I've Decided To Be This Tyrant's Dark Moonlight - Chapter 95

Wei Ying nodded. “Oh, so you’re a spy from Beijue.”

She was a little surprised in her heart: in the original book, this character was just a beauty sent from a vassal state, with no connection to Beijue whatsoever.

But looking at it now, for a vassal state to send over a beauty who looked exactly like her original body—this didn’t feel like coincidence at all, but more like a carefully laid scheme. She couldn’t help but wonder what kind of role the Empress Dowager had played in this.

The spy-beauty’s eyes went wide, and she quickly covered her mouth.

Xiao Qianxue stood at the doorway. “Strange, it feels so strange, it’s like I’m looking at the eldest Miss of the Gong family.”

Pei Que folded her arms. “A spy from Beijue? Huh… Haven’t seen Gong Beinu for a long while. I think the Empress Dowager confined her, didn’t she?”

Xiao Qianxue tilted her head. “Confined? Why?”

Pei Que shrugged. “Who knows.”

But Wei Ying knew. That time, after the Empress Dowager had ordered Dong’e to deliver poisoned powder, she had waited day and night for Wei Ying to die. Yet not only did Wei Ying not die, she was healthier than ever—so strong she could run up five flights of stairs without getting tired.

At first, the Empress Dowager thought Wei Ying was blessed by Heaven, and sat there pale-faced and despondent for an entire day. Later, when she discovered it was Gong Beinu who had secretly swapped the poison for ordinary scented powder, she flew into such a rage that she fell ill on the spot—sick from late autumn all the way to New Year’s Eve. At the same time, she confined Gong Beinu to the Nonghua Palace, forbidding her from ever going near the Yulu Palace again.

Wei Ying flicked out a gray card of “Saying One Thing, Meaning Another,” and asked, “Weren’t you supposed to be someone sent by a vassal state? How did you get tangled up with Beijue?”

The spy-beauty’s eyes bulged, and against her will she blurted out, “Absolutely not—I didn’t secretly take someone else’s quota!”

Wei Ying nodded. “Ah, so your side meddled with the process in the dark. Then, which Empress Dowager is backing you?”

The spy-beauty’s face went pale with horror. “Absolutely not the Western Empress Dowager.”

Wei Ying said, “Oh, so it was the Western Empress Dowager. Isn’t she always chanting sutras? Since when did she start meddling in such things, even colluding with Beijue?”

Wei Ying patted her shoulder. “Thanks for confessing so thoroughly.”

The spy-beauty clutched her mouth, bursting into tears.

Wei Ying walked a few steps, then thought of something, turned back and asked, “What did the Emperor come to see you for?”

The spy-beauty only cried harder. “Waaah waaah—buzz buzz—”

She even cried like a cicada buzzing.

Xiao Qianxue blinked. “Goodness, so she’s actually a cicada spirit?”

Pei Que frowned, shaking her head. “Find someone to deal with her.”

The spy-beauty sobbed pitifully, still buzzing, “Buzz buzz—”

Seeing her like this, Wei Ying guessed the Emperor had definitely not come for romance. She arched her brows in amusement, waved to Xiao Qianxue and Pei Que, and together they left the Laundry Bureau, with the pitiful cries echoing behind them.

Xiao Qianxue asked curiously, “What could the Emperor have done? Could it be that His Majesty really is the true dragon-son of Heaven, and just hearing his name made the cicada spirit reveal its true form?” She lifted her lips in a happy smile. “I knew it—the Emperor only loves Yingying! No other woman could possibly steal her away, not even a demon!”

Wei Ying: “Eh-hei!”

Xiao Qianxue: “Eh-hei!”

Xiao Qianxue wrapped an arm around Wei Ying’s shoulder as they walked back toward the Yulu Palace. “Yingying, when I go back home, I’ll bring you some specialties from Yunzhou. We have a kind of cake made from cow’s milk, and really cute wool felt crafts.”

Wei Ying brightened. “Great! Great! Do they have cream? I want to drink milk tea with cream on top!”

Xiao Qianxue thought seriously, then shook her head. “That won’t work—it would spoil on the way. But someday you should come to Yunzhou with me, then I’ll take you to drink it fresh!”

Pei Que trailed behind with folded arms, watching the two graceful figures leaning close as they passed under the vermilion palace walls, bathed in the glow of the setting sun. She smiled faintly, then quickened her pace to catch up.

It didn’t take much effort for Wei Ying to persuade the Emperor to let Noble Consort Xu and Xiao Qianxue leave the palace. But the matter had to remain secret, so it was arranged that Pei Que would pretend to be sick and go to the Yunwai Temple on Mount Xi to recuperate, with Xiao Qianxue accompanying her as caretaker.

As long as they were away from Shengjing, everything would be fine. Beyond the palace, the seas were wide for fish to leap, and the skies vast for birds to fly.

On the day the Noble Consort and Xiao Qianxue left the palace, Wei Ying slipped out to see them off.

Horse hooves trampled flowers, spring grass spread like a green carpet; they rode freely through the fields outside Shengjing, long sleeves fluttering in the wind, carefree and unrestrained.

The spring sunlight was bright, the breeze gentle, carrying the fragrance of flowers.

Pei Que had not left Shengjing for years. Looking once more at the endless green fields, she gripped the reins tightly, silent for a long time.

Xiao Qianxue’s joy was much more obvious. She stretched her arms wide, facing the wind like a bird opening its wings. “Ahhh finally out! Ahhh I can go home again! So happy!”

When Wei Ying heard the word “home,” her gaze lowered slightly, her long lashes trembling.

Pei Que rode ahead a few paces, then turned back suddenly. “Yingying, why don’t you come with us?”

Wei Ying stared in surprise. “What?”

Pei Que said, “Come with us. Don’t you want to go home? Don’t you want to return to Jiangnan?”

Wei Ying looked at her for a long while, then slowly shook her head with a smile. “I’ll stay here. The palace is fine.”

Xiao Qianxue was still happily galloping around, her little pear blossom horse bounding through the flowers and grass, its snowy white coat glinting under the sun. Suddenly, she rode over, laughing. “What are you two still talking about?”

Wei Ying glanced at her and shook her head. “Nothing.”

Pei Que’s face grew solemn. “You really won’t come?”

Wei Ying: “Mm.”

Pei Que turned her head away, her horse’s tail flicking a sharp arc through the air. Without another word, without any farewell, she snapped her whip and rode off in a clean, decisive departure.

Xiao Qianxue waved. “Yingying, then we’ll go first! Don’t forget to write often, just send your letters to Yunzhou!”

Wei Ying smiled. “Mm, take care on the road. And… look after the Noble Consort.”

Xiao Qianxue nodded firmly. “I’ll protect her well!”

Wei Ying watched them ride side by side until their figures dwindled into tiny black dots, disappearing into the boundless green spring fields.

She tightened her grip on the reins, lifted her face to the sky. The heavens were a wash of blue, clouds stretched in thin wisps—everything was beautiful, and yet she couldn’t find her little star anymore.

She dismounted, picking a small flower from the ground.

It was a tiny purple blossom, shaped like a lotus, often growing in clusters. Its proper name was Chinese milk vetch, but because it enriched the soil, locals simply called it “green manure.”

Wei Ying gathered a bunch of the blossoms, sat on the grass, patiently splitting the stems to make little gaps, threading one flower into another. Soon, she had strung together a purple garland.

Smiling, she slipped the flower chain onto her wrist, mounted her horse, and rode swiftly back toward the palace.

The Palace-Fight System suddenly spoke: “Noble Consort Xu doesn’t seem quite right. Host, the plot has already deviated too far.”

Wei Ying chuckled. “Of course it has. The whole reason I bound you, a system, was to twist the plot, wasn’t it? Otherwise by now Qianxue would already be sitting in my place as the Emperor’s favored consort.”

And wasn’t it neat—though not in the original book, the fact that Xiao Qianxue went to Yunwai Temple to recuperate from the grief of a miscarriage, still matched up perfectly in its own way.

When she returned to Shengjing, the air was filled with the fragrance of mugwort. She realized it was the season for making spring dumplings, so she queued for two hours at the most famous restaurant in town to buy a few packs of freshly steamed qingtuan.

Thinking of how the Empress had shut herself away in Changchun Palace since last year, growing thinner and more worn out, Wei Ying sent her a pack out of concern.

Of the remaining, she sent one to Consort Xian at Yulu Palace, and another to Consort Li at Nonghua Palace.

Then, thinking further, she tucked one more pack under her arm and headed toward Nonghua Palace. She avoided the main gate, calculated the position of a side hall, then scaled the palace wall in a few nimble moves.

Inside, Gong Beinu sat sulking on a swing, her little face all scrunched up.

She had been locked up for months already! Angry!

Thinking of how long she’d been confined, her face grew even more pitifully scrunched, and remembering it was all because she had helped Wei Ying, yet that heartless girl hadn’t even come to visit once, she grew angrier still!

Gong Beinu huffed, pouting. If she’d known, she wouldn’t have saved her!

But without her, the palace would be so boring.

While she stewed unhappily, a familiar voice sounded behind her.

Gong Beinu turned, and there on the palace wall was the very person she’d been thinking of.

Wei Ying yawned, waved. “Good day, Zhaorong.”

Gong Beinu: “Hmph.”

Wei Ying sat on the wall, legs swinging, skirt swaying. She smiled with curved eyes, beckoning Gong Beinu closer.

Gong Beinu: “I’m not coming! Don’t think that just because you came to see me, I’ll forgive you. I’ll never forgive you again!”

Hmph. Wronged. The more she spoke, the more aggrieved she felt.

Wei Ying sighed helplessly, jumped down from the wall, her skirt flaring like petals. She came to the flower tree and gently pushed Gong Beinu’s swing. Smiling, she said, “Don’t be mad, Zhaorong. I did try to visit you a few times, but they stopped me and wouldn’t let me in.”

Gong Beinu lifted her reddened eyes. “Really?”

Wei Ying nodded. “Really!”

But then Gong Beinu thought of something and turned her head stubbornly. “You can climb walls—why didn’t you come that way to see me?”

Wei Ying smiled slyly. “That’s why I practiced wall-climbing for months, until I could finally make it over! Look, the walls are so high—any normal person would need months of training to climb them.”

Gong Beinu listened, and it made sense. She couldn’t help but nod. “That does sound right.”

Wei Ying pulled out the oiled-paper package she’d brought. “Look what I brought for you.”

“What’s that?” Gong Beinu tore it open quickly, and when she saw the jade-green sticky rice dumplings, her lips lifted in a smile. But she sniffed disdainfully, “Hmph, only you would like something like this. I won’t eat it. It’s dirty, probably will give me a stomachache.”

Wei Ying sighed regretfully. “Then give it back to me. I queued for hours to buy these—if you don’t eat them, I’ll just give them to someone else.”

Gong Beinu hugged the package tightly, her eyes widening in disbelief. “You’d give them to someone else?!”

Wei Ying chuckled. “Of course not. I got them especially for you.”

Only then did Gong Beinu snort with satisfaction. “Even if you gave them away, I wouldn’t care at all.”

Wei Ying rubbed her temples helplessly, thinking: perhaps she’d used too many “Say One Thing, Mean Another” cards on this girl…

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