The Cannon Fodder Was Pampered By The Tyrant - Chapter 11

“I’m sorry.”

Lin Yutian was afraid of blood, so she simply squeezed her eyes shut, following the logic that what the eye doesn’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve over.

She could feel Si Yan’s fingers entering her mouth, manipulating her stiff tongue. Immediately after, she felt the cold, sharp sensation of a blade against it.

She was incredibly nervous.

She hadn’t studied biology well and couldn’t remember if there were major arteries in the tongue. If there were, and it was cut off, would she bleed to death? If so, would her life end right here?

Meanwhile, Si Yan had only touched her with the back of the knife, but she discovered that Lin Yutian was trembling all over.

Is she so terrified, yet still willing to shield that person?

A feeling called jealousy spread rapidly through Si Yan’s heart. Why would Lin Yutian go to such lengths for a woman she had barely met? She was even willing to have her tongue cut out for her.

…Why?

Lin Yutian waited in trepidation for a long time, but the expected pain never came. Instead, the pressure on her tongue vanished.

She slowly opened her eyes to find Si Yan retracting her hand with an unreadable expression. “Go back.”

Lin Yutian blinked, her mouth tasting slightly salty and bitter. “You’re not cutting my tongue anymore?”

Si Yan glanced at her. “Are you disappointed?”

Lin Yutian instinctively shut her mouth. But after a few seconds, she couldn’t help asking, “Then… will you still kill her?”

Si Yan’s eyes darkened. “You still want to plead for her?”

Lin Yutian looked directly at her. “Si Yan, that is a life. Even if she made a mistake, she doesn’t deserve to die. Her family spent so much effort raising her. Please don’t kill her. Just expel her from the palace, okay?”

Si Yan’s expression didn’t change. She reached out to brush Lin Yutian’s messy hair behind her ear. “If you still want to save her, show me some sincerity.”

Lin Yutian was a bit dazed and felt a sting of grievance. “But I let you cut my tongue… isn’t that enough sincerity?”

“A tongue can be used for more than just that.” Si Yan rubbed Lin Yutian’s lip with her thumb. “You know what to do, Ayu.”

Lin Yutian’s face turned red exactly as Si Yan had expected. But since the maid’s situation couldn’t wait, every second was a second of danger. Lin Yutian steeled her heart. She looked up and gave Si Yan a light kiss on the cheek.

She didn’t like women and truly couldn’t bring herself to kiss Si Yan on the lips. This was the absolute limit of what she could do.

“Is this okay?” Lin Yutian asked softly.

The soft sensation of the girl’s lips seemed to linger on Si Yan’s cheek. The feeling was utterly foreign; even without their lips meeting, it triggered a powerful reaction.

“You think a kiss on the cheek is enough to dismiss me?” Si Yan snapped back to reality, continuing to be difficult.

Lin Yutian looked at her with watery, helpless eyes.

Suddenly, Si Yan’s heart softened.

…Fine. Lin Yutian didn’t have a preference for women to begin with the fact that she could do this was already a huge step forward.

Just as Si Yan was about to reach out and hold Lin Yutian’s waist to teach her what a real kiss was, she saw Lin Yutian flinch. Her eyes instantly reddened, and her voice trembled. “It hurts.”

Si Yan thought she was faking and exposed her mercilessly. “I haven’t even touched you yet. What hurts?”

Lin Yutian was in too much pain to speak for a moment. The pain from a bruise is often delayed; as long as you don’t touch it, it’s like it’s not there. But at the slightest pressure, it becomes unbearable.

Seeing the look on her face, Si Yan frowned. “What’s wrong with your waist?”

Lin Yutian didn’t want Si Yan to know about her embarrassing incident. She shook her head. “Nothing…Si Yan!”

Ignoring her, Si Yan untied her waistband.

On the girl’s tender skin was a large, purplish-red bruise. It was an eyesore. Si Yan’s tone dropped several degrees in temperature. “Who hurt you?”

Lin Yutian’s clothes were now a mess, her body covered only by a pink camisole. She struggled to pull her outer robe back on and tie the knot. “No one. I just tripped on a stone while coming here.”

“Was it someone from the Department of Punishment?” Si Yan asked, almost certain.

Hearing this, Lin Yutian hurriedly tried to dissuade her. “Don’t blame them. It was my fault for repeatedly obstructing their work and not letting them take the person away.”

But Si Yan’s cold, hard expression did not soften.

Lin Yutian didn’t understand. She was the one who was hurt, so why did Si Yan look so angry? From Si Yan’s perspective, shouldn’t she be happy that Lin Yutian got beaten?

While Lin Yutian was dazed, she suddenly felt the world go weightless. Startled, she clung to Si Yan. “What are you doing?”

Si Yan carried her steadily to a soft bed nearby and sat her down. “Lie face down. I’ll have the imperial physician come look at you.”

Lin Yutian said dismissively, “It’s fine…”

Her voice trailed off because she realized Si Yan was staring at her quietly with an inscrutable gaze.

Lin Yutian looked up at her and whispered, “Since I’m already injured, can you be merciful and let her go?”

“Lin Yutian.” Si Yan’s beautiful face was as calm as still water. “Who is she to you that you would risk your life to plead for her?”

Anyone else would have smelled the thick scent of jealousy in Si Yan’s words, but Lin Yutian was naturally dense. She replied quite matter of factly, “It doesn’t matter who she is. I just don’t think she deserves to die. Even if it weren’t her today, even if…”

Lin Yutian’s bright, clear eyes looked at Si Yan. “Even if it were you today, I would do the same.”

She was just using it as an example, but unexpectedly, the cold aura around Si Yan dissipated significantly.

She still kept a cold face, but her voice softened. “Truly?”

Lin Yutian blinked. “Of course.”

Just as she finished speaking, a knock came from the door.

Si Yan opened her lips slightly. “Enter.”

Lin Yutian immediately put a large distance between herself and Si Yan. She saw a person wearing the same uniform as the one who had kicked her enter. The person said to Si Yan, “Your Majesty, it has been handled.”

Before Si Yan could speak, Lin Yutian asked, “Handled what?”

The person had noticed their proximity out of the corner of her eye upon entering and didn’t dare raise her head, acting as if she hadn’t heard anything.

Si Yan spoke up appropriately, “You may speak.”

Only then did the person answer respectfully, “Reporting to Your Majesty, the palace maid Lin Qin has finished her punishment and has been beaten to death. Her body has been thrown into the mass grave.”

After she spoke, the hall fell into a dead silence.

“Beaten to death?” Lin Yutian repeated in disbelief. “How long has it even been?”

If she calculated correctly, it hadn’t even been an hour.

Lin Yutian suddenly realized the ruthlessness of Si Yan’s methods. If she really wanted to kill someone, it wasn’t complicated at all. An innocent life had vanished just like that.

When she turned her pale face to look at Si Yan, she found Si Yan watching her quietly.

Lin Yutian’s brow furrowed tight. “Didn’t you say you wouldn’t kill her?”

Si Yan replied shamelessly, “When did I ever promise that?”

Lin Yutian thought back carefully. Si Yan indeed had never agreed from start to finish. Instead, she had used the situation as an excuse to make Lin Yutian kiss her.

Finally, Lin Yutian realized she had been played.

Anger mixed with grievance forced her to question, “How can you be so untrustworthy?”

At these words, the reporter’s knees went weak, and she almost fell.

Si Yan chuckled. “Is ‘untrustworthy’ the only word you have?”

Lin Yutian glared at her. “You are also cold-blooded, heartless, dark, and treacherous. You’ve had everything since birth and everything has gone your way. You have no idea how hard it is for an ordinary family to raise a child.”

“Everything has gone my way.” Si Yan repeated those four words and suddenly laughed. “To think I’d hear that from your mouth one day.”

Si Yan’s dark pupils were like a wolf looking at its prey. “So that’s the image you have of me.”

Lin Yutian swallowed hard. “Of course.”

The contents of the book wouldn’t lie. In the early stages, Si Yan was exactly this kind of tyrant, killing people for no reason. Even if it wasn’t Lin Qin today, it would be Xu Qin or Mo Qin…

Si Yan curled her lips into a smile. “Good. Very good.”

With that, she strode out of the Imperial Study, leaving Lin Yutian sitting on the bed in silence.

In Lin Yutian’s view, that maid had no ulterior motives; she just couldn’t control her tongue. Why did she have to be killed?

The head of the Department of Punishment saw the situation was wrong and guessed that this must be the “Miss Lin” rumored throughout the palace. She hesitated for a moment before continuing, “Miss Lin, today when we were arresting the maid Tang Yu at Yangxin Hall, my subordinate accidentally injured you. It was my negligence. I am sorry.”

Lin Yutian didn’t think it was a big deal anyway; she had been in the wrong for obstructing their work.

As an “I’m sorry” reached her lips, Lin Yutian paused. “…Who did you say you were arresting?”

The head lowered her eyes. “The palace maid Tang Yu.”

Lin Yutian was stunned for several seconds, her brain racing to recall the previous conversation. She remembered that the person beaten to death was named Lin Qin.

“Then… who is Lin Qin?” Lin Yutian asked softly.

The head replied, “She was the maid who attempted to assassinate His Majesty the day before yesterday.”

The day before yesterday…

On those days, Si Yan had returned to the palace without any sign of anything wrong. She had even teased her wickedly as usual, there was no indication she had faced an assassination attempt.

In that moment, a thought struck Lin Yutian, why didn’t she tell me? Why did she act like nothing happened?

The head continued, “After His Majesty ordered me to investigate her background and confirmed she was an assassin sent by the Southern Barbarians, the execution was carried out.”

Lin Yutian’s words were stuck in her throat. It took a long time for her to find her voice. “Then what about Tang Yu? How will you deal with Tang Yu?”

“Tang Yu maliciously spread gossip within the palace. His Majesty docked four months of her salary and then expelled her from the palace.”

“She… she didn’t intend to kill her?” Lin Yutian asked in disbelief.

“His Majesty never mentioned anything to me about killing or injuring her.”

“……”

Only at this moment did Lin Yutian realize she had completely misunderstood Si Yan.

But why?

Didn’t the book say she was a tyrant who killed without blinking? But… thinking back carefully, over these few days, Si Yan had been almost nothing but smiles towards her. At most, she teased her with a bit of mischief, but she had never once been harsh with her.

Just then, there was a sound at the door. A middle-aged woman in long robes with a bag slung over one shoulder walked in. “This official is late.”

Lin Yutian thought she was looking for Si Yan. She tried to keep her voice steady. “She went out.”

“I am not here for His Majesty,” the woman said, looking at her. “I am here for you, Miss.”

Lin Yutian was startled. “…For me?”

“Just now, His Majesty informed me that you injured your waist and told me to come examine you.”

Lin Yutian was dazed. Even though Si Yan had been so angry after being misunderstood, she still sent someone to check on her.

“Then… where is His Majesty?” Lin Yutian asked softly.

The Imperial Physician shook her head. “I do not know.”

Preoccupied with her thoughts, Lin Yutian allowed the physician to examine the bruise. Once everything was finished, she hurried back to the sleeping quarters, but there was still no sign of Si Yan.

Lin Yutian had a belly full of apologies but no way to say them. She could only wait in silence. But even when night fell, Si Yan did not appear, as if she had vanished into thin air.

This continued for two days.

Lin Yutian woke up frequently during the day and night. She kept dreaming that Si Yan was beside her, but every time she woke up, there was no one. The room was pitch black, and the bedsheets were cold. Even though it was early spring, Lin Yutian felt freezing.

She felt that people were strange; in just a few days, she had actually adapted to life with Si Yan and the warmth of her body.

This reminded her of her sophomore year in high school when she picked up a dying puppy. She spent almost all her money trying to save it. Every day after school, she would rush home to see it, and every time she reached the door, she could hear the little thing whimpering. The moment she entered, the puppy would stumble toward her.

Sadly, it died after three days. For a long time after that, every time Lin Yutian went home, she would instinctively look down at her feet, only to see her empty pant legs.

As the scene replayed, the vast, empty room made Lin Yutian clearly realize that if Si Yan didn’t want to have anything to do with her, they could truly never see each other again.

Since Si Yan was so angry, she probably wouldn’t care if she lived or died anymore, right?

Lin Yutian lowered her eyes and tugged at the tassel on her belt, nearly pulling it all off.

No, she had done something wrong and had to apologize.

Lin Yutian stood up, but soon sat back down dejectedly. She was a bit afraid that if Si Yan didn’t accept her apology and treated her coldly, it would be even more awkward.

Finally, Lin Yutian found out the time for the morning court session. Afraid of oversleeping, she stayed up all night, waiting until the first light of dawn to get dressed and run to the Great Hall.

However, to her surprise, the hall was already full. The officials were giving reports, it sounded like they had been at it for a while.

Does Si Yan get up this early every day?

Anxious to find Si Yan, Lin Yutian peered through the door.

What met her eyes was a sea of officials in various colored robes and tall hats kneeling on the floor. The sight of so many people was overwhelming. High on the throne sat Si Yan in her dragon robes, her expression indifferent. She didn’t have even a hint of the playful, teasing look she usually wore.

Lin Yutian’s heart skipped a beat for some reason.

She steadied her nerves, but when she refocused on Si Yan’s face, it felt as if someone had squeezed her heart!

Si Yan had already keenly spotted her at some point. At this moment, those ink-colored eyes were looking past everyone kneeling on the floor, fixed steadily on her. But she quickly looked away.

Lin Yutian got anxious and waved at Si Yan, but Si Yan looked everywhere at the ceiling, at the floor, everywhere except at her.

“Your Majesty, I have finished my report.”

The official in deep red robes at the front looked up to observe Si Yan’s expression. Usually, Si Yan would frown, but today she was uncharacteristically silent, finally only saying: “You may step down.”

The official was stunned, and then a smile he couldn’t hide spread across his face. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Seeing that Si Yan refused to acknowledge her, Lin Yutian puffed out her cheeks and quietly left.

As Si Yan noticed the figure at the door turn and leave, the corners of her mouth pressed downward.

The next official to report suddenly felt a chilly wind and slowed down his speaking speed significantly, trying not to irritate Si Yan.

“Did you not eat today?” Si Yan stared at him and asked, her voice even colder.

The official felt extremely aggrieved but accelerated his reporting.

It wasn’t until past noon that Si Yan finished listening to the memorials. Her mind was full of the image of Lin Yutian quietly leaving that morning, making her even more irritable.

Upon reaching the back hall, Si Yan sat in a chair, intending to review some scrolls to recover her mood. She noticed a piece of white paper on the table with five words and a strange symbol written on it:

Si Yan, I’m sorry TT

The handwriting looked quite youthful, but it wasn’t hard to see that Lin Yutian had written each stroke seriously and carefully.

“……”

Her originally gloomy mood suddenly lightened a bit.

“She didn’t even come herself, just used these few words to fool me?” Si Yan murmured. Just as she was about to fold the paper and keep it, she saw another piece of paper underneath it with similar words:

Are you willing to forgive me?

“Perfunctory,” Si Yan uttered coldly, yet her hands folded the paper neatly and flatly.

But then she noticed there was a third piece of paper underneath.

If not, can you authorize Lin Yutian to apologize to you in person?