“Foster Father, I truly feel terrible. My injuries are severe — they really are.”

Leng Yue’s face was a mask of misery, tears sliding from the corners of her eyes, looking utterly pitiful.

“Foster Father, I was just coughing up blood a moment ago. Foster Father, I really don’t feel well — won’t you please untie me first?”

With her hands bound, it wasn’t entirely unbearable — except that tonight she had genuinely been wounded, and wounded badly at that. Being bound at a time like this made everything far worse. Moreover, this was Leng Yue’s deliberate test of Emperor Ji — one that could only succeed, never fail.

If, after causing such a tremendous uproar tonight, Foster Father could still forgive her and protect her, then it meant that even if she were to truly kill Feng Jiu’er someday, Foster Father would still forgive her again after a fit of anger.

Leng Yue knew exactly what she was doing. This test was absolutely necessary. She needed to probe, inch by inch, just how much Emperor Ji truly cared for her.

“Foster Father, I really don’t feel well. Foster Father…” she wept and pleaded.

That hoarse, sobbing voice stirred a reluctant ache in Emperor Ji’s heart. Whatever one might say, as she herself had just pointed out, she was a child he had raised with his own hands.

Yet what she had done tonight was utterly outrageous. If he forgave her too easily, she would only grow more and more outrageous in the future.

The two of them were like players locked in a game of wills, neither willing to be the first to yield.

But Leng Yue could no longer hold herself upright. She slowly slid down onto the floor, the traces of tears still glistening at the corners of her eyes. “Foster Father, my body truly feels terrible. Even if you won’t help me circulate my energy to heal my wounds, don’t cause me further harm like this.”

“With my hands bound, I can’t even circulate my own energy. Won’t this only make my injuries more severe?”

“Foster Father, you once said that when the Revered Lord becomes Emperor, I shall be Empress. What if these injuries leave me unable to bear children in the future — wouldn’t that mean you have… wouldn’t that mean you have wronged the Di family’s ancestors?”

“How dare you bring up anything about being Empress?” Everything else Emperor Ji heard might have softened his heart, but these words ignited his fury in an instant.

“How did Foster Father raise you from childhood? Where have you put all the principles Foster Father taught you?”

“Foster Father, I…” Leng Yue hadn’t expected a single sentence to cross a line, and now that she wanted to salvage the situation, it seemed already too late.

Emperor Ji was genuinely furious — and genuinely disappointed. Disappointed in her.

“From the time you were small, Foster Father taught you that if you wished to become Empress in the future, you must have the magnanimity to tolerate others. In all things, you must put Wu Ya first. Yet what are you doing now?”

He truly had misjudged her. How had the sweet, obedient little Leng Yue from childhood turned into this?

“Wu Ya does nothing more than favor a girl right now — he hasn’t even taken Feng Jiu’er as his wife yet — and already you cannot contain yourself? Already your jealousy has reached such depths?”

“You possess not a shred of tolerance or grace. How will you ever accomplish great things in the future? You even wanted to kill Feng Jiu’er?”

Emperor Ji’s chest heaved relentlessly, his anger mounting with every thought. “A woman favored by Wu Ya draws this much hatred from you — then in the future, when Wu Ya has three thousand beauties in his imperial harem, are you going to slaughter them all?”

“Foster Father, how could I? I… I would never do anything that harms the Revered Lord. I…”

“Then why can you not tolerate a single Feng Jiu’er?” If she truly saw herself as the future Empress, what difference was there between the Feng Jiu’er of today and any consort who might hold supreme favor in the inner palace?

Why could she not understand — to a man, a woman is not a mere plaything. Once he grows bored, he will always tire of her.

When Wu Ya became Emperor, how many matters would demand his attention? Winning a kingdom is difficult; holding it is even harder. If the inner palace were constantly erupting in such troubles, how could Wu Ya spare the mind to deal with them?

An Empress without tolerance would bring Wu Ya nothing but endless grief.

And so, Emperor Ji made his decision. “In the future, the position of Empress is not yours to occupy. Forget everything Foster Father told you before.”

“Foster Father!” Leng Yue crumpled completely — then struggled and clawed her way back upright.

“Foster Father, how can you say such things? How can you? You said I would be Empress. I will be Empress — you promised!”

Now she was truly weeping from fright, tears streaming freely down her face. “Foster Father, I know I was wrong. Yue’er truly knows she was wrong. I will never be jealous of Feng Jiu’er again. I will never think of getting rid of her — all right?”

“Foster Father, I beg you. I beg you to give me one more chance. I truly will not make this kind of mistake again. Please!”

Yet this time Emperor Ji did not spare her so much as a glance. He wheeled his chair back to the bedside, placed both palms on the armrests, and with a light, effortless motion, floated onto the bed.

He was tired. On a night like this, he felt profoundly spent, as though his strength had simply run dry.

But how could Leng Yue let him drift off to sleep just like that? No matter what, he had to take back his words.

“Foster Father, I truly don’t dare anymore — please don’t do this. Foster Father, don’t be like this. You promised Yue’er. You said Yue’er would be the Revered Lord’s principal wife, that she would be Empress. Foster Father, you promised!”

“Wuu, wuu, wuu — Foster Father cannot go back on his word. Foster Father cannot deceive Yue’er. Foster Father, please…”

Yet no matter how heartrendingly she wept, Emperor Ji had made up his mind this time and ignored her entirely. He had absolutely no intention of loosening the ropes on her wrists either.

In the end, Leng Yue cried herself into exhaustion and collapsed onto the floor, her face streaked with tears. “Foster Father, I beg you. I beg you. Foster Father…”

But why could Foster Father be so heartless? He lay on the bed and truly refused to open his eyes to look at her even once.

“Foster Father… Mmm—”

Emperor Ji had apparently grown somewhat annoyed by the noise. With a careless flick of his hand, Leng Yue felt a sudden heaviness in her chest and a sharp sting at her throat — and after that, no matter how wide she opened her mouth, not a single word would come out.

Foster Father had sealed her mute acupoint, because he simply did not wish to hear another word from her.

Leng Yue had no choice but to close her mouth and beg no further.

She had pleaded for so long, and that old wretch still remained cold as ice, not yielding a shred of face. What a complete waste of all her effort.

He actually said he wouldn’t let her become the Revered Lord’s Empress in the future — how was that possible?

She refused to allow it. She absolutely would not allow it.

It seemed that now, even this old wretch was unwilling to stand on her side. If not for the fact that he had raised her with his own hands, preserving some small thread of sentiment between them, whether she lived or died tonight, he likely wouldn’t have cared at all.

Since he didn’t care, what use was this old wretch to her anymore?

She had to devise a foolproof plan — she absolutely could not let herself remain in such a disadvantageous position forever.

From here to Phoenix City was still a journey of several days. If tonight’s events were truly relayed to the Revered Lord, she feared he would only hear Feng Jiu’er’s one-sided account.

She could not allow Feng Jiu’er to reach the Revered Lord. Otherwise, there would be no chance for her to turn things around.