Chapter 105: From Now On, I’ll Do It Myself
When Shadow Two and Shadow Three heard the emperor’s chilling words, they were so frightened that they immediately kowtowed.
Shadow Three said, “Master, even if this subordinate had a hundred times the courage, I would never dare covet a woman who belongs to you! Please see clearly, Master!”
Shadow Two was slightly more composed and explained, “Master, please calm your anger. Just now, we saw that Beauty Qin had cut off Shadow Five’s manhood, and Shadow Four had nearly suffered the same fate. In the heat of the moment, we first rescued the two of them. Please wait a little—this subordinate and Shadow Three will go again at once and will definitely humiliate that Beauty Qin!”
As soon as Shadow Two finished speaking, he was about to pull Shadow Three along to act, when the person before them suddenly let out a cold snort.
“No need! Didn’t that bitch say I was a cowardly turtle? From now on, I will… personally take action.”
Shadow Two and Shadow Three looked at each other, utterly unable to understand what the emperor meant by “personally take action.”
Humiliate Beauty Qin? But being “humiliated” by the emperor was probably something every woman in the harem would be delighted to receive. If the emperor did it himself, wouldn’t that actually be benefiting that woman?
What puzzled them even more was just what Beauty Qin had done to anger the emperor so deeply. Could it really be just because of the Qin family?
That didn’t seem likely.
These days, the emperor hadn’t been eating well or sleeping soundly. All day long, the one he thought about was this Beauty Qin—of course, not that kind of “thinking,” but thinking about how to make her wish she were dead.
Deep down, Shadow Two had already begun to feel a trace of pity. The woman who had thrust her sword at him today had clear eyes and a decisive manner—nothing like the “lewd, debauched woman” the emperor spoke of.
After the shadow guards withdrew, Yan Mohan clasped his hands behind his back and paced a few steps on the spot, then headed toward Chimu Palace.
His steps seemed to carry the wind, filled with a kind of urgency even he could not explain.
Something was wrong—this Qin Buyao was very wrong. In his previous life, her temperament had also been somewhat fierce, fierce to the point of willfulness and arrogance. Even though she was as beautiful as peach blossoms and plum flowers, she inspired little affection. But in this life, she seemed to have restrained that arrogance somewhat, making that fierceness appear exceptionally captivating.
Yan Mohan soon arrived outside the gates of Chimu Palace.
Outside the cold, desolate palace gate hung a crooked, dilapidated lantern. Though it was hard to see clearly in the night, he—who had secretly come here countless times—knew very well that the dust on that broken lantern had been brushed away; it was quite clean.
The once run-down courtyard had been tidied up neatly. The weeds were gone, replaced by lush green vegetables and all kinds of fragrant flowers and plants, competing in beauty—very pleasing to the eye.
At one moment, a trace of confusion flashed through Yan Mohan’s gaze, but it was quickly swallowed again by bone-deep hatred. He would never forget how, in his previous life, when he was forced to drink the gut-rotting poison in his prison cell, the firecrackers and drums outside had sounded so thunderous.
Heh—celebrations everywhere under heaven. But who remembered him, rotting away in a cell?
He hated Prince Xian, Yan Moxu, and he hated Qin Buyao even more. It was she who had colluded with Yan Moxu from within and without. If not for that, he would never have lost so miserably.
That pair of adulterous dogs—since he had crawled back from hell, he would absolutely not let them have an easy life in this lifetime!
Suddenly thinking of something, the corners of his mouth slowly curled upward.
Yan Mohan did not look at Chimu Palace again. Turning on his heel, he went straight to Consort Li’s Morning Glow Palace.
Because his visit was so sudden, Consort Li had no idea the emperor had arrived at her palace.
Inside the hall, a woman wearing a pink gauze dress sat resting on a chair, while a maid beside her carefully fanned her.
“Your Ladyship, it seems His Majesty went to Consort Wang’s place last night,” another close maid said as she brought over a cup of tea, adding indignantly, “That Consort Wang is nothing—how dare she compete with Your Ladyship for favor?”
Consort Li’s beautiful almond-shaped eyes lifted slightly as she gave a snort of laughter. “She’s just the daughter of a minor fifth-rank official and thinks she can contend with me? His Majesty was merely seeking something new for a moment. Everyone says the most beautiful woman in the harem is Qin Buyao, a general’s daughter—so what? She entered the palace only three months ago and was already abandoned by His Majesty. Hee hee hee…”
The maid beside her laughed as well. “In this entire harem, who could compare to Your Ladyship? Among the four top first-rank consorts, the positions of Virtuous Consort and Noble Consort are still vacant, and Consort De poses no threat. Your Ladyship already reigns supreme alone. As long as His Majesty’s favor remains with you, Your Ladyship will flourish endlessly.”
Consort Li was in a good mood and picked up a pair of scissors to trim the peonies on the table. Hearing the maid’s words, she suddenly snipped off a blossom that was in full, radiant bloom.
Her expression instantly darkened. “Flowers are never red for a hundred days, and people are never favored for a thousand. Do you really think the emperor can favor me for a lifetime? I’m young and beautiful now, but one day I’ll grow old and lose my looks. What I need now is a child—a prince who can sit on the position of crown prince!”
Those words went too far. The maid hurriedly glanced around and whispered, “Your Ladyship, please be cautious—walls have ears.”
Consort Li didn’t care. “All the maids and eunuchs in Morning Glow Palace are my people. What’s there to fear? Anyone who dares betray me will meet the same end as Mingyue, who was beaten to death last time!”
All the maids and eunuchs present immediately knelt down. “We wouldn’t dare!”
Yet Consort Li’s mood was still foul—no, extremely foul.
In everyone else’s eyes, the emperor doted on her greatly, but only she herself knew the truth: the emperor had never truly taken her to bed.
If she told others that on those several nights of supposed imperial favor, she had merely lain under the covers chatting with the emperor, no one would believe it.
But Consort Li knew very well that this could not continue. She had to have a prince.
Yan Mohan listened outside the hall for a long time. His gaze gradually darkened, his eyes filled with thick disgust.
When he had just been reborn and reviewed his previous life, he realized there was only one woman who had not kicked him while he was down—that was Consort Li.
Although when he later fell into destitution, Consort Li had already been killed by Qin Buyao, in his memory, while she was alive, she had left him with a good impression.
That was why he initially favored her and had even been unwilling to truly “consummate” her.
But having experienced the warmth and coldness of human hearts, he had become very adept at reading people. Over time, he discovered that Consort Li was no longer the simple Consort Li of his memories. The reason he had thought her simple in his previous life was probably because he himself had been too immature then, unable to see through the masks those women wore.
He had thought she was merely a little clever—but he had never expected her to be a woman with such ambition.
Why couldn’t she have kept up the act a little longer?
Why couldn’t she have been like Qin Buyao—so that even after months of his secret observation, she had not revealed the slightest flaw?
That bitch played her role so well—so well that he had almost believed the events of his previous life were nothing more than a nightmare of his own.
