Dawn came, then darkness fell again.

When Jing Hengbo awoke from her couch, she gazed at the pitch-black sky outside, her expression full of bewilderment. For a moment, she couldn’t recall where she was or whether this was evening or early morning.

After returning, she had bathed and changed clothes, then slept soundly without a care, not even dreaming.

After spacing out for a while, she heard faint rustling sounds outside her door—someone seemed to be pacing back and forth with hurried steps, occasionally walking very close to the corridor in front of her palace. Jing Hengbo waited for knocking sounds, but they never came.

She seemed to understand something, got up to change clothes, and pulled the summoning bell.

The door opened almost immediately, revealing the slightly anxious face of a guard. Jing Hengbo recognized this as one of Gong Yin’s personal guards named San Cong.

“Your Majesty,” San Cong said, “the ministers have been waiting for you all along.”

Jing Hengbo poked her head out—oh my, the Jingting study was brightly lit with lamps, and vague sounds of quarreling could be heard drifting over.

How considerate of them to keep waiting—they must be waiting to see her make a fool of herself, right?

“Did they urge you?” she asked.

San Cong showed a bitter smile, “Urged me eighteen times. They’ve been arguing in the study constantly. If we weren’t blocking them, they probably would have rushed over to knock on your door.”

“What did the State Preceptor say?”

“The State Preceptor said sleep recovery is important, and don’t skip three meals.”

“What is the State Preceptor doing?”

“Recovering sleep.”

Jing Hengbo let out a “heh” laugh, her mood greatly improved.

“Well said—sleep recovery is important, and don’t skip three meals.” Jing Hengbo stretched lazily, feeling refreshed and alert, “I’ve slept for a day, and now I’m hungry. Time to eat!”

“Uh…” San Cong carefully reminded her, “The ministers are still waiting…”

It wasn’t that he didn’t want the Queen to eat, but those ministers didn’t dare pressure Gong Yin, so they were all pressuring him instead.

“Even emperors don’t starve their soldiers—who has the right to starve the emperor?” Jing Hengbo sat down at the dining table as if nothing was wrong, “They’ve waited a whole day already, they won’t mind waiting one more meal. Time to eat!”

San Cong retreated to the side with a bitter smile. The ministers hadn’t eaten all day either…

Jing Hengbo ate with great relish and attention, tasting and evaluating every dish until her belly was pleasantly round.

The Jingting study grew increasingly noisy. The aroma of food had already drifted over, and the ministers, with their stomachs growling, would probably have charged over to demand answers if not for the guards blocking both sides.

Actually, Gong Yin wasn’t completely neglectful of providing three meals, but few people could eat in front of the great State Preceptor—with that expressionless ice-cold deity sitting above, eating in complete silence, it really didn’t stimulate the appetite.

Moreover, Gong Yin’s meals were different from others’, rarely featuring hot dishes and mostly consisting of cold foods. These ministers with fat bellies and weak constitutions couldn’t handle such fare. So over time, Gong Yin seldom granted meals, and the ministers didn’t expect to eat at Yuzhao Palace.

At this moment, having been hungry for a day, smelling those devastatingly fragrant aromas from over there, the stimulation was no less than a eunuch entering a brothel.

The more they quarreled over there, the slower Jing Hengbo ate. She finished leisurely, set down her chopsticks, pushed away the palace maids who came to attend her, and said, “Change clothes.”

She went to the changing room herself, and when she emerged, everyone in the hall let out an “ah” sound.

She had changed out of her royal robes and put on one of her own dresses.

A bright red tight-fitting deep V wrap dress with simple yet most sensuous tailoring, clinging like a second skin, outlining her naturally perfect figure so precisely that not an inch could be added or subtracted. Everyone’s gaze became dazzled, their eyes wandering about, not knowing whether they should look or not, not knowing where to look to suppress that gasp of amazement rising to their throats, then realizing that looking anywhere would inevitably lead to that unstoppable gasp of wonder—some people’s curves seem blessed by heaven, making even the most numb person involuntarily worship, containing no lewdness, only awe at such rarely seen beauty.

Finally, everyone’s gaze settled on Jing Hengbo’s legs. From under the fishtail wrap dress extended pristine, slender calves and exquisite ankles, her feet wearing matching red peep-toe high heels.

Such attire was unprecedented. Everyone stared openly, even forgetting their intended admonishments.

Zirui was relatively prepared mentally, but couldn’t help taking a sharp intake of breath. She wanted to say something, but seeing Jing Hengbo’s expression, suddenly lowered her head.

In the Queen’s eyes was not the usual playful, careless expression. Her gaze was determined and composed, as if she had long been prepared for everything in this world.

Everyone vaguely felt that since last night when the Queen had leaped up toward the divine artifact in the storm and caused it to self-destruct with a wave of her hand, something about this mysterious and magical Queen seemed to have changed.

Jing Hengbo had a small black bag draped over her arm. Looking toward Jingting, she smiled with complete confidence.

“Let’s go blind their eyes.”

…

The ministers had been waiting for a full day.

Irritation, exhaustion, and hunger wound around their minds like ropes, growing tighter the more trapped they became, until they could no longer bear it and exploded.

“What on earth is the Queen doing!”

“She’s eating!”

“First she was sleeping! Then eating! What will she do next? Since it’s night now, will she sleep again? What exactly does she take us important court ministers for?”

“She hasn’t even ascended the throne yet, but dares to toy with and slight the ministers like this. If she formally ascends the throne, won’t she treat us like pigs and dogs?”

“I think she’s avoiding us, right? She simply cannot harness lightning, so now she’s just stalling, hoping we’ll lose patience and give up ourselves?”

“Very true. Last night she didn’t go to the Priest Tower at all, nor did she perform any rituals. How could she obtain lightning? Besides, lightning is a phenomenon of heavenly operation—how could it be controlled by mortals? Such utter nonsense!”

“Exactly, we should… eh, why did all the lamps suddenly go out?”

“Guards! Guards! Why are all the lamps out! Quickly find fire and candles!”

“It must be the strong wind that blew out the lamp flames. Light the lamps quickly… colleagues, please remain calm… This old man thinks… we should continue waiting. She can’t keep hiding forever! As soon as she appears and cannot prove her wild claims, this old man will…”

“Should die!”

“Snap!”

Accompanying the lazy, laughing voice came a brilliant white beam of light!

In the complete darkness, a snow-white column of light seemed to descend from the black heavens above, piercing through ten thousand miles of layered clouds like a bolt of lightning, suddenly striking the face of the minister who was angrily cursing!

“Aiyo!”

In darkness, even a tiny bit of light appears exceptionally bright, let alone this blazing sun-like beam. The sudden brilliant white column of light almost instantly blinded everyone. All eyes were filled with white blankness, and people hurriedly raised their sleeves to cover their faces. The minister struck directly in the face by the light beam shrieked and staggered back three steps, flailing his hands frantically in the darkness, his shouting already tinged with tears: “I can’t see! I can’t see!”

Hearing this, everyone became even more panicked, scattering in chaos trying to flee toward dark areas. For a moment there was a tangle of protruding buttocks and trampled robes, with crowding and shouting sounds continuing without cease. In the great confusion, they could also faintly hear distant rumbling sounds like thunder. The crowd looked back in alarm, discovering that the brilliant light beam from before had vanished and their eyes were still shrouded in darkness, though their eyes, stimulated by the light spots, now saw everything as blurry patches of white and black. Just as they were slightly relieved and wanted to ask what was happening, they suddenly heard the muffled thunder stop, and overhead the roof tiles went “crash” as if struck by some heavy object. The sound of broken tiles falling to the ground continued endlessly. Everyone started in alarm, wanting to look but not daring to, when they suddenly heard another “snap” sound.

Snow-white light flashed again, a straight beam shooting from the pitch-black doorway straight into the center of the crowd, illuminating several buttocks writhing and diving about. Fei Luo’s exasperated shout could be faintly heard: “Who’s pulling my skirt! Move aside!”

“Ah!” came a great cry as a minister closest to the light beam threw himself to the ground. “So bright! So bright! Don’t strike me! Don’t strike me!”

Everyone froze, their minds seemingly struck by lightning too—muffled thunder, indescribably brilliant light that no lamp could compare to, shattered roof tiles, the minister who had spoken out of turn being struck by bright light and then losing his sight… This was exactly the lightning the Queen had collected!

She had truly collected lightning and was using it to punish those who dared question her!

The one she had called “should die” was now covering his eyes and rolling about on the ground, wailing miserably that he couldn’t see—wasn’t this being blinded by the borrowed lightning? Heavenly lightning had such might that blinding an ordinary person would be all too easy.

Everyone hid under tables and behind stools, tremblingly covering their eyes, peering out through their fingers. Their eyes, due to stress response, were still flashing with black and white spots. They looked ahead into the pitch darkness, thinking of that light beam, convinced that no fire in this world could have such brightness, becoming even more frightened, holding their breath tight, afraid that making any sound would result in being struck by lightning in the eyes.

For a moment, the previously chaotic room became as silent as death, making the rustling sounds of roof tiles falling overhead all the more soul-stirring.

In the deathly quiet and darkness, footsteps suddenly sounded.

The footsteps were composed, slow, and crisp, stepping forward step by step from the doorway. Each step was forceful, but judging from the sound, should belong to a slender woman. Those shoes also seemed unusual, making particularly bright sounds when striking the ground, making one think of porcelain-like smoothness and jade-like melodious tinkling.

Somehow, everyone thought of the Queen.

Hiding in the darkness, holding their breath, listening to those exceptionally crisp footsteps approaching step by step, each step striking their hearts, everyone’s hearts seemed heavily trampled upon, one step, one beat.

“Snap.”

Again came that familiar, terrifying sound. Everyone couldn’t help letting out wails and dove toward the ground with their heads covered.

Above was very quiet, with a light laugh floating down, part triumph, part disdain.

No one dared move. Only Fei Luo felt something was wrong. Gritting her teeth, she suddenly looked up, then turned pale.

No lightning, no thunder. At the doorway leaned Jing Hengbo, holding a candlestick in her hand, the candlelight flickering dimly. Around her clear, beautiful face, it cast a pale yellow halo.

She lowered her gaze and met Fei Luo’s eyes directly.

Jing Hengbo raised an eyebrow, not expecting that among all the ministers, Fei Luo would be the first to raise her head. It seemed that for a woman to reach such a high position, she indeed had her superior qualities.

But Fei Luo was dying of shame and anger.

She looked down at herself, squeezed among a group of old men, crouching behind a table, her skirt somehow already torn a bit, covered with muddy large footprints…

While the woman opposite stood neat and magnificent, seeming to glow with radiance.

For a woman, this moment of stark contrast in wretchedness was enough for her to harbor resentment for a lifetime.

At this time, the other ministers also sensed something was wrong and slowly raised their heads, just in time to see guards filing in behind Jing Hengbo, lighting the candlesticks.

Light always brings courage to people. Everyone immediately felt at ease and stood up one after another, talking to themselves to gracefully resolve the embarrassment.

“Minister Cheng, please be careful.”

“Minister Wang, watch your step.”

“Minister Li, let’s still sit here…”

Jing Hengbo watched them instantly return to normal, their old faces not even blushing, and felt deeply impressed.

Glancing around, she saw that Gong Yin had appeared at some point and was gazing at her intently. She curved her lips and made a “victory” gesture to him.

Gong Yin’s gaze softened slightly as he casually sat down.

He knew there was no need to worry about her. Jing Hengbo was spirited and carefree, but never truly reckless.

Jing Hengbo patted her small black bag with a smile. Inside was her “lightning” treasure.

A powerful micro flashlight.

The flashlight from the research institute was several times brighter than commercial tactical flashlights. To ordinary people, describing it as startling lightning wasn’t excessive. Jing Hengbo had also had Yu Chun and the others help extinguish the lamps. In complete darkness, the effect of turning on this flashlight was about the same as striking lightning.

Therefore, she was careful not to let the flashlight hurt anyone. The light beam only illuminated the lower half of that minister’s face and didn’t shoot into his eyes. His crying and fussing about not being able to see was mostly from being badly frightened.

“Your Majesty,” someone immediately challenged her—it was Fei Luo, her face iron-blue as she said, “Is this the electricity you borrowed through supernatural means? In this subject’s opinion, this may not be heavenly lightning, but rather ghostly fire from the underworld! So eerie and sudden—where is there such heavenly phenomena!”

“The female chancellor of Xiang Kingdom speaks incorrectly,” Xuanyuan Jing said coldly. “Setting aside where the lightning actually comes from, Your Majesty’s temperament and methods alone are chilling. Minister Tu merely offended through ignorance, yet Your Majesty struck his eyes with electric light, causing him to lose his sight. Such cruelty—how can this be the conduct of a ruler?”

Everyone nodded in agreement after hearing this. The Xuanyuan family and the female chancellor of Xiang Kingdom were at odds, so these words seemed discordant too, but no one found it strange.

Gong Yin suddenly looked up at Fei Luo and Xuanyuan Jing.

Jing Hengbo propped her chin in her hand, smiling as she watched Xuanyuan Jing and Fei Luo. She hadn’t thought much about it, but felt there was something rather odd about the two of them speaking one after the other like this. This seemed like it should have been Sang Tong’s role, but in a blink Fei Luo had taken it up?

Smiling, she ignored the two and sauntered in with cat-like steps, passing by the fellow who was still rolling around crying about not being able to see, and kicked at him.

“I can’t see, I can’t see…” that fellow was still wailing.

“Hey, are my shoes pretty?” Jing Hengbo kicked his face with one foot, pressing against his chin.

“Eh… what kind of shoes are these… so strange… ah, I can’t see…” that fellow raised his tear-streaked face, sobbing as he spoke.

“Go die.” Jing Hengbo kicked him over with one foot, then turned and sat in the seat of honor.

The ministers wanted to laugh but couldn’t, awkwardly returning to their original seats. Xuanyuan Jing stood stiffly in place, his face alternating between blue and white. Fei Luo was more tactful than him, letting out a cold laugh and acting as if she hadn’t said anything earlier, also sitting down gracefully.

But after sitting down, her back suddenly straightened, her body leaning forward, eyes wide with shock.

At this moment, everyone else had also noticed and couldn’t help gasping.

What… what was that person above wearing!

So tight-fitting! How could she expose her curves so completely!

So short! She was actually showing her calves!

And those shoes… everyone stared straight at Jing Hengbo’s feet. She sat high above, her toes kicking idly at a pot of bamboo in front. The red shoes were very strange, with sharp pointed things underneath that could kill someone, with very beautiful curves. They had no toe caps, exposing two snow-white toes, the toenails painted with bright red nail polish, vivid and smooth, set off by the emerald green bamboo to look alluring, like phoenix balsam flowers blooming gracefully on a prairie.

Too many violations, too much shock—everyone was dazzled and confused, momentarily not knowing what to say.

Jing Hengbo wanted exactly this effect. Taking advantage of this moment when everyone’s minds were unguarded, she let them witness her exotic attire—this was Queen Jing’s first move in fighting for various freedoms.

“Your Majesty, this…” The men had finished appreciating and finally remembered propriety. Someone was about to speak.

Jing Hengbo stood up, raised her hand and pointed at the sky. That person immediately fell silent, his face pale.

“Dahuang has much stormy weather with thunder and lightning. The electricity I borrowed earlier hasn’t been used up yet.” Jing Hengbo smiled as she spoke, making everyone turn pale and shut their mouths.

“The Priest Tower has been struck by lightning, and I have borrowed heavenly lightning.” Jing Hengbo lightly tapped the armrest of her chair with her fingers. “Everything I said has come to pass. The gods have chosen me anew. Now, you can choose whether to honor your promises.”

Silence. Xuanyuan Jing looked around, wanting to speak, but was quietly tugged at the sleeve by Fei Luo.

She used eye signals to tell Xuanyuan Jing to listen carefully. Only then did the old man hear the “snap-snap” sounds in the room.

It sounded very much like the sound when that lightning appeared.

Everyone had formed a conditioned reflex to this sound. In their terror, no one entertained thoughts of opposition.

Jing Hengbo had her hand behind her back, pressing the button of the powerful flashlight on and off. The flashlight had already had its batteries removed, so no light would show.

“Snap, snap, snap.”

The rhythmic, regular sounds made everyone’s hearts jump with fear, as if hearing demon footsteps approaching, not knowing when that terrifyingly bright light capable of blinding people would strike their eyes. Some people’s legs began to tremble, unable to resist looking around for somewhere to hide.

“The lightning just now, I only directed it to hit Minister Tu’s chin…” Jing Hengbo murmured as if unconsciously.

“This subject is willing to comply with Your Majesty’s demands!” A round-faced official suddenly stepped forward and prostrated himself on the ground.

With someone taking the lead, people immediately followed suit.

“This is heaven’s mandate—opposing mandate brings misfortune! Since heaven chose our Queen as ruler, this is a blessing for us subjects of Dahuang. How can we violate heaven’s will!”

“Exactly, exactly! Heaven punished the Priest Tower with thunder and granted our Queen the power to control lightning, already sufficiently proving that our Queen is chosen by destiny. Just listening to governance—we ministers should naturally honor our promises and modify the relevant laws in the national code.”

“The original wager already stated that as long as the Priest Tower was struck and the Queen could collect lightning, governing rights would be granted to the Queen. A gentleman’s word is his bond. If we continue to shirk and obstruct, how can we face the people of the realm and public opinion in the future?”

…

Jing Hengbo watched those faces voicing agreement and speaking righteously, thinking of how they had opposed with equal righteousness just two days ago.

The official court was truly a wonderful place—one mask could be turned to show multiple variations.

Only the great sage Chang Fang, that stubborn old man, muttered to himself on the side: “This old subject thinks governing is very good—the Queen can work for the people’s benefit. But anything more won’t do—we can’t break too many rules. And these clothes…”

Though Jing Hengbo found his words unpleasant, she thought the old man was one of the few upright people among these slick court veterans, and turned to smile at him.

That one smile nearly dazzled the old man’s eyes. He quickly turned his head away, forgetting about the clothing issue.

“Alright then, that’s settled—just a small matter, right?” Jing Hengbo smiled sweetly, her bright red toenails kicking like swirling flower petals, dazzling everyone’s old eyes.

With thunder and beauty arriving together, everyone’s hearts were kneaded up and down, and in their dazed confusion they didn’t know what they had said. In their dazed state, they were escorted out by Jingting guards. Only when standing in the wet palace courtyard, looking at the distant Priest Tower being dismantled with clanging sounds, did they suddenly realize what had happened. They couldn’t help pulling their sleeves closer, standing in the autumn rain and cold wind, sighing:

“This weather changes so suddenly…”

…

Big news always spreads quickly.

In just one day, all of Dige knew about the Priest Tower—which had stood for hundreds of years and almost represented Dahuang’s divine authority—being struck by lightning, and about the Queen displaying divine power to collect lightning.

Such earth-shaking news almost turned Dige upside down. Even though the following days brought continuous thunderstorms, it still couldn’t stop people’s enthusiasm for gossip. In teahouses, taverns, and even brothels, countless people crowded together, endlessly gossiping about the Queen’s miraculous deeds that night of “startling thunder toppling the tower, lightning punishing ministers.”

This caused Jing Hengbo, this not-yet-officially-enthroned Queen, to explode in popularity throughout Dige. If they were to compile recent name recognition rankings, she would undoubtedly be first.

On the benches of the tea house, a large group of people were gesticulating wildly as they spoke.

“…The Queen stood at a high place, raised her hand and waved, and immediately dark clouds gathered in the sky with lightning and thunder. The Queen raised her scepter, pointed forward, and cried out sweetly: Strike! A bolt of lightning was seen slanting down to connect with the top of the scepter, blazing with light like a fireball. The Queen pointed her scepter and cried out again: Go! That ball of fire seemed to have life, wildly pouncing toward the high tower. In an instant, the tower thunderously lost half its structure…”

“Wow…” came a chorus of amazed gasps.

In a corner sat several people at a table, all wearing ordinary black robes and veils. They had been listening from the side, and no one paid them much attention, knowing they were likely middle-class women from Dahuang, who generally dressed this way.

One of the black-robed figures leaned against the table, chin propped on her hands, her crossed fingers white as mutton-fat jade.

Beside her, a parrot was pecking at fried rice, and a purple-furred cat was gnawing on a leg of lamb bone, making teeth-grinding crunching sounds. Strangely, no bones were ever seen being spat out from the wildcat’s mouth.

“A scepter?” the woman quietly asked the person beside her. “That sounds so grand. Hey, will I have one in the future?”

“No.” The answer was quite deflating.

The woman wasn’t deflated though, her gaze burning bright, “That’s fine, I can create something from nothing—I’ll just have one made.” She casually swatted the parrot that was trying to steal her tea, “Strike!” Then grabbed the wildcat that wanted to lean against her chest, “Go!”

…

“When the Sang family saw the tower being struck, they quickly knelt at the Queen’s knees begging for mercy. The Queen raised her hand and waved again, and the Sang family’s divine artifact suddenly exploded on the altar…”

“Ah, it exploded?”

“That’s not right—shouldn’t the Sang family’s divine artifact be enshrined within the Sang family estate? Could the Queen make the artifact explode from such a distance?”

“What do you know? The Queen’s divine power is boundless!”

…

“That previous segment had good artistic embellishment, but this part isn’t very exciting.” The black-robed woman extended snow-white fingers to comment, “At the time it was clearly a matter of life and death, and someone fearlessly charged forward in the rain, causing that divine artifact to explode with a raise of the hand… Hey, hey, do you think I should write a book to tell this story properly? It might even be a bestseller.”

…

“After Your Majesty punished the Sang family, she walked into the palace. Facing the ministers waiting there, she raised her hand and released it. Oh my, large patches of snow-white lightning crisscrossed throughout the great hall. Your Majesty’s robes fluttered, light blazing, like a fairy. The ministers prostrated themselves, crying out ‘Long live’…”

“The imagery is quite good… Sigh, if only it were really like that. Those troublesome old demons are always uncooperative in various ways—so annoying…” The black-robed woman’s crystal-bright nails kept flicking, as if wanting to flick all those “troublesome old demons” into outer space.

…

“I say, this is a true divine miracle! The Priest Tower merely went hundreds of years without being struck, yet occupied Dahuang’s high positions all these years, once controlling political power. This Queen destroyed the Sang family’s two great pillars with a raise of her hand—this is unprecedented in Dahuang’s hundreds of years! Listening to these events in my heart, I feel both excited and uneasy, always feeling like something’s about to happen…”

Everyone nodded repeatedly, all expressing the same feeling. Dahuang wasn’t particularly peaceful, but the people were accustomed to those troubles being caused by the State Preceptor or the leaders of the Six Kingdoms and Eight Tribes. In Dahuang’s richly dramatic historical chronicles, the Queen had always been an inconsequential, faint brushstroke. Suddenly, such a character who had been habitually ignored for her lack of presence was stirring up the situation with extreme ferocity. Anyone with clear eyes knew this would inevitably cause changes in political situation and national power. Dahuang’s future would become unpredictable because of this…

The tea house suddenly fell silent, and some people began leaving one after another. Most of these were spies sent by various great clans and wealthy families to listen to public opinion, though ordinary citizens didn’t know this.

Suddenly everyone stopped walking and talking, looking outside with serious expressions.

Teams of soldiers in green armor and black clothing were quick-marching in formation down the street. Through the rain curtain, their young, cold faces were visible, with rolling water droplets condensed on their green iron armor, reflecting a hazy green light.

“Thud, thud, thud.” The heavy sound of military boots marching in unison seemed to strike everyone’s hearts.

“West of the city… that’s toward the Sang family direction…” someone murmured this sentence, then immediately fell silent.

The entire tea house was oppressed by silence. Some things everyone understood in their hearts, and understanding brought chills.

Another wealthy family falling meant another round of purges beginning, another wave of power redistribution starting.

At the corner table, Jing Hengbo’s fingers lightly tapped the table surface.

Deploying so many Kang Long troops was because the Sang family was still resisting, right?

“Crash!”

Suddenly a tremendous sound shook all the tables and chairs in the hall, making countless people unable to sit still and jump up, overturning Er Gouzi’s fried rice and knocking the mutton from Feifei’s mouth.

The shop hall, and even the entire street, fell into momentary silence.

Jing Hengbo stared straight ahead, sitting rigidly—her ears kept buzzing. That thunder was too loud! It seemed right next to her ear.

Thunder this close was probably nearby and would likely strike something…

Just as she was thinking this, suddenly a great shout arose from the street.

“Fire!”

With a roar, everyone in the tea house ran out.

Naturally, Jing Hengbo wasn’t willing to lag behind. Grabbing a pet in each hand, she squeezed out with the crowd. Cui Jie and Zirui wanted to protect her but couldn’t react in time.

People ran back and forth on the street, all crying out in panic, but nothing struck could be seen. Jing Hengbo didn’t hesitate and looked toward the palace direction.

That was the only place she cared about.

This glance made her freeze.

The palace was actually on fire!

“Go back! Return immediately!” Without another word, Jing Hengbo rushed toward the carriage parked by the street.

Today she had slipped out of the palace with Zirui and Cui Jie to see the effects of the fashion show from a few days ago, and also wanted to find a good shop front on Nine Palace Street, planning to open her first chain women’s department store.

Now she naturally had no mind for that.

But the carriage soon couldn’t move. The Kang Long army quickly began martial law, and Jing Hengbo’s carriage was blocked two streets away from the imperial city.

She could certainly teleport away, but didn’t feel comfortable leaving Cui Jie, Zirui and the others on these chaotic streets. She could only climb out of the carriage and carefully look at the direction of the thick smoke, which seemed to be near Jingting, making her anxious as fire.

Suddenly a team of soldiers quick-marched out from the imperial city, clearing the way as they advanced. Jing Hengbo saw from afar that they seemed to be escorting a carriage away. Her heart stirred, and she quickly flashed after them, following behind the troops, hearing them say: “Zhaoming Office destroyed…”

Jing Hengbo let out a long breath and immediately stood still. After a moment, she walked back leisurely with her hands behind her back.

If Zhaoming Office was struck, so be it—it would be best if a few disasters like Yelu Qi were struck dead.

After walking a few steps, she suddenly stopped.

This wasn’t right.

How could it be such a coincidence that this lightning first struck the Priest Tower, then struck Zhaoming Office?

Of course, because the Priest Tower was struck first, Zhaoming Office being struck seemed less conspicuous and appeared natural, but she still felt something was wrong.

Her hair suddenly stood on end—could this striking of Zhaoming Office be Yelu Qi’s self-directed performance?

She had just stolen the lightning-attracting sword, and he had attracted lightning? Could she have given him inspiration?

Jing Hengbo had witnessed Yelu Qi’s brain capacity and thought it very possible. Lightning striking the Priest Tower was merely an event or gossip to others, but to him it could be the opening of inspiration, a good opportunity to escape trouble.

“Hey, where did you put the lightning rod you stole from the Priest Tower?” she finally remembered to ask Feifei.

Feifei pulled out a meat bun from who knows where from its tail, holding it and slowly nibbling. Its big eyes blinked slowly as if recalling. By the time Jing Hengbo had grown impatient waiting, it finally slowly… shook its head.

Jing Hengbo really wanted to shove that innocently big head into the bun.

Steal but don’t bury—none of her pets were reliable.

But since it wasn’t Jingting having problems, she decided not to return to the palace immediately. Whatever tricks Yelu Qi wanted to pull, Gong Yin would handle them. In her view, the struggle between two great gods was deep indeed. She didn’t believe Gong Yin had no way to kill Yelu Qi, nor that Yelu Qi couldn’t fight to mutual destruction. It was just that these two seemed to maintain their fight within certain limits with tacit understanding. Perhaps the struggle of those in high positions required considering more and balancing more carefully.

Jing Hengbo thought her precious brain cells weren’t suited for thinking about such boring matters. She decided to properly investigate shops instead.

“That shop front looks good,” Jing Jun suddenly pointed to a storefront.

Jing Hengbo looked at the shop—there were many people coming and going, but it was a bit chaotic, as if they were moving. The location was indeed very good, right at the center of Nine Palace Street’s four directions, accessible from all sides, with dense population around—a good place for business.

“Such a good shop, but it looks like it’s about to close?” Zirui murmured in puzzlement.

“Let’s go look,” Jing Hengbo became interested.

Reaching the entrance, indeed the workers inside were moving things out. The floor was covered with various utensils and boxes, and some ruffian-dressed people were taking advantage of the crowd and chaos to occasionally sneak in and fish in troubled waters, taking things and leaving without anyone caring.

“Can’t make it work so they’re leaving?” Jing Hengbo was very surprised. “Such a prime golden location—you could make money with your eyes closed.”

She couldn’t help peering at the entrance, calculating whether she could take it over since this shop couldn’t continue.

“Where’s your shopkeeper?” she asked a worker busy packing nearby.

The fellow didn’t even look up, saying in a muffled voice: “Gone!”

Jing Hengbo was about to ask more when suddenly pushing and shouting came from behind.

“Move aside, move aside!”

“Scram! Who allowed you to steal?”

“The Sang family’s shop—how dare you steal from it?”

Jing Hengbo was about to step aside, but hearing this sentence, her steps paused.

She turned around to see a team of black-clothed burly men with iron-blue faces charging forward, driving away the people fishing in troubled waters in the shop. They hastily entered the depths of the store, and before long emerged surrounding an elder, carrying several huge bundles.

Jing Hengbo looked at those bundles, her eyes turning green—inside was all money! The most valuable possessions from a profitable Sang family shop!

All land under heaven belongs to the king—all this money was hers!

How could the Sang family be allowed to take it away? If one shop could take away so much, how much could the Sang family’s many properties take away? What were they planning to do with the money after taking it? Recruit soldiers and buy horses to come back and take revenge on her?

Jing Hengbo didn’t want to admit she was actually short of money.

Being a queen seemed glorious and wealthy, but a queen without financial and personnel authority naturally had limited power to control and use money. She had no need for money—all provisions were handled by the Palace Supervision Department, so she had no monthly allowance or such things. Each amount of money she could use was merely a few thousand taels, and had to be reported through the Palace Supervision Department for the State Preceptor’s approval.

She wanted to open a women’s chain department store, and a few thousand taels naturally wasn’t enough. Multiple allocations would certainly alarm the court, which she didn’t want to see.

Originally she thought the gems she had seized from Dahuang guards were valuable, but was told that except for the relatively rare emeralds which were worth some money, the other gems had depreciated locally due to Dahuang’s overproduction—wasting all her hard work carrying them all the way!

Jing Hengbo stood at the shop entrance gritting her teeth, glaring and clenching her fists, deciding to confiscate all this silver as state property.

If she was going to act, she had to hurry. Gong Yin moved quickly too—the soldiers he arranged to seal the Sang family property were also racing against time. Once this place was discovered, there would be no share for her.

“Look quickly, there’s a ghost over there!” Jing Hengbo pointed to the side and suddenly shouted.

Everyone instinctively looked that way, and Jing Hengbo flashed away. When the crowd found nothing and looked back, “Eh, where is she?”

Zirui and the others searched everywhere but found nothing.

From the distant crowd of onlookers emerged the plump Yu Chun, frowning as he looked at those panicked women and sighed.

Ah, this Queen Your Majesty—why could she never just stay quiet?

He took out a bead from his chest. In the center of the bead appeared a thread of blood, slowly swimming within the bead.

“She’s still nearby… eh, that’s not right!”

Yu Chun’s eyes widened as he discovered the blood thread in the bead began moving faster and growing fainter, faster and faster.

“Oh no, she’s gone!”

Yu Chun chased forward a few steps holding the bead, looking around at the blood thread’s changes. The blood thread showed the person was nearby, then the distance was rapidly increasing—Queen Your Majesty should be moving at high speed.

But!

Yu Chun’s gaze swept through the crowd again and again, cold sweat slowly seeping from his forehead.

Where exactly was she?

In the Sang family’s carriage, several elders were nervously packing bundles, organizing valuable items and sorting them for packing.

“Where are we going immediately? Fengling Ferry? Are the boats prepared? Is there anyone to receive us?” one person asked with a serious expression.

“No… Fengling Ferry is just a strategy to mislead Gong Yin. We don’t need to go there. We’ll immediately meet with the family head…” The speaker was looking down and suddenly saw a corner of red clothing, thinking it was some scattered bundle cloth. He reached out to pull it over to wrap things, but couldn’t pull it. Then he heard a soft laugh.

The voice was lazy.

He suddenly looked up, his pupils dilating, letting out a short “Ah!”

Somehow there was another person in front of him—red dress flowing, smiling like a flower.

Jing Hengbo crouched before him with a sweet smile, hands behind her back, greeting: “Hi, good afternoon.”

The two men jumped up in panic, about to call out.

“Bang bang”—two sounds. Two bricks that had been prepared struck hard on both their foreheads from left and right.

The two Sang family subordinates didn’t even make a sound before softly collapsing.

Jing Hengbo chuckled, threw away the bricks, clapped her hands, picked up those two heavy bundles and struggled to hoist them on her shoulders. Just as she was about to teleport, she suddenly frowned.

The carriage was too low—she couldn’t straighten up and couldn’t move out.

Jing Hengbo wasn’t too worried. When the carriage stopped, she would dart out and immediately teleport—that should be fine.

The carriage suddenly sped up. Jing Hengbo secretly lifted the carriage curtain to look out, discovering the carriage wasn’t heading out of the city but instead driving toward the slums in the north of the city.

Jing Hengbo was quite puzzled. Logically, now that the Sang family were like homeless dogs with Gong Yin conducting raids and searches on them, if the Sang family were smart they should have fled outside the city long ago. It was said the Sang family had considerable influence in certain tribes—as long as they could escape, they needn’t worry about not being able to make a comeback.

What were they doing going into the city now? Could these two Sang family subordinates be traitors who didn’t plan to follow in escape, but were stealing the wealth to flee on their own?

That would be even better.

Jing Hengbo sat down comfortably, preparing to count her wealth, when she suddenly sniffed and said quietly: “This carriage seems to have a strange smell.”

The carriage had an indescribable odd smell—somewhat smoky and stinky. She originally thought it came from the two old men, but later realized this smell was everywhere, seeming to emanate from the carriage itself.

Looking carefully at this carriage, it also seemed too old. The carriage body had some fine cracks faintly visible, through which could be seen a layer of black substance inside, not like wood. That smell was particularly strong in those crevices.

Jing Hengbo was somewhat surprised. With the Sang family’s wealth, even an ordinary steward shouldn’t be using such a crude carriage, right?

Suddenly the carriage shook and stopped.

Eh, so fast?

Jing Hengbo shouldered the bundles and waited by the carriage, preparing to rush out as soon as it was opened.

But no one opened the carriage door for a long time. Footsteps tramped on all sides—there seemed to be many people. Someone was speaking in low voices with echoing sounds, and the light dimmed. The carriage seemed to have entered a huge, spacious building.

Jing Hengbo then heard the rumbling of wheels—another carriage seemed to enter. Then someone got out of the carriage, and a chaotic chorus of greetings arose. As she listened, her heart suddenly filled with foreboding.

The people who got out of the later carriage seemed very reserved, saying nothing at first, then walking two steps before saying: “Is everyone here?”

Jing Hengbo nearly cried out in shock.

Sang Tong!