After finishing lunch in a hurry, ZiLi said goodbye to Hong Qing and wanted to return to the Imperial Palace. But how could Hong Qing, who had not spoken much to him, be willing to let him go? With an aggrieved expression, he tugged at ZiLi’s sleeve and said, “Xiao Yu’er, could it be that you are still angry with me?”
ZiLi rolled his eyes inwardly and said, “Do you think I’m such a petty person? If I was still angry, would I still have invited you out to lunch today?”
“Yeah, that’s true! So, Xiao Yu’er doesn’t hate me after all!” Hong Qing cheerfully said, as he swung ZiLi’s hands back and forth.
“Let go! Please behave according to your status and age, okay!” ZiLi looked coldly at Hong Qing, who had an idiotic smile, and thought of the Emperor who had a dark expression all day. He really could not understand, how their personality could be so far apart, when they were born from the same mother! One was like a millennium old cold block of ice and the other was a big oaf!
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 34 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
Seeing that ZiLi was unhappy, Hong Qing immediately obediently let go, stepped aside, and said with a drooling face, “Since Xiao Yu’er is not angry with me, why don’t we go back to the palace a little later?”
“No! Although I’m not mad at you, I’m not feeling very well right now, so I want to go back to the palace!” ZiLi said with a straight face.
“Uh, all right!” Hong Qing said with a downcast face as he twisted the corners of his clothes, “So, when can we meet again, Xiao Yu’er?”
ZiLi frowned. What’s wrong with this guy? It feels like he is saying goodbye to his little sweetheart!
“Let’s talk about this another time. I’m leaving.”
“Oh, I’ll hold you to that!” Hong Qing, who was reluctantly to part, shouted at ZiLi, who left.
After getting rid of the annoying Hong Qing, ZiLi did not wander around much outside and went straight back to his Ming Yang Palace. When he walked to the gate, he noticed that there was not even one person in the outer courtyard.
“How strange! Where has everyone gone? Ming Yue, Chun Lan, I’m back!” ZiLi shouted as he walked towards the door.
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 34 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
Pushing open the door of the main hall, he found the room full of palace attendants standing very silently inside. Ming Yue and Chun Lan were also standing beside them, both feeling relieved inside when they saw ZiLi standing at the door.
ZiLi was stunned for a few seconds when he saw the situation in the room, then his heart suddenly skipped a beat and he stepped forward, bowed, and paid his respects to the man sitting above on a seat, “An JinYu greets His Majesty!”
ZiLi felt a gaze scan over his body for a while before hearing the other say, “You may rise!”
ZiLi squeezed his slightly sweaty palms and stepped aside with his head lowered. Honestly speaking, he had learned how terrifying this man could be, moreover, he did not want to provoke this dangerous lion to anger at this crucial moment, so he had now resolved that from now on he should be a little more humble, a little more careful, a little more low-profile, and certainly not as reckless as before, like always arguing with him.
“Oh, what is the matter with Xiao JinYu today, you are surprisingly quiet?” Hong Xu said as he played with the ornamental thumb ring in his hand and looked at ZiLi’s downcast face.
“Uh, I wonder what Your Majesty has come for?” ZiLi asked, as he had bitten the bullet.
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 34 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
“Are We only allowed to come if We have a reason?”
“That is not what JinYu meant!” That damn Emperor, so he was here to pick a fight!
Hong Xu did not respond to that, and just stared at ZiLi again for a while with a terrifying gaze and said, “Has Xiao JinYu been out of the palace today?”
Out of the palace? I even went to the toilet! 1 Why ask when you already know the answer! But even though he thought so in his heart, ZiLi did not dare say it out loud, and replied very politely, “I have, Your Majesty! JinYu had invited Prince Qing to go out for lunch!”
“For lunch? Hehe, now that you mention it, We are actually hungry as well! Servants, bring some food!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The palace attendants immediately set the table, and in no time, there was a table set with delicious food of high quality.
“Xiao JinYu, come here.”
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 34 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
“Answering to Your Majesty, JinYu has just eaten!” ZiLi refused. He really did not want to sit with this man, it was too terrifying!
“Come over and sit here.” Hong Xu’s tone had immediately turned a bit colder.
“Yes.” ZiLi had no other choice but to sit down, as he could not go against that man’s authority.
Hong Xu narrowed his eyes as if satisfied, then picked up a piece of fish fillet and brought it to ZiLi’s mouth, amidst the astonished eyes of the palace attendants, while saying, “Open your mouth.”
ZiLi looked at him and could not tell whether his expression was joy or anger. Then he obediently opened his mouth, bit off a piece of the fish fillet, chewed it a few times, and swallowed it without really tasting it.
After that, Hong Xu picked a few more dishes again and fed them to ZiLi.
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 34 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
“Your― Your Majesty, I am full!”
“Is that so? You only ate a few bites of simmer-fried Lion’s Head when you were outside the palace, and now you are full after eating only this little?”
When ZiLi heard those words, he felt chills running down his spine. This man already knew every move he had made. ZiLi had actually also noticed that he was being watched by a bunch of spies as soon as he had left the palace, but what he had not expected was that these people would even report to that man what he had eaten! And they only did that because Hong Xu had ordered them to! This man even went so far as to want to know such details. So, did he also know why he had used an excuse to go to the bathroom?
“Do you have a fever?”
“No― no, I don’t!”
‘Then, are you full?”
“No― no, I am still a bit hungry!”
“Well then, you have to eat everything until there is nothing left!”
ZiLi stared in horror at the dishes on this table, then turned his head and looked at Hong Xu.
“What is the matter? Was Xiao Jinyu not hungry? Then why are you not eating? How about letting Us feed you! Come―”
“No, I― I’ll eat it myself!” Under Hong Xu’s cold gaze, ZiLi, trembling slightly, picked up the chopsticks, and stuffed the food into his mouth.
The palace attendants at the side all had their heads lowered and did not dare move an inch. Ming Yue saw that ZiLi was occasionally choking on his food. Although she was very scared, she still took the tea, walked over to ZiLi and slightly trembling placed the tea in his hand, then lowered her head again and returned to her original position under Hong Xu’s icy gaze.
ZiLi’s heart suddenly felt heavy, and the tears in his eyes could not stop rolling down his face.
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 34 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
“Are you full?”
ZiLi nodded with his mouth full of food and tearful eyes.
Hong Xu leaned closer, pressed his bulging stomach, and whispered in his ear, “From now on, you have to eat with Us, do you understand?”
ZiLi nodded again.
“Furthermore, from now on you have to get Our permission to leave the palace, do you understand?”
ZiLi hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.
“Now that’s a good boy!”
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Translator Notes
Unfortunately, updates will be a bit sporadic until the end of April due to my upcoming exams and several deadlines (◡﹏◡✿)
Translation Notes
出 宫 - Chū gong – Out of the palace - 出恭 – Chūgōng – Go to the toilet – This sounds the same when spoken.