Chapter 52 The Evil Cat Princess Who Bewitched the Kingdom 13

In the dead of winter, with heavy snow, it was difficult to walk in the palace, and the palace servants coming and going in the corridors were all wrapped up tightly in their winter clothes.

But inside the Hall of Mental Cultivation, it was as warm as spring.

The bed curtains on the dragon bed, once lowered, seem never to have been drawn back up.

Xie Rong's stomach has not been flat for the past few days.

Lu Wenjing finally regained a sliver of his rationality, touched Xie Rong's swollen belly with his large hand, and frowned, saying, "You can't eat anymore, it's about to burst."

Xie Rong's belly wasn't big, but the thought that it was filled with so-called luck that made his belly round and swollen made him feel terrified.

"I want to eat! I want to eat! If you don't give me any, you'll die!" Xie Rong's originally lazy eyes suddenly turned fierce, and she wrapped her legs around him and grabbed his hair with one hand, throwing a tantrum.

Lu Wenjing's eyes suddenly darkened, his lower abdomen tightened, and he leaned down again.

...

Jiang Yebai followed behind the old minister and knelt together in front of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

About an incense stick's time later, the doors of the Hall of Mental Cultivation opened.

A sweet, lingering aroma, faintly present, wafts into the nose, strangely familiar.

Jiang Yebai followed the crowd into the main hall. Through the screen, he could vaguely see the emperor sitting on the couch.

"Your Majesty, I humbly request that you hold court this morning!"

Lu Wenjing's voice, coming from behind the screen, carried an inexplicable languor, like that of a satiated raptor after a meal: "My beloved ministers, are you going to disobey the imperial decree?"

The ministers remained silent. Instead, a snow-white arm emerged from behind the bed curtains behind the emperor and draped over Lu Wenjing.

"You're not a very good emperor either. Anyone can just barge into your den and show off to you," Xie Rong said with a smirk, resting his chin on Lu Wenjing's shoulder. "If I were you, I would teach them a lesson."

Lu Wenjing encircled his wrist and gently caressed it. "What lesson?"

"First, arrest them and lock them up in jail for a few months, subjecting them to daily torture. This will naturally serve as a warning to others."

"If anyone disobeys again, then rip their heart out and hang it in front of the palace gates as a warning," Xie Rong licked his lips excitedly, his eyes almost overflowing with malice. "You are the emperor, what's the point of keeping such disobedient ministers around? Do you think your throne will be secure without them?"

The old minister outside the screen was startled when he suddenly heard another voice. He vaguely guessed the identity of the person behind it, and was even more alarmed when he heard how vicious the concubine was instigating him.

Although their emperor usually had a bad temper and was quite arrogant, he always treated them, his old ministers, with some respect. How could he be provoked by a few words?

“Okay,” Lu Wenjing lowered his head, his eyes unfocused, gazing intently at the fragrance emanating from Xie Rong’s temples, “I’ll do whatever you say.”

[Host, what did you do to the protagonist?] The system sat on Xie Rong's shoulder.

"Just a bit of sorcery," Xie Rong said, pressing close to the man and slowly absorbing his luck, like a beautiful but parasitic dodder clinging to him.

"How can I make him obey without using some magic?" Xie Rong preferred this simple and direct method to dealing with Lu Wenjing impatiently, so he remembered a secret technique in the manual that could control people's minds.

He could do it without anyone noticing, so that Lu Wenjing wouldn't completely lose his mind, while still making the man obey him unconsciously.

[Host, didn't you not recognize the words on the manual?] I've also read that forbidden book of the Spirit Cat Clan, but many of the words on it are strangely shaped symbols that even the system can't decode.

"So what? Back then, even when my spiritual roots were completely destroyed, I could still self-destruct. Didn't I just find a forbidden book? What does it matter if I don't recognize some words? The principle remains the same. How different can demonic arts and cultivation be?" Xie Rong said nonchalantly. "Isn't he obediently listening to me now?"

[Then the host should be careful. The Grand Preceptor of Dafeng in the original book was very powerful; he was the one who killed the villain!]

Xie Rong wouldn't take him seriously. He's not like he hasn't died before. Even if he dies, he'll drag Lu Wenjing down with him.

"Didn't you hear what the Imperial Concubine said? Drag them all away and send them to the Ministry of Justice prison," Lu Wenjing said calmly. "Breaking into the Hall of Mental Cultivation without permission and showing no respect for me, this is the consequence."

Upon hearing the order, the imperial guards standing outside the palace came in, grabbed the old minister who was only a few old bones, and dragged him away.

"Your Majesty! Our loyalty is as clear as day!"

"You have been misled by the words of the wicked concubine and have harmed loyal officials. How are you any different from a tyrannical ruler!"

The doors of the Hall of Mental Cultivation slammed shut indifferently.

Lu Wenjing lowered his head and kissed Xie Rong's neck.

But as they kissed, they suddenly felt empty.

Lu Wenjing opened his eyes, looking lost and dejected.

"Meow!" On the dragon bed, Xie Rong, who had turned back into a cat, was angrily meowing at him.

Seeing that he was not speaking and was just staring at him, Xie Rong scratched the back of his hand with his claw.

He had clearly consumed so many hearts and taken Lu Wenjing's heart blood, so how could he turn back?

Xie Rong was furious, and the curses that were about to come out of his mouth turned into meows.

Lu Wenjing grabbed the cat by the scruff of its neck, lifted it up, and stroked the little stray cat's round belly thoughtfully.

"Did you eat too much?"

"Meow! Meow! Meow!" Xie Rong waved its four paws in the air, but could only scratch at the air.

That darn protagonist, how dare he complain that I eat too much! I'll scratch your face until it's ruined!

Lu Wenjing couldn't help but laugh and opened his mouth to bite the cat's paw.

Xie Rong's meows grew louder, and her other three paws pressed against the man's face with utter resistance.

"Alright, I'll have the imperial physician take a look," Lu Wenjing said, picking up the cat and rubbing its swollen belly as he walked to the imperial desk.

He glanced at the mountain of memorials piled on the table and suddenly realized that he had been in a daze for the past few days, having been lured to the couch by a stray cat for so long.

He even sent the old minister who had come to invite him to the morning court to the Ministry of Justice prison.

Lu Wenjing remained calm, then thought to himself, how could his cat possibly harm him? These old ministers, who considered themselves the epitome of integrity in the court, dared to trespass into the Hall of Mental Cultivation, showing utter disregard for him, the emperor.

Having ascended the throne at a young age, and having been an emperor whose word was law since childhood, how could he tolerate these people disobeying him?

A lingering sweet fragrance remained in the hall, the same fragrance that flowed from between Xie Rong's legs during their midnight trysts.

Lu Wenjing lowered his head and buried his face in the little stray cat's belly, took a deep breath, and felt an unprecedented sense of ease.

Everyone told him that he was the emperor, that he should be a wise ruler, and that he should restrain himself.

He could not let down the late emperor, nor the civil and military officials, nor the common people. The dragon robe was placed on his body, and the twelve tassels restricted his words and actions.

Lu Wenjing even had a bizarre feeling that he was a puppet forcibly made by a pair of hands, who had to follow a predetermined line from birth and was never allowed to do anything that deviated from that line.

He seemed to have walked along this line for a very long time, until he was numb and tired, but he still had no choice but to keep going.

Until he found this little stray cat, the line he was about to take was suddenly taken away by the playful kitten, which bit and scratched it until it really became a knotted ball of thread.