Five Years After My Death, the Mad Emperor Still Summons My Spirit

Chapter 214: Chapter 214: "You Two Are Just Partners in Crime.

Ming Lingyi didn’t notice the subtle shift in Li Yun’s heart. She analyzed, "You’re certainly not helping Qin Shiqi because you genuinely feel sorry for him. In fact, if you really do call out Xie Jupu in court tomorrow, he will only blame the Qin Family for it."

In that case, Xie Jupu will surely resort to even more drastic measures to make Qin Shiqi’s life difficult.

But the Qin Family is not without its own foundations in Shangjing City, built up over the years.

The Xie family’s fierce assault will only cause Qin Shiqi to retaliate.

"The fact that Qin Shiqi could raise a daughter like Qin Lingzhi speaks volumes about the Qin family’s upbringing. As the saying goes, those below follow the example of those above. Qin Shiqi won’t just sit there and wait for his demise. When the time comes..." Ming Lingyi chuckled softly. "And doesn’t the Xie family have a convenient vulnerability right now?"

How could Xie Jupu possibly be skilled enough to keep the infighting among his family’s younger generation completely under wraps?

Qin Shiqi will undoubtedly focus his efforts there. And besides that, there’s the matter of Jiang Yuchuan. He was already betrothed, yet the Xies arranged for him to meet with one of their daughters. No matter how you look at it, the Xie family is in the wrong. Qin Shiqi will definitely blow the whole thing up.

So how is this move of yours supposed to be helping Qin Shiqi teach Xie Jupu a lesson? You’re clearly just adding fuel to the fire while the two families are locked in a struggle, making them fight all the more fiercely.

Li Yun let out a long, slow breath. His eyes, as they rested on Ming Lingyi, were filled with admiration.

’My Yuan Niang is always so... perceptive. Even when I say nothing, she can always guess what I’m thinking and what I plan to do. How could I not adore her?’

Ming Lingyi felt his gaze upon her. She tilted her head, one eyebrow arching slightly. Her expression held a trace of a carefree, spirited confidence that he had rarely seen from her in the past. "What are you looking at?" she asked.

Li Yun never spared his praise when it came to her. "Yuan Niang, you truly are brilliant."

Ming Lingyi scoffed. "That’s because I know you’re always brewing some mischief."

Li Yun was left speechless.

"I suppose I’ve misjudged my older brother," Ming Lingyi said.

Li Yun was confused.

Ming Lingyi explained, "Back at Qinglong Temple, he came up with the idea of having the Xu Family’s young master provoke Qin Lingzhi. I told him it was a good thing he hadn’t entered the court. If he had, I was afraid he’d be one of those officials who stirs up storms from behind the scenes, becoming a notoriously powerful and perhaps even treacherous minister."

It was the first time Li Yun had ever heard Ming Lingyi speak so bluntly about Ming Chengyu, and he couldn’t stop a smug smile from spreading across his face.

However, the smug look on his face didn’t last long, because Ming Lingyi’s next sentence followed swiftly on the heels of the last.

"But looking at you now, I think it would be quite good for my brother to join the court. You two are cut from the same cloth. You could be partners in crime."

Ming Lingyi said, her tone slow and deliberate.

Her brother and Li Yun both appeared as noble as a clear day, but if either of them decided to stir up trouble from the shadows, an ordinary person wouldn’t stand a chance.

’Weren’t they perfect partners in crime?’

Upon hearing Ming Lingyi’s "lofty" assessment of him, the smile that had just begun to form on Li Yun’s lips seemed to stiffen in an instant, freezing on his face.

’If she was going to compare him to Ming Chengyu, especially with such a "compliment" about them being "kindred spirits," he felt it was quite unnecessary. He really had no desire for that kind of praise.’

When Ming Lingyi saw the smile on Li Yun’s face suddenly freeze, she, on the other hand, felt her mood lift and let out a laugh.

"You’re laughing at me?" Li Yun grumbled, hearing her soft chuckle.

Ming Lingyi arched an eyebrow. "Can’t I?"

Li Yun was at a loss for words.

His Adam’s apple bobbed.

A beauty in the lamplight. He couldn’t remember the last time Ming Lingyi had smiled so freely in front of him, without a single shadow of gloom.

’It was hard to describe his current state of mind. Even if he did nothing more than watch Ming Lingyi smile and laugh so cheerfully before him, he felt utterly content.’

For a moment, neither Li Yun nor Ming Lingyi spoke, and the atmosphere grew thick and peculiar.

Ming Lingyi was the first to find the strange feeling unbearable. She turned her face away, her gaze shifting aside.

But the moment Li Yun caught the movement, he acted on instinct, leaning in until his lips brushed the corner of hers.

A kiss free of desire, born simply from the longing to be close.

Li Yun’s warm breath ghosted across her cheek, making her jump in surprise.

But perhaps because his presence was so achingly familiar, she didn’t immediately push him away after the initial shock.

As if he’d been given silent permission, Li Yun reached out and pulled her into his arms.

He didn’t press any further.

A soft sigh escaped Li Yun’s lips. Feeling the woman in his arms remain still and quiet, he couldn’t help the small smile that curled his lips.

’At that moment, Li Yun couldn’t help but wonder. If he hadn’t been so arrogant back then, so certain he didn’t need to explain himself... Back when they were newly married, no matter how busy or tired he was, he had always wanted to share everything in his life with Ming Lingyi. If he had just kept doing that, would all those later events have ever happened? Would they have ever been separated for so many years?’

He had asked Sui Ziran about Ming Lingyi’s condition after he left the palace.

Sui Ziran had once said, "The Empress’s pulse is deep and sluggish, like a thread clinging to bone. Her emotions are knotted and her liver qi is stagnant. Symptoms present as a dazed mind, an aversion to speech and light, restless sleep, and a loss of taste for food. This is not an ailment of the body, but of the spirit. Her mind is scattered, her five emotions are in excess, and her solitary will is trapped within her chest. She is like a lamp on the verge of being extinguished, a flame that vanishes with a passing breeze..."

The palace attendants who had served Ming Lingyi also recounted that during that year, despite the news that the Central Palace was expecting a child, the Empress rarely smiled. Even while sewing small clothes for the imperial son in her womb, she would often drift off, lost in thought.

’Back then, he had been too busy. He had arrogantly believed that by not telling Ming Lingyi about the affairs of the court, he was allowing her to have a peaceful pregnancy, free from the worries of the outside world.’

’He had assumed she understood. But in the end, the one who understood her least was he himself.’

Though Ming Lingyi was letting Li Yun hold her, it wasn’t long before her muffled voice came from his embrace. "Don’t get any ideas. You’re still sleeping with Little Huachao tonight."

Li Yun, his heart still roiling with a turbulent mix of emotions, was caught off guard by her words. In an instant, all his melancholy and regret were swept away, vanishing completely.

’That wasn’t why he was doing this at all!’

Li Yun released Ming Lingyi. When he looked at her again, his eyes held a hint of reproach and helplessness.

"You really know how to ruin the mood!" Li Yun said, exasperated.

Ming Lingyi arched an eyebrow. "So, would you rather sleep in your son’s room or in mine?"