Chapter 481 The Grand Finale: Hearing the Phoenix's Song in the Phoenix Palace

Ji Qingwu initially only wanted to ask the system when Emperor Wusu's affection value started to increase.

As a result, each person had their own system, which traced back all the way to that night in the military tent five years ago.

At that time, the General of Dingbei's heart rate had already reached 82%, far exceeding the scope of mere liking.

After all that had happened, Ji Qingwu had long harbored suspicions about that night, and Emperor Wusu's acceptance of his special abilities was simply too smooth for him to believe.

Looking back now, it wasn't that he accepted it too quickly, but rather that he already knew it.

It turns out that he had feelings for her even before she appeared in his military tent.

That night, someone was lying in wait, hoping to catch a rabbit!

Ji Qingwu still remembers how many times the emperor used this matter to pick on her.

She withdrew her hand, sat up straight, and said with a forced smile, "Your Majesty may begin your explanation."

Zhao Mingyan's eyes darted around, searching for a place to land.

He said in a low voice, "I was planning to tell you this, but I don't have the courage that A-Wu does."

Ji Qingwu thought of the fear she had once felt, and how many nightmares she had after returning to Lin'an.

She snorted and said, "It's too late to say nice things about me now. Just confess."

Zhao Mingyan's gaze deepened, as memories of the past flashed before his eyes.

After learning that he was destined to have no offspring, he didn't care, because whether or not he had children was unimportant to him.

But Master Liaoran cast another divination for him and even sent a special message saying that a woman destined for him would come to him, and he only needed to wait.

Zhao Mingyan casually threw the letter into the stove, and that night he set off for Ninghe Town with his confidants, where he unexpectedly encountered Ji Qingwu, who was kneeling down to save someone.

Looking at this delicate girl, who seemed as fragile as a flower, she was actually as resilient as a cattail and as clear as a dewdrop.

After returning to camp, he locked himself in his military tent for five hours, plotting to establish a new dynasty.

And other things...

For ordinary people, dying without an heir is one thing, but for emperors, the absence of offspring means disaster. Therefore, he held some hope for the destined woman mentioned in Master Liaoran's letter.

But it has nothing to do with love; it's more like a collaboration.

On the third day, Zhao Mingyan saw the girl who had saved him that night in the northern army camp, and he stopped in his tracks.

But she followed behind another person, her charming and cheerful demeanor making his heart clench.

That day, he focused on practicing his swordsmanship, and he cleaved through more than twenty wooden targets in the training ground.

The military camps in the North are so large that, without deliberately taking a detour, two people might not see each other for half a year.

During the day, Zhao Mingyan would often practice riding and archery on a whim, and at night he would suddenly patrol the camp or go out to enjoy the scenery. In this way, he learned her name and identity, and also learned how deeply this new military doctor was in love with the General of the North.

On many long nights afterward, he would wake up to find a corner of the bedsheet damp and cold.

She appears in my dreams.

She was either crying helplessly, holding a knife to him, or cursing him viciously, but without exception, it was all against her will.

A year passed, and King Liang became increasingly incompetent and tyrannical. Zhao Mingyan secretly recruited soldiers, and more and more soldiers joined him. He only needed to wait for an opportunity to launch an attack.

That turning point was the arrival of the chosen one.

Master Liaoran then performed a detailed divination, providing the time and direction, and also stated that the celestial phenomena indicated Jupiter's conjunction with the axis, meaning his fate of having no heir would be broken that very night.

Zhao Mingyan was prepared. He knew there was something wrong with the tea served in the tent, but he wanted to see what the woman was up to and how far she could go. So he replaced it with a regular aphrodisiac.

Half an hour later, a figure furtively lifted the curtain and saw him lying on the bed with his eyes closed, as if he had breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhao Mingyan opened his eyes, never expecting that the person who came would be her.

He stared intently at Ji Qingwu's approaching figure.

She was quite straightforward; without saying a word, she climbed onto the bed and began to take off her clothes.

When their eyes met, she seemed terrified, and tremblingly pulled a ribbon from her sleeve to tie his hands and feet.

Zhao Mingyan's eyes turned fierce. He was angry that she had someone else in her heart and still shamelessly came to provoke him.

But the angrier one was himself.

He could have easily broken free of the thin straps, but he didn't; instead, he let her do whatever she wanted to him.

Then, Ji Qingwu covered his eyes, but after dawdling for a long time, he could clearly hear her choked voice. She was at a loss and was so anxious that she was about to cry.

What she didn't realize was that it was only after he straightened his back that things proceeded smoothly.

Zhao Mingyan had many thoughts on his mind. Regardless of the reason, she appeared in his military tent, spent a night with him, and became his woman.

He can let bygones be bygones regarding what happened before.

Zhao Mingyan despised himself, realizing he had become like the King of Liang, a man blinded by lust.

Everyone in the military camp knew about the ambiguous relationship between Ji Qingwu and Wei Ting.

Even if Wei Ting concealed his feelings well, and appeared heartless to outsiders, he could still see that Wei Ting had long been swayed by her.

If he wants to start a military campaign, he must win over Wei Ting. If he were to fall apart from Wei Ting because of a woman, it would be a greater loss than gain.

But what if this woman is her...?

While Zhao Mingyan was still hesitating, Ji Qingwu lifted her skirt and left, disappearing incredibly quickly and completely from the Northern Army camp.

No one had ever dared to treat him like this before. He broke the rope binding his hands and sat up.

The scent of her body still lingered in the tent. Zhao Mingyan's anger was almost bursting out of his chest, and his expression was gloomy. She had never thought of staying by his side.

With his pride, he disdained to force a woman to stay by his side, even if it was her.

More than nine months later, the deputy general rushed over, saying that someone was looking for him at the camp gate; it was a woman with a baby.

Zhao Mingyan couldn't quite describe his feelings at the time; it was more of a surprise or annoyance. But his hands and feet had already moved. He spurred his horse and galloped to the gate, only to find that the woman he saw was not her.

Zhao Mingyan raised the heavy sword in her right hand, lifted the cloth covering the child, and found the baby boy in the swaddling clothes wearing a koi jade pendant. He was crying loudly, and although he had not yet opened his eyes, his nose and lips were very similar to hers.

He sneered; she really had come to help him have an heir.

That's all.

That day was a rare sunny day.

But despite having a child, Zhao Mingyan, a new father, felt no joy whatsoever.

Today, Zhao Mingyan learned that Ji Qingwu was pregnant. She was sitting in front of him, her expression interrogative, but he knew she wouldn't leave again.

Zhao Mingyan suddenly knelt down on one knee, bent down and hugged Ji Qingwu, burying his head in her waist and abdomen.

Ji Qingwu just wanted an explanation. She wanted to pry some old stories out of the emperor, such as when he had taken a liking to her, because she didn't remember that the two of them had ever crossed paths before.

But he had become this fragile and pitiful figure.

Ji Qingwu tried to comfort him, and just as she put her fingers on his shoulder, he tightened his arms around her waist. Realizing something, he immediately relaxed his arms.

“Ah Wu.”

"Say you will never leave me again."

Emperor Wusu suddenly became childlike; he kept rubbing against her waist without her saying a word.

His purple-gold crown scraped against her gold-embroidered phoenix-patterned fabric, making Ji Qingwu unbearably itchy.

The laughter reached outside the Chenning Palace.

Hearing the commotion inside, Li Yuzong and Fanghua, who were standing at the door, realized that the Emperor and Empress had reconciled and smiled at each other.

The bronze bells carved with phoenix patterns under the eaves were scorching hot in the bright sunlight and swayed with the Empress's laughter.

The ethereal and melodious phoenix cry could be heard even in the Phoenix Palace.

(End of text)