Translator: Greed

Editors: Rhaea

After Marrying the Empress

Chapter 2

“After that, if there is no torch, I will be the only light…”

Zhou Ruoli looked at the book in his hand. It didn’t have the author’s signature on the cover, and the book was thick. It is as if it was composed of several books by the same author, with only the book’s name on the cover.

《War Cry》

Even Zhou Ruoli, who received the top tier education fitting for the bests in the nation, can’t help but admire the quality of the content inside this book. Too bad it was written by the rebels.

It was said that when the rebel leader started, he often used these things to recruit talents. Even now, there are still many scholars who secretly keep this book in their homes.

It’s a pity that he’s a rebel. Otherwise, he could have married a princess with his talents. Zhou Ruoli silently sighed.

All this can be blamed on the old emperor. The new policies he forcibly implemented in those days directly angered the masses. It was at this moment that the rebels stoked the flames of rebellion, which lasted for five years and almost broke into the capital.

The rebellion shocked the entire continent. Not to mention Dragon Proud Sky in secular novels, some people even suspect that this person is the protagonist of an 18+ novel. Those rebels were never rational!

“Forget it.” Zhou Ruoli put these aside. She couldn’t do much as there was no news about the rebels.

I will kill him instantly the moment I find him. Zhou Ruoli thought.

Zhou Ruoli picked up the memorial, which were all related to the nation’s interests. The more she looked at it, the more expressionless her face became. These royals took advantage of the opportunity of the new emperor’s succession and the fact that the rebellion just settled, and became greedy for more things.

Sooner or later, everyone will go to Yanan for retirement!

Zhou Ruoli thought of this place and held her forehead helplessly. Usually Li Yun would say something absurd, such as the undead street, or Takashi Saeki Kaya. She felt like she was becoming weird with him. After all, she never even heard about a place called Yanan.

Tap, tap.

She tapped her fingers on the table, thinking irritably. The royals and the rebels that’s left are both troublesome. Whatever decision she makes right here in the imperial study will become the key to affecting the entire world.

“Let’s bring him some pastries.” Zhou Ruoli muttered suddenly.

Li Yun’s morning started with drinking tea in the yard. He woke up in the morning to find that he was the only one left beside the bed except for the warm quilt.

Since his wife occasionally went out earlier than usual, Li Yun was not surprised. He just waited for her back in the yard.

He remembered what happened when he was first transported here. He fell from the sky out of thin air and fell into the crowd. If it wasn’t for his eloquent tongue and his experience from arguing on the internet, he would have been done for. Nevertheless, he managed to bullshit about the tactics, riding, hacking the barbarian, and the harem hero Asasidu on the spot.

Then, he became the leader of the rebel army. From a young man, within five years, he became a general who led the army against the nation. Looking at the hot gazes below, Li Yun knew about the suffering and anxiety that perpetuated until the end of the war a year ago.

Pop.

Zhou Ruoli placed the food container on the table, and the crisp voice made Li Yun come back to his senses, only to see Zhou Ruoli had returned, holding a food container in his hand.

Sometimes Zhou Ruoli would come back from outside with pastries, and they tasted superb.

Li Yun tasted the pastries, held his thumbs up and praised: “It’s really good, it’s probably even better than what they make in the Imperial Kitchen.”

“Oh, of course.” Zhou Ruoli twitched the corner of her mouth, her expression still indifferent.

“You really want to eat the pastries from the Imperial Kitchen?” she asked.

“No, but if I had tasted it, then I can confidently say that yours is better.”

“……”

Zhou Ruoli stared at him until Li Yun looked at her a little strangely. Zhou Ruoli put his face on one hand and said lightly: “Okay, you are eating it right now.”

Li Yun scratched his face and smiled: “You’re always right.”

He still felt that his wife was just complimenting her own craftsmanship. After all, she’s never humble, and she believed there was nothing wrong with comparing herself to the Imperial chefs.

This is the life he wants. Li Yun thought. An ordinary wife, an ordinary self, and an ordinary life in the capital. With everything being ordinary.

“That piece of pastry costs ten taels of silver, I recorded it.” Zhou Ruoli said, looking at Li Yun.

“It’s so expensive, didn’t I eat a lot of those this year.” Li Yun was not surprised, and he was mentally prepared for his wife’s actions.

“Nonsense.” Zhou Ruoli snorted coldly, “It costs one tael of silvers for every word I talk to you, and naturally more for the rest.”

“This is the first time I’ve heard of it.” Li Yun was startled, and as he rubbed his chin, he said, “Wait, then does that mean that when we held hands for the first time, took a bath for the first time, for the first time… Thinking about it this way, don’t I owe you a lot of money?”

“Of course.”

“Then can I ask how much I owe you?” Li Yun scratched his head.

Zhou Ruoli sneered, “Did you think you could ever pay me back?”

“If not, then I will pay it back in my next life.” Li Yun smiled.

Zhou Ruoli looked calm and did not refute, watching Li Yun get up and stretch out his hand towards her. There was a lantern festival on the street today, and they agreed to watch it together.

“How much do you owe for holding hands?” Li Yun couldn’t help asking as he watched Zhou Ruoli’s white hand resting on him.

“A whole nation.” Zhou Ruoli said lightly, waiting for Li Yun’s shocked reaction. But she did not wait long and heard him say with a relaxed smile as if recalling:

“I think, that is indeed true.”

As night fell, orange lights lit up in the streets and alleys, and high-rise platforms lit up as well. It was the light that was smudged by Zhenqi ore. The mahogany base below was filled with various ore polished into it.

This kind of rock, which had been dyed by the deaths of countless true Qi masters thousands of years ago, gradually changed its nature. Yet it still has enough to emit energy to this day.

The first time that Li Yun saw the true qi ores was when they were holding true qi cannons on the city wall. The gun barrels were cluttered with true qi ore. Either his own fort exploded or the opposite city wall exploded. Because there are always horses carrying true qi ore next to the fort, when the opposing fort explodes, the most common saying is that your horse exploded!

And every shot of this ore cannon can create a pit ten meters deep. The method used is primitive, rough and violent!

But to the common people, it was discovered recently and could replace the beautiful lights of candles. Countless lights gathered in the Dagan capital. Looking down from the night sky, it was a beautiful sparkling sight.

The geography of the capital is different. Some houses are the same height, but because of the difference of five or six meters, plus design reasons, there are many steps here. Now that there are lights on both sides, looking from top to bottom, it looks like a sparkling snake lying down and entwined on the brightest spot on the ground, the palace.

Sitting on a tall building, Li Yun and Zhou Ruoli observed the scenery below, which is the most beautiful scene of this year.

This is the most expensive terrace in the capital. It is usually visited only by high-ranking officials, especially at this time. But when Li Yun and Zhou Ruoli came to book a place today, the rest of the guests did not arrive due to various reasons, so now it can be said that the two people have exclusive access to the second-tallest building in the capital.

The tallest is the Ziwei Star Tower in the palace, which is the symbol of imperial power.

The new emperor should be there now, looking down at the civilians below. Will he feel the joy of standing at the highest point of the world? Li Yun looked at the Ziwei Star Tower and thought.

But before finishing thinking about it, Zhou Ruoli knocked his forehead with the back of her hand, and at the same time he heard a slightly unpleasant voice.

“Is it really so uncomfortable to stay with me?”

Li Yun turned his head to see Zhou Ruoli’s unhappy expression, second only to when he collected less money from rent.

“No, I just thought that it was such a wonderful occasion where I only had to spend such a small amount of money to enjoy this build by ourselves.” Li Yun smiled.

More than rare, it can even be said to be a thousand years of waiting.

“……” Zhou Ruoli looked away and lifted the hair around his ears and said, “You probably broke your stomach cause you ate too much.”

“That’s really good luck, otherwise you would have made me rent the whole building alone.” Li Yun laughed, thinking that his wife might do something like this.

“Of course.” Zhou Ruoli sneered, “did you ever think that I would help you save money?”

“Yes, because you have never spent the money I gave you.” Li Yun scratched his face.

“The reason I’m saving money is that I’m thinking about when to throw you away.”

“You must remember to eat a full stomach at that time.” Li Yun said as he glanced up at the night sky.

At the lantern show, fireworks bloomed brightly in the night sky, drawing a circle around the capital like a shooting star, and loud applause erupted from below.

Zhou Ruoli’s indifferent face flushed with the light of the fireworks, and she turned to look at Li Yun, who was smiling as he stared at the fireworks.

I won’t lose him.

In the midst of the fireworks, Li Yun heard Zhou Ruoli’s voice but turned his head to see her indifferent face staring at the night sky.

For a while, it was very quiet. There was a panicked noise coming from the street. When Li Yun looked down, he noticed people dressed in rebel garb wielding a knife.

Am I forced to join the rebellion again!? Li Yun stood dumbfounded with his mouth open.

The leaders of some noble families are communicating in the room of an aristocrat that is some distance away from the two.

“Are you certain this attack would be effective against the new emperor and allow us to gain more benefits?”

“Or did you believe that arguing in the court would make the emperor of Dagan make a compromise? Even if she is new, she is still the emperor of Dagan. Do you really believe that she wouldn’t be able to order your whole family to be killed?”

“……”

“But can we really pretend to be the rebels in the capital? What if their leader comes to cause trouble?”

The Patriarch who spoke first shook his head and smiled, saying, “that one doesn’t even know where he’s going, and besides, what we are doing right now is beneficial for him, so why would he bother us?”

“No matter who is collaborating with the new emperor, even if they sit and drink tea together…” He slapped his hands together and smiled,

“I’m willing to gift my 18-year-old wife to that person!”