Chapter 969: I

The tyrant lowered his head to glance at the guard armor on his body; suddenly a plan formed in his mind, he avoided their line of sight, walked out, and let out a tremendous sound.

Jin Xiao Mo warily looked back, after a moment's thought bade farewell to Shao Chun, 'Little cat, take the route you just came back by; my people will meet you there.'

"I need to hurry out of the palace to hand over the map for you."

Shao Chun still wore a smiling face, 'All right, Ah Xiao, be careful.'

He watched Jin Xiao Mo's retreating back, hid another copy of the secret passage map against his chest, but had no intention of just returning to the Huichun Palace.

Since the current emperor is a fake, we must go find a flaw; now that he's out of favor, if something happens… it's better to have some leverage in hand.

Shao Chun licked the back of his hand, just about to shift back to his true form and leave, when a tall figure suddenly pressed him from behind.

"Mm…!"

He widened his eyes, instinctively extended his claws, turned his head, and met the tyrant's scarlet, feral eyes.

"Your Majesty…"

Shao Chun glanced at his clothing, determined he was the real emperor, and hurriedly patted the tyrant's shoulder to try to soothe him.

"Your Majesty… I'm in pain, please let go first."

Seeing the demon cat's pitiful expression, the tyrant snorted coldly, seized his arms and pressed them against the fake mountain stone, the distance now within arm's reach.

"I never knew you were still involved with Jin Xiao Mo!"

"You really have a lot of nerve!"

The words forced out from between his teeth were filled with surging anger.

"I…"

Shao Chun felt his hand wandering around his waist, worried the map would be discovered, he lunged forward and tightly clung to his neck, acting coquettishly.

"Your Majesty… I was wrong, please don't be angry…"

If before it was merely suspicion, today's incident let Shao Chun completely confirm that the person before him was the true emperor; his indiscriminate intimacy was all too familiar.

The hand clinging to his back extended its claws, intending to use bewitching arts as before, making him think they were engaging in rain‑water intimacy.

But today, for some unknown reason, after using the bewitching arts his movements didn't stop, nor did he faint as before; could it be that, having left that body, even the bewitching arts no longer work?

"Ah!"

He was viciously pinched in the chest; Shao Chun cried out in pain, his pupils suddenly contracted, but thinking of his subsequent plan, he couldn't just kill the real emperor right now.

"【Really disgusting.】"

Jin Chen couldn't bear to see him wearing the same face as his own doing such disgusting acts.

Feeling extremely uncomfortable, he closed his eyes, withdrew from the consciousness space, and summoned the dark guard.

"Take people to patrol the imperial garden, especially near the fake mountain stone."

"Yes."

"【Are you helping the protagonist… oh no, Shao Chun?】"

0731 didn't quite understand.

Since it had urgently repaired the blind spot in the original self's offset, it noticed that the host seemed unusually interested in this person.

"【It couldn't be a pure and simple original soul; we have to test it out.】"

Although but there is indeed another plan, though it has nothing to do with Shao Chun.

Who would have thought that this test would actually let Jin Chen see something.

When the dark guard took part of the imperial troops to patrol the imperial garden, it indeed roused the tyrant who intended to punish the licentious bad cat‑demon on the spot.

Upon noticing someone approaching, he didn't linger, broke free, and left the imperial garden at great speed.

Jin Chen saw this in the consciousness space, suddenly sat upright, brows furrowed.

"This speed…… is beyond what an ordinary person can achieve; it's definitely not just the original self."

"【Detected!】"

0731 exclaimed, '【Even the world consciousness is involved!】'

Unlike the heavenly dao's event consciousness, it mainly oversees important protagonists' timelines and major turning points.

So…… is someone controlling the world consciousness, or has the innate soul absorbed its power?

Jin Chen withdrew from the space, instructed 0731 and Lingduan Bai Ze to explain this matter.

Don't, when the time comes, use too much force and ruin this broken world, or Bai Ze will come looking for trouble.

After a while, 0731 quickly brought back Bai Ze's reply.

"【Report to host! Headquarters feedback, Bai Ze the boss says don't worry, you can carry out the mission as usual, and also hopes the host can pass the evaluation.】"

0731's voice was noticeably more excited.

"【Evaluation, what evaluation?】" Jin Chen raised his brows oddly; he hadn't undergone an evaluation in several hundred years.

"【I don't know either, the boss didn't tell me.】"

Jin Chen made a sound of puzzlement, '【You're usually good at acting cute and coquettish, yet Bai Ze didn't even tell you this.】'

0731 tucked in his two paws, lay down, shook his rainbow‑colored head, '【I don't understand either.】'

Jin Chen could only let it go for now.

However, the matter of the imperial garden wasn't over; under Jin Chen's deliberate provocation, soon every palace knew that, after being demoted, Shao Liang Jun harbored resentment and actually fooled around with the guards in the imperial garden.

When the Imperial Forest Army discovered it, the guards hurriedly fled; Shao Liang Jun hadn't even dressed properly, his clothes disheveled as he waited behind the fake mountain stone, truly embarrassing.

But this still wasn't Jin Chen's true aim.

At the maple‑viewing banquet a few days later.

In the past, only the harem officials enjoyed the maple view; the emperor rarely participated, but this time Jin Chen actually showed up.

In the viewing pavilion of the maple grove in the imperial garden, Jin Chen and Wen Zhihen sat side by side in the main seat, thinking that even if Huai Feng were utterly uninformed about harem news, someone would surely speak of it today.

"Your Majesty seems especially pleased today."

Wen Zhiheng saw Jin Chen come to the pavilion himself; the smile at the corner of his lips never faded. Besides the two of them in the courtyard, there were many attendants who had not yet been sent out of the palace.

After all, he had not yet emerged from the past shadow; Wen Zhiheng could not help but think that Jin Chen was… because he had seen them…

Hearing this, Jin Chen patted the slender hand he was holding and said, "Naturally, because I can enjoy the maple leaves and autumn chrysanthemums together with Huai Feng."

Having said that, he took out a small jade bottle from his bosom and placed it in Wen Zhiheng's hand, saying, "This is the good medicine I obtained from the divine physician outside the palace."

"Huai Feng's health has never improved, and the imperial physicians only know to slowly nourish; those medicines I see are all bitter."

Wen Zhiheng lowered his eyes, looking at the small bottle in his hand, and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Between us, there's no need for thanks."

Jin Chen, annoyed, pinched his hand, took a piece of pastry and fed him, completely oblivious to the attendants around them whose eyes were glowing green.

Wen Zhiheng, however, noticed it, slowly curling the corner of his lips, leaning slightly to eat the pastry, and used a handkerchief to wipe Jin Chen's hand.

In this situation, someone always feels resentful and can't help but want to speak.

"Your Majesty, your servant has a matter I wish to ask you."

A handsome young gentleman rose, bowed to him, walked over with a beaming smile, stood beside Jin Chen, looking puzzled.

"That Young Good Lord and the guard's affair in the Imperial Garden… why haven't you dealt with him? That truly throws the palace into chaos."

Hearing this, Wen Zhiheng's expression changed slightly, and he instinctively looked toward the attendant, saying, "What guard?"