She both laughed and cried as she spoke: "Emperor, you once made solemn vows to both Consort Shu and me. In the past, I prided myself on stealing your love from Consort Shu, but now it's my turn to have it stolen by another. They all say you secretly love Concubine Zhen. How laughable! You don't love anyone; you love yourself the most. I'll wait and see... how long will your love for Concubine Zhen last?"
The love of an emperor... ha ha ha ha, the love of an emperor...
The Xuanwu Emperor closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again. "Concubine Zhen is not like you and Consort Shu. You received my love, and your ambitions swelled, wanting power above all others. She loves me and would do anything for me. She told me that good love is about mutual effort, not like you two who only know how to take."
Jiang Xinyue had also told the Emperor that when two people who are in love and suitable for each other are together, they should lift each other up. Thinking of each other should make them feel so sweet that they bubble with happiness, automatically forgetting all unpleasant things, feeling that nothing in the world is more important than seeing their loved one.
He recalled his past with Consort Shu, filled with anger, jealousy, helplessness, inferiority... and guilt. This was what Concubine Zhen called emotional drain.
If you encounter such a person, run fast!
He didn't understand what Concubine Zhen meant by "PUA," but he grasped the general idea.
Concubine Zhen hadn't named names; she had just seen some folk stories in a book. There happened to be a couple like this, and they didn't end well. That's what inspired Concubine Zhen to speak up.
She said that in the story, the daughter of a marquis constantly put down her husband, making him feel unworthy of his wife, so he gave his heart to her without reservation.
Then the marquis's daughter could do whatever she wanted in her husband's family.
There was another story that was very similar to him and Concubine Li. A young couple in love gradually grew apart due to family interests. The wife was obsessed with helping her brother, always fighting for the best and most advantageous things for him, even though her brother was good-for-nothing, causing trouble and doing bad things.
In the end, the man punished his wife's family but was blamed by his wife. They became estranged and never spoke to each other again.
Concubine Zhen said, "This wife is really foolish. She's a married woman now, which means she's part of her husband's family. Why does she always side against her husband when conflicts arise? If this continues, the affection between husband and wife will be completely worn away. If it were me, if my family did something wrong and my husband punished them, I would thank him! He can pull my family back from the wrong path in time. Why should I blame him?"
Indeed!
When the Song Family did wrong, he was just fulfilling his responsibility as an emperor, being accountable to his subjects. Why should Concubine Li hate him for it?
She always thought about the Song Family. Why couldn't she think about him, the Emperor?
Those who claimed to love him all had ulterior motives.
At this time, there wasn't a term for "love brain," but if the Xuanwu Emperor had lived in modern times, he would have realized that Jiang Xinyue was cultivating an emperor with a "love brain."
Good love is about mutual effort, right?
In this year, Concubine Zhen had endured so much for him without ever mentioning it or asking for compensation. Even when he promoted Concubine Zhen's father, she was worried about accepting it, fearing he would face difficulties with his officials because of her.
Thinking of the other person makes you so happy that you bubble with joy and forget all unpleasant things, right?
Every time he went to Hexi Palace, he smiled more than usual. Looking at Concubine Zhen's face, he felt a warmth in his heart, as if it was filled with something.
If this wasn't love, what was?
Jiang Xinyue would laugh if she heard these words.
Every time the Xuanwu Emperor came, Jiang Xinyue would start acting up. One moment she'd feel nauseous, the next dizzy, then she'd have muscle cramps. She'd either direct the Emperor to massage her or pour her water. Sometimes when she slept, she'd make him fan her, otherwise she'd cry in discomfort.
The Xuanwu Emperor was kept so busy his feet barely touched the ground.
How could he not feel filled to the brim? He was practically overflowing.
When sleeping alone in Chengqian Palace at night, he would suddenly spring up from the bed: "Beloved, drink some water. Be careful, it's hot."
Jiang Xinyue called this terrifying inertia.
By repeatedly touching and lowering the Xuanwu Emperor's tolerance threshold for her, any outrageous thing she did in the future would seem normal and reasonable to the Emperor. This was how he and Concubine Zhen usually interacted.
If anyone thought Concubine Zhen was being presumptuous, he would think they were making a fuss over nothing and had never seen what true love looked like.
In the past, Jiang Xinyue had raised a Tibetan Mastiff. At first, it wouldn't let her touch it at all, growling and baring its teeth if she even tried to pet it.
The more it growled, the more excited Jiang Xinyue became, and the more she wanted to pat its head, pull its ears, and tickle it.
For half a month, Jiang Xinyue was scratched several times by it, quite severely.
But she didn't give up. She still fed it every day, petted it, and manhandled it...
After a while, the Tibetan Mastiff got used to it. Even if Jiang Xinyue slapped it or kicked it, it wouldn't show any resistance.
Not only did it not resist, but it would also rub against Jiang Xinyue's legs with its huge body, acting coy.
If even a fierce creature like a Tibetan Mastiff could be tamed to be so docile, how much easier would it be with the Xuanwu Emperor, who could understand human speech and was even more pliable.
In her past life, she trained dogs; in this life, she trained a dragon. In short, she was Concubine Zhen, the master dragon trainer.
People, like animals, have inertia.
When the concubines in the harem flattered and accommodated the Emperor, he would act high and mighty in front of them.
Jiang Xinyue was different. She ordered him to do this and that, and if he didn't do well, she would cry, making the Emperor comfort her.
This way, she became the one in the high position, making the Xuanwu Emperor feel she was different from others while also letting him experience the novel sensation of serving someone.
However, Jiang Xinyue still maintained a certain balance, taking it slow, imperceptibly making the Emperor accept their female-superior-male-inferior dynamic.
Every time the Emperor did a small task, Jiang Xinyue would praise him with an admiring face: "It's so good to have Your Majesty here. Otherwise, I would be too exhausted. Your Majesty, do you know that you've taken half of my burden? I thank Your Majesty."
Or she would say: "The Emperor is the finest man and the best father I've ever known in this world. When our child is born, I will surely tell him that his father tells him stories every day and feeds him nutritious soup."
With one compliment after another, she praised the Xuanwu Emperor so much that he could hardly tell which way was up. Every day after finishing his imperial edicts, he would be eager to go to Hexi Palace to tell stories to the child and serve tea, pour water, and fan Concubine Zhen.
More than once, Magpie sat in the long corridor and sighed: "The Emperor is truly too diligent. If he keeps working so hard, we'll all be out of a job."
"Involution" was also a term invented by her mistress.
Her mistress said: "The Emperor truly loves whatever he does. With his talent, once he starts to 'involve,' everyone else will lose their jobs."
She was referring to the workplace of future generations.
