Consort Yi said, pretending to be jealous: "I have heard that with the Empress's former status, she was not good enough for you. At most, she could only be your concubine. But the Emperor would rather give up the throne to marry her as his principal wife. This shows how much the Emperor cares about the Empress."
"I am no match for you!" Consort Yi said, squeezing out two tears.
The emperor was heartbroken and quickly comforted her: "The empress and I met when we were young. Back then, we were young and impulsive. We could risk everything for a woman. As for now... I am the supreme ruler, and I have to abide by the rules left by our ancestors."
“Your Majesty is mistaken. The rules left by our ancestors are not necessarily all correct. Your Majesty is now the supreme ruler, so naturally you have the final say,” Consort Yi quickly said.
If she could become empress and her son could become crown prince, then the mother and son would have even better control over the entire Great Yan Dynasty.
At that time, she can do whatever she wants, and no one in the world can stop her.
Whether it's the Great Yan Dynasty or the Jiyuan Kingdom, they will all become her possessions.
Whether human or demon, everyone must grovel at her feet and obey her.
"The Empress has only been gone for a short time, let's do it next year... I will discuss this matter with the princes of the Imperial Clan Court next year. Don't worry... I will definitely make you Empress during my lifetime," the Emperor said with a smile.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I knew it. Your Majesty is the best to me." Consort Yi quickly leaned against the Emperor's chest and acted coquettishly.
In fact, she had no desire to have any contact with the emperor.
As people get older, their bodies gradually decline, and they will always have a certain odor.
Especially for a special being like her, who is half-human and half-demon, with an extremely sensitive sense of smell, the smell on the emperor was truly disgusting to her.
The two cuddled for a while, then heard that Qi Xuan had returned.
"Your Majesty, Your Highness the Imperial Concubine, Princess Shun'an has returned and is waiting outside to pay her respects," a palace maid announced.
"Quickly let her in," Consort Yi said, rising to her feet.
A moment later, Qi Xuan entered, surrounded by several palace maids.
"Xuan'er greets her Imperial Grandfather and Grandmother." Qi Xuan stepped forward and bowed, her face full of smiles.
"Where did Xuan'er go to play this afternoon? She's laughing so happily, it makes me quite curious," Consort Yi said with a smile.
"Replying to Grandmother, Xuan'er just went out for a stroll and came back after wandering around the Imperial Garden," Qi Xuan quickly replied.
Consort Yi did not believe it, but since the Emperor was there, she did not ask any further questions.
"It's getting late, you should go and rest," Consort Yi said softly.
"Yes!" Qi Xuan nodded gently.
"Xuan'er, you must remember how good your grandmother was to you and be filial to her." The emperor frowned slightly: "If it weren't for her pleading for you this time, I would have punished you severely. Even though you have been adopted by the Eighth Prince, you are still the Ninth Prince's biological daughter. You are not allowed to be disrespectful to your biological father."
"Xuan'er remembers, thank you for your teachings, Grandfather!" Qi Xuan didn't dare to be presumptuous in front of the Emperor, and nodded obediently.
"Go!" the emperor waved his hand.
Qi Xuan curtsied and withdrew with several palace maids.
“Your Majesty, Xuan’er is still young, so please don’t be too harsh on her. Besides… it’s because the Ninth Prince disobeyed Your Majesty that he has ended up in this state of being separated from his wife and children. He would rather protect that bastard Crown Prince than have Your Majesty as his father, or his own princess and daughter. In my opinion, he was the one who was unfilial first, so it’s no wonder that Xuan’er doesn’t acknowledge him.”
The emperor's expression darkened upon hearing this.
Consort Yi didn't know if he was upset by her harsh words or if he was growing increasingly disgusted with Qi Jiu.
However, she dared not provoke the emperor at this moment, so she quickly ordered people to prepare hot water and personally served the emperor as he washed up.
After serving the emperor, Consort Yi was a little tired. Just as she closed her eyes, she heard the emperor's voice in her ear.
"Why are you protecting Xie Peng from Yunxiao Palace?"
Consort Yi was a little annoyed, but she still replied stubbornly: "I am not protecting him, but Xie Peng is still useful. The Ten Great Daoist Sects have existed for much longer than our Great Yan Dynasty, and they help each other. If one of them moves, the whole thing will be affected. Even if Xie Peng really used some evil magic to cultivate, he was forced to do so."
As Consort Yi spoke, she turned around and wrapped her arms around the emperor's waist, saying softly, "I have heard that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is scarce nowadays, making it difficult for Taoists to cultivate. It is because of this that some people have gone astray. However... as long as they are not extremely wicked, we can actually turn a blind eye. After all... the combined power of the ten major Taoist sects is not to be underestimated, and we don't need to bother with them."
“If some rules are broken, it could lead to serious trouble,” the emperor said, frowning.
If it weren't for Consort Yi pleading on behalf of Yunxiao Palace and Xie Peng, he wouldn't have just sent the abbot of Xuantian Temple; he would have definitely sent all the leaders of the other nine major Daoist sects to Yunxiao Palace to investigate them thoroughly.
"Your Majesty, rest assured. If anything really happens, you can send a large army to suppress all ten major Taoist sects, or seek help from the Taiyi Sect. They can't cause any trouble. Just keep Xie Peng for now; I still have a use for him," Consort Yi said with a smile.
"What use is he?" the emperor asked in a deep voice.
Consort Yi knew he was unhappy, so she quickly said, "Although Xie Peng is not the strongest, his alchemy skills are better than those of the other abbots. Your Majesty can keep him to refine elixirs for us."
"Speaking of elixirs, when will your brother be able to send over the longevity elixir we mentioned before?" The emperor has been waiting for this for a long time; if this continues, when will he ever receive the elixir?
Consort Yi was taken aback upon hearing this, then smiled and said, "My elder brother said that the elixir requires a great many rare and precious materials, and... the quality requirements for these materials are very high. The Vermilion Fruit and Purple Cloud Pearl they found before were not large enough and contained insufficient spiritual energy, making it difficult to form the elixir. They need to continue searching. I have also sent people to search in the famous mountains and rivers of our Great Yan Dynasty. It should be successful next year."
"I promised you before that I would make the Eighth Prince the Crown Prince, on the condition that... that elixir must be available." The Emperor smiled as he spoke: "You know that among the many princes, the Eighth Prince is not particularly outstanding. If it weren't for your sake, and if it weren't for that elixir, I wouldn't have made him the Crown Prince."
Consort Yi felt utterly contemptuous upon hearing his words, but still smiled and said, "Your Majesty, please rest assured, I will send someone to urge him on."
Upon hearing this, the Emperor nodded and was about to close his eyes when Consort Yi added, "By the way, Your Majesty... I heard that you promised Prince Duan that you would pass the throne to Qi Chengshuo?"
"Yes!" The Emperor nodded: "Prince Duan is my own brother, born of the same mother. In his youth, he fought on all sides and made great contributions. I do not intend to demote him. I will directly let Chengshuo inherit the title of Prince."
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