Palace Fighting: Naive Concubines' Ascent to Power-Chapter 435: I am not angry at all

She swallowed, feeling truly hungry.

She realized that making mountains out of molehills could indeed make one hungry, just now she had let her thoughts run wild, both draining her spirit and making His Majesty worry, had she known she would not have thought so much, cough...

The Emperor followed her to sit down, and she began to make arrangements, sharing her thoughts as she did so.

The Emperor raised his eyebrows and disagreed, "How can that be considered making mountains out of molehills? Nannan and I share a bond so intimate, yet rarely do we express our true feelings. Your actions are very much to my liking."

Lian Hua’s hand, holding a meat patty, relaxed suddenly, and she couldn’t help but put down her chopsticks and cover her mouth to steal a giggle. Ah, His Majesty was too good with words, making her as happy as if she had found silver, even sweeter than finding silver.

She giggled, and couldn’t help but "smack" a kiss on the Emperor’s cheek, looking at him with sparkling eyes.

This kiss caught the Emperor by surprise; he arched an eyebrow, not expecting happiness to come so suddenly, resolving to speak more in the future.

He turned his other cheek and teased, pointing to it, "Nannan, how about a kiss here too?"

With a smile in her eyes, Lian Hua complied and "smack," kissed the other cheek.

The Emperor was content; his Little Concubine was truly sweet.

Worried she might be hungry, the Emperor personally took it upon himself to feed her meat patties.

Lian Hua was in extremely high spirits, happily sitting beside the Emperor, biting into the deliciously crispy skin and juicy inside of the meat patties with every mouthful.

As she ate, her glance fell on the plate, and something seemed off. She counted the meat patties: "One, two, three... huh, why is there one missing?"

She had clearly prepared five; three for her, two for His Majesty, or two for her and three for His Majesty, depending on whether His Majesty liked them or not.

As the Emperor reached over with a handkerchief, intending to wipe her mouth, he heard her and looked at the plate, then towards the door. The meat patty that the Young Eunuch had dropped was no longer there; apparently someone had picked it up when they were asked to leave.

Not bad, very perceptive.

He wiped Lian Hua’s mouth and asked, "If it’s not enough, we can have some more made."

It seemed she had asked casually.

Indeed, Lian Hua shook her head, not dwelling on it, and said straightforwardly, "There’s enough, Your Majesty, you should eat too."

As she spoke, she picked up a patty and held it to the Emperor’s mouth, "My Lord, you eat, it’s really tasty."

The Emperor took a bite from her hand, tasted it, and commented, "Hmm, not bad."

The two started eating, and the few meat patties were gone quickly.

After finishing, Lian Hua twisted a wet handkerchief for the Emperor to wipe his hands, and as she did, she said, "Your Majesty, about the book you were asking who it belonged to before, it is mine."

The Emperor’s amused expression solidified, and he calmly asked, "Hmm?"

He had intended to ask Zhang Qing about it later, not expecting her to bring it up voluntarily, thinking she had forgotten.

Lian Hua said somewhat sullenly, "My Lord, was that book really so bad? I... I was just looking at it for fun, please don’t be angry..."

Before she could finish, the Emperor interjected, "I am not angry, I am not the least bit angry, Nannan need not worry about it."

Having received a hint from Zhang Qing and knowing it was hers, the irritation he had felt dissipated.

"Ah? Not angry?" Lian Hua was slightly stunned; she felt he had been very angry at the time, always thinking that the next moment would bring punishment.

If she had done something wrong, she would admit it, and would obediently confess and listen to His Majesty’s arrangements, even if... even if His Majesty scolded her, she would accept it...

That said, it would probably be best to scold her softly, and best of all, to reason with her.

Emperor sighed in his heart, taking the wet handkerchief from her hand and placing it properly, "Not angry, not the slightest bit angry."

If it had been someone else, he might have punished them without asking for reasons, but with her, he couldn’t bring himself to do it, and knew she didn’t mean it, there must be some reason.

"Ah? But you were really strict when you scolded just now." Lian Hua blinked, had she misunderstood?

Fearing she couldn’t explain herself clearly, Lian Hua continued, "If I’ve done something wrong, you could just... just punish me, Your Majesty, I don’t want you to be angry, it hurts me to see you upset..."

As she spoke, she couldn’t help but grip the Emperor’s sleeve pitifully, looking at him with pleading eyes.

When someone close does something wrong, they should bravely face it, admit their mistakes obediently, negotiate if change is possible, and discuss further if negotiation fails. This was what her father had taught her, and it was the principle she had followed from childhood to adulthood.

Emperor’s heart melted, his Little Concubine was too endearing, "Nannan has done nothing wrong, it’s just that I thought of some state affairs, and failed to restrain myself, getting a bit too agitated for a moment."

"Oh, I see." Lian Hua bit her lip, pondering, her books had been thrown, but the talk was of other matters.

Mmm... That seemed to make sense, after all, the words His Majesty had said sounded very serious, not like lines from a play script.

Emperor nodded affirmatively.

Lian Hua’s spirits lifted once again, the weight in her heart dispersing instantly as she suddenly realized, "No wonder, I thought reading play scripts was a major sin. I read so many when I was a child, all kinds, but my mother and teacher wouldn’t allow it, so I had to sneak peeks with my classmates."

The storyteller wasn’t satisfying enough, always stopping at the crucial moments. She and the neighboring children were so anxious and restless that when they found out about such books as play scripts, they were overjoyed, wishing they could read them every day.

"What? Play scripts?" The Emperor couldn’t help but be startled, what kind of books were these?

Lian Hua said matter-of-factly, "They are vernacular stories, the narratives crafted in them, even easier to understand and more entertaining than the Three Character Classic and many other books."

She thought everyone knew about play scripts, but His Majesty’s expression seemed off.

She couldn’t help but probe, "Uh... Your Majesty, haven’t you ever read them?"

She was perplexed, wasn’t this common knowledge to everyone, how could His Majesty appear to be unaware?

Emperor frowned and answered truthfully, "I have not."

Suddenly realizing that he might have misunderstood something earlier...

Lian Hua’s eyes widened, had she discovered something astonishing?

His Majesty had never even read play scripts!

Ah, so in terms of reading, did she have one thing where she surpassed His Majesty?

Thinking of this, she became excited, eagerly pulling the Emperor to sit down again and starting excitedly, "Your Majesty, let me tell you, I might not match up in other areas, but when it comes to play scripts, I’m quite the connoisseur."

She counted off on her fingers, listing treasures from her memory, "Stories of ghosts and goblins, crime-solving stories, tales of gods and immortals, adventures of heroes..."

Counting one by one, she couldn’t recall all of them and finally said, "Anyway, I’ve read all of these. When I was a kid, I rummaged through the bookstalls on the street. I knew just from the titles which play scripts were good and which weren’t."

Emperor finally understood, these play scripts were probably meant for leisurely reading, not serious literature, just for entertainment, much like folks listen to storytelling or watch plays.