SFL Chapter 46

“You are the master of the harem, always bothering Noble Consort Sun Gui to help you manage the palace affairs. What kind of words are these?” Yun Jingli said to Wang Huijun.

His words made Wang Huijun happy, but she was still worried. “Then you have to promise me that you won’t go to other women.”

Wang Huijun likes Yun Jingli and naturally wants the same return from him.

But unfortunately, the original host was never a good person.

Yun Jingli squinted at the 100% favorability progress, raising his eyebrows slightly. Although it might be easier to pursue the supporting role than the female lead, achieving full progress in pursuit right after arrival was definitely not a good thing.

Because it meant that Wang Huijun’s heart belonged to the original owner, not him now.

He didn’t want his wife to still be thinking about another man.

“If you can be a good empress, naturally I can be a good husband,” Yun Jingli said to Wang Huijun.

The couple prepared to leave. As the emperor and empress, there was no one who could stop them. Even Consort Sun Gui had no position to detain them. She could only watch Yun Jingli and Wang Huijun leave together, feeling as if her heart was being cut.

As women, both Consort Sun Gui and Wang Huijun were sharp. Wang Huijun naturally noticed that Yun Jingli’s tolerance towards her was higher today. After leaving the palace banquet, Wang Huijun boldly invited Yun Jingli to her place.

After all, there was currently no one else in the harem to compete with her. Therefore, Wang Huijun’s attitude was open and natural.

“I still have state affairs to attend to, so I won’t go to the empress’s place today,” Yun Jingli said.

He planned to change the people around Wang Huijun, as ninety percent of them were placed there by Consort Sun Gui.

In charge of managing the palace affairs, Consort Sun Gui would naturally not sit idle.

The first step was to sort out the people around Wang Huijun.

Seeing Yun Jingli refuse under the pretext of handling state affairs, Wang Huijun was not angry. After all, why would she be jealous of state affairs? She was only guarding against those other women.

Yun Jingli’s favorite thing about Wang Huijun was perhaps what others saw as a flaw: her possessiveness. Many might see Wang Huijun as overly jealous and only interested in dominating men, but often, as long as it didn’t involve emotions, she had a good sense of propriety.

Human emotions are always selfish; Wang Huijun just magnified this trait.

Consort Sun Gui acted the same in secret, but in the eyes of the original owner, one was seen as domineering, the other as pitiable.

Yun Jingli would rather deal with the slightly foolish and pure Wang Huijun than play mind games with women like Lady Sun Gui.

The palace banquet did not quiet down because of the emperor and empress’s departure; instead, it became even more lively. However, Consort Sun Gui was no longer in the mood to stay. She informed a few other consorts and left with her attendants for her own sleeping quarters.

“Go and find out where His Majesty is today,” Consort Sun Gui instructed on the way.

Soon, the attendants began to inquire, and before long, Consort Sun Gui received news that Yun Jingli had gone to handle state affairs instead of accompanying the empress back to her quarters. She was delighted.

As was customary, Consort Sun Gui instructed her attendants to send some soup to the emperor, showing her thoughtfulness.

In the past, Wang Huijun had also sent some soup to Yun Jingli’s place. Sometimes, her actions clashed with Lady Sun Gui’s intentions. However, the emperor always chose to use what Consort Sun Gui sent and set aside the empress’s offerings. After this happened several times, people around Yun Jingli began to notice, and naturally, they started to resent it.

“Your Majesty, Consort Sun Gui has sent some snacks and soup for you. Shall I bring them in?” the eunuch in charge by Yun Jingli’s side asked, as was the routine.

Although asking this way, he was already prepared to bring them in.

However, this time, Yun Jingli did not allow him to do so. Instead, after the eunuch finished speaking, Yun Jingli raised his eyes and said, “I won’t accept anything from Consort Sun Gui in the future.”

The chief eunuch’s heart skipped a beat at Yun Jingli’s words. Subconsciously, he responded, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

He didn’t know why Yun Jingli suddenly changed his attitude towards Lady Sun Gui, but he knew whom to listen to.

Yun Jingli was the emperor. Even though his special treatment of Consort Sun Gui had led to some speculation among Yun Jingli’s attendants, none of them were completely bought by Consort Sun Gui.

After retaining those who could still be trusted, Yun Jingli removed quite a few “nails” from his palace overnight. The chief eunuch felt like his legs were made of jelly the next day, and the strong smell of blood from the previous night seemed to linger at the tip of his nose.

Looking back at the clouds and scenery, he handled a group of other people’s affairs without any influence on him. The next day, he went to court as usual.

After all, he had taken over the identity of the original host, so the original host’s responsibilities became his responsibilities. As an emperor, he naturally had to do a good job.

As an emperor, the original host had good control over the court before, but as time went on, he became more and more infatuated and deeply involved in the romance of the harem, and the court had long been in chaos.

Most of the day had passed dealing with various important matters in the court.

“Your Majesty, the Empress has sent some snacks for you.” The chief eunuch beside Yun Jingli respectfully said, with Wang Huijun’s figure behind him.

Yun Jingli put down his pen, looked at Wang Huijun, and smiled, “Zitong is here.”

“I heard you didn’t eat much for lunch, and it affected my appetite too, so I brought some snacks for you.” Wang Huijun smiled and said, glancing discreetly at the people around Yun Jingli. It was good; they were all palace maids, and there were no palace maids serving.

After all, everyone in the palace knows how jealous the Empress is. In the past, the palace maids in the imperial palace had thoughts of climbing onto the dragon bed and becoming the master, but often before they succeeded, they were caught by the Empress. The outcome was naturally not good, so the remaining palace maids didn’t dare to get close to the emperor.

“Yesterday, you said you wanted me to learn how to handle palace affairs. I thought it would be boring to just idle around in the palace, so this morning I went to visit Consort Sun Gui’s palace. Guess what Consort Sun Gui said?” Wang Huijun sat with Yun Jingli on the couch, holding a plump grape in her hand.

The chief eunuch’s heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he instinctively became nervous.

After all, Consort Sun Gui controls the power in the palace, while the Empress is the rightful mistress of the palace. If these two were to clash, it would definitely be a bloody mess for those below them.

What’s even more uncertain for him is the Emperor’s attitude towards these two. You could say the Emperor has a special regard for Consort Sun Gui, but his favoritism towards the Empress is also undeniable.

He listened attentively, hoping to judge the positions of these two in the Emperor’s heart.

Yun Jingli followed Wang Huijun’s words and asked, “What did Consort Sun Gui say?”

Wang Huijun didn’t beat around the bush either, smiling ambiguously as she said, “Consort Sun Gui thinks I am young and wants me to learn from her first. She also mentioned those women who appeared around you before.” Setting aside whether Consort Sun Gui meant to remind her to keep an eye on her husband, Wang Huijun could tell that Consort Sun Gui didn’t want to return the Phoenix Seal to her.

“So, Your Majesty, I’m here to ask for your advice,” Wang Huijun said, looking at Yun Jingli.

This wasn’t Wang Huijun being afraid of Consort Sun Gui. After all, the Phoenix Seal rightfully belonged to the Empress. What Wang Huijun really wanted to ask was how Yun Jingli wanted her to handle this.

After all, how could Empress Wang Huijun be afraid of a concubine?

“Handle this according to Zitong’s wishes; matters of the harem are not something We should get involved in,” Yun Jingli said, even though the original host had been quite involved.

“With Your Majesty’s words, I can rest assured,” Wang Huijun said.

True to her word, Wang Huijun didn’t wait until evening. She successfully retrieved the Phoenix Seal from Consort Sun Gui’s hands, showing remarkable efficiency.

The transfer of the Phoenix Seal back to its rightful owner directly alarmed the Empress Dowager.

At dinner time, the Empress Dowager sent palace servants to invite Emperor Yun Jingli, as well as the two parties involved, Empress Wang Huijun and Consort Sun Gui, to attend.

Yun Jingli arrived first, greeted the Empress Dowager, and when asked about the matter, he said directly, “Mother, it’s because I felt too idle, so I let the Empress take over the palace affairs to avoid bothering me too much.”

“Your Majesty…” Consort Sun Gui, who happened to hear this, involuntarily trembled slightly. Then, she looked at Yun Jingli with a hint of sorrow in her eyes, which the Empress Dowager couldn’t see.

She never expected that Yun Jingli would actually support Wang Huijun in managing the palace affairs.

In this case, what about their previous understanding?

“Sister, as someone who has been through similar experiences, I know it’s not easy. But the Empress is the mistress of the palace after all, and the Phoenix Seal will eventually have to be returned to her. It’s better to end the pain quickly.” The Empress Dowager’s voice was calm, advising Consort Sun Gui with the tone of someone who has been through it before, both advising and admonishing.

After all, as the former mistress of this palace, she knew better than anyone the power of the Phoenix Seal.

The Empress Dowager was afraid that Consort Sun Gui would be blinded by the Phoenix Seal and would not let it go. 

After all, in terms of righteousness, the Phoenix Seal belonged to the Empress.