy silk skirt—embroidered with gold thread—couldn't defy gravity as it slid smoothly down to the ground.
And that wasn't the end of it.
At the same time, the knot on her upper jacket pinged loose. The fabric, stretched taut, flared wide open to both sides, leaving her upper body starkly exposed.
Even the strap holding her undergarments beneath the skirt had been neatly severed by Dark Heaven Silk. Her undergarments dropped straight to her ankles.
"......!!"
Silence.
A suffocating second of silence passed.
In the middle of the Cold Palace courtyard, broad daylight. Before dozens of eunuchs and palace maids—and the Empress, who was practically deposed—the era's most powerful figure, Baek Noble Consort, stood utterly bare. (Of course, a very thin slip remained, but it was as good as nothing.)
Her white, plump skin met the spring breeze.
"Kyaaaaak! What is this! What's going on?!"
Baek Noble Consort had lost her mind. She had only two hands to cover with, but far too many places to hide. Cover the top, and the bottom was exposed; cover the bottom, and the top jiggled free. She flailed wildly before tripping over herself and landing hard on her rear.
"M-Ma'am!"
"Close your eyes! Everyone turn around! No—cover her! Cover her, I said!"
The eunuchs spun around in a panic. The palace maids shrieked and milled about in chaos. Some tried to drape their own clothes over her but headbutted one another and tumbled over, turning the courtyard into utter pandemonium.
"My clothes! Someone get my clothes... Kyak! Don't look! I said don't look!"
Baek Noble Consort sat on the ground, her face flushing red then pale as she screamed. It was a far cry from the haughty, chin-up poise she'd worn just moments before. No majestic consort here—just a naked village woman throwing a tantrum.
Yeonhwa watched the scene with eyes round as saucers. The sheer unreality left her mouth hanging open.
"This... put this down! Carry me! Carry me right now!"
In the end, Baek Noble Consort—unable even to gather her clothes—was hoisted onto the back of a sturdy senior palace maid and fled the Cold Palace like a routed bandit. She didn't spare a thought for retrieving her fallen skirt or silk bundle.
"You'll pay for this! Everyone who saw today—I'll kill you all, every last one!"
Her furious bellow faded into the distance.
The courtyard, swept by the storm, fell quiet once more. But this silence differed from the heavy pall before. Baek Noble Consort's lavish silk garments lay scattered on the ground like trash.
Yeonhwa stared blankly at the yard. Her mind couldn't catch up to what had just happened.
Then her gaze drifted to the corner of the courtyard.
There stood Cheonwi, gripping his broom upside down. He met Yeonhwa's eyes and shrugged. Then he smirked, curling one corner of his mouth as he winked—one eye closing and opening.
A wink.
The moment she saw that playful expression, the pieces clicked in Yeonhwa's mind.
On a windless day, what were the odds of perfectly intact garment ties all snapping at once? And that utterly nonchalant attitude to boot.
"......Pfft."
A puff of air escaped Yeonhwa's lips.
"Puhahaha!"
She couldn't hold it in. It felt like the boulder crushing her chest for a year had crumbled to dust and blown away in an instant. Yeonhwa clutched her belly and laughed out loud. The tears of sorrow gathered at her eyes streamed down from the laughter.
"Hahaha! That sight... that sight... Ahahaha!"
She laughed until she was breathless. Wiping away tears, Yeonhwa looked at Cheonwi.
Cheonwi ambled over and prodded Baek Noble Consort's fallen outer skirt with his broom.
"Guess the clothes were just too worn out. Noble Consort Ma'am ought to live a bit more frugally. Walking around without even noticing the seams had burst."
Yeonhwa tried to muster a stern expression at his deadpan tone, but the smile tugging at her lips wouldn't fade.
"That was you, wasn't it? Really... you're incorrigible. What if you'd been caught?"
"Caught? That's unfair. I was just sweeping the yard. The heavens knew of Ma'am's grievances and delivered punishment."
Cheonwi replied shamelessly as he righted his broom. Then, in a low voice directed at Yeonhwa, he added,
"I told you. I'm on your side."
Those words thudded into Yeonhwa's heart.
In this place where everyone had turned their backs, he was the only man moving for her sake. Eunuch or not (or so she believed), his outlandish revenge had revived sensations she'd long forgotten.
The feeling of being alive. And the relief of being protected by someone.
Yeonhwa turned her head, her face flushing red.
"......Thank you."
"I'll collect payment later. It'll be pricey."
Cheonwi shrugged it off as no big deal and resumed sweeping the yard. Swish, swish. The broom's sound rang out far more cheerfully than before.
That night.
The Cold Palace night was as dark as ever, but a soft candle flame flickered in Yeonhwa's room.
Yeonhwa sat before her vanity. She peered into the mirror at her reflection. A subtle vitality now colored her formerly sallow, pallid complexion. Perhaps thanks to laughing her fill during the day.
She drew a small rouge compact from the depths of a drawer. Red lip color she'd favored in her Empress days. She'd thought it discarded, yet there it sat in the corner, covered in dust.
'What am I doing right now?'
Her hesitation lasted only a moment. Yeonhwa dipped a trembling fingertip into the red rouge and carefully dabbed it onto her chapped lips.
Tok, tok.
Her pale lips bloomed with red. The woman in the mirror was no longer a convict fretting over her deposition. She was a woman harboring excitement, waiting for someone.
She was waiting for Cheonwi.
The daytime commotion might have tightened security. But he would come. No—he had to come. She wanted to share this thrill, this sheer refreshment. And she wanted to ask what he meant by that "pricey payment."
Yeonhwa's lips twitched as she smiled at her mirror self.
For the first time in a year, she was truly aware of herself as a woman.
"......Hurry and come."
The murmur slipped between her red lips, making the candle flame dance. The night deepened, and a familiar presence stirred beyond the Cold Palace walls.
The night air was chill, but Yeonhwa's cheeks burned hot. She sat on the porch, gazing endlessly beyond the wall. The red rouge on her lips felt awkward, yet it stirred a strange excitement.
Rustle.
The sound of leaves brushing. Yeonhwa's shoulders twitched.
"Been waiting?"
A shadow popped up atop the wall. Cheonwi. Ignoring the gate, he hopped the wall with the ease of entering his own bedroom—no dust stirred from his light movements.
Yeonhwa shot to her feet. Normally she'd have scolded his rudeness, but her eyes now held only relief—and joy she couldn't hide.
"You came."
Her voice trembled faintly. Cheonwi grinned as he approached. Bathed in moonlight from behind, his smile was mischievous yet oddly reassuring.
"Didn't expect Ma'am to come out and greet me like this. And..."
Cheonwi's gaze lingered on Yeonhwa's red lips.
"...dressed up, no less. You're especially lovely tonight."
Yeonhwa started to cover her lips, then stopped. Praise or tease, she couldn't tell—but her heart pounded. She cleared her throat affectedly and looked away.
"Earlier... thank you. It felt like a decade's worth of pent-up resentment finally cleared, thanks to you."
It was sincere. Just recalling Baek Noble Consort's humiliation during the day nearly set her laughing again. For the first time, her hellish Cold Palace life had a breath of fresh air.
Cheonwi crossed his arms and cocked his head.
"Just words? I risked my life breaking imperial law. The reward's too stingy—just one thank-you?"
"Reward? I have nothing left to give..."
Yeonhwa flustered, fiddling with her sleeves. The fallen Empress had no wealth remaining. At best, the worn silk scraps Baek Noble Consort had flung earlier that day.
Cheonwi plopped down on the porch. He stretched out his right leg and patted it with his hand.
"Not after money. Chasing off Noble Consort Ma'am used up too much of my qi—my leg's killing me now."
Of course, it was a blatant lie. No way cutting a few garment ties had drained his qi. But Cheonwi grimaced dramatically and groaned.
"Aigoo, it hurts so bad. Ma'am, give it a massage yourself."
Yeonhwa's eyes went wide as saucers.
"W-What? Me, massage your feet...?"
She doubted her ears. Fallen from grace or not, she had been the Emperor's principal wife. For a mere eunuch—feet, no less? It went beyond insult to outright humiliation.
Yeonhwa's face flushed crimson with shame.
"Impertinent! Are you in your right mind?"
"If you don't like it, then don't."
Cheonwi shrugged nonchalantly.
"Next time Noble Consort barges in, I'll just watch. Might grab your hair instead of some strings, though."
It was blackmail. But devastatingly effective blackmail.
Memories of the day's exhilarating triumph clashed with the hellish humiliations before. Without Cheonwi, she'd plunge back into that abyss. The suffocating silence where no one came, the rotten rice, Baek Noble Consort's mockery.
Anything but that.
Yeonhwa bit her lip hard. Pride warred fiercely with survival instinct, but the victor was decided. This man was her sole lifeline.
Srrk.
Yeonhwa's knees met the dirt below the porch. She knelt at Cheonwi's feet.
"......I'll do it."
Her voice was meek, barely audible. Trembling white hands slipped off his rough shoes. A man's foot emerged—calloused and sturdy. Under the moonlight, it painted a profane picture: the Empress's delicate hand grasping the eunuch's foot.
Unable to lift her head, Yeonhwa carefully began massaging Cheonwi's calf. Her fingertips quivered.
"Eh, too much force there. Ma'am, you washing laundry?"
Cheonwi tsked his tongue.
"Gently, with love. Devotedly, like to your benefactor."
Yeonhwa's face burned fit to burst. Shame brought tears prickling to her eyes, but she obediently eased her grip.
"L-Like this... is it good...?"
"A bit higher. Not there... yes, right there."
Cheonwi savored her touch with feigned arrogance. But his eyes held more curiosity than pleasure.
'More obedient than I thought.'