The Soothsayer

Scolding

Early the next morning, General Wang knocked on the doors to Chen Xi's palace.

"Princess went to sleep late last night. Do you need something?" Lan'er said behind General Wang.

"The Emperor wants to invite Consort Xi for breakfast this morning in his garden. If she's sleeping, I'll go back and tell the Emperor." General Wang said before leaving.

"I'll go." Chen Xi said, opening the door.

"Give me a few minutes to get ready." Chen Xi continued.

General Wang nodded his head and Lan'er walked into the room quickly.

"Are you crazy princess?" Lan'er whispered.

"I have to find out what he is thinking." Chen Xi said, placing a hairpin in her hair.

"You're always like this."

Chen Xi turned around, faced Lan'er and asked: "Like this?"

"Helping others but sacrificing yourself."

"What do you mean sacrificing myself? It brings me benefits too, you know."

"Yeah right, you helped Xuan'er and you bought yourself a bunch of destruction. Look at all the marks you got on yourself."

"You must lose something in order to gain something in return." Chen Xi said before opening the door.

"I'm ready to meet the Emperor." Chen Xi said, looking in General Wang's eyes.

After General Wang escorted Chen Xi to the Emperor's garden, Chen Xi took a seat in front of the Emperor.

"If your time here pleasant, Consort Xi?" the Emperor asked.

"Your Majesty, pleasant can't be the word to describe my satisfaction."

"Why is that?"

"I keep hearing someone on my roof but when I go outside and check there is no one. Ever since I arrived here, I was treated as someone lower than your Concubine. If I treat you unlike a Emperor in my home country, how will you feel?"

"So you're unsatisfied with your time here."

"No, how can I ever be unsatisfied with my time here. Your Majesty keeps me in my chains even having someone look over me in secret. Am I right?"

"What if you're right? How do you know?"

"There's a sentence of what everyone says: "The people of Xi knows everything." and I have ears of everything, from horses to falcons."

The Emperor squinted his eyes and said: "Look at the sky, it doesn't match our mood. Why don't we go outside"

"I'm afraid not, you are the Emperor so you are different from common people. I don't want to get another scolding from Empress Dowager again. If you excuse me, I have another appointment to make." Chen Xi said as she got up.

"What do you mean? My grandmother scolded you?"

"Seems like I did a good job hiding it." Chen Xi said as she left.

"What does she mean?" the Emperor asked General Wang.

"Empress Dowager told me not to tell you." General Wang said.

"Tell me."

"The day when you left Empress Dowager on her birthday, she told me to follow you when she left. I found that you went to find Xi'er and that Xi'er is Consort Xi and that Consort Xi encouraged you to go outside to the city."

"So she punished her?"

General Wang nodded his head and said: "Empress Dowager made her kneel while Concubine Hua poured water all over her."

"Grandmother.." the Emperor said, taking a sigh, pinching his nose bridge.

"Should I..."

The Emperor nodded his head and said "I'll visit grandmother."

"There's something else.." General Wang slowly said.

"What now?"

"Empress Dowager wants ....."