Chapter 171 She is Empress Xie, and you are...
"Ah, I get it! We must have triggered the cheat's automatic protection mechanism when we were in a life-or-death situation, so whoosh—it sent us back in time! This is called the SL rollback technique!"
Upon learning where the two were, Shen Lingyue became less afraid and relaxed, hugging Yan Yi and chattering away.
“But isn’t this time travel a bit too far?” Shen Lingyue scratched her head in confusion. “Even sending us back to an hour before the incident would have been enough.”
Yan Yi shook her head, indicating that she wasn't quite sure either. She frowned slightly and said softly, "I don't know why, but I can't seem to sense that special energy in my body anymore."
Shen Lingyue's face fell, and she spread her hands.
"We're doomed. Could it be that we've run out of energy and are not going to make it back?"
Ahhh, she said the Goddess of Mystery went a bit too far this time...
"That's not quite right. I think He must be bound by some higher-dimensional rules, and this was the best choice He could make in a critical moment."
Yan Yi comforted her, "There's always a way out. As long as we're together, we'll always find a solution."
Shen Lingyue felt comforted, and after thinking for a moment, she bowed earnestly to Yan Yi.
"Thank you, Goddess Xuan Nu, for not forgetting to take me along when you saved Yan Yan..."
Yan Yi rubbed her head twice, feeling both amused and exasperated.
Suddenly arriving in an unfamiliar environment, she knew that Little Moon was also very flustered and could only comfort herself by talking non-stop.
"Hey, if we were in the early days of the Great Ye Dynasty, wouldn't we be able to meet the legendary fellow townsman?"
Shen Lingyue had an excellent ability to recover on her own, and looked at her with bright eyes: "Do you think we can ask him for help? Fellow countrymen meet, and there's bound to be some warmth... Besides, we're both women, and we won't pose a threat to his throne, right?"
Yan Yi pondered for a moment and nodded, "Perhaps this is the only way for now."
In Xiaoyueliang's words, the two of them had been transported from the past and were considered unregistered at this point in time. Apart from pinning their hopes of returning home on that great ancestor, they had no other options for the time being.
Fengxian Hall is not a place to stay for long; they need to find a place to settle down first.
It was already night outside, pitch black, and you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
Yan Yi and Shen Lingyue blew out the lamp, gently pushed the door open a crack, and carefully crawled out.
Shen Lingyue exclaimed in surprise, "It's so dark outside, aren't there any guards on duty or patrolling?"
“When a dynasty is first established, everything is in need of rebuilding, so it is certainly not as prosperous and flourishing as it is later.” Yan Yi said calmly, looking around in the dim moonlight. “Look, this palace is even more old and dilapidated than what we saw when we entered the palace.”
But this is good, it makes it easier for the two of them to act secretly.
The two recalled the route they had taken to enter the palace, and crept along the wall, moving stealthily. After walking for a long time, they didn't even see a single palace maid.
Shen Lingyue muttered under her breath, "Everyone says that Emperor Taizu and Empress Zhaohui were a couple for life, so the palace probably doesn't need so many people to serve them."
She silently labeled her fellow villager as a bit stingy.
As she walked, Yan Yi stopped and looked at a palace room with candlelight burning in the distance.
"We've arrived at the Empress's Palace."
Shen Lingyue blinked: "Are we going to find Empress Zhaohui? No, it's already this late, my fellow villager must be inside too."
Having made up their minds, the two quickened their pace and successfully sneaked into the palace.
Palace lanterns lit up the four corners of the bedchamber, casting a dim yellow light. A woman dressed in a crimson nightgown with her long hair flowing down her back sat at a table, engrossed in reading a book.
As soon as Shen Lingyue stepped across the threshold, she seemed to sense something and suddenly turned around, her expression turning sharp: "Who goes there?"
With such imposing force, Shen Lingyue froze on the spot, unable to move one foot.
Upon seeing this, Yan Yi quickly stepped forward and deliberately stick out her belly to show that she was safe and harmless.
"Empress Zhaohui, we are... we are from the same hometown as His Majesty. We have an extremely urgent matter to ask for his help."
The woman paused, put down her book, and walked slowly toward the two of them, a playful smile playing on her lips.
"Empress Zhaohui? That's a good posthumous title."
Yan Yi: ...
Oh no, I forgot they came from the future.
She quickly corrected herself: "You are... Empress Xie?"
The woman looked the two of them up and down, thought for a moment, and asked, "You two also time-traveled? Odd changes, even doesn't? Heaven King covers the Earth Tiger?"
Shen Lingyue: !
She nodded excitedly: "Yes, yes, I didn't expect you to be so close to my fellow villager that you would even tell him such a big secret!"
"Fellow villager..."
Upon hearing this address, the woman couldn't help but chuckle. She seemed to accept Shen Lingyue and Yan Yi, these two "fellow townsmen," with ease, and waved them over, "Come in and talk."
The two of them, like children visiting unfamiliar relatives for the first time, followed the woman into the inner room with restrained movements. Only after her repeated persuasion did they slowly sit on the soft couch by the window.
The woman brought over a teapot, poured a cup of warm water for each of them, and then took out two plates of snacks from under the drawer.
"Don't rush, fill your stomachs first. Look at you two, how did you manage to get here?"
She shouldn't have mentioned it, because the moment she did, Chen Lingyue's stomach started growling like thunder. She picked up a piece of cake, broke it in half, and handed it to Yan Yi, saying, "You're pregnant, so you'll definitely get hungry more easily than me. Let's eat together."
The woman's gaze fell on Yan Yi's lower abdomen, and she sighed, "Why did you transmigrate at this time? Don't you have any basic principles?"
Yan Yi took small bites of her pastry while secretly observing Empress Xie.
She was not young, probably around forty years old, and possessed a calm and peaceful aura like that of Mother Earth, making people feel at ease at first sight.
Even though her long hair was streaked with silver and fine lines appeared at the corners of her eyes, it did not diminish her experience and poise in the slightest.
As expected of Xie, the daughter of Emperor Taizu who shared hardships and fought alongside him to conquer the world, and who was devoted to both the emperor and empress for life.
After eating and drinking their fill, their stomachs and minds were soothed and calmed down. Yan Yi and Shen Lingyue then took turns explaining their origins.
Empress Xie listened attentively, her eyes occasionally widening slightly in amazement.
"So... you two first traveled from the modern era to the 142nd year of the founding of the Great Ye Kingdom, lived there for more than three years, and were then sent here by an accident?"
She stroked her chin and muttered softly, "The Xiao family has actually survived for over 140 years without the country falling. That's quite impressive."
Yan Yi: ...
Something sounds off about that. Is that something a founding empress should say?
Perhaps the Xie family bloodline in her bones had a slight advantage?
Yan Yi shook her head, dismissing the inappropriate thought, and said sincerely to Empress Xie, "We came here alone, without any relatives or friends, and we have no way to return for the time being. We can only shamelessly ask Your Majesty and the Empress to take us in temporarily."
Although they were from the same hometown as Emperor Taizu, since he and Empress Xie were inseparable, she, being a woman herself, must have understood their hardships and offered them a helping hand.
"Yes, yes, please, Your Majesty, take us in! I can disguise myself as a palace maid and take care of your daily needs!"
Shen Lingyue stared at her expectantly, like a stray cat eagerly promoting itself, "As for the future, whatever you want to know, I can tell you anything. I'm an expert at gossip. Oh, right, we recently helped a girl from the Xie family escape an arranged marriage. She should be at the border now, working as a military doctor and making a difference!"
Empress Xie seemed amused by her and took their hands, patting them on the shoulder.
"It is fate that we can all gather here. Anyway, the palace is so big, you can stay wherever you want, so please don't be shy with me."
Seeing how approachable and easy to talk to her, Shen Lingyue relaxed and blurted out without thinking, "Indeed, there are too few servants in this palace, and the security measures are terrible. They actually let the two of us sneak in like this..."
Empress Xie smiled but remained silent.
Yan Yi glanced at her expression and cautiously asked, "Isn't His Majesty coming to rest tonight? Should we tell him about our affair..."
Empress Xie had just waved her hand to say no, when a creak came from outside and the palace door opened. A woman dressed in a blue robe with phoenix patterns and a magnificent crown walked in quickly and excitedly, saying, "Ayu, I like the young man in the second row, third from the left, who will be dancing tonight. As usual, please help me transfer him to the Music Bureau... Who are you?"
She looked at Shen Lingyue and Yan Yi curiously, "Where did you two come from?"
Shen Lingyue froze, instinctively glancing at Empress Xie behind her.
Didn't they say my fellow villager only has one wife? Who is this stunningly beautiful woman dressed more elegantly than an empress?
Ugh, history books lied to me!
Yan Yi's shock at this moment was a hundred times greater than Shen Lingyue's.
Having studied the ceremonies of the dynasty, she immediately recognized that the person was wearing the casual attire reserved for the empress.
"You... are Empress Xie?" Yan Yi asked tentatively, but she couldn't stop the absurd thought from running through her mind.
"Yes, that's right." The man admitted confidently, "I am Xie Zhao."
Yan Yi slowly turned her head in disbelief, looking at "Empress Xie," who had been chatting with them very congenially since earlier.
Shen Lingyue finally realized what was happening and pointed a trembling finger at the top of her lungs.
"She is Empress Xie...and who are you?"
Could it be that what the historical records don't mention is that Emperor Taizu actually had two empresses?
"You ask who I am?"
Empress Xie suddenly raised the corners of her mouth, revealing the most radiant smile they had ever had since they met, even carrying a hint of cunning that was incongruous with her age.
“I am the ‘fellow villager’ you are looking for, Xiao Yujing, the founding emperor of Daye.”
...
At the same time, in Emperor Qingxi's bedroom.
Princess Tong'an, dragging her bloodied left arm, knelt before her father, her face pale, tears glistening in her eyes, her pain and hatred intertwined.
"Father, your uncle Prince Gong, along with Prince Xin, Prince Yi, and several other members of the imperial clan, conspired to send assassins to ambush and kill you on your way back to the city!"
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Author's Note: Finally, I've reached this part, hahaha! I've hidden a foreshadowing in a book [sunglasses]. I wonder how many "little pieces of evidence" you can find, hehe [shy]
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