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

Chapter 57: Stay Calm, We Can Win

The next day, Leng Pingchu summoned Leng Yuling to his study alone.

"I wonder what business the Prime Minister has with me?" Neither the original owner nor she herself had ever received Leng Pingchu's fatherly love, so she was even unwilling to call him father.

Leng Pingchu seemed somewhat bothered and retorted, "Ling'er, you're not even willing to call me 'Father'?"

Leng Yuling smiled at him, then nodded seriously; this was her answer on behalf of the original owner of the body.

Leng Pingchu hadn't paid any attention at first, and had only asked the question subconsciously, but after seeing Leng Yuling's smile and hearing her answer, his face subconsciously darkened.

"No matter what, I am still your father." Leng Pingchu's tone turned cold. In the Northern Desert, apart from the royal family, everyone else had some respect for him. However, he had lost his status in front of his own daughter, which naturally displeased Leng Pingchu.

However, whether he is happy or not has nothing to do with Leng Yuling.

“I am still the Empress of Southern Chu, did you bow to me?” Leng Yuling asked with a smile.

One sentence shut Leng Pingchu up. He never expected that the daughter he abandoned more than ten years ago would not die. Being rejected by Jun Ao and losing face was bad enough, but now she had actually become the Empress of Southern Chu. This was a fact he could not accept.

“I called you here today not to discuss the issue of identity,” Leng Pingchu awkwardly changed the subject.

That was exactly what Leng Yuling wanted to know, so she asked, "Just say what you want to say, get to the point. I don't have time to listen to your nonsense."

She really didn't give Leng Pingchu any face at all, which made Leng Pingchu so angry that he gritted his teeth, but he couldn't do anything to her.

The more he acted this way, the more pleased Leng Yuling became.

"Let Ruoxi return to Southern Chu with you." Leng Pingchu said in a tone that was not pleading or even requesting, but rather with a hint of command.

Leng Ruoxi is Leng Pingchu's illegitimate daughter, and Leng Yuling's illegitimate sister whom she has only met once.

She wasn't unaware of Leng Pingchu's intentions; it was simply obvious to anyone with eyes that the one who liked Mo Zhen and longed to go with him was Leng Siyu. Yet, Leng Pingchu wanted Leng Ruoxi to go back with him, making his purpose clear.

“Leng Ruoxi?” Leng Yuling murmured her name, then suddenly grinned and said, “Why don’t we let Leng Siyu come back with me? It’s obvious she likes Mo Zhen a lot.”

The more Leng Pingchu asked her to do something, the more she would do the opposite, just like now.

"Nonsense!" Leng Pingchu exclaimed. "Siyu is destined to be Empress, why would she return to Southern Chu with you?"

In a moment of desperation, Leng Pingchu told the truth, and Leng Yuling then understood why Jun Ao had broken off her engagement and why Mo Xuan had taken her back to Nan Chu. Leng Pingchu didn't care at all.

It turns out that he only believed Leng Siyu to be his legitimate daughter from beginning to end, while Leng Yuling was nothing more than a pawn that could be used for his own purposes.

"Ha, Siyu is destined to be the Empress, but Ruoxi is destined to be a concubine?" She finally felt the difference in treatment in this era. They were both daughters, but the difference between a legitimate daughter and a concubine's daughter was so obvious.

“It’s not difficult to get Leng Ruoxi to come back to Southern Chu with me. It just depends on which daughter of the Leng family the Emperor likes. If he does, then we can let her come along. It’s a good deal to buy one and get one free,” Leng Yuling said with a smile.

"Are our Leng family's daughters so worthless?" Hearing Leng Yuling's words, Leng Pingchu was indeed very angry and never expected her to say such a thing.

Leng Yuling smiled coldly and said, "The choice is naturally in the hands of the Prime Minister."

After saying that, she left the study without waiting for Leng Pingchu's reply.

She walked back to her residence in a huff, grumbling all the way, feeling indignant on behalf of women like Leng Ruoxi.

As soon as she entered the room, Ziyan stepped forward and asked, "Your Highness, what's wrong? Why are you so angry?"

"I said, why are all the people here like this? Are girls so worthless? Don't they deserve respect? You want her to marry whomever you want?"

She grew angrier as she spoke, and sat down on the stool. She picked up the tea that Ziyan had just handed her and drank it all in one gulp. As if that wasn't enough to quench her thirst, she snatched the tea that Mozhen was about to offer her.

Ziyan and Diren stared blankly at Leng Yuling. The only person who would dare snatch Mo Zhen's teacup was probably Leng Yuling. Mo Zhen, on the other hand, showed no displeasure; instead, he looked at Leng Yuling with a smile.

"Whom does the Prime Minister wish to bring back with me?"

Leng Yuling paused in her movements. As expected of an emperor, he had already guessed Leng Pingchu's purpose in summoning her before she even spoke.

"Leng Ruoxi." Leng Yuling swallowed her tea, put down the teacup, and then spoke, "Your status is at least worthy of Leng Siyu as a concubine, isn't it?"

“Leng Siyu can only be the Empress, unless Ling’er is willing to give up the Empress’s position to her,” Mo Zhen continued, turning his head to look at Leng Yuling as he finished speaking.

Leng Yuling lowered her head and muttered, "I don't care about the Empress's position." But she was still somewhat displeased when she heard Leng Pingchu's words.

“Leng Siyu is the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister’s mansion, and also Jun Ao’s future empress.” Mo Zhen seemed not to have heard Leng Yuling’s words and directly said what he wanted to say.

Leng Yuling was well aware of this, but she was genuinely dissatisfied with Leng Pingchu's differential treatment. Furthermore, he had completely disregarded the feelings of his daughters.

They were like commodities, delivered to whoever needed them, or, if he felt it was necessary and could help the Prime Minister's mansion, exchanging a daughter for them might not be a bad deal.

"I suddenly feel a bit lucky." Seeing Mo Zhen's curious look, she continued, "Fortunately, Jun Ao broke off the engagement with me, otherwise I would have become a pawn in their hands, without any choice of my own."

Leng Yuling seemed to have forgotten that even marrying Mo Zhen was not her own choice, and there were many things she didn't know about it.

Looking at her, Mo Zhen felt a little uncomfortable seeing her smug expression.

He didn't know what would happen after Leng Yuling found out the reason, but he knew that given Leng Yuling's personality, she would definitely not be simple.

“I told him that if you want Leng Ruoxi to go, you have to choose one yourself, buy one get one free,” Leng Yuling said playfully. She paused, then seemed to remember something before continuing, “Oh, right, you have to specifically ask for Leng Siyu.”

She was determined to infuriate Leng Pingchu. How dare he send people to monitor them? She would make him pay a price and see who won in the end.

"Stay calm, we can win!" Leng Yuling suddenly said, clenching her fist and gesturing to her chest.

Mo Zhen and the others were completely bewildered.