Jing Hengbo found herself in complete darkness.

She was crouched under a broken wooden board, covered in dust and dirt.

The high platform had collapsed, specifically the section beneath her feet. She had fallen instantly, but fortunately the ground below was just earth, so she wasn’t seriously injured – though she seemed to have twisted her ankle again.

There was something hard beneath her, with a familiar texture. She felt around and confirmed it was indeed her box.

At this moment, she was still clutching that pair of hot Barbie dolls, gripping them so tightly that sweat seeped from her palms. What to do? Destroy the evidence? How? She had no knife or fire right now. Should she dig a hole and bury these things?

With no other choice, she could only open the box, planning to hide these things inside first and destroy them immediately after entering the palace. After all, if it were just a pair of dolls in intimate poses, that would be one thing – even in ancient times, married couples privately collected such items. But these dolls were modeled after herself, and if people saw them and developed certain unwholesome associations, that would be bad.

Before she could open the box, a figure flashed and approached. Jing Hengbo was startled and instinctively used what was in her hand as a weapon, stabbing forward…

“Thud.” The male doll hit Gong Yin’s chest with a muffled sound…

Gong Yin, whose expression had originally contained slight worry, was struck by this light poke and his face instantly turned iron-blue…

Of course his body wasn’t injured – his soul was wounded…

He snorted coldly and fiercely snatched away the pair of dolls with one hand. Glancing at the barely clothed male doll, a look of disgust flashed in his eyes.

What kind of nonsense was this? The eyes were actually blue – some kind of demon? Could she have normal preferences for once?

With a flex of his fingers, Jing Hengbo watched helplessly as the male doll embracing “Little Wave Jing’s” waist instantly turned to ash.

She sighed, not knowing whether it was relief or regret.

This was a product of modern technology, something unique in this era of Dahuang. Made so exquisitely and realistically, it was still somewhat regrettable to destroy it like this…

Her sigh clearly depressed Gong Yin even more.

—She was actually reluctant to part with it!

“What exactly is this…” Before he could finish asking, suddenly light flashed overhead, blazing into Jing Hengbo’s eyes.

“The Queen is morally corrupt… take my blade!”

The shout was piercing, and simultaneously a fierce whistling sound came slashing down from above!

Jing Hengbo looked up to see blade light like a hanging river!

Then her body fell backward as Gong Yin immediately pushed her into the darkness.

“Hide well!” he said briefly, his gaze sweeping over her box. He struck back with his blade to deflect the opponent’s attack.

Jing Hengbo pouted and could only hide in the darkness to close her box. She knew “hide well” had two meanings: one was for her to hide herself well, and the other was for her to quickly hide the inappropriate things in her box.

She forcefully slammed the box lid down.

A hand suddenly reached over, holding up the falling box lid.

“Who?” Jing Hengbo was startled and kicked out. With a scraping sound, the serrated edge on her shoe flashed, striking directly at the person’s waist.

“Hey, your waist,” the person coolly reminded her about her waist instead.

Jing Hengbo also felt the coolness at her waist, only then remembering the tear hadn’t been mended. Lifting her leg would expose even more, so she quickly lowered it.

Faint light fell from above, vaguely outlining Yelu Qi standing there with a playful smile at the corner of his lips, unabashedly staring at the strip of white at her waistline.

Jing Hengbo glared at him and warily stepped back, dragging the box to shield herself while grabbing a cloak from inside to quickly put on.

She remained constantly alert for him to attack, but fortunately Yelu Qi seemed to have no ill intentions. With an ambiguous smile playing at his lips, he suddenly said, “You were very beautiful today.”

“Of course,” Jing Hengbo lifted her chin, still not relaxing her guard. “What are you doing here?”

Yelu Qi smiled with breezy indifference, “Three things.”

“Hmm?”

“First, I wanted to praise you to your face,” he said admiringly. “You truly were outstanding today.”

“Crazy,” Jing Hengbo commented, not believing a single word.

“Really, this is the most important thing,” Yelu Qi appeared very serious.

“Second?” Jing Hengbo was impatient, listening to the commotion above – wind sounds, human voices, fighting sounds. Outside had also become a complete mess, but she didn’t hear Gong Yin’s voice.

“Just now someone impersonated me to assassinate you, trying to incite anger from the people and your supporters against me,” Yelu Qi said casually. “So I must appear by your side, protect you, and prove my innocence.”

Jing Hengbo scoffed, “Innocence? Do you possess such a noble thing?”

“Perhaps I will soon,” Yelu Qi smiled. In the dim light, his smile was mysterious and alluring. “The third thing is also quite important.”

“Mm?” Jing Hengbo was distracted, concentrating on listening to the sounds outside. Eh, why wasn’t there any sound from Gong Yin?

But Yelu Qi stopped speaking, lightly snapping his fingers as if calculating time, suddenly glancing sideways at the hole above the platform, then looking back.

“Why did you stop talking?” Jing Hengbo belatedly noticed this sudden silence and urged him.

“Oh,” Yelu Qi moved slightly closer to her, made a “shush” sound, and smiled somewhat shyly. “It’s like this… originally today’s welcoming ceremony, according to my plan, would have ended a quarter hour ago. After the ceremony ended, the Queen would leave first, then all the princes, nobles, and leaders of the six nations and eight tribes would file past the platform front and leave in formation. Hmm… calculating by time, right now should be when Gong Yin leads the group including the Zhanyu tribe past the platform front. So I had people bury some explosives under the platform early on, ordering the suicide bombers to light the fuse on time no matter what happened. Oh, it should explode about now…”

“Ah?” The last few words finally drifted into Jing Hengbo’s eardrums. Her head, which had been looking outside, whipped around instantly. “You’re joking…”

The expression on Yelu Qi’s face made her words stick in her throat. The next instant she screamed, grabbed her box, and ran outside.

In her shock, she even forgot she could teleport.

Bang – she crashed into someone’s chest. The scent was somewhat familiar, but she had no time to identify who it was. She shoved the box into his arms and shouted, “There are explosives! Run!”

But the person stared at the things falling from her hastily closed box, eyes lighting up. “Wow! What is this! Fun!”

Jing Hengbo, who was preparing to teleport, nearly spat blood – Nail Polish Lord! There was actually a man in this world even less reliable than her!

Jing Hengbo had no choice but to grab his ear, preparing to move away together. Before her body could move, suddenly a white silk flew over, knocking away her hand and also knocking away Nail Polish Lord’s hand that was reaching for her waist. The white silk wrapped around her waist with a whoosh, a pulling force struck, and she was immediately pulled out. Then the white silk loosened and flew back in the opposite direction, striking Nail Polish Lord’s chest and pushing him toward Yelu Qi who was rushing out behind them.

Several movements flowed seamlessly. In an instant, Jing Hengbo escaped, Yi Qi crashed into Yelu Qi, and Yelu Qi was forced to retreat closer to the explosion center.

This suddenly appearing person had perfect timing, exquisite to the finest detail. As if they had been waiting for this moment all along.

Naturally it was Gong Yin.

Yi Qi crashed into Yelu Qi with a bang, shouted “Stinking man!” and quickly scrambled up. Suddenly his expression changed, he sniffed, and said, “Black gunpowder!”

His face changed dramatically. Not caring about Yelu Qi anymore, he turned and ran.

Gong Yin’s white figure flashed, the white silk in his hand striking toward his waist, wanting to knock him back. Yi Qi yelled “Villain! Harming me!” and his body twisted strangely in mid-air, actually escaping Gong Yin’s attack and dodging away.

Gong Yin didn’t waste time chasing him either. With a flick of his silk, he once again blocked Yelu Qi who was trying to rush out.

At this moment, he stood on the broken platform, Yelu Qi below the broken platform, separated by hazy light and shadow and a white silk like the Milky Way, gazing at each other from afar.

Yelu Qi’s expression finally turned cold. “You guessed again, as expected.”

If Gong Yin didn’t know there were explosives under this platform, how could he so perfectly time his appearance to rescue Jing Hengbo and block him?

Yelu Qi felt slightly annoyed. He discovered it was always like this – no matter how seamless his plans, they were transparent before Gong Yin. He seemed to have crystal-like eyes, or a translucent heart, able to see all schemes hidden in darkness.

This didn’t seem entirely due to wisdom, but more like some strange ability…

Gong Yin still looked at him with cold indifference, a mocking curve at the corner of his lips.

“I suddenly made a discovery too,” he said, his expression not hiding his disgust.

“Oh?” Yelu Qi smiled slightly.

“You also… care about her very much,” Gong Yin’s voice was ice-cold. Suddenly he gave a low shout, “Then stay here!”

The white silk in his hand vibrated, suddenly transforming into countless misty snow. The snow quickly condensed into ice crystals, the crystals rapidly solidified in large patches, spreading silently like a white barrier.

“Prajna Snow…” Before Yelu Qi could finish his sentence, ice crystals rapidly formed, covering everything like lightning, already freezing him in ice.

Somewhere sparks were already hissing and flashing – the suicide bomber was meticulously executing his mission according to the agreement.

The entire platform cavity instantly became a crystal ice and snow world, with Yelu Qi frozen and unable to move.

No escape possible.

Gong Yin’s brow also seemed to generate ice and snow. He looked coldly at his political enemy of many years, then his white figure flashed and disappeared.

Success or failure would perhaps be determined in this instant.

…

“Thump.” Jing Hengbo landed on the ground, her ankle aching. Her body swayed backward and she sat down hard.

As she sat down, she vaguely heard a cry of alarm and seemed to hear hissing sounds. Her bottom felt a burning pain, and she yelped, jumping up while holding her bottom.

“So painful! So painful!”

Someone nearby was crying even more miserably than her.

“Ah! Where did this woman come from! She put out the fuse!”

Jing Hengbo jumped three zhang away and turned back in amazement. Not far behind her, there was a black-clothed man holding a torch, his face ashen, staring blankly at a section of fuse on the ground.

The fuse had burned more than half way, but now it was extinguished, showing a section of charred end.

Jing Hengbo’s mind went blank for a moment, then she understood.

Her teleportation had actually moved her to the explosive ignition point, and she had sat on the fuse and put it out!

What was this called? Divine will?

The suicide bomber responsible for lighting the explosives was stunned for a moment, then actually gritted his teeth and brought the torch close to the fuse again.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Jing Hengbo couldn’t believe that someone who had narrowly escaped death would still seek death. She quickly lunged over and grabbed the guy’s arm. “What madness has seized you? Don’t you want to live? Why are you still lighting it!”

“Let go!” The suicide bomber struggled, persistently bringing the torch toward the fuse.

“A bad life is better than a good death!” Jing Hengbo got angry and slapped him repeatedly. “You narrowly escaped death, why don’t you run quickly instead of lighting things? Do you know this is evil? You’ll die, and many innocent people will die too!”

“But!” The guy shook off Jing Hengbo and suddenly roared, “If I don’t die here today, my whole family will die immediately!”

Jing Hengbo was stunned, looking at the tearful suicide bomber, suddenly feeling her heart convulse.

This hopeless dead end.

In such an authoritarian society, did those in lower positions truly not even have the freedom to fight for survival?

The suicide bomber used force to shove Jing Hengbo hard. She fell far away, crying out as her twisted ankle was aggravated. Now she couldn’t even get up, let alone stop him.

The suicide bomber wept as he looked at her deeply, then resolutely brought the torch close to the fuse.

Jing Hengbo smiled bitterly, closed her eyes, struggled to get up, and vanished in a flash.

Forget it! Forget it!

Most people had already left, there should be no one left under the platform cavity. If anyone else died, it was just their bad luck!

…

The moment the fuse was extinguished.

In the platform cavity, Yelu Qi, who had closed his eyes waiting for death, calculated the time but didn’t hear that fatal sound at the expected moment.

He suddenly opened his eyes and quickened his energy circulation. The ice crystals around him gradually began to melt…

The fuse was relit.

Cracks appeared in the solid ice around Yelu Qi.

The fuse hissed and burned, gradually shortening.

The white vapor above Yelu Qi’s head grew thicker and thicker. The platform cavity seemed to be filled with fog, and the ice crystals kept making crackling sounds as they shattered.

Gong Yin, who had already moved far from the high platform and immediately dispersed the crowd, turned back in amazement.

The fuse had burned to its end!

“Crack!” With an explosive sound, ice blocks shattered. Yelu Qi burst from the ice, and amid the thunderous roar broke through the platform boards again. Wood pieces and ice crystals splashed together as his rising figure was like a black dragon.

Almost simultaneously, like an earth dragon turning over, an even more terrifying boom exploded from beneath his feet. In an instant the high platform disappeared, flagpoles snapped, all the buildings in the square were swaying precariously. In the distance countless people cried out as they were knocked down by the ground’s tremors and shock waves, rolling far away. The scene quieted for a moment, then screams shot up to the clouds.

From ground to mid-air, a black smoke cloud rose, rolling like an angry dragon.

“Hahahahahaha.” Yet someone was laughing wildly in the midst of the black cloud, his voice full of joy. “Heaven will not destroy me!”

His long hair was disheveled, his black clothes fluttering. The people looked back in horror to see a black shadow joyfully leaping up in the billowing black clouds, like a demon emerging from the depths of an abyss.

In the distance, Gong Yin turned back, looking at Yelu Qi who had escaped death. He showed no disappointment; instead, the corner of his lips curved up slightly.

“It’s good that you didn’t die,” he said indifferently. “Otherwise I would be too lonely.”

…

Jing Hengbo sat in a corner of the square, looking at the black smoke billowing in the distance and people crying out as they ran. The square that had been glorious just moments before was now in shambles, with shoes and clothes scattered all over the ground. Truly a moment of prosperity followed by a moment of chaos. She felt empty inside.

Today’s welcoming ceremony, her first day entering Imperial Song City, had truly been full of ups and downs, rich and colorful, ending with a finale of burning down the high platform. A cloud of black smoke obscured the center of Imperial Song; a thunderous boom sent people fleeing in panic.

She wondered if this was foreshadowing that her future held no brightness?

Jing Hengbo sighed and rubbed her ankle, sitting and waiting for Gong Yin to come get her.

Waves of people flowed past her like a tide. She suddenly felt the sensation of fleeing in chaotic times, wanting to remove her queen’s crown, pick up her box, join the crowd, and wander the world, becoming an ordinary person from then on.

Being queen had never been part of her plan.

She rested her chin on her hand and thought for a while, feeling that in all her time in this other world, she had been happiest during her time as a courtesan.

For Jing Hengbo, the prospect of not being able to be queen and going back to being a courtesan didn’t matter much. She even saw commonalities between the two roles – both allowed her to appreciate large quantities of various men. From a freedom perspective, she actually felt being a woman of the world was more enjoyable.

She had originally thought that the brothel business would be best developed as a long-term enterprise. Once she familiarized herself with brothel operations, she would find a way to convert her gems into money and open a high-class establishment with style, taste, and unique entertainment programs. She would be the proprietress herself – able to make money for living while freely viewing countless handsome men. Once the establishment became popular, she would recruit the most special chefs, the coolest female bodyguards, and the most skilled female doctors at diagnosing illnesses from across the land. This way, the cooking-skilled Wen Zhen, the tomboy Taishi Lan, and little X-ray Jun Ke would all be easily found by her!

Haha, what a damn perfect plan.

Then she sighed.

What was that phrase? Riding a tiger and unable to dismount? Having fought this far in one breath, she could no longer avoid being queen.

She loved the passionate people of Dahuang. She wanted to change the rules here. She didn’t want authority to forever tower over life, causing tragedies like that suicide bomber to repeat.

She thought about this heavy topic for a while, then suddenly felt something was wrong.

Earlier under the platform boards, when Gong Yin destroyed the dolls, he seemed to have only destroyed one doll. What about the other one…

Suddenly someone sat down beside her, interrupting her thoughts. It was actually Nail Polish Lord, hugging her box like a treasure and refusing to let go.

“Give me back my box.” She felt depressed just seeing the box now, swearing to always lock it with a password from now on and never hand it to others again.

“No way.” Yi Qi protested, then mysteriously bumped her shoulder. “Hey, that thing from before, that whatnot, what was it?”

Jing Hengbo wanted to collapse seeing his lecherous expression.

Oh god, how many people actually saw it?

“What? What thing?” She looked completely innocent. “My box only has women’s things. How dare you men look around randomly?”

“I wasn’t looking around randomly!” Yi Qi swore to heaven. “But I saw it rolling toward me – a pair of spring palace dolls embracing each other! And the female one looked like you, that figure…” He gulped loudly, swallowing hard. His eyes looked Jing Hengbo up and down, as if comparing.

“I don’t understand anything you’re saying.” Jing Hengbo shrugged. “That was clearly a hidden weapon thrown by an assassin to distract my attention. It has nothing to do with me at all.”

“Just tell me how this doll was made. Was there a real person demonstrating when it was made? Did you really dress like that for someone to model after? Could you make one for me too…” Yi Qi was full of excitement, chattering endlessly.

Jing Hengbo was furious and said with malicious intent, “Since I can’t hide it from you, I’ll admit it – it’s real. Not only was there real person demonstration, this is a kind of dark magic. That man was a real person. He offended me, calling me his wife randomly and snatching my box, so I hired a witch to kill him. I used his hair for the doll’s hair, his skin for the doll’s skin, and locked his soul in the doll, which is why the doll looks so realistic.” After speaking, she looked him up and down sideways, as if measuring where to make the cut.

“It’s real…” Yi Qi’s eyes sparkled, seeming quite excited. “I think keeping such a doll would be very interesting. When you miss me in the future, you can hug me and touch me… Why should I return the box to you then? Let me play with it before I die…” He closed his eyes and felt around in the box. After a while he pulled something out, looked at it, and yelled, “Aha, what’s this? A belly wrap?”

Jing Hengbo looked – oh yes, a bra.

Soon Yi Qi pulled out another thing. “Ah, what’s this? A treasure box?”

Jing Hengbo glanced – it was the card-type Polaroid camera. She had put it back earlier.

“Don’t mess with my things!” She snatched the bra and stuffed it back in the box, then grabbed for the Polaroid.

“No way.” Yi Qi wouldn’t give it up.

In their struggle, someone’s finger somehow touched a button, and suddenly a photo popped out.

Yi Qi was stunned, then quickly and sharply snatched the photo. The photo only captured the ground opposite them, but he already understood.

“This is the secret of your divine painting!” he yelled.

Once discovered, Jing Hengbo no longer tried to hide it, grabbing the Polaroid.

“Come on, smile.”

Yi Qi immediately moved closer, cooperatively smiling to show seven white teeth. Jing Hengbo sighed about why Gong Yin wasn’t this obedient while pressing the shutter.

Click – a light sound. Yi Qi whooshed away, looking left and right. “What was that sound!”

Jing Hengbo placed her finger above the Polaroid as a photo slowly emerged, quickly developing in the light.

“Divine brush painting, ten thousand gold per sheet.” Jing Hengbo waved it at him.

Yi Qi stared at the photo for a long time, then exclaimed in amazement, “This is me?”

Jing Hengbo nodded reservedly, waiting for his admiration.

“I never knew I was so beautiful.”

Jing Hengbo kicked him a thousand li away with one foot.

There was actually someone in this world who dared to be more narcissistic than her!

“Speaking of which,” Yi Qi clicked his tongue in admiration while touching the photo and glancing at the Polaroid, “it really isn’t a portrait painted by a person! This box must be a very magical thing!”

“Mm, it stores people’s souls. Each time it captures your shadow, you lose ten years of life.” Jing Hengbo talked nonsense with him, feeling much better. Even looking at the black smoke didn’t bother her anymore.

“You’re full of nonsense just like Third Brother.” Yi Qi pursed his lips. “It’s just a strange machine.”

This time Jing Hengbo looked at him with new respect. This was an ancient person! Suddenly encountering something like a Polaroid, not only did he not scream in shock, he could even say the word “machine.” What transcendent thinking this required!

Could he also be a fellow transmigrator?

“You recognize this thing?”

“No.” Yi Qi turned the Polaroid over and over, looking at it with greedy eyes.

“Then why aren’t you surprised by such a miraculous thing?”

“Master said you’re a strange person who came carrying a killing star and breaking through heaven. You would possess thoughts and mysteries that no one else in this world could have. It fits your identity to pull out strange and odd things.” Yi Qi pretended to study the Polaroid while secretly reaching into the box, but was slapped down by the sharp-eyed Jing Hengbo.

“Your master?” Jing Hengbo remembered Yi Qi’s earlier questions, which seemed to mention his master’s experimental fields. This made sense – the one with transcendent wisdom should be a white-bearded, fairy-like old man, not this pretty thief with a rogue face and shameless smile.

“What else did your master say about me?” Jing Hengbo became interested. Masters, with their immortal bearing and revelation of heavenly secrets, it was their duty.

“He said you’re destined to be queen, but incredibly troublesome.” Yi Qi was fiddling with the Polaroid.

“Quite troublesome indeed.” Jing Hengbo looked at the chaotic surroundings and sighed. To turn even a welcoming ceremony into this mess, she should be unprecedented in Dahuang’s history. This deserved a good entry in the history books.

“He said the Seven Killings star illuminates your fate, destined to overturn Dahuang for hundreds of years. Old customs like ash, new power like blade – under the imperial throne, blood will flow like rivers.” Yi Qi continued studying the Polaroid.

“So literary.” Jing Hengbo rested her chin on her hand. “The first half is right, the second half is wrong. I don’t like killing people.”

“Killing never depends on whether you like it or not.” Yi Qi answered casually while fiddling with the Polaroid.

“What else?”

“He said you’ll rise and fall several times, and both you and those around you will have half a lifetime of unrest.”

“What about love?” Jing Hengbo had little interest in these mystical things. There were fortune-tellers everywhere, and they could make up a few lines. Just develop things in a mysterious direction.

“Oh,” Yi Qi didn’t look up. “Actually, everything above was made up by me. Only the next line is what he really said. Listen carefully – he said you seem to have peach blossoms illuminating your fate with romantic encounters everywhere, but actually the cats and dogs around you aren’t your destined good match. Your true future husband…”

“Is far away yet close at hand, right?” Jing Hengbo slapped away his hand that was about to point at his own nose and snatched back the Polaroid. “Not one reliable word. Give it back.”

“Don’t move, don’t move.” Yi Qi dodged, holding the Polaroid high, then suddenly put his arm around her face, pressing her close to his shoulder. He tilted his head and sweetly moved closer. “Smile! One, two, three!”

Jing Hengbo, who had just wanted to scold him, immediately smiled like a flower at the camera in a conditioned reflex, even making a peace sign. “Yeah!”

“Yeah!” Yi Qi copied her.

“Click.”

The Polaroid shook, and after a moment, slowly produced a photo.

Jing Hengbo looked at this guy incredulously. “You learned? You really learned how to use it?”

This Polaroid was somewhat complicated – you had to open the lens, adjust the pixels, then press the button. This guy just felt around randomly and learned?

Was this still an ancient person?

Looking at the photo, it was very clear with complete background, properly sized portraits, standard angle. A pair of handsome man and beautiful woman, heads together, smiling radiantly in the sunshine, both showing seven neat white teeth. They looked perfect together from every angle, good enough for a camera advertisement.

These days, there were too many smart people. No way to live.

The two people in the photo were in intimate poses. Jing Hengbo instinctively felt something was wrong and reached for it. “Give it to me as a memento.”

“I took it, so naturally it belongs to me.” Yi Qi waved the photo and quickly tucked it into his chest. While Jing Hengbo was distracted by the photo, his hand quickly reached into the box, then quickly came out, his palm tightly gripping something.

“The flower-destroying demon is here again, I’m leaving.” Yi Qi suddenly stood up. “Oh right, I came to tell you – when you’re free, come visit Seven Peaks Mountain. Just find Yi Yi when you go up the mountain. Don’t bother with the other seven – they’re all no good.”

Jing Hengbo remembered his fellow disciples plus him made seven people total. Where did the other six come from? Number blind.

“Seven Peaks Mountain?”

“You’ll go.” Yi Qi smiled mysteriously, then suddenly nodded toward the front. “Iceberg. You tried to harm me earlier, but I won’t hold it against you. You’ll have plenty of suffering in the future anyway…”

Jing Hengbo turned around to see Gong Yin standing not far behind her. With black smoke billowing behind him, he appeared even more ice and snow-like, his eyes also filled with crystalline ice color, coldly enveloping Yi Qi.

“When did Seven Peaks Mountain disciples start trying to interfere with worldly royal power?” His voice was clear and cold.

“I’m just lusting after the Queen’s beauty,” Yi Qi smiled and wagged his finger. “She graciously painted a portrait for me. Would you like to see it?”

He slowly began to pull out the photo. Jing Hengbo realized this was bad – such an intimate and harmonious photo, if that certain someone saw it, there would be more trouble. She quickly jumped up and lunged toward Gong Yin. “Ouch, my foot hurts!”

Gong Yin seemed to want to give Yi Qi a palm strike first, but ultimately lifted his hands to catch Jing Hengbo instead. Yi Qi’s hand whooshed back, and with a flash of his body, he had already leaped over the surrounding crowd and escaped far away.

The person had run away, but his hearty laughter still echoed in the sky.

“Beloved Queen, my darling precious wife, I knew you would help me!”

Damn it!

Jing Hengbo immediately felt the stiffness of the embrace in front of her and silently wept inside.

Why did all these devastatingly handsome troublemakers she encountered in Dahuang love to cause her problems…

Sure enough, the next moment God Gong pushed her away and turned to leave.

“Hey hey!” Jing Hengbo chased after him. “Wait for me! My foot hurts!”

Gong Yin stopped, but didn’t turn around or acknowledge her. He pulled out a snow-white handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped methodically. After wiping for a while, he casually tossed it away, and the cloth flew away like a white bird.

Jing Hengbo thought germophobia was really annoying. Before she finished thinking, she saw him pull out a second handkerchief, and soon after a third…

“Hey, why do you keep wiping your hands?” She finally couldn’t help asking.

“Dirty.” His answer was light and simple, his eyes glancing over coldly.

Dirty? What was dirty? Where? His hands were snow-white and clean without a speck of dust.

Jing Hengbo thought for a while longer before vaguely understanding – it was related to the dolls, right? The dolls had dirtied his hands?

He wanted to ask but wouldn’t speak, felt bothered inside, was this hinting for her to explain?

“That…” She thought about it and felt it was really impossible to explain. Say it was a gift from someone? Say she knew Beckham but he didn’t know her? Say this wasn’t really anything where she came from? Say there were nudist camps where people walked around naked? After explaining, would the great god think she was naturally promiscuous and angrily confine her forever?

She stammered, making someone even more displeased.

“Why is it in your likeness?” He suddenly asked.

“Ah?” Jing Hengbo, whose mind was full of finding an explanation that Gong Yin could accept while also being convenient for herself, was stunned.

“Why is it exactly like you?” He turned around, appearing expressionless with a calm tone, yet his eyes held cold light like needles. “Without looking at you in person, it couldn’t be made so realistically.”

“That… based on a portrait,” she laughed awkwardly. “But actually the clothes weren’t worn so scantily…” Her voice grew smaller and smaller.

Actually, she wore clothes this scanty quite often, Jing Hengbo thought. The saying goes that ignorance breeds fear – if she let him see more in the future, wouldn’t he stop making such a big fuss?

“The one who made this doll for you – was it that male doll himself?” He seemed to ask casually again.

Jing Hengbo was stunned again.

Where was this going?

“Of course not.” She hurried to clarify. “Both dolls were made based on portraits.”

“Who made them?”

“A craftsman.”

“A male craftsman?” His voice seemed to deepen.

Jing Hengbo felt something was off.

Next would he ask who that male doll was? Then ask who Beckham was? Then would he be ready to order the Kanglong Army to kill Beckham? Then would all people surnamed Bei in Dahuang suffer?

No way. If he kept asking like this, he would definitely fight Beckham for life.

“Does it matter if it’s male or female?” Her eyes slowly narrowed. “Or… Gong Yin, are you jealous? Are you jealous because of dolls?”

Gong Yin immediately stepped back, putting distance between them.

“Nonsense!” He coldly flicked his sleeves. “I just want to question the craftsman who made such obscene objects clearly! How dare they use such filthy items to seduce the Queen and put her in danger! Such people should be arrested and interrogated, and executed according to law for the crime of slandering and defaming the Queen! Also, Jing Hengbo, he didn’t know this thing would kill you, but don’t you know it yourself!”

“Is that so? Obscene?” Jing Hengbo’s eyes flashed as she looked at him with a half-smile. “So obscene, so hidden, so unspeakable and harmful. The person who made this should be arrested and beheaded. Exactly right, so righteous and stern. But State Preceptor, I want to ask – there seems to be one doll left. Isn’t the person who hid it even more hidden and unspeakable? Do you know where that person who hid it is? Shall we arrest him together too…”

A cold wind blew past, and her vision went black.

Some domineering guy who was angry from embarrassment and had no answer once again resorted to “making you sleep when words fail.”

Before falling into that familiar embrace, Jing Hengbo only had time to mumble a curse.

“Damn it, at least have the guts to admit it…”