So what if she's my sister-in-law? You seduced me first.

The soup pot on the stove was boiling hot. Ning Yu sat quietly at the dining table, drinking the golden jade soup in her bowl. She only ate a few bites of the dishes that the palace servants added for her, and she hardly touched her chopsticks.

Xie Xun glanced at her slender waist, his gaze lingering on her slightly uncomfortable face with an ambiguous expression. "Can't eat?"

Ning Yu certainly couldn't eat. Ever since she became pregnant, she had been having a poor appetite. The smell of wild game hot pot, which she used to love, made her want to vomit. As a result, she didn't have much of an appetite for other foods. She was also afraid that the emperor would find out, so she kept enduring it.

She ignored him, and Xie Xun, feeling awkward, said, "If you can't speak properly, I'll pull out your tongue."

Ning Yu paused slightly, a self-deprecating glint in her eyes, then put down the soup spoon, got up, and left.

Xie Xun grabbed her wrist. "Where are you going?"

"I'm full, I'll head back now. Your Majesty, please continue your meal."

"Did I say you could return?"

Grabbing her wrist with a little force, he forced her to sit on the round stool. Ning Yu struggled, but even with her wrist turning blue from the pain, she couldn't break free.

The palace servants inside the hall were already kneeling on the ground in fright, and the nanny who was serving the dishes had respectfully retreated behind the beaded curtain.

Ning Yu's face paled slightly, but she didn't say a single kind word to him. Xie Xun loosened his grip and glanced at the head aunt.

The latter immediately understood, led everyone away, and respectfully closed the door as they left.

The hall fell silent. Xie Xun pulled her over, grabbed her waist, and pressed her onto his lap.

The whole movement was fluid and fast, almost in the blink of an eye. Ning Yu looked up and saw that before his hands could even get close, he had already leaned down and kissed her.

I didn't eat enough yesterday, but I let her off the hook because she was too tired.

Ning Yu had no idea what he was thinking. Annoyed, she grabbed his restless hand and said in a broken voice, "Aren't you going to deal with your official duties?"

There is a holiday in the palace during the New Year. In previous years, the emperor would put down his pen for a month. However, the southern expedition could not be delayed. Xie Xun did not give himself a holiday. The Ministry of War was still preparing food and weapons in full swing.

The Great Xia's battle plan had already been finalized; His Majesty had mentioned it during the court session before the new year.

Winter was coming to an end, and the war in the south could no longer be left to wait anxiously. Several fierce generals from the northwest were dispatched to Yanmen Pass to open up the southwestern battlefield, so the Ministry of War naturally had no time to rest.

However, because of the New Year, there will be tea parties and various banquets in the palace, so they don't dare to bother His Majesty all day long. Xie Xun has plenty of time to spend with her these two days.

"Can't you go about your business after I've finished sleeping?"

That bastard, he's deliberately trying to annoy her. Ning Yu didn't want to be silly with him so early in the morning, so she turned her head away from his kiss. Her voice was cold, but it couldn't hide the alluring hoarseness.

"I haven't finished eating yet."

Xie Xun bit her neck, "You just said you were full."

"Can't I be hungry again?"

"I'm hungry too."

Ning Yu's lips were kissed until they were red and luscious, but he choked her, and the anger in her eyes could not hide her helplessness.

It's a vicious wolf that can never be satisfied.

"It hurts, it still hurts."

Xie Xun paused, remembering his roughness the night before, and knew she wasn't lying, so he grabbed her neck.

Ning Yu's expression immediately cracked, her eyes twitched with anger, and before she could utter a curse, her mouth was covered.

Xie Xun didn't even show up for the royal family banquet. The elders of the royal clan waited for most of the night. The Grand Princess was so angry that she didn't sleep well all night. When she heard that the Emperor had returned from the ancestral worship ceremony in the morning, she went straight to Changxin Palace.

The palace servants guarding the outer hall dared not stop the Empress Dowager, and could only say that they should inform her first. However, the Grand Princess's dignified face was full of fierceness, which frightened the palace servants so much that they all knelt down on the ground.

The gates of Changxin Palace were tightly shut. When Ning Yu heard the hurried footsteps of the palace servants outside, her kneeling body trembled violently, and her wet, red-rimmed eyes looked at the man above her.

Xie Xun sat in the chair, his eyes filled with desire. His rough fingertips caressed the tears on her face. When he heard someone push the door open, he pulled her up and helped her get dressed.

After getting up, Ning Yu looked at his face indifferently with red eyes. Their eyes met, and she didn't scold him again. She silently walked to the back of the washroom.

Xie Xun frowned, sensing that her expression just now was very strange. He got up to chase after her, but the palace gates outside opened.

In the bathroom, Ning Yu couldn't help but lower her head slightly. She rinsed her mouth with water, her thick eyelashes trembling, and a bitter smile appeared on her lips.

I went to her to do this, so when I was unhappy, I punished her to force her to compromise, and when I was happy, I rewarded her to appease her.

Unshackled her, but that was only because she had given in and won his favor, allowing him to continue sleeping.

Ning Yu rubbed her forehead wearily, thinking of the carrier pigeon that had flown away. It should be soon.

The Grand Princess glanced at the two pairs of bowls and chopsticks on the table, her gaze coldly fixed on the inner palace. "I've come to see you all, and Ning Shi doesn't even know to come out?"

The lustful glint in Xie Xun's eyes and brows was no longer visible. He leaned back in his chair with an indifferent expression, about to speak, when Ning Yu came out of the washroom with a respectful expression.

She didn't even look at the two of them, bowed her head in greeting, and turned to walk out of the hall.

Xie Xun asked, "Where to?"

She'd been in there for so long and he hadn't asked her a single question, but as soon as this Ning family girl came out, his eyes were glued to her. The Grand Princess looked at her with disgust, wondering how she'd never known her son was such a lecher.

No, I wouldn't call him lustful. He's been on the throne for so long and his harem only has Ning Yu as his only woman. Sigh, I'm worried. If Ayan finds out, will he still stay obediently in the Northwest?

"Since His Majesty and the Empress Dowager are talking, I will leave now."

"No need, come and sit down."

Ning Yu didn't even turn her head. "I'll go check on Qinghe first."

It was that maid again. A flash of displeasure crossed Xie Xun's eyes, but he didn't stop her and had someone follow her up to serve her.

After everyone left, the Empress Dowager, who had originally wanted to offer some advice, lost much of her will. Ning Shi was so disrespectful, yet the Emperor didn't say anything, showing great indulgence.

"How are you going to explain this to your older brother?"

"If Mother were to come and say this, there's no need to say it; my elder brother's wife died long ago at the bottom of the cliff."

The Empress Dowager looked at him and said, "As an emperor, you shouldn't have such a weakness."

A weakness? Xie Xun tilted his chin up and rubbed his head. Maybe so. He really couldn't bear to see her leave him and wished she would follow him day and night.

"The elders have reservations about making her empress. If they knew she was once your elder brother's wife, how could the officials in the Northwest remain indifferent? Are you going to be a foolish or tyrannical ruler, killing everyone?"

Everyone was telling him that he didn't want her.

Xie Xun didn't want to keep hearing these words, and his cold eyes swept over them. "Eldest brother's wife is dead. She was the sickly daughter of the Ning family, raised at a villa. She was only brought back last year. Does Mother understand?"

The power struggle between the imperial mother and son was a battle for power. The palace servants waiting in the outer hall were too frightened to look up when they heard the Empress Dowager's angry voice from inside.

Xie Xun's face darkened, and the air in the hall became oppressive and heavy. The Grand Princess picked up the book that had been thrown at her feet, lowered her eyes, and carefully read it word by word, her face turning slightly pale.