Chapter 72

Yun Yaoyao’s brows shot up, and she gave Hu Yanyu a thunderous scolding. “You unfilial wretch!”

“Your father works himself to the bone out there earning money to support this whole family, and all you do is complain about how everything stinks and rots! You’ve truly broken your father’s heart!”

Yun Yaoyao set the pastries and little trinkets she had brought in front of Hu Yanyu, then turned to leave.

The move caught Hu Yanyu completely off guard. He froze for two seconds before instinctively saying, “Wait…”

Yun Yaoyao stopped, then smoothly returned to sit down in front of him. “To recognize your mistake and correct it is the greatest virtue. Your father will let it go this time.”

Hu Yanyu: “…”

The Dowager Empress glanced at Hu Yanyu, then at Yun Yaoyao. She wanted to move closer, but after Yun Yaoyao had angrily scolded and pinched her last time, she was now frightened and aggrieved.

“Jin’er, have you become a father? But he doesn’t look much younger than you. Were you already capable of fathering children at such a young age?”

The Dowager Empress shook her head again. “No, that’s Jin’er too.”

“How can there be two Jin’ers? Could it be that I gave birth to twins…?”

The Dowager Empress muttered to herself.

“I gave birth to two princes—that’s a great achievement! Why hasn’t His Majesty come to see me? He must have been bewitched by those women. It must be Consort De. She stopped His Majesty from coming!”

Seeing that the Dowager Empress was about to start raving again, the two palace maids in the distance hurried over.

Looking at the face that bore a striking resemblance to Tu Shanjin’s, Yun Yaoyao ultimately couldn’t bring herself to remain unmoved. She took a temple-blessed sachet from the gifts she had brought for Hu Yanyu and handed it to her.

“No woman stopped him. His Majesty was born a romantic and has always been generous with his affections. With women in the harem as numerous as clothes, how could he give his true heart to just one person?”

“Between the sheets, when he’s feeling good, he can say anything. Today, he can tear out his heart and give it to you; tomorrow, he can tear it out and give it to someone else!”

The first time Yun Yaoyao met the Dowager Empress, she had sent people to investigate her past.

Qin Yanru had been born the daughter of a small shopkeeper in the common people. She possessed a captivating beauty, but when a woman lacked the power to protect that beauty, it became a disaster.

A sixty-eight-year-old landowner in the area took a fancy to Qin Yanru. He bribed the local constables, had her parents arrested on some fabricated charge, and tortured them to death, forcing Qin Yanru into submission.

When she had nowhere left to turn, she met the Emperor, who was traveling incognito through the region. He, too, was captivated by her beauty. He killed the landowner and punished the county magistrate for her sake. After the two spent a period of blissful affection together, he brought her into the palace.

Qin Yanru regarded the Emperor as her salvation, her support, and the love of her life.

But the palace was already full of beautiful women. Then came the selection of new consorts, sending even more young and lovely women into the palace. The Emperor soon forgot Qin Yanru completely.

Under the weight of all these blows, Qin Yanru went mad.

“You gave your heart to a man who could never be relied upon. He broke it, yet you turned around and lashed out at the person who gave his heart to you, abusing your own son.”

“You clearly recognize the real Jin’er, yet you mistake someone else for him and keep that person by your side. That proves you can’t bear to be without Jin’er—you depend on the last bit of warmth he gives you!”

“You trample on Jin’er’s devotion, yet still demand it from him!”

“Qin Yanru, why are you so selfish? When will you finally wake up?”

With that, Yun Yaoyao roughly shook off her hand.

Every shred of pretense had been torn away. The Dowager Empress clutched her head, her face contorted in pain.

“No! Everything you said is false! It’s all false!”

The two palace maids beside her were trembling so badly that their hands were practically shaking like Parkinson’s. They were terrified that the heated argument would implicate them and cost them their heads.

Only after seeing His Majesty turn away did they dare to move. Gritting their teeth, they each grabbed one of the Dowager Empress’s arms and dragged her toward the room at a frantic pace, as though a mad dog were chasing them from behind.

The sachet clenched tightly in her hand released a faint, curling fragrance, briefly clearing the Dowager Empress’s mind.

She stared at that tall, straight figure, tears streaming from her eyes.

Without realizing it, Jin’er had grown from a little boy who could barely reach the tabletop into the tall man he was now—so tall that she could only look up at him.

The Dowager Empress closed her eyes. That brief moment of clarity brought a flood of memories. As she wept, she murmured in a voice only she could hear.

“No… It wasn’t like that…”

“Only after entering the palace did I realize that His Majesty’s favor vanished as quickly as it came. Every woman in the palace had powerful connections. Whenever they wanted a laugh, they could come over and trample me. Whenever they were in a bad mood, they could scheme to have me killed.”

“I could only pretend to be stupid and pretend to be mad!”

“When I was pregnant with you, your mother was framed and nearly miscarried. I didn’t want you to be killed, and I didn’t want someone else to raise you…”

“I could only act this way… Let them treat me as a joke. Let them wait to see when you would die at the hands of your own mother. Let His Majesty neglect you and forget you. Let everyone believe that neither you nor I posed any threat…”

“But after pretending for so long, I could no longer tell what was real and what was false!”

The Dowager Empress’s expression once again descended into madness. With a burst of strength, she shoved away the palace maids beside her and ran crazily into the room.

“Haha… Hahahaha!”

At last, the pavilion fell silent. Yun Yaoyao rubbed her temples, her head aching.

For some reason, every time she saw the mad Dowager Empress, anger welled up inside her.

Perhaps it was because she thought of the tyrant’s childhood—his body covered in old scars, wounds inflicted by those closest to him; the palace filled with deadly intrigue and schemes; and all of it borne by him alone.

For an unfavored prince with no backing to ascend to the throne he occupied now, one could only imagine how much suffering he had endured.

Was that why, when she first met him, his eyes had been so unmistakably violent, distrustful, cold, and inhumanely indifferent?

At the thought, Yun Yaoyao shook her head, a faint smile returning to her lips.

Compared with the tyrant he had once been, the Tu Shanjin of today really had become much more adorable.

Beside her, Hu Yanyu’s gaze burned into her.

Yun Yaoyao made her way to the edge of the pavilion and poured herself a cup of water to soothe her parched throat.

After handing Hu Yanyu the things she had brought, Yun Yaoyao began explaining the current situation among the Xiongnu to him.

She had barely gotten halfway through when Hu Yanyu interrupted her, blinking gently.

“Your Majesty, I never agreed to go to the Xiongnu.”

“You said you’d go once I came to see you five times. This is already the second time, and I’m certain I’ll complete all five visits. If you round it off, doesn’t that mean you’re going?”

“Last time you called me Father, and this time you’re calling me Your Majesty. Why are you suddenly being so distant, you unfilial wretch? Your father would never hurt you…”

Whenever ​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‍Hu Yanyu tried to speak, Yun Yaoyao either interrupted him outright or produced some little trinket and coaxed him perfunctorily, as though soothing a child.

Somehow, the atmosphere between them settled into this strange sort of balance.

Yun Yaoyao was quite satisfied with it.

As expected, the best way to deal with a yandere was to use the family card!

By the time she had talked herself hoarse, night had fallen completely. Yun Yaoyao rose to leave.

A gentle voice called out to her.

“Father.”

“Next time we meet, don’t bring candied hawthorns, sugar figurines, egg-yolk pastries, or other overly sweet things. I don’t like them, and neither does Yuer.”

“All right, all right. The next time we meet, I’ll bring you every flavor under the sun—sour, bitter, spicy, and salty.” Yun Yaoyao waved behind her without turning around.

That rascal was quite picky about his food.

With that, she left Xiwan Palace without looking back.

Task complete.

Back to the dragon bed to sleep with Consort Tu!