It took Li Chengjing a while to recognize this place as the Kunning Palace, the residence of the empress. Ever since Yang Miao was abolished from that position, the Kunning Palace had been left vacant because Li Chengjing himself had no empress of his own. Even though the place was kept clean and tidy, an empty palace with no residence would inevitably give a cold and desolate feeling.
But the Kunning Palace in front of his eyes now was full of vigor and vitality. From the exquisite and elegant furnishings, one could see at a glance the amount of care its mistress had put into its upkeep and the good taste she had.
Li Chengjing naturally noticed the bizarreness of the situation. He didn’t notice anything out of usual before he went to bed, and plus, there was no one in the world who could replicate the exact same Kunning Palace as he recalled it, so it was impossible for someone to play a trick on him. Li Chengjing, therefore, fell to one conclusion: that he was having a very realistic dream.
After a while, he saw a gorgeously-dressed woman walking elegantly into the room. Her facial features felt vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t recognize who she was.
It was his dream; was it possible for someone he didn’t know to appear? Li Chengjing felt more and more weird, but what happened after that puzzled him even more. These people seemed to be unable to see him. The palace maids were busy shuttling back and forth, and, to Li Chengjing’s surprise, they called the beautiful woman ‘Empress.’
Empress?
Hearing this title, Li Chengjing suddenly had some strange feelings. There seemed to be a strong premonition guiding him, but at the same time, something was blocking in front, making him unable to see the road ahead.
Later, he also saw a pair of children running in. They were no more than five years old. Even at such a young age, the little girl already possessed such refined facial features and a pair of gem-like eyes — a bud of stunning beauty just like her mother. However, what shocked Li Chengjing the most was her brother.
The boy looked much like the young version of himself.
Li Chengjing soon learned that the boy’s name was Mingqian, the eldest son of the current Emperor, and soon to be appointed the Crown Prince. As for the girl, her name was Mingyue, the most beloved princess of the imperial family. The siblings were fraternal twins.
Such twins were also called dragon and phoenix twins. For some reason, Mingqian seemed quite distressed about his figure, worrying that he had accidentally gained too much weight and damaged his image as the crown prince. Li Chengjing was particularly vexed when he heard this — it was normal for growing children to eat more, so which irresponsible person actually said this little guy was fat?
Moreover, Li Mingqian had a well-proportioned body, clearly having a great figure even at a young age. Who on earth dared to say he was fat?
Maybe because he was still childless at this age, but Li Chengjing felt a particular fondness for the two children. Strange to say, but there seemed to be indescribable closeness between him and them. Taking advantage of his invisibility, Li Chengjing stayed in the Kunning Palace and watched as mother and children chatted over the dining table. After the meal, the woman took the children back for a nap. Under the dim light, her side face was surprisingly very beautiful, and Li Chengjing found himself unable to turn his gaze away.
Later in the afternoon, Li Chengjing followed the children to the side hall and watched in silence as they practiced their writing. Li Chengjing was extremely satisfied with this dream. Although they were not his children, he was strangely feeling proud of them. Perhaps, heaven pitied him for being too lonely and decided to give him a happy family in the dream.
Li Chengjing was ready to wake up from the dream anytime. But time passed, and when the sky was getting dark, the eunuch guarding the door suddenly announced the arrival of ‘His Majesty.’ Hearing this title, Li Chengjing was stunned for a moment, and a feeling of displeasure akin to having his territory invaded suddenly arose in his heart.
He was aware of his abnormal reaction. There were countless emperors throughout the ages, and the title of ‘His Majesty’ was not his alone. This woman was the empress, so it was obvious that her husband was another emperor.
But being rational didn’t stop him from getting upset. Li Chengjing turned around with a sullen face, wanting to see what kind of person this emperor was. But to his utmost shock, he saw his own face.
It’s him? No, Li Chengjing quickly realized that it couldn’t be him. He had never married, let alone had any children. How could he have such a happy family — with a wife and children of his own? Could it be that he had been too busy with governmental affairs recently, which affected his psyche and caused him to have such a dream that manifested his inner desire for a family?
Li Chengjing suddenly felt a little embarrassed. It seemed that he was indeed in dire need of a break. To think that he was exhausted enough to have such a dream… however, this was not over yet. Li Chengjing watched as the man who looked exactly like him walked into the palace, had dinner with the family, and then went to check on the twins’ studies before seeing them off to return to their respective palaces. Later, in the dead of night, the husband and wife engaged in their nighttime activity, all under Li Chengjing’s own eyes. Needless to say, he was embarrassed beyond belief and tried hard to avoid the scene, but for some reason, his sense of touch and smell were bound to the man, and even the sensation of a certain part of his body was also interlinked.
The usually solemn and upright emperor was tormented all night by an erotic dream. Thanks to this bizarre experience, his biological clock, which was accurate to the second over the years, actually missed a lot and caused him to wake up late.
Once the eunuchs finished dressing him, Li Chengjing immediately departed for the morning court with a solemn face.
His Majesty today was the same as usual: calm, diligent, wise, and unperturbed. But only the person himself knew how many times he had lost focus during the entire court session.
That night, the moment Li Chengjing put down the imperial brush, a strange expectation arose in his heart.
He himself despised this feeling, yet he couldn’t help but look forward. Sure enough, once he fell asleep, he found himself seeing the continuation of yesterday’s dream.
Days passed, and the dream continued coming in. Li Chengjing almost suspected that he was haunted by some mysterious being. Otherwise, how to explain the bizarre dream he was having every night? Especially the moment when he saw himself doing that sort of thing with a woman he didn’t know. It didn’t take him long to start getting curious about the woman.
The answer came unexpectedly. It was another steamy night. After the two finished, Li Chengjing watched as the woman collapsed on the bed. The beauty was exhausted, but the man seemed to be pretty energetic, “What should you call me?”
“Your Majesty……”
“Wrong. Try again.”
“Your Highness?”
“Wrong again. Dear Yujin, if you cannot get it right, you should be punished.”
The beauty’s black hair was spread messily over the red bedding. She glanced over, and finally answered in a low, tired voice, “Ninth Uncle…”
When Li Chengjing woke up again, he was still petrified.
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T/N:
There are only two chapters left, so I will be doing a double release on Thursday! Please keep following this journey to the end and have a nice day!
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