TFRLTOP Chapter 60 Part 2

“Drink.” His tone was curt.

“…I’ll drink it later.” Mingming tried to wriggle her way out.

“Now,” Emperor Wanqian cut her off flatly. “I’ll watch you drink it.”

He added coolly, “That medicine is for people to drink, not for watering your money tree.”

Mingming: “…”

She pulled a face, staring miserably at the big bowl of medicine.

“System…”

She wanted the system to activate a taste-block, but it told her once it was on, it would last a full hour.

Meaning she wouldn’t be able to taste her actual meal either.

QAQ

She sneaked a glance at the emperor. His whole posture screamed “No medicine, no food,” and there wasn’t a shred of room for negotiation.

Pinching her nose, she downed it all in one go.

So bitter. So bitter. So bitter!

There was no way she’d taste anything else after this.

She set the bowl down, looking utterly soulless. Taking advantage of the moment, the emperor slipped a piece of malt candy into her mouth.

“Rinse out the bitterness before you eat.”

The sweetness rescued half her life.

Mingming rolled the candy from cheek to cheek, smacking her lips as if tasting more. “This damned emperor… does he actually have a thing for me?”

“He said Jiang Wenyuan sent me to seduce him. Well, am I seducing him? Looking at him now… maybe? If so, I’d better make good use of it!”

During the meal, Mingming avoided opening her mouth too wide—her lip was still sore. Eating was hard enough for her, but she played extra attentively toward the emperor, picking dishes for him and pouring his wine. The more she tried to please, the darker his expression grew.

Gao Fu came to remind him it was time for court affairs. The emperor set down his chopsticks and left first.

Before going, he shot Mingming a glare. “Behave yourself.”

Damn.

Mingming thought this man was impossible to serve.

—

Side hall of Hongyang Palace, Council Chamber.

The officials were bickering—first pointing fingers at each other, then joining sides to point fingers at him.

“Your Majesty…”

“Your Majesty…”

Emperor Wanqian was already annoyed, ready to hurl a memorial to shut a few mouths, when he suddenly caught two ministers chatting away in the middle of the noise. He focused—Jiang Wenyuan and Luo Changsong.

With regret, Luo Changsong said, “Brother Jiang, why did you send all three of your daughters into the palace? I was planning to propose to my son. I thought our two families could become in-laws. What a pity.”

Luo Changsong had only one son, Luo Anyong, a fine-looking young man who had just come of age this year. Born to his first wife, who died young, he had neither remarried nor taken concubines since, and valued his only son dearly.

“Is that so?” Jiang Wenyuan looked shocked. “I had no idea. Which of my daughters had a connection with your son?”

The emperor frowned. Luo Changsong oversaw the Ministry of War. Thank heaven the two families hadn’t formed ties by marriage.

Jiang Wenyuan could not be kept around much longer. The man needed to be executed.

As for the girl… how close was she to her father? Best to keep it from her, at least at first.

But which daughter had caught Luo Anyong’s eye?

“No real connection, but my son was smitten at first sight. It was your youngest daughter… ah, no point saying more now. What’s done is done.”

The youngest? Jiang Zelan—his concubine Lan Liangdi.

The emperor narrowed his eyes. Could it be they already had feelings for each other before she entered the palace?

That time when he suspected she was pregnant, her hesitation, was it because she was thinking of him?

At home, as a concubine-born daughter, she must have suffered. And Luo Anyong was a legitimate heir.

The emperor himself was also born of a concubine.

So that’s why she wanted distance from him.

That’s why she sent Jiang Fuling to tempt him.

And at lunch earlier, she had suddenly changed—fawning over him. Another trick to confuse him.

His gaze grew colder and colder until the whole chamber fell silent.

He had no interest in politics anymore. Dismissing the court, he went straight to Luoxue Pavilion to settle the score.

—

Back in her quarters, Mingming was still scheming how to use the emperor’s little infatuation to her advantage. The system kindly offered strategies, but she shut them all down with, “Not listening, not listening, you sound like a broken record.”

She was still laughing with the system when, out of nowhere, Emperor Wanqian appeared at the door in silence.

Mingming thought it was a miracle she hadn’t dropped dead from fright yet. Her little heart must be iron-strong.

He walked up and brushed a finger across her cheek.

“Still thinking about Luo Anyong?”

“Who?” Mingming asked blankly.

Her confusion seemed genuine, but the emperor was not convinced.

On the way over, he had thought—maybe if she bore a child, she’d settle. A child would anchor her heart.

Let her give him a crown prince, and he’d forgive everything.

Yes. A good idea.

He bent down, scooped her up, and carried her toward the inner chamber.

“Your Majesty—what are you doing?”

“What do you think?” He gave a low laugh, laying her on the bed. “Lan Liangdi, give me a child.”

I want you—body and soul—to belong only to me.

Mingming: ???

Didn’t the script just skip a few chapters?!

She blurted, “No.”

The emperor’s brows drew tight, his voice dropping an octave. “You refuse?”

“Someone could die! I won’t. If you want a child, find someone else.” Mingming scrambled backward until her back hit the wall.

What a joke. Last time she had cheats and modern medicine, and it had nearly killed her. Here, in ancient times, childbirth was no different from bashing your head on a wall.

Actually, the wall would be quicker.

“You truly won’t give me a child?” The emperor’s fury simmered beneath every word.

Mingming looked up at him, terrified, but forced her voice steady. “Unless you want to see me dead.”

She refused.

Good. She refused.

That meant her heart had no room for him. She would rather die.

So the blind old man had been right—he was destined to be alone… No. Not yet. He would never let her go, even if her heart didn’t belong to him.

Towering above her, he stared down for a long moment before suddenly calling out, “Attend me.”

Gao Fu hurried forward and knelt.

“Bring a bowl of birth-control soup.”

Mingming thought, So I’m doomed today after all… but wait, who’s supposed to drink that?!

His eyes were terrifying. Was he going to force it down her throat?

That would be brutal.

Also… uh… could pain-blocking be turned on in bed?

System? System?? Activate it now!!

The system stayed silent. Looked like it had been cut off.

I’m done for!

Soon, a servant entered with the bowl. Mingming shrank further into the corner, bracing for him to have it forced on her.

But the emperor took the bowl himself.

He stared at her for a long moment, then suddenly gave a chilling laugh. Tilting his head back, he drank the entire thing in one swallow.

Then, with a flick of his wrist, he smashed the bowl onto the ground.

As shards scattered across the floor, Emperor Wanqian’s face darkened, his gaze locked heavily on her. His voice came low and cold:

“Come here.”