I've Decided To Be This Tyrant's Dark Moonlight - Chapter 34

A Whirlwind of Palace Intrigue

Wei Ying was startled, her longsword trembling in her hand, the blade shimmering.

“The Empress Dowager’s birthday is coming soon?” she asked, sheathing her sword. “So soon?”

The Consort laughed, “Yes, every year after the Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone starts preparing for the Empress Dowager’s birthday. What are you preparing?”

Wei Ying touched the corner of her mouth, a slightly guilty expression on her face.

The Consort continued, “Didn’t His Majesty ask you to play a musical instrument again last time? Come on, tell me, what is it?”

Wei Ying thought for a moment, then said with a serious expression, “It’s a dream from my youth!”

The Consort didn’t understand, but thought it sounded impressive. She patted Wei Ying’s shoulder, tossed her own sword aside, and pulled Wei Ying along with her back to Baoyun Palace.

“Not practicing anymore?” Wei Ying picked up the sword from the ground and put it back on the weapon rack along with her own.

Usually, when the Consort got into her sword practice, she would keep Wei Ying as a sparring partner for a whole afternoon. Today, the session ended so early that Wei Ying felt unaccustomed to it.

The Consort put her arm around Wei Ying and laughed, “No more practice. If we keep going, you’ll be able to beat me, and then what face will I have? Let’s go, let’s go soak in the hot springs.”

The two of them sat in the hot spring, their arms resting on the white jade platform, their eyes half-closed from the warm steam.

“Yingying, do you know? My father and brother are coming back soon!” The Consort was visibly excited, her eyebrows dancing. “They’ve won several great victories, beating back the Northern barbarians so that they no longer dare to invade. They say they want to negotiate for peace.”

Wei Ying already knew about this and smiled slightly, her thoughts turning to Xiao Qianxue.

The force of the plot was surprisingly resilient, especially when it came to matters related to the protagonist.

Although the Emperor didn’t have any worldly desire for Xiao Qianxue, rumors outside the palace suggested that the two nobles of the Yulu Hall were in great favor, enjoying nightly feasts and songs, which wasn’t too different from the original plot. Similarly, the Consort, as an early-stage boss, for some unknown reason, still disliked the protagonist.

A while ago, thanks to Wei Ying’s efforts, the Consort finally opened up the small horse ranch for Xiao Qianxue. But in the past few days, her attitude had suddenly changed, and she once again barred Xiao Qianxue from entry. Even the mare, Mary Sue Little Pear Blossom, couldn’t shake her decision.

Wei Ying felt she needed to work hard for her friend’s happiness. At the very least, she had to figure out why the Consort suddenly started disliking Qianxue again, find the reason, and then prescribe the right solution.

She blinked and said with a smile, “I heard that before you entered the palace, my lady, you also went into battle with General Pei to fight against the Northern barbarians. You were a skilled horsewoman with a sword, so heroic and dashing. I can just imagine how amazing it was!”

Hearing these words, the Consort’s expression immediately became proud, and she looked at Wei Ying with increasing fondness.

Since entering the palace, she had never heard such a delightful compliment.

She didn’t like it when people praised her beauty. After all, it was such an obvious fact, why did they have to keep repeating it? Anyone with eyes could see it. She wanted to hear people praise her achievements before she entered the palace, but everyone was so afraid to talk about it.

It was as if for a woman to not stay at home and instead show her face in public was some kind of great sin; as if for someone like her, who was brave and a little rebellious and came from the battlefield, being able to marry into the royal family was a remarkable honor.

The Consort mentally “Bah”-ed and couldn’t help but smile at Wei Ying. She felt that this person was good in every way, and even her compliments were so gratifying. It felt like drinking a few catties of erguotou, making her feel dizzy and lightheaded.

Wei Ying continued, “The people of Yunzhou must be very grateful to you, my lady.”

The Consort proudly puffed out her small chest. “Of course! When I was little, the Northern barbarians even reached the foot of Yunzhou City. Thanks to my father who brought his troops and drove them back! That was the first time I followed my father out,” she said, a faint blush on her cheeks, her tone suddenly becoming very shy. “Someone even gave me flowers.”

Wei Ying said, “Wow, my lady, do you know that there’s a concubine in the palace who is also from Yunzhou?”

The Consort immediately asked, “Who is it?”

Wei Ying saw her chance and quickly replied, “It’s Qianxue.”

The Consort’s eyes widened in surprise. After three seconds, her expression quickly changed, and her tone became cold. “Oh.” She picked up a swaying flower petal from the water and frowned. She got out of the hot spring, her tall, pale body wrapped in her water-soaked robe, and looked down at Wei Ying. “Did you praise me because of her?”

Wei Ying silently retreated until her back hit the cold wall of the pool. “My lady?”

The atmosphere suddenly became dangerous!

The Consort said, “I hate this. I thought you were sincerely praising me, that you thought what I did back then was impressive!”

Wei Ying nodded. “I am sincere, truly and honestly, truer than a real pearl.”

The Consort sneered, “Heh, liar. You’re clearly only close to me because of her, aren’t you?”

Wei Ying said, “I’m not, I didn’t, who told you that?”

The Consort gave her a cold glance and tied her belt neatly. “I have books as proof!”

An hour later, Wei Ying sat on the Consort’s couch, holding a storybook with a complicated expression.

The storybook was about anecdotes from the imperial harem of an unknown dynasty, but that wasn’t the point. The point was the title of the book…

“A Thousand Songs of Absence?” she frowned. “System, am I really the only task-doer in this world?”

The Palace Fighting System replied, “Of course you’re the only one. You’re the light, the electricity, the one and only myth. I guarantee it with my personality!”

Wei Ying ruthlessly exposed it. “You don’t have a personality.”

The Palace Fighting System whimpered.

The Consort had already left in a huff, leaving her with a few storybooks. It was said that these books had recently emerged and were very popular among the people. Because they were so highly praised, the bookstore kept reprinting them, and the price of paper in the capital had risen quite a bit.

Wei Ying flipped through A Thousand Songs of Absence and roughly understood the story. It was about a pair of childhood sweethearts. One was the daughter of a high-ranking official who was sent to the deep palace very early, while the other came from a common family and was later chosen as a lady-in-waiting, thus entering the palace.

Then came the familiar plot of a childhood sweetheart turning into a new love. This trope was overused in later generations, but in the present, it was quite novel, which explained why it caused paper to become so expensive in the capital.

Wei Ying was even starting to get interested in the author of these storybooks, “One-Year-Old-Grass,” and wanted to have a deep conversation with them.

For example, why did the female lead in A Thousand Songs of Absence get the name Qianxue (Qian=Thousand, Xue=Snow), and the other person was called Feique (Fei=Not, Que=Absence)?

She remembered that her Consort’s name was Pei Que. This must be a hint of something.

So who wrote these books?

Wei Ying opened the other storybooks. One was called The Oriole in the Absence, and another was called New Snow Buries the Crying Oriole. They were angsty love stories. The Que and Xue in them were the same two people from A Thousand Songs of Absence, and the Oriole was…

Duan Xiaoying, a weak, beautiful, and sickly character who entered the palace at the same time as Qianxue.

Wei Ying: …

She took a deep breath and asked, “System, can I exchange 100 points for the real name of ‘One-Year-Old-Grass’?”

The Palace Fighting System was very tempted but then refused her. “What do you want to do once you know?”

Wei Ying: “Assassinate them in the dark!”

The Palace Fighting System: …

However, she thought about it and felt something wasn’t quite right. If the Consort hated being written about in storybooks, why wasn’t she against Wei Ying, who was also in the storybooks, but disliked Xiao Qianxue so much?

The Palace Fighting System: Host, you’ve overlooked a blind spot.

Wei Ying was very receptive and asked humbly, “Good system, quickly tell me why?”

The Palace Fighting System, hurt by the “humbly asked” comment, bit its non-existent small handkerchief and said, “Because in A Thousand Songs of Absence, ‘Qian’ is before ‘Que,’ and in the other two books, whether it’s The Oriole in the Absence or Buries the Crying Oriole, the Oriole is at the end.”

The Palace Fighting System became more and more excited, its tone rising and ending with a happy little tail. “Admit it, you’re the perennial bottom~”

Wei Ying slumped on the bed, clutching her chest. “Even you’re starting to bully me. It hurts here.”

The Palace Fighting System let out a wild chicken-like cackle. “Cluck-cluck-cluck-cluck-cluck-cluck-cluck.”

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