Chapter 29
Chapter 29: Cursing Shi Mei You
“N-no…” Min Xi Ling wiped her tears quickly, voice thick. “It’s… it’s too delicious. I just… I miss my mother.”
Lin Chong was the kind of man who could carry pork home and pick cabbage with skill, but comforting someone?
He looked like a wooden post trying to learn poetry.
“D-don’t cry,” he stammered. “If you like it, eat more. Later… later come often…”
Sweetie covered her mouth and giggled, shooting him frantic little eye signals like a tiny coach: Uncle! Push! Push!
Min Xi Ling, seeing how sincerely clumsy he was, actually laughed through her tears.
After the meal, Min Xi Ling helped clean up. When Sweetie chattered that Uncle was heading south for disaster relief, Min Xi Ling’s eyes brightened.
“Big Brother Lin is going for disaster relief?” she said softly. “I… I have nowhere to go. How about… I go with you? At least I can help.”
“No,” Lin Chong refused immediately. “There are refugees everywhere down there. It’s chaotic. Too dangerous. If you truly have nowhere to stay, then… stay here for now. Help me watch the courtyard.”
“Dangerous?” Min Xi Ling’s brows lifted.
She walked to the yard’s corner, where an old stone mill sat abandoned—huge and heavy, the kind that looked like it could crush a foot into paste.
Under Lin Chong’s baffled stare, she braced herself, grabbed the edge with one hand, and said calmly, “Up.”
The mill lifted.
One-handed.
She raised it over her head like it weighed nothing and even turned it in a slow circle, steady as a dancer.
Lin Chong’s mouth fell open so wide you could’ve tossed a meat bun in there.
Min Xi Ling set the mill down gently, dusted her hands, and smiled. “Big Brother Lin, see? I’m strong. You look like a scholar who can’t tie up a chicken. How can you travel without a bodyguard? Bring me. It’ll be safer.”
“Yay!” Sweetie sprang up clapping, cheeks flushed with excitement. “Sister Ling is so cool! Uncle, say yes! With her there, Tian Tian is a hundred times relieved!”
Lin Chong stared at the mill, brain empty, then nodded like he’d been hypnotized. “…O-okay. Okay.”
With that settled, Chu Tian Tian strutted away holding A Dai’s hand, bouncing back to the palace like she’d just completed a heroic campaign.
On the way, their carriage passed a pastry shop fragrant enough to make the soul float. Sweetie’s cravings struck. She dragged A Dai down immediately.
They hadn’t even reached the doorway before a heart-rending wail cut through the crowd.
Prince Gong’s spoiled commandery princess, Shi Mei You, stood in the street holding a delicate sugar figurine, chin lifted like she owned the world. At her feet, a skinny little girl in patched clothes sobbed so hard she nearly fainted.
Beside the child, her father—clearly a dock laborer—bowed again and again, voice low and desperate.
“Commandery Princess… please… that was my child’s birthday gift…”
“Birthday gift?” Shi Mei You sneered, sharp and cruel. “A filthy lowborn brat thinks she deserves sugar? I want it, so it’s mine. Get lost.”
At her side, Shi Zhi—Prince Gong’s heir apparent—watched with folded arms, expression cold and bored, like misery was entertainment.
Chu Tian Tian’s face hardened. She marched over, steps quick, eyes blazing.
“Shi Mei You!” she snapped. “You’re stealing again! Give it back to that sister! If you don’t, I’ll tell imperial uncle right now and let him judge!”
Shi Mei You’s eyes flared the moment she saw her.
That busybody little disaster star again.
Shi Zhi tugged Shi Mei You’s sleeve, voice low and urgent. “Hold it. The emperor has been favoring her lately.”
Shi Mei You forced a fake smile onto her face. “Ninth Sister, you misunderstood. I… I’ll give it back.”
She held the sugar figurine out toward the trembling child.
Just as the child’s fingers were about to touch it, Shi Mei You’s eyes flashed with malice.
Her hand “slipped.”
Crack.
The sugar figurine hit the ground and shattered into glittering pieces.
“Oh no,” Shi Mei You said, covering her mouth dramatically. “How could you be so careless? You didn’t hold it steady.”
The little girl let out a broken wail, staring at the ruined birthday gift like her whole world had cracked with it.
Her father clutched her tightly. His eyes were muddy with rage and despair—but he didn’t dare speak.
Chu Tian Tian’s small fists clenched until they trembled. Her voice came out sweet—and terrifyingly steady.
“Shi Mei You. You waste food on purpose and bully the weak.”
She pointed straight at her, eyes sharp as a blade. “I curse you—every time you drink water, you’ll choke. Every time you eat, you’ll gag. Every time you snack, your tongue will sprout huge pus blisters. It’ll hurt you to death.”
Shi Mei You rolled her eyes so hard it looked painful. “How childish. Who do you think you’re scaring?”
But the crowd was swelling, whispers spreading like fire. Shi Zhi’s expression tightened. He could already see this turning ugly.
He reached into his pouch, pulled out a silver ingot, and shoved it into the dock laborer’s hands. “Compensation. Take your child and go.”
Then he seized Shi Mei You and dragged her toward their carriage before she could keep shrieking.
Inside, Shi Mei You stomped so hard the carriage floor thudded.
“Brother! Why did you pay so much? Why did you bow to that trash? Who does she think she is?!”
Shi Zhi rubbed his temples, jaw tight. “Shut up. Money is nothing. You cause a scene in the street and get impeached by the censor—that’s real trouble.”
But even as he spoke, his mind wasn’t on the crowd.
It was on the little guard beside Chu Tian Tian.
A Dai’s face.
Those brows, that outline—why did it feel so familiar?
A chill crawled up Shi Zhi’s spine, followed by a hard, sudden thump of panic in his chest.
He searched his memory—and found nothing.
At the Bureau of Astronomy, candlelight flickered.
Chu Jiao Jiao stood rigid with jealousy, her small face twisted into something vicious.
“National Preceptor,” she hissed, nails digging into her palms, “you personally declared that I am the Great Ning Lucky Star, the one destined to lead the dynasty into prosperity.”
She swallowed the rest of her fear—what she didn’t dare say out loud—and forced only hatred into her voice.
“But now? That Chu Tian Tian… she crushes me everywhere. She’s in the spotlight. You want me to endure? I can’t endure.”
Her eyes burned. “Make her ruin her reputation immediately. Nail down the name of disaster star. Otherwise there will be endless trouble.”
In the shadows, the National Preceptor slowly lifted his eyelids. A sharp light flashed in his gaze.
“Calm yourself, Princess Ying Yue,” he said.
He raised his hand, fingers moving in a silent calculation. Then his mouth curled slightly.
“I’ve received news. The southern disaster grows worse by the day. We can use this opportunity to make Chu Tian Tian the disaster star in the mouths of the commoners.”
His voice dropped, heavy with certainty. “Not to mention the emperor—even the Retired Emperor won’t be able to protect her.”
He looked at Chu Jiao Jiao as if delivering fate itself. “She is the true disaster star who draws down calamity.”
Chu Jiao Jiao’s eyes lit up with wild joy.
“Truly?” she whispered. Then her smile sharpened. “Good. Perfect.”
Her voice turned cold. “I want her to never rise again. Not ever.”