[...]

Listening to these words, Yun Wanyao felt a bit dazed.

Sickly person?

What on earth is this?

And what does ’nearing death, must drag a beloved to die together’ mean?

Why would my little sister say this?

Before she could make any sense of it, her body was suddenly pulled forcefully into an embrace.

He held her tightly, his chin resting on top of her head, one hand soothingly stroking the back of her head.

Surrounded by the aura of a man, Yun Wanyao felt as though facing great danger, her entire body tensed up, instinctively wanting to struggle, yet he seemed to have anticipated this, holding her even tighter.

[Ah???]

[All men are indeed the same, starting to get handsy with my sister already, what should I do, should I beat him?]

Yun Wanyao, just about to struggle, immediately quieted down upon hearing this, obediently letting the man hold her.

Her little sister was still merely conflicted, but if she struggled forcefully, her little sister might immediately take action and indeed beat the Emperor up.

This is not to be taken lightly.

The room contained only her and him; if he were inexplicably beaten up, he would certainly hold her accountable afterward. How could she explain?

[Eh, since sister isn’t struggling, then I’d better not meddle, meddling usually annoys people.]

[Hmm, better keep observing...]

With the plan successful, Yun Wanyao felt relieved, then heard the man’s deep and hoarse voice, filled with guilt.

"This matter is my fault, how can I be forgiven? You can say it, as long as it’s not abandoning me, not endangering the realm, or the subjects of the world, I’ll agree to anything."

Upon hearing this, Yun Wanyao’s eyes instantly lit up.

"Really? As long as it’s not the two points mentioned by the Emperor, anything can be promised to this minister’s daughter?"

"Yes, truly."

Wonderful!!!

Yun Wanyao was so happy that it felt like her heart would bloom from joy, even though she tried hard to restrain it, the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but curl up high.

"Alright, this matter we’ll discuss later, the Emperor still hasn’t told this minister’s daughter why he wanted to kill her back then?"

Although Yun Wanqing had expressed her inner voice earlier, she faintly understood something but still couldn’t completely resolve her doubts.

Now that she had opened her mouth, today, no matter what, she must understand.

As for his promise, it was completely an unexpected delight.

Mo Yuanlin frowned, unwilling to face the matter; every time he thought of it, he was overwhelmed by guilt, self-blame, and regret.

But evidently, some things can’t simply be ignored as if they never happened.

He did indeed owe her an explanation.

"Why, you ask? Because I was ill, a madness!"

Yun Wanyao: "..."

"Ha, Yao’er doesn’t believe it, does she? But it’s true, I did get mad, so upon feeling like I was dying, I conceived a crazy idea, that was to drag down Yao’er to die together..."

"I was still so young, how could I die alone?"

"Yao’er must accompany me, only thus, even in death, I wouldn’t feel alone."

"I liked Yao’er so much, how could I let Yao’er stay alone, to become someone else’s wife in the future? Father originally intended to betroth you to me, but it’s all Mo Yuanhao’s fault, who intervened half-heartedly..."

He initially planned to kill her and then go kill Mo Yuanhao, but upon seeing her pained look, he softened. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Of course, there was no need to tell her this.

After hearing this, Yun Wanyao felt a mix of emotions, never imagining the reason why the Emperor wanted to kill her back then was this.

She wondered what the reason could be.

[Loving her means dragging her to die together, hmm, indeed quite mad.]

[Honestly speaking, I can’t appreciate these mad, sick affectionate settings in novels.]

[However, the Emperor seems much saner now, with none of those dark attributes visible, perhaps greatly related to his matured mindset.]

[Elder sister, you think hard, should you want this person though.]

[Wait, wait, you’ve both spoken to this extent, elder sister already has no chance to retreat, want or not, you must take.]

[Ah, the Emperor likely won’t force elder sister, continuing to watch, infringes upon her privacy, quite impolite indeed.]

[Elder sister, I’m leaving now, have a good chat with the Emperor, okay.]

[...]

The inner voice growing increasingly distant, soon completely vanished.

Yun Wanyao concentrated hard to listen for moments, apart from the sound of their breathing, no more sounds, her sister’s spiritual power truly left.

She felt relieved, her tense nerves relaxed, reached out to push the man in front, yet her hands were grabbed firmly.

"Emperor, let go of this minister’s daughter."

"No, I won’t, you want to know, I’ve answered, why don’t you speak?"

He not only didn’t let go, but rather held tighter, as if trying to embed her into his bones, squeezing her till she couldn’t breathe.

Unable to break free, Yun Wanyao panted heavily, giving up struggling.

"Speak what? Speak why the Emperor wanted to drag this minister’s daughter to die together? But this question, this minister’s daughter probably has the answer, the Emperor likes this minister’s daughter, right?"

Earlier hearing the Emperor liked her, she didn’t believe it.

As a child, she loved clinging to him, always calling him Crown Prince, attached to the Eastern Palace, unwilling to leave, yet he always remained indifferent, responding half-heartedly to her, never displaying a good face.

She never felt discouraged, still eagerly stuck her warm face to his cold backside daily.

Until that night, she was frightened, vaguely realizing he disliked her greatly, to the point of wanting to kill her.

She didn’t understand why but started consciously avoiding him, never appearing before him proactively again.

Yet now, him coming to her in the dead of night, and the thoughts of her little sister heard, made her believe he somewhat liked her.

As for how much this ’somewhat’ was, she had no clue.

Mo Yuanlin slightly raised his eyebrows, openly admitting.

"Yes, I like you very much, so, when will Yao’er agree to enter the palace?"

"With national affairs being busy, the distance between the Imperial Palace and the Yun Family isn’t close, running between two places long-term is not only exhausting but may also delay state matters, could Yao’er care for me, for the sake of the realm and its people?"

Yun Wanyao: "..."

Upon hearing him admit he liked her with her own ears, she felt a bit shy, yet hearing those later words, that bit of shyness instantly vanished, leaving only speechlessness.

"The Emperor doesn’t need to run back and forth."

Enter the palace???

Ha, even if she decided to be with him, she hadn’t planned to enter the palace temporarily.

Firstly, her engagement had just recently been undone.

Secondly, she couldn’t bear to part with her parents, couldn’t bear to part with her little sister, couldn’t bear to part with everyone in the Yun Family.

Finally, being trapped in the palace at such a young age would be miserably unfortunate.