Chapter 313: Only Allowed Into the Palace

In the room, the only sound left was Bai Li's low sobbing.

In the dim surroundings, Wan Tang let out a long sigh.

Chu Yunzheng instinctively used his body to shield Bai Li, his face also unusually embarrassed.

His gaze flickered, unwilling to meet Wan Tang's eyes.

His dry throat rolled once: "Get out."

Wan Tang seemed not to hear, still watching them.

"Empress, please go out," Bai Li's voice trembled with crying; she grasped the Emperor's hand tightly.

She buried her face against his chest, her voice choked: "I know you must hate me to the core; if so, why not just kill me outright."

"Why must you torment me like this?"

"Will humiliating me like this make you feel better inside?"

Her cries were desperate, each one striking the heart's core.

Wan Tang's face still bore no expression, her eyes a wasteland.

She kept walking, step by step, steadily toward the bed.

Seeing this, Chu Yunzheng's tone grew colder, and he warned sharply: "It is my own uncontrollable feelings, unrelated to Li'er."

"If you want to blame anyone, blame me."

Though composed, his voice carried a panic even Chu Yunzheng himself could not comprehend.

"Emperor, don't you understand yet?" Bai Li's tears were blurry, like an injured little rabbit.

She looked at Chu Yunzheng with sorrow: "Being a concubine leads to this fate."

"Life, death, honor, and disgrace all rest on the principal wife's will."

"Moreover, being as nameless and rankless as I am, I can only be trampled upon."

She turned to Wan Tang: "The Empress knows that I and the Emperor can no longer be separated."

"You insist on seeing it with your own eyes, and continue to humiliate me—are you truly satisfied?"

Seeing the white moonlight sobbing, Chu Yunzheng's eyes blazed with fury: "Get out!"

Wan Tang's body trembled slightly as she stepped before him.

Her gaze fell on Chu Yunzheng's face, her smile painfully bitter.

Yet without hesitation, before Chu Yunzheng could react, she pulled the Jīn zān from her hair and swiftly pierced the Acupoint at his waist.

Chu Yunzheng felt a sudden pain.

He was about to rage, but that stubborn spot turned soft.

His body suddenly relaxed, finally able to separate from Bai Li.

Wan Tang lowered her brows, her voice soft yet trembling: "The Emperor's emotions surged, and a sudden fright caused this engorgement."

"Without external assistance, even an hour or two might still make it hard to separate."

"And at this moment, calling the Grand Physician would still be inconvenient."

She explained softly.

Bai Li grabbed a blanket and covered herself.

Chu Yunzheng hurriedly threw on a coat, his voice gentle upon gentle: "Tangtang, just now, you wanted to help me?!"

"A married woman should always consider her husband. The Emperor is my husband and also my world."

"A husband's honor, a wife's duty is to uphold it."

Bai Li, listening nearby, was stunned but understood that every word declared they were husband and wife.

Since they are husband and wife, what does that make her?

She immediately called out softly to the Emperor, her face full of fear: "What does the Empress mean by saying those words?"

"Is she mocking my namelessness and lack of status, yet unaware of shame?"

"Li'er, the Empress has no such intention," Chu Yunzheng's tone suddenly grew a bit harsher.

Bai Li's tears fell in rapid splatters.

Seeing this, Chu Yunzheng felt pained and hurriedly coaxed: "Don't cry, I was just impatient."

Wan Tang gave a self‑deprecating smile.

Turning her back to the Emperor, she pretended strength: "I will have the ministers continue the ceremony preparations, and you, Emperor, tidy up as well!"

Chu Yunzheng watched the slender silhouette, feeling uneasy.

He said, "Tangtang, you did well."

"No! I am not good," Wan Tang denied outright: "If I could have prevented all this, it wouldn't have—"

She could not continue, her shoulders trembling.

A pang struck Chu Yunzheng's heart; he rose, embraced Wan Tang from behind, and whispered, "I know you have done your best."

Wan Tang suddenly turned and threw herself into Chu Yunzheng's arms.

Like a helpless child, she choked, "I am not good, I truly cannot stop it, I am so useless..."

"In the end, I am just an orphan—who will listen to my words?"

A tear, sudden, fell onto Chu Yunzheng's back of the hand.

It burned his heart.

The broken door reminded him who the true culprit was.

Had Bai Zijun not smashed the door, would it have been like this?

He is the Son of Heaven!

Yet in everyone's sight, he was caught snatching wild food.

Emperor, hunting the wild is fine.

But the one who cannot pull it out due to excessive fright—he truly is the sole one throughout history.

Thinking of this, his mind is filled with rage.

Looking again at his wife in his arms, she has already protected him as if he were her life, yet she remains the sorrowful one.

Wan Tang cried for a while in his arms.

He slowly lifted his head and looked at Chu Yunzheng.

He held his tears at just the right amount.

What he saw was that outstanding temperament, yet a softness that only appears before him.

Chu Yunzheng felt even more heartache.

Yet she still forced herself to hold back tears, feigning strength as she said, "Subject, I will go prepare the ceremony now."

"This time, the Copper Furnace will not go wrong again."

"But …"

Wan Tang bit her lower lip hard, refusing to let go even if it bled.

With a trembling voice, she let each word burst from the bloodied gaps between her teeth, each word weeping blood…

"On the day Bai Zijun entered the Genealogy, may I claim illness and stay bedridden, Subject, I have no face to face Xiao Chuan …"

The final sentence, tears rolled down.

True feelings, pretenses, need not be distinguished.

Tears mixed with the blood at the mouth completely drained Chu Yunzheng's heart.

Chu Yunzheng thought that from the day he decided to become Emperor, there was no longer any sincerity.

But at this moment, his heart and chest hurt badly.

What on earth is he doing?

"Tangtang …" he wanted to reach out and touch her face.

Wan Tang had already turned and ran outside.

Only a smear of blood remained on Chu Yunzheng's fingertip.

Chu Yunzheng stood there dazed, gazing steadily at the bright red color, his mind filled with countless thoughts.

"Emperor …" Bai Li called out in a delicate, fragile voice like porcelain: "After this, how will I be able to see anyone!"

Chu Yunzheng did not turn, did not look back.

He was only thinking that Wan Tang was just a woman; facing those old foxes, what could she do!

"Em … Emperor …" Xiao Dongzi ran over after hearing the commotion.

Seeing the situation, he was already scared dumb.

He immediately dressed Emperor neatly.

"Pear, you rest!"

"I will give you a satisfactory answer."

He never turned around; his gaze was either fixed on the tattered door or on Wan Tang's retreating silhouette.

"Emperor!"

"Cough cough cough …"

Seeing him like that, Bai Li hurriedly called out, coughing violently.

Chu Yunzheng was only then startled awake, turned back, and walked to her side.

Bai Li nestled in Chu Yunzheng's arms, eyes watery, lifted her face and said, "Emperor, from now on, what should we do?"

Chu Yunzheng remained silent for a long while, then in a deep voice said, "Since everyone already knows, you may enter the palace then."

"Enter the palace?" Bai Li's eyes flashed with joy, then she frowned, "How should it be arranged?"

Although she cannot become Empress.

But becoming Noble Consort is not bad either.

When her younger brother gains the Mo Family's military authority, the Empress position would be easily within reach.

"I will discuss it with the Empress myself," Chu Yunzheng replied plainly.

Bai Li widened her eyes in disbelief: "Emperor, you are the supreme ruler of ninety‑five, can you not even decide such a small matter?"

Chu Yunzheng snapped his head around, a cold chill in his eyes: "If it were not for your good younger brother making it known to all, I would not be here!"

Each of his words was like ice: "Now the one who has lost all face is not you, but me!"

"Your good younger brother has turned me into a timeless joke!"

He stepped closer, forcing himself to keep recalling Bai Li's former beauty.

Recalling those moments of salvation from his youth was the only way to suppress the murderous intent in his eyes.

"I spared his life; that is love for you to the bone."

Bai Li fell onto the bed, only able to watch Chu Yunzheng leave with her eyes wide open.

Xiao Dongzi hurriedly placed the clothes at the bedside.

He turned and ran behind the Emperor's rear.

Bai Li squeezed the clothes hard, hatred surging in her eyes.

"What a Wan Tang, when I enter the palace, I will let you know that the Empress position can belong only to me."

"And you will understand what true love invincible means!"

After saying that, she let go of the clothes again.

Her fingers tangled in her hair, a smile curving her lips, eyes full of allure: "When it comes to handling men, who can be my opponent?"

On the sacrificial platform, the incense candles were relit.

The Imperial Observatory's gaze toward Wan Tang was tinged with complexity, while the eyes of the ministers below her were filled with sympathy and helplessness.

At the sight of Bai Zijun stepping forward, they all showed unmistakable contempt.

"Begin," Wan Tang said, her voice unsteady, each word trembling.

Shei could not understand her anguish?

The Duke of Ning fell to his knees, repeatedly kowtowing.

Wan Tang did not look at him, only gazing toward the Altar, and said calmly, "This matter has nothing to do with the Duke of Ning."

"However, regarding the future ceremony of entering the Genealogy, I will no longer participate."

She paused, her voice hoarse, "I fear that my maternal grandfather's spirit in Heaven would rebuke me."

Every minister below had eyes reddened.

The Duke of Ning could no longer restrain himself, collapsing to the ground in bitter tears.

Old Minister, tears streaming, said, "I have wronged the Mo Family!"

"It is the Old Minister who raised his son poorly!"

"Back then, having an affair with their mother was the greatest mistake."

Wan Tang remained indifferent: "In this world, there is no regret medicine to take."

"This matter ends here."

The ceremony resumed, and the Imperial Observatory placed Bai Zijun's birth chart into the Copper Tripod again.

Bai Zijun also knelt before it.

With the Copper Tripod replaced, where could an error occur?

Whether Heaven agrees or not, once the Emperor says it, it will certainly be agreed to.

The Imperial Observatory's face showed desperation: "Heaven, grant approval!"

The Duke of Ning, however, remained kneeling, his body jolting violently.

Again and again, he slapped his own cheek heavily, "I have wronged the Mo Family."

"I have wronged Old Mo."

"I have wronged…"

Seeing this, Bai Zijun shouted angrily, "Are you mad?"

"Your son is about to rise to great fame, what madness are you seeking here?"

"When I command the Mo Family Army, that will bring shame to the Duke of Ning's Residence!"

"Silence!" A cold scolding of himself rang out.

Chu Yunzheng, at an unknown moment, had already stepped out of the Zen Chamber, his expression as dark as water.

Sharp-eyed, "Shei permits you to decide for me?!"

He waved his large hand, his fury surging:

"Men! Capture this disloyal, unfilial, wildly rebellious and impolite scoundrel for me!"