After the wrong flirtation, I became the villain's favorite

The streets were empty at dawn, with a thin mist lingering under the bleak sky.

Song Nihuan was walking on the deserted street. Thinking that she would see Xie Tan soon, her heart beat so fast that it made her ears numb.

When she was almost in the city, she was blocked by the bustling crowd and could not move forward.

There were too many people, but the atmosphere was eerily quiet, no one made a sound. Everyone had a look of despair on their faces, and families huddled together, tightly together, as if waiting for the final moment to come.

The guard who was maintaining order at the edge of the street said to the captain, "All those who try to leave the city are gathered here."

The captain nodded and looked at the figure on the high platform in the city.

Song Nihuan was far away and couldn't see clearly who was there, but she could see the person's silver hair fluttering in the wind.

Just as she was about to speak, the crowd became agitated.

I don’t know who asked the first question, then the second, the third…

"A tyrant ruler! A tyrant ruler! In the past, Xia Jie's tyranny was rampant and the people lost all their support. This tyrant ruler will eventually be punished by heaven!"

"A tyrant ruler who treats his people like grass will put his country in danger!"

"History will have to judge the foolish actions of this incompetent ruler, and we will die..."

Song Nihuan couldn't bear to listen to the following words.

Xie Tan led the Northern Border Army to Yunjing for her, and suffered years of infamy. Now he wants to massacre civilians, also for her!

Song Nihuan's face turned pale. She couldn't let him be cursed in history like this!

The crowd was restless. She protected her belly and moved forward with difficulty in the crowd. Following the direction of the light, she saw the tall figure on the platform move.

The next moment, a familiar voice sounded, as cold as the collision of metal and stone under the moon.

"Where is the queen?" Xie Tan asked.

The rioting crowd was quiet for only a moment before starting up again, with shouts of curses and pleas for mercy becoming louder and louder.

Song Nihuan hadn't heard Xie Tan's voice for a long time, and she found that his voice was so beautiful that it was outrageous.

It just reveals a deep sense of weariness and indifference.

He was not moved at all by the anger and pleas for mercy of the 100,000 innocent people in Jinghu Port, but was determined and determined to find out where she was.

"The last time the Queen was seen was at Mirror Lake Harbor," the Emperor continued, his voice calm and cold. "Before, someone always told me that they had seen the Queen, but every time, I came up empty-handed. In this case..."

He suddenly stopped and looked straight into the crowd.

He saw her.

At dawn, the sky turned crab-shell blue, casting a gentle glow on her outline, as if it were a dream.

She stood in the restless crowd, smiling at him, waving at him, and shouting something to him.

Xie Tan's eyes were slightly red, and the muscles on his stern face were slightly spasming.

Since she left, he had had this dream more than once, and every time he wished he could wake up and stay with her in the dream.

Until he slept less and less, and the regret and fear of never seeing her again gripped him so tightly that he even had difficulty falling asleep.

He knew that he would go crazy sooner or later.

Just like now, he didn't know whether he was awake or dreaming.

If he was awake, how could he do such a thing as massacring civilians? If he was dreaming...

In his dream, why couldn't he go closer to her and hug her?

Xie Tan lowered his eyes and looked at Song Nihuan in the crowd, infatuatedly, unwilling to look away for a moment, his eyes were sore and his chest was stuffy.

She was still waving at him and shouting something.

The next moment, Xie Tan said to the leader of the emperor's personal guards beside him: "Let them be quiet."

The imperial order was issued and passed down layer by layer, and soon the crowd returned to deathly silence.

"Kneel down," the emperor ordered.

Some of the crowd of people knelt down voluntarily, while others were forced to kneel on the ground waiting for this unexpected disaster to come.

Everyone knelt down, and only then did Song Nihuan in the crowd stand up straight.

He heard clearly that she was calling his name.

He stared at her motionlessly, a strange smile appeared on his expressionless face, and said, "Let her come over."

Song Nihuan held her belly and ran to the bottom of the platform, approaching Xie Tan step by step under his gaze.

Under his incredulous gaze, she threw herself into his arms, "Brother Tan, I'm back."

Her body was soft, her voice was a little aggrieved, and her sweet breath blew warmly on his neck.

He dared not move, his mind was blank, and he even held his breathing, for fear of breaking such a realistic illusion.

The person in his arms said unhappily, "You don't even want to hug me?"

Song Nihuan let go of her hand, looked up at Xie Tan, then held his face and kissed him.

Lips and teeth intertwined, the familiar and bone-eroding lingering came...

——This is not an illusion, she is real.

For the first time, Xie Tan rejected her kiss. He held her shoulders with both hands, his eyes red, his chest heaving violently, and he looked at her in disbelief with ecstasy and grievance.

She was fine, standing in front of him.

His eyes greedily swept across her face, neck, and then... her slightly bulging belly.

*

The emperor's carriage set out from Jinghu Port and headed north.

Inside the carriage.

Song Nihuan felt her heart was about to jump out. Since they met, Xie Tan had never been apart from her for a moment. He even kissed her from time to time and gasped softly in between kisses.

She missed him very much, and he was so clingy that she felt weak all over.

Xie Tan was not feeling lustful at this moment, he just missed her too much.

The legs will swell after sitting in a car for a long time, and women's legs will also swell in the late stages of pregnancy. The silver-haired emperor knelt on the thick pile carpet and kneaded her calves in his arms.

Only then did she realize that Xie Tan had lost a lot of weight.

From her angle, she could see his bony collarbone.

Xie Tan was wearing a dark cloak, and the robe and lining inside were also dark dark.

The dark color made his skin look pale, his narrow eye sockets were faintly red, the whites of his eyes were full of bloodshot, and there were deep dark bruises under his eyes.

The whole person looked like he had crawled out of hell, handsome yet sharp, with an aura of decay all over his body.

Song Nihuan couldn't help but touch his face. He put his face in her palm, looked up at her and said faintly, "Will you really never leave me again?"

"Why are you crying again?" She said helplessly, leaning down to kiss his straight nose, "I won't leave you, really, no matter what, I will come back to find you."

He still seemed dissatisfied, and his broad, flat shoulders trembled slightly.

But Song Nihuan was very dissatisfied with Xie Tan's indifference to the news of her pregnancy, and pushed him, "Don't you want a child? Why... why are you not happy at all? Don't you want to touch him?"

Xie Tan didn't say anything. After a moment's silence, he leaned over and hugged her, pressing his face against her bulging belly.

Song Nihuan had no idea what he was thinking and was completely immersed in the joy of meeting Xie Tan.

*

Late spring of the 41st year of Da Zhao.

The ceremony of enthroning the queen, which had been prepared for nearly a year, did not take place as scheduled.

The emperor issued an edict of remorse, admitting his "immorality", listing the mistakes he had made during his years in power and the crime he almost caused at Jinghu Port. He was determined to put an end to violence, stop arbitrary taxation, focus on agriculture, and exempt Jinghu Port from taxes forever.

This was not enough to appease the public anger, and manifestos from promising people all over the country continued to pour down on Yunjing like snowflakes.

This situation may seem tricky, but the solution is actually simple.

The manifestos were written in fierce language and style, and were mostly written by scholars. There were many people hiding in the countryside who were very good at creating momentum, all of whom adhered to the idea of ​​not being loyal to a leader other than one who was wise.

As for what is a wise leader?

A wise ruler is one who keeps the country stable while defending its borders; a wise ruler is one who expands the territory; a wise ruler is one who respects the wise and humbles himself.

A wise leader who admits his mistakes and corrects them is even more rare.

It's just the mouths of literati.

Among the world's literati, the Xie family was the leader.

The Xie family only follows the lead of this generation's head, Xie Yunji.

In order to balance the relationship between the aristocratic families and the poor families, the emperor had deliberately suppressed the aristocratic families, which had made many nobles dissatisfied. In particular, the head of the Xie family, who had been a distinguished official throughout the dynasties, was demoted, which affected the interests of the scholar class.

Xie Yunji's character is the backbone of the literati of Dazhao.

In the summer of the 41st year of Da Zhao, Xie Yunji, who was demoted to the port of Ci Tong, regulated the trade order of the port, eradicated the accumulated malpractices, abolished the Nanwai Zongzhengsi, cleaned up the remnants of the royal family of the previous dynasty, changed the government office into the Sibo Si, and opened up overseas trade.

They also attracted foreign merchant ships and vassal ships, and reduced the original ship tax, regardless of whether the goods were coarse or fine, and "twenty percent" was taken from all of them...

Xie Yunji wrote in his Records of the Various vassal states, "The profits from the maritime trade are the most important. If the measures are taken in a harmonious way, the profits will be worth millions. Isn't it better than taking it from the people?"

For a time, praise for Lord Xie and appeals to the emperor were all floating in the Yunjing court.

In the winter of the 42nd year of Da Zhao, Xie Yunji, the former governor of Citong, was recalled to Yunjing.

He was granted the title of Grand Secretary of Baohe Hall, Chief Minister of the Cabinet, and head of the civil officials.