Chapter 172: Chapter 172: I Admit, My Purpose in Getting Close to You Wasn’t Pure

"If I can’t complete that mission, I will die," she heard herself say.

The insistent kisses on the side of her neck abruptly stopped.

The man’s body went rigid.

Xie Jinbai didn’t move. He didn’t raise his head, which remained buried in the crook of her neck. It was impossible to know what he was thinking.

Cui Lingyao waited patiently, not rushing him.

After a long moment, his muffled voice sounded in her ear.

Just as she had hoped.

"What is the mission?" he asked.

After laying the groundwork for so long, after all the half-truths and hurtful words, after expending so much emotional energy... they had finally reached this point. Yet Cui Lingyao felt no sense of relief.

It felt as if a large wad of cotton was stuck in her throat. Her voice was hoarse, she couldn’t speak, and even breathing felt difficult.

"Hm?"

When she didn’t answer, Xie Jinbai looked up, found her eyes, and met her gaze. "What is the mission?"

Cui Lingyao’s expression was frozen.

Her fingers, hidden in her sleeves, slowly curled into fists. The pain of her nails digging into her palms kept her grounded.

She moved her lips, her voice strained. "My mission is to ensure you have at least one heir."

’An heir...’

’His child.’

Xie Jinbai wasn’t surprised by this answer. He had already figured out most of it.

He lowered his gaze, his eyes fixed on hers. "Tell me why."

’What role could his child possibly play in all this?’

’A role so important that it would bring her, a soul from the Otherworld, here not once, but twice.’

Cui Lingyao had already prepared her speech. At his question, she recounted the version of history the system had shared with her.

She started with praise. "You will successfully ascend the throne and become a formidable emperor. During your reign, the Da Yue Dynasty will enter a golden age of peace and prosperity. The people will be wealthy, and you will subdue the foreign clans so thoroughly they won’t dare to invade. Your accomplishments will be immortalized in the annals of history. You will be a great and powerful ruler, revered by later generations as Emperor Qianyuan... and also the last enlightened sovereign of the Da Yue Dynasty."

Those last words made Xie Jinbai’s lips tighten into a thin line.

’Considering her attitude whenever she’d mentioned the Alien Clan, it wasn’t hard to imagine what happened next.’

’The Alien Clan invaded.’

His brow furrowed deeply. "How could that be?"

"The people are prosperous, Great Yue is flourishing, and our soldiers are battle-hardened and skilled."

"Unless another traitor like the Empress emerges to collude with the enemy, intentionally throwing open all the border gates to welcome the Alien Clan inside."

Otherwise, Xie Jinbai could think of no reason the gates would be breached.

Even fighting at their absolute worst, they shouldn’t have been defeated so badly that the nation crumbled.

"Because you had no successor!"

Cui Lingyao shot him a look. "After you passed away, there was no heir in the line of succession. Several Princes from the Imperial Family fought tooth and nail to take turns on the throne, only to be forced to abdicate and die tragically. The constant change in imperial power weakened the nation. Ambitious provincial governors began to rise, and the Da Yue Dynasty descended into a full-blown civil war and fell apart. There was no one left to resist the Alien Clan."

"Warlords carved up the land, each establishing their own government. They didn’t give a second thought to a few savage, blood-drinking members of the Alien Clan."

"They schemed against each other, locked in incessant, brutal conflict."

"By the time the border gates were smashed open and the Alien Clan poured in, they did declare a temporary truce. They stopped the civil war and decided to drive out the foreign invaders together."

"But by then, they were only concerned with their own faction’s interests. They were no longer united."

"Every one of them was terrified of coming out on the losing end."

"In the end... they only made the enemy stronger while they themselves suffered one defeat after another."

"This dark period of history lasted for more than eighty years. Do you know what the Yue people were called during that century of suffering?"

’Those members of the Alien Clan had a penchant for cannibalism...’

Xie Jinbai’s gaze shot up to meet hers.

Cui Lingyao pressed her lips together. "Those members of the Alien Clan are illiterate. They act like beasts, all muscle and no brain. They don’t understand how to govern a nation and enjoy a dynasty for ages to come. They just follow their instincts, committing atrocities and sowing chaos. After they invaded Great Yue, their armies never needed to carry provisions. The Yue people were their food."

"The women of the Yue people, in particular, were called ’two-legged animals’..."

As an observer from another world, Cui Lingyao felt sick discussing this part of history. She frowned and said, "Their flesh was more tender than the men’s. They were often forced to ’entertain’ the troops at night, only to be thrown into the cooking pot the next day."

’A pack of beasts invaded their homeland, eating people on sight.’

’Committing unspeakable atrocities.’

"In the end, a thousand miles of Great Yue’s land were scorched bare, and the Human Clan was brought to the brink of extinction."

"And the root of all this was you: childless, with no wife or concubines by your side. A lonely man who died without an heir. If you had someone in the line of succession—even a foolish, mediocre ruler—Great Yue’s strength was such that it would never have fallen into such a tragic state."

As her words faded, the tent fell into a deep silence.

Xie Jinbai kept his gaze lowered, saying nothing for a long time.

’Childless, with no wife or concubines.’

’That was the man she described from the annals of history. That was me.’

’My death without an heir had a profound impact on Great Yue, on the entire race.’

’It was enough to move the "thing" behind her to try and change the course of history.’

’So, it sent her to deceive me and win my heart.’

’First, to shatter the historical record of me having "no wife."’

’Then, having "no children" would no longer be an issue.’

’She would successfully complete her mission and leave this world.’

’But three years passed, and her departure drove me half-mad. Forget having a son, I didn’t even want to be the Emperor anymore.’

’And so, she returned.’

’This time, the mission was changed directly: ensure he has an heir.’

’This was the whole truth.’

The silence stretched on for too long.

He remained silent for so long that Cui Lingyao began to feel uneasy. After a moment’s hesitation, she explained, "The reason I was sent to win your affection... was because the historical version of you having no wife and no concubines was so unusual. Countless people speculated you were either... injured in battle, or that your preferences... didn’t lean toward women."

"..." Xie Jinbai’s head snapped up, his eyes locking onto hers.

Meeting his intense gaze, Cui Lingyao’s face stiffened. She forced herself to continue, "After it was determined that you were... physically fine, I was sent to... change your preference."

’As for the one-hundred-percent Love Value...’

’That was a complete accident.’

’How could she have known that her casual, daily displays of false affection...’

’...would cause a man historically defined as cold, abstinent, and uninterested in women to develop feelings so intense they would skyrocket out of control and hit the maximum limit?’

’She certainly never imagined that "unwavering until death" wasn’t just some poetic exaggeration, but the literal truth.’

’The system assumed men of the Human Clan had no concept of fidelity, so a one-hundred-percent Love Value wouldn’t stop him from seeking out other beautiful women to have children with.’

Cui Lingyao had thought so, too.

’A powerful man of high status remaining faithful to one woman his entire life? It was practically a fairy tale.’

’Besides, he had already welcomed Li Wanrong into his home with great fanfare at the time.’

’Even if there were other circumstances, so what?’

’Where there was one, there could be a second.’

That was why, when she left, it had never once crossed Cui Lingyao’s mind that she would have to come back for "post-sales support."

She said in a small voice, "I admit my motives for getting close to you weren’t pure, but in all seriousness, I never had any ill intentions toward you or toward Great Yue."

’Deceiving his feelings... that doesn’t count, right?’

’She never expected such a legendary historical figure to be so hopelessly devoted in love.’

Cui Lingyao felt a wave of helplessness. "Now, I’ve told you the whole story, cause and effect. You can decide for yourself what to do."

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