Chapter 527: Staying Overnight in the Imperial Concubine's Palace

Chapter 527: Lodging in the Noble Consort's Palace

A flash of white light erupted, and Zhao Changhe appeared outside the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Turning his head with a touch of chagrin, he tried stepping onto the teleportation array once more, but it yielded no response—the way back in was sealed.

In truth, he still had questions left unasked, such as the true nature and purpose of that secret realm’s vaulting sky. Xia Longyuan could not possibly be squatting there day in and day out merely for the view, could he?

Yet he reckoned Xia Longyuan might not be willing to speak of it... though the man would likely tell Chichi in private... and was there really any difference between telling her and telling him?

Forget it, best to head back first; he sensed Chichi was on the verge of a great fortune from this turn of events.

Though Xia Longyuan had smiled through the entire encounter, Zhao Changhe had distinctly felt a flash of murderous intent. Especially at the beginning when the cursing started, and the Emperor had said with a pleasant grin, "I could kill you ten thousand times over," Zhao Changhe truly felt a warning alarm explode in his heart, every hair on his body standing on end.

But that pressure had retracted just as quickly. Zhao Changhe did not believe that merely being a fellow Earthling commanded such immense face; perhaps it played a small part, but the critical factor was clearly Chichi.

No matter how indifferent and cold-hearted Xia Longyuan might be, he did possess a shred of flesh-and-blood affection for Chichi, or at least a lingering sense of debt—or perhaps, partly out of a feeling that he had lost face?

He was the undisputed number one under heaven, boastful beyond measure, yet his own child had been bullied since infancy, and even now had failed to surpass her peer Yue Hongling, having even been overtaken by Zhao Changhe. Leaving aside Zhao Changhe’s cheat-like speed, that Chichi had not bested Yue Hongling was not for lack of natural talent or effort, nor was it due to any shortcomings of the Four Symbols Sect; it was strictly because her early years had been held back. By the time she made her debut, Yue Hongling was already famous throughout the land—Xia Chichi had simply arrived too late.

When Xia Chichi pointed at his nose and told him he was unworthy of even being cursed, Xia Longyuan truly lacked the temper to flare up; what could he possibly say?

In the end, he had actually dropped a line like "Give her a few words of advice"... it was simply unreal.

In that single instant, the humanity he had cast aside seemed to return... one could only say that people are complex creatures, and a figure like Xia Longyuan was especially intricate, defying any simple label or definition.

It remained a mystery whether he possessed a genuine paternal desire to make amends, or if he intended to sever all earthly attachments once he had bestowed what he deemed a sufficient "recompense"... such a complicated man was hard to read. Fortunately, he was no practitioner of the demonic path, so there was no need to fear him slaying Chichi to sever his red-dust bonds and attain enlightenment. After all, he had gone out of his way to explain the Crown Prince's death—and who was that explanation for? It certainly was not for some reckless youth.

With a mind full of tangled thoughts, he arrived at the Noble Consort's bedchambers. The palace was brightly lit, yet Huangfu Qing materialized behind him in a sudden blur.

Zhao Changhe stiffened. Turning around, he saw Huangfu Qing’s gaze shifting away from his back as she said with a frosty countenance, "Drenched in cold sweat... if you are so afraid, do not play the hero. What use is a momentary thrill of the tongue? If you were truly killed, would you leave me a widow!"

Uh... speaking of which, by all nominal accounts, your husband is the very man I was cursing...

Zhao Changhe swallowed the retort welling up in his throat, daring not to voice it, fully aware that Her Ladyship was nursing a bout of jealousy. Back when he had blocked a formidable enemy with his back soaked in cold sweat to shield her, that could practically be counted as the catalyst that unlocked her affection, right? Who was that formidable enemy again... ah, Wang Daozhong...

One swallowed retort turned into two, leaving Zhao Changhe caught between laughter and tears. He reached out to pull her into an embrace: "I wasn't exactly making an enemy of him, I was just making one last push in the hope that he might... sigh, though I knew the chances were slim, I couldn't just do nothing, could I?"

Huangfu Qing struggled, refusing to let him hold her: "So you risk your life just to gamble on a sliver of possibility?"

"Fine, fine, it was my fault." Zhao Changhe decisively refrained from arguing with the woman. Her starting point was genuinely born of worry for him, so why dispute it? He softened his voice: "You know I always tend to get hot-headed..."

Seeing him soften, Huangfu Qing ceased her scolding. She leaned against him limply, murmuring, "I do not know what deeper history exists between you and him aside from Chichi. It feels as though he truly treats you differently than others, and you harbor many beautiful illusions about him as well... But remember, he is a heartless emperor, a non-human god and demon. Do not view him through the lens of a mortal any longer. If this encounter allows you to thoroughly discard your illusions about him, it might actually be a good thing..."

Zhao Changhe nodded, recalling that fleeting flash of murderous intent from earlier, and sighed, "Understood."

Huangfu Qing glanced left and right, biting her lower lip as she asked, "Are you very angry with him? A faint doting ruler, nothing more."

"Mm... if I weren't unable to beat him, I would have thrashed him long ago."

"Actually... you have another way to teach him a lesson..."

Zhao Changhe blanked for a moment. He lowered his eyes to meet her darting gaze, then followed her look around the room. A few palace maids were standing near the entrance of the bedchamber; seeing them look over, the maids all covered their mouths with stifled giggles, dropping their heads to avoid their eyes.

Zhao Changhe lowered his head, his neck turning somewhat stiffly. He was currently cradling the Noble Consort, and these little enchantresses of the Four Symbols Sect reacted like this...

He finally realized what Huangfu Qing meant by those words, and unconsciously swallowed hard.

Huangfu Qing blinked: "What, he ruins the state, traps your father-in-law, and just now he even wanted to kill you. Do you only dare to shout a few curses and shrink from doing anything else?"

Without a second word, Zhao Changhe scooped her up horizontally and charged into the inner bedchambers.

The little enchantresses giggled and snickered, drawing the chamber doors shut for them.

One could only say a demonic sect was indeed a demonic sect; whether it was Miss Yihuoshe or these young maids, each was more bewitching than the last.

Bursting into the bedchamber, Zhao Changhe caught sight of the grand bed and rolled straight onto it while holding Huangfu Qing tightly.

Though he knew perfectly well that no actual cuckoldry existed here—that Huangfu Qing’s title as Noble Consort was entirely fraudulent, and Xia Longyuan’s tolerance of her presence here absolutely carried some alternative motive—at this particular moment and in this specific place, the psychological experience was inexplicably different. This was an overt desecration of the supreme sacred ground of the Great Xia; all the pent-up resentment he held toward Xia Longyuan seemed to vent itself in a thoroughly Ah Q-esque fashion.

Huangfu Qing allowed him to devour her, her breath quickening slightly, yet she chose this exact moment to add an even more provocative line: "Do not be in such a rush, Your Majesty... Allow this concubine to serve you and loosen your robes..."

The thrill was instantly dialed to the absolute maximum.

Before long, the palace maids keeping watch outside the door could hear the faint, muffled sound of the bed rocking and the earth shaking within. They could not help but exchange glances, their faces flushing red as they clicked their tongues in amazement. Just how ferocious was this...

They had not even extinguished the lamps; if one found the right angle, the silhouettes inside could still be seen.

...

"Good... good man... that is enough... I cannot take any more..."

After an unknown length of time, just as the maids began to suspect the bed might collapse entirely, a faint cry for mercy finally drifted from within.

The sounds at last subsided. It was unclear whether things had merely slowed down or stopped altogether, but at any rate, it was no longer so absurd, and nothing more could be heard.

Inside, Huangfu Qing was flushed all over with the rosy glow of satisfaction. She leaned limply against Zhao Changhe’s chest, stretching out a finger to scratch at his chin, teasing him like a cat: "Tell me, am I better, or is Tang Wanzhuang better?"

Zhao Changhe: "Emmmmm..."

"Hmph." Huangfu Qing drawled languidly, "If you ever go to see Tang Wanzhuang first before coming to see me again, this treatment is gone for good."

Zhao Changhe harbored a lingering suspicion that her deliberate seduction tonight, designed to make him explode, was not driven solely by jealousy over Tang Wanzhuang; there might be a little something else at play...

His own actions admittedly did not constitute cuckoldry, but she seemed to be cuckolding Xia Chichi.

Seeing his expression, Huangfu Qing knew her thoughts had been seen through, yet she did not blush. Instead, she remarked, "Empress Wang has been deposed."

Zhao Changhe blanked, failing for a moment to grasp why she suddenly brought this up. He casually chimed in, "Well, that's obvious. How could she possibly remain in that position? The civil and military officials wouldn't allow it either. Whether she lives or dies rests entirely upon a single thought from Old Xia."

"Is that what I am discussing with you?" Huangfu Qing’s chin-scratching motion shifted to tracing circles on his chest: "Have you never considered... with the Empress deposed, who becomes the next Empress?"

Zhao Changhe’s eyes widened.

"And furthermore..." Like a tempting demon, Huangfu Qing spat out even more lethal words from her crimson lips: "Now that Chichi has communicated with him in private, it means that at least in their hearts, they have already acknowledged their bond as father and daughter. It is no longer the ambiguous attitude of the past, is it?"

Zhao Changhe said blankly, "Yes... so?"

"According to the rules of ritual and propriety, when I become the Empress, no matter who birthed the Crown Prince, they must address me as Mother Empress." Huangfu Qing smiled delightfully, "Therefore, I shall soon be Chichi’s Mother Empress."

Zhao Changhe’s eyes bulged.

Huangfu Qing laughed like a little fox that had successfully pulled off a prank: "Since you and I are already like this, there is no hope left for you and Chichi~"