Outside Jinling City.
“Huu—”
Near Jinling City, Xie Jingchen suddenly pulled on the horse’s reins, reining the horse to a stop.
Hearing this, Pei Xingzhou, who was following behind, also held his horse back and asked with some confusion, “Why did we stop all of a sudden?”
Previously, even from a great distance, he had been riding at full speed. How had they suddenly reached the place and just stopped?
Looking ahead, Jinling City didn’t seem very far, but in reality, there was still quite a distance. The closer they got, the more Xie Jingchen felt a strange unease in his heart at being near his hometown.
He couldn’t help but glance at the person riding beside him, making one last confirmation: “Now… is it really the fourth year of Zhengde? Ah Xu… is he really still alive?”
Pei Xingzhou, hearing the implication in his words, rolled his eyes and snorted, “Why are you still delusional? I think you really need an exorcism—”
Under the gaze of those deep, bottomless eyes, looking at Xie Jingchen who seemed about to “lose it” again, he wisely swallowed his unfinished complaint and changed his tone: “What benefit would I get from lying to you? Anyway, we’re at the city gates now. Once we enter the palace, you can see for yourself.”
Then, as if remembering something, he added, “But seriously, you can say this to me, but you’d better not say it in front of the young lady. Otherwise, I’m afraid she’ll push you into the water.”
Already abandoned by his master, like a lost dog, this would probably make him evolve into drowning… cough, better not think too far. As a servant, one shouldn’t think like this about their boss.
Hearing him say this, Xie Jingchen seemed to think of something and said softly, “Then I am willing.”
Seeing him like this, Pei Xingzhou didn’t even need to think to know that apart from remembering that spoiled young lady, no one else in the world could make him show this expression.
He rolled his eyes even further and said, “In this freezing winter, if you freeze yourself in the water, the pity will fall on me, the physician, in the end.”
Pei Xingzhou thought that if he wrote a book complaining about how abnormal his boss had become after waking from a serious illness, it would surely become a bestseller throughout the Great Qi—damn unscrupulous boss, shameless!
But the boss he chose, at this point, couldn’t be changed.
His only wish now was that the young lady with a bad temper, upon seeing Xie Jingchen—the “disappeared for years” “dead man”—suddenly appear, would at least not despise him too much… otherwise, the suffering would fall on them, his subordinates.
If Ying Xu ignored Xie Jingchen, the result would definitely be Xie Jingchen tormenting them.
He prayed silently.
Meanwhile, in the palace, Ying Xu, whom he silently prayed would show some favor to his boss, was being lectured by something chattering incessantly.
For Ying Xu, this day was somewhat special.
It had been an ordinary day, but suddenly something claiming to be a “Cannon Fodder Counterattack System” appeared, saying she was its chosen host, and its existence was to help her change her originally tragic fate.
Ying Xu originally thought it was some audacious thing pretending to be a ghost to scare her. But after the system’s persistent proof, she finally believed that there really were some things beyond the normal world.
After much persuasion, Ying Xu finally accepted that it was not of this era, abandoning her idea of exterminating its entire family.
The system wiped its nonexistent sweat and mechanically continued in her mind:
【Host, you are actually a character in a book. The male lead in the book is your emperor husband, while the female lead is a low-ranking palace maid.】
Ying Xu: ?
【And you are the arrogant, spoiled, domineering, daily-causing-trouble, evil supporting female character. Riding on being the male lead’s legitimate wife, you repeatedly harm the kind female lead, eventually being abandoned by the emperor and tragically dying in the cold palace, your remains gone.】
Ying Xu: ?
【After your death, the male and female leads achieve world harmony and happily unite. When your corpse is barely cold, the female lead is crowned empress, and the entire nation celebrates.】
Ying Xu: ?
With each new sentence from the system, Ying Xu slowly typed a question mark, confusion growing, and her anger gradually rising.
It made sense—anyone, no matter how good-tempered, would naturally be furious upon hearing that the husband who once promised never to remarry was secretly intimate with another woman, with all sorts of hand-holding and embraces, without her knowing.
Moreover, Ying Xu’s temper was not good. Already domineering, hearing the system describe the emperor with a lowly palace maid, doing all the things he shouldn’t, left her trembling with rage.
However, being freshly “produced,” the system didn’t notice her anger and continued to say:
【Do not worry, host. You are now bound to me. The system exists to help you change your tragic ending. As long as you follow me, I will ensure you rise from cannon fodder to the female lead. From now on, you will defeat the original female lead, reach the peak of life, and the male lead will only love you!】
The system thought, hearing these words, its host would surely be moved, treating it as a savior, and its first task would succeed, earning software and hardware upgrades back at headquarters.
Just as the system smugly imagined its glorious future, it suddenly heard Ying Xu coldly laugh, slamming the glass hairpin she had just picked up onto the dressing table.
Her clear, beautiful voice, laden with anger, said: “Only love me? Who wants the love of a dirty man?”
Recently, Ying Xu had been annoyed with the emperor, feeling he always went against her wishes.
Even if she didn’t want to accompany the emperor, she could not bear that he would spend time in the harem, not coming to see her, but shamelessly with a palace maid, giving her a green hat?
The emperor—how dare he… how dare he—?
Not long ago, the Yun brocade incident, which she had hoped not to believe, had become true.
The emperor… he was truly guilty of secret sins?
Ying Xu’s anger grew, and the system, which had just said a few words, realized it had ignited her fury completely. She slammed her delicate hand onto the dressing table, already red from the strike.
She shouted, “Servants!”
Ordering coldly, she demanded they bring the palace maid called “Yun Wan” involved with the emperor to the Weiyang Palace.
She wanted to see what kind of celestial being had the audacity to betray her emperor, and could be treated as a sister by her brother in the future. She could not tolerate this!
A palace servant asked nervously, “Your Highness, the Yun Wan you mentioned… is she the one previously sent to the laundry bureau?”
Ying Xu: ?
She didn’t remember every servant sent to do chores, but said: “No matter how many share this name, bring them all.”
She would rather execute a thousand by mistake than let one go. First the palace maid, then the emperor.
Two people dared to give her a green hat, she would not let either go.
Two days after Ying Xu named her target, the palace servants forcibly brought Yun Wan from the Mingguang Palace to the Weiyang Palace.
Seeing the palace maid who had betrayed her, Ying Xu leaned on her seat, eyeing her with disdain, saying to the system, “Is it her? She looks so ordinary.”
【Do not judge by appearance. Though the female lead is ordinary, she has a charm that makes all excellent men love her and unwilling to harm her!】 the system said.
“Hmm.” Ying Xu lightly responded, her phoenix eyes scanning the female lead kneeling before her, lazy voice: “Drag her down, chop her.”
She, Ying Xu, being a woman, would hurt her.
【…】
The system was dumbfounded. It hadn’t expected Ying Xu to be so decisive, ready to execute the female lead after just meeting her.
Yun Wan struggled violently, looking up at the furious Ying Xu, saying, “If you dare hurt me, the emperor won’t forgive you! Not just the emperor, also—”
Her words were cut off by Ying Xu’s light “Noisy,” and a cloth was gagged over her mouth.
Ying Xu ignored her, letting servants drag her away, thinking it wasn’t the female palace maid she wouldn’t forgive, it was the emperor.
The emperor, how could she forgive him?
Just as Yun Wan struggled, the corner of bright yellow appeared outside—the emperor himself.
The palace servants had informed him secretly, so he arrived in time.
Seeing the chaos, the emperor said to the servants holding Yun Wan: “I am here. Will you not release her?”
Ying Xu replied coldly, “Who dares.”
The emperor was the most respected ruler, Ying Xu was his primary, and the palace servants were stunned, unsure how to act.
“Ying Xu!” the emperor shouted. “Are you rebelling?”
“Just killing a lowly palace maid—does that count as rebellion?” she retorted.
Her words left the emperor speechless. He never expected her to speak so audaciously. Normally, he would punish her heavily, but now… he hesitated, or rather… dared not.
Earlier, after a conflict with Ying Xu, he had received a report that the North Desert King, Xie Jingchen, exiled in the northwest, had mobilized south.
Recently, the report updated: Xie Jingchen had reached Jinling City.
He knew Ying Xu was Xie Jingchen’s only bottom line. If anything happened to her, Xie Jingchen’s actions would be unpredictable.
The emperor pushed aside the chaotic servants, holding Ying Xu protectively. Then he glared at the idle servants, coldly saying: “Previously, you failed to watch over the empress. From now on, if you fail again and she misbehaves, I will take your heads.”
Ying Xu lowered her eyes, lips moving to argue, but a familiar voice rang outside:
“Whoever dares to confine the empress, I will take their head today.”
The emperor could not believe it. How could he be here?
Naturally, the voice belonged to the person she had been anticipating—the original antagonist from the story:
—North Desert King, Xie Jingchen.
Author’s Note:
New pre-order available, please save qvq.
Title: *The Ex I Abandoned Has Become Emperor*
Blurb:
The new emperor ascends and orders Ying Chu to enter the palace and divorce.
Ying Chu, once famous and pursued for her beauty, had been ransomed and married by the prime minister’s son.
Receiving the edict, she thought her beauty attracted the emperor, but upon entering the palace…
—Damn, the new emperor is the ex she abandoned for being poor?
Ying Chu: Can I still slide and kneel now?
After being heartlessly abandoned, Wen Lingzhou constantly thought of the woman who left him. He swore to rise to power and exact revenge.
Years later, Emperor Wen Lingzhou’s first decree was to separate Ying Chu from her husband, making her his possession, locked away, tortured, unable to live or die…
“Your Majesty, next time before you make threats, can you stop acting like a palace needle could cause the imperial physician to prepare as if the wound might appear one step late?”
Wen Lingzhou: “…Shut up!”
Highlight: Female not male c.