At dawn, the Empress, adorned in her majestic phoenix robe, took only two Qian Yuan Realm shadow guards from the Xiao family as her retinue and left the palace lightly.
Since her coronation as Empress, Xiao Qingxi had made it a habit to visit Hongfu Temple at the end of the first month each year to offer devout prayers, undeterred by wind or snow, year after year.
The Yanxia Emperor was aware of this and not only permitted it but issued a special decree allowing her to leave and return through the palace gates on this day, provided she returned before dusk. This was once hailed as a tale of marital devotion within and beyond the court.
Those unaware might think the Emperor deeply cherished his fairy-like Empress, their bond not quite inseparable but at least distant and silent.
Not to mention ordinary days, even on their wedding night, the Emperor was in his study handling state affairs. While the bridal bed was warm, Xiao Qingxi was left alone.
Over the years, she endured the bitter loneliness of the deep palace. She was less an Empress and more a Dowager in the making.
Her solitude and melancholy flowed like a stream of fallen blossoms, drifting endlessly with no shore in sight.
The palace, with its jade towers and ornate halls, was a marvel of carved beams and painted rafters. But as the initial novelty faded, the vast, cold palace felt like a suffocating void.
Until the ink-robed youth’s intrusion, Xiao Qingxi’s monotonous, repetitive life finally rippled with a splash.
Though her memory was hazy, the Empress was certain she’d seen him before.
Noticing the youth’s clear, pure gaze, his hold on her waist and legs merely to restrain her.
Noticing he didn’t seem like a lust-driven rogue, Xiao Qingxi, like a docile kitten, nuzzled against his chest, her expression pitifully delicate.
As the former top beauty of the Rouge Rankings, crowned the most enchanting in Yanxia, Xiao Qingxi knew how to wield her stunning allure to make men willingly kneel at her feet.
“Your Majesty, you’ve misunderstood—I’m no thief of hearts. I’ll release you slowly, but please don’t scream or make a fuss. It wouldn’t look good,” Ji Yanqing said softly.
Xiao Qingxi nodded, feigning agreement, but inwardly planned to summon her Qian Yuan Realm death guards to castrate and kill this beast who dared touch her legs once she escaped the courtyard. As Yanxia’s Empress, how could she tolerate such casual indignity?
Did he think her as naive as a thirteen-year-old girl?
Yet Ji Yanqing didn’t rush to let go. At the moment her guard was lowest, he tightened his grip, their bodies pressed intimately, legs entwined, not a gap between them.
In the silent chamber, the radiant noblewoman in her phoenix robe was pinned by Ji Yanqing onto the soft cushion.
Her long, black-silk-clad legs flailed like a koi. Born to Yanxia’s foremost clan and exalted as Empress, she had never endured such humiliation.
“Your Majesty, relax. I truly stumbled in by mistake,” Ji Yanqing insisted.
“Shh… shh…”
Xiao Qingxi didn’t believe a word. Raising her captivating, flushed face, her eyes rimmed red, she hadn’t expected this beast to be so consumed by lust.
Their position left no doubt about the vile act he intended.
Struggling fiercely again, her phoenix eyes glared fiercely, but she was powerless. In despair, she considered biting her tongue to end her life.
“I advise Empress Xiao to think carefully before taking your own life. If someone were to discover the Empress’s naked body dead in Hongfu Temple, what kind of terrible impact would that have on your reputation—and on the century-old prestige of the Lanling Xiao family?” Ji Yanqing threatened.
Then, he took a piece of crystal-clear jade from his waist and held it before the Empress’s eyes, speaking in a gentle tone:
“I’ve already recorded everything that just happened with this image-recording stone in my hand. If, in the future, you dare to send someone to retaliate…”
Ji Yanqing gave a faint smile and continued:
“Xiao Qingxi, you wouldn’t want the Emperor to know that we once engaged in such intimate behavior, would you? Can you imagine the days in the Cold Palace?”
In truth, this was just an ordinary piece of jade, with no special function apart from decoration. Its appearance wasn’t even that convincing, but it was more than enough to deceive a pampered noblewoman like Xiao Qingxi, who had been born with a golden spoon in her mouth.
As soon as the words left his mouth, the black-robed youth stood up—yet not without giving a light squeeze to her round, smooth calf wrapped in black silk.
While straddling Xiao Qingxi’s slender waist earlier, Ji Yanqing had already been considering which option to choose.
First, option one was immediately eliminated. Gain thirty years of lifespan? If he were to actually force himself on the Empress inside Hongfu Temple, it would only be a matter of doing the deed in the morning and ending up dead in the afternoon. Gaining lifespan in that case would be completely pointless.
Option two was indeed far beyond Ji Yanqing’s expectations. He had to admit that such a seductive, nation-toppling scheme was extremely effective.
The only flaw was that the current Emperor was completely incapable in that regard, and had never even shared a bed with the Empress.
So if Xiao Qingxi were to become pregnant, the Emperor wouldn’t even need to touch his own head to know exactly—
The third option was indeed the best way to escape the current predicament, and could even allow him to hold leverage over Empress Xiao, making it convenient for him to act in the future.
The indecent act instantly made Xiao Qingxi’s jade-like face flush crimson. Instinctively, she wanted to curse the black-robed youth before her as a shameless beast, but remembering that he held that image-recording stone in his hand, she could only swallow the words back.
If the emperor were to learn of what had just happened, then she—already a neglected empress—would surely be deposed.
And because of the Xiao family’s influence, her final end would likely not be a swift execution, but rather being locked away in the cold, dark palace.
There, under the oppression of palace maids and eunuchs, she would live a life of eternal darkness—worse than death.
Although she was the current empress, she had heard, more or less, of the horrifying tragedies that befell concubines banished to the Cold Palace.
A sudden chill ran down Xiao Qingxi’s spine. In her eyes, the exceptionally handsome youth beside her was no doubt a demon crawling up from the depths of an endless abyss, here to turn her already unfortunate life into a complete tragedy.
No! No matter what, she had to get that image-recording stone back.
Otherwise, she would become nothing more than a puppet, manipulated at will by this black-clad demon before her. She did not want such a thing to happen!
“Can you give me the image-recording stone?”
Xiao Qingxi’s delicate voice was laced with seductive sweetness, her enchanting phoenix eyes carrying a look that was both reproachful and alluring—enough to steal a person’s soul.
Even a fox spirit would not be more enticing than this mature beauty before him. Even someone like the heir to Prince Wei, who had seen countless beauties, found it a little hard to restrain himself and raised his head.
Ji Yanqing showed a gentle smile and said clearly,
“Dream on.”
Xiao Qingxi forcibly held back the urge to throw herself at him and fight with all her strength.
She tightly pressed her alluring, crimson lips together, lifted her shy, fairy-like face, and cast Ji Yanqing a soul-stealing, seductive glance. With difficulty, she said:
“As long as you return the image-recording stone to me, this empress can agree to one condition that’s… not too excessive.”
Xiao Qingxi’s enchanting smile bloomed. She raised a soft, jade-like hand to hook back a few loose strands of black hair by her ear.
Her long legs, wrapped in black silk, drew slightly together, revealing a charm that could outshine the beauty of the entire nation.
The hint could not have been more obvious.