Chapter 33

"Yes, Your Highness!" Rui Tianqu had never spoken harshly to anyone in his household, yet now, for the sake of an irrelevant person, he had rebuked these two maids. Naturally, they were displeased, but they dared not show it at this moment and could only retreat awkwardly to attend to other tasks.

As for Jiang Xiuyi and her companion, Consort Min paused to look back as she exited the gates of Xihua Palace, a glint of sharp insight flickering in her eyes, as if she were pondering something.

This turn of events caught everyone by surprise, and they turned to Zhou Xin, waiting for his explanation.

However, the expenditure still exceeded the intake. With every passing breath, he consumed a vast amount of soul power. By the looks of it, his soul power would be exhausted long before his magic or vital essence.

In truth, Tan Qing found it inconceivable. Lady Zuo’s Achilles tendons had been severed, and her face had been scarred by a hairpin wielded by Consort Min. How could the Emperor even stomach the sight of a concubine in such a state?

Furthermore, the Prince Regent, Xuan Lanyu, had handed his token to Liu Ningyou, granting her the authority to mobilize the Chiyan troops.

The group broke into a cold sweat upon hearing Tian Yue’s words, yet they felt something was amiss. If the Zhang family were indeed a subordinate faction of the Beast God Sect, how had they fallen to such a state today?

Consort Min was filled with doubt when she heard the palace attendant’s report, but she followed Biya’s lead, only to find herself arriving at the Cold Palace.

In a state of delirium, he drifted back into his dreams, wandering through various worlds like a spectator on horseback, yet he could see nothing clearly. People and objects were like illusions and bubbles, dissolving like water at the slightest touch, or appearing as ephemeral as flowers in a mirror or the moon’s reflection in the water, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

What Cao Zhen had not expected was that Li Xiu was also among these troops. He had not even appeared in the guise of a Han general; in essence, this hidden strategist had never factored into their considerations.

Along the way, the pursuit grew ever longer, with various magical artifacts raining down upon him.

Unwilling to sit and wait for death, he composed himself and walked out of the courtroom. As he descended the grand staircase, the media swarmed toward Cheng Jingchen.

According to intelligence from Wang Yutian and others, the Liu family was clearly not as simple as they appeared on the surface.

Was it that Lady Lizhi had fallen for Shen Lang, or had they long since engaged in illicit relations?

***

The hairpin touched the balloon, causing it to sway from side to side, but that was all; there was no sign of it bursting. Yet, even this was enough to make Shen Xinyao very happy.

Shen Sen-guang used his forced telekinesis—which had largely recovered over the course of the day—to directly invade the opponent’s mind, then reinforced it with chaos magic, enabling him to control the minds of those with weak willpower.

The surrounding Western Turkic and Tuyuhun armies let out loud, mocking jeers, daring Chai Shao’s army to open the gates and fight.

Suddenly, a strange sensation surged from his back, traveling up to his cerebral cortex and down to his soft, fair feet, leaving him with a tingling, electric thrill.

Taking a closer look at his face, he had grown thin. Indeed, he had lost weight. He hadn't looked closely earlier; it seemed that his uncle had truly been diligently managing the household affairs while he was away.

Upon hearing their words, Yingchun released Xiuju and Sizhu, turned, and began to pack her things alone. The two girls called out "Miss" timidly behind her, but seeing that Yingchun ignored them, they dared not call again.

Yan Tianbei, however, seemed not to care about any of this. He didn't mind whether the two could remember or understand, simply droning on like a force-feeding tutor.

The banquet hall in Shouzhou could not possibly accommodate a hundred tables, so they were set up along the nearby streets, stretching for dozens of yards—a truly magnificent sight. The feast hosted by Hanyu Manor caused a sensation throughout the city, and many commoners came to join in the excitement, cheering and applauding as Li Yihang and his party passed by.

"However, I didn't expect Yan Guoshan to treat Mistress Yan that way," Yingchun said, her brow furrowing at the thought.

Thus, when he heard Wu Ya’s scream while drinking and chatting, he immediately sensed that something was wrong and brought a dozen bodyguards toward the corridor.

Hao Tianming and Murong Chuhai went into the ward; Hu Fei’s right hand had already been bandaged, and he had regained consciousness.

Urged on by Xiuju and Sizhu, Yingchun didn't even have time to eat. She summoned the matrons of the Sun estate, and the group hurried toward the ancestral hall.

"Try it and you'll find out!" Erfu suddenly ceased his defense and attack, hunched his body, and darted past Langya with the speed of lightning.

"Tianming, what are you thinking about? Let me pour you a glass; I’ll down mine first." Li Jiasen poured a drink for Hao Tianming and downed his own in one gulp.

***

He took off his tattered coat and placed it on the lounge chair. Underneath was a shirt; although somewhat worn, it was still presentable.

Wang Chen frowned but did not continue to inquire. Since the Five Elements Sect happened to be recruiting disciples, they would just let things take their natural course; it saved them from having to invent excuses to infiltrate the sect.

As Ouyang Wudi traded blows with his two opponents, he kept an eye on Yan Zhen’s battle, hoping that Yan Zhen would defeat Yang Yanqing soon so he could step in to fill the gap.

"That I was able to stumble upon another Immortal-grade cultivation technique by sheer fortune is likely the second thing the Red Demon failed to calculate," Lu Yu sneered again.

Once the bastard predecessor left, Xiu Yue hatched a plan. In the blink of an eye, she sewed a white robe identical to the old man’s, transformed herself, hid the firebird’s nest on the rabbit, and swaggered out of the prison in broad daylight. The couple, fearing the world wasn't chaotic enough, were each more monstrous than the last.

I slapped my forehead, secretly thinking that things had gone completely to hell, while Senior Dongfang looked completely unconcerned, gazing leisurely out the window.

When he reached the bathroom on the second floor, before Wang Chen could even take off his clothes, his phone rang. Checking the caller ID, he saw it was Zhen Fei.

"Yan Anxun, if it were before, you would have pretended to know nothing!" Mo Zhuochen raised his eyes to look at Yan Anxun.

After cheering for a long time, the Loyal Demon King snorted coldly and left the place with his subordinate demon cultivators.

Nangong Yi had been missing for five or six days, and Zhu Nanyu was already anxious. He went to the Nangong mansion, but there was still no news of Nangong Yi.

"You think you can force me to submit with this? Dream on!" Huo Mengyao snorted coldly and threw her head directly toward the blade of Jingxia Songyue’s sword.