CHAPTER 96: CHAPTER 91: NOT AFRAID OF HER LOVING MONEY AND POWER

Bang, bang, bang...

Xie Zhixing rushed out of the palace, urging his excellent horse to go faster and faster, making his heart race along with the bumpy ride. At this time, dark clouds loomed overhead, and fine rain pattered on the trees in the courtyard, stirring up a light tremor. The guards outside the wall were worried about the Emperor’s well-being but dared not act rashly.

The raindrops on his face brought a bit of coolness, calming his feverish mind slightly.

Xie Zhixing found it somewhat amusing, what had he done?

Getting up in the night, stubbornly leaving the palace, eavesdropping on the conversation of ministers’ wives and daughters, all the dignity he held in the first half of his life now shattered completely. It’s nothing unusual for an emperor to act absurdly once, he closed his eyes, still wanting to listen further, but all he heard was the sound of his own heartbeat.

In the next moment, the surrounding environment was like a reflection on water being rippled.

Xie Zhixing found himself back on the bed in Weiyang Palace, without any sign of Concubine Jiang by his side. He got up and asked: "What year, month, and day is it today?"

"Your Majesty, it is the third day of the twelfth month in the fifth year of Yongshou."

Replied another night-watching eunuch, carefully draping a windbreaker over the Emperor and offering him hot tea to calm his nerves.

He had actually come back again.

Xie Zhixing lay back on the bed, looking at the ceiling, yet unable to fall asleep.

It was expected that he couldn’t sleep. It was his first time leaving the palace due to personal feelings, galloping through the nighttime Capital City. He didn’t expect her to live in such a dilapidated, small residence... He only stayed for less than an hour before "returning," but was it because he missed home? Was it actually because she didn’t want to leave him? Xie Zhixing frowned, his mind filled with the sound of urgent hoofbeats on the deserted streets and his own heartbeat.

The eunuch listened to the movements of his master tossing and turning in the bed, feeling uneasy.

After a while, he heard his master say in a hoarse voice: "Summon Concubine Xi."

"At once, Your Majesty."

The Emperor couldn’t sleep, torn for a long time, and it turned out he was debating whether to summon Concubine Xi!

At this moment, Yun Jiao from Xianfu Palace had just left her mother’s embrace, with large tears still hanging at the corners of her eyes, when she was called by the eunuch from Weiyang Palace to change clothes and accompany the Emperor. As she arrived at Weiyang Palace, Yun Jiao was still thinking of her mother, with a somewhat weary expression under the moonlight: "Your concubine greets Your Majesty."

She was looking at the gaps between the floor tiles when the Emperor embraced her.

"Your Majesty, why did you suddenly summon your concubine? The Imperial Physician said I should rest quietly."

Her whole body felt as if it had been disassembled and reassembled, she couldn’t endure his torment.

"Can you not rest quietly by my side?"

Xie Zhixing’s tone was unfriendly, carrying a chill, he had just gone out of the palace to find her, yet she had no reaction at all! In fact, Yun Jiao had no idea the Emperor would be so anxious to come out of the palace looking for her, it was a bewildering matter known only to him. Xie Zhixing was aware of this too, his temper flaring up without reason but violently, his handsome face dark.

Yun Jiao picked up on his sarcastic tone, but she didn’t mind, laughing as she hugged his waist:

"Then Your Majesty, don’t torment your concubine tonight, let’s just sleep together!"

Xie Zhixing looked down, taking her hand.

The people of the previous dynasty speculated on the reason for Concubine Xi’s favor, guessing since she didn’t come from a noble background nor had any reputation, and her singing and dancing skills were supposedly mediocre, she must be very good at understanding the Emperor’s intentions. In fact, that wasn’t it, she was carefree, no matter big the matter, in her eyes, it couldn’t compare to a table of good food, there was no unbearable weight, even her soul was light and carefree.

Just like now, she had just acted spoiled in her biological mother’s arms, and then turned and returned to the Deep Palace.

"Concubine Xi,"

The candlelight illuminated half of the Emperor’s face, shadowy and indistinct: "Do you want to stay by my side?"

Seeing Yun Jiao’s hesitance, he emphasized: "I want to hear the truth."

"Your concubine has nowhere else to go, staying by Your Majesty’s side, having food and shelter, isn’t bad."

"Would you go with anyone just for a meal? Many could afford you, even Prince Kang could."

Good grief, it got tied in with Prince Kang again!

Yun Jiao had no idea what Prince Kang even looked like, yet the Emperor was getting overwhelmingly jealous, it was absurd. Ordinary concubines should be fearful, but Yun Jiao wasn’t, she scratched the back of her head: "Then what does Your Majesty wish?"

Just like a modern couple, facing a girlfriend’s unreasonable outburst with a dumbstruck steel-hearted boyfriend.

"You should ask for more, something that others can’t provide, only I can give you."

In the heat of the moment, Xie Zhixing, provoked by her, revealed his deepest thoughts.

He didn’t worry about feelings of love or affection, they’re illusory and unreliable. He wouldn’t hand military power to a general repeatedly asking, "Are you loyal to me?" instead, he would restrict their entire family from leaving the city, sometimes even inviting them to the palace as guests.

He treated ministers and concubines alike.

Yun Jiao pondered for a while, and said: "Your Majesty, I can’t imagine what kind of food and shelter only you can provide."

In one sentence, she blocked the Emperor’s grand aspirations all back.

He pressed his slightly aching temples, and Yun Jiao still curiously asked: "Doesn’t Your Majesty think that sounds very vain? It’s said that not wanting these things is the way to get the love of tycoons and emperors."

"Vain?"

Xie Zhixing raised his eyebrows: "What I can give you is real glory and wealth. If you like these things, that would be perfect, only I in the whole world can provide them to you." That would give him a sense of security.

Concubine Xi didn’t want this or that, he didn’t even know what he could use to keep her!

He wasn’t afraid she loved money or power.

He had ample of those things.

"Feel free to tell me."

Xie Zhixing held her cheeks in his hands.

This feeling was somewhat new, in the past, when he favored a concubine in the palace, he would let them choose first from the tribute items, he had never allowed the other party to proactively make requests.

Yun Jiao felt like a mouse falling into a rice jar, but after thinking for a long time, she really had no great desires. Did she want to return to the modern world? She really didn’t want to be a sickly person again, being with Yan Chi, being able to run and jump was already a sought-after blessing.

Xie Zhixing thought she would come up with some extraordinary request after thinking long and hard, but instead, she pondered for a long time and came up with this:

"...Your Majesty, your concubine wants to sleep."

"Is that all you want?"

"Your concubine is too sleepy, can’t think of anything now!"

Immortals not only love their home but love sleep as well.

Xie Zhixing felt both angry and amused, he permitted her to go to bed and sleep. She tucked herself in and familiarly nestled into his arms, using him as a warm pillow, comfortable and carefree, making him as the Emperor appear foolish.

He pinched her nape: "I changed my mind."

"Your Majesty?"

"If you had my child, you would want to stay closer to me.

Xie Zhixing said this half-jokingly: "I’ve favored you many times since you entered the palace, why haven’t you shown any pregnancy?"

Yun Jiao was almost asleep, she lifted her eyelids slightly: "Yeah, Your Majesty, is it you who’s having problems."

Rather than reflecting on oneself, it’s easier to blame others.

"..."

Yun Jiao, so sleepy, her eyelids stuck together, and like a pancake, she was flipped:

"...um, Your Majesty, your concubine was wrong!"

Yun Jiao wanted to explain to the ancient Emperor that the experience and the result weren’t too connected, even the mightiest might not succeed. Unfortunately, her bold and enlightening words for nine generations were swallowed in an intense kiss.