Meng Qingzhou couldn’t understand why, no matter how much the Empress teased him, he couldn’t bring himself to dislike her. In fact, he felt a bit immersed in it.
It wasn’t that Meng Qingzhou was naturally lecherous. After all, he didn’t even know what she looked like, whether she was beautiful or ugly. He just felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, like… the stirrings of a first love.
This left him puzzled and troubled, even doubting his own character.
“Could it be that I’m a scumbag who starts things but never finishes them?”
“It shouldn’t be. I have no interest in the City Lord of the Ancient Divine City, I find the adorable and silly Su girl even less appealing, and I’ve often felt the urge to kill the seductive Wu Die. So why do I fall for the Empress?”
He caught a whiff of a faint fragrance beside him, not strong but refreshing, making him feel at ease. Unlike Dongfang Liuli, who never wore makeup or used perfume, Liuli had a natural scent, like a flower blooming deep in the mountains.
Their personalities were also completely different. One was gentle and considerate, understanding how to take care of the household, while the other was domineering and ruthless, aggressive in both career and love.
Why did he feel a fondness for the Empress?
How strange!
Suddenly, the Empress’s lips moved slightly, “Little Meng, what are you thinking about? Hurry up and hold me, it’s a bit cold.”
The Empress sat cross-legged on a cushion, maintaining a posture of five hearts facing the sky, looking dignified and solemn.
Only her words didn’t match her pure and elegant demeanor.
“Are you serious?” Meng Qingzhou felt exhausted.
“Of course, do you want to watch me cough to death in bed? Remember your duty as a personal guard. My daily life, warmth, and safety are all your responsibility.”
“Are you trying to fool me because you think I haven’t read any books? This isn’t a personal guard; it’s a personal nanny!”
“Well… if you understand it that way, it’s not wrong. Hurry up! I’m freezing to death.”
Meng Qingzhou said nothing, silently gripping the hilt of the Cicada Song sword, his fingers gently stroking it. He mouthed a silent sentence: Do you think I’m an idiot?
A Great Being at the mid-stage of the Morning Glow Realm, afraid of the cold?
“What do you mean, are you going to draw your sword? Threaten me?” The Empress’s eyebrows arched, brewing a thunderous anger.
Meng Qingzhou remained silent, suddenly remembering something.
The book mentioned multiple times that the Empress, in order to seize the throne, had soaked in a thousand-year cold pool for cultivation, resulting in a lifelong cold ailment. This ailment even caused her to lose to the overpowered protagonist.
In the original setting, the Empress seemed capable of unlocking a certain seal, greatly enhancing her strength. However, due to the worsening cold ailment, she couldn’t perform it. If she unlocked the seal, it would further burden her body, and she wouldn’t need the overpowered protagonist to kill her; she would disintegrate on her own.
The only possible life-saving herb, the Nine Suns Blazing Heart Grass, had already been used by him to make soup for his wife.
Thinking of this, Meng Qingzhou felt an inexplicable guilt, though he didn’t know what he was guilty about.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Sit on the cushion and hold me shoulder to shoulder.”
“That’s not appropriate. I have a family.”
“So what? We’re innocent, just helping with a small favor. Or is someone having dirty thoughts?”
“No.”
“Then hold me.”
…
…
Meng Qingzhou’s mind went blank. He mechanically followed her instructions, sitting on the cushion and wrapping an arm around the Empress’s shoulder. A small sun in his dantian radiated light, enveloping them both in its warm energy.
“Your Majesty, please cultivate in peace.”
“Mm…” The Empress smiled, closing her eyes and leaning gently on his broad shoulder.
Meng Qingzhou’s breath hitched, his heart pounding.
No, this wasn’t love.
It was fear, the feeling of having an affair behind his wife’s back. Even though he wasn’t thinking or doing anything, he felt guilty like a thief.
At this moment.
Dongfang Liuli felt very relaxed.
She was satisfied with Meng Qingzhou’s loyalty, even in front of the most perfect woman in the world, he still thought of his wife at home. At the same time, she was excited about successfully bringing him closer to the Empress.
It was very contradictory, being happy about her husband’s loyalty while also excited that he was being seduced by ‘another woman.’
As long as one day, Meng Qingzhou no longer resented the Empress, that would be the day the Empress revealed her true identity.
This life of hiding and deception, the Empress had had enough.
Even though they had been married for a long time, they had never consummated their marriage because of this, leaving a barrier in the Empress’s heart.
After a while…
“Hey, hey, hey, wake up! Aren’t you supposed to be cultivating? How did you fall asleep!?”
The Empress groggily opened her eyes, turning to see Meng Qingzhou’s face as dark as the bottom of a pot. Her heart skipped a beat, and she thought to herself: This is bad.
“Listen to my explanation.”
“Full of lies, I won’t listen. Move aside! I’ll stand guard while you cultivate. Freeze to death for all I care!”
…
…
The next morning, at dawn.
As the first ray of sunlight broke through the thick clouds, like a spotlight, it only illuminated the Imperial Capital, leaving the surroundings still shrouded in gloom, making the Imperial Capital look like a divine city.
People went about their morning routines, and low-realm cultivators hurried to the academy to listen to lectures from great cultivators, starting a new day with a vibrant atmosphere.
Meanwhile.
The gates leading to the Great Jin Palace suddenly closed, the city gates, dozens of meters high, shut with a loud bang.
The Imperial Guard and the Imperial Guard patrolled together, leaving no place unchecked, both in the sky and on the ground.
Outside the Golden Throne Hall, the court officials had been waiting since before dawn, all with solemn expressions, no one whispering to each other, creating an extremely quiet atmosphere.
Suddenly, a middle-aged man in golden armor caught everyone’s attention.
“Is that… the Heavenly Strategy General, Li Guanyan, who has guarded the border for thirty years, following the previous emperor’s orders, serving two rulers, and even in the face of national crises, cannot return to the capital without an edict?”
“Is it really him? Thirty years, I’ve almost forgotten what he looks like. What is his cultivation level now?”
“I don’t know. Ever since he followed the previous emperor’s orders to guard the border, Li Guanyan has completely disappeared from public view. It’s said… he’s one of Great Jin’s trump cards.”
“Thirty years without returning to the capital, why has he come back now?”
Li Guanyan stood tall, armored, with a long knife at his waist, exuding more presence than the high-ranking officials.
He looked straight ahead, ignoring the surrounding discussions, his face like a sculpture, showing no expression.
However, a figure stepped out from the ranks of the officials and approached Li Guanyan.
The figure was cloaked in black, with a hood covering their face, and their posture was hunched, like a small old man.
“Li Guanyan, the previous emperor ordered you to guard the border. If one day the nation falls and Great Jin is buried under the iron hooves of foreign invaders, you are the last spark, the seed of restoration! How dare you come back?” A hoarse, authoritative voice came from under the hood, leaving no room for doubt.
Li Guanyan’s cold eyes shifted slightly, glancing sideways without turning his head, and said coldly:
“The Black-Robed Prime Minister of the previous emperor’s era, Jiang Canghai succeeded you. If I’m not mistaken, weren’t you dead? How can a dead man speak?”
The officials were shocked.
The Black-Robed Prime Minister who assisted the previous emperor—Wang Xianjia!
The atmosphere grew even heavier, and even the dullest person could sense something unusual.
Some officials exchanged glances and nodded silently.
It seemed… a national war was imminent!
After Jiang Canghai’s surprise attack on the Western Buddhist Kingdom, which had been raging on, the Empress was about to start a second foreign war, targeting the Northern Sejong Alliance!
At this moment.
A female court official opened the red-lacquered doors of the Golden Throne Hall and announced loudly:
“Your Majesty summons the court officials to enter the hall for an audience!”
………..
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