Chapter 0119: Is She Beautiful?

Chapter 0119: Is She Beautiful?

No exaggeration, this was the most comfortable and relaxed He Jinli had felt entering the inner palace since the assassination attempt.

Yunli served tea with a beaming smile: "Your Majesty, you seem more at ease."

"I've seen too much bloodshed, lost my appetite," He Jinli said, unsure why he uttered those words.

Yunli replied: "Your Majesty is scaring your consort. Those traitors deserved their fate."

"Do you think so, my love? Even condemning their entire families to death, including the old and young?" He Jinli picked up his tea, took a sip, and asked casually without looking at Yunli.

Yunli tilted her head: "Their families and the young are indeed innocent, caught in the crossfire. But the law of the land dictates so. It's not solely your decree, Your Majesty. Didn't those traitors consider this before their assassination attempt? They gambled with their entire family's lives and lost. Whom can they blame? Even if the world sees, can they only speak of Your Majesty's cruelty?"

Cruelty.

He Jinli's lips curled slightly; only this woman dared to speak so boldly.

He set down his tea: "Yun'er, come here."

Yunli blinked, rose, and sat in his embrace: "I speak bluntly. If there's anything wrong, Your Majesty, please don't be angry."

"Yun'er speaks with reason and evidence, how could I?" He Jinli wrapped his arms around her waist.

Yunli sighed and leaned into his embrace: "It's logical, I've always thought so. But hearing about so many deaths recently, I still feel scared at night. Fortunately, I have something of Your Majesty's that I hold every day, placing it beside my pillow."

At the doorway, Zhu Yu and Zhi Fu, with their heads lowered, shared a similar thought.

They both felt their mistress really knew how to speak.

She spoke so righteously earlier. Yet, it inevitably sounded a bit insincere.

Putting righteousness in words, one cannot be faulted, but it can seem hollow.

But then, she admitted to being scared by the many deaths, which suddenly made it all seem more genuine.

He Jinli, holding her waist: "What's there to fear, Yun'er? You're pure and innocent."

"I sometimes dream of that day. Occasionally, I dream of the dagger striking Your Majesty, waking up startled. Sometimes I dream I shielded you. Waking up, I think, we still need Zhang Xiuyi, what would we do otherwise?" Yunli whispered.

Her voice was soft and exceedingly pleasant.

"Oh? My consort would also shield me?" He Jinli inquired.

"To be honest, I wouldn't have had time to rush over at that moment. Everything happened so quickly, I didn't think much. I only managed to pull up Lady Lin. But if I had been closer to Your Majesty, I probably would have charged forward too."

"Probably?" He Jinli raised an eyebrow.

"Your Majesty, claiming certainty now would be a lie. After all, what do mere words count for?" Yunli looked up at him.

He Jinli, in his heart, didn't harbor such thoughts.

Zhang Xiuyi's intervention was unexpected.

But he wasn't angry with the other consorts for not intervening.

However, Yunli's words amused him... they were truly interesting.

"Let's not talk about this. Your Le'an Palace is quite different from the others," He Jinli remarked.

"Are you referring to the servants? I scolded them the other day. Acting like quails, all of them. This is the imperial palace, they must maintain some decorum," Yunli said candidly, neither seeking credit nor hiding facts.

He Jinli smiled, thinking this was very much like her character.

He Jinli picked up his tea again, but with only one hand.

His right arm still encircled her.

Yunli reached up, caressing his neck, touching his Adam's apple.

He Jinli found it hard to drink properly, glancing at her.

Yunli blinked her beautiful eyes, intensifying her actions.

He Jinli clicked his tongue, dropping the teacup, causing the tea to splash out.

The two maids at the door immediately knelt down in fright.

But he simply picked up Yun Li and carried her into the inner chamber.

Pressed down on the couch, Yun Li was not afraid, still reaching out to touch his Adam's apple, chin, and the bridge of his nose.

Yet she remained silent, her eyes filled with clear pleasure.

"Miss me?" He Jinli asked.

"No," Yun Li answered.

He Jinli just smiled, took her hand, and lightly bit the space between her fingers on her middle finger.

Yun Li withdrew her hand as if shocked.

He Jinli's eyes darkened with a hint of red as he tore open Yun Li's clothes.

Though it was the twelfth lunar month, the room was warm, and Yun Li shivered only slightly before embracing the Emperor's neck.

He Jinli bent down, biting her flesh, his hands ceaselessly tearing at her clothes.

In the quiet room, only the sound of fabric tearing could be heard.

The two people kneeling outside exchanged a look and, after a moment of silent agreement, chose to leave.

Yun Li was held against He Jinli, who leaned against a pillow: "Yun'er, do you remember what to do?"

Yun Li didn't speak, simply laying down to bite his chin, silently looking at him.

He Jinli was very satisfied with her obedient yet rebelliously bold cooperation.

His heart was already aflame, and doing this also carried some of that fire.

But even in his tyranny, he would not torture someone in such matters. Thus, he restrained himself, even if he didn't want to.

Yet today, before they even began, he felt a sense of satisfaction.

He grasped Yun Li's chin, asking her to look up, gazing into her enchanting eyes, admiring her stunning face: "Call me."

"He Jinli, be gentle," Yun Li's voice wasn't deliberately seductive.

But speaking at such a moment, even the most serious words sounded like coquetry.

He Jinli's Adam's apple moved again, his hand sliding down to grip her a bit more firmly: "Courting death."

Though he said so, he only used force without getting angry.

Yun Li then leaned down again to bite his chin: "He Jinli, you are the supreme emperor. Those people are just losers. No matter how formidable they once were, what does it matter now? Aren't they all dead? A powerful person should rightfully have powerful adversaries, shouldn't they?"

No sooner had Yun Li finished speaking than she was suddenly flipped over, with He Jinli pressing down on her, merging into one: "Yun'er really knows quite a bit."

After saying this, he bit her beautiful red lips.

The atmosphere in the room was fiery, in the cold winter month, burning like flames.

Because He Jinli and Yun Li were too wild, they didn't call for meals even as night fell.

The wind rose outside, finally bringing the first snowfall of the year.

It was only in the twelfth lunar month that the first snow fell.

Ye Baolin stood in front of the window for a long time; she wasn't particularly upset, but she wondered, did His Majesty really like Lady Qiong that much?

Why? Because she was beautiful?

She pondered again, was Lady Qiong truly that beautiful?

She couldn't quite appreciate it herself, but every time, His Majesty looked at Lady Qiong with admiring eyes.

Perhaps, then, she truly was beautiful.

It was already midnight by the time He Jinli embraced Yunli and finally rested.

Even an emperor with great stamina gets tired.

After all, he had been mentally taxed quite a bit recently.

Yunli was so exhausted that all she wanted was to sleep.

He Jinli summoned attendants to serve them and then looked at Yunli: "Are you hungry, Yun'er?"

Yunli thought about having a bite before sleeping but was too drained to even muster that much, so she just blinked and remained silent.