The system was full of shock, it was certain it hadn't misheard.
"Host, you know who the Red Ghost Chief is?"
Xiao Ye didn't answer the system, he narrowed his eyes slightly.
In front of countless generals, his armor was stained with blood.
The sword in his hand continued to swing, cutting down countless enemies.
Until his grip on the sword hilt weakened, Xiao Ye's body stood stiff and straight.
Countless arrows fell upon him, yet he did not fall.
"Do not take my corpse back."
Looking at the generals not far away, filled with anxiety, Xiao Ye's face was extremely pale.
He propped his sword against his elbow, and with his last ounce of strength, he hurled the leader's head away.
"As long as you deliver a message to the Empress for me, this humble subject has guarded her empire well..."
The atmosphere was extremely tragic, filled with the despair after the slaughter.
The generals were grief-stricken, watching Xiao Ye's figure being consumed by the enemy.
With the leader killed, the foreign forces ceased their attack.
The entire army retreated like a receding tide.
Only a slender figure remained, who threw down the long spear in his hand.
He found Xiao Ye's corpse, and a green spectral light flickered in his eyes.
He wanted Xiao Ye to sleep forever in this illusion.
Suddenly.
One of Xiao Ye's hands grabbed him, his pale face had returned to normal.
A wisp of black energy spread from his body, and his armor gradually disappeared.
A sinister smile curled on his lips, "It's time to return to reality, old man!"
"Prime Minister..."
The person Xiao Ye grabbed was none other than Xiao Si, the attendant from the Prime Minister's mansion who had been by his side from the beginning.
He feigned a look of utter shock, "You're alive, that's wonderful!"
"Red Ghost Chief, how long do you intend to keep up this act?"
Xiao Ye's dark and gloomy gaze was terrifying, he suppressed Xiao Si with his power.
Sensing the killing intent in Xiao Ye's aura, Xiao Si revealed his true form, "When did you wake up in the illusion?!"
"I was never controlled by the illusion from the start."
The Red Ghost Chief wanted to control the illusion throughout, either appearing by the Empress's side or Xiao Ye's.
Clearly, the Red Ghost Chief disliked Xiao Ye more, always playing the role of the most inconspicuous attendant.
"When did you discover me?"
The Red Ghost Chief gritted his teeth.
"Not too early. It was when I first arrived at the Prime Minister's mansion. I felt you were involved in too many scenes."
Hearing Xiao Ye's disdainful tone, the Red Ghost Chief felt insulted!
How could his prideful illusion not have fooled Xiao Ye?
The system was astonished to see that the attendant Xiao Si had transformed into the Red Ghost's true form.
He held a scepter and glared at Xiao Ye with anger, "This is my illusion, you cannot possibly defeat me!"
Seeing that the Red Ghost Chief still wanted to struggle, Xiao Ye directly bound him with terrifying power.
"I don't mind killing you over and over again in the illusion."
"No..."
The Red Ghost Chief finally admitted defeat, and he broke the illusion before them.
The surrounding corpses gradually became illusory, and Xiao Ye held an aged Red Ghost in his hand.
The scepter in his hand clanged and fell onto the floor of the abyss.
The surroundings were dark and damp, and before Xiao Ye was the scene of an abyss.
He slapped the Red Ghost, "Are you sure you've dispelled the illusion?"
The chief, who had been so arrogant in the illusion, nodded pitifully at Xiao Ye.
Xiao Ye locked the Red Ghost Chief with his black energy and tossed him aside.
Sitting next to him, Mu Qinglan had not yet awakened from the illusion.
A tear flowed from the corner of her eye, and her brows were etched with profound pain.
Mu Qinglan's appearance was fragile, her fair face contorted with grief.
Xiao Ye watched her coldly, as if looking at an object.
The system returned to reality, and it excitedly looked at the mission bar, "Mu Qinglan's redemption task is not complete yet. She's stuck at ninety percent progress, Host, you're going to fail!"
Mu Qinglan's redemption task not being complete was also within Xiao Ye's expectations.
Although he had laid much groundwork in the illusion, the Emperor's ruthlessness was beyond ordinary imagination.
According to Mu Qinglan's psychological defenses, it wouldn't be so easy to break through.
Xiao Ye casually picked up the Red Ghost Chief beside him, "Control Mu Qinglan's illusion, don't let her wake up so quickly."
"Go and let the Empress know the news of my victory. I have something else to show her."
This was originally Xiao Ye's contingency plan, a fallback that hadn't been deployed to the front lines.
If the Empress still hadn't completed the task in the illusion, Xiao Ye would have to have the Red Ghost Chief start over.
"I will do my best to control the illusion!"
The Red Ghost Chief, having recognized Xiao Ye's terrifying nature, quickly agreed to continue the illusion for him.
Mu Qinglan's eyelashes trembled slightly, her expression becoming pained once more.
She didn't know what she had gone through, her lips were pale and trembling.
Despite being in a deep sleep, her entire being radiated a mournful aura.
Xiao Ye saw Mu Qinglan's redemption progress advancing slowly. He couldn't participate in the illusion and didn't know what she was experiencing.
However, he could monitor the subsequent events through the system's retrieved footage.
...
The Samsara Illusion.
Prime Minister Xiao's corpse was ultimately not brought back.
The Empress wailed.
Ministers prostrated themselves before Xiao Ye's cenotaph.
The Empress held a grand funeral for him a second time, but Xiao Ye was truly gone.
The common folk throughout the realm knew that Prime Minister Xiao's endured humiliation was actually the silent devotion of a loyal minister.
This time, he had even repelled a war at the brink of death, and the people couldn't help but praise Xiao Ye.
The world proclaimed the Empress to be a wise ruler who cherished loyal subjects.
Only she knew that her debt to Xiao Ye in this life could never be repaid.
"I shall go to Prime Minister Xiao's study."
After the grand funeral for Xiao Ye, the Empress stood at the Prime Minister's mansion.
The mansion was empty, devoid of any human presence.
After reading Xiao Ye's letters, the Empress realized he had never misused his wealth.
In the vast Prime Minister's mansion, he had lived a frugal and simple life.
This made the Empress understand even more what Xiao Ye had sacrificed for the dynasty!
She wanted to bring life back to the Prime Minister's mansion, so the Empress assigned many palace servants to clean it.
In the study.
There was only a simple desk and the Four Treasures of the Study, emanating a faint scholarly aroma.
The Empress gazed at the dry Xuan paper for a while, bearing Xiao Ye's handwriting.
Her eyes rippled, her fingertips touching the paper.
Xiao Ye's serene face surfaced in her mind...
Unable to help herself, the Empress became mournful again.
"Xiao Ye, if there is a next life, I will repay you with a lifetime of peace and joy."
The Empress's emotions surged, and her hand accidentally brushed against the Xuan paper, causing it to fall to the floor.
She bent down to pick it up and suddenly discovered a painting tucked beneath the desk.
It was a portrait of a young man, painted by her own hand when she was young.
The Empress's pupils trembled, and she stiffly reached out to take it.
The outline of the painting bore a seven-tenths resemblance to Xiao Ye, depicting him in a graceful posture as he practiced his sword!
The Empress had almost forgotten, it was a hazy memory...
The last three words inscribed were - My Beloved.
It was the object of her secret affection during her time as a princess.
She had secretly hidden the young man within the painting, but later accidentally lost it...