The wicked imperial concubine is courting death again; the comments section teaches her how to win w

A string of question marks appeared on Qi Yitang's forehead.

Is this something that can be said?

What a terrible emperor! It's one thing to be obsessed with love and romance, but now he's even concocted a suicide pact. If his ministers found out, they'd be furious!

The comments were right; Xie Ling is indeed hopelessly in love.

But the next instant, the image of countless hungry wild dogs swarming around and devouring the corpse flashed through Qi Yitang's mind—

In fact, Xie Ling didn't even live to see her.

He died at the age of twenty-seven...

Qi Yitang suddenly lost her smile.

Xie Ling was afraid that she would be bullied after his death, but without her, he would not have become a "foolish" emperor who died because of his lust for beauty.

Xie Ling was by no means muddleheaded. He left the cold palace at the age of eight, led expeditions against the barbarians in the north, and personally led military campaigns, expanding the territory of the Great Qian Dynasty by thousands of miles. He should be a heroic emperor whose name will be remembered for all time.

They say he's lustful, but he didn't actually have much of that in his past life.

She served as his concubine for a total of four years. For the first two years, they treated each other with icy respect, and for the last two years until his death, their relationship was one of hatred... without love.

"Tangtang?"

Just when Xie Ling thought she didn't like talking about this, Qi Yitang suddenly hugged him tightly, "Okay, I'll die first and wait for you down there, then we'll be reincarnated together."

Xie Ling paused for a moment, then lowered his head and kissed the top of her head. "Okay."

……

Back at Yaotang Palace, gifts from the Qi family were delivered.

But Qi Yitang didn't bother to look at it. Instead, she instructed the palace servants to place the glass lantern in the most conspicuous position so that it could be seen as soon as one entered the room.

Xie Ling observed this, and her eyebrows twitched slightly.

Tangtang, what is this...?

My heart felt as if it had been warmed by something soft, but at the same time, the shadows that had been hidden in my heart for many years also surged up silently.

Xie Ling never told anyone that he had ever hated the Qi family.

Her older brother was alright; he was stationed in the northern frontier year-round and rarely returned home. Occasionally, he would come back with some furs and dried fruits from the north, and after exchanging only a few words with his sister, he would leave again.

Fourth Brother is also good; he's only slightly smarter than her, and he always puts her first when it comes to eating, drinking, and having fun.

The brother and sister together look like two children who haven't grown up.

In order to prevent Tangtang from entering the palace, the two even planned to elope – their bags were packed, the money was raised, and they were just one step away from boarding the ship to the south, but they were intercepted by Qi Wenyuan and his men at the dock.

Xie Ling knew all about these things, but never blamed Qi Jiyun for them.

As the elder brother, he could neither refute his father nor defy the imperial decree, so he could only clumsily use that awkward method to help his sister escape.

Although it was rash, it was also sincere.

In addition, the parents and the other two older brothers were also negligent.

Ning Nishang is pitiful because she lost both her parents and lives under someone else's roof, but doesn't her Tangtang deserve our sympathy?

They could only see Ning Nishang's loneliness, but not their own daughter's sadness. She gave up half of what belonged to her and was then taught to "give way to her cousin" and "learn from her cousin's gentleness and be more sensible."

Why do we need to be sensible?

Only those who have been wronged will learn to be sensible, while those who are favored will take it for granted.

His Tangtang should be pampered and raised with love, getting whatever she wants and throwing tantrums whenever she wants.

Thinking back to the first two years after she entered the palace, she disliked herself, and the palace seemed like a cage to her.

In the dead of night, she would huddle under the covers and cry, begging to go home, wanting her father, her mother, and her brother.

But after crying and making a fuss, she would sit alone by the window, murmuring that she could never go back, that her parents and brother were biased, that they loved her cousin more than she loved her, and that it seemed like she had no place in the family anymore...

During those times, Xie Ling stood outside the palace, listening to her suppressed sobs, feeling an overwhelming pang of heartache.

Even though Xie Ling knew that half of her suffering came from him—if he hadn't insisted on her entering the palace, she wouldn't have had to endure those grievances.

But he can't let go, not in this lifetime.

Later, he would occasionally summon Qi Jiyun to the palace, and the two siblings would cricket together, which improved her mood considerably.

Some time ago, in order to bring down Qin Zhenxiong, Xie Ling deliberately put on a show and intentionally dismissed Qi Wenyuan from his post.

It hasn't recovered yet.

During that time, the Qi family lived in constant fear, but Xie Ling watched coldly without feeling a ripple in his heart.

If he weren't afraid of hurting Tangtang's feelings, he would have even issued an edict ordering the Qi family to move out of Shengjing and get far away so he wouldn't have to see them or be bothered by them.

Later, Xie Ling changed her mind again.

Tangtang is narrow-minded. Although she has changed a lot since being reborn and seems much happier on the surface, Xie Ling knows that in the dead of night, she may still remember the days when she was treated differently.

Though they may not say it, those tiny thorns remain in their hearts.

For example, right now, her gift is placed in the most conspicuous place, visible every day and longed for every night.

As for those belonging to the Qi family, they only deserved to be thrown into the storeroom to gather dust.

That would be the best...

She felt sorry for him because he was being neglected by the Empress Dowager; in essence, she felt sorry for herself because she was once the one who was favored and ignored by her parents.

In contrast, only he and she truly empathized with her; her parents and brothers had to take a backseat.

Xie Ling never let her know about those dark, obsessive, almost consuming thoughts, but they always existed within her.

As they spent more time together and their love deepened, it didn't diminish; instead, it grew stronger and stronger like vines, densely entangling his very being.

Qi Yitang finally found a suitable position and stepped down to Xie Ling's side.

"How does it look? Does it look good here?"

Xie Ling smiled slightly. "It looks good, it looks good anywhere."

……

The banquet of the previous dynasty has ended.

She had been playing around with him all day and hadn't mentioned the Qi family once. Xie Ling was very satisfied.

But that night, he had a dream.

In the dream, a gang of notorious bandits appeared in the imperial city, captured him and his wife Qi Wenyuan, and forced them to the edge of a cliff.

"Your parents and your man, only one can live."

"You choose... the one who gets abandoned, I'll throw him off the cliff and let him fall and drown in the river."

In her dream, Qi Yitang stood a few steps away, her face pale, her lips trembling. She looked at her parents, then at him, unable to make a choice.

Xie Ling called her name in his dream, but she couldn't hear him. She just stared at him blankly, her eyes full of struggle and hesitation.

The next day.

Qi Yitang was still half asleep, her eyelids heavy and stuck together, when she suddenly felt a burning gaze fall directly on her face.

She instinctively shrank further under the covers, but the gaze was so intense that she was forced to open her eyes a crack.

"The inkstone...?"

Xie Ling's face was very close, the tip of his nose almost touching hers. His eyes were dark and heavy, filled with weariness and a strange kind of persistence.

"Tangtang, if I, your parents, and your brother all fell into the water, who would you save?"