Chapter 584: Difficult Problem

The clamor and festivity of the Lingxiao Baodian were shut out the moment Di Jun stepped into the Heavenly Queen's Sleeping Palace.

Inside the palace, the furnishings were even more luxurious than the Lingxiao Baodian, yet also more cold and cheerless.

Night pearls emitted a gentle light, illuminating the floor paved with ten-thousand-year warm jade, and also illuminating the peerlessly beautiful figure sitting upright on the Cloud Bed.

Xi He had already changed out of her cumbersome wedding attire, wearing only a moon-white sleeping robe, her long hair cascading like a waterfall to her waist.

She did not look at Di Jun, merely gazing quietly out the window at that eternally unchanging Taiyin Star, her expression cold and clear, unknown what she was thinking.

Di Jun's heart sank for no reason.

He could sense that Xi He's mood was very bad.

The scene of the Celestial Marriage being defiled in broad daylight, though ultimately resolved by the Ancestor of the Dao's Personal Action, that ominous shadow had ultimately still fallen upon everyone's hearts.

Especially for Xi He, this newly ascended Heavenly Queen, this was almost equivalent to a slap, ruthlessly striking her face before all the Great Wasteland.

"Xi He..."

Di Jun stepped forward, opening his mouth tentatively.

Xi He did not turn her head, her voice still cold and clear: "Emperor."

This address of "Emperor" was polite and distant, like an invisible wall separating the two.

Di Jun's brows furrowed slightly; he disliked this feeling.

He sat on the edge of the bed, attempting to explain: "Today's matter was my negligence, letting you suffer grievance."

Xi He finally turned her head, those eyes clear as an ancient pool looking at him: "Emperor overstates it; this matter has nothing to do with you or me, it is Heaven's will, and also a tribulation."

Her words were watertight, yet even more distant.

Di Jun was somewhat at a loss for words.

He had waged war all his life, accustomed to resolving problems with fists and authority.

Facing enemies, he could make them vanish into smoke and ashes with a laugh.

Facing ministers, he could decide their life and death with a single word.

But facing a woman who was angry, a woman who was his wife in name only, he discovered all his methods were of no use.

"That black light, the Ancestor of the Dao has already stated, was not the work of the Wu Clan." Di Jun continued explaining somewhat clumsily, "There must be petty villains making trouble behind the scenes; I have already ordered a thorough investigation, and will certainly give you an accounting."

The corner of Xi He's mouth hooked a barely perceptible curve, seemingly self-mocking.

"An accounting? What accounting does the Emperor intend to give this subject-wife? To ferret out the rat hiding in the dark ditch, or to question the lofty Ancestor of the Dao, why under his Heavenly Dao would he permit such filth to defile the Merit and Virtue of the Celestial Marriage?"

Di Jun was completely unable to speak.

He discovered that the more he explained, the more stiff the situation became.

The atmosphere in the Sleeping Palace reached the peak of awkwardness for an Ongoing Period.

This Heavenly Emperor who just moments ago still pressed down the myriad ages and awed the Great Wasteland, now resembled a green youngster who had done wrong, at a loss what to do with his hands and feet.

And Just At This Time.

From outside the hall came a faint sound of footsteps.

A young demon Servant Girl, carrying a tray, walked in carefully.

"Oracle Emperor, Empress."

The Servant Girl knelt on the ground, not daring to lift her head, "Great Emperor Taiyi... the Prince said, the Empress has just arrived at the Heavenly Court and is unaccustomed to the water and soil, so he specially ordered the small kitchen to stew a pot of Hundred Flowers Brew that calms the spirit and warms the heart, and had this servant deliver it."

Taiyi? Younger Brother?

Both Di Jun and Xi He were stunned for a moment.

Di Jun's heart warmed; it was still his own Younger Brother who was thoughtful.

He took the jade bowl that still held residual warmth, handed it to Xi He, and squeezed out a trace of a smile: "Younger Brother has a kind heart; you have a taste?"

Xi He glanced at the jade bowl, then glanced at the thin volume pressed beneath the jade bowl on the tray.

On the cover of the volume, written in a script she had never seen before, were several large characters—

"Heavenly Emperor's Post-Marriage Pampering Wife One Hundred and Eight Methods".

Xi He: "..."

Di Jun also saw that volume.

He first froze, then his old face reddened, nearly knocking over the jade bowl in his hand.

He glared fiercely at the little Servant Girl who was already trembling with fright, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to burrow into.

This damn Younger Brother!

Delivering soup is delivering soup, what's the point of slipping in this kind of thing!

"Cough cough!" Di Jun dry-coughed twice, attempting to salvage his dignity, "This... this must be the servants being ignorant, grabbing the wrong thing, I'll just..."

"Emperor." Xi He suddenly spoke, interrupting him.

She Extended Her Slender Jade Hand, and picked up that volume.

She did not open it immediately, merely using her fingertips to gently stroke that rough cover, her gaze somewhat complex.

Di Jun's heart rose to his throat.

He felt that his lifetime's glorious reputation would today be thoroughly ruined.

However, Xi He's next action greatly surprised him.

She not only did not get angry, but instead set the volume aside, picked up that bowl of Hundred Flowers Brew, and drank it in small sips.

"The taste is not bad." She set down the jade bowl, looking at Di Jun, a trace of faint, barely-there amusement actually appearing on her cold face, "Troubling the Emperor."

Di Jun froze.

This... this is fine?

He looked at Xi He, then at that strangely titled volume, his mind a mess.

"No... you're welcome." He replied subconsciously.

Xi He looked at his foolish, goofy appearance, and the knot in her heart, without her realizing it, actually dissipated by more than half.

She picked up that book and casually flipped through two pages.

Only to see written on it:

"First Form: When your wife is angry, do not attempt to reason with her; this will only make her angrier. What you should do is step forward, give her a hegemonic yet gentle embrace, and tell her: The one in the wrong is not you, it is this world."

"Second Form: If the embrace doesn't work, then clear her shopping cart... (Note: This clause is pending, requires research into what a shopping cart is)"

"Third Form: Look at her with your most sincere gaze, and tell her she is the most beautiful scenery you have ever seen, surpassing the sun, moon, and stars."

The corner of Xi He's mouth couldn't help but curve up slightly.

These words were vulgar, blunt, yet carried a strange kind of magic power.

She raised her head and looked at Di Jun.

Di Jun was stared at by her until his whole body felt ill at ease; thinking she was still angry, his mind heated up, and he recalled the book content he had hastily glanced over just now.

He took a deep breath, imitating the book's example, using what he considered the most deep-feeling, most hegemonic tone, and said word by word:

"Xi He."

"The one in the wrong is not you."

"It is this world."

After speaking, he even spread his arms open, seemingly preparing to give Xi He an embrace.

Inside the Sleeping Palace, the air instantly froze.

The smile on Xi He's face also stiffened.

She stared blankly at Di Jun, at this Great Wasteland Heavenly Emperor, saying such... shameful words with a straight face.

After a long while.

"Pfft—"

Xi He ultimately couldn't hold back and laughed out loud.

That smile, like the epiphyllum under the moon, bloomed in an instant, making the entire cold and clear Sleeping Palace seem to brighten up.

Di Jun was stunned.

He looked at Xi He's smile that was like the spring wind melting snow, and for a moment, he actually stared until he was entranced.

"You..."

"Emperor, where did you learn these words?" Xi He laughed until the corners of her eyes carried a trace of tears.

Di Jun stammered for half a day, unable to utter a single complete sentence.

Xi He looked at his embarrassed appearance, and the last trace of barrier in her heart also thoroughly vanished like smoke and clouds.

The man beside her who was still blushing from the shameful lines he had just spoken.

Perhaps... marrying him was not a bad thing after all.

At least, he looked nothing like the hegemonic figure written in storybooks, but rather... a bit cute?

What's more, with such a younger uncle around, the Yao Clan's future also didn't seem so bleak.

"Emperor."

Xi He proactively reached out her hand and held Di Jun's large hand that had nowhere to rest.

"The night is deep."

Her voice was gentle like water.

Di Jun's body violently trembled.

He lowered his head, looking at that soft hand that had proactively held his own, feeling that delicate warmth; his emperor's heart, at this moment, began to beat violently.

He turned his hand back and gripped that small hand tightly in his palm.

Outside the window, the Taiyin Star and the Tai Yang Xing shone upon each other from afar.

Inside the palace, red candles flickered, spring scenery boundless.

Yin and Yang converged, the Great Dao harmonized.

This night, the Zhou Tian Star Dou Great Array above the Nine Heavens shone with starlight more brilliantly than ever before.

The Yao Clan Heavenly Court's Qi Qi Golden Dragon let out a dragon roar that shook the universe, and its figure actually swelled by another thirty percent out of thin air!