I've Decided To Be This Tyrant's Dark Moonlight - Chapter 7

The news of the haunting quickly spread throughout the palace.

Gong Beinu didn’t dare to go back to the Hall of Stored Elegance and stayed in the Hall of Glorious Grace with her older sister, whimpering and crying.

“Sister, I really saw it, a terrifying ghost,” she said, holding a bowl of glutinous rice balls in fermented rice wine, eating the sweet little balls while sobbing, “At first, I thought it was that consumptive ghost, Duan Weiying, but who knew… who knew that when she turned her head around…”

Her long hair was flowing from behind, and when she turned around, her long hair was still flowing.

Gong Beinu: “So scary, woo woo woo, hiccup.”

Consort Shu shook her head and raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps you were just seeing things.”

Gong Beinu immediately retorted, “Even if I was seeing things, would that imperial physician also be seeing things? I heard he’s already packing his things to retire and return to his hometown.” She suddenly looked up, staring intently at Consort Shu. “Sister, do you think… do you think His Majesty’s old lover has returned? She died so miserably, she’s come back to demand her life…”

Consort Shu felt a chill run down her spine from the stare. She lowered her eyes and took a sip of tea. “You can sleep with me these next few days. Don’t go to the Hall of Stored Elegance. By the way, how could a mere beauty like her summon Imperial Physician Li?”

Gong Beinu said, “His Majesty was the one who told her to go to the Imperial Hospital and choose someone. It’s all because of those two beauties who drank your fermented rice wine with sweet osmanthus.”

Consort Shu’s expression turned cold.

Gong Beinu: “Sister, didn’t they say that palace consorts would be assisting with the final round of the selection? Why don’t you go to the Empress and ask for that task? Look, they’re only beautiful candidates now, and His Majesty already cares so much about them. If they enter the palace later, won’t the palace be turned upside down?”

Consort Shu rubbed her teacup, her eyes lowered and silent.

In the Hall of Stored Elegance, after Gong Beinu moved out, the small courtyard was only inhabited by Weiying and Xiao Qianxue.

Xiao Qianxue was terribly frightened the night before, but to be a loyal friend, she decided to stay. However, every evening, she stubbornly lit a candle in every corner, making the courtyard look like it was filled with flickering ghost fires from a distance.

Weiying wrapped her cloak around herself and stood under a phoenix tree, looking up at the bright golden leaves, contemplating her mission.

In her opinion, missions were divided into major missions for important milestones in each stage and small missions that were randomly generated based on plot changes. For example, the first meeting between the female lead and the emperor, or her stunning performance during the selection, were major missions. Yesterday’s mission was a small one.

Only by completing a major mission could she receive rewards for her physique and integration level. Small missions only gave her one chance to open a blind box.

But the blind boxes were also very important.

If she had more cards yesterday, she wouldn’t have had to take off her clothes in front of the damn emperor.

Weiying peeked at Xiao Qianxue, who was busy placing candles everywhere, and couldn’t help but smile.

Based on the experience of the past few days, she could deduce that the emperor would be reminded of his “white moonlight” whenever he saw the female lead, triggering the original plot. Her job was to prevent the correction of the original plot. If she succeeded once, she would get a chance to open a blind box.

So, the female lead equals missions equals blind boxes.

Xiao Qianxue turned around, meeting Weiying’s bright gaze.

The girl stood under the golden tree, her pale cheeks flushed with a hint of color in the sunlight. Her eyes were slightly narrowed, like a satisfied cat.

Xiao Qianxue returned her a brilliant smile, one that bloomed like a flower.

Weiying’s heart stirred. She looked at the female lead as if she were looking at countless shining cards. She tapped a finger on her pale lips, her mouth curling into a small smile as she said, “Qianxue, should we go for a walk in the Imperial Garden?”

Xiao Qianxue bloomed again, smiling at her. “Yes, let’s go!”

Logically, the candidates shouldn’t be so boisterous as to run out of the Hall of Stored Elegance and wander into the Imperial Garden. If they tried to sneak around, the guards and eunuchs would stop them.

But the female lead’s halo allowed them to pass through unhindered and arrive at the Imperial Garden.

It was already autumn. The hundred flowers had withered, and only the withered, gray branches of lotus remained in the pond. Next to them, chrysanthemums and sweet osmanthus competed in fragrance.

Xiao Qianxue knelt down in front of a cluster of golden chrysanthemums and laughed, “When I was at home, my mother would always make us chrysanthemum wine around this time. It’s a pity I’m not very good at it, or I could have made some for you later.”

A smile was on Weiying’s face.

Xiao Qianxue turned her head. “Yingying, what are you looking at?”

Weiying was looking for the emperor’s.

Based on the original story, the female lead’s outing was bound to be a chance encounter with the emperor, leading to one, two, or three beautiful moments. Moreover, the plot had already changed. The emperor hadn’t brought the female lead back to the palace at the beginning of the selection, so the plot’s corrective force would definitely make the two of them meet again.

Now, she just had to wait for the plot’s force to start correcting.

The plot’s force was like a CP-obsessed fan, holding the emperor’s and female lead’s heads together, screaming desperately, “You two are meant to be!”

Weiying also shouted in her heart, “You two are meant to be!”

“And I’ll be the one to smash this bond apart!”

Gongdou Ji: “…”

Gongdou Ji’s spirit was lifted as she loudly said, “Host, host, the emperor is coming!”

By the flowers and the water, it was a perfect place for a chance encounter. Even if the emperor was attracted by Xiao Qianxue, her host could at least make an impression on the emperor again.

Xiao Qianxue stood in front of the brilliant golden chrysanthemums, her yellow dress swaying. She turned her head amidst the shimmering flowers, the tassel on her hairpin shaking. Her smiling eyes were more radiant than the flowers themselves.

Weiying silently stepped aside, hiding herself in the shadows so that the damn emperor behind her could more directly experience the shock of this beauty, thus triggering the original plot’s corrective force.

Sure enough, after the emperor saw Xiao Qianxue’s smile, he froze in place. His pale pink lips trembled.

—”Is that you?”

Yun Shao murmured, walking forward uncontrollably, his steps somewhat unsteady.

“Yingying, you…” Xiao Qianxue was about to turn back and talk to Weiying but instead met a pair of eyes looking at the bright yellow dragon robe.

The pale, frail young man was wrapped in a dragon robe, a jade belt cinched around his slender, flexible waist.

Shadows of flowers fell upon him, and his overly androgynous, delicate face emerged from the shadows into the sunlight. His passionate eyes were filled with an extremely gentle light.

Time seemed to stop at that moment, an instant that was also an eternity.

Xiao Qianxue’s heart pounded. She remembered the flutter she felt when she first saw him at the Imperial Lodge. It was as if some unseen force was pushing them towards each other. Countless invisible red threads spread in the air, binding them tightly together.

Weiying remained unmoved until she heard Gongdou Ji shouting in her head, “Host, a new mission has been issued! The plot’s corrective force is at work. The emperor wants to bring the female lead back to the palace and directly make her a noble consort. Hurry and stop him! You can get a chance to draw a blind box!”

She lowered her eyes, a faint smile on her lips. She took a step to the side, abruptly stepping between the emperor and the female lead, interrupting their affectionate gaze.

“This consort greets His Majesty.” Weiying spoke in a very affected and overly sweet voice.

The emperor came back to his senses, nodded briefly, and stared intently at Xiao Qianxue. He began to say the line from the original book, “Are you willing to come with me—”

“Cough, cough, cough.”

A series of urgent coughs interrupted her words.

Yun Shao was slightly dazed. He saw the girl covering her lips, the corners of her eyes flushing red, a sickly expression on her face. She had forgotten what she was going to say to Xiao Qianxue and blurted out, “How come you’re still not well?”

Weiying coughed with all her might, coughing to her heart’s content!

She didn’t believe that with an invalid present, the damn emperor and the female lead would still be in the mood for romance.

Xiao Qianxue: “Yingying, are you feeling unwell again? Let me take you back!”

Weiying weakly leaned on her, her head resting on the girl’s shoulder, and gave a low hum of agreement.

The emperor stared at the two girls leaning on each other, his eyes darkening. Unconsciously, he clenched his fists… Tsk, he felt a bit sour, but he wasn’t sure who he was jealous of.

They were all his consorts, so why did he feel like he was being cuckolded?

The emperor fell into deep thought.

They hadn’t walked far when Weiying received the mission complete notification. She immediately stopped coughing, stopped panting, and walked with vigor again.

She held Xiao Qianxue’s hand and smiled brightly. “Qianxue, I’m fine. Let’s go admire the flowers again.”

She wanted to complete the mission a few more times.

Xiao Qianxue frowned disapprovingly. “No, you’re not well. You should go back and rest.”

Weiying almost clung to the female lead, pouting, “My dear Qianxue, I don’t want to go back. It’s so boring there. Or,” she blinked, “how about we go for a walk in the Imperial Lodge?”

It would be too deliberate to keep running into him in the Imperial Garden. Anyway, no matter where the female lead went, she would run into the damn emperor.

Xiao Qianxue had no way to resist someone who was soft and good at acting spoiled. She had no choice but to agree. “Alright, but if you feel unwell, you must tell me. We’ll go back and get you some medicine.”

Imperial Physician Li was badly frightened last night, but as a compassionate doctor, he shakily prescribed her some medicine.

Thinking of the bitter medicine, Weiying’s face scrunched up. She quietly pulled Xiao Qianxue and walked towards the Imperial Lodge.

In fact, the plot’s force was much stronger than she imagined. For example, on the way, they had another chance encounter with the emperor on his imperial carriage.

This time, the script was the same. When she heard Gongdou Ji issuing the mission to stop the damn emperor, Weiying coughed and collapsed into the female lead’s arms.

Even if the damn emperor had just begun to harbor a romantic thought, it was interrupted by her heart-wrenching coughs.

So, the emperor gave a slight nod and left again.

As soon as the damn emperor was gone, Weiying was “cured.” She nimbly got up from Xiao Qianxue and said, “Let’s continue to the Imperial Lodge.”

Xiao Qianxue: “…Yingying, maybe we shouldn’t go.”

There was no need to be so dedicated despite being “frail.”

Weiying, with her new blind boxes, smiled radiantly. “No! We must go!”

Now she understood. As long as she created opportunities for the female lead and the emperor to have chance encounters… in fact, she didn’t even need to create opportunities. As long as she brought the female lead out for a few walks, triggering a chance encounter with the emperor, and then she acted like a villainous character by blocking them, she would be able to complete the mission and get a chance to open a blind box!

How could she miss out on such a good thing?

She had easily “gotten” two blind boxes just now.

After that, the emperor encountered the two candidates countless times.

The Imperial Garden, the Imperial Lodge, the Chongyang Hall… so much so that they always had a chance encounter on the palace paths.

The first few times Yun Shao saw Xiao Qianxue’s face, which resembled his late lover, he would be dazed for a moment, his heart in turmoil, in a brief state of trance. But after encountering them countless times, his heart was as still as water, without a single ripple.

Weiying saw the emperor walking towards them, getting closer and closer, and couldn’t help but ask, “System, why haven’t you issued the mission yet?!”

Let her farm a few more blind boxes.

Gongdou Ji: “…Host, the emperor no longer wants to bring Xiao Qianxue back to the palace.”

Even the plot’s force couldn’t twist away your antics! The emperor was already experiencing aesthetic fatigue with the female lead. What kind of world was this?

Weiying: ? Then why is he walking over here?

Yun Shao didn’t want to bring Xiao Qianxue back to the palace. He just wanted to know—

His long fingers lifted the girl’s thin, pale chin. The emperor lowered his eyes, his gaze deep and somber. “Why aren’t you going back to take your medicine yet?”

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