I've Decided To Be This Tyrant's Dark Moonlight - Chapter 32

Wei Ying paused.

“Oh, it’s the Emperor. Then it’s no big deal.”

Yun Shao lowered her eyes, her pale skin glowing in the sunlight.

She tried to speak, her tone gentle: “Do you want to come and save me?”

Thinking of this, her heart skipped a beat, filled with an indescribable joy.

She couldn’t help but wonder, “How does Yingying want to save me?”

Yun Shao thought for a moment, her cheeks flushing, and she lowered her head slightly, her posture unusually soft.

Wei Ying took a step back: “Whoa! This familiar expression!”

“That dog emperor must have read her storybook, for sure. Otherwise, why would she have the same blush as everyone at Jade Dew Hall that day?”

“Ptooey! She must get her storybook back as soon as possible. She only saw the first story about the little maid sneaking into the beauty’s room at night and hasn’t read the second one yet.”

Yun Shao looked at her, her gaze incredibly soft.

She thought absentmindedly, “Ever since I met Yingying, things seem to be getting better and better. Last time, after the censors were beaten, they didn’t dare to make any big moves. In the past, it would never have been resolved so easily.”

“She’s like my lucky star. Even if she’s not deliberately saving me, just being by my side brings good fortune.”

Yun Shao asked softly again, “How will you save me?”

Wei Ying decided to test her again, raising her long, pale fingers and reciting a dirty joke from the storybook. She smiled at the Emperor: “With my hands?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, the Emperor blushed again.

A deep red flushed her cheeks, like she had applied bright rouge. Her eyes shimmered with a watery mist from embarrassment.

Wei Ying was now certain. “This dog emperor has indeed read her storybook!”

Xiao Qianxue, however, didn’t make the same deep connection. Like a curious child, she asked, “Yingying, how will you save His Majesty with your hands?”

Wei Ying cursed the dog emperor silently and said in a serious tone: “Of course—by grinding ink!”

Yun Shao’s eyes widened, her eyelashes fluttering, her gaze clear. The flush on her face quickly faded, and her pale skin returned.

She tilted her head, trying to hear clearly: “Grinding ink?”

Wei Ying: “That’s right! I’ll grind ink for His Majesty, and His Majesty will use the ink I grind to approve important national affairs. Isn’t that me indirectly helping His Majesty govern the country and freeing him from the heavy burden of state affairs?”

It was a well-reasoned argument that was quite convincing.

Xiao Qianxue nodded blankly: “Oh, that’s right. When you put it that way, grinding ink is powerful!”

Wei Ying proudly puffed out her chest: “See? You can do it, too. As long as we have the heart, we can all help His Majesty!”

Xiao Qianxue’s blood was boiling. The scene was about to turn into a passionate recruitment rally: “That’s right! When I was a child, I always imagined serving the country on the battlefield like Concubine Pei’s army. It turns out that even in the imperial harem, I can still be loyal to the nation! If everyone contributes a little, the entire Great Sheng Dynasty will become a better world!”

Wei Ying placed her hands on Xiao Qianxue’s shoulders: “Qianxue, you have great awareness!”

Xiao Qianxue: “I must learn from Concubine and Yingying! I will be loyal to the country even in the imperial harem!”

Wei Ying: “…” “She’s always thinking about her Concubine, isn’t she?”

Yun Shao watched the atmosphere grow more and more passionate and spirited, as if the two of them were about to pull out swords, mount their horses, and charge onto the battlefield. Seeing their sparkling eyes fixed on her, she couldn’t help but take a step back.

For some reason, she was just very, very scared.

Xiao Qianxue’s eyes shone: “Your Majesty, do you still need someone to grind ink tonight?”

Yun Shao was silent for a moment before saying with difficulty: “N-no, not tonight.”

Xiao Qianxue’s first step toward her ambitious goal of serving the country was thwarted. Her eyes immediately welled up with tears. She took a step forward, forcing the Emperor to retreat again.

“Your Majesty, please let me be loyal to the country! Qianxue will definitely grind the ink very, very hard!”

Yun Shao’s back was covered in a cold sweat. She couldn’t understand why Xiao Qianxue made the small act of grinding ink sound so… momentous and grand. And while she spoke, her eyes twinkled with such sincere light that it felt like if Yun Shao didn’t agree, she would become a historical sinner who prevented Xiao Qianxue from serving her country.

Yun Shao was forced to retreat until her back hit the cold, crimson city wall. She had no choice but to agree: “Then… then, alright. Tonight, you can both go to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.”

Xiao Qianxue immediately knelt on one knee and said in a powerful voice: “Thank you, Your Majesty! This subject will repay Your Majesty’s kindness and will serve you with all my heart, even unto death!”

The Emperor: “… It’s just grinding ink. There’s no need for that.”

She said it as if she were about to go to war.

Xiao Qianxue looked up and smiled at her, a blooming flower of a smile.

The face so similar to her old friend’s was close, and the Emperor felt a moment of trance. She looked at Xiao Qianxue’s brilliant smile, dazed for a moment, and then raised her eyes to glance at Wei Ying. A misty sheen returned to her eyes.

Wei Ying just couldn’t understand why such a “dog” emperor always looked at her with such eyes, as if she were about to cry, making people want to bully her even more.

Palace Intrigue System: “…Do you have some strange fetish?”

Wei Ying said in horror: “What are you thinking? I don’t!”

Palace Intrigue System: “Your denial is so obvious.”

Yun Shao was originally looking at Xiao Qianxue, but her gaze unconsciously fell on the other person.

The young woman stood behind the palace wall, and at some point, had taken out a handful of melon seeds. Her cheeks puffed out, and she had that cute expression again.

Yun Shao thought, “Just now she set the stage with a few words, and now she’s leisurely watching them perform on it. This person likes to hide in the back and eat melon seeds, but she incites others to rush forward. She quietly manipulates everything. She’s so scheming, and yet, so… adorable.”

Her heart skipped another two beats.

Thump-thump.

After returning from the Hall of Thick Radiance unscathed, she was summoned again to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to “serve” the Emperor.

Jade Dew Hall was as festive as a New Year’s celebration. Everyone said that the two masters were in high favor and were now the Emperor’s most beloved consorts.

Xiao Qianxue was even more excited and began to exercise her arm strength to prepare for grinding ink.

Wei Ying watched the female lead excitedly practicing her sword in the courtyard, silently retreated, and felt a little guilty.

“It’s not necessary, really.”

She suspected that if the female lead kept practicing, the palace intrigue script would turn into a Mulan or General Gu Hua script, with her taking up a sword and heading to the battlefield.

“It’s scary, truly scary.”

Palace Intrigue System: “…Isn’t this your own doing?”

Wei Ying: “If the script changes, I should still be able to continue the mission, right?”

Palace Intrigue System: “You’d better hope the script doesn’t deviate too much before you max out the fusion progress.”

Wei Ying: “…I’ll try my best.”

Palace Intrigue System shed tears: “Listen to this, is this what a human says? I’ve never seen a task-taker whose goal is to push the plotline off the rails.”

In the deep courtyard, Xiao Qianxue held her sword, and the sunlight made the blade shine brightly.

She let out a few soft shouts and swung the sword three times. The blade flashed, and a falling leaf was cut into several pieces.

“Master is so great!”

“Lady is so powerful!”

Two little maids stood by, cheering her on.

Wei Ying watched and sighed with melancholy. She was very afraid that if this continued, her fragrant and soft female lead would turn into a muscular, hardened female general.

But what she worried about most wasn’t that.

Logically, when the Emperor and the female lead met, there should have been sparks flying, just like before in the Imperial Garden, when the Emperor wanted to take her back to the palace the moment they met.

But based on the Emperor’s recent behavior, her obsession with the female lead seemed to be slowly fading.

It made it impossible to exploit the plot loopholes, which was so frustrating.

Palace Intrigue System: “…”

Wei Ying tried to read the Emperor’s mind. “Does the dog emperor think that if she brings her back to the harem, the female lead won’t be as appealing? Or did the previous few times of showing the female lead’s face to her cause some kind of psychological trauma?”

She remembered the two books the dog emperor gave her and suddenly found a blind spot!

“Why can the dog emperor’s study so casually produce The Surangama Sutra and The Tao Te Ching?” she asked very seriously.

Palace Intrigue System: “Why?”

Wei Ying clapped her hands, and said with a pained expression: “She doesn’t have that kind of worldly desire!”

Palace Intrigue System: “…”

At dusk that day, a palanquin once again carried the two noble ladies from Jade Dew Hall into the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Wei Ying, holding a food box, looked at the Emperor, who had no worldly desires, and a hint of maternal compassion suddenly rose in her heart.

Xiao Qianxue had already run over, eagerly grinding ink and sorting through memorials, displaying the excellent awareness of a diligent worker.

Wei Ying had nothing to do, so she sat nearby and began to chew on melon seeds with a crunching sound.

Yun Shao heard the sound, and the corners of her lips unconsciously turned up. The worries that had been plaguing her recently were swept away. She felt an extraordinary sense of ease and high efficiency as she read the memorials.

Perhaps Wei Ying was right. In a way, this really was serving the country.

Yun Shao chuckled to herself, the corners of her eyes curving slightly. She looked up at the young woman sitting on the chair eating melon seeds. After only a glance, she quickly lowered her eyes, tightened her grip on the vermilion brush, and left a faint red dot on the memorial.

It’s a mess, she thought. Everything is a mess.

Before long, Wei Ying stood up and took the initiative to help the Emperor clean the room, hoping to find the hidden A Record of Harem Affairs in a forgotten corner. She couldn’t read well, but this time Xiao Qianxue was with her, so she wasn’t afraid of taking another Buddhist or Taoist scripture by mistake.

Wei Ying fumbled around, and soon Xiao Qianxue finished her tasks and came over to help her, following the Emperor’s instructions.

The two of them worked together to find the storybook.

Wei Ying frowned. She had searched every corner of the small study, but where on earth did the dog emperor hide the storybook? She thought, her gaze unconsciously falling on the stack of memorials. She had a shocking thought: “Could the Emperor have placed it on the table after reading it, and some illiterate or nearsighted eunuch, like her, mixed it up with the memorials?”

The Emperor had to read many memorials every day, stacked in piles. After reading them, the eunuchs would move them to the adjacent Wen Ting Pavilion for discussion.

If she wanted to find the storybook, she would probably have to go to Wen Ting Pavilion again.

Wei Ying pursed her lips, secretly making her own plans.

Soon after, Chief Eunuch Fu Shou pushed the door open, smiled kindly at the two young women, and walked to the Emperor’s side to whisper a few words.

Wei Ying heard the word “Wen Ting Pavilion” and paid close attention, quietly perking up her ears and inching toward the Emperor. She then heard Fu Shou mention “Grand Tutor Gong” and “Northern Qiao.”

Upon hearing Fu Shou’s message, the Emperor’s face changed slightly. She frowned, put down her vermilion brush, and stood up to walk outside.

As she passed Wei Ying, she saw the young woman tilting her head, like a curious kitten. A smile rose in her eyes, and she said softly, “I’m going to the Wen Ting Pavilion for a bit. I’ll be back soon. If you’re tired, you can rest on the couch.”

Wei Ying blinked: “Your Majesty, I want to go, too.”

Yun Shao looked at her in surprise: “You want to go, too?”

Wei Ying: “I’ll go and serve Your Majesty.”

Yun Shao smiled gently: “Never mind. You’re not in good health. Just rest here.”

The Emperor’s voice was unusually gentle. Fu Shou couldn’t help but look up, quietly glancing at the two young women. He first looked at Wei Ying, then at Xiao Qianxue, and finally back at Wei Ying.

He didn’t quite understand why, of the two people, the one who looked more like the old friend was not the one the Emperor seemed to favor more.

Wei Ying’s cheeks were slightly flushed. She clutched the corner of her clothes and said shyly: “Yingying wants to stay with Your Majesty~”

Yun Shao’s eyes widened. She stood frozen, staring at the young woman.

That familiar feeling returned. Her heart beat very fast, feeling both numb and tingly, as if a fluffy little beast was rolling around in her chest.

She felt her face was very hot. After a moment, she asked softly, “You want to stay with me?”

Wei Ying looked up, gave a fleeting glance, and then quickly lowered her eyes, nodding slightly.

Yun Shao was once again so moved her heart felt numb, and her fingertips trembled slightly.

Fu Shou stood to the side, looking at the tip of his nose, pretending to be a statue.

Now he understood why the Emperor favored her more. This child was too good at seducing people, a genuine ‘femme fatale’ consort.

The “femme fatale” pouted again: “Your Majesty, please?”

The Emperor immediately crumbled: “Alright…” She even said a classic phrase of a foolish ruler: “Whatever you say.”

Fu Shou couldn’t bear to watch. He thought sadly, “My Emperor used to be so wise, used to not be addicted to women, used to… used to keep Buddhist scriptures in the imperial study.”

“Why did it turn out this way?”

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