Ruyue's face was deathly pale, matching that of the young duke, Lu Jun. After all, Ruyue had seen it with her own eyes: her son had killed Ren Tianchao!
Although she couldn't figure out how it had happened in that brief moment, her son was holding a knife, and Ren Tianchao had tumbled out of the carriage, covered in blood...
This was an undeniable fact!
This left Ruyue feeling weak all over, and just like the young duke Lu Jun, she collapsed to the ground.
Ren Tianye kindly helped her up and sighed, "Originally, I didn't want to make things difficult for the young duke, but I have no choice. My brother's life is still a life!"
"Since ancient times, a life must be paid for a life!"
"Lu Jun killed my beloved brother, so I must kill Lu Jun to avenge him!"
"No, don't..." Ruyue shouted in a panic. Beside her, the young duke Lu Jun also snapped back to his senses and hastily begged for mercy: "Please don't, please don't, General Ren. I... I didn't mean to. I didn't want to kill Tianchao..."
"Tianchao and I have been good friends since childhood. I, I, I didn't want to kill him."
"General Ren, I beg you to spare my life!"
Ren Tianye completely ignored the young duke Lu Jun's clamoring. Instead, he looked at Ruyue, who immediately pleaded profusely, "Don't kill my son, please don't kill my son..."
"Does your heart ache so much for your son?" Ren Tianye said. "There isn't entirely no way out."
Ruyue's eyes instantly lit up, feeling a glimmer of hope. Then she heard Ren Tianye say leisurely, "Whether or not I kill your son depends on your performance!"
My performance?
Ruyue instantly thought of certain things, and her face couldn't help but flush slightly. "I... I... no matter what, I can be considered your aunt."
"Then that's even better!"
...
A single horse galloped furiously, heading straight for the Fuguo Duke's Mansion.
The messenger quickly stated his purpose.
Lu Qing, who was listening to his butler's report while searching everywhere for Ruyue to no avail, immediately refused in a cold voice: "Tell the messenger that this general will not see anyone from Ren Tianye."
This was the strategy set by Gu Qingyue, the Prime Minister, and himself when Ren Tianye was still leading his army on the way to the capital.
They would first show Ren Tianye some attitude to dampen his spirit, and then invite him into the city. This way, Ren Tianye would be easier to control.
Right now, Gu Qingyue hadn't given him a reply yet, so he couldn't be bothered to see Ren Tianye's people!
Besides, he didn't know where Ruyue had gone. He was anxious, angry, and somewhat resentful.
It was just a trivial matter, so why did she have to disappear?
He had even less mood to see anyone sent by Ren Tianye.
"Master..." the butler said cautiously. "The messenger also asked me to show you something..."
Before the butler could finish, Lu Qing rudely interrupted him and said coldly, "Does this general lack such petty gifts? Tell Ren Tianye to give up!"
"No, Master..." the butler hastily said. "It's a lock of beautiful hair."
"Looking at it, it seems somewhat like Madam's hair."
"What?" Lu Qing's expression instantly changed drastically. He snatched the lock of hair, took one look, and immediately confirmed it. "Where is the messenger?"
"Master, he has already left, but he left a note asking you to go out of the city to General Ren Tianye's army camp for a chat..."
Before the butler's voice faded, Lu Qing had already dashed out. By the time the butler finished his last word, Lu Qing was already at the gates of the Fuguo Duke's Mansion. He vaulted onto his horse, whipped the horse's flank as if his life depended on it, and furiously galloped away.
Currently, all the military forces in the capital were under his control. The soldiers at the north gate did not dare to stop him, allowing him to smoothly reach Ren Tianye's army camp.
Someone had already been ordered to wait for him.
He was immediately led toward one of the main tents.
During this process, despite being surrounded by Ren Tianye's army of a hundred thousand, Lu Qing showed not a trace of fear on his face. Even when asked to dismount and surrender his weapons, he didn't even frown.
No matter what, Lu Qing's courage was quite formidable!
Thus, upon reaching the main tent, Lu Qing lifted the door flap and walked in.
He saw Ren Tianye, who was currently eating.
The last time they met was in Yunji City.
Ren Tianye had defended Yunji City, dealing a massive blow to his seventy thousand imperial guards who were besieging the city. There were many casualties, and when they retreated, they even had to leave behind seventy thousand sets of equipment.
This resulted in his southern pacification campaign ending in defeat.
Of course, Lu Qing did not regret it.
He simply had absolutely no favorable impression of Ren Tianye. He gave a slight cold snort and then fixed his gaze on the woman standing with her back to him in front of Ren Tianye's desk.
Dressed in plain clothes, with a graceful figure, she was standing respectfully to the side. She was either handing over a face towel or presenting a spittoon, serving him with the utmost gentleness.
This sight made Lu Qing fall into a daze for quite a while!
"Sigh, if only this were Ruyue."
"Then I wouldn't have gotten into those pointless arguments with her!"
Thinking this, Lu Qing took large strides up to Ren Tianye. Just as he was about to speak, his body suddenly froze. He shockingly realized that the woman from just now was actually Ruyue!
No, how could it be Ruyue?!
But it really was Ruyue!
Lu Qing took another look, and he broke down!
Completely broke down!
His brain buzzed, his hands and feet turned ice-cold, and his body went limp, nearly collapsing to the ground.
Soon after, all this weakness erupted.
It was replaced by his earth-shattering roar: "Ren Tianye, you are insolent! I give you the time it takes to drink a cup of tea to release Ruyue!"
Ren Tianye smiled, nodded, and said, "Alright. Ruyue, you are free. You may go!"
"No!" Ruyue said loudly. "General Ren, I won't go. I won't go. I absolutely refuse to go!"
At this moment, Lu Qing felt the little bit of strength he had finally recovered vanish into thin air once again. This time, he truly couldn't stand steadily.
He fell straight to the ground.
Tears directly streamed from his eyes as he said, "Ruyue, Ruyue, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, it's my fault!"
"I shouldn't have failed to understand you!"
"I shouldn't have misunderstood your intentions!"
"I shouldn't have driven you away in anger!"
"But please, you absolutely must not abandon me like this!"
"Come back with me, okay?"
"After we go back, I'll do whatever you say. Even if you want the stars in the sky, I'll pluck them down for you!"
"Don't be mad at me anymore. Come back with me!"
Ruyue shook her head, but said, "That's not what this is about. It's my son, Lu Jun. He killed Ren Tianchao!"
"If I don't stay behind to atone for his sins, my son will die."
Lu Qing furrowed his brows.
He felt it was unlikely. How could Lu Jun kill Ren Tianchao? The two had always had a decent relationship; how could he possibly kill Ren Tianchao?
There must definitely be some misunderstanding here.
He opened his mouth and said, "Ruyue, this must be a trap set by Ren Tianye. This person has a very wicked mind."
Pausing, he looked at Ren Tianye and said coldly and directly, "Ren Tianye, this general can give you an opportunity to explain yourself, and you had better satisfy this general."
"Otherwise, you won't be able to bear the consequences!"
Before Ren Tianye could reply, Ruyue hastily said, "Lu Qing, you have misunderstood General Ren."
"My son really did kill Ren Tianchao!"
"I saw it with my own eyes!"
...
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
e school belle recognized by the whole school, a genius girl from the kendo club. She also has a hidden identity, the youngest legendary demon hunter. Chen Shuo just transmigrated and found himself turned into a weak, helpless little vampire. He was caught by Su Xiyen and taken home at the very beginning. Since then, Chen Shuo's life creed only had two items. "First, classmate Su Xiyen is always right." "Second, if classmate Su Xiyen is wrong, please refer back to item one." Many years later, Chen Shuo, who had turned back into a human, led a pair of twins to appear in front of all the vampires to share the secret of how he turned back into a human. "It's simple, I tricked a female demon hunter into becoming my wife!"
y came from. The chests contained supplies, currency, class-change scrolls, skills, talents… and even godhood! The laws of the world were completely rewritten. This became a world where everyone gambled with their fate! Some people, despite having nothing, opened a divine artifact and rose to the top, eventually ruling the world. Others went bankrupt, opened nothing but worthless junk, and leaped from skyscrapers in despair. Lin Ye arrived in this world from another reality, utterly bewildered. “What is going on? Why is everyone a gambling addict?!” “Opening chests? No way. I refuse to gamble. I’ll start with myself!” Until— On his first chest, he obtained a Mythic Talent: Void Incarnation! He could become completely intangible, pass through all things, and reduce everything to nothingness! … On his fiftieth chest, he obtained a Mythic Weapon: Blade of Karma! With a single slash, karma shattered, twisting the universe and overturning the myriad phenomena of creation! … On his ninety-ninth chest, he obtained a Mythic Divine Treasure: Primordial Purple Energy! It could split open the heavens and earth, create all things, and evolve countless worlds with a single thought! Lin Ye: “Now that I think about it… shouldn’t someone have told me that every chest is guaranteed to contain something Mythic?!”
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
