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The Empress stared at the Emperor, her chest aching even with each breath.

After a long while, she finally spoke, "Is this the kind of woman your Majesty sees me as?"

The Emperor was taken aback by her words.

Gazing at the Emperor who was close at hand, Shen Chuwei suddenly remembered the young Xiao Qi from their youth, now long changed beyond recognition.

"Since your Majesty does not trust me, there is nothing more for me to say. When you married me, it was only because you valued my father and brother, who were important officials in court, for they were helpful to you. You no longer need me to stabilize the situation."

The Emperor was stunned once more.

"I’ve easily been the Empress for over twenty years; I’ve long since grown tired of it. Your Majesty, please do as you see fit."

It took all of the Emperor’s strength to stop himself from losing control; he scoffed coldly, "It seems to me, you can hardly wait to fly side by side with Ye Chu. I will not let you get what you wish, you are my Empress and will be for this lifetime."

This time it was the Empress who was caught off guard.

Is the Emperor’s brain broken? If she really harbored such thoughts, why would she have entered the palace in the first place?

Why didn’t she pursue Ye Chu?

A woman chasing a man is separated by a mere veil; if she had taken the initiative, she definitely stood a chance.

But, ironically, at that time, she was deceived by Xiao Qi when she was naive and resolutely entered the East Palace, taking the position of Crown Princess that all women coveted.

The Emperor said with an icy face, "Return to the palace with me."

The Empress retorted with a stiff neck, "I do not wish to go back."

"You are my Empress..."

The Emperor hadn’t finished speaking when the Empress interrupted him, "There is no need for your Majesty to keep repeating that phrase. I am aware that I am the Empress; not just yours, but that of Daxia."

The Emperor was caught off guard and didn’t expect the Empress to use his words against him.

The atmosphere became tensely deadlocked for a moment.

Since the Emperor started the arrangement, he hadn’t taken even a drop of water, and now, after all the arguing, his throat was parched as if about to emit smoke.

"Bring me a cup of hot tea."

The Empress rolled her eyes but still ordered Qing Ying to prepare the tea.

When the hot tea was served, the Empress thought to herself that it would be best to drink it and have insomnia at night.

The Emperor took a few sips from the teacup to soothe his irritated mood.

The Empress’s face didn’t look good either, obviously out of anger.

Indeed, by being prim and proper for so many years, the moment she dared to be bold, she would be branded with a dirty label.

Men and women are different; men can have several wives and concubines and embrace them from both sides.

A woman can only have one man and cannot even have male friends.

Watching the dog Emperor drinking tea, in the end, she was the same as any other woman in his eyes.

After finishing a cup of tea, the Emperor’s rage had somewhat subsided.

He lifted his phoenix eyes to look at the Empress, "As long as you obediently return to the palace with me, your escape from the palace and anything related to Ye Chu will not be pursued."

The Empress was so outraged that she could not express it, "My relation with Brother Ye has always been pure and innocent; if your Majesty speaks like this, I cannot accompany you back. Otherwise, wouldn’t it be confirming the slander?"

"I have already been lenient with you; if it were any other concubine who dared to..." The Emperor was deeply angry. If it had been any other concubine, he wouldn’t have come looking for her personally, let alone fret over her with no appetite. He would’ve sent people to capture her and throw her into the Cold Palace at the very least.

The Empress replied coolly, "When other concubines run wild in the harem, doesn’t your Majesty also turn a blind eye?"

The Emperor said, "Are those two things comparable?"

"Why not? Aren’t they relying on your Majesty’s favor? I am still the Empress. What’s wrong with leaving the palace? I am a person with a token, legally on the road." The Empress spoke with justified and vigorous confidence.

Mentioning the token to leave the palace, it was actually the Emperor who had given it to the Empress in private, fearing that she might miss her home and could use it to leave the palace directly, facilitating her travels.

Now, it became a convenience for her to leave the palace and also her excuse.

The Emperor said through gritted teeth, "When I gave you the token, it was not for you to leave the palace,"

She didn’t even realize how he had been surviving these two months, nor that he had lost weight.

Such an aggrieved Emperor, upon finding the Empress, seeing her happily chatting with another man, it’s a wonder he didn’t explode with rage.

"Back then, your Majesty personally told me, ’With this token, you may leave the palace whenever you wish, and no one will dare to stop you.’" The Empress mimicked the Emperor’s tone from that time, and after she finished, she added, "It turns out your Majesty doesn’t keep his word either."

The Emperor paced back and forth in the chamber, furious and unable to vent his anger, feeling extremely stifled.

The Empress felt dizzy watching him.

All of a sudden, the Emperor stopped pacing and strode over, startling the Empress.

He said through gritted teeth, "It’s getting late, rest for now. We will settle accounts tomorrow."

The Empress: "..."

Meanwhile, the room was tranquil

Xiao Jinyan lowered his eyes to the woman in his arms sleeping very soundly, feeling a warmth at the bottom of his heart as he thought of how she whimpered like a kitten when she was overly teased earlier.

He raised the quilt higher; in April, the nights are quite cold.

Before dawn

Susu waved her little hands and twisted her chubby body out of the covers. Then she deftly turned over, and once again accurately nestled on top of her brother, her little hands grabbing his face to gnaw on.

After a few nibbles, she was still hungry.

"Eh-ya" for a while, no one paid attention to her, and feeling wronged, she pouted her lips and began crying out, "Wah wah."

Xiao Jinyan woke up to the sound of the baby crying. He opened the covers, got out of bed, and went to the crib. Seeing Susu’s aggrieved look, he picked her up.

Susu crying could only mean one thing—she was hungry.

"Susu, be good. Your father will take you to your mother now," Xiao Jinyan said as he took Susu to the bed, lifted the covers, and lay down with the baby in between.

Seeing that Xiao Jiu slept soundly, he was reluctant to wake her and so he started to undress himself.

Susu, probably very hungry, was clawing at Shen Chuwei’s clothes.

ps: Second update