Chapter 902: The Young Empress (39)

“No, I still have work to do.”

Tang Guo refused. It was almost time for dinner, and she still had to go eat with her Imperial Consort.

“I'll come again tomorrow.” Just as she turned to leave, she suddenly remembered something. “Right, the next time you leave the palace, help me check on Yun Chuan. The two of you were closest in the palace, so you'll probably go visit him, won't you?”

Complicated emotions churned within Su Qing, but his expression remained calm as he answered, “Yes. Su Qing will go. After visiting Yun Chuan, I will return immediately and report his condition to Your Majesty.”

“Please rest assured, Your Majesty. Yun Chuan will definitely be fine.”

“That's good.”

Su Qing watched her hurrying figure disappear into the distance, yet the tangled emotions in his heart refused to fade.

His gaze swept over the beloved guqin beside him, then over every object around him. Which one of them had not been bestowed by the Empress herself? Before he had even realized it, the gifts she had given him had already filled his palace.

Shaking his head, he hid the complicated look in his eyes. Perhaps when Yun Chuan returned, he too would have to “fall ill” for a while.

No one could endure being treated this way by the Empress without gradually losing their heart. Even he could not guarantee that he would remain cold and unfeeling forever.

Even now, hadn't he already begun to waver?

【Host, Su Qing is wavering too.】

“He is wavering,” Tang Guo replied, “but he won't change his mind. He'll only think this is a natural human response and will find a way to overcome it.”

“Su Qing is more rational than Nan Yunchuan. He has always known what he wants. In the original timeline, he really did succeed.”

“The reason he succeeded was because his heart was hard enough. For his goals, he would stop at nothing.”

“Actually, all of those men share one trait—they're ruthless. To achieve their objectives, they're willing to sacrifice their dignity and even use their beauty as a weapon.”

She had to admit that people like that were indeed capable of accomplishing great things.

Unless someone like her appeared—an outsider who was infinitely stronger than they were—otherwise, it was easy to fall into their schemes.

It was only because she knew the entire plot and possessed the experience of countless transmigrations that she had no fear and no concern about whatever tricks they might employ.

Without her, with only a reborn Tang Nuoyue, she might not have been their opponent at all. Perhaps history would have repeated itself once more.

A smile curved Tang Guo's lips. She first returned to her own palace before quietly slipping away to Jing Cheng's residence.

The Chief Eunuch had long grown accustomed to the Empress's habits. Completely unconcerned, he didn't follow her, remaining outside the Empress's palace instead and pretending she was still inside.

“You went to Su Qing's place again?” Jing Cheng had become increasingly familiar with Tang Guo.

After spending so much time together, whenever they were alone, he unconsciously stopped treating her as the lofty Empress seated above everyone else.

Instead, they were like two people who were very close to one another, and being together was surprisingly comfortable.

“Your Majesty, how much longer?” Jing Cheng asked.

Tang Guo smiled brightly. “Has my Imperial Consort grown impatient?”

“I simply hope that Your Majesty can relax a little and not waste your energy on people who don't know their place.”

“There's nothing troublesome about it. Just think of it as a pastime.”

“Soon,” Tang Guo said as she placed food into Jing Cheng's bowl. “Very soon it will all be over. When that time comes, I will dismiss the entire harem and keep only you by my side. What do you think?”

Jing Cheng's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly said, “Your Majesty, what kind of joke is this?”

Though he truly wished to have the Empress all to himself, could the imperial harem really be dismissed so casually?

“Jing Cheng doesn't believe me?”

“I believe Your Majesty,” he replied softly, “but I don't want to put Your Majesty in a difficult position.”