Chapter 528 269: Northern Tour

In the garden, by the waterside pavilion.

A beautiful woman in palace attire, accompanied by over a dozen maidservants, hurriedly crossed the corridor bridge and arrived before the pavilion.

Inside the pavilion, a person stood with hands behind their back; it was Song Yu, dressed in imperial robes.

Behind him was another person, looking like a maidservant, leaning against the pavilion edge.

"Hmm!?"

Miaoo Yinyan's eyes sharpened, and she immediately spoke to the crowd: "You all wait here, no one is allowed to approach!"

"Yes!"

The maidservants nodded, immediately dividing into two rows to guard the entrance.

Miaoo Yinyan advanced alone to the pavilion, bowed slightly to Song Yu and said, "Yinyan pays respects to His Majesty."

"Yan'Er is here?"

Seeing her arrival, Song Yu beckoned: "Come over quickly, let me have a good look at you!"

"Your Majesty!"

Miaoo Yinyan promptly stepped forward into the pavilion and glanced back, noticing the maidservant's eyes closed, her face pallid, body leaning weakly against the railing, with no rise and fall in her chest. The state of affairs was clear without need for further words.

Miaoo Yinyan's heart tightened, yet her face remained calm, casting a tender look at Song Yu: "Your Majesty summoned me, may I ask what urgent matter there is?"

"Yan'Er!"

Song Yu grasped her delicate hand, his gaze calm yet inexplicable: "I... have made a grave error. Today shall likely be the last meeting between you and me as husband and wife."

"Why would His Majesty say such a thing?"

Though her heart harbored guesses, Miaoo Yinyan's face feigned shock.

Song Yu's expression turned bitter, he stepped aside revealing the maidservant behind him: "In a moment of error, I have wrongly caused a death. I must confess and accept punishment. Calling you here was to see you one last time before I depart, to avoid regrets!"

"This..."

Miaoo Yinyan was utterly shocked, swiftly stepping forward to check the maidservant's condition. Confirming her death, she turned back, knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty mustn't..."

Song Yu looked at her, shook his head, and said softly: "In Great Zhou, the law states, an Emperor who breaks the law receives equal punishment as a commoner. With such a grave error, I must face the consequences."

"Though that's correct."

Miaoo Yinyan said in a deep voice: "Yet His Majesty is the True Dragon Emperor, carrying our Great Zhou's fate and the lives of ten thousand subjects. How can you abandon the entirety for one life, letting the empire fall into peril? This cannot be done. I am willing to sacrifice myself and take the blame!"

"Yan'Er..."

On hearing this, Song Yu was deeply moved, immediately helping her up: "Yan'Er's feelings, I know well. But as a husband, how could I let my wife and daughter bear the blame? Besides, there are Divine Beings overhead. This cannot be hidden from Heaven, Earth, nor the people. Yan'Er, do not err!"

"Your Majesty!!"

Upon hearing these words, Miaoo Yinyan became emotional, directly throwing herself into Song Yu's embrace, crying silently.

Song Yu sighed deeply, hugging her tight, his mind turbulent.

As the master of the Song Clan, the Emperor of Great Zhou ruling from south to north, why did he favor Wang Shi and other Northern Ministers in the court, even at odds with Great Zhou Kingdom's policies?

This is the reason!

Ye Xuan, Lu Ping, Li Feng—these people are not disloyal, nor are Great Zhou's policies inappropriate.

Rather, their loyalty lies with Great Zhou and the supreme God of Bright Spirit, not him, the Emperor of the Human World, the Emperor of Great Zhou.

Their relationship with him is akin to colleagues, respectful but merely respectful, far from absolute submission, where they may defy him for the sake of the country. Ye Xuan's words at the previous court session were the best proof.

In their hearts, they indeed do not see him as their master, emperor, or sovereign supreme!

And he can do nothing about this for their relationship is indeed colleagues. As a monarch through abdication, he lacks sufficient authority; coupled with the constraints of "state law," even when Ye Xuan openly defied him, calling him unworthy as a ruler, he couldn't reprimand Ye Xuan, instead had to swallow his pride, make concessions, and provide comfort to negate such claims.

How is this a True Dragon Emperor, a Venerable Emperor; clearly just a Level 1 court official.

This "colleague" relationship felt acceptable before ascending the throne, enabling him as the Song Clan's master not subjected to Ye Jing, the Ye Clan's Emperor authority.

But after assuming the throne... the feeling became entirely different.

Compared to this, Wang Shi and other Northern Ministers made him feel exceedingly better.

Their loyalty is to Great Zhou and to him, the Emperor, considering everything for his sake, even standing against Ye Xuan and other high-ranking Southern Ministers.

How could he not be pleased?

Though aware that their allegiance to him was for family lineage interests, there's no causeless hatred or love in the world, driven by interests is human nature, unblameworthy, and irrelevant.

What's crucial is their loyalty to him, protecting him, viewing him as Emperor, Supreme, Monarch!

That is enough.

Thus, these years, not only in court has he favored Wang Shi and other Northern Ministers, but also in the inner palace, he favored consorts like Miaoo Yinyan, originating from the Northern Lands.

Indeed, Miaoo Yinyan is from the north as well. Years ago, during the campaign for Xuzhou, with no guidance from the Deities, the army lost its way in the mountains and forests. By chance, they found a small monastery, housing nuns practicing with hair intact, Miaoo Yinyan being one of them.

The monastery's master appointed Miaoo Yinyan as a guide, helping him lead the army out of the woods, then with compassion for living souls suffering from wartime disasters, she offered strategies to seize Xuzhou, her wisdom extraordinary, earning her the title "Female Zhuge" in the military.