I've Decided To Be This Tyrant's Dark Moonlight - Chapter 21
Late at night, a clear, chilly moon hung in the sky.
Wei Ying quietly returned to the banquet hall and sat down beside Xiao Qianxue. Looking up, she saw that almost everyone had already arrived.
The palace was a place of strict rules, and even the banquet seating followed rigid hierarchy. At the highest seats sat the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, and the Empress. Beneath them were the Three Consorts. Only in a small corner to the left were Wei Ying and Xiao Qianxue seated.
Xiao Qianxue asked, “Yingying, where did you go just now?”
Wei Ying replied, “To watch the birds.”
Xiao Qianxue tilted her head toward the sky, searching the dark curtain overhead for any trace. “Birds? Where?”
Wei Ying, with the spirit of a poet, recited with deep emotion:
“The sky may leave no trace of wings, but I have already flown.”
Xiao Qianxue clapped for her, then quipped,
“And my lips may leave no trace of red bean cake, but I have already eaten it?”
Wei Ying: “…That actually matches.”
Xiao Qianxue: “Hehe!”
The palace-scheme spirit inside Wei Ying couldn’t bear this constantly breaking character of the supposed female lead and nearly wanted to kneel down to beg Wei Ying to stay far away from her.
Wei Ying closed her eyes to recall the story plot. After she quit dance training, Consort Xian no longer had to consider her weak foundation and instead designed a highly difficult sword dance especially for Xiao Qianxue. In the original novel, during this Mid-Autumn Moon Banquet, Xiao Qianxue’s sword dance was valiant and dazzling, blade glimmering like snow, overlapping perfectly with the image the dog-emperor remembered of someone from his past.
Thus, after this dance, the heroine became more favored, received lavish rewards, but also drew the notice and hostility of antagonists.
Wei Ying lifted her gaze toward the head seat.
The Emperor was far away, across flickering lanterns. From here she could only make out the thin silhouette seated on the imperial throne.
The Son of Heaven dwells above nine layers, and the nine layers are the imperial heart.
Xiao Qianxue followed her line of sight and couldn’t help sighing: “His Majesty is so good-looking.”
Wei Ying: “You’re not allowed to praise him!”
Xiao Qianxue laughed. “Why not?”
Wei Ying fell silent a moment, then solemnly said,
“I’m afraid it’ll make him arrogant. Once the Emperor becomes arrogant, the common folk will suffer. Qianxue, you almost became a femme fatale that brings ruin to the country.”
Xiao Qianxue’s little face turned pale. She clutched her chest. “Thank you for reminding me—so scary, so scary! I’ll never praise His Majesty again.”
Wei Ying: “For the sake of the people, we must scold him, humiliate him, remind him of his duty at all times!”
Xiao Qianxue nodded seriously. “Yes! Yingying is right!”
“Indeed, Yingying is right!” A soft feminine voice chimed in from Wei Ying’s other side.
Wei Ying turned her head and saw a palace-clad young woman looking timidly at them, cheeks flushed, murmuring shyly, “I… may I sit here?”
She recognized her—this was Imperial Concubine Li, the one who had been startled by a barking dog that day.
Li Pin twisted her fingers, visibly nervous.
Wei Ying glanced at Li Pin’s original seat, which was close to Consort Shu. She understood immediately, reached out and pulled the girl beside her: “Your Ladyship, sit here.”
Li Pin murmured thanks. “Thank you.”
Wei Ying couldn’t help but smile. She was a concubine, yet looked so nervous.
Still, Wei Ying knew a bit of her background.
The inner palace was half another court. In the past, the Empress Dowager had ruled all—both front court and back—unshakable. Since the Emperor’s succession, he gradually took back power, launched new reforms, and promoted newly risen officials. The court had split into three factions: the old guard led by great families like the Gongs; the reformists backed by the Emperor; and a fence-sitting third group, the “wall-grass” faction.
The harem was similar. The Gong women led one camp, the Noble Consort another, and the rest banded together for survival.
Li Pin resided in the Glorious Hall. She had once belonged to Consort Shu’s circle, but ever since she caused Shu to lose face, she had been cold-shouldered. Her father, being a notable fence-sitter, couldn’t support her either. Recently she had lived in difficulty.
And so, one pitiful outcast came seeking comfort from another.
Wei Ying opened her arms and gave Li Pin a big hug, trying to warm her chilled heart.
The palace-scheme spirit: …Is anyone actually warmed by this?
Li Pin’s eyes reddened, tears gathering. “You’re so kind.”
Wei Ying: “It’s my duty to protect every wounded heart in this deep palace.”
——
The banquet began, filled with music and dance.
The Empress sat with regal composure, her gaze sweeping over the concubines before finally resting on the corner, meeting a girl’s radiant smile.
Wei Ying eagerly waved, silently mouthing: Your Majesty, look at me!
The Empress couldn’t help curving her lips, her cold demeanor softening into gentle warmth.
Even from afar, her smile felt like spring breeze.
Wei Ying: “Ah, the Empress smiled.”
Xiao Qianxue clutched her chest. “She’s so beautiful. It almost feels like she’s smiling at us.”
Li Pin lowered her gaze, sighing. “But not at me.”
Wei Ying clasped her face. “Her Majesty is so beautiful.”
Xiao Qianxue clasped her face too. “Her Majesty is so beautiful.”
Consort Xian saw the two girls’ identical pose and joined them, cupping her cheeks. “They’re so adorable.”
Li Pin: …She didn’t know why, but she copied too.
The Empress, seeing the synchronized gestures, laughed softly—then quickly straightened her face, mindful of her station.
“What is my empress looking at?” the Emperor asked quietly.
The Empress pulled her gaze back. “Nothing.”
“But you were looking left.”
The Empress: “I was cross-eyed.”
The Emperor fell silent, then instinctively looked left—and met the bright, blooming smile of a girl.
She couldn’t help but smile herself.
Wei Ying, noticing the dog-emperor’s gaze, instantly withdrew her smile, coughing uneasily and covering her face. Not for him to see!
Xiao Qianxue whispered, “Ah, His Majesty is looking over here too.”
Li Pin said despondently, “But not at me.”
Xiao Qianxue tugged Wei Ying’s sleeve. “Yingying, look, His Majesty smiled, he looks so—”
Wei Ying cut her off. “Don’t praise him, he’ll get arrogant.”
Frightened of becoming a femme fatale, Xiao Qianxue quickly stopped: “—tui!”
Wei Ying smiled approvingly. “A teachable child.”
Xiao Qianxue stopped smiling too, turning her head away. Li Pin drooped, listlessly fanning herself.
Thus, the Emperor saw that whenever she looked their way, they stopped smiling, stopped cupping their cheeks, and went about their own business, ignoring her.
The Emperor touched her lips doubtfully. Was she really that unapproachable?
The Empress said coolly, “What is His Majesty staring at?”
The Emperor: “…I was cross-eyed too.”
At the highest seat, the Empress Dowager looked down on all, including Emperor and Empress. Seeing their heads close together, she frowned, uneasy.
Back then, she had brought Gong Beizhu into the palace, hoping she would dominate the harem as she herself once did. But Gong Beizhu disappointed, rising no higher than Consort Shu. The shrewd young Emperor had instead brought in Yue Qinghui, daughter of the Yue clan of Yue Mountain, making her Empress and winning the Eastern Sea faction’s backing.
Still, as long as the Emperor’s heart wasn’t with Yue Qinghui, there was hope.
The Empress Dowager closed her eyes wearily, rubbing her temples as the festive music surrounded her. For some reason, despite the elegance of this music, she missed that crisp birdsong of the other day.
She opened her eyes, sweeping over the concubines.
Xiao Qianxue gasped. “Yingying! The Empress Dowager is looking at us!”
Li Pin despaired. “She’s looking at me. I’m finished.”
Xiao Qianxue: “No, no, my Lady, she’s smiling at us!”
Wei Ying bent her eyes, flashing the Empress Dowager an innocent, silly smile.
Xiao Qianxue also grinned wide, eyes arched like crescent moons.
Li Pin: …
Not knowing what else to do, she smiled too.
The Emperor saw the three of them bloom again in laughter, fell silent, and glanced back.
The Empress Dowager quickly turned her face aside, pretending she hadn’t looked.
The Empress chuckled softly. “Perhaps Mother is cross-eyed too.”
The Emperor gave a dispirited reply. She didn’t care if everyone had cross-eyes—what hurt was that whenever she looked, they ignored her, while with the Empress or Empress Dowager they all smiled.
Once, at least, Li Pin hadn’t been like this.
A pang of sorrow filled her chest. Brow lowered, she felt more and more like an outsider. Looking at the Empress, her eyes misted, hesitant words on her lips. “Zitong…”
The Empress, uneasy under her gaze, asked, “What does Your Majesty wish to say?”
The Emperor: “I’ll give you something.”
The Empress: “Oh?”
The Emperor pulled from her sleeve a clove of garlic and thrust it into her hand. “Take it.”
Ever since Wei Ying gave her this garlic clove, everything had gone wrong. She suspected it carried a curse—one that could only be passed on by gifting it to another! Let someone else become the new outsider in her place!
It was perfectly logical, well-reasoned.
The Empress stared at the garlic in her palm, touched it, doubting whether it was some pearl in disguise. She sniffed it—no, it was truly nothing more than garlic. Why would the Emperor give her garlic?
Her worldview cracked.
Taking the chance, the Emperor once more looked toward that corner.
Now that she’d given away the garlic, surely—
Wei Ying turned her head away.
Xiao Qianxue looked elsewhere.
Li Pin sighed, stretched her neck. “Has His Majesty strained her neck? So scary.”
The Empress frowned at the garlic, voice sharp. “Why was His Majesty carrying garlic, and why give it to me?”
The Emperor fell silent.
Amid this, she approached the ceremonial tower, ready to ignite it to begin the banquet proper.
Taking the torch from Fushou, she cast it into the tower. Flames roared up, fireworks burst overhead.
Xiao Qianxue grabbed Wei Ying’s hand. “Yingying, look, so many fireworks!”
Wei Ying smiled, but noticed that while the concubines all looked up at the sky, the dog-emperor was staring dazedly at the burning tower.
Now was her chance!
She drew out two fake-mystical cards, tossing one into the tower.
Amid the joyous laughter, the fire shifted from bright red to eerie green.
The Emperor’s eyes widened. Sweat trickled down her forehead. She stared in disbelief.
The green ghost-fire flickered, faces crying and wailing within. Crimson blood snaked from the base of the flames. Suddenly one flame lunged at her, carrying a ghastly white face straight toward her own.
The Emperor shrieked.
Fushou turned. “Your Majesty, what is it?”
The Emperor blinked again—and saw only the auspicious flames of the tower, the ghost-fire gone as if an illusion. She clutched her head, a dull ache pressing at her brow.
Wei Ying lowered her head, laughing softly.
The palace-scheme spirit: “You used a whole card just to scare the dog-emperor? Isn’t that wasteful?”
Wei Ying: Wasteful? He’s a VIP client! Of course he deserves an exclusive experience!
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