Xiao Jue was falling, falling toward the yellow water!

“Hiss!”

Qin Chang Ge used all five black threads hidden in her hair, dark light flashing continuously as they wrapped around Xiao Jue’s limbs and waist, pulling upward with all her strength.

At the same time, Xiao Jue exhaled forcefully, physically moving himself up an inch.

His falling form stopped in an instant.

Barely, just barely, he stopped directly above the yellow water, separated by… approximately just the distance of a few hair strands.

The two exchanged glances, both relieved and anxious. Despite having lost none of their martial arts, they could not display them within this demonic flower. Neither knew what touching which object might cause the flower to spray yellow water. Their position was too close to the flower’s heart—once the yellow water splashed, there would be nowhere to hide.

They still didn’t know what they had triggered earlier that caused the flower to suddenly retract that long stem. Fortunately it was this thing that retracted—if it had been something else, there would probably only be two skeletons left in the flower now.

Xiao Jue stared at Qin Chang Ge’s nose with heartache. It was still bleeding, drops falling onto his chest, quickly soaking his outer and inner garments. The warm, moist sensation made his heart damp as well, as if soaked through by night dew, faintly producing bone-deep coolness. Suddenly he had somewhat sorrowful and indulgent thoughts… If they truly could not save her and died like this, it wouldn’t be so bad, would it? Because at least they were together… Many, many years ago, before a similarly life-threatening crisis, hadn’t he once taken her hand and said such things?

“I wish to be buried with you in one patch of rich earth, following above to the azure heavens nine layers high, falling below to the Asura hell of endless suffering. For a thousand years hence, never to part.”

Now, though he waited in the same place, she had already passed through another lifetime. In this life her thoughts were like drifting wind, everything had changed. The person who would accompany her in burial beneath rich earth in the future might not necessarily be himself. So then, dying here would at least fulfill the old wish of burial together, wouldn’t it?

Xiao Jue smiled slightly, suddenly feeling it wasn’t so bad. The imperial throne of Xiliang had a successor, and his son would be more suitable as emperor than he, this father. So then, what else mattered?

How could Qin Chang Ge know that in an instant the man beneath her had turned through so many despondent thoughts? She was now only thinking of escaping this demonic flower. Looking up at her surroundings, that white long stem overhead, due to the desperate forceful movements earlier, had faint cracks appearing—it could not support them much longer.

Below, Xiao Jue seemed thoughtful, suddenly saying:

“Chang Ge.”

“Mm.”

“When the flower suddenly moved earlier, it revealed a small gap. I saw that white stem leads directly outside. Chang Ge, untie the black silk and climb up along this.”

“What about you?”

“You climb out, then come pull me up.”

Qin Chang Ge laughed coldly. “I don’t believe you’ve forgotten that this flower only springs this white long stem when triggered, only then revealing gaps. The question is, next time it’s triggered, can you guarantee that soul-melting, bone-dissolving thing below won’t also be triggered? Or do you clearly know you can’t guarantee it but are playing dumb?”

Xiao Jue remained silent.

“I know you want me to escape. Earlier you tried hard to throw me out, now you’re coming up with this terrible idea again.” Qin Chang Ge sighed. “But I don’t like climbing out stepping on your corpse.”

She turned her head to look at the flower’s inner wall, her gaze deep, as if trying to stare a hole through the flower.

“What are you looking at?”

“I’m wondering… what is Feihuan doing?” Qin Chang Ge said slowly. “He wasn’t swept in.”

Before Xiao Jue could react, she said quietly: “But I hope more… that he does nothing.”

With a slight bitter smile, Qin Chang Ge took a breath and said in a light tone: “Well, I can’t see anyway, and there’s nothing I can do about him… A’Jue, I have a method, but I can’t free my hands now. You come feel around on my body.”

“Huh?”

!!!

Xiao Jue was excited, thrilled.

Qin Chang Ge raised her eyebrows. “…Come feel for the poison on my body.”

“Oh…”

Looking at him with an expression between laughter and not, Qin Chang Ge cursed lowly: “Stallion.”

Xiao Jue sheepishly reached into Qin Chang Ge’s bosom. Her jade talisman contained at least seven or eight types of poison.

The jade talisman was worn close to the body, and his fingers inevitably touched warm, soft, lustrous skin. Xiao Jue was almost about to have another inappropriate stirring of heart when he met Qin Chang Ge’s murderous glare, smiled helplessly, and could only speed up.

“Natural poison from Biliangzi, combined with nitrate-gold metallic poison—don’t know if it can make this flower wither and corrode…” Qin Chang Ge murmured. “The flower is too large… don’t know if it will be effective.”

She indicated for Xiao Jue to wrap his hands in cloth and gently apply the mixed poisons to the flower wall.

The inner flower wall coated with poison initially showed no movement, then slowly began to shrivel, turning yellow, then black, gradually wrinkling. Though there was no movement around them, Xiao Jue said joyfully: “It worked!”

But Qin Chang Ge shouted in alarm: “We’re in trouble.”

The flower body, damaged, suddenly began to tremble lightly. The calyx contracted, and the yellow water surged!

Xiao Jue’s hanging robe hem was immediately dissolved.

The poison continued its work, the flower body’s convulsions became more obvious, the calyx shook in reaction, and the yellow water began slowly rising.

It was about to reach Xiao Jue’s boots.

Qin Chang Ge stared anxiously at the flower wall where the poison had been applied—it was already the maximum dosage, but the spreading speed still couldn’t match the rising speed of the yellow water—the flower was too large.

Overhead, the white long stem that had been supporting both their bodies had its cracks widening further due to the subtle trembling, swaying as if about to break.

Danger above, deadly water below.

As soon as the white long stem broke, both would unavoidably fall into the yellow pool, and if the yellow water below surged just a bit more, Xiao Jue’s legs would be gone too.

Whether above or below, there was absolutely no chance of survival.

When facing the greatest crisis of her life, Qin Chang Ge was surprisingly calm as she suddenly remembered a story she had read in her previous life. A man avoiding a tiger climbed into a well, only to find poisonous snakes coiled at the bottom, while the fierce tiger prowled around the well’s edge, refusing to leave. For that man, retreating meant death, advancing meant death.

With no choice, he steeled his heart and climbed out of the well, only to discover the tiger had already left.

Qin Chang Ge smiled bitterly. Would they have such good luck? The stem was about to break and no one could save it. So then, could they hope that in the moment it broke, the yellow water would recede?

Xiao Jue had maintained a calm expression throughout, but suddenly pulled down the black silk wrapped around his arm, flicked it with his finger, and with a sharp sound it pierced through the already rotting flower wall.

Qin Chang Ge frowned. “You’re already unstable enough, be careful—”

Suspended by only four black threads, Xiao Jue raised his eyebrows. “My lightness skill isn’t bad, it’s just—” He smiled bitterly. “This flower is truly terrifying.”

The black silk penetrated, and the flower wall suddenly began to twist due to the poison, strangling the slender black silk, bending it and blocking it halfway, unable to advance another fraction.

The flower wall was extraordinarily thick and tough. Even such violent poison could not quickly rot through it.

The long sword was already lost, and the black silk was too thin.

The long stem had cracked more than one-third through.

The yellow water surged to the bottom of Xiao Jue’s boots.

Qin Chang Ge thought desperately—Heaven truly wants to destroy me!

“Crack!”

Outside the flower wall, there was suddenly a faint sound.

Where the black silk protruded, something hard seemed to hook it from outside, then that object began pulling the black silk to move slowly, in and out.

Xiao Jue was startled, then reacted. Qin Chang Ge had already said joyfully: “Hold on!”

Xiao Jue immediately reached out to grasp this end of the black silk.

Overhead, the long stem’s crack continued expanding, like a gradually splitting, grimly smiling mouth.

The yellow water was about to touch Xiao Jue’s boot tips.

Qin Chang Ge stared intently, her hair nearly smoking with anxiety, yet her body dared not move at all. The long stem was about to break. Once she fell, then Xiao Jue directly below would definitely bear the brunt. The space inside this flower did not allow for lightness skills to dodge—both would die.

But Xiao Jue paid no attention to this. He concentrated on pulling the black silk, cooperating with the other party with perfect understanding to quickly follow the poison-coated, already rotting flower wall—up, down, left, right.

Like two people pulling a saw across a wooden board, they pulled the black silk in a square formation.

With a whoosh, moonlight poured in as an extraordinarily thick white petal was silently sawed off.

“Crack!”

The long stem snapped!

“Whoosh!”

The yellow water surged violently.

The instant it broke, Qin Chang Ge shouted: “Get down!”

A shadow immediately fell silently through the flower’s opening, then a black shadow flashed and Xiao Jue was kicked out by Qin Chang Ge.

The moment Xiao Jue escaped the demonic flower, he immediately turned and lunged forward, colliding nose-to-chest once again with the person who burst out after him.

Covering her once-again bleeding nose, Qin Chang Ge thought miserably: It’s over, she would definitely have a crooked nose for life… While glaring at Emperor Xiao: “Why? What are you doing?”

Xiao Jue seemed somewhat disbelieving as he looked her up and down. “I was coming to save you. How did you get out?”

“Should I have stayed inside waiting to be dissolved?” Qin Chang Ge irritably tugged at the black silk on Xiao Jue’s body. “Did you forget about this? We were originally connected by black silk. When I forcefully kicked you out, I was naturally pulled out too. Under those circumstances, this was the fastest way to save ourselves.”

She quickly stepped forward and lifted up Chu Feihuan, who had timely moved aside.

He had only dodged and laid down, but for some unknown reason had not gotten back up.

Qin Chang Ge half-knelt on the mountain rocks, supporting him. The cold moonlight illuminated the man whose breathing was weak, as if he could drift away with the wind at any moment. He looked truly bedraggled, covered with unknown substances that were dirty, murky, yellow and green, emitting a foul odor. Yet Qin Chang Ge seemed not to smell it, grasping his cold hands while continuously channeling her inner energy and calling softly: “Feihuan… Feihuan…”

She kept calling without daring to stop, not daring to turn back and look at the distance from the original path to this demonic flower. She didn’t know how Feihuan had gotten here, and didn’t dare to think about it. Such imaginings would be too painful, making even someone as cold and hard as her feel unable to bear the love.

Some things she chose to forcefully tear apart, but for some things she felt vaguely fearful, afraid to think deeply, as if thinking deeply would be like falling into the flower’s calyx, with cracking sounds overhead and putrid water about to cover her feet.

Like Feihuan’s miraculous appearance beside the demonic flower.

Like Xiao Jue’s desperate throw before falling into the calyx.

Like on Zhantu Bridge when Feihuan looked up at the moon and said gently: “Chang Ge, I’m sorry…”

Like on the broken bridge of Fengyi Palace in the snow, when drunk Xiao Jue murmured: “I’ve been waiting for you… from when the fire started until it died out, from ruins until palaces were built, from burying that jar of wine to digging it up, burying it again, digging it up again…”

Like during the Youzhou rebellion, when Feihuan quietly walked into the siege of ten thousand people and said: “Please let me die together.”

Like in the gunpowder smoke of Du City, when thirsty Xiao Jue charged alone into a city full of enemy troops, steadily holding that bowl of water with one hand.

…

Hero’s tomb, facing east wind, where in the barren hills are withered bones buried?

Trading the previous life for this life, such feelings are too much to think about.

With whom do eyes reflect each other, shining upon that moment of life’s brilliant light? With whom through thousands of mountains and rivers, sharing this mortal world’s wondrous love? The road ahead is unknown how long, but the path behind already bears deep marks, every stroke an imprint, each smile silently blooming like flowers, each stroke proudly facing the long wind.

Gently touching the man’s weary brow, after his breathing stabilized she pressed his sleep acupoint to let him rest and restore his spirit. Qin Chang Ge sighed quietly, then turned to see Xiao Jue standing with hands behind his back in the darkness, silently lost in thought. His handsome features were sunk in darkness where his expression could not be seen clearly, but when he saw Qin Chang Ge about to reach out to help Chu Feihuan up, he quickly came over and silently carried Chu Feihuan on his back.

Only when he took this step did Qin Chang Ge notice something wrong. She stared at his boots in amazement. Xiao Jue smiled and lifted his sole… the fine, thick-soled boot bottom was gone, dissolved earlier when the yellow water surged up while Xiao Jue was concentrating on cooperating with Chu Feihuan to use black silk and steel strips to cut open the flower.

The luggage and carriage had all been swept into the flower calyx earlier. Qin Chang Ge frowned. “How will you walk like this?”

Xiao Jue laughed heartily, casually tore some grass vines from the mountain cliff, and roughly tied them around his boots. “When I once launched a surprise attack on Wei Yuanxian’s army, I needed to descend the cliff in the middle of the night. I wore grass shoes then—convenient for mountain paths. Experiencing it again now is quite nice.”

He strode away with large steps.

Qin Chang Ge silently watched his retreating figure, then turned to look at the demonic flower. Feihuan had chosen an extremely clever position, right in a blind spot below the demonic flower. Unless the flower could turn its head, it would never be able to suck him in.

With a snap, Qin Chang Ge flicked a point of starlight from her fingertip, landing precisely within the flower calyx. With a roar, flames immediately rose vigorously. Those flower leaves, tentacles, and enormous demon-eyed petals all writhed and twisted, contorting into strange arcs like hundreds of ghost faces laughing shrilly in the fire.

The air filled with an acrid, fishy smell. Gray-white smoke continuously rose from the contracting calyx. The petals trembled violently, constantly opening and closing. Swirling winds rose all around, and some dead branches and scattered leaves were swept into the calyx, immediately making the fire burn more fiercely.

Qin Chang Ge smiled with satisfaction and said leisurely: “A good woman must avenge wrongs. Even if you’re a flower, I have no reason to let you remain to harm passersby.”

She stood with arms folded, watching the demonic flower struggle in the fire. The hundreds of eye-like patterns transformed into countless strange expressions, along with that flower base like a gaping maw that could devour everything, all spasming anxiously, gradually becoming charred, bowing down, contracting, turning to ash.

The flower’s heart was already burned.

Throughout the mountain forest, the green demon branches covering the ground suddenly all withered, lying on the ground lifeless like dead yellow snakes, breaking at the slightest touch.

In the blazing gray smoke, Qin Chang Ge waited for the poisonous fumes to disperse before carefully going over and carefully poking around in the flower’s heart with tree branches.

Any such giant demonic creature that had grown for over a hundred years, absorbing the essence of heaven, earth, sun and moon over time, would produce some very useful things. Qin Chang Ge was guarding it precisely to obtain its final treasures.

She always liked to thoroughly drain every bit of benefit.

As the tree branch stirred, something pearl-like suddenly rolled out from deep within the burned calyx.

It wasn’t quite like a pearl—somewhat irregular olive-shaped, about the size of an egg, grayish and unremarkable, with what seemed to be a layer of pale red phosphorescent substance inside.

Qin Chang Ge tested it with a silver needle to confirm it wasn’t poisonous, then carefully wrapped it and placed it in her sleeve pouch.

This should be a good thing, though she didn’t understand its use yet. Qin Chang Ge decided to carry it first, and once she confirmed it was truly harmless, give it to Feihuan for protection.

Just as she was about to catch up with Xiao Jue, she suddenly heard the sound of night wind with footsteps, as if quite a few people were approaching the forest.

Her elegant eyebrows raised, Qin Chang Ge thought viciously: The Shui family had sent people? Perfect—

Ahead, Xiao Jue had already called out coldly: “Who!”

He reached out and snapped off a thick branch from beside him. An ordinary tree branch became like a famous sword in his hands. With one flourish, wind and thunder moved as he pointed directly at the approaching people.

But the other party exclaimed in surprise: “Ah!”

With just that one sound, Qin Chang Ge was startled, thought about it, then smiled.

“Qi Fan, you hindsight hero, only coming now?”

Around the campfire again, Emperor Xiao comfortably put on new boots and smiled: “I didn’t expect you to have a spare pair of shoes too.”

Qi Fan was heating dried rations over the fire and smiled: “Nanmin is warm and humid with much water, many small swamps, and sometimes sudden rainstorms. Traveling through the forest also easily damages clothing. I wouldn’t dare appear before His Majesty and the Grand Tutor in disheveled attire, so I prepared extras.”

Rong Xiaotian was caring for Chu Feihuan nearby and had already changed his clothes, frowning and muttering: “How did he get in such a state?”

Qi Fan glanced at him. Rong Xiaotian pulled at the corner of his mouth but went to rummage in his pack for health-restoring qi pills. Qin Chang Ge warmed her hands by the fire, her expression calm in the dancing firelight as she said slowly: “I originally thought you would arrive earlier.”

Standing up solemnly, Qi Fan said seriously: “Yes, it’s my fault. I heard some things in Min territory and delayed several hours making preparations to be ready early, so I arrived one step late.”

“Brother Qi, I’m not blaming you.” Qin Chang Ge raised her eyes. “Actually I only guessed you would come. After all, when Huang Meng learned I was going to seek medicine for Feihuan, you and Xiaotian wouldn’t just sit by.”

“Naturally not. This should have been my brother’s affair. Involving you, miss, was already improper, and even more improper…” Qi Fan glanced at Xiao Jue, thinking that His Majesty probably didn’t consider it suffering and might even be enjoying himself, so his own anxiety seemed hypocritical. He simply closed his mouth.

Qin Chang Ge looked at his expression. Since Ming Shuang’s “death,” his expression had gradually changed, his speech and behavior increasingly resembling a subordinate, vaguely the same pattern as when Ruiyi used to interact with him… Qi Fan already knew in his heart who she was, didn’t he?

Of course, no one planned to reveal this—it was an unspoken understanding.

“What did you hear at the border?” Qin Chang Ge asked lightly.

“Something happened to the Shui family.” Qi Fan was brief and to the point. “The old family head died suddenly, the current head’s brothers are fighting for position. Quite a few people died, apparently. When such things happen to a prestigious family, it damages the Shui family’s reputation in people’s hearts, so the news is being suppressed very tightly. Huang Meng’s covert network in Nanmin spent great effort to just learn of it.”

“No wonder they drove birds away thirty li to refuse visitors—Young Master Shui San fears family scandals being exposed.” Xiao Jue laughed coldly. “But for such a renowned great clan to have such events occur yet still keep the news completely sealed, Shui Jingchen truly has capable hands.”

“Drove birds away?” Qi Fan’s eyes widened in shock. “Bell birds?”

“Mm.”

Looking around at Xiao Jue and Qin Chang Ge’s expressions, Qi Fan stammered: “You… didn’t… that… did you?”

Qin Chang Ge answered matter-of-factly: “We did that.”

Xiao Jue tore at cooked beef with very noble bearing, saying casually: “Wasn’t even as delicious as this beef.”

“Huh?”

Qi Fan broke out in cold sweat. “Not only… did that… but also… did that…?”

Qin Chang Ge had no difficulty understanding his Martian language, grabbing beef and nodding with deep agreement: “Also did that.”

Xiao Jue patted the speechless Qi Fan’s shoulder and laughed: “We know those bell birds are Nanmin’s divine birds, probably also divine birds in the hearts of the people in some Zhongchuan territories near here. These birds dance when hearing Sanskrit sounds, their dance having the bearing of heavenly demons. They’ve always been worshipped by the tribes of both regions. But that’s for Nanmin and Zhongchuan, not our Xiliang. In my view, no matter what, birds are just birds.”

“Dancing birds are still birds, and no more delicious than ordinary sparrows,” Qin Chang Ge added another bold and perfectly coordinated line.

Looking at poor Qi Fan who was having difficulty accepting reality, Xiao Jue kindly comforted him: “It’s just eating a few birds. Just imagine them as sparrows, wouldn’t that work?”

Qin Chang Ge said leisurely: “We can’t avoid the Shui family anyway, we’re going to clash with them regardless. So anything that can make them suffer more losses, we should do, even if it’s just eating birds.”

Qi Fan wiped cold sweat and stood up, coughing repeatedly. “I’ll go get more dried rations.” He ran off.

Better to get away from these two bold characters who treated everything as background noise. They were too hard on his delicate heart.

These were the divine birds of two nations! In Zhongchuan border territories and within Nanmin, every household enshrined positions for these bird gods. If any family was lucky enough to find a fallen feather, it was considered a sign that they would receive the divine bird’s favor and protection for life. They would be extremely envied by their neighbors and respected and obeyed forever. These two people had actually roasted and eaten the birds, not fearing that if word got out, they would be torn to pieces by the angry people of both nations.

Qi Fan decided he needed to contact more Huang Meng members. At the borders of Zhongchuan, Nanmin, and Xiliang, he had to be ready to preserve lives at all times.

While rummaging for dried rations, he found a letter and remembered he still had an uncompleted task. Thinking of how that guy had sent someone to catch up to him, with thousands of reminders and instructions to definitely deliver the letter the moment he saw them, he had nearly forgotten. He couldn’t help feeling a bit horrified. Though that guy couldn’t see, somehow it was as if he could see him standing before him with an innocent expression and sinister smile, pointing a finger and saying: “Uncle Qi, you broke your word again…”

Qi Fan thought somewhat gloomily that when that child was in his care, he had been very well-behaved—except for recognizing mothers on the street, everything else was normal. How had he become shameless, venomous, thick-skinned, and demonic once back in his mother’s embrace?

Those near ink become black…

Carrying the letter over, Qi Fan said: “I almost forgot this. By the way, this is also why I was late. Prince Xiao guessed I was probably leaving and stubbornly followed me for three whole days and nights. Even when I relieved myself, he squatted beside me watching. If I hadn’t forced old Jia, who was attending him, to slip him sleeping drugs, I estimate I’d still be in Xiliang dawdling with the prince.”

“Jia Duan slipped sleeping drugs?” Xiao Jue was amazed. “Jia Duan, whose character is so upright and honest he’s called a sage, who detours around even ants on his path—this court model slipped sleeping drugs to the prince? How is that possible?”

“It’s precisely because he’s a model, upright, and a sage that only his sleeping drugs would work.” Qi Fan looked at Qin Chang Ge with a grin. “Your son is extremely cunning. He wouldn’t let us handle any food. Except for old Jia Duan, he wasn’t reassured by anything anyone else brought. So we had to trouble old Jia Duan.”

“To catch a little fox, you must choose a pig to deceive.” Qin Chang Ge shook her head with infinite pity. “Poor old Jia Duan, his integrity compromised in his later years, his lifelong clear reputation destroyed by Xiao Rong’s hands. Alas.”

Qi Fan nodded with fellow feeling and sighed: “Yes, after Rong’er was drugged unconscious, old Jia Duan kept banging his head against the wall, tears streaming down, crying to heaven and earth, wailing that his minister’s loyalty was torn between two duties, his heart devastated, his reputation finally ruined, ashamed of his body… Poor Xiaotian’s chest nearly got fractured from his head-banging.”

“How could he agree? I think he would rather die than agree. Old Jia Duan once preferred to starve rather than accept grain sent by a wealthy man who oppressed good people. He would do something like slipping sleeping drugs?” Xiao Jue couldn’t think it possible no matter how he tried.

Spreading his hands, Qi Fan said innocently: “I just told him the prince was planning to abandon the country and go out to play, and we couldn’t stop him. ‘Grand Tutor Jia, why don’t you work hard and sit in the imperial study to act in place of the imperial seal?'”

“Between destroying his reputation and the country being without a ruler—two most tragic events—he chose to sacrifice his principles to preserve the state.” Qin Chang Ge solemnly said to Xiao Jue: “Your Majesty, please remember to promote him when you return.”

Xiao Jue glared at her. “Why don’t you remember to spank Rong’er’s bottom when you return?”

“That glorious task I leave to his distinguished father.” Taking the thick envelope Qi Fan handed over, Qin Chang Ge raised her eyebrows and smiled. “Oh my, so thick! This child is truly loving.”

Xiao Jue came over with great interest. “Let me see what he told me.”

“Your Majesty,” Qin Chang Ge slowly opened the envelope that was sealed seventeen or eighteen times, clearly not trusting Qi Fan’s character, “shall we make a bet? Bet one copper coin.”

“Mm?”

“I bet the first person he greets absolutely won’t be you.”

Xiao Jue remained silent. For this question, he truly had no confidence. After thinking, he said: “The first man he greets…”

“Still won’t be you.”

Grief-stricken and nearly howling, after a long moment, Xiao Jue angrily said:

“I won’t bet!”

Qin Chang Ge shook her head pitifully and concentrated on conquering the bomb-like letter paper, slowly beginning to read:

“Dear Mother.”

The character for “bad” was written as “pregnant,” the ink deep and thick with great force, clearly showing the letter writer was very indignant. Qin Chang Ge murmured: “Dear Mother? If your mother were still pregnant, where would you be writing me letters from? You illiterate.”

“…Where did you send my godfather?”

The third line had even larger characters, the wrong characters still hanging there bright as ever. Seeing that he indeed wasn’t ranked, Xiao Jue couldn’t keep face and angrily said: “How did Jia Duan teach him? Even now his writing is full of wrong characters!”

“He’s doing it to annoy you,” Qin Chang Ge glanced at him impassively. “He knows you can’t stand this.”

“And stinky father.”

Xiao Jue ignored the modifier before “father” that expressed unfavorable meaning, consoling himself with a smile: “This line at least has no wrong characters.”

“Where did you send him to fall in love?”

“What does ‘fall in love’ mean?” Xiao Jue stared at those characters, feeling the meaning was strange.

Qin Chang Ge glanced at him. “It means fighting.”

Xiao Jue looked at her—do you take me for an idiot?

“Considering you’re my mother, your son reminds you first: take your time choosing men, don’t marry too early.”

Xiao Jue crushed the remaining beef in his hand with a crack.

What kind of son was this?

“I’m very angry.”

The person reading the letter giggled at this “I’m very angry” that was written in red ink and looked particularly fierce.

“Harmful people aren’t handled this way. You ungrateful ones, do you think being emperor is easy?

Your son… knows you’re called the ‘Eating Goddess,’ but you can’t be thinking about food all the time.

I’ve been harmed by you people lately, drawing circles on memorials every day. The circles get rounder and rounder.”

A circle was drawn beside it as proof. Qin Chang Ge exclaimed in admiration: “Indeed very round.”

“I’m tired of drawing. I’ll give you three months. If you’re not back by then, I’ll draw naked women on the memorials.”

Beside it was drawn what he considered a naked woman. Qin Chang Ge squinted and looked carefully. “Why does this look so much like a roasted suckling pig?”

Xiao Jue laughed coldly. “From now on, choose his crown princess by this standard!”

“I’ll also write ‘The Untold Story of the Great Emperor of Xiliang and Empress Rui’ in the official gazette distributed throughout the realm.”

Qin Chang Ge glanced at Xiao Jue, whose face had turned completely black, and said with a smile: “Hey, Your Majesty, when did you take a new empress, Empress Rui?”

Xiao Jue, having been somewhat accustomed to his son’s antics, answered without changing expression: “Just now, in the letter. Your son arranged the marriage for me.”

“Being emperor is very boring, getting up early every day, deliberately not wanting to let people live.”

Xiao Jue said indignantly: “Your father has been getting up early every day for over twenty years and isn’t he still alive?”

“In short, all in all.”

Wordy, you’re really wordy.

“Bring my godfather back, bring you two back.”

Qin Chang Ge looked to heaven: What kind of grammar is this? Where’s the subject? How is this child’s powerful logic so strange?

Even when you care about people, how can you be so lacking in warmth?

“Oh right, there’s one more thing.”

I knew you wouldn’t be willing to finish rambling so quickly.

“Stinky father’s little wives, though they’re prevented from seeing me, are competing to send soup, water, snacks and such. They look very delicious.”

Xiao Jue whooshed forward in alarm: “This glutton, I knew he goes weak in the knees at the sight of food—”

“I let my chamber pots enjoy them all.”

Qin Chang Ge touched the rock-hard biscuits in her pouch and sighed with envy: “Such fortunate chamber pots…”

Xiao Jue laughed happily. “I knew my son wasn’t that stupid…”

“…Alright, stop flipping. I know you still want to read more. There are many more pages below, but no more words.”

Qin Chang Ge angrily threw the letter papers away. I wasn’t flipping!

Xiao Jue was more good-tempered. He picked up the letter and stubbornly continued flipping through the thick stack of pages behind.

Exclamation mark!

Exclamation mark!!

Exclamation mark!!!

Every page had no words, every page had one more exclamation mark than the previous. After flipping through dozens of pages, the last one was completely filled with exclamation marks.

“What is this thing?” Ancient people had no punctuation marks, so Xiao Jue stared at this symbol in bewilderment.

“He’s saying…” Qin Chang Ge looked neither laughing nor not laughing, gazing toward the direction of Xiliang’s capital Yingdu, imagining her son lying alone on the enormous red wood desk in the imperial study, viciously drawing exclamation marks with his little face covered in ink stains. Her heart felt somewhat sourly warm, along with faint guilt.

Having to learn to act as regent at age five—though symbolic, he still had to get up early and sleep late to manage a nation’s affairs, and was heartlessly abandoned by his father and mother. No wonder he exclaimed like this:

“Suffering!”

“Suffering!!”

“Suffering!!!”