After lying down, Li Yi tossed and turned, utterly unable to fall asleep.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.
“Tea,” he ordered coldly.
Fang Lu had been serving by Li Yi’s side all night. He knew the Emperor was in a foul mood today; if anyone else were serving, they would have undoubtedly made a mistake and provoked the dragon’s wrath.
He carefully and respectfully offered up a cup of flower tea.
Li Yi took a sip, his face growing even gloomier.
Did that hateful woman truly think he couldn’t survive without her? Ridiculous!
His face was so dark and stormy that it terrified Fang Lu into absolute silence.
Li Yi ordered coldly, “Come here.”
Fang Lu knelt at Li Yi’s feet and listened as Li Yi muttered a few words in a low voice.
Fang Lu: “……”
The Empress clearly wasn’t someone to be trifled with, nor was she a kind-hearted pushover. Fang Lu absolutely did not want to offend her.
However, under the stern, threatening glare of his thoroughly unreasonable Emperor, Fang Lu grabbed a solid candlestick and smashed it straight into the translucent tiles set in the window.
With a loud crash, the window tiles shattered all over the floor. The freezing cold wind poured in through the broken window, making Fang Lu violently shiver.
Li Yi tossed his teacup aside and instantly hopped out of bed. Wearing only his inner robes, he brazenly marched out of the side chamber and headed straight for the main bedroom where Qi Yue was staying. When the palace maids saw him, naturally, none dared to block his path. A few wanted to run ahead to announce his arrival, but Li Yi immediately stopped them.
When Li Yi walked in, Qi Yue wasn’t in bed yet. The temperature in the bedroom was very high. She was wearing only a sheer gauze robe as thin as cicada wings, her mass of dark hair spilling down her back. She grabbed a handful of her hair; having just been washed and toweled off, it was still slightly damp. A chilling, fragrant scent hit Li Yi’s nose, completely stealing his soul away for a moment.
Qi Yue dipped her fingertips in a few drops of rose oil and massaged it into the ends of her hair. The cold fragrance radiating from her body, combined with the rich, slightly sweet scent of the roses, practically tempted Li Yi to commit a crime.
Li Yi had entered completely silently; he thought Qi Yue was asleep, so he had deliberately slowed his steps. Qi Yue was entirely focused on rubbing the rose oil into her hair. Once finished, she loosely pinned up her long hair with a hairpin, grabbed a set of sleepwear from the wardrobe, and prepared to take off her sheer gauze robe.
Li Yi really wanted to look, but also felt that as a gentleman, he absolutely shouldn’t peek.
But upon further thought, Qi Yue was his Empress. Out in the civilian world, she would be his wife.
A wife was a husband’s deeply private possession; what part of her could a husband not look at?
The back of her wardrobe door had a mirror inlaid in it. As Qi Yue untied her sash in front of the mirror, her gaze flickered, and she spotted a hooligan in the reflection.
The hooligan wasn’t looking at her, but had awkwardly turned his face away.
Li Yi figured that being able to look but not eat was just too torturous. Besides, if the Empress found out, she would definitely be unhappy. He might as well play the gentleman and temporarily refrain from looking.
Qi Yue changed out of her clothes and slipped into a soft white nightgown. She turned her head and glanced at Li Yi. “Why isn’t Your Majesty sleeping early? What are you doing here?”
Li Yi smoothly lied, “Fang Lu was clumsy and accidentally smashed the window, letting the cold wind pour in. I could not sleep peacefully.”
The moment Qi Yue heard it, she knew it was a blatant lie. Why would anyone perfectly fine go and smash a window for no reason?
But she didn’t bother exposing him: “I’ll have Aunt Yun arrange another room for you…”
Li Yi unceremoniously climbed right into the bed. “I am sleeping in your bed tonight.”
She simply couldn’t chase him away. Qi Yue lay down, sticking to the very edge of the mattress. But with his long arms and legs, Li Yi scooped her over, locking her tightly in his embrace.
Qi Yue’s back was pressed against Li Yi’s solid, broad chest, making her instantly nervous.
If Li Yi decided to play the tyrant and force himself upon her, she wouldn’t be able to break free.
Qi Yue didn’t dare struggle, only whispering, “Your Majesty…”
Li Yi buried his face in her hair, taking a deep sniff, his voice slightly hoarse: “Go to sleep.”
Qi Yue remained deeply tense, exactly like a rabbit caught in the claws of a tiger or lion. Even if the tiger put on an act and said “I won’t eat you,” the rabbit would still be terrified.
Li Yi gave a low chuckle. “My head isn’t completely filled with that sort of thing. What are you so nervous about?”
Qi Yue didn’t speak.
He kissed the top of her head. “I am open and aboveboard, a true gentleman. The Empress can rest entirely assured.”
Qi Yue quickly fell asleep. Li Yi fell asleep too. He was usually a very light sleeper, yet holding Qi Yue in his arms, he actually slept incredibly comfortably, not having a single dream the entire night.
Having had a beautiful sleep, and waking up to see a stunning beauty, Li Yi’s heart was exceptionally delighted.
He bit and gnawed on Qi Yue’s face a couple of times. Qi Yue had been sleeping soundly and was suddenly disturbed; feeling highly annoyed, she didn’t even know who it was and just blindly reached out to pinch him.
Unfortunately, Li Yi’s abdominal muscles were too hard, and she couldn’t pinch them at all.
When Li Yi got up to attend the morning court, facing those annoying old stubborn officials as usual, he actually didn’t feel too irritated.
Sitting upon his throne, looking down from above, as the ministers paid their respects and the Imperial Censor stepped forward to report, Li Yi listened while spotting a young man in the crowd.
That man was exceedingly handsome and elegant, standing tall like a jade tree. This was someone from the Qi family—Qi Huai, Qi Yue’s older cousin. He was this year’s top martial arts scholar, yet he looked completely full of scholarly refinement. In the future, he would inherit the title of Duke Dingguo.
Because of Empress Dowager Qi, Li Yi hated everything associated with the Qi family, repeatedly suppressing them over the past two years. But thinking of Qi Yue, he looked at this young descendant of the Qi family and didn’t feel quite so disgusted anymore.
After Qi Yue woke up, Aunt Yun passed on the message that Noble Consort Yan had arrived.
Even in the past, Noble Consort Yan had never once set foot in Zhengyang Palace. Now that Li Yi had just started paying attention to Zhengyang Palace, Noble Consort Yan was personally coming over to scout the enemy. Qi Yue’s eyes rippled with a cold light. “She really cannot hold her composure.”
Qi Yue took her time meticulously washing and dressing before finally coming out to meet Noble Consort Yan.
Noble Consort Yan was wearing a palace dress embroidered with a hundred butterflies fluttering through flowers, and a peacock feather ornament in her hair. She was dressed exceedingly vibrantly; from afar, she practically blinded people with her sparkling jewels.
With the Empress taking so long to arrive, Noble Consort Yan waited very anxiously.
Noble Consort Yan really wanted to see exactly why the Emperor would abandon a charming and graceful Noble Consort like her, and turn his favor to this Empress who had just barely reached adulthood and hadn’t even fully filled out her figure yet.
Obviously, she, Noble Consort Yan, possessed world-toppling beauty, elegance, and supreme luxury! She was the one truly suited for the Empress’s seat, and the only one who matched the Emperor!
Author’s Note: I rode in a car all day yesterday and was exhausted. I set an alarm today but still woke up late, so this update is late. I’m so sorry to make everyone wait! I will randomly give out red packets in the comments to compensate.
Translator’s Anecdote:
Emperor Li Yi actively ordering his Chief Eunuch to commit property damage just so he has an excuse to sleep in his wife’s bed is peak toxic rom-com behavior! And then he has the audacity to call himself an “open and aboveboard gentleman” while actively trying to peek at her in the mirror. Sure, Jan.😁