El viaje de un mendigo alrededor del mundo

Capítulo 10

Xie Yiren felt this was retribution. Her husband was plundering their husbands' wealth in the court, and now they were going to get revenge on her. It didn't matter; being insulted a couple of times wouldn't hurt them. On the contrary, those who had been plundered by her husband were mostly the ones who would really suffer greatly.

She replied naively, "It's not hard work. The house isn't big, and I have a nanny to help me."

This remark clearly pleased the ladies, and they exchanged knowing glances, each revealing a meaningful smile.

Xie Yiren naturally understood the gloating in those eyes. They thought she was either putting on a brave face or was genuinely too naive to distinguish right from wrong. What they didn't know was that the old woman in the Minister's mansion, who served as cook, guard, housekeeper, accountant, and servant, was truly formidable. It was said that in her youth, she was a renowned witch in the martial arts world, nicknamed "Lightning Sable."

However, since the public is happy to see her living a miserable life, she won't be so cruel as to shatter their imagination.

She remained timid, staring blankly at everyone with wide, innocent eyes.

"Madam Xie!" a high-pitched eunuch's voice rang out, "Her Majesty the Empress summons Madam Xie to an audience!"

At this point, a second expression, different from her timid and shy demeanor, finally appeared on Xie Yiren's face.

This expression became even more pronounced after she entered the Qihuang Palace and met the Empress. She watched as if she had seen a ghost as the Empress, dressed in a phoenix robe, dismissed all the palace servants, then lightly touched the ground with her toes and flew to her side with her light footwork, crashing headfirst into her arms.

"Qingbo, I've missed you so much~~~ Come here, let Mom check your body. Thank goodness, you're still got a good chest and a good butt. You can still fetch a good price!"

Her voice was so alluring it made your legs weak, and her movements were so lewd they were outrageous.

Xie Yiren, also known as Fan Qingbo, grabbed the hand that was randomly pinching her breasts and buttocks and threw it away, veins popping on her forehead. "Mom my foot! Yun Caicai, please remember this, you are no longer the madam of the Pleasure Pavilion, you are the Empress of the Feng Dynasty! And I am no longer your flower girl!"

Fan Qingbo discovered that she had a very special connection with the "Empress".

When she was reborn as Xie Yiren, the daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo, she had just failed to become empress and was now a slave. After luring Xie Dongfeng to marry her and leave the palace, she met two extraordinary women. One was Qingming, the late emperor's empress and the last legend of Yuyao Palace, and the other was the woman before her, the former number one madam in the land and the current empress.

Becoming friends with the wives of two emperors was the only thing that made her feel she hadn't wasted her time-traveling identity.

Unfortunately, neither of them were very capable. One of them, instead of being a proper empress, absconded with the funds. After being found, she acted arrogantly and ran away while pregnant, causing the late emperor to burn down Yuyao Palace and feign death. She also framed Yun Caicai's lover, Prince Mingyue, to become emperor. The other one was the same. Of all the women she liked, she preferred to force women into prostitution and become a madam. Even though her child was eight years old, she was still running around. Not long after being made empress, she left a letter and ran away, saying she wanted to find a place where no one knew her to resume her promiscuous ways.

"By the way, how come you were caught so quickly this time?"

I remember her record was running away to the border for a year and a half, but at that time, Prince Mingyue was not yet the emperor.

It would have been better if she hadn't asked. The question only fueled Yun Caicai's anger. She raised her eyebrows, glared, and her beautiful features bloomed like roses. She cursed, "Isn't it all because of the Shadow Pavilion's power! I used to think Qingming was exaggerating when he said how powerful and omnipotent the Shadow Guards were. Bastards, who invented this thing called the Royal Shadow Guards?!"

Fan Qingbo glanced at the frantic Yun Caicai and said indifferently, "Why don't you give them a taste of their own medicine?"

Yun Caicai was slightly taken aback, "You mean..."

"Since the Shadow Guards are so powerful, why not recruit them for your own use? Qingming is a bit simple-minded, yet she has two Shadow Guards who are loyal to her to the death. You're so smart and beautiful, are you afraid you can't recruit ten or eight?"

Yun Caicai's alluring eyes lit up, revealing a fox-like smile as she pinched Fan Qingbo's cheek: "You're always the one with the most mischievous ideas!"

She pinched her fingers a few times and then withdrew them, frowning. "Qingbo, you've applied too much rouge, haven't you?" Her hands were covered in it.

"Hey! My makeup!"

Fan Qingbo hurriedly pushed her away, ran to the dressing table, and began to touch up her makeup.

She had learned some makeup in her previous life, so she wasn't too alarmed when she realized she was looking less and less like Xie Yiren. After all, Xie Dongfeng was a notoriously eccentric person, so it wasn't surprising that she didn't attend various banquets. If she happened to encounter a banquet that she absolutely had to attend, she could use makeup to cover it up.

With her eyebrows finely shaped, eyes made larger, cheeks contoured, and rouge applied to conceal her sallow complexion, a stunning beauty with large eyes, a small face, and rosy cheeks appeared out of nowhere. With a few more disguise techniques, no one could tell that the Minister's wife and the frivolous women of the city were the same person.

"Your Majesty, the imperial carriage has arrived."

Outside the door, a soft, gentle voice from a palace maid urged them on.

Yun Caicai pouted, hooked Fan Qingbo along and walked out, muttering to herself, "Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up! That's why I don't want to be empress. Humph, I'll elope with a few shadow guards sooner or later!"

As Fan Qingbo was being led away, he looked thoughtfully into the air, a cryptic smile playing on his lips.

Yun Caicai is usually incredibly shrewd, but her IQ drops drastically whenever she gets within a three-mile radius of Mingyue. Given her penchant for escaping, it's obvious Mingyue must have sent shadow guards to watch over her, meaning their entire conversation was overheard.

Oh dear, I wonder how the Shadow Guard felt when he heard the Empress say she wanted to seduce him into eloping?

The two shadow guards hidden in the shadows shivered in unison.

Fan Qingbo and Yun Caicai parted ways outside the Fengyi Palace. A palace maid led her to her seat. Her seat was below Xie Dongfeng, which relieved her, thankfully she wouldn't have to sit with those noblewomen anymore.

Are you alright?

Xie Dongfeng raised his hand to touch her face. To onlookers, it seemed like the two were deeply in love, but in reality, he was just applying rouge to her face.

Fan Qingbo smiled gratefully, but suddenly heard a disdainful sneer from across the table. She looked up and nearly flipped the table in shock—what a rip-off! Sitting opposite her were General Zhou and his family! General Zhou's seat was directly opposite Xie Dongfeng, and Zhou Zice's seat was directly opposite her! She turned to look at Xie Dongfeng, and he was even giving her an innocent wink? He was clearly just waiting for a good show!

In General Zhou's eyes, this exchange had clearly become a flirtatious exchange, and his disdain grew stronger.

Xie Dongfeng noticed that Fan Qingbo was a little uncomfortable, so he poured her a cup of tea and said in a low voice, "Relax, relax. They won't recognize you. Besides, don't you think it's kind of fun to be in the dark when the enemy is in the open?"

The last sentence revealed his true nature.

Fan Qingbo lowered his head and gritted his teeth, saying, "You're playing with fire!"

Her voice was quickly drowned out by a chorus of toasts.

The emperor, seated on the throne, uttered something, and everyone shouted "Long live the emperor!" before raising their cups in a toast. Next, the sound of string and wind instruments filled the air, and beautiful women poured in from outside, singing and dancing gracefully, each displaying their allure—a breathtaking sight. The guests, completely captivated, were oblivious to the two extremely rude gluttons present.

Although Jie and Fan were husband and wife in name only, they had an unparalleled understanding in certain aspects.

"Hmm, the imperial chef's skills are truly excellent. No wonder you enjoy attending palace banquets so much."

"No, no, generally speaking, I like any kind of banquet. It's just that private banquets between officials often require reciprocating, which isn't worth it. Hmm, this braised pork knuckle is quite good. Oh, just thinking that all of this is free makes me especially happy to eat."

"...You stingy little thing, you'd better eat your fill."

After the dance, the two had already regained their elegant and dignified demeanor. However, if one looked closely, one could still see that while the other people's tables still had food and drinks, the cups and plates on their table had been cleared away and replaced with fruit and tea.

Fan Qingbo ate the rare tribute glass fruit with increasing ease, having long forgotten his initial discomfort upon taking the seat.