Chapter 138

As soon as Tu Shanjin finished court, he hurried toward Yun Yaoyao’s Yun’ning Palace.

Behind him came the court officials, all of them wearing utterly miserable expressions after being thoroughly reprimanded.

The reason was simple: His Majesty had just announced in court that he intended to abolish the imperial harem, keeping only the empress and spending the rest of his life with her—one heart, one soul, one lifelong partner.

Those words struck a nerve with a great many ministers!

The censors, the fearless vanguard of the opposition, were the first to rush toward the dragon pillars. They pleaded, remonstrated, cited the classics, and delivered impassioned speeches, practically itching to splatter their blood three feet high and carve their names into the annals of history.

Since ancient times, through every change of dynasty, no emperor had ever abolished the harem for the sake of a single woman. The emperor was the ruler of the realm, and the imperial succession was of the utmost importance, bearing the responsibility of ensuring Yan Chi’s continuation. How could he treat such a matter as child’s play simply because of romantic feelings?

They disagreed!

They absolutely disagreed!

Even if blood had to be spilled across Xuanzheng Hall today, they would make His Majesty abandon this absurd notion!

And so, the entire hall descended into chaos. Some ministers rammed their heads against pillars, others tried to snatch the guards’ swords, some threw their heads back and howled at the heavens, while still others cried out in grief and outrage.

Even the usually formidable Yaoyao Legion was unable to calm the uproar.

Gao Chongguang, the emperor’s unconditional flatterer—and a man whose Little Mouth was always brimming with high-powered, fragrant insults—didn’t stop talking for even a moment.

“You’re putting on a whole performance for your parents here!”

“Go on, ram your heads! Hurry up and kill yourselves! Why have you stopped? Didn’t you say you were going to die to prove your loyalty? Censor Ni, you dare deceive the emperor!”

“Someone come here! Exterminate his entire clan!”

Censor Ni: “…”

Oh, so that was how this foul-mouthed bastard wanted to play it!

Censor Ni decided he would ram himself straight into Gao Chongguang and settle this personal score.

While crying out in grief, he gathered his strength and charged at Gao Chongguang, who was caught off guard and sent flying two meters.

That completely unleashed the full power of his foul mouth.

“I’ll ****ing kill you!”

After Gao Chongguang single-handedly weathered a massive wave of attacks, the Yaoyao Legion followed up with their own offensive.

Zhou Siren attacked with pointed insinuations, Di Shunzhi with blunt and direct insults, and Gao Dexiang with words that sounded like praise on the surface but demeaned his targets to the dust beneath their feet. Ning Shouli even discarded all dignity and unleashed the glorious cursing skills he had honed back in the military camps.

As for the female officials, they were no less formidable, refuting the arguments of every minister who opposed the proposal.

By the end, the ministers were completely speechless. All that remained were pairs of aggrieved yet impassioned eyes turned toward the figure seated above them.

Your Majesty! Say something, Your Majesty!

“Have you finished?” Tu Shanjin finally spoke from his seat.

“If you have, then listen to Me. The matter has already been decided. I dismissed the women of the harem several days ago, and Consort Ling has already resumed her identity as Commandery Princess Danling. The harem has been abolished, and the empress alone is honored. I merely called you here to inform you.”

The court officials: “…”

So His Majesty had been playing them for fools this whole time?

Autocracy! Despotism! Lustfulness! How had His Majesty gone from a tyrant to a foolish ruler?

As loyal subjects, they had to restore order to the realm!

Thus, the group once again prepared to fall to their knees. Those who were supposed to ram their heads against pillars began looking for pillars, those who were supposed to draw swords reached for their weapons, and those who intended to tear off their colleagues’ robes and hang themselves began ripping at one another’s clothes.

But then, a thunderous shout from above interrupted them.

“How dare you!”

The ministers immediately shuddered and dropped to their knees, their eyes suddenly much clearer as they sensibly submitted.

“For the sake of the realm and its people?” Tu Shanjin sneered. His sharp, icy gaze swept across the entire hall. He said no more, yet the atmosphere grew even more oppressive.

Cold sweat trickled down the ministers’ temples.

His Majesty’s temper seemed to have worsened compared with before. Whenever he reprimanded them, they immediately lost the courage to act recklessly.

Tu Shanjin cast a cool glance at the ministers below and continued, “If this is truly for the sake of Yan Chi’s realm and people, then you ought to support this decision!”

“First, the Will of Heaven entered My dreams and revealed a great secret to Me. That secret is connected to this matter.”

“Second, the empress is Yan Chi’s auspicious omen and the Goddess of Heaven’s Will. Only by taking this step can We convince her to remain at My side wholeheartedly and strengthen Yan Chi.”

“Third, you worry about the succession, yet you have not considered whose children are worthy of inheriting the throne. Such a child will possess both the blood of the true dragon and the blessings of the goddess. Once this child inherits the throne, they will surely lead Yan Chi to even greater glory!”

Three reasons were enough to leave the assembled ministers speechless.

This plan would keep the goddess in Yan Chi, where she could give birth to a little goddess and a little emperor. Once the little goddess and little emperor grew up and continued striving for greatness, how could Yan Chi fail to become even stronger and more glorious?

Perhaps they could even punch Great Long, kick the Xiongnu, and make every neighboring country fear Yan Chi’s might and willingly bow their heads in submission. It was not impossible!

Brilliant!

When viewed this way, the only harm caused by abolishing the harem was… abolishing the harem.

The ministers quieted down.

Tu Shanjin began scolding them.

“Short-sighted!”

“Rash and reckless!”

“Hopelessly foolish!”

Only after giving them a thorough dressing-down did Tu Shanjin finally announce the end of court.

That was the full reason why the ministers left court looking so utterly wretched.

The moment Tu Shanjin turned away and swept his sleeve behind him, the dignified, cold, and imposing expression on his face instantly changed. The corners of his lips curled upward, and perhaps because he had thought of something, his smile deepened.

Although their souls had been switched back, neither of them had changed their habits. The moment court ended, each of them went to look for the other.

Tu Shanjin hurried to Yun’ning Palace. His eyes immediately fell upon the swing beside the pavilion, where a beautiful and radiant figure sat swaying gently, seemingly lost in thought.

She did not even notice that he had come up behind her.

Wanting to tease her, Tu Shanjin bent down and leaned close to Yun Yaoyao’s ear. In a low voice, he said, “There’s been a rebellion in Shu!”

Yun Yaoyao jumped in fright and instinctively turned around. “Really?!”

The other person merely chuckled and planted a kiss on her forehead. “I was bluffing.”

The sudden attack of male beauty made Yun Yaoyao’s little face flush. “How childish. How shameless!”

Then she turned the tables and gave Tu Shanjin a hard peck on the lips, raising her brows provocatively at him.

Come on, let’s trade kisses!

And so, Yun Yaoyao got exactly what she wanted: she was pressed down against the swing, her head held in place as he kissed her.

Their hair tangled together, their breaths mingled, and by the time the kiss ended, both of them were gasping for air.

“Mmph…! I surrender!”

When she realized that he was only just getting into the mood and was already demanding more, Yun Yaoyao hurriedly grabbed hold of him.

“Hiss.”

Tu Shanjin let out a muffled groan and instinctively released the hand holding the back of Yun Yaoyao’s head.

His clear, dark eyes were filled with a heart-stoppingly intense desire and a deep, unsatisfied gloom.

“Want me?”

“Want your head!” Yun Yaoyao pretended to scold him as she wiped the saliva from the corner of her mouth. “There are people nearby!”

That shameless man had acted as though he had entered mating season after they switched back. Every day, all he wanted was to hold her, chew on her, and squirm all over her!

The palace maids and eunuchs serving nearby hurriedly lowered their heads, hiding their astonishment and pretending they had seen nothing.

Inside, ​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‍they were filled with admiration.

The empress had actually subdued the foundation of Yan Chi with one move!

As expected of the Ferocious Consort… No, the Ferocious Empress!

Little Tu Bird had been caught, and Consort Tu slowly regained his composure. As usual, he shared the happenings of court with Yun Yaoyao.

When she heard that the ministers had ultimately agreed to abolish the harem, Yun Yaoyao was somewhat surprised.

“Did you threaten them with the extermination of their entire clans?”

“When you said that in court, it must have been quite a spectacle, right? Did you manage to knock a few censors to their deaths this time? Or did you wipe them all out in one fell swoop?”

Tu Shanjin let out a laugh. “Yaoyao, you underestimate your own reputation. In this world, you’re the only person who could make all the officials willingly concede on this matter.”

Yun Yaoyao nodded, her eyes and brows dancing with smug delight. “That’s true.”

With Tu Shanjin’s affairs settled, it was Yun Yaoyao’s turn.

Thinking of what had happened that day, Yun Yaoyao sighed, a faint sorrow once again settling over her face.

“Didn’t you ask me before who I really was?”

“Du Luoling and I… actually come from the same place…”