Chapter 74 The Altar (1/2)
The clear sound of the slap echoed around the deadly quiet chamber, and Lengmei's face was burning with pain. With her face still tilted to one side, she stared at Tang Xia's phoenix pattern gold embroidered shoes.
”She slapped me? She slapped me!”
The very idea of her getting slapped was repeated in her mind, and she shook her head unbelievingly.
”When did I ever suffer such humiliation? When was I treated like this before?”
She was filled with rage and abruptly raised her head, her hand about to slap Tang Xia on the face.
”Your Grace! No!” Her maid was almost scared to death and leapt over to hold her arm, ”No! Your Grace! You can't do that! She is the Queen! She is the Queen!”
”Stay your hand! Leave me alone! Stay your hand!” Lengmei glared at Tang Xia with blood-red eyes and struggled in an attempt to pounce on her.
”Calm down, Your Grace! If you slap back, you will be in great trouble!” The maid turned deathly pale and dared not look Tang Xia in the eyes.
”Lengmei,” Tang Xia raised her eyebrows and gave a smile, looking at Lengmei with her shiny eyes.
”Your maid is really loyal to you. You'd better follow her advice and give up the idea of ever touching me, even after I slapped you.”
”Haha, because I'm the Queen, and my slap is a reward for you. You can't slap back, and you must thank me for the reward.”
”You!” Lengmei almost bit silver teeth to pieces and glared at Tang Xia, her fingernails buried in the flesh of her palms. ”Don't be so superior!”
”Ha, you amused me. Why can't I be superior? I am at the right position to be superior!” Tang Xia narrowed her eyes and tilted her head, putting up a look of innocence.
”Haven't you ever heard from His Majesty? He favors me and protects me, and won't let anyone harm me. This is my status. This is my achievement. Who are you to judge me?”
Lengmei could barely hold the surging blood phlegm in her throat and green veins throbbed intensely on her forehead.
”So what? Do you think you can do anything as you wish? Time changes fast. No one knows for how long you will remain the Queen.” Lengmei said in a sinister tone, as if the words were squeezed out through the slits between her teeth.
”Anyway, it's none of your business! Haha!” Tang Xia said, laughing proudly, ”I remember a sentence most suitable for this situation.”
”As long as I'm here, you're always an ordinary concubine.” Tang Xia bent over and said at Lengmei's ear, ”Don't you agree with that? His Majesty loves me so much.”
”...Nothing lasts forever, not even love. He who laughs last laughs best!” Lengmei snapped, glaring at Tang Xia as if knives were shot from her eyes.
”Hahaha, I believe life is to be enjoyed while you can, you know,” Tang Xia replied, breathing air as gentle as an orchid fragrance and wearing a wild smile, but her eyes were not smiling at all.
”Don't forget it was you who made trouble with me first. You spread rumors in the harem, dropped me in the gossip and made me the target of public denunciation. You deserve to be slapped in the face!”
”Hmmpf! Always remember who you are and never forget your status. If you don't stop devising meaningless schemes and framing others, you will one day lose everything you have, even your own life.”
After finishing venting her anger and lecturing Lengmei as her superior, Tang Xia left for her own chamber at a steady pace.
”Your Grace,” Lengmei's maid finally came back to herself and let loose Lengmei's arm before kneeling on the floor and kowtowing like a hammer, ”Please forgive my insolence. I should be punished by death.”
”Stand up,” Lengmei's voice was extremely cold and scary, as if her words were ejected as cold vapor.
”Yes, Your Grace.” The maid stood up slowly, shivering.
”I lost my composure every time I saw that bitch. I will keep you at my side in the future, and I need your reminder.”
”You're flattering me, Your Grace. I will always serve you whole-heartedly as you wish.”
”Hmm,” Lengmei mulled for a while quietly and asked, ”I told you to spread the gossip, and did you notice anything strange when you were doing it?”
The maid racked her brain for a while, shook her head while frowning, and then replied hesitantly.
”It went smoothly throughout. If there was anything to be called strange, I wonder if it was going too smoothly, and I was surprised at it myself.”
”What do you mean?”
”I'm not sure, but it went so smoothly as if it was god-blessed, and every step of the plan was perfectly carried out.”
”You mean someone was helping us in secret?”
”I'm not sure, but I feel there is someone in the harem who wants to see it done by us.”
”Who do you have in mind?”
Before the maid replied, Lengmei raised her hand, suggesting her not to speak it out, and said, ”I know. You may go now.”