CH 6

Chapter 6 Chip Chip Chip Chip Chip Chip

Prime Minister Ye left with a worried expression on his face, while Li Jinyu felt a bit overwhelmed. Based on the novel, after being saved by Prime Minister Ye, Huo Caiyu went through a series of plot twists that eventually led to his disillusionment with the court and his pursuit of a different path.

Now that the Prime Minister was ignoring the main protagonist, Li Jinyu wondered how the plot would progress.

However, he soon realized that he made a mistake. Huo Caiyu's plot development with the Prime Minister involved deepening his hatred for corrupt officials, which could be achieved even without going to the Prime Minister.

With the tacit cooperation of Emperor Jingchang and Prime Minister Ye, there were almost no honest officials left in the court, and the officialdom of the Di Dynasty had become a cesspool of corruption. As long as Huo Caiyu left the palace, there would be plenty of opportunities to deepen the negative impression of him.

Enlightened, Li Jinyu ate another plate of melon seeds with a peace of mind.

The only remaining problem was the departure of Huo Caiyu from the palace. Li Jinyu called in a eunuch to inquire and was pleased to learn that Huo Caiyu was able to walk slowly on the ground today. "As long as he is able to walk, make the necessary arrangements for him to return home tomorrow."

The eunuch's expression was slightly startled, but he kept his mouth tightly shut to avoid bringing trouble on himself.

Thinking that he could send away Huo Caiyu and enjoy his life in the palace, Li Jinyu happily ran a lap in the Imperial Garden.

That night, it was time to flip the plaque again.

Last time, it was Concubine Wei, and this time, it was Consort Xian. Li Jinyu recognized this name, as she was the one who arranged for Huo Caiyu's sister to enter the palace.

In the past few days, Li Jinyu had confirmed through palace gossips and Emperor Jingchang's diaries that Consort Xian was the most favored woman in the imperial harem, and the Emperor was deeply in love with her.

As Consort Xian was summoned, Li Jinyu couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity with her. It wasn't until she approached him with a smile when he realized that she was the concubine he had met in the Imperial Garden.

It turned out that she was Consort Xian.

The smell of her perfume irritated Li Jinyu's nose. He took a step back, coughing lightly, "Aifei, please sit down."

Consort Xian had expected to get close to the Emperor as usual, but Li Jinyu directly put up a barrier, causing her to feel a slight shock and surprise on her face.

As the one who led Emperor Jingchang's cruel harem, Consort Xian was not a fool.

Her expression quickly changed, turning into a mix of coquettishness and grievance. "Your Majesty hasn't visited this concubine in the past few days. Has Your Majesty forgotten about her?"

In the past, Emperor Jingchang always liked her coquettish and childish act, but Li Jinyu wasn't buying it and only pointed to a chair next to him. "Sit, Aifei, have some tea."

Feeling embarrassed about having these imperial concubines sing lullabies to him, Li Jinyu had the servants prepare some throat-soothing ginseng tea.

Conforming to his wishes, Consort Xian sat down and obediently took a sip of tea before asking with a smile, "Your Majesty looks in good spirits. Is there any good news?"

Li Jinyu was indeed pleased that he was able to get rid of Huo Caiyu, but he couldn't say that to Consort Xian, so he shook his head. "Nothing special."

Consort Xian's eyes flickered as she tentatively brought up a topic. "This concubine heard that Your Majesty expelled Miss Huo from the palace. Is it because she didn't suit Your Majesty's taste?"

Li Jinyu became annoyed when she mentioned this. He remembered how Consort Xian had mysteriously arranged for Huo Caiyu's sister to enter the palace and felt displeased. "Why did you summon her into the palace?"

Consort Xian was taken aback and felt some misgivings in her heart.

She knew Emperor Jingchang's temperament well. In his eyes, any beauty was only worth appreciating for a moment and had no real value. As a result, he never showed any favoritism towards any beauty.

However, this time, Emperor Jingchang inexplicably took a liking to Huo Caiyu, a man, and personally visited him several times to inquire about his injuries. Naturally, Consort Xian would be vigilant.

She was able to reach her current status in the imperial harem, not relying solely on her looks.

Upon learning that Huo Caiyu had an unmarried sister, Consort Xian thought of a way to deal with Huo Caiyu.

Summoning Huo Caijin to the palace, the Emperor would naturally be interested in a face similar to Huo Caiyu's and would not refuse a similar beauty.

But "sister and brother, flying together into the Purple Palace" could almost be considered a great shame for the family!

It was said that Huo Caiyu was young and hot-blooded. He dared to approach Emperor Jingchang and scold the court, so he was naturally not a slippery and unscrupulous person. By taking the initiative to offer a beauty, she appeared "obedient and sensible," and could also increase the conflict between Huo Caiyu and the Emperor!

As for the Emperor's character, could he really accommodate Huo Caiyu in every way? It wouldn't be long before he directly ordered the death of the Huo siblings!

Consort Xian had thought things through very well, but did not expect the Emperor to simply send Huo Caijin back.

"This concubine just thought that it had been a long time since there was a new person in the palace. Coincidentally, this concubine heard that Your Majesty has recently appreciated Young Master Huo, so she thought of presenting someone new to please Your Majesty." A trace of grievance appeared on Consort Xian's delicate face, her eyes were also a little red. "This concubine didn't expect to interfere with Your Majesty's arrangement. Please forgive this concubine."

Li Jinyu remained silent for a moment, feeling a bit awkward as he scratched his ear— he really wasn't good at dealing with strangers.

Consort Xian was also helping him build up his image as a tyrant. If it were the original Emperor, he might have really been pleased...

He could only say, "Zhen doesn't blame you, just don't do it again in the future."

"Understood, Your Majesty."

Consort Xian pondered for a while, then tentatively asked, "Speaking of which, Miss Huo seemed a bit melancholic when she entered the palace, as if she was missing her younger brother. What does Your Majesty feels about it..."

Of course, this was something she just said on a whim. She never even saw Huo Caijin. She was just trying to test the Emperor's attitude towards Huo Caiyu.

"Oh, don't worry. Huo Caiyu shall go home tomorrow."

Consort Xian's eyes lit up, but she tried to conceal her joy. She lowered her head and smiled. "Understood, Your Majesty."

The Emperor, who was ready to sleep, couldn't help but ask, "When are you going to sing?"

He himself wondered where the habit of needing to listen to someone sing before falling asleep came from.

Consort Xian didn't answer and suddenly collapsed onto the pearwood wax table with a "thump."

Startled, Li Jinyu thought she had hit her head on the table. He quickly urged her to get up, but as he spoke, he felt an intense wave of coldness emanating from all around.

The coldness seemed to have a life of its own and slowly crept into the room like a snake stalking its prey, slithering towards him.

Li Jinyu's eyes widened, the words stucked in his throat.

What's going on?!

After becoming a spiritual creature, Li Jinyu had only received some common sense knowledge from the Heavenly Dao, and had no ability to deal with abnormal situations.

He didn't recognize it, but the chilly breath had a dark aura. It definitely wasn't something good!

The first thing that came to his mind was the resentment left behind by Emperor Jingchang who had killed so many people!

Li Jinyu took a step back and realized that the chilling breath seemed to have no interest in the unconscious Consort Xian, and only fixated at him.

This further confirmed Li Jinyu's guess.

Without hesitation, he jumped up, wrapped his sleeves tightly, activated his magical powers, and ran in circles in the palace before finally running out of a side door.

Thanks to the parkour he had been doing in the palace when he couldn't sleep these days, he discovered many ways out!

The guards and palace attendants guarding the side door also fell into a coma.

Li Jinyu had no time to worry about them. He hesitated for a moment before running in a certain direction.

The imperial aura of Ziwei could ward off all evil!

Huo Caiyu, save me!

.........

Luckily, he still remembered the way to Jinxiu Pavilion. He used all his pitiful spiritual power to run all the way to the entrance of Jinxiu Pavilion.

He encountered many night patrol guards and palace servants on the way, but he tried to avoid them. These ordinary people couldn't help him with the relentless chill chasing him. Involving them would only cause trouble.

Only one eunuch was guarding the entrance of Jinxiu Pavilion, yawning as he suddenly saw Li Jinyu appear before him. He thought it was an illusion and forgot to kneel, staring blankly and saying, "Your Majesty?"

Li Jinyu grunted as imposingly as he could, then strode inside.

Finding his way to Huo Caiyu's bedroom, Li Jinyu pushed the door without hesitation and immediately saw Huo Caiyu leaning on the bed in a single garment and reading a book.

Their eyes met, and Li Jinyu breathed a sigh of relief, "Good evening."

Huo Caiyu's eyes flickered with surprise, then turned to deep vigilance. He pursed his lips, put down the book, and stood up to prepare to bow, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

Seeing Huo Caiyu moving with difficulty, Li Jinyu quickly dissuaded him, "No need to be overly polite. Zhen just came... to see you."

Huo Caiyu's body hesitated slightly, but he persisted and bowed.

Helpless, Li Jinyu could only let him finish the ceremony, then walked to the jujube wood chair on the side to prepare to sit down. Feeling that it was not appropriate, he went straight to Huo Caiyu's bedside.

The cold outside was too terryfing. He'd better stay closer to Huo Caiyu. Being oppressed by the Ziwei aura was still better than losing his life.

Huo Caiyu didn't expect Li Jinyu to sit so brazenly on his bed— only close acquaintances would sit like this. He opened his mouth, then pursed his lips, a hint of anger flashing in his eyes.

Li Jinyu sat next to Huo Caiyu, feeling for the first time that the oppression of Ziwei aura was so reassuring.

The two were silent for a moment.

Li Jinyu noticed that Huo Caiyu seemed a bit embarrassed, so he scratched his ear and tried to find a topic. "What are you reading?"

Huo Caiyu looked at him warily, closed the book silently, and let Li Jinyu see the words on the cover.

...He didn't recognize those characters.

Li Jinyu awkwardly laughed. "Ha, it looks good."

Li Jinyu didn't know whether Huo Caiyu saw through his illiteracy, but a hint of contempt and disappointment flashed in his eyes. He put the book back on the bedside.

At this point, the eunuch who was waiting outside finally realized what had happened and rushed in, kneeling down. "This slave failed to welcome Your Majesty. Please forgive this slave, Your Majesty!"

Li Jinyu was used to seeing the palace attendants kneel and beg for forgiveness. This time he had come here himself to take refuge, so he waved his hand and said, "No harm, you can go. Zhen will just stay here and chat with Hou, Hou Aiqing."

T/N

The eunuch was taken aback for a moment before asking cautiously, "Should this slave call for the dragon sedan for Your Majesty?"

Li Jinyu thought for a moment, and felt that that filthy thing was probably going to disappear until daylight, so he said, "Zhen will sleep here tonight, no need to call them."

This statement made the eunuch's heart skip a beat. Could it be that His Majesty intended to... take advantage of Young Master Hou tonight?

He had been assigned to serve Young Master Hou for two or three days. He had a gentle attitude and an extraordinary temperament. During his free time, he just read books, and coupled with his handsome appearance, it was hard not to develop a good impression of him.

In his heart, the eunuch sympathized with the accomplished official, who had caught the Emperor's eye, as he knew that such attention from the Emperor could lead to negative consequences for his future and even survival, but he did not expect His Majesty to be so impatient!

Young Master Hou was still recovering from the injuries caused by the imperial punishment!

And it was His Majesty who ordered the punishment!

Although he was filled with righteous indignation in his heart, for the sake of his own life and career, the eunuch naturally did not dare to say a word, and discreetly cast a sympathetic glance at Hou Caiyu before kowtowing and taking his leave.

Huo Chaiyu caught that gaze and clenched his fists tighter under the covers, unable to contain his humiliation. Meanwhile, Li Jinyu remained oblivious, silently counting the hours and guessing if the cold outside still lingered.

The room was silent, with only the flickering candle providing a soft light. Perhaps because his attention was too focused or because Ziwei aura beside him was too calming, Li Jinyu gradually felt drowsy. He yawned and laid down on the bed, murmuring, "Zhen is tired. Go to sleep..."

Huo Caiyu had been ready to resist when Li Jinyu laid down, but was surprised when he fell asleep without a care. He slept next to him like a child, simply lying on the bed covered by his own blanket, with no hint of the Emperor's majesty.

Huo Caiyu lowered his head and saw Li Jinyu's peaceful sleeping face, occasionally making a smacking sound as if he was enjoying something delicious in his dream. This was a far cry from the impression he had of Emperor Jingchang, which left him feeling perplexed.

It took a long time before Huo Caiyu collected his complicated thoughts and leaned against the head of the bed, still awake. He picked up the book and continued to read.