A pretty young woman popped out from a pile of straw, crossing her arms with a displeased look.

Glancing at Chen Yun's expression, she said disdainfully, "I thought it was someone important, but it's just a minor official. What kind of daughter could an official from a small place like Hexia raise to make you so attached? They say she's the most beautiful woman in Hexia, but I think she's just average."

Chen Yun remained silent, ignoring her words.

Seeing this, the young woman became even more angry. She was Qin Wuxia, the only daughter of the Lord of Southern Qin, who had grown up spoiled and pampered since childhood.

She had never been ignored like this before, but looking at Chen Yun's handsome and upright face, she couldn't bring herself to truly get angry at him. Feeling a belly full of frustration, she said irritably, "Weren't you just trying to ask about your beloved? Why did you stop short of asking?"

Chen Yun sighed softly, his eyes somewhat desolate. "I'm just a commoner, and now Lady Liao is the Noble Consort. There's no need for me to ask and get overly involved, lest I tarnish her reputation for no reason."

Seeing his unrequited longing, Qin Wuxia felt both jealous and resentful, her face flushing red. She wished she could immediately meet this Liao Tingyan and have a good comparison with her.

Some days ago, dissatisfied with her father arranging a husband for her, Qin Wuxia had impulsively run away in a fit of anger, even shaking off a few guards along the way, just to hide and make her father worry, so he wouldn't force her to marry. Who knew that after recklessly riding for half a day with two maids, they got lost.

Unfortunately, they also encountered bandits who killed the two maids, robbed them of their money, and intended to violate Qin Wuxia. At that critical moment, Chen Yun happened to pass by and saved her life.

Since then, Qin Wuxia had latched onto Chen Yun, falsely claiming to be a lady from a wealthy family who had been abducted, asking him to escort her for a distance.

When Qin Wuxia was at her most helpless and frightened, Chen Yun had descended like a savior to rescue her. With his good looks and upright conduct, how could Qin Wuxia, at her age when girls are most fantasizing about romance, not be moved?

But she was arrogant and proud. Even though she had some girlish thoughts about Chen Yun, she looked down on his commoner status. As a result, after interacting, not only was this man completely uninterested in her, but he also had an unattainable beloved in his heart. This made Qin Wuxia fall even harder.

Over the past few days, under Qin Wuxia's persistent questioning, Chen Yun had "reluctantly" told her about his acquaintance with Liao Tingyan.

"She was also saved by you?" Qin Wuxia couldn't help but wonder if Chen Yun had treated Liao Tingyan as gently as he had treated her when he first rescued her.

When Chen Yun saved Qin Wuxia, her clothes had been in disarray, but this man hadn't even glanced at her, quickly covering her with a garment and comforting her frightened self. Just thinking that this treatment wasn't unique to her made Qin Wuxia feel dissatisfied.

"Since you have the grace of saving her life, yet she still abandoned you and chose that tyrannical Emperor Sima Jiao, it shows she's just a woman who admires vanity and isn't worthy of your devotion!"

For the first time, Chen Yun got angry with her. His face darkened as he said, "Lady Liao and I only met a few times, and I'm just a commoner, so it's normal for her to look down on me. My feelings for her are just one-sided. She chose to enter the palace because the Emperor selected her. She is absolutely not someone who admires vanity. Don't slander her again!"

It was also because of witnessing Chen Yun's anger this time that Qin Wuxia became even more hostile towards Liao Tingyan. In her interactions with Chen Yun, she always made things difficult for him and deliberately caused trouble, but Chen Yun never got angry with her, only silently satisfying her demands and tolerating her temper.

However, she never expected that just casually saying a sentence about Liao Tingyan would make this good-tempered man angry. Feeling wronged, Qin Wuxia became even more resentful. Gradually, seeing Chen Yun's deep affection, she couldn't help but fall for him, thinking that if this man had met her first, perhaps he would have adored her the way he adored Liao Tingyan.

Qin Wuxia: Hating Liao Tingyan more every day!

"We've rested enough, it's time to continue on our way." Chen Yun secretly observed Qin Wuxia's expression, feeling very satisfied.

Sitting in the donkey cart, he opened the system panel and looked at the deviation value, breathing a sigh of relief. Under his calculations, the storyline on the female supporting character Qin Wuxia's side finally hadn't deviated.

Calculating the right time to save her, then pretending not to know her identity and interacting with her alone - he understood women like Qin Wuxia very well. To make her truly fall in love with him, he had to first string her along and make her yearn for him. So, following the original story, he had crafted a lovelorn persona for himself.

Qin Wuxia definitely couldn't stand the man she had feelings for being so attached to another woman, and with her caring so much, plus his intentional provocation on the side, Qin Wuxia would only sink deeper into these emotions. Then, without a doubt, she would clamor to marry him like in the original story, while greatly detesting the female lead.

In this way, by marrying the only daughter of the Lord of Southern Qin, he could take over the Lord of Southern Qin's private army as a matter of course, and in the future, he could even have Qin Wuxia assist him and the female lead.

He had long thought it through. The Lord of Southern Qin had manpower and money, just lacking opportunity. When the drought and plague broke out... The original storyline could be completely corrected. In any case, whether it was the inexplicably deviated female lead or this country, they all belonged to the male lead - in other words, to him.

Chen Yun felt much better, thinking that things were going smoothly. Even if the female lead wasn't by his side now, but by the male supporting character's side, so what? Based on the current deviation value, the female lead hadn't developed feelings for anyone else at all. He still had time to correct it.

The only thing that displeased him was that the female lead, who should have belonged to him, had probably already slept with the male supporting character by now. Thinking of this, Chen Yun's eyes were full of disdain.

"Hey! Chen Yun! Tell me more about your beloved," Qin Wuxia called out from behind him.

Without turning his head, Chen Yun gazed into the distance as if lost in memories, his tone hesitant and a bit shy, "Actually, I don't know what to say. I only know that Lady Liao has a kind heart and is very understanding..."

He perfectly portrayed a lovelorn youth pining from afar.

Qin Wuxia had no doubts about this upright young man before her. Listening to him praise his beloved, she cursed that Liao Tingyan in her heart, wishing for her early demise at the Emperor's hands, so Chen Yun wouldn't keep thinking about her!

Liao Tingyan suddenly sneezed.

Sima Jiao: "..."

Liao Tingyan: "Ahem, Your Majesty, let me wipe that for you."

"No need." Sima Jiao grabbed her hand that was reaching for his face, and leaned over to touch her cheek. "Why have you been sneezing frequently lately? Are you feeling unwell?"

He turned his head and called out, "Summon a few physicians to examine the Noble Consort."

Liao Tingyan felt she was fine, but when the physicians came to diagnose her, they said she indeed had mild symptoms of a cold.

The winter in Hexia was not as cold as in Luoyang. It was Liao Tingyan's first time experiencing winter in Luoyang, so it was normal for her to not be accustomed to it.

Moreover, this year's winter was exceptionally cold.

For half a month straight, Liao Tingyan could only stay in Sima Jiao's inner palace to recuperate. Occasionally when she wanted to go out for a walk, she discovered that the corridors on both sides were tightly sealed with curtains, all because the physicians said she couldn't be exposed to the wind.

This was too exaggerated. Liao Tingyan walked out of the palace door for less than 300 meters before turning back. She was really afraid that if she said she wanted to stroll in the imperial garden, these people would be able to seal off most of the palace grounds so tightly that not even air could pass through.

However, she knew that she couldn't blame these palace servants and maids for being nervous. It was all because of Sima Jiao. Thinking of what Sima Jiao said to intimidate the physicians and palace servants that day, Liao Tingyan twitched the corner of her mouth. What kind of cliché plot was this of a domineering emperor falling in love with her?

She recuperated in the rear palace for half a month and didn't accompany Sima Jiao to the imperial court sessions. So she didn't know that in the court sessions, the Secretariat Supervisor memorialized that several prefectures had droughts and no snow this winter, and there were concerns that there would be drought disasters in the coming year.

Unfortunately, no one paid attention to this matter. The Prime Minister and Grand Tutor Duan were at odds with each other, and the two factions were still arguing endlessly about the battle incited by the tribes beyond the border this winter.

Sima Jiao listened irritably in the upper seat. He directly kicked over the table in front of him, scattering the brocade scrolls and books all over the ground. Only then did the various officials quiet down.

After they quieted down, Sima Jiao also lost patience in listening and directly walked out. No one dared to stop him. The various officials looked at each other with bitter smiles and went back to write down the various matters to be reported and submit them again. In any case, with the three big mountains of the Prime Minister, Grand Tutor, and Grand Protector at the top, the Emperor really didn't need to do anything.

Before long, Grand Protector Gao brought people over.

"Your Majesty."

Every time he came, it must be for important matters. Sima Jiao rubbed his forehead and asked, "What do you have to report?"

Grand Protector Gao: "The people below came to report that in recent days, there are signs that Lord of Southern Qin is mobilizing troops and horses."

Sima Jiao asked without much concern, "Oh, how many troops and horses has he mobilized?"

Grand Protector Gao: "Not many, just a squad of cavalry. But they are personally led by his trusted confidant and have been hovering at the edge of his jurisdiction. It's unknown what exactly they are planning."

Sima Jiao scoffed, "What are you afraid of? That old thing doesn't have the guts to rebel now."

Grand Protector Gao advised, "Your Majesty, it's still best to be cautious."

Sima Jiao waved his hand, and Grand Protector Gao reported a few other matters. After Sima Jiao heard them one by one, he said, "These are all minor matters. You can handle them at your own discretion."

At the end of the year after the court sessions, there were banquets everywhere as in previous years. Liao Tingyan, who had been idle for a few months, finally couldn't continue lounging and enjoying every day. She often had to accompany Sima Jiao to attend banquets to entertain officials and nobles. There were also a few small banquets for imperial relatives.

The Sima clan didn't have many people now, especially those with close blood relations to Sima Jiao. They were nearly decimated, with only a more distant branch having a larger number of people.

Liao Tingyan rarely came out to see people. Now everyone knew that His Majesty held this Noble Consort in the palm of his hand. Upon seeing her, they all fawned and flattered. The various techniques of these bootlickers truly opened Liao Tingyan's eyes.

- What a grand scene of bootlicking.

When the rear palace held a banquet, she discovered that when it came to praising people, no one could compare to the beauties in Sima Jiao's harem. Although these beauties were also bootlickers, their bootlicking was much more subtle.

The cold beauty setting, the gentle and unrivaled beauty setting, the straightforward beauty setting... beauties of each different type had their own supreme art of bootlicking. Compared to the crude and unanimous exaggerated praise from those people before, the level of these beauties was who knows how many times higher.

Even though Sima Jiao had warned her not to underestimate these wolf beauties in sheep's clothing, Liao Tingyan still felt delighted being subtly praised by so many beauties of all sizes.

Seeing Liao Tingyan so happy from being praised a little, Sima Jiao stroked his chin and asked her, "You like beauties?"

"Since you like them, next year I'll select more beauties to enter the palace. You can choose whichever ones you like." Sima Jiao waved his hand generously.

Liao Tingyan: "..." What the hell! You want to open a harem for your imperial consort within your own harem? Get a grip!

Wait, could this be a test?

The imperial consort, who had never noticed any real tests and muddled through safely every time, suddenly had an overactive imagination. She nestled coquettishly in Sima Jiao's arms and said, "No need, having Your Majesty is enough for this concubine."

Sima Jiao: "Pfft." He put down the hand pressed against his lips and casually embraced Liao Tingyan. Suddenly, he discovered something. "Your breasts have grown bigger recently?"

Of course, what's wrong with a teenage girl's breasts growing? This was an effective breast enhancement recipe presented by one of the rear palace beauties. Liao Tingyan looked at her breasts with delight. Girls with small breasts naturally all hoped to experience the feeling of having large breasts!

Sima Jiao looked at her breasts for a while and suddenly said, "I think your breasts looked better when they weren't big."

Liao Tingyan snorted disdainfully. Heh, men. That's because you haven't tried how they feel. Once you do, you'll be like "this is awesome".

Sima Jiao said with a straight face, "It would be better if this flesh grew on your waist. It would feel more comfortable to hug."

What's with this person's aesthetics? So extreme? Liao Tingyan looked at her breasts and waist, revealing a hard-to-describe expression.

Author's Note:

The storyline of the original male lead and female supporting character, and the storyline of the female lead Sima Jiao, seem like two completely different stories with vastly different atmospheres.

Chen Yun (ambitious): The world and beauties are all mine!

Sima Jiao (lazy and unmotivated): Noble Consort, why have your breasts grown bigger?