Chapter 234: People Who Can't Be Saved

Su Guiren's eyes were teary, and she gently pulled the Emperor's sleeve: "I… I can also serve the Emperor…"

"The Emperor said he would keep me company tonight," Wan Tang's tone turned cold as she tightened her grip on Chu Yunzheng's arm.

"I'm not a child anymore!" Su Guiren suddenly raised her voice, with a hint of stubbornness, "I also want to become the Emperor's true woman!"

"How impertinent!" Wan Tang scolded sharply, "How can you utter such shameless words?"

"Enough." Chu Yunzheng finally spoke, giving Wan Tang a slightly reproachful glance, "She's still young; it's understandable that she doesn't know the rules."

He turned to Su Guiren, his tone softening a bit, "Su Yanci has been toiling at the border; I truly… owe him a great deal."

Wan Tang sneered inwardly.

Whether it's debt or restraint, only he knows.

Yet she let a timely grievance show on her face, her fingertip lightly tracing the Emperor's palm: "Then won't the Emperor reward me for the grievance I endured today in Yangxin Hall?"

Her tone was ambiguous, with an implication.

Seeing the two so intimate, Su Guiren finally could not help but sob softly.

Looking at the tear‑streaked Su Guiren, Chu Yunzheng felt a bit dampened, yet said, "She's still a child; I'll just go soothe her."

Those words served both as an explanation to Wan Tang and as self‑persuasion.

He gently withdrew his arm and walked toward Su Guiren.

Wan Tang remained where she stood, watching the Emperor approach that "child," the smile at her lips gradually cooling.

Su Guiren, seeing the Emperor stride toward her, felt a flicker of hope in her eyes, but then Wan Tang suddenly stepped forward, directly blocking Chu Yunzheng.

"Emperor!" she raised her voice.

With unprecedented spunk, she even tore away the usual gentle façade.

"If you go to her today, never set foot in my door again!"

The words were extremely bold; even the nearby palace attendants held their breath in fright.

Su Guiren was so shocked she forgot to keep crying.

Wan Tang, however, paid no heed, her eyes rimmed with red.

As if angered, she rattled off like a rapid‑fire barrage: "I've endured so long in the Cold Palace, and today in Yangxin Hall I was frightened again."

"After waiting so hard for you to come, before I've even spoken a couple of sentences, you're already being lured by a little maid's charm?"

"She's young? I'm still aggrieved—how come I never see the Emperor so tender toward a delicate beauty?"

She grew more agitated, even reaching out to yank the sleeve of Chu Yunzheng's dragon robe, looking exactly like a common townswoman fighting for jealousy.

"The Emperor is just favoritism!"

Chu Yunzheng was taken aback by her sudden outburst.

Then, instead of anger, a barely perceptible smile slowly spread in his eyes.

He watched her flushed cheeks, saw the unabashed jealousy and possessiveness in her beautiful eyes, and a strange sense of satisfaction welled up.

He let her tug his sleeve, not rebuking her, but instead chuckling softly.

He reached out, pinched her cheek, his tone tinged with smugness: "Seeing you like this… so you really care about me?"

He liked watching her lose composure, liked seeing her disregard everything for him.

It made him think that, whether she was a descendant of the Mo Family or that deep‑thinking Virtuous Consort, in the end she was just a woman who would get jealous for him.

Her heart was forever firmly grasped in his hand.

That sense of control satisfied him far more than any fleeting novelty.

"Enough," he said, his other hand gripping hers that was pulling his sleeve, the force unmistakable.

His tone was indulgent, "I was only teasing; look how flustered you are."

"I won't go anywhere tonight; I'll stay with you, alright?"

As he spoke, his gaze swept over the pallid Su Guiren beside him, and he said lightly, "Su Guiren, return first; I'll visit you another day."

Su Guiren watched the sudden turn of events, seeing the Emperor's unabashed indulgence toward Wan Tang in his eyes.

Finally realizing she had been utterly defeated, she tearfully bowed and retreated in a disheveled manner.

Chu Yunzheng then clasped the still‑seething Wan Tang and headed toward the Main Hall of Palace of Eternal Joy.

A secret delight swelled within him, nearly overflowing.

Yet he failed to notice, as Wan Tang, leaning in his arms, turned away, a cold clarity and a barely perceptible hint of sarcasm flashing in her eyes.

Inside the Sleeping Hall of Palace of Eternal Joy, the candles were deliberately dimmed a few degrees.

Wan Tang sat on the bedside rail with her back to Chu Yunzheng, her shoulders gently rising and falling as if still angry.

Chu Yunzheng waved his hand, dismissing all palace attendants; the hall doors closed softly, cutting off the outside world.

He stepped behind her, hands pressing on her shoulders, feeling her body stiffen slightly.

"Still angry?" his voice was low, bearing a rare good temper.

Wan Tang twisted her body, trying to break free of his hand, her tone stiff: "Isn't the Emperor going to soothe Sister Su? Why are you meddling with me?"

Chu Yunzheng let out a low laugh; not only did he not release her, he instead, maintaining the pose, pulled her into his arms, his chin gently resting on the top of her hair.

"Am I not here to coax you?" he inhaled the familiar cool fragrance from her hair, his tone tinged with nostalgia, "How long has it been since I've seen you act so petulant?"

"It reminds me of when you were still an orphan…"

Wan Tang struggled briefly in his arms, but didn't break free, and he carried her away.

Her voice still carried a tone of resentment: "Now the Emperor only has eyes for newcomers; how could he remember how I once was?"

"Nonsense." He turned her body, forcing her to look at him, his fingertips brushing her slightly reddened eye corner, "I remember clearly."

His gaze lingered on her face, examining, yet more with a lazy pleasure, "I like your jealousy."

His kiss descended, bearing an irresistible force.

Wan Tang at first symbolically pushed back twice, but soon softened within his familiar embrace and breath.

The silk canopy, unknown when it was lowered, lay with its garments on the floor, and the candlelight on the curtains swayed, forming intertwined outlines.

In a daze, it seemed as if we truly returned to the beginning, when scheming and barriers had not yet stood between us.

It was merely the simple emperor and his favored consort, possessing the most primal attraction and possession.

The clouds and rain have just ceased.

Chu Yunzheng, satisfied, held the seemingly languid and obedient woman in his arms, his fingers intermittently winding around her dark hair, feeling that the lingering vexation of recent days had considerably dissipated.

He did not see that Wan Tang leaned against his chest, her open eyes showing no hint of intoxication, only a cold clarity.

The tenderness is false, the jealousy is false, even the present warmth is merely a scene she has meticulously staged.

The next morning.

After Chu Yunzheng went to court feeling refreshed, the gifts streamed in like water into Palace of Eternal Joy.

Silken brocades, jeweled ornaments, rare curios… a dazzling array, each reflecting the Emperor's immense satisfaction and favor after last night.

Liu Guiren came early to pay her respects; looking at the hall full of gifts, her eyes held unmistakable envy and pride.

She leaned close to Wan Tang, lowered her voice, her tone full of schadenfreude: "Sister, have you heard?"

"Yesterday, after Su Guiren returned, she threw a huge tantrum and smashed many things!"

"I heard her eyes were swollen from crying; truly… overreaching, daring to vie for the Emperor's favor with you, without gauging her own worth."

Wan Tang sat upright at the dressing table, letting Guanren comb her long hair, neither confirming nor denying Liu Guiren's words, simply gazing calmly at her reflection, expression neutral.

Seeing her unresponsive, Liu Guiren added embellishment: "If you want your sister to speak, she only dares such recklessness because her brother is stationed at the frontier."

"If General Su learned that his own sister behaved so unseemly in the palace, his face would surely lose its shine…"

"Go fetch her." Wan Tang suddenly spoke, cutting off Liu Guiren's endless chatter; her voice was low yet carried an unquestionable tone.

Liu Guiren was startled, then her face showed the excitement of anticipating a drama: "Sister, you intend to… reprimand her?"

"Sister, I'm going right now!"

She promptly agreed, turned and hurried away, her steps carrying a hint of lightness.

She was already eager to witness Su Guiren being chastised by the Virtuous Consort.

The hall fell silent again; Wan Tang traced her eyebrows in the mirror, her movements neither hurried nor slow.

Su Guiren was "invited" by Liu Guiren.

She kept a sullen expression all the way, entered the hall, and upon seeing Wan Tang seated at the main seat, not only failed to bow, but twisted her head, displaying a stubborn, indignant look.

"Kneel." Wan Tang's voice was calm, yet carried a chill.

"I'm not wrong!" Su Guiren thrust her chin up, the circles of her eyes still tinged with last night's slight redness, her tone sharp.

Wan Tang no longer looked at her, but addressed the Guanren standing in the hall lightly: "Everyone out, close the doors; without my command, no one may enter."

Although Liu Guiren wanted to watch the drama, she dared not defy, and retreated with the others; the hall doors were gently shut.

When only the two of them remained in the hall, Wan Tang slowly rose and walked to Su Guiren.

Su Guiren, intimidated by the aura radiating from her, instinctively stepped back half a step, yet still forced herself to stare at her.

"This slap—" before Wan Tang finished speaking, her right hand was already raised high, slicing through the air, and landed precisely and mercilessly on Su Guiren's delicate cheek.

"Snap!"

The crisp sound echoed through the silent hall.

Su Guiren was struck, her head tilting away, and a clear finger mark instantly appeared on her fair face.

She covered her face, looking at Wan Tang in disbelief, her eyes quickly gathering tears of humiliation.

Su Guiren kept her hand over her face, tears swirling in her eyes, yet stubbornly refused to let them fall.

"What gives you the right to hit me!" she cried, her voice trembling, yet she still held her head high, "I only did what every woman in the Imperial harem does!"

"Is vying for favor wrong?"

"Vying for favor?" Wan Tang seemed to hear something absurd, a cold sneer curling at her lips, "Is being loved by the Emperor that wonderful?"

"Do you think you can discard both dignity and propriety?"

She stepped closer, her gaze sharp as a blade, piercing Su Guiren's naïve heart: "Do you know that once you truly receive the Emperor's favor, you'll never again be able to leave these four walls in this lifetime?"

Su Guiren was stunned, evidently not fully grasping the deeper meaning, and instinctively retorted: "I… why would I leave the palace? I am the Emperor's Imperial Concubine…"

"Imperial Concubine?" Wan Tang's cold smile deepened, "Indeed, Imperial Concubine."

"In life you are of the royal house; in death you become the royal ghost."

"Your joys, anger, sorrow, pleasure, your life and death, honor and disgrace, from now on are bound to the ruler's single thought."

"Your brother is far on the frontier; did you think your favor could bring him glory?"

"Wrong! It will only give him countless shackles from now on, making the Emperor regard him with even more suspicion!"

She looked at Su Guiren's increasingly pale face, her tone bearing a near‑cruel clarity: "Do you know why the Emperor ultimately chose me last night?"

"It's not merely because of my petty jealous tactics; it's also because I am a descendant of the Mo Family, a lone daughter, with no father or brother wielding military power behind me."

"Su Guiren, by recklessly leaping upward, you are not aiding your brother; you are thrusting him, the entire Su Family, onto the edge of imperial power!"

These words, like ice water poured over her head, made Su Guiren shiver all over.

She opened her mouth to retort, but found her throat blocked, unable to utter a single word.

That pure, simple admiration for the emperor was for the first time torn apart from its warm veil, revealing the cold, ruthless political undercurrent beneath.

She trembled, stammering out a single word: "Ridiculous."

"I love him, I love the Emperor."

"I am willing to become his woman, willing to have the entire Su Family serve the Emperor!"