Xiao Ren, fearing that his disheveled state would undermine his imperial dignity in the eyes of the palace staff, spent the journey trying to conceal himself. After some time, he realized Wei Zhu had not followed.
After a moment’s thought, he first returned to tidy his appearance and then dispatched the Imperial Guards to surround the Cold Palace entirely, awaiting further orders. By then, Wei Zhu was long gone.
Looking at her swollen face in the mirror, Wei Zhu violently smashed the mirror to the ground, gritting her teeth with venomous hatred. “That damned concubine Qiao! Even at her wit’s end, she’s still so arrogant. How dare she slap my face! I’ll ensure you have a miserable death!!!”
Thinking of how Xiao Ren had abandoned her without a second thought sent a chill through her heart.
Men, none of them could be relied upon!
Qiao Ci woke up leisurely, stretching with satisfaction.
Sleeping until one wakes naturally – that was the ultimate pursuit.
It was just that her stomach was a little empty.
Time to forage!
Sensing the presence of many additional auras outside, Qiao Ci smiled.
That dog emperor must have been terrified, deploying so many Imperial Guards in layers upon layers.
“I’m hungry,” Qiao Ci said to the air from the doorway.
The vigilant Imperial Guards promptly reported Qiao Ci’s every move to the Emperor, who was busy appeasing his favorite concubine.
Shortly thereafter, palace maids arrived carrying exquisite food boxes.
Qiao Ci gazed at the imperial cuisine, a feast for the eyes, nose, and palate, her mouth watering uncontrollably.
Stay calm!
Maintaining a composed, aloof demeanor, she waited for the maids to leave before impatiently picking up her chopsticks.
The imperial chef’s delicacies looked so appealing, they must taste delicious too~
“Host, be careful, the food is poisoned!”
After Xiao Ren left, Little Spoon wanted to persuade Qiao Ci, but she glared at it, and it wilted, planning to speak when her emotions stabilized.
In the meantime, it hadn’t been idle, constantly monitoring the Son of Destiny’s every move.
Xiao Ren, having suffered such humiliation, returned and immediately summoned the Imperial Guards to surround the Cold Palace, intending to starve her to death by denying her food and drink.
Seeing her actively asking for food as if nothing had happened, he changed his mind and, with a malicious twist, added a large amount of lethal poison to the dishes. He wanted to see if she would choose to live by starving or die by eating her fill!
Seeing her act like a starving ghost, grabbing food and stuffing it into her mouth, the system, which had intended to let her stew for a while, became anxious and hurriedly tried to stop her.
Qiao Ci rolled her eyes. “My body was burned to ashes and I couldn’t go back anyway. A forced-sale system like you is clearly unreliable. If you can’t complete the mission, there will surely be punishment, right? Or perhaps my soul will scatter? Since I’ll die sooner or later, I might as well be a well-fed ghost!!”
Watching her devour the entire table of delicacies with swift yet elegant movements, Little Spoon slowly slid down, collapsing on the ground.
Silence lingered in the air for a long time…
Good advice cannot persuade a damned soul. Since the host was determined to die, it, a useless little system, was completely powerless.
Let it rot.
If she died, she died. The next one would be more obedient!
After all, for thousands of years, loneliness had become a habit.
Kings were destined to be lonely.
…
Wuwuwu, it’s just an unwanted little system…
As Spoon descended into despair, Qiao Ci felt its emotions and a barely perceptible smile touched her lips.
Having eaten her fill and relaxed, she decided to stroll through the Imperial Gardens to aid digestion. As soon as she stepped out of her courtyard, she was blocked by a group of armored Imperial Guards.
“Your Ladyship, you are currently confined to the Cold Palace!”
Qiao Ci’s eyelids lazily flicked, and she subtly observed the man with the cold, stern features before her.
Chen Xuyang, the leader of the Imperial Guards, had once fought alongside the original host. The original host had even saved his life.
Tsk, tsk, tsk. He was instrumental in the original host’s family’s downfall. The letter accusing General Qiao Liang of colluding with the enemy was personally planted by him, and he was the one who led the search.
A well-orchestrated performance.
This man was also an admirer of Wei Zhu, and he had often used his position to help Wei Zhu handle some of the palace’s sordid affairs.
Later, not long after the General's death, neighboring countries began to harass the border from time to time. Chen Xuyang, well-versed in the stolen military strategies of Qiao Liang, repelled the foreign enemies eyeing the Great Yao Kingdom, becoming the new Great General of the Yao Kingdom, and maintaining a close personal relationship with Wei Zhu, who had by then become the Empress.
Oh wow, impressive, impressive.
Daring to cuckold the Emperor.
Seeing Qiao Ci’s admiring gaze, Chen Xuyang’s eyes were filled with disgust. He said disdainfully, “Harlot!”
?????
Why was she being cursed at just for observing some gossip?
Could this be tolerated?
Absolutely not!
Qiao Ci leaped up and punched him squarely on his aquiline nose, delivering a fierce “educational” beating!
With martial arts techniques and internal energy suppression, Chen Xuyang was completely unable to retaliate. He was beaten into a pig’s head and couldn’t even crawl up.
Little Spoon also felt that Chen Xuyang had spoken too much, but it wondered about the host’s tendency to resort to violence.
Furthermore, the host was just an ordinary modern person, how could she adapt so well to ancient martial arts?
“No one taught you to respect women, so I’ll teach you~”
After the beating, Qiao Ci took out a handkerchief, wiped her hands, and cast a grim look around.
“Now, who else dares to stop me, hmm?”
The surrounding Imperial Guards, glancing at Qiao Ci’s nonchalant demeanor, quickly shuffled backward, intimidated by the Empress’s ferocity!
Although Chen Xuyang was beaten badly, it had happened in an instant. By the time everyone reacted, Chen Xuyang was already beaten to the point of being unable to get up.
The sycophantic Little Wu quickly stepped forward to help the blood-covered, unrecognizable Chen Xuyang, hoping for some recovery.
Chen Xuyang struggled to widen his eyes, which were swollen to mere slits, and stared at Qiao Ci before him as if in a daze.
When they had fought side-by-side before, their combat strengths had been comparable. How could she be so terrifying now?
Others only saw him being unexpectedly ambushed and brutally beaten. Only he knew the deep terror he felt at that moment; it was as if not just his body, but his very soul had been tortured.
Resist?
That’s ridiculous. Being spared a few extra kicks would have been a blessing!
The main point was that she had just eaten food laced with poisons like Hua Gong San, and even if she didn’t die, she should have been on the verge of death. Why had her internal energy instead advanced dozens of times over?
Seeing their leader remain silent, the others quietly withdrew, wisely clearing a wide path for Qiao Ci.
If their leader couldn’t win, they, mostly second-generation officials holding nominal positions, didn’t want to endure a severe beating.
Spoon watched this scene, then leaped up with a bang, chirping excitedly:
“Host, why are you alive and kicking after eating poisoned food? I just scanned your body, and not only are there no signs of poisoning, but your internal energy is much higher than that of the top experts here. What… did you do?”
The cold electronic voice couldn’t hide its surprise… and excitement.
The host wasn’t going to kick the bucket immediately, that’s great.
Qiao Ci had just stretched her muscles and was in a good mood. “That entire table of delicacies I just had was mixed with over twenty types of toxins. Little System, you should know that all toxins in nature are mutually restrained. Perhaps those many toxins precisely opened my Ren and Du channels…”
She didn’t say the rest, merely giving Little Spoon a look that could only be understood, not spoken.
Little Spoon listened, utterly confused, but that didn’t stop it from exclaiming “Amazing!”
Seeing Qiao Ci heading towards the Imperial Gardens, Spoon exclaimed in alarm: “Little Host, don’t go! Xiao Ren is fighting that vixen Wei Zhu in the Imperial Gardens, you’ll get a needle in your eye!”
Hearing this, Qiao Ci quickened her pace, as if she could fly.
If not for the cumbersome palace attire, Little Spoon felt she could have seen afterimages of her legs churning.