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

Chapter 52: Where Does Your Ambition Lie?

Mo Zhen raised his hand to look at Leng Yuling, who immediately understood and gently placed her slender hand on his. The two took their seats hand in hand, which made Leng Siyu envious.

From the moment Mo Zhen appeared, her gaze never left him.

"Elder sister, I really envy you. Your brother-in-law, the Emperor, treats you so well," Leng Siyu said with a look of envy, but her eyes never left Mo Zhen for a moment while she spoke.

Leng Yuling glanced at Mo Zhen subconsciously, then lowered her head shyly. Although Leng Siyu wouldn't notice her expression, certain informants would focus all their attention on her and Mo Zhen.

All day long, Leng Siyu was infatuated with Mo Zhen, who remained calm and composed, as if he were an indifferent idol immune to the madness of all female fans.

Leng Yuling spent the entire day acting.

Only after Leng Siyu left did she slump weakly onto the table, resting her chin on her arm, staring blankly ahead.

"Is it really necessary?" Mo Xuan sat down opposite her, looking at her with amusement.

"Now I finally understand, being an actor is not easy." Thinking of her actress friend from her previous life, she couldn't help but admire her from the bottom of her heart.

She was already exhausted from pretending for a day, feeling like her soul had left her body, but she was acting 365 days a year, except for a few days of rest.

Seeing Mo Xuan and Leng Yuling being so intimate, Mo Zhen coughed a few times unconsciously. Mo Xuan realized this and quickly sat up straight, looking at Mo Zhen and speaking with a slightly unnatural tone.

“Brother, we’ve been in the Northern Desert for five days now, and Jun Ao hasn’t sent anyone to let us into the palace yet. Is he not in a hurry…” He paused, glanced at Leng Yuling who seemed not to be listening to him, and continued, “or does he think we should be more anxious than him?”

He was referring to the rescue of Bai Xiaozi.

“He thinks that the Northern Desert is his territory, and that you should be the ones begging him, not the other way around.” It wasn’t Mo Zhen who spoke, but Leng Yuling, who seemed to be in a daze.

Mo Zhen and Mo Xuan couldn't help but glance at her. Sometimes she seemed like a carefree person who didn't care about anything.

In reality, she sees many things more clearly and understands more than anyone else, but she just doesn't show it.

To say she's scheming is an understatement; the word "scheming" doesn't really apply to her.

"So what should we do now?" Mo Xuan suddenly asked Leng Yuling subconsciously. In the past, he never thought that such an important matter could be discussed with a woman other than that person, but Leng Yuling was indeed an exception.

Since she went to Southern Chu and married Mo Zhenwei, she has brought too many surprises to Southern Chu and to them.

I originally thought that a woman who had received little education since childhood and was abandoned in the countryside must have the same thoughts and ideas as other women in the countryside.

However, she is an exception.

It's probably because she had followed Bai Xiaozi since she was a child, learning both medicine and literature. Thinking about it, it's not surprising.

Conversely, it would be surprising if the last disciple of the Sage of Medicine was an incompetent fool.

"You're asking me?" Leng Yuling pointed at herself and asked Mo Xuan, then, seeing him nod, she said, "Who should I ask?"

Mo Xuan felt as if he had been doused with cold water. Just as he was about to get angry, he heard her continue, "Since it's inconvenient and beneath you to step in, then let me do it for you. Anyway, in Jun Ao's eyes and even in the eyes of the people of Bei Mo, I am just Leng Pingchu's eldest daughter who was abandoned in the countryside, not the Empress of Nan Chu."

This is why she could move freely even in the Northern Desert Kingdom.

Even if the Southern Chu Kingdom is good, in the eyes of the Northern Desert people, the Southern Chu Kingdom is still a country that the Northern Desert is unwilling to acknowledge and looks down upon. This is the information that Leng Yuling obtained from the market these past few days.

"You mean you want to go to the palace?"

Leng Yuling nodded: "As the Prime Minister's legitimate daughter."

Mo Zhen was already somewhat disagreeing, and after hearing her words, he was even more opposed. He stared at Leng Yuling with a stern face and said coldly, "My Empress, is this very identity that you disdain, or... find disgusting?"

Mo Zhen stared at Leng Yuling, waiting for her answer. Mo Xuan, who was standing to the side, sensed a growing tension and made an excuse to leave before they could speak.

Only when the two of them were left in the room did Mo Zhen ask again, "From the first day you went to the Southern Chu Kingdom, you have shown disdain for me and for the identity of the Southern Chu Empress. I am curious, what are your ambitions?" As he spoke, Mo Zhen's tone involuntarily became stiff. He was very curious about the answer.

He actually remembered what she said before; what a petty man!

However, Leng Yuling did not intend to say, or rather, did not know how to explain, that she was not disdainful, but simply did not believe she could live in this era forever.

But how can she explain that she is not a person of this era and has an uncontrollable relationship with the people and things of this era?

“When I was little, my ambition was to become a scientist when I grew up. When I got a little older, my ambition was to become an internationally famous female star, but in the end…” She looked at Mo Zhen, who had been listening attentively to her but was destined not to understand, and said with a smile, “I ended up becoming a female doctor, something I never thought I would do.”

In her previous life, she was also a doctor, and in this life, she is still inextricably linked to the word 'medicine'.

After Leng Yuling finished stating her aspirations, Mo Zhen remained silent. This time, it was Leng Yuling's turn to stare at Mo Zhen.

"Scientist, female celebrity, doctor?" Mo Zhen repeated the professions Leng Yuling had just mentioned in a low voice, but he didn't know what those professions were.

Leng Yuling knew what he didn't know, but she didn't explain further.

“What I want to say is—” Leng Yuling suddenly became serious, looked at Mo Zhen, and said, word by word, “I don’t want to be your empress, just like I don’t want to be the empress of Jun Ao or any other emperor.”

She only wanted to be a free person, but she also knew better than anyone that the title of Empress was not easy to hold, and even more difficult to relinquish.

"Don't worry, for now, I will still be your empress." Knowing that Mo Zhen would be suspicious and curious, she explained, but this explanation only made Mo Zhen more curious.

"Currently?" Mo Zhen asked calmly, but a hint of displeasure was evident. "You mean you'll still leave me in the future, or even leave Southern Chu?"

Leng Yuling subconsciously looked up at Mo Zhen, whose eyes were still unfathomable, revealing an unfathomable emotion.

However, for some reason, Leng Yuling felt as if something had stabbed her in the chest, causing a vague, indescribable pain.

She didn't notice that her gaze towards Mo Zhen had softened considerably, but the next moment, Mo Zhen turned and left without a word, his face expressionless.