The Fushui Royal Palace was already in complete chaos.

While Jing Hengbo and Princess Daming were engaged in their game of mantis stalking cicada with oriole behind, Dong Chi, Noble Consort Yun and others who had been granted audience already stood within ten feet of Wu Xian’s throne.

Wide cloaks concealed Dong Chi’s slightly trembling form, while Noble Consort Yun remained composed, only staring fixedly at Wu Xian’s throne. The throne was inlaid with gold and jade, extremely grand, with an entire jade screen behind it. The screen was carved with twin dragons playing with a pearl – the pearl crimson and lustrous, gleaming brilliantly.

Noble Consort Yun had initially appeared calm, but upon entering the great hall suddenly became somewhat dazed, then fixed her gaze on that position. Only since everyone’s attention was on Wu Xian, no one noticed her.

Wu Xian sat above, listening to Tian Qi describe how this Luoyun squad pursued Ge Lian, how they entered the territory, how they entered the National Uncle’s mansion, and how they discovered assassins and tracked them. Tian Qi vividly described the assassins’ physical characteristics. Wu Xian seemed to listen earnestly, but his eyes drifted among the group below.

That mysterious ally had just reminded him that abnormal circumstances must harbor demons – he now wanted to know where this demon was. Among this group of Luoyun people?

Grand Eunuch Zhou Tong stood at his side, hands tucked in his sleeves, eyes narrowed in a seemingly sleeping state.

When Tian Qi finished speaking, he turned to look at Noble Consort Yun. She lowered her head and took a box from her pack. Tian Qi pointed at the box and smiled: “Our sovereign ordered this humble person to bring this letter for Your Majesty’s perusal.”

Noble Consort Yun then carried the box forward to the jade steps. Zhou Tong personally descended to receive it. Just as his hands touched the box, they suddenly heard Noble Consort Yun say: “Zhou Tong, do you still have the jade horse you played with when you fornicated with the Queen in Fengyi Palace years ago?”

Zhou Tong was thunderstruck, jerking his head up abruptly. Fierce light instantly blazed in his eyes.

Noble Consort Yun didn’t retreat, saying urgently: “I have evidence! If you expose me now, even unto death I’ll expose you!”

Zhou Tong’s whole body trembled, the blue light in his eyes flickering uncertainly. While he still hesitated, Noble Consort Yun had already stepped left to avoid him, tearing away the mask covering her face, crying out mournfully: “Great King, an old friend returns, yet you no longer recognize her!”

Wu Xian was looking at Zhou Tong’s back when he suddenly saw Noble Consort Yun’s face. Shocked to his core, he trembled all over and cried out “Ah!” loudly.

Before his cry ended, Dong Chi’s crimson cloak had already swept up the crimson steps like a blood cloud!

Noble Consort Yun grabbed the box and smashed it toward Zhou Tong who tried to intercept. With a crack the box shattered, and dense smoke billowed forth.

“Protect the King! Protect the King!” Wu Xian’s panicked shouts and the guards’ cries echoed throughout the great hall.

Pei Shu, Tian Qi, and Seven Kills laughed heartily as they each engaged the palace guards and Zhou Tong. They didn’t plan to attack Wu Xian themselves – they’d let Dong Chi and Noble Consort Yun have their revenge.

Wu Xian didn’t rise from his throne. He desperately pulled the armrest handles, but the throne didn’t sink as he wished, nor did mechanisms fire volleys of arrows. Terrified, he looked back to see Noble Consort Yun clinging to the jade screen behind the throne, clutching tightly at the jeweled pearl embedded in the screen.

“You wretched slave! It really is you!” Wu Xian shouted in rage.

“It really is here! It really is here!” Noble Consort Yun also shouted, tears streaming silently down her face. “So this is the secret you wanted to kill to silence! How I hate that I only remembered at this moment!”

Wu Xian grabbed a jade stool to fend off Dong Chi’s sword. Dong Chi had suffered greatly and his martial skills weren’t what they once were. For a time the two circled the screen in pursuit, unable to land a killing blow.

“Wretched slave, you dared spy on secrets that only the Great King and his consort of the Luoyun royal family should know – death is insufficient punishment!” Seeing Noble Consort Yun still fumbling with the mechanism, Wu Xian raged: “Wasn’t it you who led a group of people to spy on the method of opening the secret cache when I emerged from the throne’s secret chamber? Afterward you stole the Fushui Treasure Book, and now you pretend to know nothing!”

“I don’t know! I didn’t steal!” Noble Consort Yun’s face was covered in tears. “I didn’t see anything at all! I was leading several princesses, county princesses, and palace ladies to pay respects to the Queen. We accidentally discovered the Queen’s affair with Zhou Tong. To eliminate me, she lied that you summoned me, telling me to bring people to pay respects to you. I brought people to the great hall. Though I heard the mechanism’s sound, I was standing outside the door then – I never looked inside the hall!”

She desperately twisted the red jewel, carefully listening to the sound and comparing it with her memories. Mournfully she said: “Now I remember – those who were with me that day: Princess Yong’an, County Princess Dingcheng, County Master Anhua, Lady of Fenwu Marquis… they all later became test subjects, all died on that island… So that’s how it was… so that’s how it was…”

Wu Xian laughed sinisterly: “Anyone with even the slightest possibility of spying on secrets must all die!”

“Clang!” The jade stool was split in half. Wu Xian hurriedly dodged behind the screen, no longer having time to deal with her.

“But I didn’t look then, I really didn’t look then…” Noble Consort Yun’s gaze was scattered as she desperately turned the jewel. She remembered standing outside the hall then, hearing a series of clicking sounds with strange rhythm. She had curiously looked into the hall through the partition screen, just seeing the Great King rise from the throne in a strange bending posture, removing his hand from that red jewel. This scene was just a fleeting glimpse then. Though it seemed odd, she hadn’t paid attention. When she led people into the hall to meet the Great King and asked what he wanted with them, his expression was also strange, but he said nothing and let her go. Soon after, that incident happened – inexplicably she lost her freedom overnight, her room ransacked… For years she wondered what caused the disaster. For years she had nightmares – in them the Great King repeatedly rose in that strange posture, the red jewel above gleaming brilliantly… Until tonight, four years later, re-entering the Great King’s bedchamber and seeing that throne, seeing that jewel, suddenly her mind was struck as if by lightning, finally understanding what the Great King’s action was then – the height of the throne and platform wouldn’t cause the Great King to assume that bending posture. He had emerged from beneath the throne!

Naturally what was hidden beneath the Great King’s bedchamber throne was the most crucial secret. She had stumbled in ignorantly, touching the deadly taboo without knowing. The Great King then wouldn’t believe any of her explanations, instinctively thinking she knew some secrets and was risking danger to find excuses to spy. Perhaps the Great King originally wanted to observe her for a while, but when books went missing from the secret chamber, she and that group of unfortunate noble ladies who went to the audience with her became the prime suspects…

This entire group were suspects. The Great King wasn’t sure who the real thief was, so simply used the excuse of test subjects to make them all neither human nor ghost, then carefully observe whose hands the treasure book was actually in…

Whose hands was the treasure book in? Naturally the Queen’s! Besides the Great King, only she knew of this secret chamber. That woman played with Zhou Tong in the mandarin duck pool, was seen by her, and though she dared not speak of it publicly, the Queen wasn’t reassured. She simply schemed to make her suspected by the Great King, then stole the treasure book to confirm her guilt… How vicious!

Noble Consort Yun twisted the jewel with tears streaming down her face, opening it based on fragmented memories, not caring whether this would trigger mechanisms. Her life was already ruined, ruined by this cruel couple. Even her appearance was only half remaining, her body had become a wreck. Having reached this point with nothing left to live for, the only thing she wanted was to have this pair of dogs buried with her.

Wu Xian was busy dodging Dong Chi, occasionally casting cold glances at Noble Consort Yun but not stopping her mechanism-opening behavior. The mechanism had been readjusted after the suspected leak years ago – opening it randomly now would only lead to a dead end.

He was more worried about his own life, never expecting this group below to be so troublesome. Though so many soldiers were arranged in the great hall, they were firmly suppressed by this group who hadn’t even brought weapons. However, those people seemed to have no energy left to pursue and kill him on the platform – only this persistent Dong Chi, limping around the screen and refusing to let him go. Wu Xian looked at Dong Chi’s half-rotted neck and shivered all over. He hadn’t expected that those specially treated medicines from back then would have such horrifying consequences.

Suddenly a sharp voice at the palace entrance: “Great King!”

Noble Consort Yun’s whole body trembled. She was most sensitive to this voice – hearing it was like a knife stabbing her heart. She spun around abruptly to see the Queen standing at the palace entrance, looking panicked as she glanced at the Great King, then at Zhou Tong who was being beaten helplessly by Pei Shu.

Noble Consort Yun laughed coldly – this slut was still secretly communicating with Zhou Tong even now! What giving a trusted palace maid to Zhou Tong as a companion was completely false cover!

“Tian Qi!” She pointed at the Queen, crying out shrilly: “Help me! Let me personally kill that slut!”

Tian Qi turned his head to look while busy fighting, chuckled, leaped over to grab the Queen and toss her onto the platform. “Catch!”

Screams echoed through the great hall. With a “bang” the Queen fell at the foot of the throne. Tian Qi laughed: “If you want to handle it yourself, rely on yourself – people are too busy to help you!”

“Isn’t it just dying together?” Noble Consort Yun smiled sinisterly.

Dong Chi slashed down with his blade. The Queen desperately rolled aside – a section of hair was severed, sparks flying. The Queen frantically rolled to Wu Xian’s side, grabbing his robe with one hand and crying mournfully: “Great King, save me!” Just then Noble Consort Yun laughed coldly: “This time it’s right!” She gave the jewel in her hand a sharp turn. With a click, the throne moved aside, revealing an opening. The Queen who had fallen by the throne immediately dropped down. The Queen screamed, desperately clinging to Wu Xian’s trouser leg. Wu Xian showed a pained expression and instinctively reached out to pull her up. Noble Consort Yun suddenly smiled: “Do you know why I suddenly came to your bedchamber back then? Because I discovered the Queen’s adultery with Zhou Tong!”

Wu Xian was stunned. The Queen screamed: “Who are you! You lying wretch!”

“Ha ha ha, you really don’t recognize me.” Noble Consort Yun laughed loudly, sweeping her disheveled hair back. “Look clearly! Look clearly at your good sister from years past! Look clearly at the person you owe!”

The Queen saw her face clearly and screamed, hugging Wu Xian’s leg even tighter. “Ghost! Save me!”

Noble Consort Yun was stunned, not expecting her still not to recognize her even now. She couldn’t help laughing aloud, tears streaming down her face as she laughed.

May I never marry into an imperial family in any lifetime!

“Dong Chi!” she cried fiercely. “They enjoy wealth and glory, having long forgotten our living hell. Why are you still breathing? Let them use their next lives to repay our thousand days of suffering!”

“Exactly!” Dong Chi shouted. “I fought on battlefields for you, I was covered in blood for you, I blocked arrows and blades for you. In the end you gave me disgrace and a fate worse than death. Wu Xian, when Heaven’s Way is absent, I judge by the blade!”

Originally blocked by the throne, he now simply jumped onto it, bringing his blade down toward Wu Xian’s head.

Wu Xian was being dragged by the Queen. At this moment he suddenly let go, ignoring the Queen’s shrill cries. Retreating while laughing coldly: “You really think you’ve mastered the throne mechanism…” He reached out and sharply twisted something on the bronze crane beside the crimson steps.

Everyone vaguely heard a rushing sound from below, as if something surged through underground channels. The entire throne suddenly flipped, nearly tumbling Dong Chi, who stood on it, into the underground chamber. Dong Chi had to abandon his blade and grasp the throne’s back, hanging from it.

Wu Xian immediately leaped backward after completing this action. Now Dong Chi could no longer harm him. Noble Consort Yun was not far from his side, screaming: “Don’t think of leaving even in death!” She released her hands and lunged forward, crashing into his embrace and sending him tumbling down with his head landing at the edge of the great pit.

Noble Consort Yun clung desperately to Wu Xian’s leg. Wu Xian gave a sinister laugh, smashing his boot heel against the ground. With two clicks, blades emerged from his boot tips. Wu Xian kicked frantically without caring about anything. Noble Consort Yun’s chest immediately produced a series of horrifying sounds of bone and flesh being pierced.

Yet Noble Consort Yun didn’t let go.

Blood flowed like serpentine trails, bones broke and flesh became pulp, yet this woman still didn’t let go!

Past favors, former glory, old affections – all had been burned to ash in four years of purgatory. Those days and nights of being unable to live or die, that desolate isolation from the world in the ghost courtyard with lonely lamps and cold winds, those innocent victims like herself who fell into the abyss to sink forever until death without knowing the truth – all now flashed before her eyes like lightning and wind. Worldly affection was thin as winter frost. The wind was strong and snow cold, and she was tired of walking. Today she would rather die incomplete in this golden hall than ask him to enter hell with her.

She lowered her head, her blood-stained teeth viciously biting into his leg bone, her fangs sharp with bone-deep hatred.

Wu Xian let out a horrible scream, kicking even more frantically. Noble Consort Yun suffered as if under torture. In her agony and weakness, her hands involuntarily loosened. Wu Xian took the opportunity to kick her away forcefully and tried to turn over and rise.

Noble Consort Yun lay in a pool of blood, despair already showing in her eyes – was she ultimately unable to take revenge?

But Wu Xian couldn’t complete his turning motion. Suddenly he screamed “Ah!” again and his body stiffened.

Noble Consort Yun suddenly raised her head to see a hand struggling to emerge from that dark pit, grasping Wu Xian’s topknot!

It was the Queen’s hand.

Cackling laughter came from the pit, twisted and nearly grotesque: “Great King… Great King… we are loving husband and wife – how can you bear to leave your consort alone? Why not accompany your consort!”

Wu Xian screamed. There was a crown on his hair with hairpins, now all pulled tight together. The sharp broken hairpins pierced his scalp and skull with heart-drilling pain. Behind him, the Queen desperately pulled him downward while he struggled desperately.

A woman’s strength could never match a man’s. The Queen had only one hand supporting herself at the pit’s edge. Watching Wu Xian writhe like a snake on the ground, not hesitating to tear his scalp, his body gradually escaping the Queen’s grasp.

Noble Consort Yun suddenly pounced over, pressing both fists against Wu Xian’s boot soles and pushing forward hard.

The ground was already covered with her blood. This slide sent her whole body flying out, her body’s momentum striking Wu Xian so he inevitably slid backward. Wu Xian’s final cry was desperate and unbelieving: “Ahhh—”

“Splash splash splash” – three consecutive sounds.

Three people all fell in.

The Queen, Wu Xian, Noble Consort Yun.

Dong Chi hung from the throne looking bewildered. In that fleeting glimpse, he had seen the pit below was just steps – why had it suddenly become a dark pool?

The three people falling in created considerable splashes. A drop landed on Dong Chi’s arm. The dazed Dong Chi suddenly felt severe pain in his arm. Looking down, the clothing on his arm had already rotted through, along with the skin beneath.

Wind swept by as Tian Qi rushed up the platform, peering into the pit below. He sucked in a sharp breath.

Seven Kills also ran up. Si Si, knowledgeable in medicine, said incredulously: “There should be a secret passage beneath the throne for escape, but why did he fill it with green vitriol oil – was he seeking death?”

“What’s green vitriol oil?” Tian Qi asked stupidly.

“Beauty fluid,” Si Si smiled ghoulishly. “It can transform you from beauty to white bones in an instant.”

The green vitriol oil gave off a putrid stench. Three skeletons bobbed up and down, floating to the surface. Except for hair remaining, all other flesh and bone had dissolved together. For a moment, their identities couldn’t be distinguished.

The three most noble people of this dynasty, entangled for a lifetime in love, hatred, favor, resentment, scheming, and mutual deception, ultimately all perished beneath this throne in a pool of corpse-dissolving water. Even in death, their bones were tangled together, impossible to separate.

Perhaps this was karmic fate controlled by destiny, the ending written long ago in the ledger of grievances.

Tears fell from Dong Chi’s eyes, cutting red channels through his blood-stained face.

This man who had lost family and country, stripped of everything by those he served loyally, hadn’t shed a tear when falling into hell, yet now wept torrentially.

“Only I remain… only I remain…”

Everyone silently turned away, seeing this night’s darkness thick as millennia of congealed blackness spreading in everyone’s eyes. This was the darkest moment of night, and would also be the brightest. Fear wandered only in this moment, between darkness and before light.