175: Empress Lin Yue, belonging to Jiang Yuan
The night grew deep.
Inside the sleeping quarters of the Cangwu Divine Palace, red candles burned brightly.
This was once Han Yueyi's residence, but now it had a new master.
Lin Yue dismissed all her maids and sat alone before the dressing table.
The bronze mirror reflected an exquisitely beautiful face.
She removed the heavy phoenix crown, shed the complex imperial robes, and wore only a thin, moon-white gauze garment.
Her waterfall-like black hair cascaded over her shoulders, half-concealing her faintly visible snowy skin.
She looked at herself in the mirror, her gaze somewhat dazed.
The scene from earlier today lingered in her mind like a nightmare she couldn't shake.
That great emperor dao fruit, so close yet so far, had become a thorn in her heart that she couldn't pull out.
"Too weak... too greedy..."
She murmured to herself, repeating Jiang Yuan's words.
Her fingers lightly brushed her cheek, slid down her slender neck, and finally rested over her heart.
There, the Origin of the Ninth Heaven of Quasi-Emperor Realm was pulsing surgeingly—a Realm that countless Cultivators could only dream of.
But in front of Jiang Yuan, it was nothing.
Lin Yue knew very well that Jiang Yuan hadn't killed Han Yueyi but had suppressed her instead.
This was both a warning and a reminder: if one day she, the new Empress, became disobedient or lost her value, Jiang Yuan could release Han Yueyi at any time and restore her to power.
In fact, he could find any random dog and, as long as he provided enough resources, it could sit in this position.
A sense of crisis, like a cold venomous snake, tightly coiled around her heart.
"I cannot just sit and wait for death."
Lin Yue's gaze gradually became firm, even showing a hint of madness.
She stood up, walked to the window, and looked toward the direction where the dragon head warship was moored.
It was brightly lit there; that was the true place of the Dominator.
She thought of Han Yueyi.
That 'sister' who had been proud her whole life—what kind of end did she meet?
Defeated and imprisoned.
From a high and mighty Great Emperor to a prisoner.
Han Yueyi lost because she took herself too seriously; she lost because she couldn't let go of her status.
"Han Yueyi, what you wouldn't do, I will do; the price you didn't dare to pay, I will pay."
"I am doing this not for myself, but for all the living beings of Cangwu."
"I will prove to everyone that I, this Empress, am the one everyone truly desires. I... will do better than you."
Lin Yue took a deep breath and turned toward the wardrobe.
She didn't choose those dignified and majestic palace robes, but instead picked out... an extremely daring black gauze dress.
This was a style that had never existed in the Cangwu World; she had secretly had someone sew it based on picture books from the outside Cangwu.
Since it was a transaction, she had to bring out some chips.
Besides this Divine Body and this heart of a newly ascended Empress, what else did she have that could catch the eye of This Imperial Son?
...dragon head warship, top-floor imperial palace.
Jiang Yuan was not resting.
He was sitting cross-legged on the cloud bed, playing with the bead that sealed the dao fruit in his hand.
The ability 'My Heart is Heaven's Heart' was operating on its own, constantly reminding him that he could refine it at any time.
To reach an unprecedented Realm.
Jiang Yuan was curious, but he wasn't in a hurry to refine it; he wanted to observe it first.
"Knock, knock."
Two very light knocks came from outside the door.
"Come in."
Jiang Yuan didn't even look up.
He was a Quasi-Saint.
With a sweep of his Divine Thought, he knew exactly who was outside.
Or rather, without his permission,
the Quasi-Emperor guards protecting him would never have let the other person in.
The heavy palace door was pushed open a crack, and a graceful figure slipped inside.
She immediately closed the door quickly, as if afraid of being seen.
A waft of delicate fragrance arrived with the breeze.
Jiang Yuan opened his eyes, his gaze falling on the newcomer, his brow slightly arching.
Lin Yue.
Or rather, the newly appointed Cangwu Empress.
At this moment, she was barefoot, stepping on the slightly cool floor.
That black gauze dress wrapped around her graceful body like the night itself.
She wore no jewelry, her long hair was loose, a lingering blush remained on her face, and her eyes held both shame and a desperate resolve.
"It's so late; why is Her Majesty the Empress not sleeping in the palace, but running onto my warship instead?"
Jiang Yuan put away the dao fruit bead and looked at her with a half-smile.
Lin Yue did not speak. She walked step by step to the cloud bed and, three steps away from Jiang Yuan, slowly knelt down.
She pressed her hands to the ground and lowered her body.
It was both a subject's kowtow to a monarch
and like a submissive cat.
"Lord Imperial Son."
Her voice trembled slightly, yet it was exceptionally clear.
"Lin Yue cannot sleep."
"Oh? Why?"
"Because Lin Yue's heart... feels empty."
Lin Yue looked up, her watery eyes staring directly at Jiang Yuan.
"Having seen such peerless scenery during the day, now when I close my eyes, my mind is full of its shadow. If I cannot have it, my heart will not find peace."
Jiang Yuan smiled.
He liked this kind of smart person.
One who didn't hide things, but wrote ambition and desire all over their face.
One who knew that to get something, one must pay something.
"So, you've come to beg me to give you the dao fruit? Didn't This Imperial Son promise you that your great emperor fruit position would be given to you sooner or later?"
Lin Yue first nodded, then shook her head. "Lin Yue knows, but right now, I am not worthy."
She crawled forward two steps on her knees and tilted her head up to look at Jiang Yuan on the emperors throne.
"What Han Yueyi has, I have; what Han Yueyi doesn't have, I also have."
"She has pride, I do not; she has a bottom line, I do not."
"Lord Imperial Son, this dao fruit, you could give it to anyone. Giving it to others only gets you a Great Emperor thug. But giving it to me..."
"You can get the most obedient dog, the sharpest sword, and an... Empress who will only ever be loyal to you."
"I want to become an Emperor, I want to stand at the highest point, I want all those who once looked down on me and treated me as a substitute to kneel at my feet."
"For this, I can pay any price, as long as you want it, as long as I have it."
She tilted her head back, her red lips slightly parted, breathing like orchids.
Jiang Yuan looked at this woman who had gone completely mad for power.
He had to admit, she was more interesting and more dangerous than Han Yueyi.
Han Yueyi was an iceberg; when smashed, she was just shards.
But Lin Yue was fire, the kind of fire that would burn itself out just to keep burning.
He stepped down from the imperial throne, reached out, and forced her to tilt her slender neck to meet his gaze.
After a long while, Jiang Yuan suddenly said something.
"Your sister is in the Town Emperor Pavilion, cursing you quite fiercely."
Lin Yue's body stiffened for a moment, then her gaze turned cold and sharp:
"She is already dead. In the current Cangwu, there is only Lin Yue."
"Ruthless enough." Jiang Yuan smiled approvingly and pulled her into his arms.
"If you want the imperial throne, it depends on your performance, and... not right now."
Jiang Yuan whispered in her ear.
"Lin Yue knows. No matter how long it takes, Lin Yue will wait."
...Outside the window, the moonlight was like water.
From tonight on, there would be no more Han Yueying in Cangwu.
There was only Jiang Yuan's... Lin Yue the Empress.
At the same time, upon the contract, there was the agreement to offer half of the Luck of the Cangwu Great World.