As she ran, she thought, a multitude of ideas flashing through her mind. How could someone suddenly become critically ill out of nowhere? Could this be a trap? Perhaps the news was false, perhaps it was true. But regardless, she couldn't ignore the power of this news. And the consequences were something she simply couldn't bear.
"Luo Zhiheng! You'd better stop right now! Think it over. The moment you step off this stage, you've already lost your eligibility to compete, which is equivalent to you voluntarily giving up the competition." The chief judge suddenly stood up and shouted.
She didn't need to stop Luo Zhiheng, but Luo Zhiheng was always prone to causing trouble. Even if Luo Zhiheng left the arena, she had to find an opportunity that would leave Luo Zhiheng with no reason or right to cause trouble. She had already made her point clearly; if Luo Zhiheng still left the arena, then she couldn't blame anyone else.
Luo Zhiheng had already raised her foot, about to land on the step, but she had to freeze and pull it back. Her mind was filled with images of Mu Yunhe possibly suffering immense pain, even helplessness, or perhaps Mu Yunhe being persecuted?
The game behind her was down to just one move; victory was within her grasp! She could then advance to the finals and utterly defeat Luo Ningshuang with her own strength! She had fought her way in, receiving only ridicule, contempt, suppression, and harm. Having finally reached this point, was she really going to give up?
However, after thinking so much, her hesitation was only for a moment. She lifted her foot again and chose to run towards Mu Yunhe.
No competition is as important as Mu Yunhe!
This was her last and most resolute thought during her ordeal! Mu Yunhe couldn't die; if he died, she couldn't live either. Regardless of whether the news was true or false, she couldn't afford to gamble with Mu Yunhe's health and life. Or perhaps she still felt sorry for Mu Yunhe, or perhaps some other inexplicable emotion was pulling her in different directions, making her choose Mu Yunhe without hesitation.
"Wait!" Murong Qianxue suddenly spoke, quickly walking over surrounded by soldiers, successfully stopping Luo Zhiheng's steps once again. She said coldly, "Luo Zhiheng, don't you think it's too coincidental that the young prince's critical illness came about? Appearing at the most critical moment, didn't you ever consider that this might be a conspiracy?"
"Even if it's a conspiracy, I'm going back to see him!" Luo Zhiheng stopped in her tracks, but her words remained firm, and her face was extremely pale.
"So you're just going to give it your all at this last hurdle? This game is clearly nearing its end, and you can't even wait a blink of an eye? Or have you already realized you've lost, and you're unwilling to admit defeat, so you're trying to run away?" Murong Qianxue sneered sarcastically. Where's the semblance of a friend?
Luo Zhiheng's gaze shifted. She didn't refute, but instead looked at the messenger who stood abruptly in the crowd, riding on horseback. Her gaze was like a tangible knife, capable of tearing people to shreds even from a distance. Although the messenger was far away, he didn't dare to meet Luo Zhiheng's eyes.
Luo Zhiheng's gaze fell on the man's horse and clothing. Having calmed down, she finally noticed something amiss. The timing of this event was indeed too coincidental, and she had never seen this messenger before. He was burly, unlike the frail eunuchs and servants of the Prince's mansion. Most suspiciously, the servant's clothes were clearly disheveled and excessively small. If he were truly from the Prince's mansion, the uniforms made to fit him perfectly; they should at least fit him well.
Therefore, this person is very likely not from the Prince's Mansion! But why would someone who isn't from the Prince's Mansion deliberately dress up as a servant and rush to report news from inside the mansion at such a crucial moment?
Therefore, this news is very likely to be false!
Luo Zhiheng felt her eyelids twitch, and her agitated heart suddenly calmed down! Her gaze swept over Consort Li, who was watching the commotion from the side, and her eyes remained sharp. Consort Li's smile was so irritating that Luo Zhiheng wanted to slap her a few times right away!
Although she was worried about Mu Yunhe, that did not mean that anyone could use Mu Yunhe to provoke or deceive her.
“That’s right. I, Luo Zhiheng, am not the kind of person who runs away in the face of battle. I will finish this game before I make my move.” Luo Zhiheng said calmly on purpose, but she did not move immediately. Her gaze was fixed on the messenger.
The man immediately cried out in a shrill and anxious voice, "Your Highness, no! The young prince is in imminent danger! The palace is in complete chaos! Your Highness has ordered me to immediately escort you back to see the young prince one last time!"
Luo Zhiheng pointed at the man and immediately started cursing: "Shut your dog mouth! Where did the Prince's mansion get its subordinates? And whose subordinate are you? Who ordered you to come here and disturb my peace? You even dare to curse the young prince? Are you out of your mind? Fine, this old lady will grant your wish today!"
Luo Zhiheng's outburst came so suddenly that those who were still shocked by Mu Yunhe's impending death snapped back to reality and couldn't help but feel angry. How could Luo Zhiheng be so heartless? Mu Yunhe had even asked General Tong to protect her, but Luo Zhiheng disregarded Mu Yunhe's life or death for her own sake of fame and fortune. What's even more hateful is that she dared to falsely accuse people.
The insults directed at Luo Zhiheng became countless, and her reputation was ruined beyond repair. In people's minds, she was the epitome of lewdness, depravity, malice, insane greed, and selfishness! She deserved to go to hell!
But Luo Zhiheng didn't care what others said. She said to Murong Qianxue, "Miss Murong, could you please ask your people to help me catch this guy who dared to impersonate someone from the Prince's Mansion and lie about the truth? I'll go back immediately after I make this decision."
Murong Qianxue admired Luo Zhiheng for being able to calm down so quickly. Although she felt that Luo Zhiheng was destined to lose this game, her courage, spirit, and magnanimity in posting nude photos made her feel that she had not misjudged her.
"With me here, he can't escape." Murong Qianxue laughed heartily. With a wave of her hand, even though her men were unwilling to help Luo Zhiheng, that ingrate, they still had to listen to their mistress. So they swarmed forward and grabbed the person who was constantly resisting and struggling.
Even though she felt things were very suspicious and there was something fishy going on, her mind was already in turmoil, so she had no intention of hiding her emotions. Her eyes were filled with murderous intent and ruthlessness, and she turned and walked back with long, sharp steps, looking like a powerful general heading to the battlefield.
Li Xian'er's gloating expression instantly froze. She forced a smile, wanting to laugh but also somewhat afraid of Luo Zhiheng.
Luo Zhiheng now looked at everyone in the Li family with such disgust and hatred. Standing in front of the chessboard, she said viciously, "What are you laughing at? Are you laughing because your Li family might be facing a great disaster soon?"
"What nonsense are you spouting? You're not allowed to curse our family!" Li Xian'er roared angrily, baring her teeth and brandishing her claws.
Luo Zhiheng revealed her small, white teeth, but her sinister expression and bright red lips made them appear sharp and fang-like. She made no attempt to conceal the malice in her voice as she said, "It had better not be someone from your Li family who did this to my Mu Yunhe, otherwise I will repay you a hundredfold for the pain you inflicted on her! If anything happens to Mu Yunhe, I will dig up the graves of everyone involved, including her ancestors for eighteen generations, and grind their ashes to dust, throwing them into the Yunjiang River to feed the sea monsters!!"
Li Xian'er began to tremble. Luo Zhiheng's gaze and expression were terrifying. She was using this attitude to tell the Li family that she meant what she said, and that the Li family had never meant anything to her!
That's outrageous!
Hearing this, everyone around quickly fell silent. Consort Li, upon hearing this, felt that Luo Zhiheng was far too arrogant; her arrogance was a recipe for disaster! So, Luo Zhiheng, keep acting like this! Luo Ningshuang, however, was quite surprised. This Luo Zhiheng was truly infatuated to a certain extent; as long as a man was handsome, she could like him no matter what kind. Although Mu Yunhe was handsome, his impending death was unchangeable; Luo Zhiheng was destined to be a despised widow.
Luo Zhiheng picked up a black piece, and just as she was about to place it, the chief judge suddenly spoke up: "Wait! You can't go first. Your black piece has already been placed on the board, so it counts. This time it's Li Xian'er's turn."
Luo Zhiheng's heart clenched, her anger flaring even more! This was truly biased! They even bothered with something like this? Just because she hadn't performed well and had a bad reputation, was she treated so coldly? How dare someone so unequal and petty claim to be fair and just? Wasn't that just laughable?
Luo Zhiheng laughed uncontrollably, shrugged indifferently, and lightly clenched the chess piece in her hand, the veins on it bulging with suppressed rage. Pointing at Li Xian'er, she chuckled and cursed, "Fine, you go first. Otherwise, if I beat you, someone might accuse me of cheating and declare me the loser just because they don't like me. I've truly seen something truly unbelievable—such an inhuman, lousy judge!"
She exuded a roguish, sleazy aura, and although she was smiling, she looked truly terrifying and sinister.
Murong Qianxue glanced at the chief judge with displeasure; she was indeed utterly unreasonable. Previously, Luo Zhiheng had been distracted under those circumstances, and everyone knew that the piece's landing was an accident. A reasonable person wouldn't have judged that piece as valid. Moreover, even if Luo Zhiheng had made a few more moves, she couldn't have salvaged her disorganized game. Yet this chief judge was so narrow-minded; it was clear her future prospects weren't very bright.
The chief judge's face was gloomy and unpleasant. He barely suppressed the urge to kick Luo Zhiheng out of the arena, but he couldn't help but say what he had been wanting to say for the past few days: "Don't be so resentful! Our competition has already been tarnished because of you. If you had real talent, our competition wouldn't have said a word. But look at what you've done all this time! Have you shown even a shred of talent or virtue? Besides joking around, acting recklessly, and doing all sorts of other nonsense, what else have you done? You should be thanking your lucky stars that the competition hasn't kicked you out. I'll just say one thing: if you had real talent, I wouldn't say a word. But you don't. You don't have a single talent, nor a single virtue or ability to convince others. You don't deserve to negotiate here!"
These words were met with great satisfaction by most people, who felt that the chief judge was incredibly impartial and capable. Perhaps only Luo Zhiheng and Murong Qianxue expressed their dissatisfaction.
Luo Zhiheng swiftly turned her gaze to the chief judge. This old hag who had been making things difficult for her was indeed courting death!
"You say I have no real talent or skills? How much do you even know about me? We've only met once every two or three days, so why are you so emotional and dissatisfied with me? Isn't it because everyone says I'm bad and deserves to die? Did you personally witness me behaving like a hooligan? Or did you personally hear me molesting a respectable man? Have you ever studied my life? What makes you so quick to conclude that I'm unlearned/incompetent and lack talent and virtue?" Luo Zhiheng's cold questioning and ruthless mockery made the judge's face tense.
Luo Zhiheng retorted viciously, "You've only heard rumors. You believed people's gossip and trusted those rumors that could ruin me. How can someone with these flaws claim to be fair and just? You don't even have the ability to discern for yourself. They say rumors stop with the wise. Are you a wise person? You only see my past behavior, so you blindly believe I deserve to die and that I'm filthy."
"But do you see a different me in front of you? Can you tell who holds the final reins of this game? You dare say I'm unqualified? Then what about you, who spread rumors, who believe falsehoods, who are foolish? What makes you think you're qualified to be a judge in this major competition? Do you even deserve it?" She questioned loudly, each question louder than the last, each voice resounding and each sentence powerful, silencing the entire room to the point of absolute silence.
Sharp words, vicious accusations, domineering questioning. Standing on the field, she angrily denounced her highest authority as a contestant, her questions both righteous and merciless. Her fiery and flamboyant personality seemed to soar with her flowing skirt, so intense that it was almost blinding to look directly at her.
The senior judge had never encountered anything like this in her entire life. She was clearly Luo Zhiheng's senior judge, and she held Luo Zhiheng's fate in her hands, yet Luo Zhiheng dared to openly challenge her, completely unafraid that she would make things difficult for her? It was undeniable that what Luo Zhiheng said was true; a person's performance was important, but their previous reputation was also important.
Since the start of this competition, the atmosphere has been chaotic. When many people spoke ill of Luo Zhiheng, the chief judge didn't try to find out the truth, stop the rumors, or analyze the situation carefully; instead, she believed these comments. She thought that someone as noble as her shouldn't bother with such a despicable and filthy person, and that she could simply eliminate Luo Zhiheng from the competition.
As expected, Luo Zhiheng continued her erratic and pointless antics, accomplishing nothing. She should have been kicked out long ago, but she was incredibly lucky to make it all the way to the end. Even more infuriating, Luo Zhiheng somehow managed to obtain the Dragon and Phoenix Zither, a unique instrument in the world that even she coveted. To have it in Luo Zhiheng's hands was a complete waste.
She was filled with anger and resentment, and the harsh accusations of nude photos made her lose face. In her anger, she laughed and said, "You speak so righteously, as if you're so wronged. But you should know very well what you've done these past few days. If you could show me even a decent talent, I wouldn't have gone to all this trouble. Luo Zhiheng, look at your own bad habits. Don't always think that others are wrong."
"I'll return those words to you verbatim! My bad habits are out in the open, and I can openly show them to the world. I'm not afraid of being criticized because I live with a clear conscience. But your bad habits are in your heart—narrow-minded and short-sighted. That's your problem!" Luo Zhiheng said arrogantly with a loud laugh.