I've Decided To Be This Tyrant's Dark Moonlight - Chapter 107

A month later, news came from the battlefield: while accompanying the army, Gong Hongbo fell into an ambush and died at Jiaming Pass.

When the news arrived, Wei Ying only let out a light sigh and lowered her head to sip her tea.

She had known from the moment Gong Hongbo went to the battlefield that he could not possibly come back alive. This was the best outcome. If he lived, he would sooner or later be executed by the emperor for treason, bringing disaster upon his kin. But if he died on the frontier, at least he could leave behind a good reputation and protect the two Gong sisters.

Not long after, the emperor went to visit the Empress Dowager. Soon after leaving, the Empress Dowager, overcome with grief, suffered a relapse of her old illness and passed away.

Yet rumors spread that the Empress Dowager had been forced to drink poisoned wine. That night, the screams and curses of a deranged woman were said to echo from Cining Palace until dawn.

With the deaths of those two, the great Gong faction crumbled. Once the tree fell, the monkeys scattered—officials resigned or were dismissed, the court underwent a great purge, and power finally returned fully into the emperor’s hands.

With beauty in her arms and the world in her grasp, Yun Shao was naturally proud and content. The only discontent was that the war between Dasheng and Beijue dragged on endlessly, neither side gaining the upper hand. Thinking of the person hidden in Beijue, she felt that all her present joy was nothing but false.

She did not care if the empire was seized from her again; what she feared was Wei Ying recalling the past, feared that the hard-won happiness she finally held might once more be snatched away.

The bonds of imperial kinship were shallow, and Yun Shao felt no affection for so-called blood relatives—only disgust and loathing. At times, she even wished she could drain the blood from her own body, for such filthy, ugly blood was unworthy of her Yingying.

She could no longer recall exactly when Yun Shan first realized he was the future crown prince, the exalted Son of Heaven, and that the Son of Heaven enjoyed privileges. But at that time they lived far from the capital, attended only by a few loyal servants.

So Yun Shan chose to exercise those privileges upon his younger sister.

Yun Shao had long grown accustomed to joyless days. Since childhood, she was dark and solitary, with a habit of staring at others in silence through her deep black eyes, like a rakshasa ghost, her very blood cold. The late Empress Dowager’s dislike of her was in no small part due to this morbid nature.

She had thought no one could ever like her… until she met that person back then.

She knew very well that her teacher was gentle and kind to everyone, like the bright moonlight that shone upon every corner. The teacher cared for Yun Shan more than for her.

She had grown used to everyone’s eyes being fixed upon Yun Shan, used to her brother always being the favored child of heaven. Yet whenever she saw her teacher smile at him, it was as though countless ants were gnawing at her heart—an unbearable torment.

Not even a little bit. Not even the slightest smile for another.

In this world, everything else could be yielded to her brother—but not the teacher. The teacher was hers alone. No one else could have him.

No one.

So when dispatches from the frontier brought nothing but bad news, Yun Shao’s long-suppressed unease and anger finally overflowed. She seized her brush, fiercely denounced Old General Pei in a memorial, and ordered him to resolve the northern menace at once—or bring back his head.

At this moment, Wei Ying was lying in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, reading a storybook. Seeing the emperor’s face clouded, she asked with concern, “Your Majesty, what’s wrong?”

Yun Shao shook her head darkly.

Wei Ying went over, leaned down, and caught sight of the words on the memorial. Her smile froze for a moment before she clasped the emperor’s hand, speaking earnestly: “Your Majesty, you mustn’t! You are a wise ruler now!”

She paused, emphasizing: “Right now, you are a wise ruler.”

The truth was, though Gong Hongbo had died in place of the Noble Consort’s father at Jiaming Pass, if Old General Pei were to read this memorial and be angered into madness, the novel’s plot might replay itself—the entire army perishing on the battlefield, and the Noble Consort coming to the emperor for vengeance.

Then the book’s events would once again become reality.

Yun Shao scoffed, “A bunch of worthless gluttons and drunkards.”

Wei Ying chuckled and pressed her shoulders, “Don’t be angry, Your Majesty. Beijue has no food; they won’t last long. By the way, Your Majesty, about Consort Shu and Lady Gong…”

Yun Shao gave another cold “hmph.” “Yingying is pleading for them again.”

Wei Ying bent down, brought her lips close to the emperor’s cheek, and said softly, “Now that Gong Hongbo is dead, and the Empress Dowager as well, the Gong faction has already collapsed. Those two sisters are powerless—why bother keeping them confined? Why not just… let them go?”

“Let them go? So they can scheme revenge?” Yun Shao glared. “Yingying, you are always too softhearted. I’ve already taken a step back—did not kill them, gave them good food and drink within the palace. What more do you want?”

Seeing the rare anger on her face, Wei Ying found it amusing and let out a little laugh.

Yun Shao: …

Her stern facade crumbled in a second. She turned her head away, giving another cold “hmph,” trying to act the part of the aloof ruler. “The Gong faction killed countless people. That fire at the imperial villa back then was set by them. It was they who poisoned our teacher. Hmph—dying is too easy a punishment for them.”

Wei Ying smiled sweetly. “But that has nothing to do with Gong Beinu. How old was she then? How tall?”

Yun Shao’s eyes widened in angry grievance. “How can it not be related? The delicacies she ate—were they not bought with the people’s fat and blood? The fine silks she wore—were they not soaked in the people’s tears? Yingying, Gong Beinu used to toss priceless pearls on the ground to play with. Do you know how many commoners a single pearl could feed for a year?”

Wei Ying pressed her shoulders gently. “But now she won’t do such things anymore. The Gong clan has already fallen.”

Yun Shao’s eyes glistened with a faint sheen of tears. She looked at her quietly for a long while before whispering, “Gong Beinu has always made things hard for you, even tried to harm you several times. And yet you still care for her like this.”

A sudden wave of fear seized her. Even Gong Beinu received Wei Ying’s compassion and loyalty—what if that person from the past were to return?

What if he told Wei Ying the truth of those years? What if she learned of Yun Shao’s deranged, hideous self?

Yun Shao’s head throbbed as if splitting. She dared not think further. Pulling a jade token from her robe, she tossed it onto the table, shut her eyes wearily, and murmured, “If you wish to release them, then release them. Only remember—they are remnants of the Gong faction. Who knows what trouble they might stir later.”

Wei Ying did not notice the emperor’s face had gone deathly pale. Overjoyed, she snatched up the token, planted a kiss on her cheek, and laughed: “Then good. I’ll come back later to dote on Your Majesty.”

As Wei Ying’s footsteps faded away, Yun Shao collapsed into her chair, hugging herself tightly, as if plunged into an icy abyss, frozen to the bone.

She could not bear the thought of losing Yingying, nor of ever again seeing a maple leaf inscribed with “I return to Yun Shan.” The mere thought alone filled her with such torment she wanted to destroy everything. With a face white as death, she stared blankly at the memorials on the desk. After a long while, she lifted her pale hand and pressed it against her throbbing temple.

…

At the gates of the Glorious Hall, Wei Ying stood for a moment, hesitating to push the doors open.

She remembered the first time she had seen Gong Beinu. The girl had been proud and radiant, untouched by hardship, her gown embroidered with gold and pearls, like a peacock displaying its tail. But now, with Gong Hongbo and the Eastern Empress Dowager both gone, the mighty Gong clan shattered and scattered, did the girl’s eyes still hold any of that innocence?

After a pause, Wei Ying slowly pushed the door open. A shaft of sunlight spilled in behind her, brightening the dark hall and casting away the shadows.

Gong Beinu, seated on a beauty couch, looked up at her in slight shock, eyes reddened.

Wei Ying extended her hand. “Would you like to go outside and sit in the sun?”

Gong Beinu blinked. “I… may go out?”

Without answering, Wei Ying simply took her hand and led her out. Most of the blossoms on the flowering tree outside had withered, the swing swayed forlornly in the breeze, covered in a thin layer of dust. Wei Ying gazed at it silently for a while, then asked, “Would you like to swing?”

Gong Beinu said nothing.

When Wei Ying turned, she saw the girl was already crying in silence.

All her memories of Gong Beinu were of a girl who always made a grand show of everything—crying loudly, laughing boisterously, making sure everyone saw her moods. This was the first time she had seen her cry like this—quietly, sorrowfully, with restraint.

Standing behind her, Gong Beinu sobbed softly, eyes red, tears dropping in a string from the corners. As though in a single night she had grown up, the once naïve and arrogant girl now learned to meet hardship with silence.

Yet Wei Ying still preferred the girl she had once been.

She comforted her quietly, patting her shoulder, saying nothing.

After a while, Gong Beinu wiped her tears and asked, “My father… he truly isn’t coming back, is he?”

Wei Ying kept silent. But in that silence, Gong Beinu found her answer. She bit her lip, brushed away her tears, and whispered, “Father is gone. Aunt is gone. From now on, it’s only me and my sister.”

Wei Ying said, “If you wish to leave the palace, I can take you out. I bought an estate outside Shengjing City with the pearls you once gave me. There’s still plenty left. It won’t be the life of wealth you knew, but it will be enough to live on in peace.”

Gong Beinu lifted her tear-reddened eyes and looked at her. “Now I have nothing. Why would you still help me?”

Wei Ying smiled. “Because we’re friends.”

Bewildered, Gong Beinu furrowed her brows, then slowly relaxed them, whispering, “Duan Wei Ying… in this palace, the happiest thing for me was meeting you.”

Wei Ying replied, “That is my honor.”

Gong Beinu gave a faint smile, gone in an instant. She pulled out a handkerchief to dust off the swing, sat upon it, and let Wei Ying gently push her back and forth.

She tilted her head up to the blue sky. The heavens seemed to shift, the spring wind brushing her face. Slowly she said, “Duan Wei Ying, I won’t go to your estate.”

“Hm?” Wei Ying looked puzzled.

Gong Beinu smiled faintly. “Last year you told me to learn a trade. I learned embroidery. Now I can stitch beautifully—I can support myself and my sister.”

Wei Ying was silent for a moment before replying, “But that will be very hard.”

From a pampered young lady who had never touched spring water with her ten fingers, to a woman living by the needle—the fall was like tumbling from the heavens into the mud.

Gong Beinu pressed her lips together, more tears spilling out. Wei Ying took out the kerchief embroidered with a tiny fluffy bird and gently wiped her tears.

“Duan Wei Ying,” she said stubbornly, eyes glistening with tears as she stared at her, “I’ve always known I am foolish, shallow, arrogant, willful. I am not a good person. I get jealous, I do wrong, and I often blunder.

“But even someone like me just wants to live well, to stay with my sister, and to live with dignity.”

Her tear-filled gaze held only Wei Ying’s figure.

“Yingying, if fate allows us to meet again, I’ll remember you. You are my friend.”

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