SFL Chapter 48

Yun Jingli looked at the two sisters on the dragon couch, feeling a slight headache, and asked the people around him, “What’s the matter with them?”

“Your Majesty, they are arranged by the Jingshi Palace to serve Your Majesty.” The eunuch chief lowered his head deeply.

“Did I say I need anyone?” Yun Jingli said expressionlessly.

As if feeling the low pressure from him, the sisters on the bed shivered and hugged each other.

“Your Majesty, no, you did not.” The eunuch chief said, “I will send them away now.”

“Your Majesty.” Hearing the eunuch chief by the emperor’s side say this, the two women instinctively panicked.

They had worked so hard to eliminate so many competitors to get this opportunity, how could they give up easily?

“You have two choices, either leave or die, pick one.”

“Someone, change the bed for me,” Yun Jingli said.

His voice did not contain anger, but it made the two women feel a chill in their hearts.

Yun Jingli no longer looked at them, but walked directly to the desk to handle state affairs, and then had the bed changed in front of him by the palace attendants.

Between life and death, anyone with a bit of survival instinct would choose this way, but watching the glory and wealth drift away from them, they felt that death was better than life.

Yun Jingli paid no attention to the thoughts of those palace attendants. After all, he did not want to be a tool for the women in the harem to vie for favor and bear children.

Just like Concubine Sun Gui, did she love Yun Jingli himself?

No, she loved the emperor himself.

Just like the late emperor wielded imperial power, she can be more obedient as she wanted. If Concubine Sun Gui had truly been arrogant and disdainful towards the late emperor, or if she had really not been favored as she complained to the original host, would her position as a noble consort have fallen from the sky?

It was just that the original host felt proud and felt that Concubine Sun Gui’s heart was now on him, giving him a sense of satisfaction that he had surpassed his father, but he was blind to where Concubine Sun Gui truly cared about him.

Perhaps this was truly a palace intrigue story. In just a few days, Yun Jingli had faced several different attacks.

Some subtly showed their talents to him, some were conscious of their outstanding appearance and directly ran to Yun Jingli to flatter him, and some set up a devoted admirer persona without intending to seek any response.

Yun Jingli felt that dealing with these women was more troublesome than the affairs of the previous dynasty, so he simply threw them all out of the palace gates of intrigue.

If they were palace attendants, he let them leave the palace early. If they were officials’ family members, he put them on the blacklist for entering the palace.

He also instructed various departments to focus on their tasks and not to indulge in crooked ways.

After a cleanup, Yun Jingli finally felt much calmer.

Wang Huijun, who was in the harem, felt heavy-hearted when she heard that Yun Jingli was personally dealing with those women. She felt no joy at all, unlike the lively and spirited days of the past.

She felt a heaviness in her heart, unlike the lively and spirited days of the past.

She had a strong intuition that something was different about Yun Jingli, but her rationality prevented her from thinking further.

However, Yun Jingli seemed fearless of any exposure, and his methods were completely different from before. What made her most fearful was that, apart from her, even the Empress Dowager seemed oblivious to the changes in Yun Jingli. 

Wang Huijun felt a sense of absurdity, as if everyone else was drunk while she alone was sober.

While Wang Huijun in the harem was unaware, Yun Jingli in the front hall began to miss her. After all, for an emperor who didn’t want to open the harem, a jealous empress was so adorable. She could completely help him fend off those women outside.

Of course, Wang Huijun’s personality would be an obstacle and a flaw if placed on an emperor who wanted to open the harem.

Half a month later, the emperor once again entered the harem, but this time Wang Huijun was no longer full of joy, but rather extremely resistant.

“I respectfully welcome Your Majesty.” Wang Huijun, with all the palace attendants, greeted respectfully, her lowered eyes catching sight of a pair of black boots with golden threads. Wang Huijun’s heart jumped suddenly.

“Empress, please rise. As husband and wife, we need not be so formal and distant,” Yun Jingli said, then personally helped Wang Huijun up.

Wang Huijun rose stiffly, her body tense, unable to force a smile on her face.

Indeed, she had never been polite to Yun Jingli before, because they were husband and wife.

But now…

Once she became distant, Wang Huijun would become the dignified and virtuous lady in the inner chambers. She calmly withdrew her hand from Yun Jingli’s and asked with a faint smile, “Why does Your Majesty have the time to come to my palace today?”

“Because I miss the Empress,” Yun Jingli said bluntly.

This direct hit almost caught Wang Huijun off guard. Although she was usually magnanimous and not shy about showing her emotions, no one had ever treated her the same way.

No, Wang Huijun couldn’t help but shiver, looking at Yun Jingli, she once again found evidence in her heart.

“Oh, then what is Your Majesty thinking about me?” Wang Huijun asked curiously, looking at Yun Jingli.

Without knowing whether the person under this facade was human or ghost, she wouldn’t arrogantly assume that he had any affection for her.

“I’m thinking about the days when the Empress was by my side, the days when I was at peace,” Yun Jingli sighed, looking genuinely sincere.

A hint of complexity flashed in Wang Huijun’s eyes. Even if she deceived herself, she could still feel that the previous Yun Jingli didn’t like her meddling in his affairs, but only because there was no one else beside him except her, which made her persist.

But now, with the same face, he said he liked being controlled by her.

Clearly, she knew in her heart that Yun Jingli was no longer the same as before, but this statement still touched her deeply.

It was as if what she had been pursuing had finally come to an end. Wang Huijun felt sour, a sense of confusion and emptiness at the same time. 

This is something she has never felt before. She has always been full of energy and always thought her energy is inexhaustible, but now, she just wants to stop and rest. After all, that person is already gone, so why keep chasing an illusionary feeling? 

For a moment, Wang Huijun’s voice fell silent.

Yun Jingli poured two cups of tea for them both and his movements were free and natural. When he came to his senses, Wang Huijun had already held the cup of tea in her hands. 

Wang Huijun is not a shy type person, but at this moment, she could not speak because of Yun Jingli’s status above hers. Even if they were married, she could not question him with confidence. And if you ask her to keep it all in her heart, then she can’t do it. 

Wang Huijun took a deep breath and said,”Your Majesty, let me tell you a story.” 

What story? A strange tale of returning from the dead.

As Wang Huijun spoke, she carefully observed Yun Jingli’s expression, but she couldn’t detect any flaws. But that was to be expected, after all, he was able to deceive the Empress Dowager.

Wang Huijun believed that the Empress Dowager understood the emperor better than she did, but it turned out that the Empress Dowager had not noticed anything unusual about the emperor, and it was she who had made the discovery.

Using stories to illustrate points, whether Yun Jingli acknowledged it or not, she had a point.

Yun Jingli listened to Wang Huijun’s story with a smile and said, “Let me tell you a story too.”

“The name of this story is ‘The End of Immorality.’” 

This name made Wang Huijun’s brow jump. It was too straightforward, so straightforward that just hearing the name of the story made it clear that it wasn’t going to be a good tale.

But Wang Huijun forced herself to listen to it nonetheless.

Yun Jingli did not use the story to criticize the actions of the original host. Instead, he briefly explained the relationship between merits and karmic forces to Wang Huijun.

As the emperor, the original host should have been able to accumulate a great deal of merit for the benefit of the world. Unfortunately, he was defeated directly by his emotions, which indirectly led to all his merits being wiped out by his actions.

Furthermore, because of his status as emperor, the scope of the calamity was so vast that for such individuals, the heavenly path would erase their existence without the slightest hesitation.

If it weren’t for their special status as one of the pillars supporting this world, Yun Jingli and the others would not even have had the chance to come here.

“Your Majesty is joking. There are no ghosts or gods in this world,” Wang Huijun immediately denied.

Yun Jingli’s story seemed absurd to her, even more so than the absurd thought she had originally had.

Because if that were the case, then the original Yun Jingli would not have been taken advantage of, but rather deserved his fate.

Just as Wang Huijun was lost in thought, Yun Jingli handed her a book. “You, read this book carefully, learn more knowledge, and don’t let yourself be deceived by others in the future.” Yun Jingli blushed when he took out the book, as it was the first time he had done such a thing.

There were illustrations of the Forbidden City in the palace, but the quality and descriptions were not worth mentioning. Wang Huijun’s hidden treasures were also just two dolls embracing each other in various positions, without any detailed depiction.

Yun Jingli didn’t want Wang Huijun to continue being kept in the dark, nor did he want her to think that her inability to bear children was her fault.

After giving her the book, Yun Jingli hastily left, not even finishing his tea.

Wang Huijun was puzzled as she held the book. After Yun Jingli left, she opened it and her mind buzzed. Her face quickly flushed red.

The book Yun Jingli gave Wang Huijun was clearer and more detailed than any she had seen before. Although it was an embarrassing book, Wang Huijun considered herself a married woman and tried to suppress her embarrassment, facing Yun Jingli’s ‘insult’ with a calm gaze.

However, the more she looked, the colder Wang Huijun’s once fiery heart became. Eventually, she closed her eyes and carefully recalled the days since she entered the palace and served in the imperial bedchamber, her gaze finally settling on the night of the emperor and empress’s wedding, the night she and the original Yun Jingli had slept together.

She was certain that at that time, Yun Jingli had not been replaced by someone else, but the more she thought about it, the more anxious she became.

Wang Huijun opened her eyes, steadied her mind, and gave the palace attendants a deep look before saying, “Go, bring a wet nurse to me.”

In the front hall, Yun Jinglii’s ears rang with the sound of the system.

[Ding! Target Strategy: Wang Huijun.

Target’s current favorability towards the host: 0%.]

Yun Jingli smiled when he heard this and said, “This is the normal process.”

However, he did not expect that Wang Huijun would abandon that relationship so decisively, with such clear distinctions between love and hate.

In the palace, after sending away the wet nurse who had been silenced by her, Wang Huijun let all the palace attendants leave. Then, the exhaustion that had been suppressed without any hindrance flooded out.

Looking at the book Yun Jingli had sent, Wang Huijun suddenly felt like a joke.

A huge joke.