The morning light streamed into the room, and the candles that had burned through the night extinguished. On the vast Imperial Bed, a pair of lovers clung tightly to each other.
The man’s features were deep and striking, his eyes tightly shut. The sunlight falling on his face softened his appearance considerably…
In his arms, a young girl who had somehow rolled into his embrace during the night slept soundly.
This was the most comfortable night’s sleep he had experienced since his rebirth.
In his previous life, before ascending the throne, he had painstakingly disguised himself according to his mother’s wishes, dedicating himself to the nation and its people, becoming the model prince in the eyes of others, yet also a thorn in his father’s side and a target of envy among his brothers.
In the end, it had all been nothing but a joke.
Even the world itself was false.
He had died on a stormy day, and after being reborn, he suffered from excruciating headaches at the end of every month, finding no relief. He could barely control the urge to slaughter everyone in the world, to make them pay for what they had done.
Since they were all puppets being manipulated, destined for death anyway, why couldn’t he be the one to erase them?
No one could control his fate.
In this life, Nan Leli had killed the emperor and his father ahead of time, viewing everything as mere playthings.
But what was this thing in his arms?
Nan Leli opened his eyes, glaring dangerously at the oblivious “thing” nestled against him.
The young girl’s face was pure and innocent, yet her figure was well-developed. At that moment, she curled up in his arms like a small kitten, her slender wrists wrapped around his waist. She had even buried her head in his chest, sleeping without a care in the world.
In short, for someone who often suffered from insomnia, her peaceful slumber was deeply irritating.
The events of the previous night were still vivid in his mind. With a displeased hum, he acted faster than he could think, childishly withdrawing his hand to pinch her cheek.
Her skin was unlike his—soft as tender tofu. With just a little pressure, a red mark appeared.
He muttered darkly, “This skin would make a fine lantern.”
As he spoke, he tugged at her cheek again in retaliation. The girl instinctively shrank back, raising her hand to slap him with a soft pat.
“Baby, stop it!”
Baby·Leli: “…” His resolve softened again.
What kind of sorcery was this?
Nan Leli’s face instantly darkened.
How could Wen Qitian possibly sleep in such a murderous atmosphere?
Moreover, the System had long been blaring a triumphant tune in her mind. That slap had been deliberate—after a night’s rest, this tyrant had surely regained his strength. If she hadn’t slapped him, her life might have been at his mercy.
“Baby” was the Ragdoll cat she kept at home. She usually loved sleeping while holding it, but she hadn’t expected to roll into the tyrant’s arms while asleep last night.
Wen Qitian quietly withdrew her hand and looked up to see a handsome face twisted in displeasure. His tone was neither warm nor cold: “Awake?”
To make himself appear more terrifying, Nan Leli wore a sinister, forced smile that looked utterly menacing, as though a single breath from him could devour ten of her.
Wen Qitian swallowed nervously.
Truthfully, she was afraid.
Last night, she had dreamed of her disguise failing and the tyrant tearing her apart limb by limb.
But for now, she felt she could survive a little longer.
So, she reached out a small hand and tugged at his clothes.
“I’m awake. Could you send me home?” Wen Qitian blinked her eyes, shifting the blame: “It was your people who kidnapped me. Hurry and send me back—my family must be worried.”
She didn’t actually want to go home; she was merely trying to clear her name.
There was a world of difference between willingly offering herself and being bound and delivered.
If you come to me of your own accord with ulterior motives, then you’re a victim of kidnapping.
As she spoke, she inadvertently revealed her wrist. Her skin was fair, and her wrist was so slender it seemed as if it would snap with a single twist. A red mark left by the rope from last night adorned it, like a red plum blossom blooming on white snow, exuding a peculiar tenderness.
Nan Leli’s gaze lingered there for a moment before he suddenly sneered, deceiving the young girl: “Your family sold you to me as a maid. If you don’t serve me well, I’ll skin you and make a lantern out of you.”
This tyrant had an unusual obsession with skinning people to make lanterns.
Wen Qitian showed a terrified expression.
Nan Leli’s mood instantly lifted.
However, the next second, the girl with a face full of fear shyly and indignantly whispered, “So, does that make me a bed-warming maid now?”
“Thud—”
Around the 25th of every month, the Emperor would not hold court and would seclude himself in the palace. All the servants on the surface outside the bedchamber were dismissed, and no one dared to provoke him on this day.
Early in the morning, the imperial physicians arrived at Nanli Palace with trepidation. The head of Taiyiyuan, Imperial Physician Chen, wrinkled his old face and instructed everyone, “When we go in later, be extremely careful and don’t make too much noise.”
The physicians nodded repeatedly.
Yesterday was the 25th, so His Majesty was definitely in a bad mood. In the past, a palace maid had been delivering a meal and was dragged out and beaten to death just because she was a step too slow in serving the dishes.
They tensed up, fearing they might not make it back alive.
Along the way, they were filled with anxiety, worrying about the Emperor’s health and their own lives.
Finally, a group of trembling quails entered Nanli Palace, not daring to lift their heads, kneeling properly and respectfully.
“Greetings, Your Majesty.”
“Enough nonsense. Get over here and take my pulse.”
From above came the impatient voice of the irritable Emperor. The dilong heating the room offered no warmth to the physicians; instead, it felt as if any further delay would result in them being dismembered and left to bake at the palace gates.
Everyone shuddered, casting pleading glances at their head physician.
Imperial Physician Chen, a first-rank official, came from a family of physicians spanning generations, with ancestral medical skills. He was the most skilled among them and had always been the one to step forward in such situations.
Feeling the pressure, Imperial Physician Chen stood up, sweating profusely, and was about to approach to take the Emperor’s pulse. But as he lifted his head, he saw a petite girl beside the Imperial Bed.
It was shocking enough to look, but what truly startled him was that this girl was… wearing the Emperor’s clothes?
Since the Emperor ascended the throne, court officials had not refrained from urging him to take concubines. However, the women sent for selection either obediently became lowly maids or were used as live targets by him, meeting gruesome deaths, with some even bringing disaster upon their families.
Gradually, no one dared to send women into the palace anymore.
But now, what was he seeing?
There was actually a woman by His Majesty’s side?
Sensing the strange gaze, Wen Qitian tilted her head.
She asked curiously, “Is Your Majesty ill?”
Nan Leli sneered, “Don’t you have any idea?”
Wen Qitian exclaimed in shock, “Just from falling—”
“Shut up!”
The man, flushed with shame and anger, covered her mouth.
What had just happened was something he never wanted to recall in his lifetime.
Damn it, after living two lifetimes, he had actually fallen off the bed because of her mention of a “bed-warming maid”?
If word got out, how could he maintain his dignity?
Nan Leli ignored the sensation in his palm and glared fiercely at Wen Qitian, as if to say, “If you dare utter another word, I’ll silence you for good.”
Alright then, pushing any further would be playing with fire.
Wen Qitian gave a slight nod, her lips inadvertently brushing against his fingertips. Nan Leli swiftly withdrew his hand, turning his head to roar, “What are you staring at? Don’t want your eyeballs anymore? Take my pulse! And check my waist while you’re at it.”
Imperial Physician Chen snapped out of his daze from the earlier scene and hurriedly began taking his pulse.
His aged hands trembled uncontrollably, a cold sweat creeping up his spine. Finally, he said, “Your Majesty is young and strong, with no serious issues, though recently you’ve been somewhat anxious…”
The physician trailed off mid-sentence.
What else was there to say?
Say, if Your Majesty would just lose his temper less often, you’d have no ailments at all; if you’d kill fewer people, you’d live to ninety-nine.
But he didn’t dare say it.
Nan Leli glared at him. “Is that all?”
Imperial Physician Chen: “…That’s all.”
“Useless!”
Nan Leli scoffed lightly, glancing at Wen Qitian beside him before saying coldly, “Then why do I feel weak all over? And my waist was just strained—how can it be relieved?”
Weak all over?
A strained waist?
Plus the young girl wearing the Emperor’s clothes?
In a daze, the physician felt as if something called a “carriage” had rolled over his face. He instantly understood. “Your Majesty, rest assured. I will go prepare a prescription immediately. I guarantee Your Majesty will regain strength and vitality, with no further weakness. As for the waist injury, warm compresses and massage will help. I can teach the young lady beside you the technique.”
Having served in the palace for so many years, Imperial Physician Chen understood many things, especially when it came to the Emperor’s flirtations with palace consorts. He wisely handed over the massage duties.
Who would have thought that despite His Majesty’s youth, his waist strength was lacking? No wonder he had never taken a consort all these years, and every time a minister tried to offer him women, His Majesty would fly into a rage.
Wasn’t that just poking at His Majesty’s sore spot?
Nan Leli’s expression softened slightly at the physician’s reply, and he comfortably pinched the cheek of the person beside him.
“Good. Let’s see how you dare act so arrogantly now.”
Drugging him?
Hah, no one who dared offend him would get off unscathed. Now that the physician could resolve his weakness, it meant he could deal with this soft bun however he pleased.
Imperial Physician Chen, listening nearby, shuddered and hurriedly added, “Your Majesty, no, absolutely not. It would be best to wait until I’ve prepared the prescription and you’ve recuperated for a few days.”
Even Hua Tuo reborn couldn’t make someone instantly invincible without side effects.
His Majesty was far too impatient.
Imperial Physician Chen gave Wen Qitian a sympathetic look.
Wen Qitian: “…”
She delicately covered her face, dodging Nan Leli’s sneak attack. Nan Leli grabbed her by the back of her collar and mercifully dismissed the physicians to get to work. When only the two of them remained, the man curled his lips coldly. “I’ll let you live a few more days.”
First of all, Wen Qitian didn’t understand what her lifespan had to do with the physician. Secondly…
She looked at him pleadingly. “Your Majesty, could I have some clothes?”
Nan Leli’s gaze fell on her attire, and his face instantly darkened. “How dare you wear the Dragon Robe?”
Hearing the sound of knuckles cracking behind her, Wen Qitian shrank her neck, her face full of grievance. “But I can’t go without clothes either.”
Nan Leli: “…”
System: [Darkening value +1. Host, this won’t do. You’ve angered him so much his darkening value has risen again.]
Wen Qitian’s first thought was: His mental fortitude is weak, and that’s my fault?
The System lamented her lack of progress: 【Host, based on my years of experience, these major antagonists are mostly starved for affection. You need to win him over with kindness, always go along with him, and minimize his destructive tendencies. See, he didn’t kill the imperial physician just now, did he?】
Wen Qitian: “But he wants to kill me.”
The System: 【…I don’t care. You must bring down this rising darkening value. Think of your family. The flow of time differs between the two worlds—hurry up, Host!】
Wen Qitian’s heart sank. If the flow of time differed between the two worlds, did that mean if time passed slower here, by the time she completed her mission and returned home, her parents would already be gray-haired?
Wait, what if decades had passed?
At this thought, Wen Qitian panicked. If she had the ability, she would have wanted nothing more than to grab Nan Leli by the neck and force his darkening value to plummet.
【Author’s Note】
From now on, the tyrant will be completely under her thumb without even realizing it, hahaha. Happy New Year, everyone~