Villainous Emperor (5)
With a “pu” sound, Jiang Ruoyu felt as if she had heard a faint laughter.
However, when she came to her senses and looked around, there was no one around.
Jiang Ruoyu composed herself and felt that she might have had an illusion. She pursed her lips, burdened by her thoughts, and followed behind her nanny.
She didn’t know if it was her imagination, but after walking for a while, her stomach didn’t feel as bloated. She secretly breathed a sigh of relief, believing that it must be the magic secretly cast by the Goddess Sister. She muttered to herself that she would have to repay the Goddess Sister in the future, and once again, she heard a light laughter.
Jiang Ruoyu couldn’t help but shake her little head. Perhaps she was just too happy today, so happy that she even had auditory hallucinations.
“Princess Sixteen,” at this moment, the nanny in front turned around and asked with concern, “Are you feeling better? If you’re feeling better, shall we go back to the room?”
In fact, Jiang Ruoyu didn’t really want to go home. She even thought about finding an excuse to go to the Temple of the Goddess for a stroll. However, over the years, she had become accustomed to reading people’s expressions. Now that autumn had arrived and the nights were getting colder, the nanny’s expression clearly indicated that she didn’t want to stay outside any longer. Jiang Ruoyu thought for a moment and whispered, “Okay.”
Jiang Ruoyu followed the nanny back to the Tranquil Pavilion.
The nanny attended to Jiang Ruoyu, instructing her on how to use the toiletries. Jiang Ruoyu obediently listened, and afterwards, she blew out the candle and lay down on the fragrant bed.
At this moment, the celebratory sounds outside had subsided, and the palace was silent, with only a dim oil lamp left by the palace maids for the night. Jiang Ruoyu lay on the soft bed, but she couldn’t fall asleep no matter what.
She was afraid that if she fell asleep and woke up, she would find that it was all just a dream: she was still the neglected girl in the Cold Palace, and her mother had not received effective treatment…
Jiang Ruoyu tossed and turned in bed for a long time. She didn’t know who to talk to about her feelings. She thought about chatting with the Goddess Sister in her heart, but she thought the Goddess Sister must be very busy. She had already helped her a lot, and bothering her like this would be pushing it. She was tangled for a long time and finally let out a sigh like a little adult in the dark night.
Little did Jiang Ruoyu know that shortly after she sighed, a faint laughter came from the air again. A soft hand caressed her little belly, gently and slowly rubbing her swollen stomach. Immediately after, a familiar voice, full of laughter, sounded in the darkness, “What’s wrong? Can’t bear the fullness in your stomach?”
Seeing the little villain staring at her with wide eyes, her face turning red, Song Xu Yi couldn’t help but widen her smile and teasingly said,
“Ah! Can’t bear it anymore? You’ll have to give birth to more little babies for me in the future…”
Catching a glimpse of the little girl’s long eyelashes trembling, she shyly retreated into the covers. But seemingly afraid that Song Xu Yi would leave, she poked her head out of the covers and looked at her with an adorable expression. Song Xu Yi’s heart was on the verge of melting. She had never imagined that this little villain could be so beautiful and cute!
“She’s so adorable!” Song Xu Yi couldn’t help but exclaim to the system, “System, I must take good care of her and raise her to have better values than just her appearance!”
Although the system couldn’t contact the Lord God, it had managed to establish contact with the main system a few days ago. The main system sporadically sent a message back, instructing it not to interfere with any of Song Xu Yi’s actions in this world, especially personal relationships.
The system also came to understand that Song Xu Yi’s actions in these worlds had probably already been noticed by the Lord God. If they wanted to stop it, they would have done so long ago. It wouldn’t wait until this world. It was likely that the main system saw Song Xu Yi’s excellence and decided to forgive her violation of the “no falling in love in the small world” rule…
“Alright, alright!” The system also became more relaxed, even laughing meaningfully at Song Xu Yi, “Not only is she cute, but she’s also beautiful. She definitely genuinely wants to have children with you. You can do anything you want with her…”
“That’s right, I never thought a villain could be this clueless,” Song Xu Yi, however, didn’t catch the deeper meaning in the system’s words and sighed with some concern, “She’s so clueless now, I bet even if I sold her, she would thank me for finding her a good place…”
“Sigh… this palace is a treacherous place. I have to teach her how to protect herself!”
“As long as you’re happy!”
Seeing the obvious concern in Song Xu Yi’s eyes, as well as the sparkling eyes and uncontrollable smile on the little villain’s face when looking at Song Xu Yi, and considering the developments in the previous world, the system felt like it had already figured out the future story for the next few decades.
Perhaps it was because the previous world was hindered by Song Xu Yi falling in love, at this moment, the mindset that once tried to stop Song Xu Yi emerged again. Seeing Song Xu Yi once again entangled with this woman as if it were destined, the system suddenly felt some anticipation: When the future little villain really wants to have a baby with Song Xu Yi, the system wondered what expression Song Xu Yi would have…
Song Xu Yi had no idea that her good partner, the system, was secretly prepared to enjoy the show. She laughed as she looked at the little villain in front of her, while the thoughts of the little villain echoed clearly in her mind—
“It feels so comfortable when the Goddess Sister rubs my belly!”
“The Goddess Sister is so beautiful!”
“How does the Goddess Sister know that I want to have a baby with her? Can she hear what I’m thinking?”
“Oh no, does the Goddess Sister know that I once wanted to eat her biggest offering fruit? Will she take everything back?”
“Sob, sob, Goddess Sister, please don’t blame me! If you want to blame someone, blame only me. Let me go back to the Cold Palace! Let my mother stay here. If you like babies, I’ll give birth to them for you in the future. However many babies you want…”
As Song Xu Yi listened to the little girl’s inner ramblings and observed the changing expressions on her face, she couldn’t help but pinch the little girl’s belly lightly.
“I can indeed hear your thoughts,” Song Xu Yi smiled and spoke, “When I see Xiao Ruoyu happy, I feel happy too. For now, I don’t want Xiao Ruoyu to go back to the Cold Palace. Xiao Ruoyu can sleep at ease…”
Catching a glimpse of Jiang Ruoyu seeming to breathe a sigh of relief but still gazing unwaveringly at her, Song Xu Yi thought for a moment and continued, facing Jiang Ruoyu’s sparkling eyes, “And my good treatment of Ruoyu actually has my considerations. It’s because I believe Ruoyu is a good child who will grow up to be an important figure, protecting countless people. That’s why I’ve extended my help to Ruoyu.”
“But Ruoyu must understand—I can be interested in you, but naturally, I can be interested in other children as well. I can help you for a while, but I can’t help you for a lifetime…”
“So, if Ruoyu wants to permanently escape the fate of returning to the Cold Palace, ultimately, you can only rely on yourself.”
Song Xu Yi’s original intention was to make the child less naïve and gullible, but she didn’t expect Jiang Ruoyu’s eyes to still be bright as she looked at her. Jiang Ruoyu earnestly glanced at Song Xu Yi and softly spoke, “Goddess Sister, it’s different.”
“Father Emperor helps me because of the benefits you promised him. The palace servants treat me well because they dare not defy Father Emperor’s orders… Their good treatment of me, in the end, is for their own benefit. They don’t actually like me.”
“But when you say you’re happy to see me, you always smile at me,” Jiang Ruoyu closed her eyes shyly, “And, I sought you out myself.”
“I believe you. I’m not afraid anymore. I will obediently go to sleep soon.”
“But can you wait for me? Don’t look for other children yet. I will work hard and definitely become the pillar of the country that you mentioned.” The little girl’s long eyelashes trembled, her mouth curled up, and she grabbed Song Xu Yi’s hand that was stroking her belly, gently hooking her little finger.
“I promise you.”
Who could resist such a fragrant, adorable, good-looking, sweet-talking and well-behaved little bundle?
The more Song Xu Yi stayed with her, the more she found Jiang Ruoyu adorable. With a heart full of maternal love, she waited until Jiang Ruoyu fell asleep before returning to the temple to continue her cultivation.
Due to the rise of the Goddess, the Jiang royal family in the future also maintained reverence for the Goddess. Almost the entire country worshipped the Goddess. The original soul supported the Jiang royal family not only because of her mission but also because her cultivation grew with the belief of the people of Jiang.
However, although the original soul enjoyed the worship of the people of Jiang, she couldn’t be considered a good protector of the kingdom. She only cared about her own cultivation and paid little attention to the suffering of the people in Jiang.
At first glance, Jiang appeared to be a powerful country that had absorbed several small nations in recent years. However, upon closer inspection, Jiang relied heavily on military might, and the people of the country had long accumulated grievances. Additionally, Jiang failed to handle the relationship with the people of defeated kingdoms, resulting in strong conflicts among different ethnic groups within Jiang. This led to widespread internal unrest, and the male protagonist gained military achievements during these internal conflicts.
In the future, Jiang Ruoyu, wielding the Enchanted Sword, would bring chaos to the Three Realms and fall into darkness, likely absorbing the grievances of the people.
Regardless of the future, since Song Xu Yi had replaced the original soul, she naturally had to take on the responsibilities of the original soul and protect the people of Jiang.
During this period, Song Xu Yi’s divine consciousness scanned the entire Jiang and discovered that the situation in Jiang was worse than she had imagined. The most dire situation was in a county in the south of Jiang, where it hadn’t rained for three to four months. The people there were incredibly pitiful, and in some places, they had even resorted to cannibalism.
Song Xu Yi pondered that Jiang Ruoyu’s situation had already improved, so she exerted all her efforts to make it rain in that county. She controlled the rainfall carefully, ensuring it didn’t cause floods due to excessive water and thoroughly nourishing the entire region.
The rain lasted for nearly half a month, and the situation in that county finally eased. When the news reached the capital, the Emperor became even more convinced of the prophecy about Jiang Ruoyu being the “Emperor’s Companion’s Star.” Remembering the words spoken by the Goddess in his dream about “good upbringing,” the Emperor uncommonly began to care about this child whom he had once forgotten.
Song Xu Yi concentrated wholeheartedly on the task of bringing rain, nearly depleting her magical power. She lost herself in deep meditation for a while before gradually recovering. However, the measurement of time in the Divine Realm differed from that in the Mortal Realm. When Song Xu Yi woke up, she heard Jiang Ruoyu’s voice, sounding incredibly disheartened and even on the verge of tears.
“Goddess Sister, do you also find me foolish? Is that why you ignored me for such a long time?”
