Ji Bozai had instructed Governess Xun early on not to let Mingyi have any contact with those in the know, nor to let her encounter people from Muxing City. Mingyi’s routes through the palace were all planned, and she should not have run into He Lun under any circumstances.
Ji Bozai had never felt such panic before. He left the main hall, not even taking his palanquin, and sped forward on his flying sword.
Mingyi, like him, had never been treated kindly since childhood and found it difficult to trust others. But over the past year, she had slowly come to trust him, able to fall asleep peacefully in his arms and confidently wait for his reinforcements even in the final moments of battle.
As long as he stood behind her, she could even fall back without worry, knowing he would never let her hit the ground.
But regarding He Lun, he truly had no other choice. At the time, when he needed Muxing City to deploy troops, the Imperial Court gave him this condition. Ji Bozai thought it was no big deal then – marrying someone he didn’t love couldn’t become much of a bargaining chip. He was most skilled at dealing with women and could even turn He Lun into his bargaining chip.
He could keep it from Mingyi. As long as Muxing City surrendered without a fight, he could divorce He Lun and make Mingyi his empress. For this, he made a great sacrifice to exchange with Twenty-seven and cut off all her connections with those in the know from Muxing City, thinking it was foolproof.
He didn’t expect that paper still couldn’t wrap fire.
On the hasty journey, Ji Bozai thought of many excuses for himself. For instance, that the position of empress would only be hers, that he and He Lun hadn’t even consummated their marriage, that if she could just hold on for two more months, he could clear all obstacles, avenge the Bai clan, unify the world, and give her supreme glory.
However, when he caught up to her outside the inner court and grabbed her wrist, seeing the red swollen handprint on her face, Ji Bozai felt a pain in his chest and couldn’t say a word.
“For a while, I thought being Mingyi would be happier than being Mingxian. She could cry and throw tantrums, rely on others, have someone hold her dear, and cherish her like a treasure.”
He didn’t speak, but she smiled, “But now I think my thoughts were truly naive. Mingxian is much stronger than Mingyi. He never falls for anyone, so naturally, he won’t be deceived by anyone.”
Seeing his panicked eyes, she tilted her head: “I don’t blame you. Like me, you’ve never experienced what love is like, so naturally, you can’t love others.”
“No…” he began stiffly, “I can.”
“Then it’s that you can’t love me.” She nodded, “That’s right, you’ve always liked obedient, gentle, and docile women. I’ve never been that.”
His fingers tightened until they turned white. Ji Bozai gritted his teeth: “We’ve been through so much together, are we going to separate because of this?”
“Your Majesty, you exaggerate. We were never together, so how can we separate?” She smiled, her eyes curving, “I am the City Lord of Chaoyang, and you are the Emperor of the Six Cities. I am your subordinate and will continue to obey your commands in the future. So you need not fear losing Chaoyang City. I will be more obedient and sensible as a subject than as a woman.”
Shaking off his hand, Mingyi bowed to him.
Ji Bozai had always disliked losing composure. He was always elegant and graceful, never lowering his head even when negotiating or asking for favors.
But now, he truly couldn’t care about much else. He quickly blocked her path and said softly, “Come back with me, and I’ll give you an explanation, alright?”
The smile on Mingyi’s face faded slightly: “Do we need to make things any clearer, Your Majesty?”
Ji Bozai’s breath caught, and he looked at her helplessly.
“I’m no longer interested in you. Whatever you plan to do, it has no meaning to me anymore. When I look at you now, I only think of how foolishly I was kept in the dark for over a year. In my heart, there’s nothing left but hatred.”
“What I hate most in this life is deception.”
“There are many men in this world. I don’t need to cling to one who has deceived me. Now that I’m a City Lord, I can have any kind of man I want.”
“You dare!” he said anxiously, “Who in this world besides me is worthy of you?”
Mingyi looked at him seriously: “Your Majesty, you don’t truly like me either. It’s just that I know martial arts, Yuan Power, and artifact forging, unlike other women. So you think such a unique woman should be yours.”
“But you’ve seen it too. Other women just lack the opportunity to learn like me and lack the chance to be treated equally. Just give them a chance, and there will be a second Mingyi, a third Mingyi, plenty of them.”
“The first time we parted, I was too calm and not in a hurry to look back, so you were annoyed. You wanted to coax me back, to make me deeply entangled and unable to leave you, satisfying your desire to conquer.”
“Now, I’ll satisfy you – I’m truly very sad and heartbroken because, for the past year, I truly regarded you as my husband and held you dear in my heart.”
“But you can’t both hurt someone’s heart and expect them to eagerly stay by your side, can you?”
Lightly patting his shoulder, Mingyi withdrew her hand and walked away without looking back.
Ji Bozai stood there, stunned.
He had never heard such harsh words before and felt too annoyed even to reach out and try to keep her.
He had already lowered himself so much, why wouldn’t she even give him a chance to save face?
He was now the Emperor. If she just turned back, she could be the Empress. Why was she so disdainful, as if all his efforts over the past year were a joke?
What did she mean by he didn’t truly like her? How could she be so certain?
Yes, she guessed one thing right. The first time they parted, it was her nonchalance that triggered his competitive spirit. After all, in his twenty years of life, he had never failed with women. There were plenty who were heartbroken for him, plenty who cried and begged to stay by his side. Why wasn’t she upset at all? Why did it seem like he was the one who was upset?
But did she think that their subsequent nights together and walking side by side were all due to his competitive spirit?
After the discomfort in his chest, irritation prevailed. Ji Bozai turned and walked back, thinking coldly that since she wouldn’t give him a chance to save face, he had other ways to make her return. After all, Chaoyang City was now at the Emperor’s feet. She might feel better venting her anger for now, but could she truly become estranged from him?
“Master?” Bu Xiu followed him, worriedly supporting his arm.
“I’m fine,” he sneered, “I’m perfectly fine.”
“Your previous illness hasn’t fully recovered, and now…” Before Bu Xiu could finish speaking, he saw his master collapse forward.
The accumulated fatigue of over a year finally took its toll. Before losing consciousness, Ji Bozai gritted his teeth and gave one last order: “Prepare to attack Muxing.”
Muxing was the easiest of the cities to conquer without deploying troops. As long as their Princess He Lun could become the Empress, as long as Ji Bozai could promise to pass the throne to the son born to Princess He Lun in the future, it would suffice.
smh ji bozai how disappointing