In the middle of the night, she opened her eyes and saw a dark figure sitting silently by the bed.

If it were an ordinary person, they might have cried out in alarm, but Liao Tingyan did not. She lay there calmly, even taking a moment to glance at the window that had been blown open by the wind.

No maidservants came to close the window, probably not daring to come over upon hearing the noise at this time. So the window remained wide open, continuously letting in cold wind and rain into the palace.

Liao Tingyan immediately realized who the dark figure was, because this was not the first time she had woken up in the middle of the night to find someone sitting beside her. In the past, when she slept with Sima Jiao, there were occasionally situations like this. Sima Jiao couldn't sleep and would often sit by her side in the middle of the night, staring at her or just lost in thought.

After being startled a few times, she got used to it.

The two looked at each other in the darkness for a while, and Liao Tingyan was the first to call out, "Your Majesty."

As soon as she spoke, Sima Jiao suddenly reached out to her. His fingers were still as cold as ever, caressing her cheeks, chin, and neck. They lingered on her delicate neck for a while, rubbing until Liao Tingyan wondered if he was going to strangle her to death. Only then did his fingers continue downward, untying her sash.

In the silence, Liao Tingyan only felt the cold touch on her skin, like falling snowflakes melting and seeping into her skin, chilling her to the bone. It was also like the coolness brought by a snake crawling, her body instinctively shivering from the sense of danger.

Liao Tingyan didn't make a sound or move. The quilt and clothes made a slight rustling sound as she watched Sima Jiao lean over, pulling open her nightgown to reveal a large expanse of skin.

Liao Tingyan: "..." This seems like the beginning of being taken, but why is this person's breathing not even disordered, so calm, definitely confirmed to be sexually cold.

"You're not afraid?" Sima Jiao finally spoke his first sentence.

She wasn't really that afraid. Who told him to keep hovering on the edge of sleeping with her or not, making her nervous every time. That nerve of hers was now slack and couldn't be tense anymore. Instead, there was a feeling of just sleep with me already and stop keeping me on tenterhooks.

"Your Majesty, there's a small hand warmer in the quilt. Warm your hands first?"

Yes, the only thing she couldn't stand right now was how deadly cold this person's hands were. It felt really chilly on her body.

It was winter now, with light snow during the day and cold rain outside at the moment. The cold wind was whooshing into the room. He lifted her quilt, opened her clothes, and touched her slowly. Did he really think her body warmed up quickly and wasn't afraid of the cold?

Sima Jiao laughed and lifted his hand, placing it on her face. "My hands are too cold, aren't they?"

Oh, so you know it yourself, sir! Liao Tingyan scooted further into the quilt. "Otherwise, Your Majesty can lie down first?"

Please warm your hands before touching randomly. You're going to give me goosebumps!

Sima Jiao only paused for a moment before getting on the bed. Liao Tingyan caught a whiff of a bloody smell, not knowing if it was an illusion. But after Sima Jiao took off his outer robe and casually threw it on the ground, that faint bloody smell dissipated with it. Liao Tingyan didn't dwell on what Sima Jiao had done to get his body covered in a bloody smell. She took the opportunity to pull back the quilt that Sima Jiao had tossed aside earlier, covering them both. Damn it, with Sima Jiao blocking the wind outside, it finally wasn't so cold.

Unfortunately, the warmth on the quilt had already dissipated. Liao Tingyan secretly fumbled with her feet under the quilt for a while, pulling out a hand warmer and stuffing it into Sima Jiao's hand. "Your Majesty, warm your hands."

Although her tone was gentle and attentive, Sima Jiao could imagine her expression. "Are you looking down on me?"

Liao Tingyan: "... How could I?"

Sima Jiao said, "Did I never tell you that your acting skills are very exaggerated, even inferior to the little eunuchs serving outside the palace?"

Liao Tingyan: So you're saying your harem is promoted based on acting skills? Because I'm so refreshingly different from the other little demons and have no acting skills, that's why you turned around for me and gave me a promotion?!

Sima Jiao gently stroked her hair, his tone also incredibly gentle, "You see, you're so useless, you must be easily fooled. Others just need to say anything in your ear and you'll believe it all."

If you're going to talk about things, just talk about things. Why bring personal attacks into it?

Liao Tingyan took advantage of Sima Jiao not being able to see and rolled her eyes wildly in the darkness, but her mouth still had to cooperate with this patient, "Yes, hehe, I'm not as smart as Your Majesty."

Sima Jiao suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms, his tone subtle, "Do you believe what you heard today?"

Liao Tingyan quickly brought out her life-saving technique, "I didn't hear anything, I don't believe a single word!"

Sima Jiao pinched her fingers one by one and brought them to his lips, "Oh? But what those two maidservants said was all true."

Liao Tingyan: "..." How the hell do you expect me to respond to this?

Sima Jiao seemed to have no intention of letting her continue, suddenly starting a new topic out of nowhere, "Is the Noble Consort willing to bear a child for me?"

Why suddenly ask this kind of adult question? And what's the point of asking such a question, it's not like she has the guts to say she's unwilling. Liao Tingyan could only roll her eyes again and stare straight at the top of the canopy, using a tone as devout as if facing a priest at a wedding altar, "I am willing."

Sima Jiao exposed her in a second, "You're lying to me."

Damn it, how annoying! Liao Tingyan bit her cheek, suddenly reaching out to touch Sima Jiao's chest, pulling open his clothes and doing everything he had just done to her—in a word, groping.

Sima Jiao grabbed her hand, his tone odd, "What are you doing?"

Liao Tingyan was tightly held by him and couldn't move. She thought, what are you nervous about, is your Sima Jiao's "jiao" actually the same "jiao" as delicate?

*T/N: The "Jiao" in Sima Jiao has the same pronunciation as the "Jiao" for delicate, but the former is written as 焦 and the latter as 娇.

"Didn't Your Majesty not believe me? I'm just expressing my determination." Liao Tingyan had a face full of fake smiles.

Sima Jiao was silent for a moment. "Forget it, I believe you."

Liao Tingyan secretly let out a sigh of relief. Well, actually, she really didn't want to have Sima Jiao's child, or rather, she didn't want to have anyone's child.

In this world, women giving birth was simply walking through the ghost gate. It wasn't like her original world. If she wasn't careful, her life would be lost. It was better to forget about such a dangerous thing. Besides, did Sima Jiao have that function?

She glanced at their bodies pressed together under the quilt. "I will never leave my own bloodline behind in this lifetime," Sima Jiao said slowly by her ear at this moment.

Liao Tingyan thought back to the big secret she heard today. Actually, this secret wasn't too shocking to her. Thinking carefully, it felt more like an "so that's how it is" realization.

In the afternoon when she was pondering the original plot alone, she discovered that things that weren't too clear before all made sense now. For example, she could now be certain that Sima Jiao's illness was caused by inbreeding. Also, Grand Tutor Duan's unhesitating betrayal and defection seemed more reasonable if Sima Jiao was not born from Empress Duan.

Perhaps sensing her distraction, Sima Jiao pinched the back of her neck, causing Liao Tingyan to hastily retract her head. She reached back to feel it and touched Sima Jiao's hand. Suddenly she paused, "Your Majesty's bracelet is gone?"

Sima Jiao didn't expect her to notice such a detail. He narrowed his eyes and stared at her in the darkness for a while before replying, "It broke accidentally... Do you know what that bracelet is?"

Liao Tingyan: "It must be something of deep significance to Your Majesty, right?" Otherwise he wouldn't always reach for it when his emotions fluctuated.

Sima Jiao laughed loudly, "That was something from my biological mother. You heard it, she burned herself and the entire palace to the ground, leaving only this thing behind."

This should have been a pitiful answer that evoked sympathy, but due to the strangeness and mockery in Sima Jiao's tone, it felt discordant.

"I really despise that crazy woman." Sima Jiao stopped laughing and said in a drifting voice, "I despise her, and I despise my father too. The Sima clan has always produced many lunatics. My biological father Sima Yu was even crazier. He drove my mother insane, gave birth to me, and this pair of siblings created yet another madman."

"Let me tell you a secret." Sima Jiao suddenly became excited, as if recalling something joyful.

Liao Tingyan really didn't want to listen, but Sima Jiao was clearly in a sudden confessional mood and wouldn't allow her not to. She could only listen to these imperial family secrets in despair.

As if whispering, Sima Jiao said by her ear, "When I was little, that woman always wanted to kill me, because I was the evidence of her incest. So she fed me poison, but I didn't die. Gao Mi saved me, several times. Later, Sima Yu took me away from that woman, and not long after, she died..."

"The year Sima Yu went mad, he killed Empress Duan, Empress Duan's sons and two other princes overnight. Only I didn't die. Everyone thought Sima Yu was paving the way for me, to protect me, but they were all wrong. When Sima Yu first went crazy, the first one he wanted to kill was me. But I escaped, I was lucky and got away. I even knocked over a candle and burned Taiji Palace."

"They thought Taiji Palace was burned down by Sima Yu himself after killing so many people. Hahaha, actually it was me who set the fire." Sima Jiao was beside himself with joy, as if it was an especially hilarious matter.

However, just a few breaths later, the laughter abruptly ceased. Liao Tingyan felt she was about to have a fit from his erratic mood swings. She cowered there waiting to see how he would go insane this time.

"I've only told this secret to you. Besides me, only you know now." Sima Jiao held her intimately, cupping her cheek with one hand. "Now you know my secret."

Liao Tingyan felt her hair stand on end from his tone. She couldn't help asking, "Is Your Majesty going to kill me?"

Sima Jiao made a questioning sound, "Why would you think that?"

Liao Tingyan: Then why are you talking like a psycho before silencing someone!

She really felt so tired. Sima Jiao's illness was too severe tonight, she was having trouble enduring it. Mainly enduring sleepiness. Liao Tingyan felt a bit of the despair of a trapped animal and asked with a yawn, "Your Majesty, do you want to sleep?"

Sima Jiao: "I'm not sleeping... You can still fall asleep?"

Liao Tingyan: "I can." Her biological clock was very strong.

Sima Jiao experienced the feeling of being rendered speechless. After learning so many secrets, this was her reaction? Too calm, and not scared to tears either. He felt a bit unhappy, but after a while felt a bit happy too.

He couldn't help hugging Liao Tingyan and kissing her. "You're different from others. I like you this way."

Liao Tingyan: Hehe, thanks. Of course I'm different, I'm the female lead after all.

"So you have to always stay by my side. If one day you don't want to anymore, I'll kill you." This psycho said sweetly while caressing her face affectionately.

Hearing this, Liao Tingyan felt relieved. Didn't this mean as long as she stayed with him, nothing would happen? Simple. She didn't want to leave anyway, she was quite satisfied with palace life.

"Yes, Your Majesty, this concubine will never leave." She guaranteed without hesitation, patting her chest.

Sima Jiao: "..." This didn't scare her at all?

He felt a subtle sense of unwillingness. "Are you really not afraid of me at all? Everyone has feared me since I was young."

Liao Tingyan: Are you a child! What kind of unconventional way of acting spoiled is this!

She hugged Sima Jiao's neck and kissed him a few times. "Your Majesty, this concubine wants to sleep. Can we talk more tomorrow?"

Heh, isn't this just acting spoiled? She could do it too.

Discovering Sima Jiao really stopped talking, Liao Tingyan paused in surprise. She thought, so pillow talk was this effective?

She remembered something and tightened her arms, probing, "Your Majesty, those palace servants by this concubine's side, could you spare their lives?"

Sima Jiao buried his head against her neck and casually made an affirmative sound. "Then I'll spare them."

Easier than she imagined? Liao Tingyan thought, the ancients didn't deceive, historically fatuous rulers couldn't resist pillow talk.

She stroked Sima Jiao's hair a couple more times. "Your Majesty, the window blew open from the wind. It's too cold inside. Can you close it?"

He got up and went to close the window directly.

Liao Tingyan: "...Wow."

Author's note:

Although it looks like a harmonious night, there were actually many dangerous options where answering wrong would lead to bad things happening.

Our precious Consort perfectly evaded them and successfully survived another time.