I became the tyrant's only belief.

Chapter 426 Exile to the Imperial Garden

The excuse was too lame for Xia Qiaoru to believe. She sat down next to Chu Liuzheng, took her hand, and smiled gently, "Are you too embarrassed to tell me? Did you cry because you saw His Majesty come to see you and treat you so kindly?"

Chu Liuzheng was speechless. "Which eye of yours saw His Majesty being considerate towards me?"

“Sister Moxiang and I both saw it,” Xia Qiaoru said. “Even His Majesty couldn’t bear to see you kneel. He personally carried you to the bed, his movements were careful, and his tone was gentle. Isn’t that considerate?”

Chu Liuzheng: "..."

That's it, there's no way to clear my name now.

"His Majesty is a good person, considerate and caring towards us servants. Please don't misunderstand." Chu Liuzheng tried to label Xiao Jingfan as a good person against her conscience, but these words only made things worse for Xia Qiaoru. She smiled at her with a motherly love and satisfaction in her eyes.

Chu Liuzheng got goosebumps from her laughter and had to put on a stern face, indicating that he would break off their friendship if she said it again.

Xia Qiaoru immediately covered her mouth, but she couldn't hide the smile in her eyes.

Chu Liuzheng: "..."

Chu Liuzheng became withdrawn.

Xia Qiaoru stood up and straightened her skirt. "It's not lunchtime yet. You just woke up, so you should eat something soft. I'll go to the imperial kitchen to check."

"No need to go." Chu Liuzheng thought of Xiao Jingfan's instructions and called out to Xia Qiaoru, "The imperial kitchen will send over the porridge in a little while, just wait."

Xia Qiaoru's eyes flickered, and she thought to herself that this must have been ordered by His Majesty.

She felt both joy and worry. She was happy that the emperor treated Chu Liuzheng with great care, which meant he genuinely liked her. She was worried about how long this affection would last, and how long he could protect Chu Liuzheng.

Chu Liuzheng was unaware of the many worries in her heart; she herself was still dealing with a whole host of problems.

The performance just now fooled the emperor, but it also gave him the wrong signal. She must find a way to quickly convert her merit into an opportunity to leave the palace and take Qiaoru with her.

Sunlight streamed through the window, and half an hour had passed, but the promised porridge still hadn't arrived.

Xia Qiaoru couldn't sit still any longer, so she ran to the imperial kitchen to ask, only to find out that the emperor hadn't given any orders at all. She had no choice but to pack a few things for Chu Liuzheng using what was readily available, and then returned with the food box.

Hearing that the emperor had not given any instructions, Chu Liuzheng assumed that the emperor was too busy to care and did not pay any attention to it.

Two days later, when she had almost recovered, she volunteered to return to her post before the Emperor, only to be handed a broom by Zhou Yuande and told to sweep fallen leaves in the Imperial Garden. It was then that she realized she had offended the big boss, who was so angry that he had banished her to the Imperial Garden.

Sweeping is great! You don't need to think; you just need to clean this area, and it'll be done in half an hour.

In a corner of the Imperial Garden, Chu Liuzheng pondered as he wielded a large broom.

[Once I've swept through the palace for a while longer and the tyrant has mostly forgotten about me, I should be able to collect my merits and leave, right?]

The more she thought about it, the happier she became, and she swung the broom with extra force.

Hehe, finally I don't have to worry about how to get along with the tyrant anymore.

"Oh dear, you're happy to be banished from the Emperor's court to sweep the floor? If I were you, I'd hang myself from a crooked tree." Accompanied by a sarcastic voice, a broom stretched out horizontally, scattering the fallen leaves that Chu Liuzheng had gathered together everywhere like a chicken claw.

Chu Liuzheng's hard work of half an hour was in vain. She squinted and looked over, wanting to see which clever person had been so quickly fooled into becoming the first to bully her, the new janitor.

The newcomer was a short, thin eunuch with thick eyebrows, round eyes, a bulbous nose, and a mole at the corner of his mouth. He held a broom in one hand and had the other on his hip, his eyes filled with schadenfreude.

Chu Liuzheng had no recollection of such a person. She forced a smile, "May I ask who you are, sir?"

"Who do you care who I am?" The little eunuch threw the broom in front of Chu Liuzheng, pointed to the flower bed not far away, and snorted, "Go sweep over there. The ladies will be coming to admire the flowers in a while. If you don't finish sweeping, you'll be in trouble!"

Chu Liuzheng turned to look at the flower bed, which was more than twice the size of the area she was in charge of. It would take at least an hour to clean it. She had no interest in doing chores for others.

"Steward Zhou instructed me that I am only responsible for cleaning this area. Please clean the flower bed area yourself, sir." She glanced at the sky. "It's getting late. If you spoil the ladies' enjoyment of strolling in the garden, sir, you cannot bear the consequences."

After she finished speaking, she was about to continue sweeping the floor when the little eunuch glared at her angrily and lunged at her, reaching out to grab her hair.

Chu Liuzheng was startled and spun around to avoid it.

The young eunuch persisted and tried to tear at her clothes again.

The more expensive the clothes, the less they could withstand the force. With a "rip," half of Chu Liuzheng's sleeve fell off. She was so angry that she grabbed a broom and swung it like she was playing golf, "smack!" and whipped the little eunuch halfway around.

The little eunuch never expected that Chu Liuzheng would dare to fight back. He cried out "Ouch!" and covered his face, sitting down on the ground with a thud, his eyes filled with shock and anger.

Those who were secretly watching were also stunned by Chu Liuzheng's move.

The young eunuch felt something wet on his hand, and when he held it up to his face, he saw blood.

His face was scratched in several places by the bamboo sticks on the broom.

He screamed in anger, "You shameless slut, how dare you hit me!"

"I'm going to beat you, you little beast!" Chu Liuzheng flicked the broom and swung it at the little eunuch again.

The young eunuch was so frightened that he kept backing away, shouting as he ran. Chu Liuzheng chased after him with a broom until someone called the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Garden, which stopped the farce.

The head eunuch turned pale with anger, raised his hand and slapped the little eunuch, cursing, "Are you blind! You lazy, good-for-nothing idiot, kneel down and beg Miss Liu Zheng to spare you!"

This idiot, I wonder whose favor he took, really thinks he's some kind of phoenix that's been brought down from its perch and can be bullied?

Eunuch Zhou has made it clear that Chu Liuzheng works in the Imperial Garden, and if even a single hair on his head is missing, he will be held responsible. You little brat, don't drag him down with you if you want to die!
The young eunuch was chased and beaten by Chu Liuzheng. He thought that the head eunuch, who usually received a lot of filial piety from him, would stand up for him. But he was beaten by the head eunuch as well. He was so aggrieved that he cried and knelt down in front of Chu Liuzheng, trembling.

Chu Liuzheng stepped aside, completely ignoring his courtesy.

The head eunuch hurriedly smiled apologetically: "Miss, please don't be angry. The child is ignorant. Considering it's his first offense, please forgive him this time."

“I can’t accept such a compliment from you, Father-in-law.” Chu Liuzheng forced a smile. “I’ve been doing my job dutifully. Someone is trying to bully me because I’m new here. I would appreciate an explanation from you, Father-in-law.”

Upon hearing this, the head eunuch knew that the matter could not be resolved peacefully, and he couldn't help but look at Chu Liuzheng with some surprise.

Everyone says that this Miss Liu Zheng is a good-natured person who rarely argues with others, so why is she being so unreasonable today?

He had several thoughts running through his mind, and then ordered the little eunuch to slap himself until Chu Liuzheng was satisfied.

The little eunuch felt extremely wronged, but under the glare of the head eunuch, he dared not not to hit him.

One slap after another landed, crisp and loud.

Chu Liuzheng gripped the broom and watched coldly, silently counting in his mind.

One, two, three, four, five...

Before the sound of "five" had even faded, a loud shout rang out: "Stop!"

【coming! 】

Chu Liuzheng immediately looked in the direction of the sound.

(End of this chapter)