Chapter 225: May I Serve You in Bed Tonight?

In Zichen Palace, Xiao Yang sighed.

"I’m fine."

She was just disgusted by the whole affair and had a brief flash of anger. There was nothing else wrong. But Rong Yin clearly thought otherwise and insisted on staying with her.

Seeing the Emperor’s resigned expression, Rong Yin leaned in closer. "Your Majesty seems to have something weighing on Your heart. I’ve studied a bit of medicine; perhaps I can help."

"What..."

The moment Xiao Yang looked up, Rong Yin kissed her. Her questions were smothered, and all that remained was the sensation of her breath being taken again and again.

Xiao Yang: "..."

’Help her? This is just an excuse to take advantage of me, isn’t it?’

In Chongwen Hall, more than one hundred and twenty people were present.

The attending Palace Attendants dared not speak out of turn. The civil and military officials of the court, knowing better, remained silent. As for the seventy-two new scholars who had just exited, they kept their mouths sealed shut.

They had taken the Emperor’s words to heart. Today was their moment in the spotlight, and they wouldn’t let anyone steal it from them.

So what if the Emperor was a woman? It didn’t change the fact that she had crushed the Xirong and Beimeng. It didn’t stop the dawn of a golden age. And it certainly didn’t stop them from showcasing their talents and fulfilling their ambitions.

That so-called Prince, son of a runaway slave, couldn’t change the grand scheme of things. It had nothing to do with them. Better to focus on their own futures.

In a teahouse overlooking the street, a woman dressed in white leaned out, frantically scanning the crowd. But she couldn’t find the person she was looking for.

One of the scholars recognized her. "That’s Ji Xuanmo’s cousin, Ji Feifei."

The two were cousins, yet they shared the same surname, and their relationship was rather ambiguous. The way Ji Feifei looked at Ji Xuanmo—with pure adoration, her flirtatious coyness—was not how a normal sister would act toward her brother.

’If Ji Xuanmo was the long-lost Prince, then it would all make sense.’

Unable to find the one she was desperate to see, Ji Feifei rushed down from the teahouse. She grabbed the first scholar she could find and demanded, "Where’s my cousin? Where did he go? Have any of you seen my cousin, Ji Xuanmo?"

"He’s a scholar too, why is he gone?"

The guards on patrol were unaware of the events inside the palace. Seeing her making a scene, they moved to pull her away.

"Get out of my way, or I won’t be so polite!"

Ji Feifei was past caring about appearances. She just wanted to know where her cousin had gone.

"You’d better tell me exactly what happened to my cousin!"

Ji Feifei’s anxious demands were on the verge of tears. One onlooker, taking pity on her, was about to speak up, but two soldiers in black armor appeared out of nowhere and hauled her away.

The onlooker, terrified, snapped his mouth shut.

-----

Mu Yunlian didn’t return until evening. News from the palace wasn’t exactly airtight, so he had already heard everything of importance.

"To think the late Emperor had another son. What a surprise."

He, too, didn’t consider this man much of a threat.

If the man dared to harbor any thoughts of rebellion, eliminating him would be a simple matter.

But his identity... it was just plain galling.

The late Emperor’s only son—and the eldest, at that. It would be all too easy for others to use this to stir up trouble.

While it couldn’t truly threaten the Emperor’s position, the very thought of it was irritating.

Mu Yunlian said, "If Your Majesty doesn’t wish for him to be formally recognized by the imperial family, there are plenty of ways to handle it."

But Xiao Yang shook her head. "Now that he has appeared, I never said I wouldn’t acknowledge him. However, we must first crush his arrogance and make him understand his place."

Even if he shared the late Emperor’s blood, he was still the illegitimate son of a runaway slave.

If the Empress acknowledged him, he should be on his knees, overflowing with gratitude for her grace.

He could be made a Prince, but he must never presume to be my elder brother.

"No defense is impenetrable. It’s better to channel than to block. You have to leave an opening for those with malicious intent. In a game of Go, if all the pieces are white, there’s no game to be played."

Xiao Yang’s lips curled into a faint smile, her gaze profound. "Ji Xuanmo has appeared at the perfect time."

’A Child of Destiny... who knows what interesting tricks he might have up his sleeve.’

Seeing that she already had a plan, Mu Yunlian didn’t press the issue. He would, however, have his own men keep an eye on Ji Xuanmo to ensure he couldn’t cause any real trouble.

Mu Yunlian stayed in Zichen Palace to dine with the Emperor. After the meal, he showed no intention of leaving.

"Your Majesty, may I serve you in bed tonight?"

’The fox spirit was starting to work his magic again.’

Xiao Yang eyed him for a moment, which he took as tacit approval.

A short while later, Xiao Yang went to wash up. Mu Yunlian didn’t disturb her. When she returned, she couldn’t see any sign of him. For a second, she thought he might have had a change of heart and left, but then she reconsidered. ’Impossible.’

She rounded the screen and headed for the Dragon Bed. Sure enough, there was a human-shaped lump under the covers.

’He’s already gotten into bed.’

"Crawling into my bed so early... Have you even bathed..."

As she spoke, she yanked back the covers. She hadn’t even finished her sentence when the sight before her rendered her speechless.

She slowly lowered the blanket and put a hand to her forehead. "Where... did you learn these kinds of tricks?"

Mu Yunlian peeked out from under the covers, his gaze utterly bewitching. "Does Your Majesty not like it?"

Xiao Yang’s mind was reeling from that stunning glimpse: the sheer, gossamer-thin robe that clung to his form, the delicate gold chain that draped from his chest to his waist... It hung on his perfectly sculpted body like a masterstroke, a sight enough to give anyone a nosebleed.

"It’s not that I don’t like it..."

Xiao Yang was honest with herself. It wasn’t that she didn’t like it; she was just afraid of becoming too self-indulgent.

’It’s easy to open the door to a whole new world of pleasure, but closing it again is another matter entirely.’

The desire in Xiao Yang’s eyes was unmistakable. A smug smile touched Mu Yunlian’s lips as he raised an eyebrow. He reached out and flicked two Dongzhu pearls, letting the canopy of the Dragon Tent fall. In the same motion, he grabbed Xiao Yang and pulled her in.

"Hisssss... Your Majesty, a little gentler..."

Mu Yunlian was a fox who had tasted blood. Once you’ve savored the marrow, you never forget the flavor. He had been starved for far too long since their last encounter. This time, he used every trick in his arsenal to devour his fill, inside and out.

As expected, it was a night of wild passion.

Xiao Yang didn’t know when she’d finally fallen asleep. In a daze, she found herself in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Five or six glowing ancestral tablets were surrounding a smaller one, beating it senseless with loud THWACKS.

The small tablet, already tiny to begin with, seemed to shrink with every blow, until it looked like it was about to burrow into the ground to escape.

Xiao Yang strained to read the characters on the tablets. The one getting beaten was her father. The ones administering the beating were her grandfather, great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather...

Xiao Yang knew she had to be dreaming. Ancestral tablets coming to life was hardly a normal occurrence. Still, it was pretty hilarious.

She let out a gloating laugh... and promptly laughed herself awake.

To her left was Mu Yunlian’s arm. To her right, his searing hot chest.

Even in his sleep, Mu Yunlian clung to her tightly, as if terrified she might escape.

Xiao Yang struggled slightly, but he only held her tighter. She bit him in frustration, but to her dismay, not only did he not seem to feel any pain, something else began to... awaken.

Xiao Yang rolled her eyes, speechless. ’Just close your eyes and sleep!’

The first thing Xiao Yang did when she woke up the next morning was to ask what Prince Jing had done at the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

’She’d dreamed of those ancestral tablets twice now. Something strange is definitely going on.’

The news that came back left Xiao Yang unsure whether to laugh or cry. Prince Jing had apparently taken the late Emperor’s ancestral tablet, singled it out, and wailed to the other ancestors about how he didn’t cherish his daughter, how he bullied her.

The more he spoke, the more heartbroken he became—more so than if he had been wronged himself. His sobs were so genuine that even the guards standing a great distance away could hear him.

Xiao Yang didn’t think the ancestors cherished her all that much, but she was sure they had been utterly annoyed by Prince Jing.