Chapter 46

  The sky was indeed cold, but the Warming Jade Pavilion was still warm as spring, only a bit quiet. As the night outside grew darker, Mu Rong Xue's loneliness also grew heavier, so heavy that she herself wanted to cry.

  She felt a little confused, didn't know why, and had no bottom line in her heart. She liked the emperor, liked his maturity and gentleness, liked it so much that she wasn't even clear about what she was doing herself, only knowing that when she saw the emperor smile at her that day, heard the emperor's gentle words to her, her heart felt like it was smeared with honey-like sweetness and happiness.

  The emperor is the only one in her heart, but she is not the only one in the emperor's heart.

  At this time, the emperor might be having fun with Liu Fei, doing things they did together. Just thinking about it, Mu Rong Xue's heart felt like it was being slowly carved by a knife.

  "Miss, you should rest." Rui Xi reminded softly, looking at the miss's state, Rui Xi was truly a bit helpless. The emperor had only been away for one night and she was already so heartbroken, if the emperor were to favor another woman in the future, would she be able to handle it as calmly as Empress Wu and Consort Liu?

  "I couldn't sleep." Murong Xue said helplessly, looking a bit pitiful.

  "You're so boring! Crying over such a small thing, it's not worth it at all." Suddenly, a voice rang out, startling Mu Rong Xue and Rui Xi, while Zhao Gang outside didn't make a sound.

  Suddenly, there was a strange woman in the house wearing Mu Rong Xue's clothes, which didn't fit her very well. She wasn't bad-looking, especially with a pair of eyes that were rolling around restlessly, drawing attention to herself.

  "If he doesn't want to spend the night with another woman, just call him back, anyway his freshness towards you hasn't faded yet, one call and he'll come back for sure."

  "You, you, you——" Murong Xue's voice trembled, unable to speak further.

  "What are you? I am Princess Yalai, a gift from the kingdom of Wumeng to the Emperor." Yalai replied nonchalantly, sitting down in the chair and picking up the cup on the table to drink it all in one gulp. With a mischievous grin, she said, "I escaped from Sima Qiang's place and ran here to hide because the Emperor often stays overnight at the Warm Jade Pavilion, so there are more opportunities to see him here and maybe even seduce him."

  Murong Xue's eyes widened, what was this woman saying?

  "What are you staring at me for with that weird expression?" Yali said disapprovingly, "Actually, you're not even as good as your sister Murong Feng. You may be pretty, but when it comes to taste, you fall short of your sister by a big margin. I don't know how the Emperor's eyes are made, he can't appreciate me, that's fine, but he hasn't seen a beautiful woman from an exotic tribe like me before, so he can't appreciate me. But to give up a lovely woman like Murong Feng and choose you instead? Oh, of course, you're not married, while Murong Feng is the consort of Sima Rui, even if he had eyesight, it would be useless."

  Murong Xue and Rui Xi were stunned on the spot, what's going on? Zhao Gang at the door didn't make a sound, wasn't he said to be highly skilled in martial arts and Liu Fei's most trusted guard? Didn't he know someone had entered the house?

  "Don't look for help outside the door anymore. That man, his martial arts skills are not bad, but he doesn't know how to use medicine at all. I only used a little bit of anesthetic and he fell to the ground with a thud." Yali said with a smile, "What's there to be so nervous about? I'm not going to kill you guys. By the way, do you think the Emperor will come back?"

  Murong Xue didn't know what to say and stared blankly at Yalai.

  "You're Rui Xi, right?" Ya Li looked at Rui Xi who was also stunned and said, "You, go tell Yang Gong now that his Snow Consort has been taken away by a woman from another tribe. He'll come back immediately. Go!"

  Looking at Rui Xi's difficult departure, Ya Li turned her head to look at Murong Xue and curiously asked: "What's so good about the Emperor? You're so infatuated with him that you don't even regret your own mother hanging herself. Is it just because he looks good, is gentle and considerate, and has power and status as the Emperor? Do you really love him?"

  "You, don't you also want to seduce the Emperor?" Murong Xue whispered, distinguishing this woman who had been mentioned before. She had heard that when they were admiring chrysanthemums in Tongtai Garden, Sima Qiang had brought up this person. At that time, hadn't the Emperor awarded her to Sima Qiang? How did she suddenly appear again?

  Yali rolled her eyes, "Actually, I don't like him. I like that Crown Prince Sima Rui, he's handsome and has a good temperament, just looking at him makes me happy. I dislike Sima Qiang the most, he looks stern and unyielding, but in reality, he's gloomy. Just seeing him makes me feel full. The problem is that Sima Rui has Murong Feng, and I have self-awareness, I'm not comparable to your sister. So I can only make do with the Emperor for now. If it weren't for the benefit of Wumeng Country, I wouldn't bother with your Emperor at all, he's too old, even older than my father."

  Murong Xue was so frustrated that she couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time, looking at Ya Li with a feeling of being a scholar meeting a soldier, having a lot to say but unable to express it clearly, and could only shut her mouth.

  Outside the door, footsteps were in a hurry. The emperor came in with several guards and saw Murong Xue being held by a woman as soon as he entered the door. The woman was Yalai Princess who had escaped from Sima Qiang's mansion. She was also bold, originally wearing Murong Xue's clothes had been taken off, only wearing a tight short shirt, revealing her slender waist, with a strange waistband that made a tinkling sound around her waist, below was a fat silk pants, barefoot, a pair of feet were delicate and lovely, toenails painted red, slightly moving, making a pleasant sound.

  "Your Majesty, we meet again." Yali said with a smile.

  "Let go of Xue'er." The emperor said anxiously.

  "Get all these people out of here and then we can talk terms." Yali didn't listen at all.

  The emperor immediately let everyone retreat and looked at Princess Yalai angrily, saying: "Don't provoke me, otherwise don't blame me for being impolite."

  Yali smiled lightly and said, "Come here, I have something to say to you. You'd better behave yourself, or if you provoke me, I'll immediately turn your Snow Queen into an ugly freak. With just a light slash of the knife in my hand, her beautiful face will cease to exist."

  "What do you want?" The emperor looked at Murong Xue's face, which had turned pale with fear, and his heart ached. "Don't hurt Snow."

  "You just listen to me calmly, and I won't harm her." Yali said calmly, with a serious expression. "Your father gave me to you, so you have to accept it. Don't treat me like a gift that can be given to one person or another at will. You must favor me, make me the Consort Li, and let me live in this Warm Jade Pavilion. Then, you have to order Sima Qiang, your detestable second son, to release the hostages from my country of Wumo. He has captured my brother and some other people, and they must be released immediately. As long as you agree to my conditions, I will let go of Xue'er right away. Also, I want to tell you not to play tricks on me. My country of Wumo is rich in medicinal herbs, so if I can easily release Murong Xue, I can also easily capture her again."