Chapter 151: Depressed. Dowager Empress Critically Ill

Moreover, why is he removing his clothes? Can it be that this man is actually a closet nymphomaniac? Is he trying to tempt me because I didn’t go to him? I mustn’t fall for his tricks. I will not be seduced by his manly charms. 

She gulped and decided to stop looking at him by turning her head to the side. But a heavy and hurried step soon travelled to her ears.

She was so startled by the sounds that she just had to look back in his direction. Long Heng had decided to come to her instead of waiting for her to go to him! 

Isn’t he supposed to crook his finger and use his alluring voice to call me over? Why did he decide to come to me instead? Just how e-eager i-is he&h.e.l.lip;

“Ahh. You don’t&h.e.l.lip; Don’t have to be in such a hurry.” Bai Xiangxiu was panicking. When she saw him walk over to her with his overbearing stride, she subconsciously ducked behind a table.

Long Heng’s brow twitched. Seeing how she was trying to take cover from him, he felt a sudden urge to capture and give her some well-needed “punishment”. The corner of his lips floated upwards, forming a dangerous-looking smirk. It scared Bai Xiangxiu so much that she kept distancing herself from him. Whenever Long Heng took two steps forwards, she would also take two steps backwards. They played a game of cat and mouse around the table. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long before Bai Xiangxiu had run out of breath. Exhausted, her body began to sway but Long Heng was too quick. In a flash, he was by her side, sweeping her off her feet. He threw her onto his shoulder and stood there, heady and flushed from the taste of victory. He crossed over to the bed in a single bound, and laid her down with infinite gentleness.

He had no choice but to be gentle with her. After all, this girl was weak and delicate to the point of paper. It might foil the matters to come if he was too rough on her. But to force himself to hold back now would be worse than killing him. Bai Xiangxiu had already gone limp from exhaustion after all that tossing around. All she could do was gasp for air while Long Heng had his way with her. However, she still did show some resistance by hitting Long Heng’s shoulder with her tiny fists. She’d only landed a few punches before she drew back her fists to blow on them. 

Ouch! Why am I the only one in pain when I punch him&h.e.l.lip; 

Long Heng took her hand, sensually ma.s.saging it. After that, he raised it to his mouth and flicked it with his tongue. The sensation pleasured Bai Xiangxiu so much that she began to moan&h.e.l.lip; 

I give up. This man is getting too good at setting up the mood.

She’d intended to resist Long Heng’s advances, but Long Heng had already masterfully disrobed her. The situation was getting dangerous. Whilst Bai Xiangxiu was already mulling over how she was going to get out of bed the next day, knocking sounds resounded through the room. The knocks weren’t very loud, but they were very insistent. It was obvious that the person knocking had every intention to disrupt them.

“Your&h.e.l.lip; Mmn&h.e.l.lip; Highness&h.e.l.lip; Knock&h.e.l.lip; Someone’s knocking at the door&h.e.l.lip;”

Long Heng was too caught up in the moment to hear the sounds from the door. He didn’t even notice the sounds outside until Bai Xiangxiu called his attention to them. He gritted his teeth, as a snarl escaped from between his clenched teeth, “What is it!?” His voice was cold. If it wasn’t something important, then their immediate future was in imminent danger.

The person braving the potential danger of his swift end was actually Shu’er. He didn’t want to knock on the door at such a timing either! The sounds coming from inside the room were enough to turn even the tips of his ears bright red. “Your Highness. There’s been news from the palace. The dowager empress is gravely ill and is in great peril.”  

The dowager empress could be considered one of the backers of the Long family. The old madame and the empress would often help each other out because they were bosom friends. If it weren’t for that fact, the old madame would never have agreed to the marriage with the Lin family’s daughter. The fact that the dowager empress had fallen gravely ill was truly a pressing matter. Long Heng had no choice but to gnash his teeth and pull himself away. He covered Bai Xiangxiu with a blanket and struggled to his feet with great effort. 

Bai Xiangxiu stole a glance and couldn’t resist gulping. 

What a scary amount of sweat! Even his eyes are turning red. Do you have to be so unsatisfied in your appet.i.te? What do I do? I’m feeling a little sorry for him.

“Rest well. I will come find you later tonight.” Long Heng still wanted to explain things a bit to here, and quickly threw on some clothes. Just as he was about to leave the room, a thought came to his mind. “I’m afraid that mother will be back soon. When she does&h.e.l.lip; do take care of her a little.”

The old madame and the dowager empress were close, like sisters. She would be heartbroken when she received the news. Moreover, she would be returning from the south very soon. Bai Xiangxiu naturally knew about all of this. It was all written in the novel. The old madame would grieve over the dowager empress to the point of falling sick. Long Heng had even accepted the female lead into the estate and left her in charge of household matters at the time. The reasoning behind that was simple. She was the future matron of the house and would take charge of the household sooner or later.

Unfortunately, more and more problems would arise after her arrival, which would lengthen the old madame’s illness. The wife and the concubines would engage in in-fighting, and the conspiracy and scheming that followed would plunge the estate into total disorder. But the biggest issue of all was the female lead’s bevy of admirers. One after the other, they came in droves.

The male lead was madly in love with her by then. They’d tumbled in the sheets together before they’d married, which caused their relations.h.i.+p to become scandalous. Despite all that, the male lead had refused to cover up the scandal. After all, this was his woman! And so, there were many instances in which the female lead was left incapable of rising from bed for three days. This caused various other female supporting characters in his rear court to gnash their teeth in jealousy and the old madame to almost die in a fit of anger. 

Hopefully, such a situation won’t occur this time.

For some reason, she lost all energy in her body immediately after Long Heng had left. After the incredibly taxing task of putting her clothes back on, she immediately plopped back onto the bed. The dowager empress would not be able to escape her fate. There was nothing Bai Xiangxiu could do about her illness. She wasn’t some kind of miracle doctor. Exhausted, she quickly fell asleep. By the time she woke up, the room was already pitch black. She called out. “Is anyone there?”

“Madame Xiu. Xiaos.h.i.+ is out here. Is something the matter?”

“No. Has the prince returned yet?” She recalled from the novel that when the dowager empress had fallen gravely ill, all of the emperor’s trusted ministers had to accompany him in the palace. 

If the story progresses according to the novel, he won’t be returning tonight. 

“The prince has yet to return. There’s still some time until dawn. Will you sleep for a while more?” Xiaos.h.i.+ was lying outside because mistresses would frequently ask for their maids in the middle of the night. The maidservants were quite attentive because of this longstanding aspect of their service.

“Mmm. That’s all. You should sleep!” Even though she knew that nothing would happen to Long Heng during his trip, she couldn’t help but worry. The entire imperial court would enter a period of instability after the dowager empress falls ill. The dowager empress’ circle did not get along well with the empress’ circle. Once the dowager empress pa.s.sed away, the empress’ clique would find all sorts of ways to persecute the dowager empress’ supporters.

The emperor was more than happy to see them fight amongst themselves. After all, he was the one who would gain the most from their fights. But Bai Xiangxiu had been very busy ever since she returned to the estate. However, a good night’s rest has recharged her batteries a little.

She began to take charge of the household matters the next morning. Even though she had a lot of responsibilities, it didn’t consume her full day. She was only busy a few days in a month, and she only had to take care of some small daily tasks on a day to day basis.

Unexpectedly, Long Heng had put Long Shuting in charge of the Sung Hong’er issue before he’d left. Long Shuting took it quite seriously and came to report to Bai Xiangxiu after he had properly prepared. Once Bai Xiangxiu was done listening to his report, he handed over the indictment list to her. 

Her mouth began to twitch incessantly as she went through it. 

The novel really skimped on her dark history. No wonder she had so much confidence that she could replace me. She’s never once been rejected by any man she’d ever seduced!

She’d first seduced two young laborers, one of whom already had a wife and a concubine. After that, she went even further after more men. Starting from the guard in her residence to the guard of the Song residence&h.e.l.lip; “What poor widow of an empty house? That term seriously doesn’t suit her!”