Empress Dowager Wen's eyes flickered, but a trace of hesitation flashed across her face.
"Your imperial father said we shouldn't provoke Qin Xiao..."
She didn't understand the meaning behind these words.
Although her heart was filled with resentment towards Qin Xiao, she had to obey Emperor Qinwu's words.
Qin Rumeng raised her head, revealing a snow-white swan-like neck, and let out a cold snort from her nose.
"Imperial Father is making a fuss over nothing. What does Qin Xiao think he is? If he dares to resist, I, the princess, will whip him to death!"
She raised the purple spiked whip in her hand, which was covered in blood-red barbs gleaming with a cold light.
As Qin Xiao's second elder sister, she had once used this very whip to ruthlessly punish him.
Not only that, she had even rubbed salt all over Qin Xiao's body and whipped him for two whole days.
It was in the dead of winter, the twelfth lunar month, when the air itself seemed to freeze into ice.
Seeing chunks of flesh falling from Qin Xiao's body as he turned purple from the cold, blood dripping everywhere, was a scene that made her feel exceptionally vindicated whenever she recalled it.
In this family, she was the one who bullied Qin Xiao the most, and the one who looked down on him the most.
Qin Rushuang nodded in agreement, wearing a cold sneer.
"Second Sister is right. We have no need to fear Qin Xiao. In fact, allowing him to come see us is already an honor for him."
"Qin Xiao making such a big commotion is probably just to see us and beg for our forgiveness. He doesn't even look at what kind of thing he really is!"
"Does he even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Yu'er?"
Thick disgust filled the eyes of the two women, their disdain completely undisguised.
Empress Dowager Wen hesitated, but eventually nodded.
"Alright then, I'll go look for Qin Xiao right now."
Qin Rushuang stopped Empress Dowager Wen.
"Imperial Mother, if you go see Qin Xiao in person, wouldn't that be giving him too much face? He should be the one rolling over here to see us!"
"Besides, he bullied Third Sister, he still needs to kneel down and apologize to us!"
Malice glinted in Qin Rushuang's eyes, and a wicked smile curled the corners of her lips, as if she could already see the sight of Qin Xiao kneeling on the ground and kowtowing for mercy.
"Yes! Exactly!" Qin Rumeng clapped her hands in cheer, her smile both callous and arrogant, the cruelty in her eyes practically overflowing.
"We cannot go to Qin Xiao ourselves, that would be a loss of dignity. He should roll over here and kowtow in apology to us!"
Empress Dowager Wen frowned, but before she could say anything.
"Alright, Imperial Mother, don't worry. Leave this matter to your daughter."
"I will find a way to make him come and plead guilty to you."
Qin Rumeng patted her chest in guarantee, her eyes brimming with confidence.
But right at this moment.
"Pfft!"
A mouthful of fresh blood sprayed onto the desk, splattering all over the floor.
"Eldest Sister!!"
Qin Rumeng's face paled in shock, and she hurriedly ran over.
Qin Rushuang's face was ashen, her body swaying as she heavily leaned against the desk, narrowly avoiding a fall.
"Eldest Sister, what's wrong?"
The moment Qin Rumeng's hand touched Qin Rushuang, she immediately felt a bone-piercing chill.
She quickly let go.
Empress Dowager Wen was also startled upon seeing Qin Rushuang vomit blood.
Qin Rushuang's face grew paler by the second, and her aura gradually became weak and unstable.
Anything she touched was instantly covered in a layer of ice crystals.
Cold air raged around her, and even the ground formed ice shards.
A gust of freezing wind blew past, causing the temperature in the grand hall to plummet. The sheer cold made everyone present involuntarily shiver.
"Quick, hurry and summon the imperial physician..."
"It's no use, Imperial Mother. This is the cold poison from the Nine Yin Profound Veins..."
Qin Rushuang gritted her teeth, her voice as faint as a thread.
She forced herself to stay upright, biting her purpling lips as she spoke with great difficulty.
"When the cold poison acts up, ordinary people cannot cure it. One can only endure it by force."
Though she said this, the biting cold felt like blades scraping across her skin, slicing apart every nerve in her body.
This was a physical defect of hers.
She possessed the Nine Yin Profound Veins, inherently extremely cold. Once it acted up, the cold poison would erupt and flood every meridian in her body, making one experience endless freezing cold until they completely turned into an ice sculpture.
Originally, those born with the Nine Yin Profound Veins could not live past twenty, yet Qin Rushuang had managed to live six years longer.
"How could this be? Why did the cold poison flare up so quickly this time?"
Qin Rumeng's face was filled with anxiety. Seeing Qin Rushuang's agonizing state, she was at a loss for what to do.
"Eldest Sister clearly recovered a year ago, why would she suddenly fall ill now?"
Empress Dowager Wen also watched anxiously from the side, but to no avail.
The two of them could only watch helplessly as Qin Rushuang curled up into a ball, collapsing onto the bed with pained groans.
Her body was like a fish thrown into an ice cave, constantly struggling and thrashing, yet unable to escape.
"A year ago..."
Qin Rushuang muttered to herself, memories from a year ago surfacing in her mind.
A year ago.
Her cold poison had acted up, and it was the most severe bout she had ever experienced. Her body was sealed in ice, her blood froze into frost, and her consciousness grew blurry.
She genuinely thought she was going to die.
Fear, helplessness, and despair had enveloped her.
It was at that very moment that a warm current of air suddenly surged into her body, dispelling the chill within her.
That warm current was like salvation, like a ray of dawn, allowing her to see the light again from the darkness.
And the person who saved her... was none other than Qin Xiao!
"So it really was him..."
Under the threat of death, Qin Rushuang finally recalled the hazy memories of that day.
She remembered Qin Xiao holding her, slicing open his palm, and feeding drops of his blood into her mouth. A warm current, as comforting as the morning sun, surged through her limbs and bones.
Yet, her first reaction upon waking up back then was to raise her hand and slap Qin Xiao across the face.
She had even cursed at him, calling him a worthless scoundrel and a lecher who was taking advantage of her.
Only now did Qin Rushuang finally realize that she had wronged Qin Xiao.
"Find... find Qin Xiao... only he can save me..."
Qin Rushuang's voice was low and hoarse, like the final cry of a dying beast.
"Alright, alright, alright, Imperial Mother will send someone to find him right away!"
Empress Dowager Wen, with tears in her eyes, nodded repeatedly.
"Imperial Mother, I will go find Qin Xiao."
After Qin Rumeng said this, she rushed out of the grand hall, running outside.
...
Meanwhile.
Inside the Taiji Palace.
Draped in a black and gold dragon robe, Qin Xiao stood tall on the steps. His facial features were handsome and refined, his gaze profound, and his entire being exuded an awe-inspiring coercion.
Below him.
Over a dozen people knelt on one knee, looking up at that domineering figure, their eyes brimming with fanatical reverence.
"Greetings, Your Majesty!!"
"We congratulate Your Majesty on ascending the throne as Emperor!"
They all bowed down in unison.
"You are all my subordinates who have traveled thousands of miles to come to this dragon's pool and tiger's den. Let's dispense with these empty formalities. All of you, rise."
Qin Xiao looked down from above and raised a hand.
The crowd stood up and said in unison, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
The middle-aged man leading them wore a black robe and gently waved a white feather fan in his hand, his pitch-black eyes occasionally flashing with a sharp gleam.
"General, oh no, Your Majesty."
"You have finally ascended the throne as Emperor. We thought that your journey to the capital this time would leave you unable to even protect yourself..."
The person who spoke was none other than one of the chief strategists under Qin Xiao's command... Jia Xu!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
