"Xiao Man, I ask you, did you kill my son?"
Xiao Man placed a chess piece unhurriedly and said, "Consort Xian, your words wrong me. The one who killed Prince Han was the mob, not I. This is evident to all. Prince Han angered the populace and then killed people, which led to his demise. It has nothing to do with me."
"Do not think that because you deny it, I will not know you killed my Cheng'er!" Consort Xian hated Xiao Man to the bone. The General's mansion was about to fall under her control, yet this lowly woman ruined her plans. "My son fancied you, which was your honor. You did not cherish it and instead took his life. Tonight, I shall offer your blood as a sacrifice to my son!"
Xiao Man scoffed, "Then, according to Consort Xian, you wish to be Empress, but His Majesty does not permit it, so His Majesty should die?"
"You... you speak nonsense!" A flicker of panic crossed Consort Xian's eyes, then she calmed down. Since she had decided to fight to the death, she had long cast aside her fear of death. "Your Majesty, he is the most heartless man in this world. Our son was killed, yet he turned a blind eye and allowed the murderer to go unpunished. Furthermore, the Empress and Consort De have ganged up to oppress me. I want all of you who bullied us, mother and son, to pay the price."
Xiao Man's hand hovered over the chess piece, her brow furrowed in thought, considering her next move to turn the tide. She did not forget to answer Consort Xian, "Your son established a killer organization, secretly killing people for money. His hands are stained with countless lives. You sent someone to strangle my third sister's birth mother, disguised it as suicide, framed me, and then hired assassins to kill me. These countless acts, who is truly bullying whom?"
"You are merely a lowly life, how can you compare to my son?" Consort Xian's face contorted with ferocity. "Cheng'er said you harmed him, so it must be you!"
"I harmed him, how did I harm him?"
"You... you caused his entire army to be annihilated!"
"He lacked the ability himself. He insisted on leading the troops into battle, needlessly burying the lives of a hundred thousand soldiers. How is that me harming him? Did I hold a knife to his throat and force him to lead the army?"
"You... you are silver-tongued. I shall see if you can still speak so eloquently later! Kill them for me!"
However, the scorpions hesitated, afraid to advance. Several maids had already retreated into the hall. Seeing that the scorpions were unwilling to enter, Consort Xian angrily kicked a nearby scorpion into the hall. Yet, the scorpions that were kicked in acted as if they had met their natural predator, tucking their tails and swiftly fleeing out.
"What is happening? Why are my scorpions afraid to go in?" Consort Xian was stunned for a moment, then pulled out a dagger and charged in madly. She thought that with these scorpions, she could easily take Xiao Man's life, but she did not know where things had gone wrong. These scorpions actually dared not approach Xiao Man.
Ying Xue saw Consort Xian charging in and did not stop her. As Consort Xian passed, Ying Xue stuck out her foot and tripped her. Consort Xian fell to the ground in a disheveled heap, letting out a cry of pain. She then picked up the dagger from the ground and charged at Xiao Man again. Xiao Man flicked a chess piece from her hand, directly sending Consort Xian flying out and crashing into the courtyard.
Consort Xian coughed up a mouthful of blood. Her eyes were filled with hatred. She hated that despite having paid such a price, she still could not kill Xiao Man!
"I will not let you go. I will haunt you even as a ghost."
Xiao Man picked up another chess piece. "Mm, I heard you. I will be waiting."
Consort Xian was enraged. While she could not kill Xiao Man, she certainly would not let the Empress and Consort De go. And that old witch in Cining Palace—all of them had bullied her and her son. Even in death, she would drag them down with her.
Ying Xue watched Consort Xian flee quickly, then looked at Xiao Man. "Miss, you're just going to let her leave like that?"
"Nourishing the蛊 with her own body, the poison has entered her vital organs. She doesn't have much time left. Why bother with someone who is about to die?" Xiao Man's eyes lit up, and she swiftly placed a piece. "Sir, with this move, do you still refuse to concede?"
Within the imperial palace, chaos erupted. The consorts were thrown into a panic by the sudden appearance of the scorpions. Simultaneously, assassins launched attacks on various palaces.
Just as Xiao Man and Mr. Zhong's chess game concluded, an arrow shot into Changle Palace, embedding itself in the chessboard. The chess pieces scattered, rolling across the floor.
Moments later, countless arrows rained down upon Changle Palace. Mr. Zhong kicked over the chess table, blocking the incoming arrows, and shielded Xiao Man behind him as they retreated inwards.
"Consort Xian is truly audacious. Is she trying to kill everyone in the palace under the guise of this opportunity?" Ying Xue quickly moved to Xiao Man's side, protecting her.
"If she had such capability, she wouldn't have ended up nourishing the蛊 with her own body," Xiao Man's gaze shifted, and a meaningful smile played on her lips. "This is someone taking advantage of the chaos, attempting to use Consort Xian's farce to murder people."
"Murder whom?" Ying Xue was more concerned about this question. As long as it wasn't an attempt on her miss's life, she didn't care. She was only afraid that the target was Xiao Man.
Xiao Man looked at the assassins who had broken into Changle Palace. "What do you think?"
"Killing us!" Ying Xue's lips twitched slightly. "Why do these people persistently target Miss? Miss has not dug up anyone's ancestral graves, nor has she stolen anyone's lover. It's not a deep-seated hatred. Why must they kill Miss?"
"Perhaps, your miss has blocked someone's path."
"If they felt their path was blocked, they could have said so. At worst, we would have moved aside. Why does it have to be a life-or-death struggle?" Ying Xue drew her sword to meet the enemy. Regardless, she could not let her miss come to harm.
Zhong Qing stayed by Xiao Man's side. Seeing her about to rush out, he pulled her back. "Your body is not what it used to be. Rushing out would not help and might even cause trouble. Stay by my side obediently. I will protect you."
Xiao Man stood behind Zhong Qing, her gaze fixed on him. At this moment, if she were to stab him, could she achieve a single, fatal blow?
If the attack missed, it would be like alarming the snake and driving it into the grass. It would be as difficult as ascending to heaven to kill him again in the future. Yet, such a good opportunity, to kill him and frame the assassins, seemed unmissable.
Zhong Qing parried the approaching assassinations one by one, resolutely preventing any killer from getting close to Xiao Man. To avoid being separated from Xiao Man, he held her hand and darted through the hall, evading the assassins' attacks.
Xiao Man's gaze remained on Zhong Qing. She still couldn't comprehend what he wanted. He possessed both fame and profit. Wealth and status were beyond compare. Then, for what purpose did he commit that series of wicked deeds?
Could it be that he desired that supreme position, to become the ruler of a nation?
No, if he wanted to become the ruler of a nation, why would he need to disrupt the imperial court of Yun Qi? He could have simply killed all the royal family members of Yun Qi and then used her hands to unify the Yun Qi realm, wouldn't that have been better?