Liao Tingyan, this halfway-installed Noble Consort, inexplicably and rather rashly became the mistress of Sima Jiao’s harem. Since Sima Jiao didn’t have an Empress yet, she now represented the highest rank.
Sima Jiao seemed to have a natural fondness for elevating people, frequently making big leaps in rank. Not only did he promote her, but with a sweep of his sleeve, Sima Jiao had Liao Tingyan move into the Zigong—the Empress’s palace.
His Majesty had always been willful, and no one could do anything about it. Since he had given the order, no one dared to object, especially as the blood before the throne hadn’t even been cleaned up yet.
After moving into the Zigong, Liao Tingyan thought it was better not to share quarters with Sima Jiao. This way, she could summon her subordinates at night to discuss matters and have Hong Luo bring people back to the Demon Realm to monitor the situation.
Although Liao Tingyan was the only master residing in the Zigong, there were many people coming and going, creating a lively atmosphere in such a large palace.
There was a multitude of palace servants and maids attending to her, at least a hundred at a rough count. In the inner chambers, there were those who served her personally, those responsible for her hair, jewelry, clothes, incense, shoes… from head to toe, even nail coloring had someone specifically assigned to it.
Beyond these, there were people managing her treasury and finances, her tea, food and meals, summer ice and winter coal, garden flowers and trees, lamps and windows, cleaning the palace… Within half a day, everyone was in place with such detailed division of labor that Liao Tingyan could hardly remember them all.
How could a mortal emperor’s life be even more extravagant and decadent than that of a cultivator? Of course, when Sima Jiao was cultivating, he didn’t like having too many people around him. Back then, his senses were too keen, and having people nearby easily affected him, making him particularly irritable. Plus, many tasks could be efficiently completed with magic. In comparison, a mortal emperor’s lifestyle was truly excessive.
Liao Tingyan was pampered like a deity as the maids prepared her and elegantly transferred her to the spacious bed, lit incense, lowered the curtains, and then orderly withdrew.
Liao Tingyan shook out the covers and lay down, sleeping until midnight when she was awakened by someone. Only one person in this world could approach without waking her—Sima Jiao.
“Why are you appearing in the middle of the night again?”
Liao Tingyan wasn’t at all surprised to see the dark figure by her bed. This habit of appearing in the middle of the night was probably written into his initial character settings, just like his dislike for eating.
She recalled a fragment from the past—at Gengchen Immortal Mansion on the Three Sage Mountain, once when she woke in the night, she saw her black-robed Master Ancestor wandering in a strange flower grove, casually killing a beautiful girl. Those flowers were Moon Shadow Lotuses—this thought suddenly surfaced in her mind. As for the girl’s identity, she couldn’t quite remember, probably some unfortunate eliminated contestant.
During the years he was absent, she had recalled many things, especially in the last few days. Though these memories were fragmentary, they made her feel both surprised and emotional—had she been out of her mind to fall in love with such a bizarre person with so many terrible habits?
Sima Jiao sat at the bedside watching her, neither lighting a lamp nor speaking, which would have terrified an ordinary person. But Liao Tingyan feared nothing. She glanced at His Majesty with his slightly heavy dark circles and took the initiative to reach out to him, “Your Majesty, would you like to sleep together?”
Sima Jiao had discovered early on that this person wasn’t afraid of him, but hearing her say this, he paused, “Weren’t you very afraid of me making advances? Why have you changed your mind now?”
Liao Tingyan: “…” No, I was afraid of making advances on you.
Liao Tingyan: “Do you want to sleep or not? It’s very late, aren’t you going to rest?” Ordinary people who stay up late not only get dark circles but also lose hair, and even suffer kidney deficiency. She touched her lustrous black hair with concern, thinking cultivation was still better.
Sima Jiao ignored her words and propped one hand on the pillow, looking down at her: “What are you?”
He examined Liao Tingyan carefully, leaning in very close as if trying to see through her completely.
He was too close, at a distance where they could feel each other’s breath. Liao Tingyan suddenly felt like laughing and kissed him on the cheek. How cute.
“Chu.”
Sima Jiao: “…” He slowly straightened up.
After a while, he said, “Are you a demon? Bewitching the king, what is your purpose? To make me lose my kingdom?”
Liao Tingyan: What nonsense is this? Why are you wildly adding plot to my character?
Liao Tingyan: “…I’m not, I haven’t, don’t make things up.”
Sima Jiao: “Then you’re some kind of spirit, wanting to cultivate using the dynasty’s fortune?”
Liao Tingyan: “…I am not, I haven’t.”
Wait, does my face look that villainous?
Sima Jiao wasn’t listening properly at all. “How did you enter my dreams?”
Liao Tingyan: Huh? Dreams.
She sat up, “You’ve dreamed of me?”
Sima Jiao frowned: “Didn’t you use some method to make me dream of you?”
Hey, you’re quite self-righteous! You think about me, and then blame me?
Liao Tingyan said seriously: “To be honest, Your Majesty, I’m a fairy from heaven who has descended to the mortal world. We’re destined for three lifetimes, which is why I’ve come to find you and continue our predestined relationship.”
Sima Jiao sneered: “Do you think I’m a three-year-old child who would believe such nonsense?”
Liao Tingyan: “Is it that you don’t believe in fairies descending to the mortal world, or that you don’t believe in destiny spanning three lifetimes?”
Sima Jiao without hesitation: “I don’t believe in fairies descending to the mortal world.”
Liao Tingyan: …Damn, isn’t my beauty enough to qualify as a fairy!
Sima Jiao stood up, “Never mind, seeing you try so hard to make up stories to amuse me, I won’t trouble you tonight.” His Majesty was in a good mood as he stood up, flicked his sleeves, and left, clearly not taking her words to heart.
Fine then. Liao Tingyan flopped back onto the bed.
The next day, Liao Tingyan met Sima Jiao’s harem, a group of stunning beauties who came to pay respects to her. On the surface, they all appeared submissive, but in their eyes, jealousy, rejection, calculation, and all sorts of malice were nearly overflowing.
Looking at them, Liao Tingyan recalled that group on Three Sage Mountain, those beauties who died at the start and, except for her, were all eliminated in the end. History has an astonishing way of repeating itself.
It must not have been easy to survive peacefully in Sima Jiao’s harem until now. These were all people who had survived through their efforts and capabilities.
Noble Consort was one of the three first-rank consorts, and the beauties all addressed her as “Madam.”
“Where is Madam’s hometown?”
“If Madam doesn’t mind, feel free to summon us for company when you’re bored.”
When Sima Jiao walked over, he saw Liao Tingyan surrounded by a group of beauties. To him, it was like a cluster of man-eating demon flowers surrounding a trembling little white flower—everyone harboring ill intentions toward Liao Tingyan.
“Noble Consort.”
Liao Tingyan was enjoying the feeling of being surrounded by beauties when she suddenly heard Sima Jiao’s deep tone. He strode over, his face clearly showing he was about to lose his temper. This was normal; out of 365 days a year, he spent 364 of them in a rage.
“What flowers does Noble Consort like?” Sima Jiao first asked this.
Why ask this? Liao Tingyan was puzzled but still answered: “Peonies.” Especially pink peonies, light and translucent, particularly ethereal.
Sima Jiao smiled at her, seeming to also think peonies were nice.
Then he pointed at two of the beauties and coldly said: “Bury these two in the peony garden. Surely next year’s peonies will bloom even better.”
Liao Tingyan: Although these two showed obvious malice toward me, isn’t Your Majesty actively helping me deal with harem beauties a bit confusing? I remember you had a look on your face in the carriage back to the palace like you were ready to see me in trouble.
After driving away the rest of the beauties who were pale with fear, Sima Jiao said: “Aren’t you a demon? Can’t you sense them glaring at you? You didn’t react to being offended. What would you do if they harmed you? One of those two was skilled with poisonous herbs. You were so close to her yet had no precautions at all.”
His eyes were filled with anger at her lack of vigilance.
Demon Realm Boss Liao Tingyan: …May I ask, did you give me any room to show my capabilities? No.
“I’m not a demon,” she said.
Sima Jiao: “Fine, I won’t discuss this with you anymore.”
He pulled Liao Tingyan toward the direction he came from. “You’d better stay with me. Don’t wander off.”
Liao Tingyan finally realized that His Majesty’s condition was quite serious.
She was taken to where the court officials were conducting business. Sima Jiao brought her there, had someone bring a seat and a small table for her, and placed some snacks for her to pass the time.
The ministers were silent for a moment, seeing Sima Jiao sitting in the main seat without speaking. They unanimously pretended not to notice Liao Tingyan’s presence and continued discussing their previous matters.
Sima Jiao had been sitting there just fine earlier, listening to them argue for a while. Then he suddenly stood up and left. They thought His Majesty was impatient with their quarreling and simply walked away, but who knew he had gone to bring back the Noble Consort of unknown origin?
What a benighted ruler! They had thought he wasn’t interested in beauty, but now it seemed he just hadn’t reached that age. Look at him now, wasn’t this just the beginning of his downfall?
Some ministers were deeply distressed.
Liao Tingyan listened for a while and discovered they were arguing about building a canal. This matter seemed to have been debated for a long time and still hadn’t been decided.
One faction in the court said the canal should be built, citing various benefits that would bless future generations and divert the Lan River to prevent its annual floods. Another faction said it shouldn’t be built, claiming it would add burden to the common people. Building a canal wasn’t a simple project; such a long distance would require conscripting many laborers, which would exhaust the people and resources, surely provoking heaven’s anger and people’s resentment. Then there was a fence-sitting faction, standing with one side for a while, then with the other.
Sima Jiao listened without saying a word, letting them argue freely.
Only at the end did he casually say: “Since the Grand Minister of Works says it should be built, then build it.”
The middle-aged man with a beautiful beard heard this and revealed a self-satisfied expression, cupping his hands in salute: “Your Majesty is wise!”
“Your Majesty, please reconsider! Your Majesty must not!” The old man with a beard who had just been eloquently debating almost cried out, filled with despair. The current domestic situation was unstable, various princes and nobles were eyeing the throne covetously, and the court was full of complaints. In such circumstances, they should be [?] instead, but His Majesty… His Majesty clearly understood yet didn’t care at all.
The old man had been Sima Jiao’s teacher for several years and, being relatively sensible, had peacefully been promoted. But now he was extremely worried, weeping openly in the hall. Nothing was more painful than assisting an emperor who could be a wise ruler yet insisted on being a foolish one.
Liao Tingyan, sitting to the side, lost her appetite watching him cry.
That night, she sat by the window, sent a signal, and summoned two demon generals.
“Demon Lord!” the two demon generals said in unison.
Then they received the strangest order of their lives.
Liao Tingyan: “Can you build a canal?”
Demon Generals: “???”
For cultivators who had reached a certain level, moving mountains and filling seas wasn’t difficult. Liao Tingyan didn’t personally handle this but assigned the task to several demon generals under her command.
In less than two days, a piece of news spread widely.
—Heaven has shown its favor! Overnight, a long canal appeared out of nowhere! It extended to Qing County near the royal capital of Yan City!
The newly appeared canal connected the Lan River with the Chi River, solving the Lan River’s flood problem while also addressing the water source issue for the four northern commanderies. It also connected several prosperous counties in the south, creating a convenient river trade route.
All the court officials nearly went mad. Liao Tingyan saw the old man who had been crying his eyes out three days ago almost perform an elderly disco dance, enthusiastically praising Sima Jiao to the skies, saying how His Majesty was blessed by heaven.
On this day, Liao Tingyan truly witnessed what it meant to tell blatant lies. Everyone was praising Sima Jiao. Overnight, everyone forgot he was a tyrant.
Sima Jiao: “…”
That evening, a group of demon generals who had finished digging the canal came to report.
“Demon Lord, we have completed the canal!”
Liao Tingyan praised them with satisfaction: “Well done.”
After just a few words, Sima Jiao suddenly burst in, his footsteps just outside the curtain.
Liao Tingyan was startled. She had instinctively thought that Sima Jiao was now an ordinary person and easy to deal with, so she hadn’t been very cautious. Seeing him about to enter, Liao Tingyan instinctively moved her hand and transformed the two demon generals into two cats.
This was one of the interesting spells she had learned over the years—transforming into cats, dogs, mice, or birds, all were possible.
After doing this, Liao Tingyan realized what she’d done. Looking at the two confused demon general cats before her, she thought, am I stupid? She could have just had them use their powers to become invisible since the current Sima Jiao wouldn’t be able to detect it anyway.
Sima Jiao had already entered and saw the two awkwardly standing ugly cats: “What are these?”
Liao Tingyan: “Ah… stray cats, haha.”
The two unfortunate demon generals: “…” Demon Lord, why are you creating the impression that you’re having an affair behind the former Demon Lord’s back? We’re innocent!
Sima Jiao approached Liao Tingyan, pressing her down on the couch, “The canal matter as you’re doing, wasn’t it? And you still say you’re not a demon?”
As things seemed to be developing toward an indescribable plot, the two demon general cats huddled in the corner: “…” Should we leave? If we stay and watch, we’ll be killed, won’t we?
Liao Tingyan gestured to them—leave quickly!