Even though Han Qingyue's romantic life was a blank slate, and she had spent most of her eighteen years living within high walls, she wouldn't change her view of Qing Chen or fall for him just because of these trivial matters.
She understood one truth clearly: in this world, humans know the horror of ghosts, but ghosts know the venom of human hearts.
She had heard and seen too many treacherous villains.
They would stop at nothing for power, treating human lives as mere grass... Indeed, this referred to Qing Chen's father, Qing Xiong.
Rather than Qing Chen changing his nature, realizing his mistakes, and wanting to be a good person, Han Qingyue was more inclined to believe he was putting on an act.
As for the purpose? Han Qingyue hadn't figured it out yet.
She also didn't plan to spend too much energy on this matter. Since Qing Chen wanted to act, she would play along, tolerating him, humoring him, coaxing him, and going along with him... Before long, the two removed their festive, fiery red wedding attire, changed into normal clothes, and exited the Qing family mansion.
Qing Chen knew that his father had assigned a Dao Protector to secretly guard him and handle various emergencies, as he had made many enemies in the imperial court. So, he didn't let any servants follow.
He didn't want the servants to interfere with his operation.
This was akin to a date, and even if it was fake and devoid of emotion, there was no need to have an extra pair of eyes around to spoil the atmosphere.
Shortly after leaving the Qing family, Qing Chen, following his memories, led Han Qingyue to a snack street.
He thought that as a princess, Han Qingyue had grown up in the palace, learning various etiquette and upbringing, and likely hadn't had many opportunities to experience the mundane side of the world.
He turned his head and, sure enough, after arriving at the snack street, Han Qingyue's face was filled with excitement and curiosity.
"Candied hawthorns, candied hawthorns for sale, sweet and crispy candied hawthorns!"
Hearing the peddler's shouts, Han Qingyue's gaze immediately snapped towards him.
She couldn't help but recall three years ago when Xiao Feng secretly snuck over the wall and brought her the candied hawthorns she had always longed for.
That was the first time in her life she had eaten candied hawthorns; the thin, crispy sugar coating combined with the sourness of the hawthorn was truly wonderful.
Vaguely, Han Qingyue seemed to see Xiao Feng, who had brought her the candied hawthorns that day, before her eyes.
'Brother Feng?!'
But after she came to her senses, she realized that the person in front of her was not Xiao Feng, but Qing Chen.
The candied hawthorns in his hand, however, were identical.
"Here, try it." Qing Chen handed the freshly bought candied hawthorns to Han Qingyue.
Han Qingyue said "thank you" with her mouth and took the candied hawthorns Qing Chen offered, but her heart was a mix of emotions.
She took a small bite of the candied hawthorn; the taste was still the same as before, but unfortunately, the person was not the same, and Han Qingyue couldn't smile.
[Successfully pampered wife! Congratulations to the Host for receiving a random reward: Yellow Rank High Grade Cultivation Technique, Flowing Cloud Palm +1!]
After receiving the desired reward and seeing that Han Qingyue had finished the skewer of candied hawthorns, Qing Chen turned back to the peddler and offered to buy all of his remaining candied hawthorns.
Faced with Qing Chen, the Devil King, making such an abnormal request to pay, the peddler was so anxious he almost knelt down, fearing that if he really took the money, his entire family's lives would be in danger the next moment.
After saying he would give the stick with over a dozen skewers of candied hawthorns to Qing Chen, he took off running, his feet like they were greased, disappearing in a flash.
Qing Chen turned around and awkwardly glanced at Han Qingyue, wanting to say: "You saw it, it's not that I didn't want to pay, it's that he didn't want it..." Fearing that this incident would undo his previous efforts, he called out the Dao Protector.
"Greetings, Young Lord." The Dao Protector immediately appeared out of thin air.
"Catch him and give him the money." Qing Chen ordered.
In front of the Heavenly Mandate Empress, he still had to keep up the act where necessary.
"Yes." The Dao Protector agreed and vanished on the spot.
Perfectly illustrating what it means to appear and disappear without a trace.
Afterward, Qing Chen, carrying an entire stick of candied hawthorns, walked up to Han Qingyue.
He placed the stick of candied hawthorns in her arms and said domineeringly, "Take as many as you want to eat."
He had originally intended to get rewards one skewer at a time.
But then, Qing Chen had another thought and wanted to see if quantity could lead to a qualitative change.
Ignoring Han Qingyue, who was holding a stick of candied hawthorns almost as tall as herself with a bewildered expression, Qing Chen's attention was currently entirely on the popping-up System panel, his expression expectant.
[Successfully pampered wife! Congratulations to the Host for receiving a random reward: Profound Rank Low Grade Spirit Treasure, yanwang needle +5!]
Spirit Treasure! yanwang needle?
Qing Chen immediately chose to view the detailed description.
[yanwang needle: Whoever is struck by this needle will receive a summons from the Yanwang!]
Just a few words, yet they were concise and to the point.
With a summons personally issued by the Yanwang, how many people in this world would have the strength and courage to refuse?
In Qing Chen's opinion, it was a good Magic Treasure for self-preservation.
Only after closing the System panel did Qing Chen realize that Han Qingyue was gone.
Running away?
That couldn't be it.
Qing Chen quickly found Han Qingyue; it turned out she had gone to distribute the candied hawthorns to the little beggars hiding in the alleys, dressed in rags and with disheveled hair.
'Truly worthy of being the Heavenly Mandate Empress, her heart is indeed kind.' Qing Chen sighed with emotion.
After distributing all the candied hawthorns, Han Qingyue, meeting Qing Chen's gaze, quickly returned to him and explained, "I couldn't eat that many by myself. Please don't blame them."
In short, if Qing Chen wanted to blame someone, he should blame himself, not target those children.
Hearing this, Qing Chen felt bitter, 'It's really hard to change a stereotype...'
It was a good thing he had Awakened early, otherwise, the title of Devil King would truly be solidified.
Change? By then, where would he have the chance to change? He would only be able to follow the script, be killed by the protagonist's sword, and fulfill the villain's mission.
"Since my wife says so, your husband will agree." Qing Chen said with a doting expression.
Hearing him call her 'wife,' Han Qingyue reluctantly agreed, "Thank you, hus... husband."
[Successfully pampered wife! Congratulations to the Host for receiving a random reward: Mid-Grade Spirit Stone +100!]
Qing Chen strongly suspected that this System, like himself, was a virgin with a blank slate in its romantic life.
Fortunately, this was the case, allowing him to obtain a massive amount of rewards without much effort or sweat.
He hoped the System would keep up the good work!
[Successfully pampered wife! Congratulations to the Host for receiving a random reward: Fireball Talisman +5!]
[Successfully pampered wife! Congratulations to the Host for receiving a random reward: Charm Attribute +10!]
...Afterward, Qing Chen took Han Qingyue to try various folk snacks, such as Dragon's Beard candy, sesame cakes, water chestnut cakes, and so on.
For Han Qingyue, everything was delicious, but deep down, she still wished she could do these things with her Brother Feng.
Qing Chen saw through this but didn't point it out. He could only blame Han Qingyue, as the future Heavenly Mandate Empress, for being still very naive and not yet Awakened, unable to hide her thoughts on her face.
Anxious?
Why should Qing Chen be anxious? The guy hiding in the mountains cultivating in seclusion isn't anxious, so why should he, who is cuckolding someone, be anxious?
Compared to that, there was something more important for Qing Chen to pay attention to at the moment.
He sensed someone secretly observing him, and this gaze was completely different from that of the Dao Protector!