Mu Xue and Mu Xue

The next morning, the morning light shone through the carved window lattices, casting a few rays of light, gently falling on Mu Xue's bed.

Mu Xue slowly woke up, feeling dizzy, as if she was still hungover.

She rubbed her temples, her thoughts drifting back to yesterday. She was clearly still concentrating on her cultivation, but for some reason, she suddenly fell into endless darkness and lost consciousness.

She frowned and thought to herself, this doesn't seem like Mu Xue appearing.

In the past, when Mu Xue came out, although their consciousness would alternate, she was not completely unconscious, as if she had been forcibly pulled out of her body.

But what exactly happened? She was full of doubts, but had no clue.

However, her rumbling stomach interrupted her thoughts at this moment. She sighed helplessly and thought, let’s not think about these troubles for now, filling her stomach is the most important thing.

Mu Xue packed up simply and went out.

She strolled through the streets of Huayan City, looking for food everywhere.

As she walked, she saw a restaurant with extremely luxurious decorations, a gold-painted door, a glazed tile roof, and two servants in fancy clothes standing at the door. It was obvious that it was a high-end restaurant.

In her opinion, the more grand and luxurious the decoration is, the more delicious the food will taste.

She walked in. The store was bustling with people coming and going.

When the waiter saw a customer coming in, he immediately greeted her with a smile and led her to an empty seat.

Mu Xue casually flipped through the menu without looking closely and ordered a few of the restaurant's signature dishes.

After a while, the dishes were served one after another.

But when she picked up her chopsticks and took a few bites, her expression gradually became ugly.

The taste of this dish was far from as delicious as she had imagined, and it could even be said to be a little disappointing.

She couldn't help but wonder, had her taste changed? Or was this so-called high-end restaurant just a facade?

Just as she was feeling depressed and reluctantly eating her meal, a conversation at the next table caught her attention.

"Have you heard? Our current emperor went to a brothel yesterday!" A man in a gray robe leaned close to another man's ear with a mysterious look and spoke in a low voice.

"Hey! Tsk! Are you courting death? You are making irresponsible remarks about the current emperor, which is a capital crime! You don't want to live, but I still want to live!" Another man in a blue shirt suddenly changed his expression when he heard this. He looked around in horror, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that no one was paying attention.

But then he changed the subject, and a hint of excitement flashed across his face, "Well—but you know what, this is really exciting!"

"We are all men, we all understand—" The gray-robed man raised his eyebrows and showed a meaningful smile on his face.

"Hmm..." The man in blue shirt also understood what he meant. They pointed their index fingers at each other, with an expression of "you know" on their faces. Then they lowered their voices and talked in a low voice.

Mu Xue listened to their conversation, the corners of her mouth slightly raised, revealing a faint bitter smile.

She was not interested in court affairs. In her opinion, the romantic affairs of emperors and generals were nothing more than after-dinner gossip, just like this unpalatable meal, which was boring.

She shook her head, ignored it, and continued to eat her meal.

At this moment, in the magnificent imperial study, the morning light shone through the carved window lattices onto Yun Jingliu.

He was wearing a bright yellow dragon robe and a crown on his head. He was sitting upright at the table, reviewing memorials attentively.

His expression was stern, and his eyes revealed an innate majesty. His slender fingers held a red pen, and he wrote replies on memorials from time to time.

He seemed unaware of the discussions of the people outside the palace, or perhaps, even if he knew, he just laughed it off.

In his heart, the country and the people are the most important. As for those insignificant rumors, they cannot shake him at all.

"Your Majesty, even if you are desperate, you can't go to that kind of place!

"Besides, I didn't stop you from choosing a few more concubines. For you, the current emperor, to go to a place like that would be a disgrace to the royal family!" A charming woman frowned slightly and walked lightly to Yun Jingliu. Her voice was as gentle as the spring breeze, with a hint of coquettishness. Although her words were full of blame, there was no harshness in her tone. Instead, it sounded like she was just being coquettish.

"Huh? Where?" Yun Jingliu was concentrating on the memorial in his hand concerning water conservancy and livelihoods. Upon hearing this, he looked up with a puzzled expression, his gaze shifting from the densely packed text to the delicately made-up woman before him. His deep eyes were filled with confusion, as if he had no idea what was being said.

"Hiss, oh, it's the place you went to yesterday! It's spread all over the city now!" Seeing the emperor's confused face, the woman couldn't help but stamp her feet. Her jade-like fingers like onions gently tapped Yun Jingliu's shoulder. The expression on her face became more anxious, and her cherry lips pouted slightly, as if she had suffered a great injustice.

"Huh? I was practicing in the palace yesterday and never left the palace. Where could I have gone?" Yun Jingliu frowned, becoming more and more confused, with a look of bewilderment on his face.

As the ruler of a nation, his daily schedule was incredibly tight. He was either in the court discussing state affairs with his ministers or in the imperial study reviewing memorials and cultivating himself. How could he have time for anything else? Furthermore, he had always acted with integrity, so how could he have done something so ridiculous and gratuitous?

"Oh! It's a brothel!" The woman was so anxious that she didn't care about her usual gentle demeanor in front of the emperor, and simply told the truth directly.

As soon as the words fell, the entire imperial study became quiet in an instant, and the air seemed to freeze.

"Ridiculous! I am the king of a country, how could I go to that kind of place?" Yun Jingliu's face suddenly turned gloomy, and his originally gentle eyes were now full of anger. He stood up suddenly, clenched his fists tightly, and exuded an invisible aura of majesty.

He was truly enraged. As the ruler of the world, he worked diligently and wholeheartedly for the country, yet he was being slandered for no reason. How could anyone not be angry when being wronged like this? Moreover, he was the monarch of this country. How could the dignity of the royal family be trampled upon like this?

"Your Majesty, please calm down. Your Majesty, please calm down. But now most people in the country are saying that you have been there! Why don't you take a look at the memory array?" The woman was frightened when she saw the emperor's rage. She hurried forward, gently pulled Yun Jingliu's sleeves with both hands, and said in a trembling voice.

Yun Jingliu took a deep breath, suppressed the anger in his heart, nodded slightly, and said no more.

Yun Jingliu raised his hand and waved it, and pictures began to emerge.

He concentrated his mind, found the brothel that was rumored among the people, and adjusted the time frame to yesterday.

There are many different rumors among the people. Some say it is in the afternoon, some say it is in the morning. There is no exact time at all, so we can only start checking from the morning.

At first, he adjusted the picture speed to double speed, but as he watched, he still felt it was too slow, and his anxiety became more intense, so he adjusted the speed to triple speed and quadruple speed.

Finally, when the scene came to yesterday afternoon, a familiar figure appeared at the door of the brothel.

The moment Yun Jingliu saw him, he immediately pressed the pause button.

He stared at the image in the crystal ball, carefully observing the man's appearance and listening to the voice, but no matter how he looked or listened, it was exactly the same as himself!

"How is this possible! I was clearly in the Imperial Study yesterday! If you don't believe me, we can move to the Imperial Study." Yun Jingliu said in shock and disbelief.

He waved again, switching the image of the memory array to the imperial study.

When the picture appeared in the imperial study, the two were stunned for a moment.

I saw that in the imperial study, there was indeed another Yun Jingliu sitting at the desk, reviewing memorials attentively. His expression and movements were exactly the same as the Yun Jingliu in front of me!

"How...how can there be two emperors!!" Concubine Shu was stunned. She widened her eyes and covered her mouth with her hands. She was so shocked that she could hardly speak.

She could never have imagined that such a bizarre thing would happen, and the fear in her heart spread like a tide.

"See, I told you..." Yun Jingliu looked a little better after proving his innocence, but suddenly, he seemed to think of something, his face turned pale in an instant, and then his eyes widened.

If there really were two of me, then what hidden conspiracy was behind this fake me appearing in the brothel? What kind of crisis would it bring to the country? At this thought, Yun Jingliu felt a chill run down his spine. He knew full well that this matter was far more complicated than it seemed.