Chapter 275: Volume 1 Chapter 275: Empress x Courtesan (5)

Jiang Zhi could only prop up her exhausted body, calling him to come in.

Yan Yao removed his official uniform, donned a snow-white robe; his bearing was bright and clear, like a clear moon in the black night sky, warm and smooth as jade.

Greetings, Your Majesty.

Jiang Zhi's eyes slightly curved as she walked to his side, habitually resting her head on his shoulder, lazily saying, 'Yan Yao, what brings you here?'

Yan Yao straightened her askew body, unintentionally noticing her eyes' corners rubbed red, her phoenix eyes wantonly askew, alluring yet revealing impropriety.

For some unknown reason, that strange feeling in his heart surfaced again.

The empress before him was clearly familiar, yet he felt a hint of unfamiliarity.

'A Zhi,' he called softly.

Jiang Zhi raised her brow, 'I'm listening.'

Yan Yao dodged her leaning body, saying, 'The day after tomorrow is your birthday; what do you want?'

Jiang Zhi wanted to get rid of him quickly; after pondering a while, she replied, 'I'd rather have Yan Yao not oppose me in court.'

Yan Yao: '…Impossible.'

Jiang Zhi shrugged without surprise, 'Even so, I have nothing I want.'

Yan Yao's thoughts paused slightly; after a long while, he said, 'How about I accompany you to wander the streets tomorrow night?'

Jiang Zhi had no desire to wander the streets, shaking her head to refuse.

Yan Yao recalled how she had unexpectedly skipped morning court yesterday; although this was hard to learn from within the palace, the information from the spies he had planted beside Jiang Zhi revealed she was doing this for the young male attendant she had brought from Pine Bamboo Pavilion.

'A Zhi…'

The man wanted to speak but stopped, as if he had something important to ask her.

Jiang Zhi blinked her weary eyes, yawning profusely as she asked, 'What is it that you cannot tell me?'

Yan Yao swallowed the words he wanted to say, chatted with her for a while, then bowed and took his leave.

Jiang Zhi oddly glanced at his retreating back, muttering to herself, 'What on earth does he want to say?'

777 reminded, 'Host, if you don't sleep now, tonight's plot won't be completed.'

Jiang Zhi recalled that after selecting the second main storyline mission, while eliminating the villain's corruption value, she also had to follow the original host's plot.

The original host's plot merely entailed tormenting the villain each night, bringing disaster to his body and mind.

She hurried to sleep.

She slept until nightfall.

She proceeded to the sleeping palace where Wen Ci resided.

Wen Ci had just woken today and had not gone back to sleep, so he was his primary persona; he curiously lifted his forehead, his long black eyelashes fluttering, his black eyes filled with pale moonlight sparkling with specks of starlight.

The first to attend was his second persona; for his primary persona, the empress's arrival tonight was completely unfamiliar.

'Wen Wu Huan pays respects to Your Majesty.'

His real name is known to few, while Wen Wu Huan is the name given by Pine Bamboo Pavilion.

Jiang Zhi tightly gripped his wrist and dragged him inside.

The palace attendants knelt outside, awaiting summons.

Inside the room.

Jiang Zhi sat on the noble consort's chair, looking down at the boy lying sideways on the ground.

'Having you kneel all this time has even bored me.' She smiled pleasantly at the corner of her lips, as if she had found something amusing.

She ordered a eunuch outside to come in, pushing an iron cage; inside was a large grey wolf that, upon smelling a strange scent, immediately opened its bloody maw and growled at the boy beside it.

Wen Ci had never seen such a large wolf; his body shrank back in fear, all color draining from his face as he nervously looked at the grey wolf in the cage.

The eunuch left, leaving the room with one wolf and two people.

Obviously the grey wolf was familiar with her scent, approaching the cage and wagging its tail, emitting affectionate barks like a dog.

Jiang Zhi drew near, extended her hand into the cage, and lightly rubbed the grey wolf's head; its fur was somewhat stiff, not very pleasant to touch, but it did not stop her from petting the wolf's head.

'It is my most beloved pet, named Grey Overlord; are you afraid of it?'

Wen Ci endured his fear and softly said, 'I… I am not afraid.'

Jiang Zhi curled the corner of her lips, her phoenix eyes falling on his pale, near-translucent face; she flicked her slender white finger, pointing at the wooden bucket beside the iron cage, saying, 'From tonight on, it is yours to care for; feed it well. If Grey Overlord loses even a catty, I will feed you to it.'

Wen Ci's body shuddered violently, his eyes reddened as he stared for a long time, tightly pressing his lips, his voice unsteady: 'I… I will surely take good care of… take good care of Lord Grey Overlord.'

Jiang Zhi smiled satisfiedly, removed her outer robe, lay on the bed, and looked at him like teasing a cat: 'Go ahead, Grey Overlord hasn't eaten yet today.'

Wen Ci trembled as he walked to the wooden bucket, seeing it piled with pork and cleaned chicken and duck meat, bloodied and stacked together, the foul stench filling his nostrils.

He held his breath, yet could not stop the waves of odor; enduring hard, he picked up a piece of meat intending to throw it in.

The grey wolf inside the iron cage smelled the bloodiness, suddenly becoming agitated, rattling the cage as it tried to tear at him.

Wen Ci collapsed straight to the ground, his legs going weak, his reddened eye rings soaked with moisture, not daring to look at the grey wolf inside.

Jiang Zhi, watching the show from the bed, laughed upon seeing this.

The laughter attracted the boy on the ground to look over, instantly forgetting his fear.

The exalted empress had her black hair draped over her shoulder, wearing a silver-white silk inner robe; her brows and eyes were tinged with pale golden light, her phoenix eyes smiling with tears, her face flushed with peach-colored radiance, beautiful as a perfect painting.

His gaze stared blankly for a few seconds; the grey wolf's howl beside him redirected his thoughts to it.

This time, he seemed no longer afraid, gradually feeding all the fresh meat in the wooden bucket to the grey wolf.

The room's candlelight flickered; the empress on the bed had already fallen asleep, the sheer curtains faintly outlining her form, devoid of her waking ferocity and malice, her sleeping posture excellent, the steady breathing sounding lulling.

Wen Ci lay on his side on the ground, slowly closing his eyes.

The grey wolf in the cage was restless, occasionally scraping its claws against the iron bars, producing a somewhat harsh sound.

Wen Ci opened his eyes, raised a finger to his lips, and softly whispered 'shh'.

"Little Gray, listen well~"

The gray wolf heard his voice, as if understanding, it stopped moving, its forelegs crossed as it lay in the cage, its sharp, cold beast eyes half-drooped.

Wen Ci curled his lips, then simply stayed awake, moving close to the iron cage and talking to it on his own, not caring whether the gray wolf could understand.

Until the sky grew faintly light.

"Little Gray Gray, are you tired? Do you want to sleep? Go ahead and sleep, I'm tired too."

When Jiang Zhi woke up, they heard these words.

She saw through the gauze curtain the boy lying beside the cage, and the corner of her brow jumped.

Could it be that he didn't sleep all night, just chatting with the gray wolf?

Wait, isn't he afraid?

The reason Jiang Zhi brought the beast garden's gray wolf here was for the birthday night plot.

She feared she wouldn't make it in time; since he would go to the beast garden, she let him first get used to the wild beasts there, so he wouldn't suffer such serious injury later.

But she didn't expect that after a night, the gray wolf had no hostility toward him at all, and its attitude was especially gentle, as if treating a friend.

Is this the villain? Even the beast feels an affinity toward him?