Detective Ghost Empress

132 Driving him mad

” Are you serious?” Zhai Heng looked at the scented water that was being handed to him and couldn’t help but ask, he was a man, no matter how he looked, how can he even sprinkle the scent of peony water on his clothes? What will others say if he was to smell like a maiden? Especially, Yu Lingyun that guy will never let him hear the end of this if he was to walk around smelling like a bouquet of peonies!

Qui Ai knew that she was asking for too much but there was nothing that she could do either, after all, her missy had to tell her that after taking care of the Emperor last night, she did not have the energy to deal with another man. It was only when Qui Ai told her that Lord Zhai was an important figure in the imperial palace and cannot be turned away at will, did she agree after many complaints.

And this was the condition that Liu Hui Ying came up with when she agreed to see Zhai Heng, her reason was simple –she spent a huge amount of time with the Emperor and can no longer withstand the scent of a man if Zhai Heng wanted to see her then he either become a woman or a eunuch since neither option was right, Qui Ai came with this solution.

” The Q..queen have said that if Lo...Lord Zhai does not ag..agree then he can a..always become a eunuch to c..come and see her,” Qui Ai repeated what Liu Hui Ying told her to say in case Zhai Heng refused to apply the scent that the young women and maids used in the palace. She knew that she was overstepping the boundary but as a servant what can she even do?

Qui Ai took a tentative look at Zhai Heng and squeaked before dropping her head and looking at the floor, it was just as she expected, Zhai Heng was looking mutinous!

And Zhai Heng could not be blamed either, this world was different than the one that Liu Hui Ying was used to. In this world men and women were separated cleanly, no man tried to act as a woman and no woman would try to act as a man, this era was where women were looked at as inferior to men and even though Zhai Heng was rather respectful of women and did not use them as a tool to release his sexual energy or birth giving piece of instrument.

He was still one of those men who considered themselves as true alpha, for him to apply a scent that only young women applied on their clothes, it was so embarrassing!

” This is what the queen has asked you to do, Lord Zhai,” Qui Ai upon seeing that Zhai Heng was still looking at her while trembling in anger, could only repeat what she has said earlier. ” You know that her majesty does not see the men favourably so, this is the only way for you to see her.”

Zhai Heng of course knew that the Queen did not like men and if all the man was to say west in case a disaster was to strike then the queen would yell east and rush in the opposite direction even though it was heavily inflicted with disaster.

.....

” Give it here,” Zhai Heng sighed as he stretched his hand in front of Qui Ai to take the scented water because he needed to see the Queen, he had no other choice. If he was to turn around and leave then what? What will change even if he was to leave? The queen’s distaste for men will stay as it was at the moment and there will be no change in this matter, so if he was to return then the one who will be in a disadvantageous position will be him and not the queen.

Qui Ai handed the scented water bottle to Zhai Heng who took it as if he was heading for the gallows, she could see that he was holding the bottle with so much anger that she was surprised that the scented bottle did not break.

With an expression that could be counted as nothing but twisted, Zhai Heng unscrewed the scented bottle and then sprinkled the scented water on his clothes and then breathed heavily as his masculine scent of pepper and wood was replaced with that of peonies.

” Can I go in now?” Zhai Heng asked through gritted teeth as he looked at Qui Ai and then he handed her the bottle back. Qui Ai took the bottle back and then gulped before nodding as she shifted on her feet and then turned around to walk inside the hall where the Queen was waiting for them.

Once they got closer to the hall, Qui Ai opened the sliding door by pulling it to a side and then stepped aside allowing Zhai Heng to go in first because as a maid of the imperial palace now, Zhai Heng could be considered her master as well. And as her master he had the right to step inside the room before her, if she was to walk in front of him then it will be counted as nothing but imprudence.

Zhai Heng nodded when he saw that at least the maid of the Queen knew the basic manners of the palace and then stepped inside the hall which was decorated with minimum furniture and then frowned, he knew that Zhai Tianyu and they might have been a bit negligent to the Queen but there was no way, a queen’s palace could be this simple right?

But this was not something he should care about, so the thought only stayed in his head for like a second or so before he turned his attention back to the Queen who was sitting on the main seat and then bowed in greeting, ” This one greets your majesty, I hope that you are in great health.”

Because his head was bowed, he could not see what kind of expression Liu Hui Ying had on her face but then he heard her hum as she commented, ” You really applied the scent? I thought you will refuse.”

And Zhai Heng gritted his teeth in anger.

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