Chapter 54

Tang Xia walked into the hall with a strange expression. As the candlelight split the ground into different colored lumps, Tang Xia became somewhat curious.

The man in the high platform was wearing a dark black robe with black hair, making him appear gentler.

Tang Xia fixed her eyes on his slender fingers behind his back, then bent her body immediately, “I pay my respects to you, Your Majesty.”

The man in front froze for a moment, then wore a bigger smile on his mouth.

Tang Xia maintained her bowing posture for a while but did not hear an order by the man in the high platform.

“What did you want to see me about, Your Majesty?” Tang Xia frowned her eyebrows, “I’ll leave if there’s nothing.”

“I didn’t know that you had such a sweet and lovable side.” A familiar voice as deep as a horn came, skimming gently over Tang Xia’s throbbing heart.

As Chu Tiankuo turned his head around, his charismatic face appeared gentler in the candlelight. He wore a wry smile, looking directly at Tang Xia who was bowing to him, with a glow flickering in his dark eyes as if every twinkle and smile of hers could make him wild with joy.

“It’s you!” Tang Xia opened her cherry lips in surprise, with amazement flickering in her eyes, “What are you doing here?”

Tang Xia looked around rapidly, finding that the soldiers around were acting normally, then breathed a sigh of relief and walked to Chu Tiankuo getting close to his face, “Are you crazy? Or was the system changed again?”

Chu Tiankuo froze for a moment, seeing Tang Xia’s cherry lips opening and shutting in front of him, then wore a relaxed appearance, “Are you worried about me?”

Tang Xia’s face darkened, “Do you truly regard yourself as the emperor because you are in the imperial robe?”

Chu Tiankuo covered Tang Xia’s soft hair with his broad hand, wearing unprecedented softness in his eyes, “I’m truly the emperor now.”

After pausing for a while, Chu Tiankuo looked at the imperial bodyguards beneath, “Tell my empress, who am I?”

“We pay our respects to you, Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty!”

A deafening cry could be heard clearly, making Tang Xia’s mind freeze for a moment. She covered her cherry lips with her slender fingers, “Are you truly the emperor now?”

Chu Tiankuo raised his eyebrows, “Didn’t you notice that many things have changed?” “Or many strange things have happened.”

Tang Xia frowned her eyebrows as he talked, “Indeed, I almost accomplished my task then. Everything became strange after I fainted. You somehow became the emperor and I somehow became the empress, even Helian Jue is gone now, how can I accomplish my task now…”

Chu Tiankuo’s face darkened, “I locked Helian Jue up.”

“What?” Tang Xia asked surprisedly, “Are you crazy? Did you commit regicide?”

As Tang Xia just finished her sentence, Chu Tiankuo knocked her hard on her head, “I was fulfilling your long-cherished wish.”

Tang Xia wore a depressed appearance, “I’m still here…”

“It seems that you are reluctant to part with Helian Jue?” Chu Tiankuo asked, fixing his cold eyes on Tang Xia’s shoulder, “Do you miss him?”

Tang Xia scorned, “Of course.”

Chu Tiankuo held his fist tight, making several sounds.

“He is my target to conquer.” Tang Xia mumbled. As her words came into Chu Tiankuo’s ear, he felt happy immediately, “He is just your target?”

Tang Xia pondered carefully, “It is more than that. I was a little flipped when I knew that Helian Jue wronged me because he wanted to protect me.”

“Hm?” Chu Tiankuo raised his thick eyebrows, then wore a trace of a bloodthirsty smile, “You were touched by a few words. What a low woman.”

The atmosphere froze for a moment.

“Chu Tiankuo, what do you mean!” Tang Xia frowned her eyebrows, “Helian Jue did it for my own good!” Then she paused for a moment, “Did… did you lock him up?”

Seeing that the woman in front was worried about Helian Jue so much, Chu Tiankuo became so angry that the atmosphere around him went down to the freezing point. His frowning mouth showed his contempt, “Lock him up? Ah, I not only locked him up, but I will also kill him.”

As Chu Tiankuo finished his sentence, the Imperial Study became rather quiet.

“Chu Tiankuo!” Tang Xia frowned her eyebrows, “What do you mean?”

Noticing Tang Xia’s ferocious face out of anger, Chu Tiankuo became more impatient, “What do you mean? Tang Xia, you should know who you are. You are my imperial concubine now! I am your target now!”

Tang Xia froze for a moment, then said without much thinking, “Chu Tiankuo! You narcissist! Who is your imperial concubine? Where did you lock Helian Jue up?”

Tang Xia raised her voice intentionally, making Chu Tiankuo regard it as her fighting back for Helian Jue. Then Chu Tiankuo wore a colder smile on his mouth, “Listen up.” He squinted his eyes with coldness in them and pinched Tang Xia’s delicate chin with his slender fingers, “If you talk about Helian Jue again, I will kill him immediately!”

Then Chu Tiankuo loosened his fingers, leaving several deep fingerprints on her chin which showed how hard he had pinched.

What Chu Tiankuo said made Tang Xia’s heart skip a beat, and her peach blossom eyes filled with fear. As a breeze swept by, the vermilion hairband behind her head fluttered gently in the air, which made her appear like a fairy. Chu Tiankuo was stunned by her beauty.

Tang Xia refrained from her disappointment, then wore a stiff appearance, “I thought you were just arbitrary, proud, and a little unreasonable sometimes. How could you disregard people’s lives! You make me rather disappointed, Chu Tiankuo.”

Tang Xia stepped back with her slender legs beneath the high platform, with tears in her eyes, “I will not regard you as my target. Even if I die of old age or starve to death, I will never try to win your heart, as you are too atrocious and brutal.” Then she took a deep breath, “And I hope we can stop contacting each other.”

“You can go be the emperor, you can go kill whoever you want. I will be Yue Ji. There will be nothing between us.”

Tang Xia said her last words in a quite low voice. However, Chu Tiankuo felt her words like a sharp sword, making him fall into a dense darkness and not stand up again.

“Tang Xia!” Chu Tiankuo shouted angrily.

Tang Xia frowned her eyebrows, then turned her back to Chu Tiankuo, with two lines of tears dropping down on the back of her fair hand gently.

“Excuse me for leaving.” Tang Xia bowed to Chu Tiankuo again, then straightened her body, leaving a bright and shining back in Chu Tiankuo’s sight.

“Your Majesty…” Little Orange stepped forward, finding that Chu Tiankuo wore a heavy appearance, “Should I catch up to Her Grace then explain it to her?”

With a trace of regret flickering in his eyes, Chu Tiankuo thought of Tang Xia’s eyes with tears and realized that it seemed that she was rather disappointed with him as she wore unprecedented gloom in her eyes.

“Everyone get out.” Chu Tiankuo waved his broad sleeves, then closed his lips.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Little Orange obeyed and left.

Outside the Imperial Study.

Tang Xia blocked the sunlight with her hand and closed her peach blossom eyes tightly, then wiped the tears on her face quickly before Anran could notice.

“Let’s go back to my palace.”

As Tang Xia walked a few steps, Little Orange’s rushed voice came from behind, “Your Grace, Your Grace!”

Then Tang Xia paused.

“You were walking too fast, Your Grace. It took me so much effort to catch up with you.”

Tang Xia still wore her poker face, then looked Little Orange up and down indifferently, “Did Chu Tiankuo send you?”

Little Orange was stunned by her words then said in a lower voice, “Only you dare to call His Majesty by his name in this world, Your Grace.”

“It is not his world!” Tang Xia said immediately, wearing an angry appearance.

Little Orange lowered his head with an ingratiating smile on his mouth, “You are right, Your Grace.”

Then he paused for a moment, “But victory and defeat are both common in battle. When the old dynasty is replaced with a new one, no one dares to say something, no matter how the state is regulated.” Little Orange said rightfully, “Now that His Majesty has overthrown the previous dynasty, we cannot deny that the world belongs to him.”

As Tang Xia felt anger rolling inside her, she was quite displeased to see Little Orange defending Chu Tiankuo, “Anyhow, he cannot kill innocents.”

Little Orange bent his body lower, “Your Grace, you have come all the way from the previous dynasty, so you have learned much about the former emperor. You previously let the ‘tyrant’ become your husband, why not try to accept His Majesty who did not kill everyone in the previous dynasty?”

Tang Xia froze for a moment.

“I know that you were irritated by His Majesty, but His Majesty has contributed his sincere heart to you. Although others don’t understand, I know it clearly. If you insist on doing so, it will definitely break his heart.”

Little Orange’s words brought Tang Xia’s thoughts back to reality.

“I’m done talking. Please excuse me for leaving.”

Tang Xia gazed at the direction Little Orange left then let out a lonely sigh.

When they went back to Jiaofang hall, Tang Xia stood in front of the window and looked at the bright moon obsessively.

As messages on the bullet screen came in great numbers, Tang Xia was too tired to read them. She hid those messages and looked at the bright moon in a daze.

“Your Grace, Lyuyou asks to meet you.” Anran came in bowing to Tang Xia.

Tang Xia froze for a moment then regained her presence of mind a little, “Let her in.”

Lyuyou came into the room then knelt on the ground, “I pay my respects to you, Your Grace.”

Tang Xia nodded her head, not paying attention to Lyuyou with sadness in her beautiful eyes.

“What is bothering you, Your Grace?” Lyuyou straightened her body. Ever since Anran started to look after her, Lyuyou’s face was gradually looking better. Although Lyuyou looked a little frail, she owned such a gorgeous face.

Tang Xia raised her head murmuring, “Tell me, how I felt about Helian Jue before?”

Lyuyou froze for a moment then pondered for a while, “You respected the former emperor.”

“Respect?” Tang Xia froze for a moment, “Why do you think so?”

Lyuyou wore a smile on her mouth, which appeared gentler in the candlelight, “You did respect him. Maybe you didn’t realize that you stayed neither too far away from him nor too close to him. But at the same time, it seemed that you tried your best to draw near to him.”

Tang Xia’s face froze for a while. Then she pondered on what Lyuyou had said, “Go on.”