Chapter 263 - 112: The Third
As for Ji Yunting and Qin Xiyue, while nothing was ever explicitly stated, the way Ji Yunting had unjustly berated He Lan Yun for Qin Xiyue’s sake was plain to see.
The Emperor’s expression was, of course, absolutely foul.
"Your Majesty, Qin Wan Yi knew full well that He Lan Yun loves Ji Yunting, and also that Ji Yunting doesn’t love her back. Why would she still write a letter to Ji Yunting, urging him to accept He Lan Yun?"
Song Yunzhao put on a furious display. "How can marriage be treated like a game? This will ruin the County Princess for life! What kind of deep-seated hatred would drive her to do something so shameless? I’ve racked my brain. The County Princess is outside the palace; she’s no threat to her. But I am on good terms with the County Princess, and Qin Wan Yi and I do not get along. The County Princess must have been dragged into this because of me. The more I think about it, the angrier I get, the more miserable I feel, and the more I feel I’ve wronged the County Princess..."
As Song Yunzhao spoke, her voice began to choke with emotion. Her anger was real, and so was her sorrow for He Lan Yun. A performance of thirty percent truth and seventy percent fiction could fool anyone, let alone hers, which was backed by wholly genuine feeling.
Feng Yi watched Yun Zhao lift a handkerchief to her eyes and said, "Crying like this over such a small thing?"
"How can you call this a small thing? This is a woman’s entire life we’re talking about! What Qin Wan Yi has done is simply unconscionable!"
"Princess Ming’an is in love with Ji Yunting. If she were sensible, she never should have agreed to this marriage in the first place. Since she did agree, she has only herself to blame for her current suffering."
Song Yunzhao thought, ’Logically, I agree with him, but emotionally, something about it feels off.’
"Your Majesty, you can’t put it that way. You can’t apply logic to love. When I was outside the palace, I fell for you at first sight. Even though I had no desire to remain in the palace, I became willing the moment I realized the man I loved was the Emperor. It’s not that life here is bad; becoming an Imperial Concubine is a dream for countless women. But to me, being a concubine of the Emperor and being *your* concubine are two entirely different things. I am only willing because the Emperor is *you*. If it were anyone else, I would have certainly gotten myself sent to the Cold Palace."
Feng Yi was left speechless.
Even though he knew Song Yunzhao was just trying to sweet-talk him, her words still filled him with pleasure.
Not everyone could tell such lies with such righteous conviction. If it wasn’t entirely true, it was at least eighty percent genuine. For him, eighty percent was more than enough.
A long time ago, no one had ever treated him with even a shred of sincerity.
Besides, Song Yunzhao only believed Qin Wan Yi had done this to spite her. But as the Emperor, looking at it from the perspective of the court, he could see much more.
Princess Ming’an’s friendship with Yun Zhao would inevitably influence the Prince Zhenbei Mansion. Grand Tutor Qin would not sit idly by while a favored concubine of the Emperor grew too close to the Prince Zhenbei Mansion.
The Prince Zhenbei Mansion commands the military!
Yun Zhao had only been in the Capital City for a short time; how could she possibly know the intricacies of the Prince Zhenbei Mansion? That was why she hadn’t considered these implications. But he was different. As the Emperor, he naturally saw things far more clearly.
He simply hadn’t expected Grand Tutor Qin’s ambition to be so great—that he would actually try to get his hands on military power.
Song Yunzhao watched the Emperor’s expression grow darker and darker. ’Is he really that devastated by this?’ she wondered.
’Then again, no man wants to be made a cuckold, least of all an Emperor!’
Song Yunzhao felt a twinge of guilt. ’After all, I transmigrated and changed the original owner’s fate. In the book, Song Qinghan had entered the palace but was no match for the heroine. I, on the other hand, am a powerhouse.’
’I stole the heroine’s spotlight and made her life in the harem difficult, and that’s what drove her to use Ji Yunting to harm He Lan Yun.’
’But I don’t think I did anything wrong. I just want to live well, to not proactively harm others, and to maintain my own moral bottom line.’
’The heroine’s moral bottom line, however, was clearly much lower than mine. The fact that she’s so ruthless and unscrupulous proves there’s a problem with her own character. What does that have to do with me?’
’Yes, that’s it exactly!’
Having thus convinced herself, Song Yunzhao instantly felt much more at ease.
’Things rarely go according to plan in life; I’ve had more than my share of disappointments. And going by the heroine’s methods, if she’d had to deal with people like Mrs. Cai and Song Qinghan, the grass on their graves would be three feet tall by now.’
Feng Yi snapped out of his thoughts, looked at Song Yunzhao, and chuckled. "You’ve got some nerve, talking about sending yourself to the Cold Palace."
"I don’t lie to my own," Song Yunzhao said firmly. "Am I the type to just settle for less?"
She felt completely confident about this. After all, the very first man to catch her eye outside the palace had turned out to be the Emperor. Such luck! Such a blessing! HAHAHA! How could she not be full of confidence?
’Absolutely!’
Feng Yi was taken aback for a moment, then he recalled Song Yunzhao questioning him outside the palace. ’It’s true,’ he thought. ’She set her sights on me from the very beginning. Her standards really are impeccable!’