A Decade of Love

Without any hesitation.

That very night, Wu Lingxiao began to fulfill her promise with lightning-fast, ruthless measures.

The first condition: dismiss the harem.

This was not a simple order. The three thousand concubines in the harem were deeply entangled with the complex aristocratic families and sect forces of the Great Xia Immortal Dynasty. Every concubine was a political pawn.

But Wu Lingxiao had gone mad.

She directly summoned all concubines of the second rank and above, hosting a farewell banquet at the Weiyang Palace.

"From today onward, the harem is disbanded."

Sitting on the dragon throne, her voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable majesty:

"The fate between you and I has come to an end. I have ordered generous gifts to be prepared, and you may choose for yourselves. For those willing to return home, I will send troops to escort you and guarantee your families a century of prosperity; for those who wish to stay in the palace to cultivate, I will open a separate courtyard and treat you as enshrined guests, and from then on, we will have nothing to do with each other."

The entire hall burst into an uproar.

"Your Majesty! You cannot!"

"Your Majesty, what did your servant do wrong?"

Cries, pleas for mercy, and questions merged into a chaotic din.

"Silence!"

Wu Lingxiao's eyes turned cold, and the oppressive aura of the Tribulation Transcendence stage crashed down. The entire hall instantly fell dead silent.

"I am not discussing this with you."

She coldly swept her gaze over the men below who had once shared her bed, her eyes completely devoid of any affection:

"My husband does not like it being too noisy here."

This single sentence was like a resounding slap in the face to everyone present.

They finally understood that this Empress had truly gone mad for that man named Ye Xuan.

She was willing to risk plunging the world into chaos just to give him a clean harem.

And so, under bloody threats and generous compensation, this harem, once filled with jealousy and strife, was emptied out overnight.

Only a few homeless or utterly heartbroken former concubines remained, relocated to remote palaces, becoming true living dead.

As for the massive harem, from the Changmen Palace to the Weiyang Palace, from then on, there was only one male master left.

Ye Xuan.

The second condition: he would still be Consort Xuan, not wanting to be the Empress.

This condition baffled everyone. Why give up the position of Empress, the mother of the world, and insist on the title of a mere consort?

Only Ye Xuan himself knew why.

"Empress" meant responsibility; it meant being bound to the identity of the Female Emperor.

But "Consort Xuan" was more like a spoiled, lawless, private identity.

He didn't want that responsibility; he only wanted that unique privilege.

The third condition: nothing bad could happen again.

This seemingly simple sentence was actually the heaviest shackle.

It meant that Wu Lingxiao had to use every minute and second of the rest of her life to prove her loyalty and make up for that broken oath.

From that day on, a brand new era that made the entire Great Xia Immortal Dynasty tremble had arrived.

Time flew by, and ten years passed in the blink of an eye.

These ten years were the most incredible decade for the Great Xia Immortal Dynasty.

The war in the Northern Territory, under Ye Xuan's occasional unintentional guidance, was won in a completely crushing manner.

The Heavenly Wolf Divine Dynasty ceded territory and paid reparations, losing the strength to march south for another thousand years.

In the imperial court, under the Empress's almost foolish delegation of power and Ye Xuan's occasional playful suggestions, many long-standing abuses were miraculously cleared away. The treasury became full, and the government operated smoothly with the people in harmony.

But what the world loved to talk about the most was that harem, which now existed only in name.

The harem was still vast, with pavilions and terraces that were breathtakingly beautiful.

Even the dismissed, homeless former concubines still lived in remote palaces, spending their days growing flowers, playing the zither, and playing chess.

But everyone knew that there was only one master here.

Early morning, in the Imperial Garden.

Several former concubines were gathered together, not fighting out of jealousy, but playing Fight the Landlord.

"Joker Bomb! Hahaha, I won again! Hand over the spirit stones!" A concubine once renowned for his beauty was now slapping the table and laughing without any care for his image.

"Oh my, Brother Su Jin, your card skills are still as terrible as ever," someone nearby teased.

Just then, a lazy figure strolled over.

The newcomer wore a moon-white casual robe, his waist still tied with that ugly belt embroidered with a crooked-necked duck.

His long hair was untied, draped casually over his shoulders. He held a bunch of freshly picked purple grapes in his hand, eating as he walked.

It was none other than Ye Xuan.

Ten years had passed. Piled high with endless heavenly materials and earthly treasures, the bottomless pit of his miscellaneous five-element spirit root was finally filled, and he miraculously formed a Golden Core.

His Golden Core stage cultivation allowed him to completely shed his youthful immaturity. His face was like flawless jade, his eyes like bright stars, and his temperament became increasingly ethereal and otherworldly.

"Yo, you're all here?" Ye Xuan walked over with a smile, casually tossing the remaining half-bunch of grapes onto the table. "How's your luck today?"

"Brother Xuan! You're finally here!"

"Brother Xuan, come help me look at my cards!"

The concubines, who had just been arguing until they were red in the face over a few spirit stones, immediately surrounded him as if they had found their backbone upon seeing Ye Xuan.

Over these ten years, Ye Xuan had completely conquered this group of men abandoned by the Empress with his unique personal charm.

He never treated them as servants, let alone as romantic rivals.

He taught them how to play cards, how to tell stories, and how to find amusement within the dull palace walls.

He would even guide their cultivation, using his incredibly sharp insight to point out the bottlenecks in their cultivation methods right on the money.

Over time, these former concubines no longer harbored any jealousy toward Ye Xuan; all that remained was genuine admiration and reliance.

"Alright, alright, no more playing today," Ye Xuan waved his hand. "My wife is probably about to finish court, so I need to go back and check on her. Lest she drag out some unlucky censor and behead them over some trivial matter again."

Hearing this, the concubines all smiled ambiguously.

Who in the entire Immortal Dynasty didn't know that the only one who could control that temperamental Empress was Consort Xuan standing right in front of them?

Ye Xuan yawned and strolled leisurely toward the Imperial Study.

He walked on the royal path. Along the way, palace maids, eunuchs, and imperial guards all bowed respectfully upon seeing him. The awe in their eyes was perhaps even a bit more sincere than when they saw the Empress.

Because the Empress would kill people, while Consort Xuan decided whether the Empress killed people or not.

Walking into the Imperial Study, Wu Lingxiao was indeed already sitting there, frowning as she looked through a pile of memorials.

Ten years of time had left no trace on the face of this Tribulation Transcendence stage mighty figure; she remained breathtakingly beautiful.

But now, the overbearing and murderous aura around her had retracted significantly, and between her brows, there was a trace of deep tenderness that only showed when she saw a certain someone.

"You're back?" Wu Lingxiao looked up. Seeing Ye Xuan, her eyes instantly lit up, and the corners of her mouth curled up unconsciously.

"Yeah."

Ye Xuan replied casually, walking straight to the dragon throne that symbolized supreme imperial power.

Then, under the dumbfounded gaze of the Prime Minister Shangguan Wan'er standing in attendance nearby, he plopped his butt right onto it.

He even stretched lazily, carelessly resting his feet on the dragon desk and pushing a pile of memorials to the side.

"Hiss... this chair isn't even that comfortable, it's so hard," Ye Xuan curled his lips and complained.

Shangguan Wan'er's heart twitched violently.

This was the Dragon Throne!

The Dragon Throne that past emperors of the Great Xia dynasty treated like a deity, only daring to sit on it after bathing and changing their clothes!

And he just... sat on it? And even complained that it was too hard?

What made her break down even more was the Empress's reaction.

Wu Lingxiao didn't show the slightest hint of anger. Instead, she immediately stood up nervously, walked behind Ye Xuan, and reached out to massage his shoulders:

"Is it? Then I'll have the Ministry of Works make you a new one out of ten-thousand-year warm jade later. Whatever posture... oh no, whatever style you like, they'll make it in that style."

Shangguan Wan'er: "..."

She felt that as a female prime minister who had toiled for Great Xia her entire life, her worldview built over so many years was shattered into absolute dust at this moment.

"What's the matter? What makes an iron lady like you look so miserable?" Ye Xuan asked casually, his eyes closed as he enjoyed the Empress's massage.

"It's those southern counties again; there's another flood."

Wu Lingxiao sighed and handed him a memorial. "The Ministry of Revenue has allocated funds three times and repaired the dams three times, yet they collapse every year. It's even worse this time. Seven or eight towns are flooded, resulting in over a million refugees. I was just wondering if I should twist off the Minister of Revenue's head and kick it like a ball."

Ye Xuan didn't even open his eyes. He just lazily raised a hand to take the memorial and flipped through it casually.

"No need to read it."

He tossed the memorial aside and said indifferently, "The dams are repaired every year, and they collapse every year. The funds are allocated layer by layer, and embezzled layer by layer. If you kill the Minister of Revenue now, you'll just be replacing him with someone else who will continue to be corrupt. It treats the symptoms but not the root cause."

"Then, what is Husband's opinion?" Wu Lingxiao immediately asked humbly, her tone exactly like a primary school student asking a teacher for guidance.

"The root cause of the flood isn't the dams, it's human nature."

Ye Xuan opened his eyes, which sparkled with a wise light that seemed to see through everything.

"First, send your trusted aide, Shangguan Wan'er from the Directorate of Astronomy, down south under the guise of 'surveying the disaster and praying for the common people.' On the surface, she'll be looking at feng shui, but secretly, she'll be auditing the accounts for Zhen... ahem, for me. Audit the whereabouts of all flood control funds over the past ten years, from the Ministry of Revenue down to the lowest village officials. Not a single sum can be missed."

Shangguan Wan'er shuddered all over and looked up, her eyes full of shock. This trick of openly repairing the gallery roads while secretly marching to Chencang was simply a stroke of genius.

"Second, stop allocating funds to repair dams. Issue a decree directly to provide relief in exchange for work." A cold sneer curled the corners of Ye Xuan's mouth. "Organize the millions of refugees and let them repair the dams and dig the river channels themselves. Provide them with food and money. Those who do a good job can even be given land."

"This way, the refugees will have a way to survive and won't cause riots. Since they are repairing their own homes, they will definitely do their utmost. If anyone dares to cut corners, you won't even need to lift a finger; the other disaster victims will tear them apart alive. The most crucial part is..."

Ye Xuan paused, picked up the heavy Imperial Jade Seal from the dragon desk, and tossed it in his hand as if playing with an ordinary stone:

"This way, you bypass the entire corrupt bureaucratic system and give power and resources directly to the lowest level. It will be clear at a glance who is genuinely working and who is only pretending to comply."

"Once Wan'er's account books return, compare the two."

Ye Xuan slammed the jade seal onto the desk with a loud smack, causing the brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone to jump.

"At that time, it won't just be a matter of killing one Minister of Revenue."

"Rather, from south to north, however many heads need to roll, that's how many will roll."

"This is what you call a permanent cure."

Silence.

The entire Imperial Study was deathly silent.

Wu Lingxiao and Shangguan Wan'er, arguably the two most supreme women in the Great Xia Immortal Dynasty, were now staring blankly at the man leaning on the Dragon Throne and playing with the Imperial Jade Seal, looking at him as if he were a monster.

His words, from the big picture to the finest details, from human nature to political strategy, were perfectly interlocked and watertight.

The ruthlessness of his methods and the foresight of his vision made even the Empress, Wu Lingxiao, feel a chill down her spine.

After a long time, Shangguan Wan'er bowed deeply, very deeply.

This time, it wasn't to the Empress, but to Ye Xuan.

"Consort Xuan... is far-sighted. This subject is deeply ashamed of her inferiority."

This haughty female prime minister, who had never submitted to anyone, was truly and utterly convinced at this moment.

She finally understood why Her Majesty was so crazy about this man.

He possessed more than just a handsome face.

Beneath that skin hid a monstrous soul capable of stirring up the winds and clouds of the world.

Wu Lingxiao looked at Ye Xuan. Besides love, there was now an extra layer of deep worship and infatuation in her eyes.

"Husband is truly amazing," she praised from the bottom of her heart.

"Just average, maybe third best in the world." Ye Xuan waved his hand lazily. Then, as if remembering something, he frowned and sat up straight.

He kept a straight face and stared at Wu Lingxiao with an extremely serious gaze.

"Now that we're done with official business, it's time to talk about our family matters."

Wu Lingxiao's heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition welled up inside her.

The smile on her face instantly became a bit stiff, even carrying a hint of fawning and a guilty conscience:

"Hus... Husband, what... family matters?"

Seeing Ye Xuan's suddenly serious face, Wu Lingxiao's heartbeat inexplicably missed a beat.

Over the past ten years, what she feared most was seeing this expression on Ye Xuan's face.

It meant that, in some careless moment, she had once again touched upon his damn principles that were bigger than the heavens.

"Wu, Ling, Xiao."

Ye Xuan stood up from the Dragon Throne and paced over to her. He was slightly taller than her, and at this moment, he looked down slightly. His beautiful peach-blossom eyes had lost their usual laziness and smiles, leaving only a cold, scrutinizing gaze.

"I'm asking you."

"Did you not sleep well again last night?"

Wu Lingxiao froze, then somewhat guiltily shifted her gaze away. "N... no. Zhen... I slept very well last night."

"Slept very well?" Ye Xuan sneered, reached out, and directly pinched her chin, forcing her to look up.

His fingertips gently brushed over the faint dark circles under her eyes.

"What is this?"

"Do you think I'm blind?"

"Did you sneak off to deal with those damn memorials again while I was asleep?"

Wu Lingxiao's eyes instantly became flustered.

"I... I was just taking a quick look... State affairs are important..."

"State affairs?"

Ye Xuan's voice suddenly rose, his tone exactly like a strict husband lecturing a disobedient wife:

"Haven't I told you! Your body is mine! Without my permission, you are not allowed to stay up late! You are not allowed to exhaust your mind! You are not allowed to neglect your own well-being!"

"Did my words just go in one ear and out the other?"

This reprimand wasn't loud, but to the ears of Shangguan Wan'er and the old eunuch Uncle Fu nearby, it was no less than rolling thunder.

What did they just see?

Consort Xuan was... lecturing Her Majesty?

Lecturing her because Her Majesty stayed up late reading memorials?

Uncle Fu was so frightened that he almost knelt down on the spot, and Shangguan Wan'er was so shocked that she could barely hold the jade tablet in her hands. This... this was simply an unprecedented marvel since the dawn of time!

However, a scene that made their eyes pop out of their sockets occurred next.

Facing Ye Xuan's harsh words and stern expression, Her Majesty the Empress, a supreme being at the Tribulation Transcendence stage who killed without blinking and reigned with absolute dominance, not only did not get angry, but instead shrank her neck like a little girl caught doing something wrong by her parents. Her eyes darted away, and she even looked... somewhat wronged.

I... I was wrong...

Wu Lingxiao lowered her head, her voice as small as a mosquito's hum, and a layer of mist actually welled up in her phoenix-like eyes.

Husband, please do not be mad... I will never dare to do it again...

She was crying.

The majestic Empress of Great Xia, just because she was scolded a few times by her own consort, was actually... crying.

Looking at her tear-stained, pitiful appearance, where was there even a shred of imperial majesty?

She was clearly just a little wife terrified of making her husband angry.

Shangguan Wan'er felt as if her worldview and her very soul had suffered a devastating blow at this moment.

They even began to suspect whether this weeping woman before them had been possessed by some demonic entity.

Seeing her like this, the anger in Ye Xuan's heart instantly dissipated by half.

But he kept a straight face and let out a cold snort.

You say you will not dare every time, yet you do it every time.

He let go of her and said in annoyance, Tonight, your punishment is... you are not allowed in my bed. Go sleep in the side palace.

No!

Upon hearing this, Wu Lingxiao's tears fell even fiercer. She hugged Ye Xuan's arm, refusing to let go, and shook it desperately:

Husband, I was wrong! I was really wrong! I cannot live without you! I cannot sleep without you!

I am begging you, please do not chase me away... I can sleep on the floor, as long as I can be in your room...

Watching this scene, Shangguan Wan'er silently turned around and covered her eyes with her sleeve.

She could not bear to watch anymore.

She truly could not bear to watch.

Was this still the decisive Martial Empress she knew, the one who made the entire Immortal Dynasty tremble?

This was clearly... an incompetent ruler in the terminal stages of being utterly lovesick!