House Arrest

After leaving the imperial city with Ying Zheng's written order in hand, Hu Xinzhu suddenly seemed to collapse entirely.

It was a strange state. A man who had been brimming with vigor moments ago now seemed like a puppet made from piled-up wooden blocks, falling apart with a clatter. His erect neck slumped crookedly, his broad shoulders sagged, his straight back bent out of shape, and his legs dragged through the mud like slugs crawling over the ground, hauling Hu Xinzhu slowly into a lacquered sedan chair carried by two men.

"Here, to Tranquil Mind Nunnery!"

Lying crookedly in the sedan chair, Hu Xinzhu yawned at the sky and began grumbling under his breath.

"A perfectly good emperor—why the hell does he have to meddle in so much chicken-feather, garlic-skin nonsense?"

"Who my little sister knows is none of your damn business, huh? Do you need to stick your nose into it?"

"Even my old man never worried about whether my little sister got herself knocked up before marriage outside or whatever. Why are you fussing over it? Whether Lin Qi is a man or a woman, good or bad, human or demon, what the hell does it have to do with you?"

"That old consumptive ghost was dying of illness just two years ago. Who knows what dog-shit luck brought him back to life? Instead of soaking himself in vats of medicine to recuperate, why the hell is he worrying about all this every day?"

"Jade Blossom Banquet? Jade blossom my ass! That old hag, the Empress Dowager—does she really think I don't know that old eunuch at her side wasn't cut clean? Pah! Jade Blossom Banquet, my ass! Don't you just want my little sister to go over there so you can pick a wife? With that pack