The Little King

28 | Jealousy

Translator: PastTimer

Editor: PastTimer
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There were many concubines in the Xia Kingdom's Imperial Palace. The current Emperor was even more beautiful than the previous monarchs, so there were countless beauties in the harem. To climb up, many beautiful girls didn't hesitate to abandon their dignity to seduce the Emperor. Many people succeeded, and many people failed. Xia Xi was raised in such a Palace and had long heard about those things. What's even more peculiar was that many concubines deliberately searched for beautiful girls to bring into the Palace to please the Emperor to consolidate their own status. They looked for beautiful young girls to stay by their side so that they could stuff her into the Emperor's bed when they got old.

To compete for favour the harem developed many methods, strange alliances formed. This kind of initiative of sending women to sleep with the Emperor, once successful, was equivalent to an extra layer of protection. After all, there were so many people in the harem, and the monarch loved the new and disliked the old. When it came to beautiful people, it was always better to let people close to you become favoured rather than strangers. Therefore, many noble concubines searched for court ladies who were very beautiful and would be very likely to become their own masters in the future.

And it wasn't only the masters who thought so, the maids also thought so. It's so that in that Palace, a seductive servant wasn't a disdainful thing, on the contrary, it was regarded as one of the first shortcuts that maids knew from the moment they enter the Palace, '"The shortcut to increase your value."

Although it was still early in winter, the weather was already very cold. The north wind whistled outside, only the inside of the Palace hall was warm and comfortable. Chu Lan was worried about the waning of Xia Xi's health amidst the wind and cold and made servants buy the best charcoal and send them in. The charcoal was smokeless and had no unpleasant smell. it was the most suitable for indoor use. Burning two pots of it wouldn't make anyone feel cold, even while wearing thinner clothing.

Xia Xi's physique wasn't very good, so he still wore a thick coat. The coat he wore was made of white fox fur, after a special process, the original smell had long been washed away. Spices had been added to it, making it have a particular fragrance. Even with the faint scent, it was still the warmest, whenever Xia Xi wore it even his hands didn't feel cold. He was originally making a pair of shoes. The base shoes had been finished, only the upper part hadn't been embroidered. But today, whenever he tried embroidering it, he either had the wrong colour or embroidered it in the wrong position. When he pierced his fingers, he finally stopped.

It seemed that he could only do nothing today.

Xia Xi thought blankly. After hearing Cai Huan's answer this morning, he only felt an emptiness in his heart. He didn't have an appetite, but to prevent others from noticing his strangeness, he reluctantly ate.

He never thought that his maid would seduce his King.

Cities away from the (Xia) Palace, he was almost alone, foolishly assuming that nothing from the past would follow him. He treated Cai Huan very well. He only saw her as the little girl from the beginning, but he never thought that she would have such thoughts when she grew up. He had ignored it. Cai Huan was seventeen years old, it was indeed no longer the age of a little girl. He should've planned for her early and found a reliable person to promise her to, it was better instead of letting her do it herself without even understanding her own thoughts. In the end, something like this happened.

What made Xia Xi the most uncomfortable was Cai Huan's saying that it was all for his own good. The little girl had said with tears in her eyes at the time: "This handmaid knows that Your Majesty is favoured, but how long can his grace last? A-and rumours in the palace are spreading, saying that you don't have the ability the continue the King's bloodline. I'm afraid that your body you have a hidden disease; infertility. They also s-said that the general also wanted to give the King a partner, a beautiful Hu Die¹. If the King's heart really is hooked, then he would have his first child with her. Ignoring such a big risk will greatly impact your future, what would you do then? On the other hand, I can share your burden. Once this maid successfully conceives a child, I'll make them recognize you as their mother, after I give birth, you can raise him by your side. W-we will share our King's heart..."