I woke up as the Villainous Empress

73 Royal Summon

“Are you not? If you are not alive, then what are you? A ghost?” Zheng Liang asked sarcastically in exchange for Yang Ning’s harmless joke while bandaging her injured feet.

He was still angry at the fact that she hurt herself and wasn’t even worrying about herself at all. How can she not feel the pain and stand while stepping on the sharp shards of the porcelain?

She didn’t respond to his comments as she had nothing to say in this regard. Because she doesn’t know what she was either. Alive or Ghost. Who knows?

Moreover, she was too distracted by his fair beauty which was dazzling to her eyes.

Despite the soft and smooth white skin, he has a long nose bridge, pointed jawline, and cherry-like crimson lips which are coming into her sight even if she doesn’t want to see them.

How can a man be this beautifully flawless? She wondered as she stared at his ethereally captivating, unreal face.

He is indeed the Male Lead of a novel.

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Yang Ning was amused as she watched him bandaging her wounds. He was throwing indifferently cold remarks at her while dressing her wounds himself rather than calling the maid inside to do it instead.

.....

‘Isn’t he the Crown Prince? How can he touch her feet and treat her wounds?’ She wondered.

Is he the same Male Lead who used to hate Yang Ning in the novel? In the novel, he married Yang Ning for the sake of fulfilling his promise to his father and His Majesty, however, he never accepted her as his wife nor did they consummate their marriage.

It was a marriage in name only which was more like a business to them. Whereas Yang Ning was stuck in a loveless marriage, which her father arranged for his greedy benefits.

Zheng Liang married her and fulfilled his duty as the Crown Prince. He even tried to keep their so-called marriage by not revealing the corrupted activities of Yang Luoyang under the encouragement of Yang Ning, but his patience came off when they touched the person closest to him.

While working together, he took a liking to the Female Lead, who started to work as the nurse at the Imperial Medicine Clinic. When they tried to poison the female lead with whom he fell in love, his last thread of patience came off when they attacked his people rather than coming to him.

That’s why he decided to put an end to this painful and torturing marriage by punishing the people who were in the wrong and Yang Ning was one of those people.

Even though Yang Ning was also a puppet to Yang Luoyang’s manipulations, in the eyes of Zheng Liang and the world, Yang Ning was the instigator. That’s why she deserved to be punished and called the Villainess of this fictional world.

According to the novel, by this time, he should be throwing accusations and insults at her for causing all the fuss and breaking his precious porcelain.

Rather than that, he was taking care of her and putting medicine on her injured feet rather than calling someone else to do that instead. How can this be possible? Is the story changing its flow? She wondered.

___

After bandaging Yang Ning’s feet, Zheng Liang was about to stand up when his eyes fell on the darkened wound scars near her ankle that seemed to be old. There isn’t one but many other old scars like that as if someone has whipped her many times with a lash.

He pursed his lips and couldn’t help himself from caressing her old gashes. However, while touching her scars, he remembered what he was doing which caused his ears to turn red.

Even though they are engaged, both of them are still unmarried and this kind of action can be interpreted as inappropriate.

Feeling embarrassed, he immediately stopped touching her feet and stood straight. He cleared his throat in shame and was trying to avoid her dazed gaze.

Yang Ning, who had no idea of the emotions from which Zheng Liang was going through, wondered why his face suddenly turned red and was coughing like this. ” Erm...Your Highness, do you need some water?” She asked worriedly to see him coughing like this.

Zheng Liang looked at her in surprise and couldn’t help but notice the way she didn’t feel embarrassed about it at all. Does she not feel when he was touching her bare skin above the ankles?

It wasn’t her fresh wounds but her bare skin. How can she not notice? Does she not feel embarrassed about him touching her bare skin at all?

However, while thinking about being inappropriate, he remembered the kiss that they shared when he saved her from drowning and couldn’t help his earlobes turning red.

” Who are you offering water to? You’re the patient here.” He commented coldly when she asked him for some water to avoid feeling embarrassed.

Yang Ning: “...”

Yang Ning was speechless at his indifferent response and wondered what does it have to do with him drinking water?

“So?” She asked him unknowingly. It doesn’t make sense. She is a patient here. So? What does he want her to do?

Is he saying that since she is the patient, other people should stop eating and drinking and do fasting instead?

Zheng Liang was caught off guard by her unexpected response and looked at her in a baffle. “What...What do you mean by so? Are you speaking back to me? How can you say ‘So’ in a response?”

Yang Ning was bewildered when he suddenly got angry at her. Did she say something so wrong for him to get angry at her to this extent?

She looked at him with her perplexed expression and wondered what she should say to pacify his mood swings. She is the one injured and sick yet he is the one getting angry at her.

She didn’t blame him for giving her the wrong information that the wild bear will be coming to the brothel from the front gate and not the exit gate. She almost died because of their ignorance and yet he dared to get angry at him.

How insincere!

For the sake of the fake social survival instincts, she was thinking about a response that could please him. However, before she could say anything, someone knocked on the door.

~Knock, Knock~

“You may enter.” Zheng Liang covered her bare ankles with the blanket before responding to the knock on the door.

Yang Ning looked at him in disbelief and scoffed to see the blanket covering her legs. Does he have a strange fetish for women’s legs? Why does he keep covering her ankles?

Do the people of this world haven’t seen anyone’s ankles? Why is everyone in this world obsessed with the bare skin of her ankles?

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After getting permission from Zheng Liang, Gu Lan entered the chamber and glanced at Yang Ning apologetically before turning to Zheng Liang and saying, ” Your Highness, a summon has come from the royal court.”

” From the royal court?” Zheng Liang furrowed his brows upon hearing Gu Lan’s report.

” Yes. His Majesty has demanded the presence of Lady Yang Ning and Your Highness at the royal court.”

Zheng Liang pursed his lips and could comprehend why he and Yang Ning were called to the royal court at such a short notice. He was aware that the rumors will reach the ears of His Majesty sooner or later and that he will receive a summon from the royal court but he wasn’t expecting that it will happen so soon.

” You don’t need to worry. I will take care of everything.” He looked at Yang Ning and said seriously.

Yang Ning raised her brows and smiled hesitantly upon hearing his words. Is it something she should be worried about? She looked at him in confusion and fear at the same time.

She was excited that she would be rewarded for killing the wild bear and helping the Royal authorities in taking down the serial killer wild bear, but seeing his expressions, why does it feel like they were summoned to be scolded rather than rewarded?

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Royal Court-

Yang Ning sighed anxiously as she waited with Zheng Liang at the royal court for His Majesty to arrive. She wanted Xiaowei to come along with her but Gu Lan told her that she is still at the infirmary and since the servants weren’t allowed to come here, she had no choice but to come along with Zheng Liang.

She thought that there would be other people as well but strangely there was only Zheng Liang and her. It was a private meeting with the Emperor.

How scary.

She looked around curiously and realized that it was the same place where the Birthday Celebration Banquet of Zheng Liang was organized. She had heard that His Majesty holds his royal court at this place but wasn’t expecting that she will get to experience this nerve-racking feeling in person, that too so soon.

Zheng Liang glanced at her looking around curiously and said. ” It’s alright. Nothing will happen.” He said to calm her down.

‘ You said the same thing for the wild bear as well.’ Yang Ning wanted to say it aloud but stopped herself from doing so. Saying it aloud means awakening the dragon inside him.

She pursed her lips and smiled bitterly and nodded her head gracefully, just like a noble lady.

However, the reality was different from what she was imagining in her head. In reality, her fake and uneasy smile was making her look more unappealing and it was evident that she didn’t trust him at all and was still trembling in fear to face His Majesty.

Zheng Liang wanted to chuckle upon seeing her random peculiar expressions but was interrupted by the announcement of the royal guard. “PLEASE STAND UP. HIS MAJESTY HAS ARRIVED!”

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