SBCEJM -Chapter 276 Thrilling! The Retired Emperor Begs For Reconciliation, While The Empress Dowager Is Secretly Meeting Her First Love?

【Host, his target was never the village from the very beginning!】

The system’s voice carried a strange kind of excitement, as if it had just pushed open the door to a whole new world.

【What he’s looking for… is the “sea that once was, now hard to compare with water!”】

【Wait… you mean… the palace?】

A flash of insight struck Feng Zeyuan’s mind.

On the Golden Throne Hall, the courtiers who had just relaxed instantly felt their hearts jump back into their throats.

Not the village, but the palace?

Is this old man planning a comeback—coming back to snatch the throne from his son?

Or is he here to snatch… women?

【That’s right! His target is his former harem consorts!】

Feng Zeyuan’s eyes lit up instantly.

【But… he’s been “dead” for twenty years. The youngest of those concubines must be at least forty-something by now, right?】

【So what?】

The system countered.

【Old man with old women—perfect sunset romance. Isn’t that ideal?】

【So, on a dark, wind-swept night, the Retired Emperor sat alone under an oil lamp, spreading out aged paper, reminiscing about the women of his past.】

【He thought and thought, so hard he nearly pulled all his hair out, only to realize that his entire harem of three thousand beauties had become a blur in his memory.】

【People with bad memory are like that—every day feels brand new.】

Feng Zeyuan deeply agreed.

The system continued:

【Just when he was about to give up and accept a lonely ending…】

【A woman’s figure suddenly popped out from the depths of his memory!】

【Who?!】

At that moment, Feng Zeyuan’s inner voice and the entire court’s curiosity reached perfect synchronization.

The system stopped teasing and raised its tone, spitting out a title that made everyone’s knees weaken:

【The current Empress Dowager—the one in the Wanshou Detached Palace!】

“Cough—!”

The Minister of Rites choked on his saliva, his face turning the color of liver.

The Empress Dowager?

That one who, since the “death” of the Retired Emperor, had lived like a shadow—devoted to Buddhism, barely even acknowledging the current emperor?

Emperor Xiao Juechen finally felt his exploding heart settle slightly.

Good.

His father hadn’t fallen so far as to become a shameless old man chasing younger women.

But then another thought surfaced—

His mother’s temperament…

【Dream on!】

Feng Zeyuan rolled her eyes hard in her mind.

【The Empress Dowager is living peacefully in the detached palace, living a dignified life of prayer and incense. Why would she abandon her position and run off to some remote mountain forest to be someone’s “bandit wife”?】

【Besides, the Retired Emperor’s “fake death escape” scheme hurt her the most!】

【Her husband died, all her biological sons were gone, and only a concubine-born stepson sits on the throne. The tears she’s shed over twenty years could probably flood the capital’s moat!】

【This isn’t a couple—this is basically sworn enemies with blood feuds!】

【If it were me, I wouldn’t go with him—I’d be grateful to Buddhism for stopping me from stabbing him!】

Though crude, it was undeniably logical.

Xiao Juechen lowered his eyes.

Over the years, he had treated the Empress Dowager with utmost respect and care.

But she had always remained cold toward him.

Now it seemed the root of everything… lay in his unreliable father.

【The host is about seventy percent correct.】

The system chuckled.

【When the truth was secretly revealed to the Empress Dowager by hidden guards, she was so furious she crushed two prayer beads and cursed the Retired Emperor’s ancestors eighteen generations over.】

【Her own sons had a chance to become emperors, but he shipped them all off to the countryside to farm. How could she not be angry?】

Feng Zeyuan understood.

【So the Retired Emperor’s pursuit… was hell mode from the very beginning.】

【So what did he do?】

【If the mountain won’t come to me, I go to the mountain!】

The system shifted tone.

【For the past six months, the Retired Emperor has been relentless. Every first and fifteenth day of the month, he has eight strong men carry his sedan chair over mountains for two days and nights, arriving right on time at the gates of Wanshou Detached Palace.】

【So this is the legendary “persistent suitor strategy”?】

The courtiers imagined the scene.

A once-mighty emperor now blocking his ex-wife’s door like a stubborn old man.

The image shattered completely.

【The Empress Dowager is even tougher—she keeps all doors and windows shut, not even leaving a crack.】

【The Retired Emperor doesn’t get angry. He sets up a small tent outside, cooks his meals, and even gives daily reports.】

【“Wife, the seventh son’s kid wet the bed again—drew a huge map!”】

【“The thirteenth finally got some backbone—got punished by his wife to kneel on a washboard and didn’t even make a sound!”】

【“I saved you a nice piece of land, south-facing, everything grows well—just waiting for your inspection!”】

The system imitated his rambling tone, full of earthy warmth.

Many old officials in the Golden Throne Hall felt their eyes moisten.

Strip away the imperial identity—he was just an old man longing for reunion.

Xiao Juechen’s fingers dug deep into his palm.

His father… had once tried so humbly to please someone?

【How touching!】

Feng Zeyuan was slightly moved.

【Such belated devotion—even if it’s worthless—after half a year, there should be some effect, right?】

【Effect? Heh heh.】

The system’s laugh suddenly turned sleazy, sending chills down everyone’s spine.

【The Empress Dowager wasn’t idle either. While the Retired Emperor shouted at the front gate… she slipped out the back gate to go on a date!】

BOOM!

This revelation was even more explosive than the news that the Retired Emperor was still alive.

Xiao Juechen shot up, pupils shaking violently.

A… date?

His mother?!

The entire court buried their heads so low they almost wished they were deaf.

Was this even something they were allowed to hear?!

【What the hell?!】

Feng Zeyuan was stunned.

【The Empress Dowager… has a second spring too?!】

【Who is it?! Which god dares to steal from the Retired Emperor?!】

【Former Grand Marshal Gao De.】

At this name, several veteran generals in the military ranks nearly collapsed.

Gao De?

That man who never married, guarded the frontier for forty years, known as the “soul of the Great Xia army”?

【He is the Empress Dowager’s childhood sweetheart—her white moonlight!】

The system switched into gossip mode.

【When she entered the palace for selection, he was devastated and volunteered to guard the border. He stayed away for half a lifetime.】

【When he heard the previous emperor had “died,” he finally laid down his armor and returned home.】

【Coincidentally, his retreat home was just two mountains away from the detached palace!】

【Perfect timing!】

Feng Zeyuan clapped wildly in her mind.

【Fake-dead ex-husband becomes village chief, ex-wife reunites with first love in her sunset years.】

【This isn’t betrayal—it’s both of them finding their own happiness!】

Emperor Xiao Juechen’s expression had completely collapsed.

On one side: his father, desperately trying to win back his ex-wife at the gate.

On the other: his mother, secretly dating her first love in the mountains.

And he, the emperor, was stuck in the middle questioning life.

How was he supposed to hold court like this?!

【But this isn’t even the most explosive part!】

The system dropped the final bomb.

【The Retired Emperor was happily convinced his sincerity was working.】

【Little did he know…】

【The Empress Dowager and General Gao had already planned a “Mission: Impossible” style operation!】

【Her visit was fake—she intended to bring Gao’s men to secretly follow…】

【A pincer attack to rescue her two sons from that cursed village!】

【Today is the first day of the month! The Retired Emperor’s convoy arrives at noon!】

【Holy—!】

Feng Zeyuan was practically burning with excitement.

【So General Gao is helping the Empress Dowager rescue her sons out of love?】

【Exactly!】

The system confirmed.

【What a moving, earth-shaking romance!】

Feng Zeyuan sighed.

【System! After court, let’s go eat this melon!】

【I want to see what that royal village actually looks like!】

【And admire those princes and grandchildren… farming with hoes!】