Chapter 70 Willfulness

With some free time, Xiao Yu sat on the stone steps when a message suddenly popped into his mind: "Congratulations, host, on completing the ascension mission. The system will randomly reward you with a bottle of antidote pills."

Xiao Yu was taken aback. This system had been quiet for so long that she had almost forgotten she had a random reward system.

Unexpectedly, this ascension to the throne triggered a system task. My thoughts couldn't help but drift back to the previous tasks. They seemed unrelated, but they all had one thing in common: they were triggered when survival was involved. Whether it was starting a family or having children, I had managed to establish myself in ancient times by completing these tasks step by step. As for this ascension task, it was triggered because it involved my life safety. And each time, the reward was related to the young lady.

So, in other words, she transmigrated here to save the young lady.

Xiao Yu suddenly realized that at this moment, the system, which usually only appeared during reward missions, unexpectedly displayed another message: "Congratulations, host, for deciphering the plot. Our random reward system also has another name: the 'Saving the Abusive Heroine System.' It has been detected that the heroine's life value in this world is constantly decreasing. Every time the host completes a mission in this world, the heroine's life value will increase accordingly, and the male lead's luck will also be randomly transferred to the host."

After looking at the above text, Xiao Yu remained silent for a moment and pursed her lips.

No wonder she became empress; it turns out the male lead's luck was transferred to her.

Xiao Yu took out the bottle of antidote pills from the void. The bottle had an instruction label on it: take one pill a day for ten days to detoxify.

Since it was to save the female lead, it was obvious that this medicine was also specially formulated for the young lady. She put the antidote into her sleeve pocket and waited for the young lady to come and give it to her.

As Jiang Zijin mentioned last time, the young lady was suffering from fetal toxins. Does taking the antidote mean that the young lady's illness is completely cured?

The original plot ended with the male lead ascending the throne, and what happened after that is unknown. The young lady's illness was cured again, and the random reward system probably won't appear again.

Now only one thing remains: wipe out the rebels, completely defeat the protagonist, and take away all of his luck.

Just thinking about it made Xiao Yu happy. Not only would he be able to hold a beauty in his arms, but he would also be the emperor in the future, able to do whatever he wanted.

etc!

That's not right either. She's the emperor, but she has no real power. Is she going to seize power next?!

If that's the case, she might as well go back to Chenjia Village to farm; the rice she planted before should be harvested by now.

Xiao Yu sat on the stone steps with a worried expression.

Before long, Song Luoning was brought to the palace.

Upon seeing the carriage from afar, Xiao Yu's face lit up with joy, and he excitedly went to greet it: "My wife."

Xiao Yu wanted to go forward to help, but a palace maid beat her to it and helped Song Luoning down from the carriage.

Song Luoning bowed gracefully to her: "Your Majesty..."

"My wife!" Xiao Yu grabbed her, his previous joy vanished, and his voice was muffled: "I am just your husband."

She didn't refer to herself as "朕" (Zhen, meaning "I" or "the Emperor"), not because she forgot, but because she wanted to be equal to Song Luoning. Regardless of whether she was the Emperor or not, she would only have Song Luoning as her wife.

“Your Majesty,” Song Luoning pursed her lips and shook her head, “These are the rules.”

“What rules? You are my wife. How can husband and wife bow to each other like that? What’s the point of being an emperor if that’s the case?” Xiao Yu retorted, dissatisfied.

Song Luoning retorted angrily, "Your Majesty, how can you say such nonsense?"

Xiao Yu pursed his lips and helped her walk into the palace: "If I can't even call my wife when I'm the emperor, what's the point? Besides, I didn't want to be the emperor in the first place."

After speaking, she carefully glanced at Song Luoning, helped her sit down on the couch, waved to the palace maids in the hall, and the maids withdrew from the bedchamber.

Just like in the Prime Minister's villa, he sat down next to Song Luoning.

“Your Majesty is now the Emperor, and there are some things you cannot say carelessly. There are rules in the palace, and things cannot be done as they were before,” Song Luoning said.

How does that become being willful?

There are so many rules in ancient times. She's already had enough after only half a day as emperor. She's definitely not cut out to be an emperor.

Xiao Yu sighed slightly, knowing that she had been educated with ancient ideas since childhood and could not change in a short time, so he compromised and said, "When it's just the two of us, you can always call me 'wife'."

Song Luoning smiled and raised her hand to straighten her collar, saying with a faint smile, "You still have to follow the rules when you're out, or people will laugh at you."

This lecherous man treats her like this now, but what about in the future? In ten or eight years, her beauty will fade. And since he's the emperor, what kind of women won't he have around him? Will he still treat her the same way then?

Thinking of this, a hint of sadness flashed in Song Luoning's eyes, but she quickly suppressed it.

Now is not the time to think about these things. Before coming here, her father had already given her some instructions. She still needs to keep a close eye on this lecherous man and make sure he doesn't cause any more trouble.

The two chatted for a while in the bedroom, when a palace maid came to inquire about the meal. Dinner was served in a side hall. Compared to the meals at the Prime Minister's residence, the palace maids arranged the dishes like an assembly line, placing them on the table one by one. Then, a eunuch took a silver needle and tasted each dish. Once everything was ready, the eunuchs and palace maids stepped aside to wait.

The personal eunuch serving Xiao Yu was newly promoted, not very old, and seemed quite perceptive. As he served him, Xiao Yu glanced at him and asked, "Um... what's your name?"

"Fu Shun," the little eunuch quickly replied.

Xiao Yu nodded: "You may leave now. You don't need to serve me here."

Upon hearing this, the little eunuch was so frightened that he immediately knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty, this servant deserves to die, this servant deserves to die."

"..." Xiao Yu was stunned. Did she say something?

What's going on with this little eunuch who's kowtowing to me like this?

Song Luoning sighed, "You should get up now. His Majesty didn't mean to blame you."

is that so?

Fu Shun didn't dare to lift his head; his trembling hands betrayed his feelings at that moment.

Seeing that he was still kneeling, Xiao Yu had come to his senses. He rubbed his forehead. What kind of rules are these ancient people? Kneeling at the drop of a hat. He said irritably, "Get up. Her words carry more weight than mine. You all have to listen to her. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Everyone in Fu Ning Palace finally understood. It turned out that the beautiful woman sitting opposite them was the real person. Their emperor was afraid of his wife, but no one dared to say it.

Xiao Yu was satisfied and waved his hand: "You may all leave."

"This..." How could a master not be served by servants when he eats? The crowd looked at each other and after a long while, they silently withdrew from the side hall, but dared not go far, and lined up in two rows to wait at the door.

Seeing that they had all left, Xiao Yu breathed a sigh of relief and quickly got up to serve Song Luoning some food: "Wife, why don't you try this?"

"His Majesty."

"Hmm?" Xiao Yu looked at her. "What's wrong? Don't you like this?"

"No." Song Luoning shook her head and pressed her hand down: "How could you forget again? You are the Emperor now. If the people below see this, where will your dignity be?"

Xiao Yu didn't take it seriously: "What's wrong with me serving food to my wife? Besides, how can the two of us finish such a full table of food? Isn't that a waste? No, I'll issue an edict tomorrow that such extravagance is forbidden in the future, and each meal shall have a maximum of six dishes."

Song Luoning glanced at the dishes on the table. The long dining table had fifty or sixty dishes, a level of extravagance that ordinary people could not even dream of. It was indeed a waste for only two people to eat. She curved her lips and did not object. Let her do as she pleased.

Having received Song Luoning's tacit approval, Xiao Yu immediately had an imperial edict drafted after the meal and distributed it to each palace.

Xiao Yu had just ascended the throne, and there were no concubines in the harem. The women who had been favored by Xiao Cheng'an had long been dismissed by Xiao Qinya. The entire harem consisted only of the old emperor's empress and two concubines.

When the imperial edict was issued, no one objected. It was said that the Empress Dowager and the old emperor had been deeply in love since their youth and had supported each other for many years. Since the old emperor's death, she had devoted herself to Buddhism every day and rarely even stepped out of the palace. Another was Consort Liu, who was also an old acquaintance. There was also Consort Yu, who lived a very secluded life. She did not know how to compete for the emperor's favor when the old emperor was alive, and she would not stand up to say anything now.

After completing all this, he immediately issued an imperial edict to confer the title of Empress, and the Emperor and Empress lived together in Funing Palace, which was unprecedented in history. As soon as the edict was issued, it prompted many court officials to submit memorials.

Xiao Yu, however, didn't care and threw the memorial on the table: "These ministers are really idle. The rebels have already reached our doorstep, and they still have the leisure to worry about my family affairs."

Song Luoning walked over, picked up the memorial, opened it, and frowned slightly: "I told you last night that it's against the rules for the emperor and empress to live together."

"Rules are meant to be broken, why should I follow other people's wishes?" Xiao Yu said dismissively.

“That being said, you have just ascended the throne and your foundation is not yet stable. The best course of action is to stabilize the court first,” Song Luoning said.

This lecherous man is truly capricious. Not to mention that he made such a major decision as appointing an empress on his own, how can the emperor and empress live in the same palace? It's utterly ridiculous.

Song Luoning rubbed her forehead, feeling a bit of a headache.

It's impossible to reason with her.

Song Luoning wanted to persuade him again, but Xiao Yu had already stood up, grabbed her hand, and pressed it against his cheek in a flattering manner. His peach blossom eyes blinked, bright and innocent, seemingly possessing a magical power to soften people's hearts.

"Wife, you don't want to live separately from me, do you?" Xiao Yu pressed his advantage, his tone revealing the stubbornness of a young man waiting for his turn.

Don't you want to?

Of course I'm thinking about it, how could I not?

Song Luoning lowered her eyes and, unusually, did not refute. There seemed to be infinite power in that person's confident and gentle eyes, making her unable to help but trust and rely on her.

Seeing her give in, the young man smiled and pulled her into his arms, saying firmly, "Don't worry, I'm here for you."

Song Luoning curled her fingers, and after a long while, slowly raised her hand to wrap around Shan's waist.

......

The Imperial Guards outside the city received the Emperor's decree and were no longer just guarding the city. They adjusted their deployment and prepared to fight the rebels. Meanwhile, the rebels on the other side were already suffering from hunger and their morale was low.

When Prince Chang learned that his son had been deposed and would soon be sent back to Qingzhou, he was so angry that he fainted. Xiao Chengze took the opportunity to take over the rebel army. By the time Prince Chang woke up, it was too late.

Xiao Chengze ordered his men to cut off the head of the Prince of Chang and present it as a letter of surrender.

The letter of surrender and the head of Prince Chang were quickly sent to the palace. Xiao Yu's gaze fell on the bloodstained wooden box, his eyes deep and dark. He never expected that Xiao Chengze would be so heartless as to kill even his own father.

Xiao Yu's gaze swept over the civil and military officials: "What do you all think of this matter?"