Chapter 354: She Felt Very Insecure
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
With Xiao Jue captured, all the supporters of the Grand Mentor’s faction panicked. Now, the forces in the Imperial Court seemed to be increasingly inclined towards Xiao Jin. If Xiao Jin came to power in the future, they would definitely be the first ones to be purged.
After the Empress received the news, she immediately went to Emperor Kangze’s palace to seek an audience, but Emperor Kangze refused to see her.
The Empress didn’t leave either. She simply knelt outside the palace entrance.
“Your Majesty, 1 beg Your Majesty to let Jue’er off this time. 1 beg Your Majesty to spare his life, even if it means demoting him to the level of a commoner, Your Majesty…”
The Empress kept kowtowing until her head almost cracked, but she still did not get to see Emperor Kangze.
The eunuch walked out of the hall and looked at the Empress who was in a sorry state. He said in a low voice, “Your Imperial Highness, you should go back. His Majesty has said that the Imperial edict has been issued and will not be changed. Your Imperial Highness, please go back…”
The Empress was so agitated that she grabbed the eunuch. “1 must see His Majesty. I must see His Majesty now!”
The eunuch felt helpless and could only gesture to the palace maids standing on two sides to pull the Empress away.
“I must see His Majesty. Your Majesty, on account of my father’s hard work over the years, even if he did not make major contributions, please spare his grandson this time, Your Majesty…”
Emperor Kangze sat on the dragon throne with a glum expression. When he heard the Empress’s shouts, his expression became even more unsightly.
Xiao Jue was so arrogant because he had the backing of the Grand Mentor’s Residence. Otherwise, if he were on his own, he would never dare to do this!
At night, many people secretly rushed to the Grand Mentor’s Residence.
The Grand Mentor’s men chased all of them away.
“Father, what should we do? If the First Prince dies, will the Emperor still let us off?”
The one who spoke was the eldest son of the Grand Mentor. Now, the people in the residence were very anxious. Everyone was afraid of being implicated. It was fine if they merely lost their official posts and titles of nobility, but they were afraid that they would lose their lives in the end.
The Grand Mentor, who was nearing his sixties, knitted his long eyebrows so tightly that his forehead resembled the Roman numeral III. Even his beard had become whiter than before.
“Is there any news from the Empress?”
The Grand Mentor’s second son replied, “The Empress cried and begged the Emperor, but the Emperor refused to see her. I’m afraid the Emperor has made up his mind this time. Father, are we really going to sit idly and wait for death?”
The study fell into a long silence again.
After an unknown period of time, the Grand Mentor finally spoke faintly, “Since there’s no way for us to back out, we can only charge forward.”
The few of them raised their heads abruptly and looked at him in a daze. Their eyes locked onto the other party’s gaze, and they all saw a look of understanding on each other’s faces.
Xiao Jin was injured now, so he applied for sick leave outright and stayed in Prince Qi’s Manor. He did not go to the Imperial Guards’ office.
When she woke up, Su Ying glanced at Xiao Jin, who was still asleep and got dressed first before getting out of bed and out of the room.
The older toddler Ji and the younger toddler Ling had already woken up and were ready for breakfast.
When they saw Su Ying approaching, the two little ones stood up and pounced at her.
“Good morning, Mother.”
“Mother, come have breakfast with us.”
Su Ying pinched their cheeks and said solemnly, “Don’t rush to eat breakfast. In the future, after you wake up in the morning, practice circulating your energy for 30 minutes before eating.”
Previously, Su Ying had only told them to practice their basic skills and she wanted to wait until they had a solid foundation before letting them practice circulating their energy. However, she had discovered one thing from her experience in training Fu Zheng. If she got the children to master circulating their energy first before giving them further training to strengthen their basic skills, the children could achieve twice the result with half the effort.
“How do I circulate my energy, Mother?”
Su Ying brought them to the courtyard.
“Stand with your feet side by side and press your legs tightly in the middle. Your foundation must be stable, or your breathing will easily become lax.”
Su Ying reached out and pinched Ling’s little butt. “Ling, press your little butt toward the middle.”
Ling pressed it together with great effort, but not long after that, her small body began to sway.
Ling had been practicing basic skills with Ji previously. Su Ying had never realized that there was such a big difference between the two children.
“Ling, tell Mother. When I told you to go running and do long jumps in the past, did you slack off?”
Ling blushed and shook her head instinctively. “No, Mother. I did not slack off!”
Su Ying looked at her evasive eyes and knew that this little one was lying.
Su Ying told Ji to practice on his own while she brought Ling to the side.
Ling thought that Su Ying wasn’t asking her to practice anymore, so she happily followed her. “Mother, give me a hug.”
Su Ying turned around and looked at Ling’s tender and adorable appearance. When she thought of the danger Ling had encountered not long ago, she still hardened her heart.
“Ling, do you still remember what I told you before? 1 told you not to lie to me flippantly. Do you still remember?”
Ling looked at Su Ying’s stern expression, and her large eyes froze. “Mother…”
“I will ask you again. When you were in Sky Alpha City, did you train diligently? Did you slack off?”
Ling looked into Su Ying’s eyes and gradually lowered her head. She said as she twiddled her fingers, “Mother, I did slack off. I’m sorry…” Perhaps it had been a long time since she had seen Su Ying looking so stern, but before she could finish speaking, Ling’s tiny mouth pouted and she was about to cry.
If this had happened in the past, Su Ying would have felt so much heartache that she would have picked up the child to placate her. However, now, she didn’t. Instead, she squatted down in front of Ling and looked straight at her. “Ling, are you crying because you feel wronged?”
Ling pouted, her large eyes brimming with tears. When Su Ying asked this, bean-sized tears rolled down her face at once.
“Mother, I know my mistake. I will never dare to do it again. Mother, don’t be angry, okay? Mother, don’t… don’t abandon me…” Ling’s tears began gushing more furiously and her sobs became increasingly louder.
Su Ying could clearly detect an intense sense of insecurity behind the little girl. The girl felt very insecure.
Su Ying didn’t feel good either, so she could only carry the child into her arms. “Be good. No matter what you become, Mother will never abandon you.”
Ling hugged Su Ying tightly. “Mother, I will not slack off anymore. Mother, don’t be angry. Don’t ignore me. Sob, sob, sob…”
Su Ying let out a sigh softly and gently pacified the child as she felt the small body trembling all over.
Ling was tender and adorable, but she was more sensitive than Ji. Perhaps her childhood experience had left too much of a trauma on her and it made her use what she believed were correct ways to ascertain her loved ones’ love for her.
Su Ying placated Ling for a while before she finally stopped crying.
Ling wiped away the tears on her face and said in a choked voice, “Mother, I will go and practice diligently with Big Brother. I must become as powerful as Mother. That way, the bad guys won’t be able to bully me anymore.”
Su Ying saw that although the girl’s eyes were swollen from crying, she was still bravely wiping away her tears. Su Ying felt gratified in her heart.
“Alright. But your foundation isn’t as good as Big Brother’s. Mother will teach you to circulate your energy first.”
Su Ying asked Bai Shuang to bring out a floor cushion and let Ling sit on it. Then, she taught her some breathing and breath-regulating methods.
After Su Ying finished teaching, she was about to check on Ji’s progress when she turned around and saw Xiao Jin walking out of the house.
“When Ling was born, her body was weaker by nature. She can’t master some of the more powerful moves.”
Su Ying had noticed this as well. After some basic practice, Ji’s improvement was very obvious, but Ling couldn’t achieve much progress.
“Is there any martial arts skill that is suitable for her but doesn’t require too deep a foundation?”
“Yes..”
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