The cold emperor reigns supreme, the arrogant empress begs for a truce.

Chapter 45: Unable to Afford Love

Leng Yuling shook her head: "Why should I go back? No, how did my master end up in Jun Ao's hands?" Only now did she realize why she hadn't heard from Bai Xiaozi all these days; it turned out he had been captured by Jun Ao.

"Is Jun Ao out of his mind? He was the one who rejected me in the first place, and now he's forcing you to let me exchange my master. There's no such thing as a free lunch. What does he take me for?"

Only now did Mo Xuan realize that Leng Yuling's boldness wasn't just directed at him and Mo Zhen, but at everyone, even the emperor of their Northern Desert, whom she wasn't afraid to offend.

“But we need the Sage of Medicine!” Mo Xuan looked at Leng Yuling, his usual demeanor changed, and said seriously.

Leng Yuling simply waved her hand and said, "To cure Ma Zhiyun's illness?"

"How did you know?" Mo Xuan blurted out.

“How I know isn’t important; what’s important is that I have a plan.” Leng Yuling curled her lips into a confident smile, which piqued Mo Xuan’s curiosity. But before he could speak, Mo Zhen interrupted him: “Mo Xuan, you go out first.”

Mo Xuan was taken aback and asked in return, "Why?"

"I want you to leave first!" Mo Zhen's tone hardened and then turned cold. Mo Xuan glanced at him, then at Leng Yuling, and finally had no choice but to leave the imperial study.

-

Only when Leng Yuling and Mo Zhen were left alone in the Imperial Study did she ask, "Can we talk now?"

"Do you know what will happen to you if I send you back to the Northern Desert?" Mo Zhen asked with a serious expression.

"It's probably impossible for me to become the Empress of the Northern Desert, but you should also know that I disdain the position of Empress."

What she wanted was freedom, to leave the Southern Chu Kingdom and shed the title of Empress of Southern Chu. Perhaps then she could live a freer life; this was her own idea.

Upon hearing her words, Mo Zhen couldn't help but smile.

In his opinion, Leng Yuling was too naive. She actually thought that if she returned to the Northern Desert, she could still enjoy the treatment she deserved. She didn't even know what she meant to Jun Ao.

Mo Zhen did not continue with Leng Yuling's 'Empress' theory, but instead asked her, "Do you think the Sage of Medicine wants you to exchange yourself for his freedom?"

"Of course he doesn't want to, but I believe he also doesn't want to see me marry someone who doesn't like me, and whom I don't like either." Leng Yuling spoke directly, but Mo Zhen didn't find it so pleasant to hear.

"Are you really that unwilling to be my empress?" Mo Zhen asked in a calm tone.

It seems that he is more curious about his own position in Leng Yuling's heart than about Bai Xiaozi and Jun Ao's affair.

"To be honest with you, I already know that Ma Zhiyun is sick, but my medical skills are not good enough. I can only tell that her illness seems to be complicated, but I can't cure her."

Leng Yuling stopped talking about Mo Zhen and instead brought up Ma Zhiyun's illness.

Mo Zhen's brows furrowed even deeper, because he knew what Leng Yuling meant. She didn't want to continue the conversation, perhaps because in her heart, even Ma Zhiyun's illness was less attractive to her.

Mo Zhen stood up, walked to Leng Yuling, gently pinched her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye, and said, word by word, "One day, I will make you fall in love with me."

Leng Yuling met Mo Zhen's eyes without fear, curled her lips into a smile, and calmly said, "Don't be so sure that I will like you. It's not certain who will like whom first."

If she wants to return to her own time, then in that time she will definitely not have any romantic entanglements with anyone.

She can't afford to offend her, hate her, or even love her.

even if...

Leng Yuling looked at Mo Zhen's slightly angry face, but lowered her head slightly.

She didn't belong here, so there were some things she simply couldn't choose, even love.