Her tone was truly casual, as if the one she was ordering around was not a royal prince, but merely a small eunuch in the palace.
But what made Xie Jiu feel slightly stunned was not Ying Xu’s attitude like this, after all in this Jinling City, among their generation, anyone who knew Ying Xu, there were few who did not know her temperament. More or less, they had all heard of the deeds of this eldest miss who could not be provoked.
And as one of the many secret admirers of this favored daughter of heaven, Xie Jiu was even more clearly aware of just how lawless Ying Xu had been spoiled to be.
What truly made him somewhat surprised was that even up to now, Ying Xu’s attitude toward Xie Jingchen was still…
The emperor was just like this “handled” “without a sound,” the royal descendants and nobles in Jinling City were not completely unaware, after all no matter what, the person had previously been sent to the prison of the Court of Judicial Review, the commotion could not be said to be big, but it was absolutely not small either, and the court also did not deliberately block the news, so anyone with intent only needed to casually inquire to know what exactly had happened.
Only, regarding the matter of the emperor’s death, all the high officials and nobles in Jinling City tacitly pretended not to know.
—That year, Xie Jingchen, who had been exiled to a desolate place, killed his way back from the northwest; since he was able to enter the gates of Jinling City, then that represented that the Zhengde Emperor, who had been in power for four years, was certainly dead, and that dragon throne was destined to change hands. Without a doubt, the new emperor was Xie Jingchen, who had almost blood-washed the entire imperial palace right after returning.
This was already a nailed-down matter. So in Jinling City, not a single person wanted to, on this matter, oppose Xie Jingchen who held military power. That would be like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, overestimating one’s own ability.
Those of them who sat upright in the court were the most tactful and perceptive, and also the most life-treasuring. What’s more, they did not have any inseparable relationship with the emperor that would force them to act as great loyal subjects of the emperor — at this time, in these people’s hearts, they could not help but feel somewhat grateful to Ying Xu. If it were not for her, who knows how many of their daughters would be in the harem; if there were such a layer of relationship, wanting to turn with the wind and cast themselves under a new lord would become a somewhat difficult matter.
And now, under the situation that the throne was already in Xie Jingchen’s pocket, Ying Xu’s attitude toward him not only had not shown the slightest avoidance toward the future new emperor, not to mention restraining herself a bit, but was even worse than back then before Xie Jingchen was exiled by the former emperor.
She directly seized someone and told them to go beat Xie Jingchen up.
Even after Ying Xu married the Zhengde Emperor and became his empress, Xie Liu had once heard many rumors of Ying Xu ordering the emperor about, but seeing it today, he realized that he still had underestimated the goddess’s temper.
She truly deserved the reputation of being the most precious girl in Jinling City.
But as for beating Xie Jingchen up, although Ying Xu said it like that, this matter he truly did not quite dare to do.
Ying Xu was not afraid of offending Xie Jingchen, but he was.
What’s more, even setting aside all other premises, there was still another very big problem in front of him — he simply could not beat Xie Jingchen.
Looking at Ying Xu with her brows and eyes all flamboyant, Xie Jiu could not help but bitterly smile in his heart, secretly thinking that the price of speaking with the goddess was indeed not something an ordinary person could bear.
But this might really be his only chance to approach Ying Xu, the closest opportunity to the dream goddess of his youth.
Originally, after hearing that Xie Jingchen had fought his way back to Jinling, he had still been thinking that even if he angered the other party, he would definitely go to plead for Ying Xu before that younger brother who, since childhood, had not been close to any sibling other than Ying Xu.
—Four years ago, not long after Ying Xu had accompanied the Zhengde Emperor when he was conferred as crown prince, she distanced herself from Xie Jingchen and stayed with the crown prince; this matter was also a hot topic at the time.
Countless people back then secretly said that Ying Xu coveted wealth and vanity, wasting that face full of fairy aura and peerless beauty.
Naturally, there was no lack of people saying that Miss Ying did things so decisively that when she found the opportunity in the future, the Eleventh Highness would definitely not let her off.
Only just now, after seeing Ying Xu and hearing her ask him that sentence, “Are you Xie Jingchen’s Ninth Brother?” Xie Jiu knew that he had truly been thinking too much.
Ying Xu did not need him to help plead at all; Xie Jingchen had no intention of retaliating for what she had done back then, and even, his attitude toward her was the same as before.
It seemed that even though the throne had changed hands, Ying Xu… was still destined to be empress.
He sighed in his heart.
This sigh was both a feeling and carried two parts of sour unwillingness that he himself could not clearly explain.
There were so many people who liked Ying Xu, but no matter when, he, this transparent prince who had not been favored and was not outstanding even when the former emperor was alive, had no qualification or possibility to be with her.
Thinking of this, he could not help but say, “Miss and—” he paused slightly, seeming to ponder how to address Xie Jingchen, and in the end still used Ying Xu’s wording, “Eleventh Younger Brother’s feelings are indeed as deep as they were back then.”
Everything else could be put aside for the time being; just looking at the present, Xie Jingchen had just returned from the northwest, at this juncture when he had just killed the emperor and when everything was in ruins and waiting to be rebuilt, instead of dealing with the countless political affairs that arose because of his act of usurpation and that needed him to handle, he threw all those political matters aside and, on Qiqiao Festival, this day with special significance, came out to accompany Ying Xu to play — just from this one could know the weight Ying Xu held in his heart; in four years, it had not diminished in the slightest.
Hearing this, Ying Xu stopped walking, turned her eyes sideways to look at him, her gaze full of the look one gives a fool, as if saying, “What is there worth specially mentioning about something so taken for granted?”
She made the noble-looking young man beside her feel somewhat embarrassed; there was no way, the disdain in Ying Xu’s eyes was truly too obvious.
But she was also truly beautiful; with such a pair of eyes possessing transcendent beauty, when her gaze fell on one’s body, even if she was looking at someone as a fool, it would still make one’s heart give rise to inexplicable palpitations.
Under such heart-moving gazes, Xie Jiu steadied his mind.
Then he slightly smiled at Ying Xu and said, “Since Miss just now looked at these river lanterns, I presume you are interested in releasing river lanterns; shall I take you there?”
Hearing this, Ying Xu, who had already shifted her gaze and was looking at the clay figurine stall to the side, withdrew her gaze, only raised her chin slightly, signaling him to walk in front and lead the way.
Noticing Ying Xu’s glance, Xie Jiu asked, “Does Miss like those clay figurines? May I give one to Miss?”
“Don’t like them.” Ying Xu replied coldly, and then walked forward.
In the past, Ying Xu had actually received clay figurines as gifts, and more than one. And the one bold and reckless enough to give such cheap things to Miss Ying, who practically needed everything she ate, wore, and used to be inlaid with gold and silver, was none other than Xie Jingchen.
If counting the person who came up with this bad idea, then perhaps one could also add Ying Zhao.
That was already many years ago, probably when Ying Xu was nine years old.
It was said that when Ying Xu went out that year, just like today, she looked twice more at a vendor’s stall making clay figurines — however Ying Xu herself had no impression of this at all, and that period happened to be close to Ying Xu’s birthday, so after returning that day, Ying Zhao secretly pulled out the little follower Xie Jingchen who followed by his younger sister’s side, and together plotted to give the younger sister a special gift that would definitely make the little girl like it.
Only, before the matter had progressed halfway, Ying Zhao discovered that he was a big-handed clumsy person; the thing of clay figurines was truly not something he could handle, so in the end, all the workload of this “gift” fell entirely onto Xie Jingchen.
That year, Ying Xu received a total of over a hundred adorable clay figurines from Xie Jingchen, every single one was her, each being the appearance of her wearing different clothes that year when she was nine.
Suddenly thinking of some stupid thing that some stupid dog had done, the beautiful girl could not help but mutter softly, “Stupid to death.”
Although the original plan was to release river lanterns, after walking a distance, Ying Xu began to feel somewhat tired. When leaving the palace today, she had originally thought to relax her mind, so she had not used a carriage, and from the moment she came out, she had been walking on foot; by now, Ying Xu had properly already walked quite a long distance.
What’s more, the street was full of people coming and going, bustling and noisy, making her feel somewhat annoyed, so Ying Xu suddenly did not want to continue walking.
As for river lanterns? At this moment, she had completely lost interest in how to release a lantern in this winter.
And Ying Xu had never been the type of temperament to wrong herself to seek completeness, so after feeling tired, she directly said to the man in front who was leading her, “I’m tired, not going.”
Hearing this, Xie Jiu turned his eyes back, looked at Ying Xu who clearly had a bit of a small temper rising, and gazed into the distance at a wine house not far ahead, and tentatively asked her, “How about… Miss come with me over there to rest a bit?”
His question did not wait for Ying Xu’s answer. Because just as the last few words of his sentence fell, appearing together with them was a voice unfamiliar to Xie Jiu, yet at the same time carrying a few parts of familiarity,
“A-Xu—!”
It was Xie Jingchen.
In Jinling City, the one who would call Ying Xu’s name like this was only Xie Jingchen.
The handsome youth ran over from the other side of the street, faint beads of sweat appearing on his forehead, and one could see that he had been running very urgently, his mood in finding someone very anxious.
As soon as Ying Xu saw Xie Jingchen’s figure appear in front of her, her clear and pleasant voice immediately complained, “Why are you so slow?”
When speaking, it was as if it was not she herself who had shaken him off, but that all the problems lay with Xie Jingchen… but in Ying Xu’s heart, indeed all the problems were Xie Jingchen’s fault.
Hearing Ying Xu’s words, Xie Jingchen was also obedient, opening his mouth to admit fault, “I was wrong, it’s all my fault.”
Then he blinked those slightly wet puppy eyes, reached out one hand to lightly tug at the sleeve of the pretty girl in front of him, and pitifully said, “But it hasn’t exceeded half a shichen, A-Xu give me one more chance, okay?”
Listening to him open his mouth and mention the “death sentence deadline” that Ying Xu had previously set in her heart, one could tell that similar things had not happened a few times before.
Watching Xie Jingchen with gentle brows and eyes, softly and tenderly coaxing Ying Xu, Xie Jiu, who had only ever seen Xie Jingchen’s appearance leaving people speechless, only felt that this scene was truly… very magical.
But he still did not keep watching Xie Jingchen’s completely image-less embarrassing appearance, lightly coughed, and reminded him that there were still outsiders here.
Only after hearing this cough did Xie Jingchen notice that there was actually another person beside Ying Xu.
The handsome youth raised his eyes over, and the moment he saw the person, his gaze was somewhat surprised, “Ninth Imperial Brother?”
Hearing Xie Jingchen’s call, Xie Jiu strove to ignore the inexplicable sense of comfort that had arisen in his heart because Ying Xu had previously not recognized him at all, and revealed a smile that was not lacking in courtesy, calling out, “Eleventh Imperial Brother.”
Then he added, “Perhaps before long, I should change my address and call you Your Majesty.”
Hearing this, Xie Jingchen only half-smiled, half-not, and in the same casual tone as Ying Xu, said, “That’s not necessarily so.”
Hearing this sentence that carried so much information that it was somewhat frightening, Xie Jiu’s gaze immediately sharpened.
Then he did not dare to continue staying here, fearing that Xie Jingchen’s words would give rise to some thoughts he should not have — if the heart grew large, it would be hard to retract — so he quickly found an excuse and took his leave of the two in front of him, in a moment even forgetting to leave behind that bag of river lanterns.
Xie Jiu’s hurried departure had no effect on Ying Xu and Xie Jingchen, and they did not give him any extra attention.
At this moment, Ying Xu lifted those beautiful phoenix eyes, looked at Xie Jingchen, and asked, “You’re not becoming emperor?”
Hearing this, Xie Jingchen first nodded, then immediately shook his head.
Then those puppy eyes that always looked wet and innocent and pitiful when looking at Ying Xu straightened their gaze, and in those clear-colored pupils was reflected the image of the peerlessly beautiful girl.
Xie Jingchen looked at Ying Xu and said in an extremely serious tone, “If A-Xu doesn’t like it, then I won’t be.”
“You mean… if I don’t let you be, you won’t be?”
The youth nodded heavily, indicating certainty.
As long as it was what she said, no matter what, he would do it.
“Don’t want to be emperor…” Ying Xu softly repeated this sentence, “You didn’t return to that position…”
Then she seemed to think of something, suddenly raised her eyes, and asked him a question, “Xie Jingchen, why did you come back?”
Hearing Ying Xu’s words, Xie Jingchen’s breathing suddenly stopped.
Author’s note:
Next chapter enters V, hope little angels can continue to support ah, this text is not long, so beg babies not to stockpile, selling cuteness to everyone: ovo
Then as usual, pushing a new pre-collection, originally wanted to make a new face for everyone to see, but haven’t finished writing yet, so continue begging this one, please, mwah mwah
Title: “Bewitching the Lord’s Heart”
Synopsis↓
Ying Zhi was originally the daughter of a lowly merchant household; because she was born too beautiful, she was noticed by the heir of the Su Prince’s residence, descendant of a meritorious official. She did not wish to follow this rumored-to-have-a-house-full-of-concubines, infamous dandy, and so the other party killed her entire family and forcibly took her back to the residence.
After being seized and brought back to the prince’s residence, the old women in the residence kept telling Ying Zhi that with such a lowly identity as hers, to be noticed by the prince’s heir, to serve the heir, to be his wife, was her three lifetimes’ fortune, eight lifetimes’ accumulated blessing.
One month later, the old women gradually discovered that the beautiful girl who, when brought back, either kept a cold face of snow-skin and flower-like beauty, or wanted to starve herself and hang herself, began to smile at the heir, act coquettishly with him, be thousand-charming and hundred-beautiful, fully displaying a little daughter’s posture.
Everyone had no doubt that she had fallen in love with the heir — the heir was born with a noble identity, and born with a good skin, and doted on her, even granting the lowly-born her the position of principal wife; Ying Zhi, a small household girl who had never seen the world, falling in love with the heir, was this not a matter of course?
Only Ying Zhi herself knew that in her heart burned a ball of hatred; she hated. Why was it that her family had all been killed, yet he, as the chief culprit, could still live well?
To fawn on him, please him, submit herself to him, everything, was only to let him take her into the imperial palace, to see that supreme power, the Son of Heaven.
—Since they all said that being able to rely on an unparalleled beautiful face to attach oneself to the powerful was her honor, and told her not to be in blessings and not know blessings, then why should she commit herself to merely a prince’s heir?
—Since it was climbing dragons and attaching phoenixes, she would win the emperor’s heart, be favored above all in the harem, and one day overturn her enemy’s entire family, take revenge and wipe away hatred.
Since ascending the throne three years ago, Li Yun had been searching for the little girl who had once saved him when he was wandering among the people. But after searching the world, he never imagined that the person he was wholeheartedly seeking was right under his own Son of Heaven’s feet, in Jinling City.
Until one day, he saw that the prince’s heir, whose ancestors had been enfeoffed and inherited titles, brought his heir consort into the palace — icy skin and jade bones, stunning beauty — and it was precisely… the little girl he had been thinking of day and night.
He watched the little girl deliberately step on the hem of her skirt and fall toward his arms, drawing his attention, her eyes full of watery ripples, her smile not reaching her eyes; Li Yun knew in his heart that she harbored hatred. So he went with the flow, pretending to take a fancy to Ying Zhi’s beauty, and staged a scene of the ruler seizing his minister’s wife.
All the court officials discovered that from the day Li Yun saw that new little wife of the dandy heir of the Su Prince’s residence, fell in love with her beauty, ordered them to divorce and immediately summoned Ying Zhi into the palace, forcibly seizing a minister’s wife, the originally sagacious emperor began to become昏庸暴戾, without stating reasons, wantonly executing entire families of descendants of meritorious officials, even the maids and old women in their residences not spared.
Hearing the full court of civil and military officials admonish him not to be bewitched by that demon consort who would bring calamity to the state, the young monarch whom everyone regarded as wise only raised his lips and smiled wantonly and disdainfully,
—Once, being a wise ruler and benevolent ruler was only because his little girl wished for it.
—Now as long as she can be happy, what harm is there in him being a muddle-headed ruler, a tyrant?
[Highlight:] Female not male c.