Chapter 51: Old Feelings

“His Majesty has arrived…”

The grand eunuch who followed Mu Si’an announced, and instantly, all the officials and palace servants in the hall bowed and knelt down. Only Mu Yunqing, dressed in blue, stood tall behind the table, his expression calm and composed.

Except for Shen Wangchen, he would never kneel to anyone, not even the current emperor of the Li Dynasty.

This was the pride beneath Mu Yunqing’s gentle facade.

He didn’t kneel, and naturally, neither did Su Jiu.

They stood out among the kneeling crowd.

Mu Si’an’s gaze swept over them.

The night was deep, making his pupils appear momentarily dark and lifeless.

But he quickly smiled and walked over.

“Brother.” He raised his hand to perform the human world’s greeting to Mu Yunqing.

Mu Yunqing pulled Su Jiu, turned sideways to avoid him, “Your Majesty doesn’t need to do that,” he said calmly, “I am no longer a person of the mortal world, so I don’t care about these so-called etiquette. Please don’t mind, Your Majesty.”

As he spoke, he remembered what Su Jiu had said about not liking Mu Si’an, so he simply blocked her view.

Mu Si’an listened to his words, his lips curved slightly, as if he was smiling, but in those cloudy eyes, a flash of jealousy and malice.

He was now the emperor above ten thousand people, revered by all, yet there was Mu Yunqing…

Look, he had worked hard for so many years, but as soon as the name Mu Yunqing appeared, the whole country was in an uproar.

What did his decades on the throne amount to?

The dark thoughts in his heart kept boiling, and Mu Si’an even wanted to order someone to kill Mu Yunqing on the spot.

But the hand under his long sleeve clenched tightly, and finally, the pain brought him back to his senses.

He looked at Mu Yunqing and smiled peacefully, “Since Brother doesn’t like it, then I won’t do that anymore.”

With that, he turned around, ordering the officials who were kneeling to get up, then walked towards the dragon throne at the top.

The empress and concubines beside him followed.

However, Su Jiu didn’t know if it was her imagination.

She felt that the empress, dressed in a phoenix robe, seemed to have glanced this way several times, her expression was rather strange.

Su Jiu was curious, and after taking her seat, she gently tugged at Mu Yunqing’s sleeve and asked him in a low voice, “Senior Brother, do you know the empress?”

Mu Yunqing followed her gaze, “I know… Why?”

He quickly retracted his gaze and just looked at Su Jiu.

All the women present were dressed up, heavily made up, only Su Jiu was still wearing her simple plain clothes, her long black hair was only loosely tied, and her brows and eyes were free of any adornment. Although she was as beautiful as a lotus in clear water, she was still too simple and plain.

A girl of sixteen or seventeen should like beautiful clothes and jewelry.

Mu Yunqing secretly kept this in mind.

Su Jiu bit the end of her chopsticks, tilted her head slightly, and looked at the empress beside the dragon throne. Her gaze kept glancing down, making it hard for her to believe that Mu Yunqing and she really had no past.

“She’s been looking at you,” Su Jiu lowered her head slightly. Mu Yunqing cooperated by lowering his head as well. He heard Su Jiu ask him in a low voice, seemingly excited, “Senior Brother, when you were the crown prince, did you have a past with her?”

After all, in the original plot, after Mu Yunqing decided to abandon his cultivation and stay in the Li Dynasty to become emperor, he had taken the late emperor’s empress, Mu Si’an’s empress, into his harem.

Although the plot at that time said that Mu Yunqing had to expand his harem to gain the support of the court officials when he first ascended the throne.

When Mu Yunqing heard Su Jiu’s words, his first reaction was to feel a little guilty.

“…..That was all in the past.”

[So, something did happen in the past?]

Su Jiu’s gossip radar was activated. She grabbed Mu Yunqing’s sleeve and shook it gently, softly begging, “Tell me, tell me, I’m curious.”

Mu Yunqing was helpless. He raised his hand, gathered Su Jiu’s hand that was constantly shaking his sleeve into his palm, and slowly closed it. To outsiders, it looked like they were holding hands affectionately.

“Alright, there’s actually nothing.”

Su Jiu pouted.

[Say it if you’re going to say it, why say there’s nothing? If there really was nothing, how could you have taken the late emperor’s empress into your harem right after you ascended the throne?]

[Senior Brother, Senior Brother, I didn’t expect you, who seems so honest, to be the one who plays the most. You can go both ways, you’re really a bull opening the door for a calf – you’re a bull through and through.]

“…..I really have nothing to do with her.” Mu Yunqing was slightly surprised to hear Su Jiu’s thoughts.

But he didn’t have time to think it through. He was only worried that Su Jiu would misunderstand, so he quickly whispered, “It’s just that when I was the crown prince, she was betrothed to me. But later, I followed Master up the mountain, so I had people break off the engagement. As compensation, His Majesty, who was then the Fifth Prince, volunteered to marry her as his legal wife. Junior Sister, I really have nothing to do with her, don’t misunderstand.”

Mu Yunqing’s ears turned slightly red. He looked at Su Jiu with eyes as bright as stars under the bright lights of the palace, and his voice was low and gentle.

“I think, in this life, I might only marry one person. That person is…”

Before he could finish, he was interrupted by Su Jiu.

“Senior Brother, look at that person!”

Su Jiu quickly pulled her hand out of Mu Yunqing’s palm and subconsciously wanted to summon her life-bound sword.

Mu Yunqing stopped her.

“Don’t rush.”

He followed Su Jiu’s gaze and saw that the concubine beside Mu Si’an was smiling sweetly at him.

That beautiful face didn’t seem unusual to others.

But in the eyes of Mu Yunqing and Su Jiu, that face was gradually becoming distorted and black.

Black demonic energy was constantly emanating from her heart, as if being drawn by something, it flowed continuously towards Mu Si’an’s heart.

Mu Yunqing’s brows furrowed, his gaze fixed on her, but in the next second, he turned his head, as if he hadn’t noticed anything, and even turned Su Jiu’s face towards him.

“Senior Brother?”

Su Jiu was a little puzzled.

Mu Yunqing’s face was very close to hers, his warm breath hit Su Jiu’s cheek, his black pupils stared at her quietly, giving Su Jiu an indescribable feeling.

Her heart felt as if it was being gently scratched by something, so much so that she even forgot about the concubine’s strangeness. She blinked in a daze, looking at Mu Yunqing.

A faint smile appeared in Mu Yunqing’s eyes.

If it weren’t for the presence of others, he would have wanted to kiss her.

Kiss the girl’s slightly parted lips, which were slightly open in surprise.

But he couldn’t.

Mu Yunqing felt a little regret, but he quickly adjusted his mood.

To outsiders, they seemed to be whispering affectionately in each other’s ears, but in reality, Mu Yunqing was whispering in Su Jiu’s ear, “Don’t worry, Senior Brother is here.”

His tone was gentle and reassuring, and Su Jiu quickly felt relieved.

She looked up at Mu Yunqing and smiled.

After three rounds of drinking, the atmosphere was lively.

Mu Si’an sat with everyone for a while, then came to bid farewell to Mu Yunqing.

“It’s getting late, I still have some government affairs to deal with in the palace, so I’ll go first. Brother, why don’t you stay a little longer? Just so happens, my empress seems to have something she wants to say to Brother.”

Mu Si’an looked at the woman in the phoenix robe with a playful smile.

The empress’s expression was calm, as if she didn’t notice Mu Si’an’s expression. She said calmly, “It’s rare for old friends to meet, just chatting for a while. Surely Your Majesty won’t misunderstand?”

Mu Si’an smiled, “Of course not.”

He put one arm around the alluring and charming concubine’s waist, nodded slightly at Mu Yunqing, and slowly walked out of the palace.

Everyone sent them off.