In Zilan Hall, tendrils of sandalwood incense curled lazily through the air. The Empress Dowager sat primly at the Emperor’s side, her face etched with displeasure.
The selection candidates had been winnowed down layer by layer from every province and county, each one a beauty in her own right. After a month of lonely confinement in Chengxiang Hall, they were naturally determined to make the most of this chance to behold the imperial countenance.
Standing behind Helian Jin, Cui Cheng took one look and felt dazzled by the array.
On a second glance, however, he frowned. Why was Yun Jichu positioned at the very back? And why had she dressed so plainly?
Fortunately, her understated elegance stood out all the more amid the opulence of Zilan Hall, like a lotus blooming pure and unadorned from clear water.
Cui Cheng felt a measure of relief.
If His Majesty took notice of her and gradually put the Late Empress from his mind, then perhaps his health would cease its downward spiral.
Cui Cheng shifted his gaze to the Emperor’s back and saw that Helian Jin displayed not the slightest interest. He lounged askew on the dragon throne, idly toying with a jade pendant in his hand.
The pendant was of wretched quality, its carving crude and amateurish. Yet in his grasp, the tawdry trinket somehow acquired an air of refinement.
Cui Cheng found himself at a loss for words. There were fully a thousand more just like it, tucked away in a sandalwood box in Zichen Hall!
All of them gifts from the Late Empress.
Cui Cheng still couldn’t fathom why the Late Empress had stubbornly insisted on presenting His Majesty with an ugly jade pendant every single day.
At the outset, Cui Cheng had refused to act as her courier. But the Late Empress offered him five taels of silver daily to deliver the hideous things.
And those pendants weren’t worth even half that sum.
Yet her relentless determination had worn down His Majesty’s resistance over time. The two had grown close, their affection blossoming—until, even in the full bloom of her exclusive favor, she never once forgot her daily tribute of jade.
She had stayed true to her origins, and Cui Cheng found himself deeply moved by her resolve.
His Majesty remained silent. The Empress Dowager’s expression eased somewhat as she swept her gaze over the assembled candidates below.
The Empress Dowager was named Yu Rumei, her beauty as striking as ever. Though past forty, she retained her captivating poise; the years had not diminished her loveliness but merely lent it a richer patina.
She had enjoyed the Emperor’s favor for several years, then reigned as Empress Dowager for five more. Her path had been one of unbroken success—until she faltered at the hands of the Li Family members.
Three years prior, in a rare lapse of vigilance, she had allowed the Li Family to plant several eunuchs in the service of the Crown Prince and Princess.
The children had been a mere two and a half years old at the time, and they had come perilously close to losing their lives.
The Li Family was a clique she herself had elevated to power, yet they had proven worthless over the years—utterly lacking in achievements at court. Even their distant branches in cushy posts had been methodically eradicated by Helian Jin.
In the end, the Li Family members had come pleading before the Empress Dowager, seeking to place one of their clan’s daughters in the palace. She had agreed without a second thought.
Little did she know their ambitions extended beyond a mere harem position. They had laid plans for the future, turning their schemes toward those two motherless children, so young and so precious in Helian Jin’s eyes.
That night three years ago, Helian Jin had cut down a multitude right in front of her—a scene Yu Rumei would carry to her grave.
Blood speckled his cheek, steam rising from the sword’s edge as viscous droplets pattered down. Helian Jin advanced step by inexorable step, the blade scraping a chilling rasp across the lotus-embossed tiles.
“Ah Huan and Ah Nian are Zhen’s life. No matter who harms them, Zhen will not forgive.”
Three years had passed…
Yu Rumei eyed Li Wenzhu, who led the procession at the front, and lowered her gaze.
Three years earlier, she had shouldered the blame for her negligence and spared the Li Family’s lives. Now, it was high time they curbed their overreaching ways.
Yu Rumei spoke in a low, commanding tone. “All of you, raise your heads.”
The selection candidates lifted their faces, their eyes brimming with soft longing as they fixed on Helian Jin. Yun Jichu alone kept her head bowed.
Helian Jin paid them no mind, his attention fixed on the jade pendant in his hand. His gaze burned as it traced every clumsy line of its carving.
Excitement she could not conceal gleamed in Li Wenzhu’s eyes as she glanced toward the Empress Dowager.
But to her astonishment, Yu Rumei ignored her entirely. After surveying the group and noting the Emperor’s indifference, she singled out a young woman from the second row for questioning.
When she finished, Yu Rumei turned to a few more girls standing near Li Wenzhu.
It was torture for Yun Jichu.
She could feel a gaze pinning the crown of her head—icy, vicious, raking across her bones inch by inch.
She fought to steady her quivering legs, every muscle coiled tight. It felt like lingchi, death by a thousand cuts—worse than dying outright.
The Empress Dowager seemed dead set on choosing a worthy consort for His Majesty that very day. After interrogating several more girls and receiving not so much as a flicker of attention from him, she dispensed with subtlety. “My son, is there anyone among them who pleases you?”
Helian Jin cast a distant glance toward the figure standing in the corner of the grand hall, her head still lowered. “None.”
Yu Rumei replied, “Time reveals a person’s true heart. Very well, then. I shall choose a few for you.”
Helian Jin let out what sounded like a cold snort. He turned to his mother, his voice chill as winter. “What does Mother think of the Li Family’s daughter?”
Yu Rumei’s face drained of color. Her fingers—adorned with a ruby ring and nails lacquered red—clutched convulsively at the fabric concealed in her sleeve. Her son knew everything; he had simply held his tongue until now. By raising the matter of the Li girl, he was plainly out of patience and ready to lash out.
Li Wenzhu was completely oblivious to the undercurrents surging between the Empress Dowager and the Emperor. The moment she heard the words “Li family daughters,” she immediately stood up, knelt before Helian Jin, and said joyfully, “Greetings, Your Majesty!”
Yu Rumei’s lips drained of color. Was Helian Jin planning to wipe out the entire Li family?
Could it be that he had learned about that incident in the manor all those years ago?
What son could tolerate his own mother developing feelings for a man other than his father?
Or was Helian Jin merely testing her stance toward the Li family?
Yu Rumei couldn’t tell.
Ever since Helian Jin had moved into the Prince’s Mansion, the bond of blood between mother and son had gradually faded. She had grown increasingly estranged from her own son.
He was ruthless enough to lead troops in slaughtering his own maternal clan.
Would he kill her too?
Yu Rumei closed her eyes briefly, then glared at Li Wenzhu and snapped, “Insolent girl! Withdraw at once!”
Li Wenzhu’s mouth quivered, tears welling up in her eyes. “Auntie…”
Even Lady Shuxiu couldn’t stand by any longer. From the side, she reminded them, “This is the Grand Hall—only sovereign and subjects here. No impropriety allowed.”
Helian Jin let out a scornful chuckle, watching the scene unfold with evident amusement. He arched a brow and said, “Zhen had no idea there were Li family daughters serving as Mother’s kin.”
The words hung in the air, and the Grand Hall fell utterly silent.
Everyone knew the Empress Dowager hailed from the Xuluo Clan—a clan that His Majesty had personally led troops to annihilate five years prior.
This remark not only served as a warning to the Li family but also tore open old wounds, slapping the Empress Dowager’s face in the process.
Sure enough, Yu Rumei—who had been bristling with fury at Li Wenzhu—froze for a moment. Disbelief crossed her face, and finally, she rose and said, “This grieving one feels unwell and will return to the palace first.”
Helian Jin didn’t stand. He merely said offhandedly, “Escort Mother Empress back with Our respects.”
Then he turned his gaze to Li Wenzhu at his feet and growled, “Scram.”
Cui Cheng grabbed Li Wenzhu and hustled her out.
This time, all the selection candidates—who had harbored girlish fantasies—wilted like frostbitten flowers.
The previous dynasty had placed great emphasis on filial piety, and the Late Emperor had upheld it strictly.
But now His Majesty was defiant and unfilial, openly mocking his own mother in the Grand Hall. What wouldn’t he dare to do?
It seemed those rumors were all true.
The selection candidates hung their heads, waiting in the grim, deathly silence for the draft to end.
Not a sound.
Suddenly, the rustle of fabric against the golden bricks echoed through the hall. Helian Jin had risen.
He seemed to be pacing back and forth.
One step. Another.
Each one trampling over Yun Jichu’s heartbeat. She did her best to steady her breathing.
At last, the footsteps receded, heading toward a screen on one side of the Grand Hall.
Yun Jichu let out a breath of relief, only to feel a sharp sting in her palm. When she opened her hand, two crescent-shaped blood marks glared red.
She wiped her palm haphazardly on her sleeve, then lifted her head to gaze into the distance.
Helian Jin stood clad in profound black robes, the hem embroidered with bold golden dragons coiling around it. A blood-red gem gleamed atop his golden crown.
His brows arched slightly as he fixed Yun Jichu with a cold stare, his eyes like frozen pools.
Yun Jichu’s breath hitched.
He—he was still holding a sheathed sword!
So he hadn’t been pacing earlier; he’d been searching for a sword?
Helian Jin gripped the sword in his right hand and pointed at her with his left. “You. Come here.”
Yun Jichu’s legs went weak. In her youth, she had witnessed death and felt hot blood spray across her face—images she never wanted to recall.
Her mind automatically blared the tragic game-over jingle from choosing wrong…
What was the verdict this time?
” Died before achieving victory, three hundred silver taels wasted “?
Yun Jichu shuffled forward reluctantly, every step a struggle.
Cui Cheng returned from outside the hall and paled at the sight. He hurriedly waved everyone away. If blood splattered right here with all these candidates watching, who knew what wild tales the common folk would spin about His Majesty!
The selection candidates breathed a collective sigh of relief and scurried out with heads bowed, leaving only Cui Cheng behind.
He wiped the sweat from his brow and ventured shakily, “Your Majesty… please quell your anger.”
“Scram.”
Cui Cheng bolted from Zilan Hall without looking back.
Yun Jichu’s vision blurred with waves of black. Memories assaulted her: the roar of a colossal beast charging forth, dust choking her screams, scalding blood searing her eyes.
The world turned blood-red, the clamor cut short, replaced by incessant ringing in her ears.
With a thud, she dropped to her knees before Helian Jin.
This man she had personally chosen, the character she had painstakingly optimized, now loomed over her with sword in hand, gazing down imperiously.
Helian Jin bent down and pinched Yun Jichu’s chin, studying her face.
So alike. Too alike.
For a fleeting moment, Helian Jin almost believed Ah Chu had come back to life.
His gaze turned venomous, his fingers tightening without mercy, as if to crush her bones.
It was precisely because she resembled her that she was so hateful!
No one could replace Ah Chu. No one would make him forget her!
His head throbbed with splitting pain, as if myriad ants were gnawing at his heart while a hundred beasts roared inside his skull. Helian Jin could scarcely stay on his feet.
He released her and turned away, refusing to look. With a sharp ring, his cold blade slid free from its sheath. Steadying himself, he wiped the blade clean with a cloth.
“Who are you?”
The blade chimed crisply.
Yun Jichu’s voice trembled violently. “Minzhou.”
Helian Jin asked again, “How old are you?”
Yun Jichu couldn’t answer. She was twenty-six this year—in her world, the perfect age for savoring single life. But placed in ancient times, she’d be nothing but a spinster past her prime.
She didn’t even know her true age in this world.
Helian Jin didn’t seem to care about her answers. They were nothing more than the final whimpers of someone doomed to die. He turned back to her, eyeing Yun Jichu as she shook like chaff in the wind. “What are you afraid of?”
Yun Jichu’s vision swam with waves of darkness. Tears streamed down her face as she tilted her head up to gaze at Helian Jin. She couldn’t hold back the flood of tears any longer. Bracing herself for death, she reached into her sleeve and drew out a jade pendant, offering it to him with both hands.
“Spare me.”
This was one of the daily sign-in rewards. Each one she gave him increased his favorability by a single point. Back when she was still a student, besides scraping together every penny she could to recharge her account, she made sure to log in every day for sign-ins, then gifted them all to Helian Jin in the game.
Five years ago, he had adored these pendants.
She wondered if he still did.
If she could hand this one over now, would that lone point of favorability be enough to save her from this peril?
Yun Jichu regretted not bringing all twenty-nine jade pendants she had hidden under the pillow in Chengxiang Hall.
The jade pendant was of poor quality, crudely carved, and lay dully in the woman’s palm.
The instant Helian Jin laid eyes on the jade pendant, it felt as though a red-hot branding iron had been jammed into his brain and twisted viciously. The searing pain made him stagger.
In his mind, Ah Chu’s once-blurry features suddenly snapped into crystal clarity.
It was Ah Chu. It was Ah Chu… wasn’t it?