CMWKSD -Chapter 183 What Is a Human Life?

Thus, Emperor Fengyuan first calmed his own mood.

It was better to proceed gradually.

A coaxing approach wouldn’t work with Jiu Yue.

Of course, it was also possible that Jiu Yue could understand—but she pretended not to. In Emperor Fengyuan’s eyes, Jiu Yue, though somewhat straightforward, was a smart person.

“Why did you want to kill the wife of Minister Jiang?”

Jiu Yue glanced at Emperor Fengyuan furtively, like a little dog.

Seeing her like that, Emperor Fengyuan immediately knew she was scheming in her mind.

He slammed his hand on the table: “The crime of deceiving the emperor is punishable by death!”

“Oh.” Jiu Yue slumped and knelt, naturally shifting to sit on her calves—it was less tiring and didn’t hurt her knees.

Emperor Fengyuan: …

“There’s a daughter in Minister Jiang’s family, called Jiang Qingqing. She has taken a liking to Ji Yiqing.”

The emperor frowned. What nonsense was this?

But he trusted Jiu Yue. He believed she wasn’t that cruel—just because someone liked her husband, would she storm in and kill them? That seemed unlikely… right?

Fortunately, Jiu Yue quickly cleared up the confusion.

“Of course she liked him. Ji Yiqing is handsome and reasonably talented—otherwise, I wouldn’t like him either.”

Emperor Fengyuan pinched the bridge of his nose, trying not to get angry.

“But Jiang Qingqing didn’t stop there. Ji Yiqing didn’t even know her! She resorted to dirty tricks—when Ji Yiqing was on an official errand outside the city at a temple, she abducted him, drugged him, forcing him to slash himself to protect his honor, and he even fell from the carriage, rolling down the mountain…”

Emperor Fengyuan leapt to his feet: “This is outrageous! And she’s a proper young lady! How could she behave so recklessly!”

Jiu Yue said with shared indignation: “If it weren’t for me, my Ji Yiqing wouldn’t have survived. That drug is extremely potent—either death or permanent injury. And Ji Yiqing is my husband! Only mine!”

“Then I went to the Jiang family to settle things properly, but they showed no remorse. That Minister’s wife even said, ‘It’s just a minor official, let’s have some fun!’”

Emperor Fengyuan was so angry he was practically hyperventilating!

From Jiu Yue’s tone, it was obvious that this wasn’t the first time this mother-daughter pair had done such things.

But then, hearing her claim Ji Yiqing as her own, Emperor Fengyuan’s mood soured: “What do you mean, ‘he’s yours’? Is he really yours? Ji Yiqing has his own will. And you—this is too domineering! If something is yours, no one can touch it? Not even me? Not even the emperor?”

He spoke offhandedly—and immediately saw Jiu Yue’s face full of shock.

Absolutely!

This little brat’s mind had gone somewhere else again!

As expected, Jiu Yue’s voice came, like a devil whispering: “Your Majesty, you fancy Ji Yiqing? You want to… take him as… what was it, a concubine?”

Li Feng felt his neck wobble—his head might not survive this!

Before he could even kneel, Emperor Fengyuan dashed from the dragon throne with the agility of someone not over forty buried in years of court duties.

He grabbed the whisk beside him and ran after Jiu Yue.

Jiu Yue moved so fast she left an afterimage, leaping to her feet and sprinting.

“Ah! No, no, that’s—I’m not talking about a concubine…”

For the first time, Emperor Fengyuan swore: “Concubine, my foot!”

Slap!—he smacked Jiu Yue on the butt.

Jiu Yue yelped, clutching her backside: “You old geezer! If you weren’t the emperor, I’d—”

“Ah! Your Majesty, I don’t even know what the proper term is for taking a man into the palace!”

Emperor Fengyuan chased Jiu Yue out of the imperial study.

Everyone watched the emperor, still vigorous despite his age, hopping and lunging after her.

If this were a typical romance novel, Li Feng would have put his hands together and sighed happily: “It’s been so long since I’ve seen His Majesty so lively!”

But in reality, Jiu Yue ran like a maniac while the emperor chased after her, gasping.

The others knelt on the ground, sweating and trembling, crying: “Your Majesty, please calm down! Calm down!”

“Stand right there!”

Jiu Yue suddenly stopped—any further running would be impolite. Didn’t she see the old man nearly bending over backwards?

She quickly admitted her mistake: “Your Majesty, I was wrong.”

“What was wrong?”

“I shouldn’t have spoken nonsense.”

Emperor Fengyuan closed his eyes: “Come in holding your ears.”

Jiu Yue pinched her small ears and obediently followed behind the emperor’s rear.

Li Feng picked up his whisk and, terrified, trailed behind as well.

The emperor calmed his chest.

Jiu Yue now stood a few steps away—not craning her neck anymore—probably truly realizing how absurd her words had been.

“Let me give you an example. Listen to yourself—does that even sound like human words?”

Jiu Yue wanted to argue it was human words—he hadn’t seen the writings between emperor and ministers. That tension… even though he was old, he was still devastatingly attractive. That was a masterful attack!

But she didn’t say it.

Rarely, Jiu Yue lowered her gaze and acted obedient.

Emperor Fengyuan wanted to pinch his philtrum—talking to Jiu Yue left no room for subtlety.

If Jiu Yue didn’t have so many skills, he truly couldn’t tolerate her.

It wasn’t just her straightforwardness—it allowed him to fully show that “fatherly love” seen among commoners.

So he spoke bluntly: “Jiu Yue, what is a human life in your eyes?”

Jiu Yue pinched her ears, looking pitiful, and glanced at Emperor Fengyuan.

What is a human life?

Of course, a human life is a number.

Some numbers are long, some are short.

Some have a big first digit but a short length; some have a small first digit but long.

These numbers exist somewhere special.

On Jiu Yue’s account.

Each human life has a clearly marked price.

But Jiu Yue’s mind was clear now—she couldn’t say that. If she did, her identity as an assassin would be exposed.

“Human life…”

Emperor Fengyuan frowned: “What do you mean?”

“Human life is just human life!”

No mistake there.

The emperor started to have palpitations again, eyeing Li Feng’s whisk with urge.

But seeing Jiu Yue’s clear, pure eyes, a realization flashed in his mind.

Had no one ever taught Jiu Yue these things?

So Jiu Yue, since she was little…

Emperor Fengyuan recalled—Jiu Yue was an orphan; indeed, no one had taught her.

The emperor decided to rephrase: “Then why did you save me?”