The Empress Who Had Never Felt So Relaxed Before

Twice in a row, the incense fortune had surged, and the second time, Ye Qinglian had witnessed it with her own eyes.

At that moment, her thoughts were in a daze.

Perhaps Chu Ning really had been bestowed upon her by the heavens, and perhaps the heavens had brought the two of them together.

Actually, in many ways, Ye Qinglian didn't dislike Chu Ning. She even thought he was quite reliable...

But because of her personality, she wasn't willing to show her approval.

Besides, Chu Ning was bound to get carried away if she praised him.

Praise him today, and tomorrow he'd be climbing into her imperial bed!

She could take things slowly. Her attitude was already clear: she trusted Chu Ning. And since he had brought such great fortune to the Great Gan Dynasty, as long as he didn't go around flirting with other women, her feelings toward him wouldn't sour too much.

Of course, that was on the condition that he didn't try to usurp the throne and seize the kingdom.

Otherwise, the only news she could send out would be that the Emperor Consort had died of illness and been buried in the imperial mausoleum...

As she thought this, she sat in Qianqing Palace, where Chu Ning was cooking in front of her.

He had changed out of his Dragon Robe and into his usual clothes. Ye Qinglian, sitting nearby, watched curiously.

"These ingredients really aren't found in the palace. Where did you get them?"

"When I have nothing to do, I sneak out of the palace to find some ingredients."

"Sneak out? How do you get out?"

"I fly out."

Ye Qinglian's mouth twitched. "Xiao Bing must have sneaked you out. You can fly?"

Chu Ning smiled. "Fine, don't believe me. Your husband really is an otherworldly expert. A very powerful one."

Ye Qinglian narrowed her eyes. "Oh? How powerful? How far above me are you?"

"By several thousand floors, maybe."

Ye Qinglian gave a soft snort.

"There's certainly a difference of several thousand floors between us."

But Ye Qinglian kept her eyes on his back and spoke in a serious tone. "Remember to practice that cultivation method when you have time. Don't slack off. Xiao Bing said you have some talent for cultivation. I'm not asking you to reach the heights of power; I just want you to live a long life. That way, you'll live a few more years. Otherwise, in a few decades, you'll be old and frail. If our future child sees you, they might think you're the Ye family's Old Ancestor."

Chu Ning smiled and agreed, promising that he'd stay healthy and live a long life.

Ye Qinglian didn't say anything more.

She would keep an eye on him, and she'd have Xiao Bing keep an eye on him too.

"By the way, where's Xiao Bing? Isn't she your personal maid? Shouldn't she be with you at all times?"

"She's been making rapid progress in her cultivation lately, so I sent her to the Ye Family Holy Land. She'll only come back at night."

"Back at night? What a shame."

Ye Qinglian kicked Chu Ning to show her displeasure.

Chu Ning laughed. "Wouldn't she cultivate faster here in the palace? Maybe she'd make even quicker progress."

"What would you know about cultivation, when you haven't even started?"

After saying this, Ye Qinglian focused on Chu Ning's busy figure.

This guy was handsome, a good cook, and incredibly scheming. His methods might even be more impressive than hers.

But wouldn't piling all those responsibilities onto Chu Ning exhaust him?

Even if he was the child's father, he shouldn't have to do so much...

"How many secrets are you hiding?"

"Actually, there are plenty more things about me. It just depends on whether you want to find out."

Ye Qinglian sneered. "Wouldn't there be fewer if I had it cut off?"

Chu Ning turned around in confusion and let out a startled, "Huh?"

Ye Qinglian hesitated for a moment and said nothing.

But a moment later, her face flushed, and she clenched her fist despite herself.

It seemed she'd misunderstood...

It took Chu Ning a while to catch on.

"Uh... If you want to find out, I'm your husband now, so I don't mind..."

"Get lost!"

Chu Ning hurriedly turned back to the cooking, muttering under his breath.

"You're the one who took it the wrong way. Why are you putting all the blame on me..."

"You're mumbling about something. Focus on the cooking!"

After lunch, the two of them went to Mingde Hall.

The cabinet had already arranged for local officials to carry out the measures in its memorials concerning various matters, including the Jiangnan Flood. They had also arranged for cultivators to grow enough grain to help the people of Jiangnan make it through.

In other cultivation dynasties, the common people were simply left to die.

Only in the Great Gan Dynasty was there an exception to this. Cultivators were expected to do their part to ensure the common people could survive and thrive.

From Ye Qinglian's perspective, all the people under heaven were her people, and cultivators and mortals were equal in her eyes.

Otherwise, Chu Ning would have been executed months ago. He wouldn't have survived until now.

After reading the report, there was nothing else to do.

She really was a little too idle...

Ye Qinglian sat at the desk with her chin propped in her hand, feeling at a loss.

She'd gone from being constantly swamped with work to having so much free time. It might take her a while to get used to it.

This would be the norm from now on.

"Chu Ning."

Chu Ning was examining the palace ornaments nearby. He looked over curiously.

"What is it?"

"Does it tire you out, handling these memorials?"

"You're not planning to dump all the memorials on me, are you?"

Ye Qinglian gave a soft laugh and narrowed her eyes at him. "Isn't that exactly what you want?"

Chu Ning waved a hand.

"There's no such good deal in this world. You get to be the emperor, I handle the memorials, and I get nothing out of it. What a loss. I only do things on certain conditions."

Hearing this, Ye Qinglian asked curiously, "Oh? But you didn't ask me for any conditions today. Are you bringing it up now because you think it'll be more troublesome later, and you want to get out of it in advance?"

Chu Ning nodded solemnly.

"Right, I forgot to set my conditions. Is it too late to do it now?"

"Go ahead and say them first. I'll consider whether to agree."

"If I tell you, you definitely won't agree. So agree first."

"If you'd say something like that, it must be something unreasonable. Forget it."

Chu Ning tried to keep arguing. "Then what was the point of me handling these memorials today? You're making me work for nothing?"

Ye Qinglian's beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, and she gave a mocking laugh.

"Can't you just consider it a way of lightening Child's Mother's workload?"

Chu Ning was speechless and sighed.

"Qinglian, at least give me a chance, will you? How am I supposed to get anywhere when you're guarding against me so fiercely?"

"I'm already pregnant. What are you trying to do?"

She placed her hand on the sword at her waist and eyed Chu Ning coldly.

He hurriedly shook his head and explained earnestly.

"Nothing too outrageous. But, for example, holding hands or kissing, things like that. The latter is obviously more tempting, right? And it wouldn't affect the child..."

Looking at the shameless Chu Ning, who said all this with complete confidence, Ye Qinglian gave him a simple reply.

"Hah. Men."

Her mouth twisted into a mocking grin, making it perfectly clear to Chu Ning:

In your dreams!

She felt carefree, and she'd just eaten her fill.

For some reason, drowsiness came over her—something that had never happened before.

"I'm tired..."

"Then I'll go back to the palace with you and take a nice long nap!"

Ye Qinglian gave Chu Ning a dangerous look. He sighed helplessly.

"I'll walk you back to your palace, all right? You go to your palace, and I'll go to mine. I never said we'd sleep together..."

"Good. Remember that, before you regret it when I cut you down with this Qingping Sword."

Even so, Ye Qinglian was in a good mood.

Since there was nothing else to do, a short nap sounded nice.