Originally, Su Baiyue thought her mission had ended, but she suddenly discovered that after the male lead seized the throne, he actually settled down to be a peaceful little emperor, showing no evil intentions of dominating the world. This worried Su Baiyue so much that she sneakily devoured three plates of red bean cakes.

“Mistress.” Jing Wen parted the curtains and entered, seeing the spread of ink, paper, and brushes on Su Baiyue’s desk and couldn’t help but sigh softly, advising, “Mistress, why be so stubborn? I heard that recently, the Mistress Jin Xin from Wei An Royal Mansion has been constantly around His Majesty.”

Mistress Jin Xin? The bona fide white lotus female lead, Wei Shengwan?

Speaking of Wei Shengwan, she’s exactly the type all men dream of. Not only is she gentle, generous, and considerate, but her appearance and figure are top-notch, and most importantly, she is without jealousy. As the male lead’s chief wife, she righteously and virtuously allowed him to expand his harem, truly a model ancient wife.

Su Baiyue clenched her hands, finally asking, “Where are they?”

Jing Wen’s face lit up with joy, “His Majesty is currently viewing flowers in the Imperial Garden with Mistress Jin Xin and Prince Wei.”

Wei Shengwan, as Wei Sa’s sister, and since Lu Gan has a good relationship with Wei Sa, it’s not unusual for these three to enjoy flowers together. But Su Baiyue knew that this legitimate female lead was about to enter the harem. As Lu Gan’s woman behind the scenes, Wei Shengwan had not hesitated to leverage the power of Wei An Royal Mansion to help him achieve great things.

Su Baiyue was curious about what this dignified and beautiful Wei Shengwan looked like. She straightened her dress and slowly stood up, saying, “Let’s go have a look.”

Upon hearing Su Baiyue’s decision, Jing Wen’s face flushed with excitement.

Her mistress had finally seen the light!

Although Su Baiyue didn’t really have a phobia of dirt, after pretending for over a decade, she inevitably felt averse to the filthy outside world.

“Mistress, I found a pair of crabapple wood clogs for you. They can be worn over your embroidered shoes, so they won’t get dirty,” Jing Wen presented the crabapple wood clogs, wrapped in a white handkerchief, to Su Baiyue.

Su Baiyue glanced at the clogs and sighed inwardly. She originally wanted to quietly observe Mistress Jin Xin, but wearing these clattering crabapple clogs would be like announcing to the world that she was openly spying, wouldn’t it?

“Forget it.” Just as Su Baiyue finished speaking, a woman’s voice came from outside.

“It’s said that Mistress Ling Yun is cold and lofty, the very epitome of a clean and pure beauty,” said the woman, her voice soft and carrying a clear tone of a well-bred lady.

“Mistress, you shouldn’t praise her so highly. Who doesn’t know that Mistress Ling Yun abandoned His Majesty for wealth and luxury? Now that His Majesty tolerates her, it’s only because of General Liu Chen’s repeated military exploits and His Majesty’s magnanimity. A woman like that, no matter how beautiful, is still…”

The personal maid trailing behind Mistress Jin Xin hadn’t finished speaking when she looked up and saw the woman standing at the entrance of the hall. Her voice choked off, unable to continue.

She had just sullied a celestial being with such filthy words!

The woman, as described in legends, favored wearing white. Her plain-colored long dress fluttered like smoke, her black hair cascading like a waterfall, her face unpowdered, and her figure slender like a willow. She was ethereally cold and aloof, like a flower in water, a moon in the mirror, surrounded by a misty haze, stunningly beautiful. Even Wei Shengwan was dumbstruck.

As Lu Gan’s moonlight, Mistress Ling Yun’s beauty was indeed unparalleled in the entire book. Her early demise was a pity for the readers. The male lead hadn’t even savored such a beauty before she passed away, truly a heart-wrenching loss.

The kind of clean and untainted beauty she embodied, when pressed upon a couch, offered a struggle that was tantalizing to the heart. Some unabashed readers even started fantasizing in the comments about an ‘age-rated’ scenario between Mistress Ling Yun and Lu Gan.

“This must be Mistress Ling Yun, right?” Wei Shengwan approached with a smile, her demeanor that of a mistress of the house, greeting Su Baiyue.

Su Baiyue glanced at her sideways. Wei Shengwan was indeed pretty, with ample curves that bizarrely accentuated her dignity, but she couldn’t hold a candle to Su Baiyue in stunning beauty.

Su Baiyue had originally thought that this female lead was truly as saintly as described in the book, but it turned out she was also a green tea bitch.

Just listening to her personal maid’s earlier words revealed that this white lotus was not so innocent. Normally, there had been no rumors inside the palace. Everyone thought she had been abducted by the former emperor, even her own brother thought so.

But her personal maid blatantly made it sound like Su Baiyue had forsaken Lu Gan out of greed, seeking luxury by throwing herself into the former emperor’s arms, not expecting the former emperor to be so ineffective, nor expecting that Lu Gan was actually the destined true emperor. Her hypocrisy ended up in vain; it was only Lu Gan’s willingness to overlook past grievances that kept her by his side.

Wei Shengwan skillfully and efficiently framed her with a narrative that would surely make Lu Gan disdain her.

Jing Wen, of course, heard the maid’s words. Already hostile towards Wei Shengwan, she was now glaring, as if ready to tear them apart.

Su Baiyue stood there unmoved, not speaking. Her whole being bathed in the cold sunlight, her skin translucent as snow, almost like the most flawless sculpture of ice and jade. One could even faintly see the blue veins beneath her skin, flowing with sweet-scented blood.

Standing next to Wei Shengwan, Wei Shengwan felt a real sense of inferiority.

“Who are you?” Su Baiyue’s voice carried an ethereal, haunting quality, vastly different from Wei Shengwan’s affected gentleness.

Wei Shengwan snapped back to reality, her smile even broader. Her personal maid haughtily said, “Our mistress is Mistress Jin Xin from Wei An Royal Mansion.”

In the recent purge, Wei An Royal Mansion had exerted a lot of effort to help Lu Gan ascend the throne. Wei An Wang had intentions of marrying Jin Xin to Lu Gan as the empress, even blatantly stating that if Lu Gan married Wei Shengwan, they would regard him as their leader.

Using women to maintain the complex relationships between men was a common method to consolidate power and reassure the subordinates.

Currently, Weinan Royal Mansion could not compare to the newly influential Wei An Royal Mansion. Even with Liu Chen’s numerous military exploits, it couldn’t match the wealthy and powerful Wei An Royal Mansion’s influence at court.

It was clear to any discerning person what choice to make. After all, Lu Gan was the emperor; having many concubines was normal. Marrying another woman was not too much.

And Su Baiyue, carrying a scandal with the former emperor, even if the Weinan Royal Mansion wanted to elevate her, couldn’t overcome this significant blemish. Moreover, the current narrative, influenced by Wei An Royal Mansion, had already framed Lingyun Mistress as greedy and opportunistic for clinging to the former emperor.

The current situation was very unfavorable for Su Baiyue, but she wasn’t concerned about it. Her immediate priority was how to get the male lead to dominate the world and complete the plot.

If she used Wei Shengwan as bait, she wondered if the male lead would strive to dominate the world for her.

Seeing Su Baiyue just staring at her and not speaking, Wei Shengwan said with a smile, “Seeing is believing; Mistress Ling Yun truly has a heavenly presence.”

Su Baiyue nodded in agreement.

What was meant as a mere compliment made Wei Shengwan’s smile freeze, “Won’t you invite me in for a cup of tea?” Wei Shengwan tried to maintain her decorum as the future chief’s wife.

Su Baiyue coldly said, “You’re too dirty.”

That wiped the smile off Wei Shengwan’s face.

“You, you dare insult our mistress!” Wei Shengwan’s personal maid was furious, almost jumping up to point at Su Baiyue’s nose.

Su Baiyue looked puzzled, pointing at Wei Shengwan’s skirt and shoes, implying: Just look at yourself, with such dirty shoes and skirt, which of your eyes saw me insulting anyone?

Su Baiyue indeed hadn’t insulted anyone; she was merely stating facts, which Wei Shengwan misunderstood.

Jing Wen, her neck arched, said fiercely, “Our mistress can’t stand dirt, Mistress Jin Xin, if you wish to sit, please sit over there.” Jing Wen casually pointed to a stone stool nearby, not giving the pretentious Wei Shengwan any regard.

Really thinking too highly of herself.

Our Emperor and mistress don’t know how much they love each other!

Wei Shengwan forced a smile and changed the topic, “Have you heard? His Majesty plans to throw the former emperor into the zoo to feed the tigers and lions.”

Wow, that’s fierce!

Su Baiyue instinctively shuddered, thankful her limbs were still intact.

“His Majesty is very stubborn; no one can persuade him. The court is unstable now; it should be governed with benevolence. I think such treatment of the former emperor is quite improper. What do you think?” Before Su Baiyue could speak, Wei Shengwan continued, “I heard that you were once engaged to the former emperor; you must be reluctant, right?”

The former emperor hadn’t actually done anything atrocious; he was merely a puppet under the control of Xingyuan Wangfu.

“Mercy is a virtue of heaven; to forgive when one can,” Su Baiyue knew this was what Mistress Jin Xin wanted to hear. Just showing a sliver of concern for the former emperor would give Wei Shengwan a handle to use against her with Lu Gan.

Sure enough, Wei Shengwan’s eyes lit up, unable to hide her smile.

A male voice from outside called, “Sister, what are you looking for here?”

Su Baiyue turned and saw Wei Sa and Lu Gan standing there, partly obscured by tall pines. If one didn’t look carefully, it was hard to tell there were two people there. It was unclear how long they had been there, but Lu Gan definitely heard what she had just said in defense of the former emperor.

Although Su Baiyue had guessed Wei Shengwan’s scheme, facing Lu Gan’s expressionless face still made her a bit nervous.

The man strode over, his everyday robe fluttering in the wind, making a whooshing sound.

He grabbed Su Baiyue’s wrist and scooped her up in a princess carry, turning to walk out.

“Your Majesty…” Wei Shengwan hurriedly followed a few steps before being stopped by Wei Sa.

Wei Shengwan, twisting her handkerchief, watched Su Baiyue’s pale face looking up at Lu Gan and subtly smiled.

Standing next to Wei Shengwan, Wei Sa, looking at Su Baiyue’s stunning face, thought that if Lu Gan truly no longer wanted Mistress Ling Yun, he wouldn’t mind coaxing her over to treat her well. Indeed, if Wei Sa hadn’t had real feelings for Su Baiyue, he wouldn’t have cooperated with Wei Shengwan.

Su Baiyue was almost scared out of her wits by Lu Gan’s sudden move. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her body feeling weightless and unsupported, which was very insecure.

“Where are you taking me? Let me go!” Su Baiyue struggled briefly, and the man gave her a firm pinch on the buttocks.

She immediately behaved.

Sob sob, touching a pig’s butt in the year of the pig brings fortune and prosperity.

But when she was placed on the glittering dragon throne, she again felt the world was a mysterious place.

“You wanted this dragon throne, didn’t you?” Lu Gan looked down at Su Baiyue, his voice hoarse, with a barely concealed restraint.

Su Baiyue, her eyes misty, didn’t speak. She was a bit dazed.

The man seemed very displeased with Su Baiyue’s silence. He grabbed her delicate, fair chin and lifted it up, “What he could give, I can give you much more.”

Was he…jealous?

Su Baiyue’s eyes sparkled, tentatively saying, “What I want is the entire world, not just this small place of refuge.”

The man was silent for a moment, then buried his head in Su Baiyue’s neck, slowly nuzzling against her, looking aggrieved and pitiful.

Su Baiyue: ???