DLWAV CH149

“Founding Ancestor—”

Although Meng Jiao had repeatedly reminded herself before entering the palace that she must be respectful and courteous upon meeting Ao Ruize—not only to leave a good impression in her idol’s mind, but also because, even though Ao Ruize was her idol, he was an emperor after all, and there was no guarantee that the history books claiming Ao Ruize was a gentle and kind person were actually true, so she felt it was better to be cautious.

However, after seeing Ao Ruize, especially after seeing that strikingly handsome face of his, she threw that trace of caution completely out the window.

“You have no idea, my besties and I are all huge fans of yours!”

“You look so much more handsome in person than in the portraits!”

Even though Ao Ruize’s current appearance was completely different from the previous world.

The Little Milk Dumpling: “…”

It was very curious: what on earth was there about a scumbag as massive as Ao Ruize that was worth Meng Jiao stanning?

Jiang Zimo: “…”

Jiang Zimo’s brows furrowed instantly.

He felt sour.

This man surnamed Ao’s talent for attracting bees and butterflies truly never failed to make him unhappy.

Ao Ruize smiled and said, “Have a seat. Have you eaten yet? Care to join us for a bite?”

With that, Meng Jiao completely cast caution and reservedness to the wind.

“May I really?”

Ao Ruize: “Of course you may. After all, if not for the defense map of the capital and the court’s surprise attack plan that you provided, we wouldn’t have been able to destroy the Great Yang so smoothly.”

With that, he directly ordered people to set an extra pair of bowls and chopsticks at the table.

How many people ever got the chance to share a meal with their idol?

Meng Jiao hesitated for only a few seconds before saying, “Then I won’t stand on ceremony!”

Jiang Zimo: “…”

Inviting his romantic rival to eat food he personally cooked—this man surnamed Ao’s talent for exasperating people truly never failed to make him unhappy, either.

Ao Ruize was also quite puzzled.

If he remembered correctly, in the world before last, he hadn’t actually done much of anything; the middle-aged man and his people were the ones bustling about from beginning to end, so how had Meng Jiao become his fan?

So he directly asked the question out loud.

Hearing this, Meng Jiao immediately answered, “Actually, I’m a shipper of you and Imperial Consort Ruiming.”

Ao Ruize: “…”

Well, CP fans were indeed fans as well.

The Little Milk Dumpling: “…”

Do you need some wolfberries? The kind guaranteed to cure your total blindness.

Jiang Zimo: “…”

Then it was fine.

The corners of his lips couldn’t help curving upward, and he personally served Meng Jiao a large bowl of milk-fragrant steamed buns.

Seeing this, the Little Milk Dumpling: “…”

Ex-wife, wake up!

Ao Ruize is literally discussing his previous wife with his fan right now!

Then it finally caught on.

Was something not quite right here?

At this thought, it didn’t even care to turn its grief and indignation into an appetite anymore, setting down the milk-fragrant steamed bun in its hands directly.

Though truth be told, the milk-fragrant steamed buns made by its ex-wife tasted virtually identical to the ones fed to it much earlier by its wives Fumu and Sun Xiuji.

One could only say that they truly lived up to being wives it had fallen for at first sight.

Back to the point.

So what exactly was off?

It thought about it: for instance, Meng Jiao said she was a shipper of Xiao Ruize and Third Master Liu, yet right now, Xiao Ruize had already proclaimed to the world that he had instated Jiang Zimo as Imperial Consort, so why didn’t Meng Jiao mind at all?

Right at this moment, Meng Jiao’s voice rang out again.

She said, “Still, I never expected that Imperial Consort Ruiming was also a transmigrator! Are you two doing missions together?”

After all, that was how all the web novels wrote it.

The Little Milk Dumpling: “…”

How did their covers suddenly get blown?

The milk-fragrant steamed bun held by the Little Milk Dumpling fell straight to the floor.

Wait, that didn’t seem to be the main point.

The point was Meng Jiao’s sentence: was Ao Ruize doing missions together with Jiang Zimo?

Her meaning was glaringly obvious—Jiang Zimo was Third Master Liu!

The Little Milk Dumpling: “…”

How was that possible?!

How could that not be possible?

In Meng Jiao’s eyes, her idol was exceptionally outstanding and practically a star graduate of the “husband virtue class”—the moment he ascended the throne, he directly instated Third Master Liu as Imperial Consort, and for Third Master Liu’s sake, he maintained no imperial harem and bore no heirs, so much so that he ultimately had to pass the throne to his enemy’s son.

Therefore, upon learning that Ao Ruize had instated Jiang Zimo as Imperial Consort, her first thought was that Jiang Zimo was definitely Third Master Liu, who had transmigrated over as well.

Although looking at it this way made the romance between Ao Ruize and Third Master Liu seem a bit less breathtakingly tragic,

she felt that this couple was actually even better to ship.

After all, compared to a love that lasted a single lifetime, wasn’t an eternity of companionship across lifetimes infinitely more romantic?

The Little Milk Dumpling, however, did not think that way.

It thought: wasn’t Meng Jiao’s fan filter a bit too thick?

Aside from having a love-struck brain like its other wives—always falling for Ao Ruize under circumstances that totally defied its expectations—Jiang Zimo and Third Master Liu bore zero resemblance to each other… Huh???

The Little Milk Dumpling: “…”

The Little Milk Dumpling abruptly turned to stare at Jiang Zimo.

Only then did it realize that upon hearing these words, the expression on Jiang Zimo’s face hadn’t shifted in the slightest.

The Little Milk Dumpling: “…………”

Which meant that Jiang Zimo and Third Master Liu were very likely the exact same person.

The Little Milk Dumpling: “………………”

Thinking even more boldly…

Could it be that its wife Zhong Chi, its wife Xia Jingyao, its wife Fumu… were all the exact same person?

The Little Milk Dumpling: “……………………”

How was that possible?!

The Little Milk Dumpling was thoroughly dumbfounded.

Right at this moment, Meng Jiao caught on: “Is this confidential information that isn’t convenient for you to discuss?”

“Then I won’t ask.”

“But could you two give me an autograph? That way, I’d be the only fan in the whole world to own an autograph personally signed by my idol!”

“If my besties knew about this, they’d turn green with envy!”

“Of course you can,”

Ao Ruize said.

Then he paused: “Do you want to go back?”

Hearing this, Meng Jiao was taken aback: “You mean, you can send me back?”

Yet in the next second, she snapped back to reality.

Furrowing her brows: “Forget it. In that world, my dad passed away many years ago, but my father in this world is still alive and well. If I leave, he might die of grief.”

Then, as if thinking of something, her eyes lit up instantly.

“However, could you help me deliver your autographs, along with some things I’ve prepared, back to my besties?”

Ao Ruize smiled and said, “Of course I can.”

“Awesome!”

Meng Jiao said with pure delight.

Then she felt a bit embarrassed: “This… you’re being so good to me, I don’t even know how to repay you.”

Right at this moment, Wu Chuyao arrived.

She had finally processed everything, so the very first thing she did was come find Ao Ruize, intending to resign from the position of Imperial Crown Sister.

She said, “I am merely a woman; how could I possibly become the crown heir of a nation? The court officials will not accept it, and the spirit of our father in heaven will not accept it either.”

“Most importantly, this realm was conquered by your own hands; there is no logic in letting me sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor.”

Hearing this, Meng Jiao was the first to disagree.

“What’s wrong with being a woman? Another great leader once said that women hold up half the sky!”

“Moreover, without women risking their lives to reproduce, how could humanity have carried on until today?”

“Men vigorously promote patriarchal dominance and look down on women purely for their own self-interest—are you going to look down on yourself as well?”

“Do you know that just before we breached the capital, those so-called pure and upright great scholars were already preparing to write the Three Fundamental Bonds and Five Constant Virtues into law?”

“If you don’t become the heir, do you plan to wait until the Foun… until His Majesty leaves this world, only to have those so-called pure scholars settle scores with you afterward? Or do you want to be written into the Admonitions for Women by those hypocrites to be reviled for ten thousand years?”

Most importantly, if you don’t become the heir, who will?

The Imperial Consort can’t give birth, either!

You can’t possibly expect our boy to open a harem, right?

Breaking up my ship deserves a lightning strike from heaven!

Meng Jiao kept those last few sentences to herself, however.

After all, as an outsider and a commoner, saying this much was already quite forward.

Fortunately, her words were remarkably effective.

Because the moment she heard the line—just before we breached the capital, those so-called pure scholars were already preparing to write the Three Fundamental Bonds and Five Constant Virtues into law—Wu Chuyao froze.

Back then, when those so-called pure scholars learned that she had visited a male brothel and submitted petitions urging Emperor Jianzhao to punish her severely, Ao Ruize had refuted them on the grounds that no law in the Great Yang Laws forbade women from visiting brothels.

Afterward, those scholars hadn’t pressed the issue further, leading her to believe they had given up.

She never imagined they hadn’t given up at all. Meng Jiao’s concerns were completely justified.

Those so-called pure scholars were blood-sucking fiends; given another chance, they would stage a comeback without hesitation.

She admitted she was unwilling to let that happen.

Most critically, as a princess of a nation, committing a minor breach of propriety had subjected her to such vitriol; how could women of ordinary commoner households live lives any better than beasts of burden?

Beasts could roam outdoors freely every day, yet as human beings, women stepping outside a few extra times invited filthy slander. If they were violated, society blamed them first for lacking modesty, even sentencing them alongside their abusers.

At this thought, Wu Chuyao couldn’t help taking a deep breath.

As if anticipating her thoughts, Ao Ruize said with a smile, “Follow the choice in your heart and go do it.”

“So long as you make a good emperor, does it make any difference whether this realm was conquered by me or by you?”

Wu Chuyao understood completely. Looking at Ao Ruize, she spoke no further words of refusal.

She merely said, “Rest assured, I will not let you down.”

Ao Ruize nodded in satisfaction.

He had almost let his ready-made tool fall through his fingers.

Then, as if struck by a thought, he turned toward Meng Jiao, who was equally overjoyed.

He said, “Didn’t you just say you didn’t know how to repay me? A ready-made opportunity has presented itself: go assist the Imperial Crown Sister.”

Meng Jiao: “…”

And so, when Meng Heyi finally thought things through and decided to accept Great Qian’s recruitment, he was met with the news that Ao Ruize had instated Wu Chuyao as the Imperial Crown Sister, and his daughter Meng Jiao had become the freshly appointed Supervisor of the Crown Sister’s Household, a proper fourth-rank official.

Meng Heyi: “…”

Could he start mentally preparing himself for the possibility of becoming a servant to three different masters in the future?

At almost the exact same moment, in Qianshi City of the Great Yang in another world:

A group of young men and women who had been mourning Meng Jiao just a second earlier suddenly received a massive parcel sent by Meng Jiao in the next second.

Fighting back sheer panic, they opened the large package, only to find that the handwriting on the letter lying right on top was unmistakably identical to Meng Jiao’s.

They were subsequently informed that Meng Jiao wasn’t dead; she had transmigrated and even met their idol, Emperor Taizu. Taizu was indeed a fellow transmigrator, so she had specially asked him to write dedicated autographs for each of them. Beyond that, she sent back some “local specialties” of Great Qian, seeing as she was loaded with cash now.

Seeing this, their immediate reaction was that this was definitely someone’s elaborate prank.

Until they saw the contents inside the large crate nestled at the bottom of the package—piles of gold ingots, uniform ice-jadeite bangles, earrings, thumb rings, and countless pearls and strings of huanghuali wood beads…

Having been slaving away for houses and cars just a second ago, and seemingly becoming filthy rich in the very next second, the group: “…”

What a “local specialty”!