Just as Ning Xiaoyao prepared to raise a fist, Empress Dowager Xie wiped her eyes and said in a low voice, âYuâer, you canât talk to This Dowager like this.â
â.....â Ning Xiaoyao was mute. She hadnât even made a move. All she did was say she wanted some peace and quiet, and this woman couldnât take it anymore?
âThe walls have ears in the palace, too. I didnât mind when it was only you speaking to This Dowager just then, but if your imperial brothersâ spies spread news of this, they can accuse you of being unfilial,â Empress Dowager Xie was full of sincerity. âOf all virtues, filial piety is the most important. You canât afford to be unfilial; otherwise, This Dowager and your grandfather wonât be able to protect your title even if we risked our lives!â
As she spoke, Empress Dowager Xie raised her hand to lightly brush against the swollen lump on Ning Xiaoyaoâs forehead. Her expression was filled with tender affection, while Ning Xiaoyao had been too surprised by her speech to move away. Just a few words could cost her the position of emperor? Then what if she killed her own mother? What would be the consequences for her then?
âSilly child,â Empress Dowager Xie sighed. âIf your Imperial Father hadnât passed away so early and your little brother wasnât just a newborn, how could This Dowager bear to have you dress up as a boy and sit on the knifeâs edge that is the emperorâs seat?â
Ning Xiaoyao still wanted to make a move. This woman could act too well. Couldnât bear to? When she killed her own daughter, why didnât she seem unwilling at all?
âEsteemed Empress Dowager,â a mamaâs [1. mama (嬷嬷) - a form of address for an elderly female servant, also a wet nurse.] voice called from outside. âPrince Cheng is awake.â
âYou little brother woke up,â Empress Dowager Xie said in a rush to Ning Xiaoyao. âHe's still young and cries when This Dowager isnât around after he wakes. This Dowagerâs going to see him. Your Majesty, you have to remember This Dowagerâs words. What happened then, can't happen again.â
There was a little person in Ning Xiaoyaoâs heart waving a handkerchief at Empress Dowager Xie. See you some other time, but itâs best if we part and never meet again!
Empress Dowager Xie still felt that there was something off about her daughter, but right now she was concerned about the son thatâd just woken up from his midday nap. She put Ning Xiaoyaoâs affairs to the back of her head. Compared to this chess piece, the child in her own palace was the true guarantee for her Xie familyâs future riches and glory.
After Empress Dowager Xie left with her retainers, Ning Xiaoyao looked at the rest of the people standing by her side. She was about to ask them how she could avoid Empress Dowager Xie forever when she heard a voice coming from the Wutong tree outside the window.
âThat ninnyâs been tricked by that Xie Clan woman again, meow~â
âAn emperor like her might as well die. Even the people by her side are all that Xie womanâs subordinates, meow~â
Ning Xiaoyao looked expressionlessly outside the window, where three fat, black, white, and yellow cats sat perched on the wutong treeâs leafy branches. During the last epoch of mankind, humanity had adapted itself to an environment unsuitable for human life. They evolved until their bodies surpassed that of normal humans and developed various abilities. Ning Xiaoyao had the power to heal. Although she couldnât cure people bitten by zombies, she was still capable of treating diseases including malignant tumors and late stage cancer so that the patient could live for 10 to 20 more years. Besides that, she also possessed the power to understand animal speech. This ability was rather pointless during the apocalypse, since all the animals on land, in the air, or underwater had mutated into zombie beasts. Humanity couldnât even ensure its own survival, much less keep pets, so Ning Xiaoyaoâs second skill only allowed her to hear the animals crying out meat, meat, meat, I want to eat meat! ï¼o(â¯â¡â°)oï¼
âMiaow,â the black cat that had kept silent all this time saw Ning Xiaoyao looking their way and swished its tail. âThis ninnyâs still looking at us. Supreme Commanderâs about to die, but she doesnât even know to save him! Idiot! Blockhead! Go die, die, die!â
âBig Boss, calm your anger,â the yellow cat with a tummy as round as a ball spoke, âSheâs just a puppet, so how can she save Supreme Commander?ân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
âMeowmeow, thatâs right, Big Boss,â the cat with long white fur added, âNo matter how much we adore Supreme Commander, itâs no use. These are human affairs, meow.â
All of the fur on the black cat stood on end as he arched his body and bared his teeth towards Ning Xiaoyao. It looked like he wanted to spring over and bite her to death.
â.....â Ning Xiaoyao was speechless. Who was this Supreme Commander? Even cats were this personâs fans? This personâs charms were enough to transcend species boundaries?!