38 Chapter Thirty-eight

'Hmm... how should I go about this?' Meng walked down the palace hallway with a thoughtful expression on her face.

She didn't want Feng Qi to suffer too much as it would cause herself pain. However, it needed to be enough to push him back to his old self.

Child nurturing might be something that she didn't know much about, but torturing... A grim smile grew on her face. What didn't she know about torturing? 'Defying Moonlight' had a plentiful amount hidden inside of its pages for her to draw from.

It was never delightful and nothing she wished to push on someone else who did not deserve it. Yet, here she was about to torture a twelve year old and the person she cared most about.

She shook her head. 'Feng Qi must be really cursed to have a number one fan like me.'

"Princess Meng?" A voice cut through her thoughts causing her to look up curiously. Eyes narrowing, she gave the person a once over.

Meng did not remember ever knowing a person like this and couldn't recall him in any of her memories from 'Defying Moonlight'. He seemed to be a guard, yet she couldn't remember ever doing anything wrong...

"So it is Princess Meng, everyone is looking for you currently. The emperor wants to see you." He said before bowing.

Realization dawned on Meng as she recalled the accident that happened before Feng Qi saying he liked her. She had honestly forgotten all about it, however it should be expected the emperor would want to see her sooner or later.

Looking back down the hallway, she released a quiet sigh. It seemed like Feng Qi will have to wait a minute longer.

"I'll go see the emperor right away." Meng gave a small nod toward the guard. Changing her direction away from her room, Meng made her way toward the royal court room. 

"Princess Meng is entering!" A guard standing outside of the royal court room opened the door for her.

She analyzed the room as she entered and noticed that the emperor wasn't the only person inside this time.

The empress sat next the emperor while looking at Meng with gaze filled with pride. 

Sitting to the side there were four youths that she recognized as other Princesses and princes. 

They were all dressed extravagantly and luxuriously sat at their low tables. All of them were eye catching, but only their gazes made Meng show them attention.

Three of their gazes were filled with so much envy, she could hear their teeth gnashing from all the way across the room. She didn't know what they had to be envious over, however with eyes like that she needed to take care it seemed.

Walking into the middle of the room Meng bowed down all the way to the ground again.  She showed extra care in her stance this time. If the emperor was willing to make everyone look for her the matter should be serious.

"No need to bow Ru Gu Meng." The emperor's face sported a bright smile.

She stood up steadily with a surprised expression. 'Shouldn't he be angry that I supposedly ripped someone's arm off in public?' 

Meng still denied that she was responsible for this accident, however it was clear what the public thought. Her image should be absolute trash.

Originally, she was willing to try to keep her image together, when that woman first insulted her outside of her door by ignoring her calls.

The next time, when she was being dragged by that woman, she also didn't do anything. Her expression became hopeless as she thought about it.

All of the headaches she experienced during both of those situations, in the end, amounted to nothing.

She felt very discomforted by this fact, nevertheless there was nothing she could do now.