At first glance, she saw the arena had collapsed again. The people who had been on stage, including Yélu Qi, were all gone.

Her first reaction was how could this arena be so flimsy? Then seeing Pei Shu angrily shouting and rushing toward the arena, she immediately realized—Yélu Qi was in trouble!

She immediately turned back. Behind her came Ge Shen’s enthusiastic greeting: “Your Majesty, how did today’s husband selection turn out…” She ignored him completely.

In a flash she reached the arena’s crack. By then she could see Pei Shu had stopped at the edge of the crack, frowning deeply. Her heart sank, immediately knowing something was very wrong.

Looking down, she saw the arena had split open with a large hole half a zhang wide. Those who had been standing there—Yélu Qi and several Luoyun officials—were now all in the hole. Two of the Luoyun “officials” were trampled under Yélu Qi’s feet, while the other four had shocked expressions on their faces, backs against the sharp wooden splinters at the hole’s edge, four swords crossed, trapping Yélu Qi in the center.

The four swords gleamed bright as water, sharpened on both edges, crossed into a square formation, tightly pressed against Yélu Qi’s neck from four directions. The slightest movement would result in his throat being cut.

So Pei Shu dared not approach further.

So Jing Hengbo was shocked and furious, yet frozen at the hole’s edge.

Yélu Qi remained quite calm, having been looking down at the two people under his feet. After a long moment he slowly raised his eyes, sighed and smiled, “My body has indeed been somewhat poor lately—I only managed to handle two at once…”

His tone was full of apology for bringing trouble to Jing Hengbo.

The other four “Luoyun officials” looked even more grim. They certainly weren’t officials—they were masters carefully recruited by the Luoyun royal family, disguised as officials to come pay respects to the royal consort. Originally they’d planned to coordinate with forces outside, capture Yélu Qi without alarming the Queen, since among these people close to the Queen on stage, this one was obviously physically weak. Who knew this sickly-looking person would react with shocking sharpness when attacked, instantly stomping through the arena floor to warn the Queen, and in that falling moment still managing to strike down two people, trampling them underfoot to avoid secondary damage from poisoned spikes in the trap below.

By now the common people had been dispersed. Not far below the arena stood the grim-faced Luoyun King Ge Shen, slowly drawing back his sleeve and putting away the small crossbow with drugged and paralytic poison he hadn’t had time to fire.

Originally he’d planned that when the Queen came down from the stage and he strode up to meet her, he would shoot this tiny arrow coated with poison and paralytic drug to first subdue the Queen. Who knew the Queen would be called back by that loud crash from the arena!

Behind him, a row of guards in tight armor silently withdrew the silent-firing crossbow bolts from their sleeves with the same motion.

These crossbow bolts had originally been planned to fire at Pei Shu, Gong Yin and others simultaneously when the King attacked the Queen, but had to be abandoned due to the failure of the King’s plan.

Ge Shen coldly glanced at the stage, first retreating into the protection of his guards, frowning deeply.

He had prepared two options—attacking the Queen and holding the newly selected royal consort hostage. He feared unexpected situations, so at minimum he could still have the royal consort as a hostage to demand the Queen’s concessions. Originally his targets were Pei Shu and Gong Yin, but seeing that the palace masters found these two troublesome, he chose this newly appointed one instead.

The question was whether this newly selected royal consort could make the Queen show pity and yield.

Jing Hengbo didn’t look back at all.

She knew the situation had changed—the Luoyun tribe had turned hostile. Though she didn’t know the reason for their betrayal, since they dared to do this, things had deteriorated beyond salvage.

And she didn’t want to salvage it!

Especially when she saw Yélu Qi in such circumstances, still apologetic for not being able to handle all six at once, looking up with a smile both apologetic and gentle—her heart seemed to suddenly tear open, filled with rushing sourness and regret.

She shouldn’t have left the physically weak Yélu Qi alone on stage!

She shouldn’t have let him face those strange Luoyun officials!

She shouldn’t have assumed these were the same people as before without looking carefully!

She shouldn’t have been too confident, thinking that secretly drugging and punishing the princess consort would go unnoticed by the Luoyun royal family.

Looking down, she saw the two assassins Yélu Qi had trampled underfoot had sharp spikes protruding from their chests—they were already dead.

Just now, there had been an ambush under this arena. If not for Yélu Qi’s quick reaction, the one with spikes piercing his heart would be him.

And in that critical moment, he still expended precious energy to kick through the arena floor just to warn her.

Jing Hengbo slowly raised her eyes, fixing them on Yélu Qi.

Due to his forceful movements, his cloak hood had completely fallen, even tearing his clothes. Now she could see his face clearly—pale with a bluish tinge, carrying a faint air of death. Because of his reckless use of inner force, after saying those words he had been coughing softly.

Over a year ago, he had taken her place when she was in danger, captured by Xu Pingran. Over a year later, he had finally returned, yet she still let him be harmed right under her nose!

Jing Hengbo’s heart filled with fury at both the Luoyun royal family and herself. That rage churned in her chest, swirling and surging as she slowly clenched her back teeth.

Gong Yin had already swept over and stood beside her. He’d wanted to press her shoulder and advise her not to act rashly, but seeing her now—only fierce fire burning in her eyes while her body and expression remained completely motionless—he couldn’t help but sigh softly.

She had grown, become a true Queen unruffled by favor or disgrace, after paying countless costs.

After clearly seeing the situation in the hole, Jing Hengbo only glanced coldly at those four people, then turned around.

Below the arena, Ge Shen, who had originally welcomed her warmly, had retreated into the protection of his guards. His previous smiling face had turned to cold frost.

Jing Hengbo’s voice was also like frost: “Ge Shen, have you really decided to tear away all pretense with me? Do you truly think that because I’m staying in your Luoyun territory, I can’t kill you?”

“Your Majesty has already torn away Luoyun’s face first—why ask this question?” Ge Shen raised his eyelids, his eyes full of deep, poisonous hatred. “Do you really think that because you’re a Queen, Luoyun doesn’t dare seek revenge?”

“The Eastern Palace Crown Princess, in collusion with Prince Fushui, held my close friends hostage and tried to harm me secretly. How could I not retaliate in kind?” Jing Hengbo sneered coldly. “For Fushui’s royal children, the Luoyun King doesn’t hesitate to go to war with me—Fushui and Luoyun are truly one family!”

“Even if they were guilty, Your Majesty should have given light punishment and handed them over to my royal family for handling. How could you exterminate my entire Eastern Palace!” Ge Shen said angrily. “Even if the Princess Consort was wrong, what crime did my son Ge Heng commit? Your Majesty first schemed to make him a cripple, then brutally killed him in the Eastern Palace hall—how could it come to this! When my son was crippled, Luoyun never blamed Your Majesty once. Such loyalty—was this the reward, Your Majesty’s escalating determination to kill us all?”

Jing Hengbo’s eyes widened. “When did I ever kill your son…” She turned around looking for Seven Kills. Yi Qi waved from far away and shouted, “We didn’t have time for that!”

Jing Hengbo’s heart sank.

Someone was playing tricks!

Someone had killed the Crown Prince after she left the Eastern Palace!

Who could seize the opportunity so cleverly?

Her thoughts raced, already thinking of two people. Scanning around, she indeed didn’t see those two. For a moment her heart itched with hatred, wishing she could drag those two bitches out and kill them over and over, but right now she could only suppress it and try to speak as calmly as possible: “Great King, there must be some misunderstanding. I didn’t act against the Eastern Palace—it must be villains stirring trouble…”

Before she could finish, Ge Shen’s grief-stricken laughter interrupted her. “My son died in the Eastern Palace main hall, all his guards perished. When my son tried to escape through the window in his final moments, he was still cruelly murdered by the heartless killer at the window frame. Before dying, he personally wrote: ‘The Queen kills me!’ Your Majesty, would Ge Heng need to use his life to slander you? Or do you think I, Ge Shen, am so foolish that such deep hatred for my son’s murder could be lightly dismissed with a few words, overlooking that hall full of corpses and royal bloodshed?”

Jing Hengbo rolled her eyes skyward in exasperation.

Since the killer wanted to frame her, naturally they’d do a complete job. What use were explanations?

At this point, only fists could clear the way and perhaps knock sense into that wooden head.

She glanced at the people in the hole holding swords to Yélu Qi’s neck—they remained focused and motionless, completely unaffected by the conversation outside. Clearly they were well-trained death warriors.

She used eye contact to question first Pei Shu, who was closest to the hole, then Gong Yin beside her. Both answered with their eyes—impossible.

The swords were too close to Yélu Qi, and there were four of them. Even instant freezing and killing wouldn’t be fast enough to prevent them from cutting inward.

Unless all four people’s attention was diverted simultaneously.

But for specially trained death warriors like these, that was very difficult.

“What do you want?” she asked, suppressing her anger.

Ge Shen glanced at the sharp-featured Pei Shu, then at the cold-faced Gong Yin, suddenly reining in his angry expression and lowering his eyelids. “This King doesn’t want anything special. Since Your Majesty defends yourself, this King is also willing to give Your Majesty a chance. How about you come with this King to the palace, and we’ll sit down and talk properly?”

His tone was polite, but his expression cold. After a pause, he said, “Alone.”

He waved his hand, and a group of guards stepped forward, all with cold, serious expressions, sharp gazes, and iron chains in their hands.

Ge Shen said flatly, “Your Majesty’s divine powers allow you to come and go freely. So we must take precautions. If Your Majesty has sincerity and wants to save your royal consort, please bind yourself.”

“Absolutely not!” Pei Shu spoke first.

Gong Yin suddenly laughed mockingly. “Truly wishful thinking.”

Jing Hengbo wanted to speak, but her fingers were quietly gripped tightly by him. In the hole, Yélu Qi slightly raised his head to look at her, his eyes full of refusal.

That look—she was very afraid that if she agreed, he might crash into the swords first.

She could only remain silent for now.

Gong Yin’s scornful laughter drew Ge Shen’s attention, who immediately looked toward Gong Yin.

Regarding this person, he always felt familiar but could never remember who he was. Precisely because of this, intuition told him this person was very important, very difficult to deal with, and seeing the Queen’s subtle difference in attitude toward him, so even though he clearly didn’t want to pay attention to anyone’s words, he still unconsciously turned his gaze.

But Gong Yin didn’t look at him at all, only saying coldly and mockingly, “Luoyun people’s brains are indeed as simple and straightforward as their clothes—they actually think the Queen’s chosen royal consort is really him.”

Ge Shen frowned, then sneered, “Silver tongue trying to confuse my mind? Are the Queen’s feelings really as you say?”

“What do you understand about women’s feelings?” Gong Yin laughed coldly, suddenly grabbing Jing Hengbo. “Let’s go!”

“What are you doing!” Jing Hengbo violently shook him off. “Getting jealous at a time like this! Don’t you care about even one human life?”

“You clearly wanted to choose me—why use him to provoke me?” Gong Yin quickly grabbed her hand again, pulling her to his side. “This pretentious nationwide royal consort selection, this grand arena display—weren’t you just waiting for me to come? Still putting on an act now?”

“Nonsense!” Jing Hengbo glared at him angrily. “Stop being so narcissistic! Who the hell was waiting to seduce you? What kind of scallion are you? I chose him because I fell in love at first sight!”

“You fall in love at first sight with everyone—choosing a bunch of crooked melons and cracked dates, even falling in love at first sight with women!”

Ge Shen stared blankly, suddenly seeing Zuo Qiu Mo and remembering this person had just been “loved at first sight” and “passionately pursued” by the Queen a few days ago.

The Queen’s love at first sight was really quite easy…

Looking at these two arguing—one domineering and forceful, the other spoiled and affected—they looked exactly like a quarreling couple in every way…

“I’ll fall in love at first sight with whoever I want! A bunch of crooked melons and cracked dates is still better than you, who doesn’t understand romance!” Jing Hengbo was pulled several steps by Gong Yin, one leg desperately dragging behind. “Let go! Don’t interfere with me saving my royal consort! I’m going to make this royal consort my primary wife!”

“Your primary wife can only be me!” Gong Yin jerked hard, and with a bang Jing Hengbo crashed into his chest. Gong Yin’s strength was surprisingly great. Jing Hengbo was stunned from the impact. Just as she opened her mouth to curse, suddenly the light dimmed before her eyes, a fragrance approached, then her mouth felt hot then cool as his tongue slid in.

Jing Hengbo’s eyes shot wide open, so wide they almost scattered light.

Pei Shu’s mouth fell open.

Ge Shen’s cold smile suddenly froze.

Everyone turned their heads in unison.

Even those four people’s gazes unconsciously turned over.

…This… this was too shocking!

In broad daylight… in public… under the open sky…

Jing Hengbo could no longer care about the surrounding people’s gazes or even breathing. Gong Yin’s first public initiative shocked her into forgetting thought and movement. Even if she expanded all possible scenarios in the universe, she couldn’t have imagined the great master could make such a move. For a moment her mind was muddled, yet stars exploded before her eyes. In that chaos and explosion, she could still feel his lips and tongue were smooth and cool, no longer with their former awkwardness—rolling and sucking, lightly teasing and slowly kneading, moving freely in all directions… Each suck made her body soften a bit, each tease made the heat within her surge more violently, like a volcano about to erupt lava, with bright red flames pulsing inside, or stepping into a hot sea where every part of her body was scorchingly caressed. Her mind was in chaos—partly feeling this public kissing was poorly timed, partly understanding this needed cooperation, partly worrying about what came next… Suddenly her lip corner hurt as he bit her lightly. She raised her eyes and met his black pupils, condensed with millions of years of cosmic depth and starlight from heaven and earth, startlingly bright. That radiance ignored everyone else. She only saw her own clear reflection. Suddenly his eyes slightly glanced aside. At the edge of her reflection, Jing Hengbo saw the four people behind had turned their gazes over but still maintained their previous rigid postures, their sword-gripping hands still tight… She suddenly smiled softly, stood on tiptoe onto his boots, hugged his neck tightly, and pressed her lips hard against his.

…

Ge Shen’s eyes were about to pop out of their sockets.

Pei Shu’s eyebrows seemed ready to fly to the sky.

Yélu Qi’s gaze was shallow, partly helpless, partly melancholy.

More shocking than a man forcibly kissing a woman in public was a woman not only showing no shyness but forcibly kissing a man in public.

Those four people finally couldn’t help but turn their heads slightly.

Gong Yin suddenly raised his hand. Starlight burst forth, and the air suddenly turned cold.

The four immediately turned back, seeing their sword blades sink as thick ice and snow suddenly condensed on them.

The four tried to pull their swords inward to cut Yélu Qi’s neck, but the ice-covered swords slid past Yélu Qi’s neck.

Just in that instant.

Yélu Qi suddenly leaned back and delivered a head-butt. With a bang, the person behind him fell against the pit’s edge.

While head-butting, he bent his knee upward. With a scream, the person in front bent over like a shrimp.

“Bang bang.” Two punches. Pei Shu’s fist wind was like beating drums, heavily pounding the heads of the left and right attackers who had shaken off the ice from their swords and were about to stab Yélu Qi.

Those two suddenly collapsed, but the person in front of Yélu Qi moved quickly. While bending over, his belt snapped and ejected a section of black blade, stabbing toward Yélu Qi who was extremely close.

But by then Jing Hengbo had arrived.

“Smack.” A stone crashed down, forcibly flattening that blade tip. The stone hit that person’s foot. He screamed and tried to jump out of the hole, only to meet Pei Shu’s fist and Jing Hengbo’s blade head-on.

Unable to tell who was faster, the sounds of breaking bones and blade piercing flesh rang out simultaneously, chilling to hear. That person’s shrimp-like form bent backward like a bow in mid-air, spurting a cluster of fresh blood straight up into the night sky.

Jing Hengbo waved her hand, and the corpse crashed down at Ge Shen’s feet, startling him so much he forgot to give orders and retreated again and again.

Gong Yin had already swept to the hole’s edge and reached out to pull Yélu Qi up.

All this happened in just an instant.

The four’s first coordinated effort was perfectly successful.

But Ge Shen’s savage laughter still rang out loudly.

Jing Hengbo looked up to see countless soldiers surging like a tide.

She saw that all around the arena, on all the high buildings, came the sounds of mechanical springs clicking. Windows kept pushing open with snapping sounds, and heavy bows were quickly pushed out, black arrowheads aimed at this three-zhang radius.

She saw that all outward passages had been densely blocked, stretching endlessly for several li, and even the surrounding rooftops were packed with people.

She saw Tian Qi and Seven Kills, having gone earlier to investigate, were cut off half a street away.

She saw her own guards—not many had been brought into the city to begin with, and having been deceived by Luoyun officials earlier, they’d all been led away from the arena area and were now surrounded by Luoyun soldiers with blades and spears pointed at them.

During the time spent rescuing Yélu Qi, enemies had gathered on all sides like the ocean.

The arena and she had become an isolated island.