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Chapitre 41

*Crack!* The porcelain wine cup shattered upon impact with the hard wooden door, and the thick, sturdy door was even slightly dented inward by the cup's powerful spring.

"Excellent shooting power!" Chu Xuyao clapped his hands in praise, holding the slingshot in his hand. His usually indifferent eyes revealed undisguised admiration: "Phoebe zhennan wood and cowhide—who would have thought that these two seemingly unrelated objects could be combined to create such power! Small and lightweight, easy to make, and readily available materials, yet its power is in no way inferior to a longbow or crossbow! The person who could make this must possess extraordinary wisdom and ingenuity that surpasses the world! If such a person could serve the court, it would surely be a great blessing for the country!"

Strolling closer to Chu Xuyao, Dongfang Lie glanced coolly at the slingshot with its cold luster, a self-deprecating sneer creeping onto his face: "What if someone like this wants to destroy my empire?"

The smile vanished instantly, and Chu Xuyao's hawk-like eyes suddenly darkened: "Could this person harbor rebellious intentions?"

A shadow fell across his handsome face: "How can a descendant of a disloyal person not harbor disloyal thoughts?"

Startled, Chu Xuyao suddenly widened his cold eyes: "Liu Rongyue?!"

Dongfang Lie did not answer, but just smiled lightly, then took the slingshot from Chu Xuyao's hand, held it in his palm, and played with it seemingly casually.

However, Chu Xuyao keenly sensed the ruthlessness and resentment beneath his indifferent exterior!

"Lie, to conclude her guilt based on this one item is a bit too much..."

"Xuyao, if I remember correctly, wasn't it you who said we couldn't tolerate evil and strongly urged me to throw her into the death row? What, now that I'm about to grant your wish, why are you hesitating?" With a cold sneer, Dongfang Lie raised an eyebrow at Chu Xuyao, whose face had changed drastically, and said in a cold and indifferent tone: "Ten zhang away, with this, use a three-section branch to simultaneously knock down three birds in a tree, killing them instantly, and leaving their bodies intact! Xuyao, let me ask you, if you were in that situation, how confident would you be?"

"Five points." If it were just about killing the enemy, that would be fine, but if it's about killing them and ensuring the body is intact, then...

"But she did it!" Meeting Chu Xuyao's astonished gaze, Dongfang Lie curled into an icy sneer: "A woman who is always seen as arrogant, domineering, foolish, and ignorant, not to mention clever and intelligent, actually possesses skills that even martial arts masters can only dream of. What does this prove? Xuyao, you're right, the Liu family is indeed someone we must be wary of. They're all in cahoots, a den of snakes and rats, constantly plotting to pull me off the throne! First, there was my uncle's treason, then the Empress's poisonous soup, and now, the seemingly harmless Liu..." Rongyue possesses extraordinary skills, and her treacherous intentions keep me awake at night! No wonder my uncle abandoned her and fled alone. Ha, nothing ventured, nothing gained! My uncle probably had such intentions! To be able to hide under everyone's noses for years without revealing the slightest flaw—such cunning and wisdom, how many in this world can match that? I have no doubt that if she had been the one to cast the curse that day, I would have been dead long ago! Keeping a threat to me and the Dongfang family's empire by my side is hardly the act of a wise ruler!

"But in the end, she didn't do anything to harm the country..."

"That's because her time hasn't come yet!" He angrily slammed his fist against the wall. "Xuyao, believe it or not, once she gets the chance, she will definitely kill me without hesitation! This is the tragedy of being born into royalty and becoming an emperor!"

Dongfang Lie's resounding words struck Chu Xuyao like a thunderbolt! Lie was no ordinary man; he was the emperor, a thorn in the side of those treacherous officials who harbored malicious intentions and coveted the throne! Those wicked villains were all waiting for an opportunity to eliminate him and take his place! Therefore, eliminating anyone or anything that posed a threat to him or the Dongfang Dynasty was perfectly justifiable, because he was surnamed Dongfang, and he was Dongfang Lie, the emperor of the Dongfang Dynasty!

"So, Lie, are you planning to... execute her right now?" Chu Xuyao's lips, with their cold, hard lines, moved, but in the end, he didn't utter those two words that made his heart tremble.

Dongfang Lie's hand, resting on the wall, trembled suddenly, his fair face showing a painful struggle. After a long while, he took a deep breath to calm himself, his voice steady and firm: "No, I intend to observe the situation first and see what tricks she's playing! If she makes any move... then I will surely bring her to justice on the spot!"

Since that day, Dongfang Lie has never summoned her again. Although she couldn't understand the meaning behind Dongfang Lie's ambiguous glance before he left that day, Rongyue could vaguely sense from the surveillance eyes lurking in the shadows around her that he had begun to harbor hostility towards her!

The crescent moon hung low in the sea mist; the night was deep. Nestled in the warm, expansive embrace of the distant East, listening to his steady, even breathing, Rongyue's thoughts swirled.

In the past few days, too many unexpected events occurred, too hastily and suddenly, leaving her no time to think. Now, life seems to have calmed down, though it's the calm before the storm, enough time to ponder her future path. The palace is not her place, that's beyond doubt. But the question is, when the time is right, should she take Dongfang Yao with her?

If you take him away...

With her eyelids slightly lifted, Rongyue hesitated as she gazed at the sleeping prince, feeling somewhat apprehensive. Leaving aside whether he was willing to leave his home and family, the very question of whether this pampered prince could adapt to a life of hardship, sleeping in the open and eating simple meals, seemed like a serious problem… She couldn't help but recall the time he pointed at the red-walled, green-tiled house and called it a dilapidated, run-down house. Rongyue suddenly felt that the idea of taking him away seemed unrealistic…

But if we don't take him away...

"...If the truth really comes out, he will naturally want to tear me to pieces, but he won't let Yao'er off the hook either! The sins of the mother are visited upon the son; I believe you understand this principle very well!"

We won't let them get away with this... We won't let them get away with this...

Rongyue shivered! No! How could she stand by and watch him be in danger? She couldn't, she dared not, and she couldn't bear to!

Silly him, infatuated him, spoiled him, crying him out, laughing him, adorable him, mischievous him… At this moment, she realized that he had been so clearly and deeply imprinted in her heart…

In the Cining Palace, the Empress Dowager sat on her phoenix throne, listening to the information provided by her palace spies. Her wrinkled old face instantly became gloomy.

So, she dares to contradict me! I told her to get close to those two and sow discord between them, but she avoids them like the plague, always taking a detour to avoid them! Does this unworthy daughter of the Huye family even have any respect for me or for the Huye Kingdom?

Does she really think she's all grown up and can disobey me? Does she think that because I'm old and Prime Minister Liu is gone, I can't do anything to her if she doesn't do what I say? How ignorant! As long as I have a breath left, she's destined to never escape my grasp!

A black porcelain jar covered with white spokes was brought out from the secret passage. The Empress Dowager, her expression solemn, closed her shrewd old eyes, sat cross-legged before the jar, her fingers flying in various hand gestures, muttering incantations as if chanting a spell.

The spirit of the lion is locked in the gates of heaven and earth.

The soul of all things emerges from the ripples of the lake.

The three souls give rise to the seven spirits.

Do not say that the soul returns to an unknown place.

...

...

A wisp of green smoke drifted out from the crack in the black jar, swaying like a water snake as it floated towards Rongyue's palace...

Volume One, Pear Blossom Courtyard, Melting Moon, Chapter Forty-Nine: The Soul of the Lion

Squeak—creak—the heavy wooden door reluctantly revealed a narrow crack in the darkness, its two thick lips tightly shut, and a low, muffled whimper echoed mournfully and faintly in the desolate hall.

A petite, dark figure darted in the instant the wooden door opened, quickly closing it behind her. After a brief pause, she turned and gracefully approached the bed...

The moment the wooden door opened, Chu Xuyao's hawk-like eyes snapped open! His powerful iron hand quietly reached for the Snow Willow Sword beside his pillow, his muscles tense, ready to strike. But when he caught a glimpse of the petite figure moving slowly in his peripheral vision, he paused slightly, his unfathomable eyes darkening further, before he lowered his eyelids and squinted, feigning sleep.

The soft footsteps grew clearer, and the figure drew closer to the gauze-draped bed. Chu Xuyao's heart pounded with each approaching footstep...

Parting the bright yellow gauze curtain, accompanied by a low sigh that seemed both mournful and helpless, a pair of soft, boneless hands unexpectedly pressed against his handsome, rugged face.

The icy touch inexplicably reminded him of a heartless ice statue. Feeling the bone-chilling coldness move inch by inch across his face, Chu Xuyao's heart suddenly trembled, and an indescribable pity suddenly spread through his heart…

"Alas, now that you're awake, why can't you open your eyes and look at me?" A faint sigh followed, then a mournful and desolate voice echoed: "Entering the gate of longing, one knows the bitterness of longing; long is longing, long is remembrance; short is longing, yet endless is longing. Ah Yao, do you know, only after meeting you did I know the taste of longing..."

Her dozing eyes snapped open, her dark, cold gaze suppressing a turbulent storm: "Liu Rongyue! Do you know what nonsense you're spouting!"

"Heh, what nonsense are you spouting?" She gave a bitter laugh, tears welling in her sorrowful eyes. "So, in your heart, all my heartfelt feelings were just empty words! Heh, I'm such a fool. I knew perfectly well that my feelings were unrequited, that you didn't care about me at all, yet I foolishly came to you like a idiot, inviting your dislike and humiliation... How pathetic, how lamentable..."

A single tear silently slid down Chu Xuyao's pale, forlorn cheek, soaking his inner garment and seeping into his heart, which was as hard as iron. An indescribable emotion seemed to be quietly fermenting, brewing, and sublimating within him…

Suppressing the shock and pounding in his chest, Chu Xuyao's face turned cold, his voice revealing a hint of ruthlessness: "Liu Rongyue, don't try anything funny..."