I've Decided To Be This Tyrant's Dark Moonlight - Chapter 14

The chirping of birds was crisp and pleasant. The deep palace, layered and solemn, suddenly felt like a mountain valley echoing with soft bird calls.

Lady Gong Beinu and Consort Shu exchanged glances, understanding what was happening. Just as they were about to explain, the Empress Dowager gestured for silence and whispered, “Don’t speak. Don’t scare away the birds.”

She tiptoed out of the palace gates. Above her was the vast, clear blue sky of late autumn, but no birds in sight. Frowning, she followed the sound to the side room. From inside came the chirping of birds. After a moment, the Empress’s gentle voice rang out, “This time, it’s the call of a kingfisher.”

Wei Ying popped out from behind the screen, tilting her head with a playful smile. “Your Majesty guessed right again.”

The Empress’s lips curled slightly upward, as if she had returned to her youth. Born into a prestigious family in Shengjing, her father was a renowned scholar. By rights, her upbringing should have been strict.

But back then, she often snuck out with friends to listen to storytellers on the street, drink on city towers, and ride horses across slanted bridges… It was long ago, and now felt like another lifetime.

Wei Ying ducked back behind the screen. “Let’s see if Your Majesty can guess the next bird.”

The Empress smiled faintly, lost in memories.

A sharp, clear sound came from behind the screen: “Ji-ji, ji-ji.”

The Empress listened for a while and guessed tentatively, “A cuckoo?”

Wei Ying emerged, shaking her head. “No, it’s—”

“The call of a finch,” the Empress Dowager interrupted.

Lady Gong Beinu and Consort Shu blinked, confused.

The Empress Dowager: …

She didn’t know why she blurted it out.

Gong Beinu asked, puzzled, “Aunt?”

The Empress Dowager added, “Gu-gu is the sound of a pigeon.”

Gong Beinu fell silent. Aunt, have you unlocked some strange talent?

Consort Shu suddenly said, “Could it be, as she said, our family is full of once-in-a-century vocal mimicry geniuses?”

Gong Beinu: …

The door creaked open. The Empress stepped out first, paused upon seeing them, then gracefully greeted them.

Wei Ying also knelt to pay respects.

The Empress Dowager walked past her without telling her to rise, sat on the couch, and looked down at the girl on the floor.

The girl was wrapped in a red dress, her eyes tinged with illness, her hair half tied, cascading down her slender neck. Fragile, yet beautiful.

After a long look, the Empress Dowager smiled slightly. “Beinu praised your vocal mimicry as exquisite and divine. I thought she was just inexperienced. But now I see—it’s I who lack experience. No wonder His Majesty wants you to be his little bird.”

Wei Ying lowered her head modestly, pretending to play dead.

The Empress grew anxious seeing her punished, her brows furrowing unconsciously.

The Empress Dowager asked again, “But as a consort, why pursue such frivolous skills?”

The girl suddenly raised her head, eyes bright. “Your Majesty, this is Wei Ying’s preparation for the future.”

The Empress Dowager was puzzled. “Preparation for the future?”

Wei Ying nodded seriously. “Skills never burden the body. If I learn a few side trades, then even if I fall out of favor, I can still entertain the sisters and earn a meal.”

Her sincerity stunned the Empress Dowager into silence.

She had intended to scold her for being unserious, but now saw a young woman already planning for her downfall. While others schemed for favor, she was preparing for its loss.

This consort had a strange mindset.

After a pause, the Empress Dowager said, “You don’t need to try so hard.”

Gong Beinu teased, “If you fall out of favor, don’t worry—I’ll be your first customer.”

Wei Ying’s eyes lit up. “Wonderful! Your words are sincere? Can we make a contract?”

Gong Beinu: ???

Why wasn’t this woman ashamed, but rather so excited? Did she really want to build a vocal mimicry business in the palace?

Wei Ying: “Then I’ll count on Your Majesty’s support. You’re truly kind!”

Gong Beinu fell silent again. Ever since meeting Wei Ying, she often found herself speechless from not being eccentric enough.

The Empress Dowager couldn’t bear it anymore and sipped her tea. “You may rise.”

Wei Ying sprang up, quickly found a stool, and rubbed her sore knees. Thankfully, she had prepared—she’d asked Green Wax to sew knee pads into her dress so she wouldn’t be crippled from kneeling.

She looked up again, studying the famed Empress Dowager of the Eastern Palace.

In her youth, the Empress Dowager was a stunning beauty who captured the late emperor’s heart so thoroughly that he nearly left no heirs. The court and harem were in chaos. Even now, though aged, she remained beautiful.

The Empress Dowager lowered her eyes, stroking a delicate porcelain cup. “I heard there’s been talk of ghosts in the Embroidery Hall?”

Gong Beinu’s face turned pale. She looked at her aunt, confused why she brought this up.

Wei Ying nodded, sitting obediently and looking soft and sweet.

The Empress saw her cough lightly and ordered a eunuch to bring rose syrup.

Fragrant and sweet, Wei Ying sipped it slowly. Palace life was tough—this was her first drink since dawn. Luckily, before leaving, Consort Xian had secretly given her and Xiao Qianxue a red bean cake each, telling them to eat it if hungry.

She had cleverly eaten hers behind the screen!

Palace schemer: You really are a clever little fox.

Wei Ying: Hehe!

Seeing her enjoy it so much, the others felt hungry too. A beauty eating is always a lovely sight. Gong Beinu touched her empty stomach and quietly swallowed. “Slurp.”

Empress Dowager: …

She ordered the eunuch to bring snacks, and the group gathered to eat.

After court, the emperor was reviewing memorials in the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

This was Emperor Fengqi’s daily routine. The memorials stacked in two piles, waist-high, made the slender emperor look even smaller.

Yun Shao buried her head in the papers, her temples throbbing from the officials’ nonsense. She pressed her fingers to her forehead and cursed, “Sons of bitches. I’ll kill these bastards one day.”

Fushou brought a bowl of almond syrup, coaxing, “Your Majesty, have something to eat first.”

Yun Shao slammed the table. “A bunch of barking dogs who do nothing!”

Fushou: “If you don’t eat this almond syrup soon, it’ll get cold.”

Yun Shao: “Execute nine clans—no, ten!”

Fushou soothed her like a child. “Alright, ten clans it is. But please eat something first.”

Yun Shao calmed down, sat on the throne, and sipped the syrup. Then she asked, “Today…”

Fushou looked up, confused. “Today what?”

Yun Shao blinked.

Fushou blinked back.

Yun Shao coughed and rubbed her sleeve, trying to act casual. “Is there nothing you need to report to me today?”

Fushou thought hard, then said, “The other day, an official knelt outside the East Gate, refusing to leave unless the new policies were withdrawn. He fainted just now. I’ve ordered the guards to drag him home.”

Yun Shao frowned. “Who told you to mention that?” Her pale fingers tapped the table, then the bowl of almond syrup, making ripples in the milky surface.

She asked again, “Really nothing else?”

Fushou racked his brain, then suddenly remembered. “Early this morning, the Empress and consorts went to greet the Empress Dowager. They were stopped at the door. Only Lady Ying and the Empress were allowed in.”

Yun Shao’s face darkened. She stood and walked out.

Fushou chased after her with the bowl. “Your Majesty, finish your almond syrup. You haven’t eaten all day.”

At the palace gate, the emperor turned and said, “From now on, any official who kneels at the gate to block reforms—don’t drag them away.” She smiled coldly. “Execute them on the spot.”

Fushou was so frightened by the icy look in her eyes that he stepped back, nearly dropping the bowl.

Yun Shao steadied him. “Careful.”

Fushou set the bowl down, his hand trembling under his sleeve.

The child he raised had become a true emperor. Thankfully, she still respected and cared for him.

Yun Shao waved her sleeve. “To Cining Palace. Let’s see… what Mother and the Empress are doing.”

In the carriage, Yun Shao leaned on her hand, eyes closed, lips curling slightly.

Nine-layered palace walls—could they really contain this mountain warbler? But… the Empress Dowager had been harsh today. How would she respond?

At Cining Palace, Yun Shao’s gaze grew colder. She expected to find poor little Ying kneeling on the floor, or being whipped.

But when she opened the door, she saw a group of women happily eating hotpot together.

Yun Shao froze.

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