Chapter 955: The Young Empress (End)

Su Qing had calculated countless possibilities, yet in the end, he had failed to account for one thing—

She simply hadn't lived long enough to wait for that day.

If, from the very beginning, he had never schemed against her...

Would their ending have been different?

If he had remained Consort Su in Empress Xian'an's harem, perhaps they would have spent their entire lives peacefully together.

She wouldn't have fallen from the cliff.

She wouldn't have forgotten him.

She wouldn't have died so young.

With his intelligence and talents, winning her affection and standing out among the many consorts would have been easy.

So why, when the answer had been so simple, had he chosen such a difficult path?

Confusion filled Su Qing's face.

Then he suddenly remembered—

At the beginning, he hadn't loved her at all.

He had approached her only to use her.

It was only later, after seeing how wonderful she truly was, that he had fallen in love.

So, the one who had been wrong from the start...

Had always been him.

Unfortunately, there were no "ifs" in this world.

The next day, when Su Qing attended court, he never again mentioned attacking Western Saint Kingdom, much to the relief of the ministers.

Not long afterward, he appointed a Crown Prince.

And just when everyone believed that Su Qing had finally settled down—

He disappeared.

"He won't come back," Xiao Yun said. "Crown Prince, prepare for your ascension."

Looking into the distance, she smiled bitterly.

"How can someone's heart be so hard? Twenty years... wasn't that enough?"

Later, Tang Nuoyue heard rumors about a madman who repeatedly sneaked into the imperial mausoleum.

He had been caught countless times.

No matter how long he was imprisoned, he never repented.

As soon as he found an opportunity, he would once again sneak into the mausoleum.

At first, Tang Nuoyue thought he was a grave robber.

Then one day, she accidentally caught sight of his face and finally understood.

So it was him.

No wonder...

"Going again?"

Nan Yunchuan, who had spent ten years polishing his treasures day after day, carefully wiped another artifact. Many of them had become so polished that they gleamed with an oily shine.

"If I remember correctly, you were imprisoned for six months last time. This time, they'll probably lock you up for a year."

Su Qing smiled faintly.

"Of course I'll go. Why wouldn't I? As long as they don't kill me, I'll keep going. I don't care how many years they lock me up."

"You're hopelessly obsessed," Nan Yunchuan said.

Su Qing looked back at him.

"And aren't you?"

The two exchanged glances before lowering their heads simultaneously.

Indeed.

Who among them wasn't obsessed?

Anyone who fell in love with her...

Would inevitably go mad.

…

" Tang Guo, shall I walk you home?"

The young man standing before her was handsome, dressed in a spotless white shirt. The faint smile on his face made him effortlessly charming.

No girl could easily reject being looked at with such earnest eyes.

After all, this young man was not only the campus heartthrob but also the heir to a wealthy family.

Tang Guo raised her head.

Her face was stunningly beautiful.

Smiling politely at the handsome boy, she shook her head.

"No, thank you."

"I rode my bicycle."

"I see."

Zuo Ran shrugged.

"Then forget it."

Tang Guo turned around without hesitation.

Behind her, Zuo Ran watched her retreating figure thoughtfully, a confident smile curling his lips.

Everyone in school called her an untouchable flower atop a snowy peak.

At the same time, many rumors painted her private life as chaotic and scandalous.

He was curious to find out—

Was she truly pure and innocent?

Or merely pretending to be an untarnished goddess?

This game...

Was rather interesting, wasn't it?

The instant Tang Guo turned away, the sweet and innocent smile vanished from her face, leaving behind only calm indifference.

"System," she said lightly, "where's my bicycle?"

She had only just arrived when she heard Zuo Ran offering to walk her home.


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Translator's Note

Well, I seem to have discovered one of Blogger's hidden rules the hard way. 😂

Apparently, if you post a lot of chapters in a short period of time, Blogger may decide that you're a suspicious little bot and temporarily stop you from creating new posts. And considering I posted one entire arc of my other novel (about 50 chapters) and then finished an arc here (a little over 70 chapters) yesterday... I suppose I can't really argue with it. 😭

The problem is, I had absolutely no idea there was a limit.

So, for the next few days, things may be a little inconsistent while I figure out what works. I'm trying to find a way to keep the translation moving quickly without getting locked out of Blogger again. If that works, then hopefully you'll barely notice anything. If it doesn't, I may eventually have to slow the update rate down a little and work within Blogger's limits.

Also, if any of you little angels reading this happen to know Blogger well, please save me from my own experimentation 😂 If you've dealt with Blogger's posting limits before and know of a tried-and-true way to schedule or organize a large number of posts without getting thrown into timeout, especially on days when I actually have the free time to upload a whole arc or two (I mean considering this one's length), I would genuinely appreciate any advice you have.

I'd much rather hear from someone who's already figured it out than spend the next few days poking Blogger with a stick and seeing what makes it angry🥹

I really, really don't want to move the translation somewhere else right now, especially after finally getting the Blogger site set up the way I wanted it. So let's see how this goes first. 😂

Also, a quick note about Novel Updates: if you've been checking the NU chapter listing and wondering what on earth is happening... yes, I know 😂 There have been some duplicate releases and the chapter order is currently looking a little... creative. The automatic release system is working now, but there was some overlap because I had manually added chapters while waiting for it to be activated.

I'm sorting that out, and I'll also be checking for anything the automatic system may have missed. In the meantime, if the NU listing looks confusing, the Blogger Table of Contents is the best place to check where the translation actually is. The TOC is kept up to date and follows the actual chapter order.

Anyway, please bear with me while I figure out this little Blogger/Novel Updates adventure. Hopefully everything settles down soon and we can get back to our regularly scheduled mountain of chapters. 😂

Thank you for reading, and I hope you're enjoying the novel so far! 💕

—Cy