Chapter 113

The battle for the empress’s throne had begun. Since they were going to help the common people survive the winter, they naturally had to go among them and investigate the situation in person.

Thus, two sedan chairs left the imperial palace, carrying Tu Shanjin and Du Luoling respectively. One headed for the Lin residence, while the other made its way to the Du residence.

Before they left, Yun Yaoyao waved at them reluctantly with an exaggerated “Erkang reaches out his hand” pose. Her passionate expression was almost as if the deceased Tushan Ze had possessed her.

“Beloved Consort, return safely. I’ll miss you!”

Tu Shanjin took her hand, his eyes filled with helplessness and tenderness. “Pull the corners of your mouth down a little. Any more acting and it won’t look convincing. I’ll write to—”

Before he could finish, his hand was suddenly empty. Yun Yaoyao had already run to the other sedan chair and taken Du Luoling’s hand.

“Beloved Consort, you too! Once you leave the palace, remember to take good care of yourself!”

“I certainly will.” Du Luoling was just about to say something heartfelt when she noticed a seemingly casual yet razor-sharp gaze from beside her. She hurriedly withdrew her hand and gave Tu Shanjin a friendly smile.

We’re only acting. I’m not trying to steal your man, okay?

The curtain of the sedan chair fell, and it slowly departed. Du Luoling’s thoughts drifted away with it.

His Majesty is finally going to move against the Du family.

As the hidden blade in His Majesty’s hand, once she entered the Du residence, she would have to sow discord within the family in secret and defeat them one by one, helping His Majesty and Yun Yaoyao in the process!

Yun Yaoyao’s system quest was to help His Majesty stabilize his rule. If the Du faction—the last great threat in the court—was eliminated, might she also have a chance to return to the modern world?

Dad, Mom, please wait a little longer. Your daughter may be able to return to you very soon…

At the same time, the proclamation announcing the competition between Consort Ling and Consort Miao to help the common people survive the winter and vie for the position of empress had been posted along every street in the capital. The people praised them enthusiastically.

The Du family, determined to secure the empress’s throne, had also begun putting their plans into motion.

And so, the covert battle to bring down the Du family began!

With two of the emperor’s favored consorts having left the palace, Yun Yaoyao no longer had to put on several intense “favor-seeking performances” every day. Her life became considerably more leisurely.

Winter mornings were growing colder by the day, so Yun Yaoyao changed her schedule from one day off every ten days to one day off every six days.

She had originally wanted to switch to a two-day weekend, but her damned sense of responsibility stopped her.

Having lived two lifetimes, Yun Yaoyao was simply not meant to have weekends!

(ಥ﹏ಥ)

Still, there was one consolation: each of her trusted ministers had worked themselves into twisted knots and possessed excellent self-management skills, a strong sense of duty to relieve the emperor’s burdens, and the ability to match. They saved her a great deal of trouble!

On top of that, there was also the workaholic Tu Shanjin, who could coordinate and handle all kinds of affairs from outside the palace through written correspondence. Yun Yaoyao truly had nothing important left to do.

Every day, after attending court, she went to the Palace of Heavenly Purity to review memorials. Since she had plenty of free time, she put a little more thought into the task.

When faced with memorials submitted by the neutral faction, Yun Yaoyao would give a wicked smile, wave her brush, and openly try to poach the officials at the end of their reports, drawing them grand promises. Whenever she encountered a minister in difficulty, she would strike directly at the problem and offer generous assistance!

When faced with memorials from the loyalist faction, she would add a few words of concern and encouragement at the end. Those who handled their duties well received generous rewards, all to maintain their loyalty.

As for the memorials from the Du faction, she handled them strictly according to official business: If you want to be useless, go be useless somewhere else!

Throughout the process, she never forgot to pump up her ministers, then the palace attendants, and then the future female officials who had only just begun working in the various departments.

Her guiding principle was to motivate every employee working under her equally!

If you don’t know how to lead a team, you work yourself to death. Once you learn how to lead a team, the team works itself to death, and you get to enjoy the good life~~

At this point, Yun Yaoyao had no idea that her actions would soon cause so many members of the neutral faction to abandon the principles they had once clung to. One after another, they would defect to her side with tears in their eyes.

The efficiency of the entire court rose to yet another level!

After finishing the memorials, Yun Yaoyao found herself idle once more. She propped her head up with one hand and sighed.

It had been more than two days since Tu Shanjin had left the palace. Without him around, she felt awfully bored. Even sleeping alone in the imperial bed was no longer as enjoyable.

Come to think of it, Tu Shanjin had been writing so diligently these past few days. Why hadn’t today’s letter arrived yet? Could something have happened?

As she was lost in thought, the voice of the Dragon Shadow Guard hurriedly came from outside.

“Your Majesty, it is a letter from Consort Miao!”

Yun Yaoyao quickly ordered someone to present the letter and unfolded it.

As usual, the letter began with a general account of his circumstances. Everything was proceeding smoothly and remained firmly under control.

After that came a long, rambling expression of concern and longing:

“The weather is growing colder. At dawn, will the spiritual energy of heaven and earth be too thin for you to absorb?”

“I’ve heard many commoners hoping that the imperial family will soon have an heir. Once this body’s monthly cycle is over, shall we try again?”

“Humans and spirits come from different paths. Could there be reproductive incompatibility between our species? If you truly became pregnant, would you give birth to a human or a Register of Life and Death? Or would nothing come of it at all?”

“I heard that spiritual beings can cultivate themselves into human form. If you became human, we wouldn’t have to worry about these things. Is there anything you need for your cultivation? I will find it for you.”

“Wait. If the Register of Life and Death falls in love with a mortal, will it bring down heavenly punishment? Can the dragon aura on my body withstand it? No matter what, I will protect you with everything I have.”

“…”

“I miss you very much. I await your reply.”

After reading the letter, the corners of Yun Yaoyao’s lips curved upward without her realizing it, and her heart felt as sweet as honey.

So this was what it felt like to be in love with someone.

At that moment, she somewhat regretted misleading the tyrant so thoroughly in the beginning that he now firmly believed she was the Register of Life and Death from the underworld.

She should have told him the truth about her identity by now, but a new problem had appeared before Yun Yaoyao.

Why had she transmigrated into the world of a book? Why had she and Tu Shanjin exchanged bodies? And why did she have no idea what would happen next?

Would ​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‍she remain in this ancient world forever, or would she suddenly return to the modern era one day?

Yun Yaoyao was utterly lost.

After the unexpected incident during their dual cultivation, Yun Yaoyao regained consciousness in the dead of night. She spent a long time thinking about how she should handle her relationship with Tu Shanjin from then on.

With everything still unknown, should she cut off any deeper feelings while she still could, or should she follow her heart and face the future hand in hand with him?

Yun Yaoyao wavered between the two choices again and again, until she eventually drifted into a hazy sleep.

In her dream, she returned to the modern world.

In truth, her life in the modern era had been extremely unhappy. She had grown up in a terrible family—so terrible that even after she had clawed her way out of the mire through sheer effort, developed a strong and resilient personality, and secured a respectable, well-paid job, just when she thought her future was gradually improving, they would suddenly appear again and shatter that happiness, destroying every bit of hope she had and dragging her back into the despair of a future with no end in sight.

After battling wits with them for so long, Yun Yaoyao had developed her habit of going completely insane and giving up on everything.

Her childhood had some similarities to Tu Shanjin’s.

After meeting Tu Shanjin, she had healed him—and he had stayed by her side and healed her in return.

In her dream, Yun Yaoyao went completely berserk once more. She crawled across the ground in a dark and twisted frenzy for more than ten meters, frightening that disgusting family of three so badly that they called the police.

Then she woke abruptly from her dream.

And suddenly understood something.

Having experienced certain moments in life is enough. Rather than endlessly repeating the same misfortune, it is better to break free and seek out brief moments of warmth.

Even if one day she truly returned to the modern world because of circumstances beyond her control, the two of them would still have a beautiful memory that would live on forever in their hearts.

By keeping her true origins from him, she could at least leave room for his imagination, allowing him to believe that she had returned to the mysterious, free Underworld, rather than to that terrible home in the modern world.

Yun Yaoyao stopped dwelling on these troubling matters. With a smile in her eyes, she picked up her brush and wrote a reply.

[The esteemed Lord Book of Life and Death has received the mortal’s greetings. In response to the mortal’s questions, I offer the following points:

One: This Book of Life and Death hails from the Underworld and keeps an infernal schedule. There is no need to rise early and absorb the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth. If anything, I absorb yin energy.

Two: Could you please put a little less dirty nonsense in that mortal head of yours and fill it with more serious matters? Think more about how to contribute to the people—and have you forgotten your three lifetimes together again?

Three: I don’t know whether there is such a thing as species isolation, but I do know that you are currently in a woman’s body. If you get pregnant, you’ll be the one giving birth~~

Four: …… ]

As for Tu Shanjin’s final question about whether she missed him, Yun Yaoyao did not answer directly. Instead, she drew a little stick-figure picture.

Putting away her mischievous grin, Yun Yaoyao handed the letter to the Dragon Shadow Guard with a solemn expression. “Deliver this letter to Consort Miao at once.”

The Dragon Shadow Guard did not even stop for a meal. He took the letter and hurried out of the imperial palace.

These past few days, he had either been delivering letters or on his way to deliver them.

They were clearly an old married couple who had already spent thirteen passionate nights together, yet they acted like a pair of boys and girls experiencing their first love. Every day, they had an endless stream of sweet nothings for him to deliver.

The single Dragon Shadow Guard: Achievement unlocked—the world where he was the only one getting hurt!

After the Dragon Shadow Guard had taken the letter away, a sudden flash of inspiration struck Yun Yaoyao.

She knew what she was going to do next!