Ying Chu was shocked, then sneered coldly: “So Miss Guo is eager to pry into my secrets.”

Li Weiyang smiled slightly, avoiding a direct answer. Speaking of the last attack, Wang Zijin lightly smoothed the creases on her skirt and said impassively: “Actually, according to my original intentions, I didn’t want to save you either. It’s just that Jia’er and Fifth Young Master are both too kind-hearted. They feel Lord Ying has shown utter devotion and loyalty to Her Majesty the Empress, working diligently for Her Majesty for many years—truly meritorious service through hard labor. Yet unexpectedly when matters came to a head, you were abandoned by Her Majesty. They feel indignant on your behalf, so they wanted to meddle this once.”

Ying Chu said dismissively: “What I do is my own business. I don’t need you all to worry about it.” Finishing this, he turned to leave.

But he heard Li Weiyang say quietly behind him: “Lord Ying, the Crown Prince wants to kill you to silence you. Don’t you know this? If you leave this residence, I’m afraid you’ll soon be lying dead in the streets.”

Ying Chu suddenly turned around and stared at Li Weiyang with a neither-yin-nor-yang tone: “Haven’t you already witnessed my abilities? Are you still worried about my life?”

Ying Chu spoke very clearly—not only was his martial arts formidable, but he possessed an undying body. Both Li Weiyang and Wang Zijin had personally witnessed this before. No one could harm him, let alone the Crown Prince.

But Guo Dao smiled faintly: “Lord Ying, no need to pretend to be a hero here! Just now I saw very clearly—not only was the opposition well-organized with swift movements, but they also understood Lord Ying’s weaknesses very well.”

Ying Chu’s heart jumped. He couldn’t help retreating a step: “What are you saying?”

Guo Dao smiled naturally, his handsome face carrying a trace of mockery: “Isn’t Lord Ying very clear in his heart about what I’m saying? Why deceive yourself? If Her Majesty the Empress hadn’t revealed your weakness to His Highness the Crown Prince, why would those assassins have succeeded in their attack? How would Lord Ying have been injured? Isn’t this all very obvious? They clearly knew your fatal point is your right chest. Otherwise, with Lord Ying’s abilities, shouldn’t these wounds have healed without medicine long ago?”

Ying Chu instinctively covered his right chest. Just now the opposition had stabbed slightly off-target; otherwise he truly would have suffered greatly. Clearly the Crown Prince already knew his vital weakness. Thinking this, he smiled slightly: “What exactly do you want by saving me?”

Li Weiyang sighed softly: “Lord Ying is a clever person—no need for flowery words before you. We went to great lengths to save you, naturally hoping Lord Ying can give us some repayment.”

Ying Chu laughed coldly: “Miss Guo, stop daydreaming! If I were willing to do as you say, I would have done so long ago. Why wait until today!”

Wang Zijin’s expression darkened: “It seems you truly won’t shed tears until you see the coffin. We’ve treated you courteously, yet you’re so ungrateful. Then we’ll have to show you my Wang family’s methods for interrogating criminals.” With that, she said coldly: “Take him away.”

Guards immediately came forward and took Ying Chu away. As he left, he stared at the three people in the hall with eyes full of mockery, clearly not taking them seriously at all.

Guo Dao looked at Wang Zijin and paused briefly before saying: “Miss Wang, how will you handle him?”

Wang Zijin said coldly: “For people who won’t speak the truth, we should use extraordinary measures. Jia’er, you won’t object?”

Li Weiyang smiled lightly: “Ying Chu won’t die, but that doesn’t mean he won’t feel pain. If Zijin has confidence, I’ll naturally leave everything to you to handle.”

Guo Dao looked at the two of them and pondered: “But from what I see, he’s so utterly devoted to Empress Pei. Forcing him to talk won’t be easy.”

Wang Zijin said calmly: “Sometimes he won’t have a choice. If we hand him over, he’ll only have a dead end. Only by cooperating with us can he preserve his life.”

Guo Dao heard Wang Zijin’s confident words but shook his head: “Miss Wang, confidence is good, but excessive pride is not. I think this Ying Chu isn’t so easily dealt with. His mind is cunning and full of schemes. You must be careful he’ll use some underhanded trick against us.”

Wang Zijin sneered: “Rest assured, within three days I’ll make him tell everything he should tell.”

Li Weiyang smiled: “Then I’ll await the good news.”

Wang Zijin wasn’t speaking empty words. The Wang family’s methods for interrogating criminals had always been extremely harsh—whether these methods would work on Ying Chu remained unknown.

In the Crown Prince’s residence, the Crown Prince was pacing rapidly back and forth in the study, looking anxious. His trusted adviser Zhang Ying said quietly at his side: “Your Highness, why worry? I’ll definitely handle this matter beautifully for you.”

The Crown Prince turned: “Are you certain the news won’t leak?”

Zhang Ying smiled: “Your Highness, you underestimate me too much. Over all these years, which matter I’ve handled for you, which person I’ve found, hasn’t been done beautifully? This time I found several first-rate experts from the martial world—all desperate criminals who kill without blinking. Even if they fail, they absolutely won’t leave evidence.”

The Crown Prince frowned and said angrily: “Fail? How could they fail? This time must succeed!”

Zhang Ying quickly said: “Yes, yes, Your Highness, this time will definitely succeed!” Just as he finished speaking, they suddenly heard knocking from outside. The Crown Prince said: “Enter.”

The guard commander walked in from outside and reported quietly to the Crown Prince: “Your Highness, news just came that Ying Chu he…”

The Crown Prince urgently stepped forward with concern: “What about Ying Chu?”

The guard commander’s voice trembled slightly: “Someone intercepted and took Ying Chu away.”

Hearing this, the Crown Prince’s expression changed. He immediately said: “Prepare for me—I must enter the palace immediately!”

Zhang Ying quickly stopped him: “Your Highness, what are you doing?”

The Crown Prince said sternly: “Don’t you understand yet? No one else would save Ying Chu—only Mother Empress! She must already know I sent people to kill Ying Chu. She won’t forgive me. I must enter the palace first to beg forgiveness!”

Zhang Ying quickly said: “Your Highness, don’t rush. Let’s see what Her Majesty’s reaction is first!”

The Crown Prince looked at him suspiciously: “What reaction? What reaction could Mother Empress have?”

Zhang Ying smiled: “If Her Majesty truly wanted to blame you, she would have summoned Your Highness to the palace by now. But why is there no movement from the palace? You must know Her Majesty’s intelligence network is much faster than ours! She surely already knows Ying Chu was intercepted. If it truly was Her Majesty’s doing, she would have definitely summoned Your Highness to the palace for punishment by now.”

The Crown Prince thought left and right, feeling the other party’s words weren’t wrong. He glanced at the foggy sky outside and said quietly: “So this matter might not have been Mother Empress’s doing? Then who else could it be? Ying Chu has no supporters in court. Those court officials all deeply detest him—every one wishes he’d die sooner.” Saying this, his expression became increasingly puzzled.

In the Empress’s palace, Empress Pei had already retired for the night. Female Official Cheng walked in quietly and stood outside the bed curtains, seeming somewhat hesitant. Suddenly she heard Empress Pei’s cold voice: “What happened?”

Female Official Cheng quickly bowed: “Your Majesty, this servant just received news. Lord Ying was ambushed on his way leaving the capital. The opposition struck before us… but they didn’t succeed. They let Lord Ying escape.”

Empress Pei slowly sat up from the bed and lightly put on a robe. Her slender jade hand lifted the curtain, revealing that absolutely beautiful face. At this moment, the dark clouds in the sky quietly dispersed. Faint moonlight shone into the hall, enveloping Empress Pei’s jade-white face in a layer of faint silver light. She smiled: “Oh, really? He escaped by himself?”

Female Official Cheng quickly said: “No, no. Someone rescued and took him away.”

Empress Pei’s gaze flickered lightly. She said “oh” faintly and smiled as if present yet absent: “Since that’s the case, what is there to worry about?”

Female Official Cheng quickly said: “Your Majesty, please don’t misunderstand. If this Ying Chu is obtained by someone with ulterior motives and used to testify against Your Majesty, that would be unclear trouble.”

Empress Pei suddenly laughed coldly: “Misunderstand? You mean only you are the cleverest, and I’m not even as good as you?”

Hearing this, Female Official Cheng’s heart jumped violently. She quickly knelt on the ground, trembling: “Your Majesty, this servant dares not! That’s not what this servant means!”

Empress Pei laughed coldly repeatedly: “If that’s not what you mean, then what do you mean? Have you presumed that recently I’ve trusted you too much, causing you to forget your own status? Let me ask you—where are those people I had you send out earlier? Why did others strike first?”

Female Official Cheng couldn’t help biting her lips tightly, her back soaked through: “Your Majesty, this servant doesn’t know how the information suddenly leaked. The people found earlier hadn’t had time to act before being preempted. This servant knows her crime. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!”

Before she finished speaking, Empress Pei sighed lightly: “Everything I said to you, you relayed word for word to the Crown Prince. Such a servant is truly utterly devoted! No wonder you say I’m not thorough in my thinking—you’ve already anticipated everything!” Finishing this, she suddenly said to the air in an icy tone: “Drag her down and handle it immediately!”

Female Official Cheng trembled with fear, crawling and rolling to Empress Pei’s bedside, crying miserably: “Your Majesty, please for the sake of this servant attending you for many years…” Before she finished speaking, two black-clothed eunuchs appeared from nowhere. One covered her mouth to prevent her from continuing, while the other swiftly bound her hands and feet and dragged her out.

Empress Pei lay back down on the high bed with soft pillows. Smelling that faint incense fragrance, she sighed lightly: “All useless things!” Finishing this, she turned over and peacefully fell asleep.

Three days later, Li Weiyang again met Wang Zijin. This time she was in high spirits, appearing full of confidence. She smiled: “Jia’er, come with me to see that Ying Chu. I think by this time, he must be ready to confess.”

Hearing her say this, Li Weiyang readily agreed: “I’d be disrespectful to refuse such kindness.”

The two hadn’t yet reached the great hall when Guo Dao coming from the hall stopped them. Guo Dao smiled: “How can you go anywhere without me? I still want to see how Miss Wang subdues that person!”

Wang Zijin glanced at him coldly but smiled impassively: “Fifth Young Master has always felt I’m all talk with no practical ability. Since that’s the case, today I’ll let you see the Wang family’s interrogation skills.” With that, she walked ahead smiling.

Li Weiyang and Guo Dao followed behind. Li Weiyang glanced sideways at Guo Dao, her tone light: “Fifth Brother, why always deliberately provoke her?”

Guo Dao shrugged: “How am I provoking her? She’s naturally proud and looks down on everyone, unable to tolerate the slightest disrespect from others. This bad habit must be corrected. Otherwise, she won’t be able to marry in the future.”

Wang Zijin suddenly stopped and turned to stare at him: “Whether I can marry or not is none of Fifth Young Master’s business. In any case, I definitely won’t have you come marry me!” Finishing this, her face inexplicably reddened.

Guo Dao was suddenly stunned, somewhat at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He instinctively glanced at Li Weiyang. She appeared to be observing her nose and her nose observing her heart, as if she hadn’t heard anything. He couldn’t help shaking his head.

The three traveled all the way to the separate estate—the very hidden residence where they’d lured Ying Chu last time. This residence belonged to the Wang family, located among green mountains and waters. The land area wasn’t large. Normally it was only used for summer retreat. Apart from some servants who came periodically to clean, people rarely visited. The Wang family had constructed several secret chambers in this separate estate. One chamber had four walls of green stone covered with moss. The only entrance and exit was a specially-made iron door weighing a full thousand pounds. Unless four strong men outside lifted the door valve, the door would open through the mechanism. Otherwise, there was absolutely no possibility of escaping alive.

Wang Zijin nodded slightly. The four jailers responsible for guarding stepped forward and together opened the door valve. After several clicking sounds, the door weighing over a thousand pounds slowly rose bit by bit. Only then did Li Weiyang see the man sitting in the middle of the secret chamber. His limbs were locked by several chains, suspended on a wall. Jailers brought three chairs and respectfully invited them to sit.

Wang Zijin sat down with an unfavorable expression, staring at him unblinkingly, her tone very calm: “He still refuses to say anything even now?”

The four jailers were startled, their faces showing fearful expressions. They quickly said: “Miss, this servant has already tried every method possible, but this person is completely unyielding. We servants truly have no way.”

On the first day after entering, the Wang family jailers poured scalding hot water on Ying Chu. While steam was still rising, they used iron brushes studded with iron nails to vigorously scrub the scalded areas, scrubbing until white bone showed, blood dripping everywhere—a horrifying sight. This kind of torture was just an appetizer. Over three days, countless methods were used until the four jailers were exhausted to the point of collapse. Yet no matter what torture was used on Ying Chu, he seemed completely unaware, gritting his teeth and refusing to yield. He hadn’t even spoken a single word since entering. Now the opposition was clearly unconscious.

Seeing Guo Dao’s expression of watching a good show, Wang Zijin’s face showed some displeasure and slight anger: “Wake him with cold water.”

A jailer immediately responded, picked up a basin of cold water, and with a “splash” poured it all over Ying Chu.

Ying Chu was startled and suddenly woke. That wet hair stuck to the only half of his face visible—eerily handsome, as if not mortal.

Wang Zijin stared at him for a moment, then suddenly smiled lightly. What she said was very cold: “Lord Ying, you probably don’t know—I’m someone whose patience is rather poor. If you continue sleeping, I’ll have to think of other methods to wake you up. Do you want to try?”

Ying Chu suddenly emitted low laughter. Then he raised his eyes. That cold gaze swept across Wang Zijin’s beautiful face, his tone light: “Miss Wang, I’ve already experienced all these methods your Wang family has. Nothing special. You’d better change tactics, lest we waste each other’s time.”

Wang Zijin’s face showed a trace of anger. Those torture methods and even mechanisms were all designed by her own hand. They’d been used on thousands of people without a single failure. Anyone who entered the Wang family’s prison cells had to speak the truth whether they wanted to or not—even mutes had to confess. Yet this Ying Chu before her seemed completely unaffected, even speaking sarcastically. She instinctively stood up. Just then, a pure white hand lightly patted her shoulder, perfectly soothing her emotions.

Li Weiyang said softly: “Why get angry, Zijin? We have plenty of time. We can slowly discuss with Lord Ying.”

The fire of anger in Wang Zijin’s heart slowly subsided. Looking at Li Weiyang, she didn’t speak for a moment.

Li Weiyang turned, her eyes bright, smiling lightly: “Lord Ying, good birds choose trees to nest in. You’re so loyal to Empress Pei, yet she told the Crown Prince where your fatal weakness lies—clearly wanting to kill you through borrowed hands. Are you still going to protect her now?”

Ying Chu glared viciously at Li Weiyang. Compared to his cloud-light-wind-mild treatment of Wang Zijin, Ying Chu seemed to harbor a special hatred for Li Weiyang.

Facing that venomous snake-like gaze, Li Weiyang was unconcerned: “Does Lord Ying detest me so much because of those rumors? You can’t blame me for this! If you hadn’t deliberately pretended to fall for it, wanting to use my hand to test her, how would you have been driven out by Empress Pei and even pursued to your death? Knowingly doing what cannot be done—Lord Ying truly makes me look at you with new eyes!”

Once Li Weiyang spoke these words, Ying Chu laughed coldly: “You set this trap knowing I would definitely step into it, because everyone has inner demons. You seized upon my inner demon. So you guessed my next move. Even if it means death, I had to seek an answer, despite clearly knowing the outcome of this answer would shatter me to pieces.”

Li Weiyang smiled lightly: “Correct. I set the trap. From the moment I set it, you only had two paths—one was to actively leave Empress Pei, the other was to die for her. No, or rather be killed by her! Now it seems you chose the second path without hesitation.”

Ying Chu’s gaze was cold, like a parasitic maggot, following like a shadow.

Wang Zijin sighed softly and said methodically: “Lord Ying, actually I don’t want to make things difficult for you. If you could tell us some things we want to know, both sides could benefit. Why not? Even if you remain obstinate to the end, trapped in this prison cell, you still have no way to leave.” Seeing he remained completely unmoved, Wang Zijin actively stood up. Standing half a meter away, she looked up and down at Ying Chu’s destroyed face, unable to resist mocking: “Lord Ying, I really want to know what kind of face lies beneath your half-mask.”

Just as she was about to reach up and remove Ying Chu’s mask, she suddenly heard Ying Chu’s cold voice: “Miss Wang, please allow me to advise you—people cannot have too much curiosity.”

Wang Zijin’s originally outstretched hand froze in midair. Her gaze met Ying Chu’s directly. Looking through those eyes carrying a mysterious, hair-raising aura, Wang Zijin instinctively retreated a step. Then she unconsciously swallowed saliva and looked back at Li Weiyang. This was the first time she felt fear, because Ying Chu’s eyes simply didn’t seem to belong to a human.

Guo Dao watched this scene, deep thought rising in his gaze. He spoke: “I heard this half of Lord Ying’s face was injured saving Her Majesty the Empress. Look—for her sake, even such a handsome face became this way. But what about her? She doesn’t trust you at all! Just because of some rumors that might harm her, she struck at you without mercy. Is paying such a price worth it?”

Ying Chu didn’t make a sound, as if he simply hadn’t heard, completely unmoved.

Wang Zijin couldn’t help saying angrily: “If you won’t speak, I have my own methods to deal with you. Don’t you have an undying body? I want to know—if I have people chop off your head, hack your entire body’s flesh and bones to pieces, scatter and burn them, spreading the ashes in all four directions north-south-east-west, then invite masters to perform rituals, suppressing your soul for generation after generation! I don’t believe your body can rejoin and stand up alive again!”

This method was simply vicious to the extreme. Ying Chu looked at Wang Zijin but still smiled: “People say the most vicious are women’s hearts. I see Miss Wang’s mind is more malicious than anyone’s!”

Wang Zijin said coldly: “I’m merely returning the favor!”

Ying Chu looked at Wang Zijin with contemptuous eyes: “Try if you want to try. But I must remind you—the result of trying might be my complete annihilation. Then you’ll obtain no testimony whatsoever. Eliminating a small person like me causes Her Majesty the Empress no loss whatsoever. But what a pity for your Guo and Wang families after going to such great lengths—ultimately like a monkey grasping at the moon’s reflection, busy for nothing! I think even though Miss Wang is so foolish, Miss Guo wouldn’t make a losing deal?”

Indeed, Ying Chu’s worthless life wasn’t valuable. But they’d captured him to catch a big fish. If they just killed him like this, why bother expending effort to imprison him in the first place? Li Weiyang said nothing. Guo Dao looked at Ying Chu, his gaze faintly suppressing anger: “Lord Ying speaks correctly. Our Guo family never makes losing deals! Since Lord Ying insists on not speaking, we won’t force you. In any case, we have plenty of time. We’ll just wait it out. If Lord Ying doesn’t speak for one day, I’ll wait one day. If you don’t speak for ten days, I’ll wait ten days—until you speak!”

Li Weiyang saw Guo Dao was angry. She said softly to Wang Zijin: “Zijin, why not come to my residence for a cup of tea? I have a type of Great Fog Red Robe there with excellent taste. I’m sure you’ll like it very much.”

Wang Zijin was startled and sighed lightly: “Fine, I’ll spare him for now.”

The two departed with light laughter, no longer resembling their earlier stern and harsh appearance. Guo Dao sighed lightly, stood up, glanced at Ying Chu, and shook his head: “Lord Ying, offending those two women—you still have suffering to endure. Bear it slowly. I won’t keep you company! Whenever you remember something, we’ll meet again!”

Heavy clicking sounds rang out once more. The stone chamber door slowly descended, isolating Ying Chu’s terrifying face.

Outside the door, Li Weiyang said calmly: “Zijin, did you notice Ying Chu’s expression seemed somewhat off just now?”

Wang Zijin was startled: “Off? What was off?”

Li Weiyang smiled: “He’s an extremely self-controlled person. But just now his every word and sentence was aggressive—clearly wanting to deliberately provoke us. Logically speaking, even if someone refuses to reveal their heart’s secrets, they wouldn’t deliberately anger people who control their fate. This isn’t at all like Ying Chu’s character. I feel he’s hiding something. Does this stone chamber have mechanisms that allow observing the interior from outside?”

Wang Zijin frowned slightly and couldn’t help smiling: “When designing it, there indeed were some places where one could see the interior. Come with me.” With that, she turned to the east wall of the stone chamber and lightly rotated a protrusion there. A row of fine holes suddenly appeared in the wall with a swish. Wang Zijin pointed at those holes: “The outside can see inside, but the inside cannot see the light from outside. Rest assured.”

Li Weiyang approached and looked at the person in the stone hole, suddenly saying quietly: “As expected.”

Hearing her words, Wang Zijin also came up to look. She saw in the stone chamber, Ying Chu’s entire face was distorted, suffering so intensely his eyebrows, eyes, nose, and mouth seemed bunched together. He seemed to want to scream loudly but didn’t dare move at all, not even daring to lightly touch those chains. Otherwise, he’d make sounds that would alert people outside. He was indeed suppressing some secret he didn’t want them to know.

Guo Dao saw the two’s strange expressions and couldn’t help saying quietly: “What happened?”

Li Weiyang beckoned to him: “Fifth Brother, come look. Does this situation seem familiar?”

Guo Dao was startled, came forward to look, then the entire person froze. He suddenly turned to look at Li Weiyang: “He’s…”

Li Weiyang smiled: “I remember when Fifth Brother quit his drug addiction before, he also suffered this way. Ying Chu has probably also become addicted to some drug—just don’t know if it’s Five Poisons Powder…” Finishing these three words “Five Poisons Powder,” Guo Dao’s expression changed completely. He frowned, staring at Li Weiyang: “Looking at this, there’s definitely a high possibility. But how would Ying Chu have been struck by Five Poisons Powder?”

Li Weiyang smiled faintly: “Five Poisons Powder has long been a forbidden drug. Only an extremely small number of people possess it, and the price is extremely expensive. Ying Chu naturally should know the harm of this substance. How would he become secretly addicted for no reason? I’m afraid it wasn’t that he himself wanted to become addicted, but rather someone else made him become addicted—or deceived him!”

Hearing her say this, Wang Zijin’s expression moved: “Deceived? How is that possible! Ying Chu isn’t an ordinary person. He’s quite knowledgeable about poisons. How could he be deceived by others?”

Li Weiyang smiled: “What if he willingly submitted to being controlled by someone? That’s another matter entirely.”

Wang Zijin couldn’t believe it: “This Five Poisons Powder is no ordinary drug. People struck by Five Poisons Powder lose their minds, their behavior becomes uncontrollable. If Ying Chu clearly knew the harm yet still took it, that’s enough to show he’s truly gone mad!”

Li Weiyang’s expression faintly carried a kind of regret: “Yes, he’s truly gone mad—a person maddened by love! Otherwise, he wouldn’t have knowingly stayed by Empress Pei’s side despite her wariness of him. He also wouldn’t have deliberately kept that painting I sent when intending to test Empress Pei’s feelings. He certainly wouldn’t continue desperately guarding Empress Pei’s secrets for us despite knowing she wanted to kill him. Such a person—what is it if not madness?”

Wang Zijin couldn’t help sighing repeatedly, her expression seeming to carry infinite sorrow. She said wistfully: “If someone were willing to fall to such depths for me, I’d truly be moved to death. But Empress Pei is completely unmoved!”

Guo Dao looked at her strangely: “Just now you had a gnashing-teeth appearance toward Ying Chu. Now you’re actually moved by him. I think you’ve also gone mad!”

Wang Zijin couldn’t help glaring angrily at Guo Dao. Li Weiyang smiled lightly: “All women are easily moved by such emotions. But Empress Pei ultimately isn’t an ordinary person. If Ying Chu could truly move her, why would she need to kill him? This shows she simply has no heart.”

At this moment, Wang Zijin couldn’t help looking again into the stone chamber. She saw Ying Chu’s entire body trembling from endurance, his face deathly pale. The only half of his face visible had all its muscles distorted, appearing extremely painful. She pondered for a long while before saying quietly: “Jia’er, though you speak reasonably, I feel there cannot be such deeply devoted people in this world. We have no way to control Ying Chu—the most important reason is we haven’t found his weakness. He’s clearly struck by Five Poisons Powder yet still pretends nothing’s wrong. In my view, if we pay close attention, this might become a breakthrough in the future.”

Guo Dao rarely agreed. He had deep experience with Five Poisons Powder. Back then, he’d nearly exhausted all his strength just to barely endure. Without Nalan Xue’s medicinal support, he couldn’t possibly have passed through that difficult period. Now seeing Ying Chu also suffering from Five Poisons Powder, he couldn’t help saying: “The pain of Five Poisons Powder isn’t something ordinary people can endure. Even though Ying Chu has strong willpower, he’s still a person… Miss Wang speaks correctly. This is indeed a very good breakthrough.”

Li Weiyang smiled, disagreeing. In her heart, she understood both Empress Pei and Ying Chu very well. This person Ying Chu had a resilient mind and cold character. But the more such a person fell in love, the deeper their feelings became like the ocean. All these years, Empress Pei had him do everything, leaving his hands covered in blood, falling into hell. Yet he hadn’t left that woman. This time his departure was on one hand to test Empress Pei’s feelings, on the other to verify his heart’s suspicions. In the end, wasn’t it all for the word “love”? Otherwise, having long known Empress Pei drugged him, he could have completely left her. Why drag it out until today? Originally, Li Weiyang had agreed with Guo Dao to capture him alive, also harboring a thread of belief in subduing him. But seeing that scene just now, she’d precisely understood—under any circumstances, Ying Chu would never betray Pei Huaizhen.

But now Li Weiyang didn’t want to say more. She knew Guo Dao and Wang Zijin both refused to believe this evil. They wanted to try. Li Weiyang also wanted to know—exactly how long could Ying Chu endure? So she merely smiled slightly: “Since you two rarely reach unified opinions, go ahead and try. I wish you early success.” Finishing this, she’d already turned and departed gracefully.

Wang Zijin heard Li Weiyang’s words seemed to conceal something. She couldn’t help blinking and looking at Guo Dao: “What does your sister mean by this? I always feel she doesn’t quite believe in this method.”

Guo Dao sighed lightly: “Who can guess Jia’er’s thoughts? When it comes to reading expressions and understanding people’s hearts, she’s truly supremely skilled. But one must always try everything first! You must know human hearts are changeable. Perhaps Ying Chu will change his mind. Then at least we won’t have been busy for nothing!”

Wang Zijin clearly thought the same way. But she’d always been enemies with Guo Dao. If he said yes, she insisted on opposing. If he said no, she insisted on agreeing. So she only said coldly: “Who says my opinion agrees with yours? I thought of this method first!”

Guo Dao was startled, then smiled: “Fine, then I’ll wait with anticipation to see how Miss Wang subdues Ying Chu.”

Wang Zijin smiled coldly: “Then wipe your eyes clean and wait to see.”

A thousand miles beyond the capital at the border. In the military tent, Tuoba Yu wore dragon robes, looking at the battle report in his hand. The report mentioned Prince Xu, Yuan Lie, had already led troops to the border. Coming with him was also General Zhendong, Wang Qiong, along with two hundred thousand soldiers. They’d naturally come to support General-in-Chief Wang Gong. Though these numbers weren’t many, they played an important role in this battle situation. Tuoba Yu glanced at it, then casually tossed the battle report on the table. He stood up. Just as he was about to summon court officials for discussion, he suddenly heard guards outside report: “Your Majesty, Her Majesty requests an audience.”

Tuoba Yu frowned. After he ascended the throne, according to custom he’d named Princess Pinting as Empress. This time when he personally led the expedition, the Empress actually led civil and military officials to desperately remonstrate at the Qianqing Palace gates. This commotion killed thirteen officials. The others were all dragged out by Tuoba Yu and severely beaten with boards. Because Pinting held Empress status, he only severely rebuked her and placed her under house arrest for one month. But he’d never expected that just after leaving the capital, Pinting would disregard his prohibition and pursue him all the way. This simply enraged him to the extreme. If not for the fact that Pinting’s maternal family’s power still had some use, he would have long ago deposed this Empress he’d always found displeasing.

Pinting burst into the tent. She wore full Empress regalia—noble and dignified, no longer that lively, charming girl from before. But no matter how beautiful the garments, no matter how brilliantly golden the jewelry, nothing could conceal the pallor of her complexion and the panic in her eyes. She said loudly: “Your Majesty, must you lead so many soldiers to fight Yuexi to the death?”

Tuoba Yu glanced coldly at Pinting: “You’re a woman of the inner chambers. These matters simply don’t require your involvement. Instead of staying properly in the capital, you ran to this battlefield. I haven’t settled accounts with you yet! Yet you still have the face to run here spouting nonsense?”

Pinting gritted her teeth. Actually, her maternal family belonged to the dove faction and completely opposed this action. All along, Tuoba Yu had wanted to personally lead the expedition, seeking to launch a full offensive to take Yuexi’s ten cities. It was Pinting who led others to promptly speak out in opposition. Regrettably, she could stop him momentarily but not permanently. Tuoba Yu ultimately still overruled all objections, actually launching such a large-scale war less than three months after ascending the throne.

Pinting’s heart ached to the extreme. She said sorrowfully: “Your Majesty, first, the way of heaven is currently inauspicious and the timing wrong. Recklessly launching war against Yuexi—all the common people and public opinion support Yuexi. Second, though the Yuexi Emperor is cruel and inhumane, court governance remains fairly clear. The ministers are all quite diligent. This time they were already prepared early. We rashly struck and have already fallen into disadvantage. Third, in recent years internal succession struggles in our nation have been extremely severe. The power struggle between you and the deposed Crown Prince… has left soldiers weary and generals exhausted, with war-weariness spreading. Under these circumstances, court officials all oppose such war. Why must Your Majesty stubbornly have your way?”

Tuoba Yu’s expression darkened. He said coldly: “You’re my Empress. Others are ignorant—must you be the same? I have a million strong soldiers, wealth and weapons piled like mountains. Why can’t I win? Most importantly, this time I want to use the momentum of ascending the throne to properly teach Yuexi a lesson, seize their ten cities, and wipe away years of Yuexi bullying our Great Li! Think about it—the Yuexi Emperor has always been domineering, expressing considerable disapproval of my ascension. If I don’t strike first, I’m afraid they’ll use this opportunity to launch attacks forcing me to abdicate! If that time truly comes, can you take responsibility?”

Pinting anxiously stepped forward: “Your Majesty, this is only your speculation. It won’t necessarily happen!”

Tuoba Yu laughed coldly: “How will it not happen? Don’t forget—Consort Lian fled to Yuexi with Tuoba Xu. To this day, there’s no news. If Yuexi captured Tuoba Xu and supported him to ascend Great Li’s throne, Great Li would naturally become Yuexi’s possession. Court officials and common people would also become a conquered nation! By then Yuexi could gain even greater power. Why would they not do this? Supporting a puppet emperor is far more profitable than befriending me! Rather than wait for Yuexi to strike first, I naturally must personally lead the expedition to reverse the decline!”

Pinting heard this—wasn’t this just sophistry? Tuoba Yu’s position as Emperor wasn’t yet stable. The first thing he did was launch war. His true purpose was actually to divert domestic contradictions. But hearing him speak, it sounded like everywhere he was considering court officials and the nation. She didn’t know how the formerly refined and scholarly Tuoba Yu had become so extreme and resentful. Her heart grew anxious. She couldn’t help but feel sorrow well up, tears immediately falling as she said: “Your Majesty, the facts are clear—Yuexi isn’t weak. If Your Majesty insists on deploying large-scale military forces, problems can easily arise. Moreover, what I worry about isn’t only this. Now Your Majesty leads the great army on expedition, leaving only tens of thousands of weak soldiers guarding the capital. I fear unexpected changes may occur in our heartland territory. By then regret will come too late!”

Tuoba Yu looked at her coldly. This point didn’t require Pinting’s worry at all. He’d long ago made proper arrangements, ensuring the capital’s safety was secure—everything was under his control.

Pinting wouldn’t give up. She pleaded bitterly: “Your Majesty, do you still remember what the Late Emperor said in the past? The Yuexi people are our enemies. The Late Emperor said we should gradually weaken them to benefit the nation, but this isn’t something that can be accomplished overnight. We should proceed gradually, not with massive armies pressing at borders! Add to this that Great Zhou is also boundlessly ambitious. Your Majesty cooperating with them—short-term it seems we can scheme against Yuexi, but long-term I fear we’ll fall into others’ cunning schemes!”

Hearing this, Tuoba Yu’s gaze became even colder: “What exactly do you mean by these words?”

Pinting couldn’t help gritting her teeth: “Your Majesty, even if you swear oaths, I still know your true purpose in attacking Yuexi!”