The Empress Is Completely Enraged

Afternoon.

The air pressure in the Imperial Study was so low it was suffocating.

Crash!

Another priceless tea set made of ten-thousand-year warm jade was swept onto the floor, shattering into pieces.

The palace servants knelt on the ground, their foreheads pressed against the cold golden bricks, trembling in fear.

Recently, Her Majesty had become increasingly irritable, like a trapped beast in a cage.

Trash! You are all trash!

Wu Lingxiao paced back and forth in the great hall, her phoenix eyes bloodshot.

She could not figure it out. She truly could not figure it out.

Why?

Why was it that even after his rations were cut off, even while living next to a latrine, that damn Ye Xuan was still smiling every day?

His happiness was like a thorn deeply pierced into Wu Lingxiao's heart, aching with every beat.

She had everything, yet felt empty.

He had nothing, yet his heart was rich.

This was simply the greatest mockery of her as the Female Emperor!

Please quell your anger, Your Majesty.

A pair of gentle hands lightly rested on Wu Lingxiao's shoulders.

The Empress Consort, Zhou Xubai, walked up. Even when facing the furious Female Emperor, he still maintained the composure and elegance of a noble young master.

Your Majesty, you are blinded because you are too involved in the situation.

Zhou Xubai spoke in a soft and gentle voice, Ye Xuan can still smile because he has not yet seen a true comparison. He is a frog in a well, thinking he can survive just by clinging to his pitiful pride.

Then let him see just how wonderfully those who have abandoned their pride can live.

Wu Lingxiao stopped her pacing and turned to look at Zhou Xubai, Are you saying...

Does Your Majesty remember those from the Palace of Beautiful Men?

A meaningful smile curled the corners of Zhou Xubai's mouth, Lin Zimo, Su Jin, Chu You. When they were first captured and brought into the palace by Your Majesty, did they not also kick up a fuss, threatening suicide and claiming they would rather break than bend?

Wu Lingxiao's eyes instantly lit up.

Indeed.

How could she have forgotten about these trophies?

Lin Zimo, formerly the young master of the leading orthodox sect, full of arrogant bones. After being captured by her, he went on a hunger strike for three months, but didn't he ultimately kneel at her feet?

Su Jin, once a world-renowned scholar who prided himself on his noble character, now competed with the concubines in the harem out of jealousy just to beg for a youth-retaining pill.

They had all been Ye Xuan once.

But now, they were all Wu Lingxiao's most obedient dogs.

Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!

Wu Lingxiao pulled Zhou Xubai into her arms, a cruel light flashing in her eyes, You are right. Let these seniors teach Ye Xuan what it means to be a wise man who submits to circumstances. Let them tell Ye Xuan just how comfortable it is to kneel.

Pass on my decree! Have the three from the Palace of Beautiful Men proceed to Changmen Palace immediately. Make sure they get along well with Ye Xuan!

Changmen Palace.

Ye Xuan was squatting in the courtyard, teasing the ants on the ground with a twig.

Uncle Fu was sighing on the side, holding half a hard, dark steamed bun in his hand.

Just then, a rich scent of rouge and powder drifted over, mixed with an extremely high-level spiritual energy fluctuation.

The main door was pushed open.

Three gorgeously dressed men with stunningly beautiful appearances walked in, surrounded by attendants like the moon among the stars.

The leader, wearing a purple-gold robe with a top-grade jade pendant hanging at his waist, was none other than Lin Zimo. He looked at the dilapidated courtyard, a trace of disgust flashing in his eyes, and covered his nose with a brocade handkerchief.

So this is that Ye Xuan?

Lin Zimo looked down at Ye Xuan, who was dressed in coarse hemp garments, and sneered, He looks decent enough, but what a pity he is a brainless fool.

Ye Xuan stood up, clapped the dirt off his hands, and curiously looked at these three men who resembled peacocks showing off their feathers, Who are you?

We are your future role models.

The flamboyantly dressed Su Jin swayed his hips as he walked up next. He stretched out a hand covered in gemstone rings, pointed at Ye Xuan, and said:

Little brother, listen to your older brother's advice. Stop being so stubborn.

Look at me, I used to be a tough nut too, thinking it was shameful to be a woman's plaything. But what about now?

Su Jin spun around smugly, showing off the silk and satin on his body:

This Flowing Cloud Brocade was rewarded by Her Majesty. This Beauty-Fixing Pearl was bestowed by Her Majesty. In this palace, as long as you serve Her Majesty comfortably, you will live a life like an immortal. Just think about it, those cultivators outside fight to the death over a few spirit stones, while all we need to do is lie in bed and moan a few times, and we have everything.

Chu You, who had remained silent the whole time, also walked up. His eyes were somewhat evasive, but he still advised in a low voice:

Ye Xuan, you have seen it too. Her Majesty's beauty is unmatched in the world, and she is a mighty figure in the Tribulation Transcendence stage. Submitting to her is not shameful. So many people want to kneel but cannot even find the door.

The three took turns, using both the carrot and the stick.

They spoke of the wealth and glory after serving in the bedchamber, spoke of the beauty of power, and spoke of how simply lowering one's head could exchange dignity for tangible benefits.

Ye Xuan listened quietly.

Until they spoke so much their mouths grew dry, stopping to wait for Ye Xuan to show a look of envy or wavering.

Ye Xuan suddenly laughed.

There was no envy in his smile, only a deep, undisguised disgust.

Are you done talking?

Ye Xuan took a step back, as if getting any closer to them would infect him with some kind of plague.

You guys... Ye Xuan pointed at them and asked seriously, Do you really think this is glorious?

Lin Zimo's expression changed, What did you say?

I said, you make me feel disgusted.

Ye Xuan's voice was not loud, but every word was clear, exploding in the courtyard like a clap of thunder:

I used to hear storytellers talk about brothels.

Most of the women in brothels come from fallen families or were trafficked; to survive, they have no choice but to sell their bodies. Although they are in the mud, they are forced by circumstances. They do it to stay alive.

Ye Xuan raised his head, his gaze looking straight at these three sharply dressed men, his eyes like knives:

But what about you?

You have hands and feet, and you have cultivation bases. You could have gone outside to kill demons, gone to farm the fields, or even gone to beg for food. You had countless choices to survive.

Yet you just had to choose the most degrading path of all—kneeling to be dogs.

That Female Emperor is even more disgusting.

Ye Xuan's face was full of revulsion as he said coldly:

A brothel is a transaction. But her?

She relies on her high cultivation and the power in her hands to force good people into prostitution. She tramples on the dignity of others to satisfy her twisted desire for conquest.

I think...

Ye Xuan took a deep breath and slowly spat out the words that were enough to pierce the heart:

She is more disgusting than a brothel madam, and more degrading than those prostitutes who willingly degenerate themselves.

You bunch of people and her together are truly a perfect match.

Boom!

The roof of the Imperial Study was instantly blown off.

An absolutely terrifying black storm, with the imperial palace at its center, swept madly in all directions.

All the cultivators in the Great Xia Imperial Capital looked up in terror, feeling the wrath of that Female Emperor who seemed ready to destroy the world.

Disgusting?

Degrading?

Wu Lingxiao's hair was disheveled, her eyes as crimson as blood. Her entire being was like an Asura crawling out of hell.

In her life, she had been cursed as a tyrant, and cursed as a venomous woman.

But never had anyone dared to compare her to a brothel woman!

No one had ever dared to say she was more disgusting than a brothel madam!

She was the supreme and lofty Empress.

"Good... very good, Ye Xuan!"

Wu Lingxiao laughed out of extreme anger. Her laughter was sharp, piercing, and absolutely blood-curdling.

"Since you think I am disgusting, and since you think they are lowly..."

"I will let you be ruthlessly trampled under the feet of these lowly people!"

A divine sense reeking of blood instantly spread throughout the Changmen Palace.

"Relay my decree!"

"Lin Zimo, Su Jin, Chu You! Beat him for me!"

"As long as you don't kill him, you can torture him however you want! I want him to kneel! I want him to beg for mercy! I want to break every single bone in his body to see if his mouth remains this stubborn!!"

Inside Changmen Palace.

The expressions of the three people who received the decree changed instantly.

Lin Zimo's face was the first to turn from pale to red, eventually becoming incredibly ferocious.

Because Ye Xuan's previous words had pierced through the last layer of his dignity.

He was once a proud young sect master, but now he had been reduced to this state.

Such a thing would have been fine if everyone just kept a tacit understanding.

But once it was torn open to his face, this sense of shame instantly transformed into monstrous hatred.

"You called us dogs?"

Lin Zimo pulled out a spiritual whip covered in barbs from his storage bag; it was a gift bestowed upon him by the Empress.

"Then today, I'll make you worse than a dog!"

Smack!

The spiritual whip swung down, carrying Foundation Establishment stage spiritual energy, and viciously lashed against Ye Xuan's body.

Pfft!

Ye Xuan was only at the Qi Condensation stage; he couldn't dodge it at all.

His clothes instantly burst apart, and a bloody gash deep enough to show bone appeared on his chest.

As severe pain struck, Ye Xuan let out a muffled groan. His entire body was sent flying, crashing heavily against the wall.

"Beat him! Beat this foul-mouthed trash to death!" Su Jin also rushed up screaming, holding a red-hot iron rod in his hand.

Chu You hesitated for a moment, but under Lin Zimo's fierce glare and the Empress's oppressive aura, he could only grit his teeth and join the gang beating.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Punches and kicks rained down, accompanied by spiritual weapons.

This was a one-sided slaughter.

Uncle Fu cried out and lunged forward, wanting to protect Ye Xuan, but he was kicked flying by Lin Zimo until he passed out.

Ye Xuan curled up on the ground, protecting his head with his hands.

It hurt a lot.

It really hurt.

With every lash of the whip, it felt like flesh was being torn from his bones.

His consciousness began to blur, and fresh blood dyed the dirt beneath him red.

But he didn't cry out once.

He clenched his teeth tightly. Even if his lips were bitten to shreds, even if cold sweat mixed with blood flowed into his eyes, he refused to let out a single scream begging for mercy.

"Scream! Scream for me!"

Lin Zimo beat him with bloodshot eyes, looking like a madman.

What he hated the most was not Ye Xuan insulting him, but Ye Xuan's refusal to yield at this moment.

Because the tougher Ye Xuan was, the more it highlighted how pathetic he himself had been when he knelt and begged for mercy back then!

"I don't believe you aren't afraid of pain! I don't believe your bones are this hard!"

Lin Zimo mounted Ye Xuan, smashing his fists into Ye Xuan's face one after another.

They beat him for a full two hours.

The courtyard of Changmen Palace was already a complete mess.

Ye Xuan lay in a pool of blood. There wasn't a single piece of intact flesh on his body, and his aura was as weak as a candle in the wind.

Lin Zimo and the other two were also panting from exhaustion, their heads covered in sweat.

"Huff... huff... Is he behaving now?"

Lin Zimo wiped the blood off his hands and looked at the mangled, bloody figure on the ground, a twisted sense of pleasure surging in his heart.

"Hey, are you dead? If you aren't, get up and kowtow to me, and I'll go plead with Her Majesty for you." Su Jin kicked Ye Xuan's leg.

Right at this moment.

The corpse on the ground twitched.

Ye Xuan struggled to prop up his body, leaning against the corner of the wall. His face was so swollen that its original appearance could no longer be seen. One of his eyes was completely swollen shut, and bloody foam continuously bubbled out of his mouth.

But his intact eye remained clear and calm.

He looked at the three panting abusers in front of him and suddenly grinned, revealing a bloody smile.

"Cough, cough... Are you... done beating me?"

Lin Zimo's pupils shrank, looking at him as if he were looking at a monster. "You... you can still smile?"

Ye Xuan panted, leaning against the wall. His voice was weak, yet it carried a heart-trembling sense of pity:

"Why wouldn't I be able to smile?"

"My body is in pain... but my heart is clean."

He looked at Lin Zimo's twisted face and said softly:

"The harder you beat me, the more it proves how terrified you are inside."

"What are you afraid of? Afraid of admitting you are cowards? Afraid of admitting you knelt too quickly back then?"

"You're courting death!"

Lin Zimo roared furiously, raising his whip to strike again.

"I don't blame you."

Ye Xuan suddenly said.

These simple words made Lin Zimo's raised hand freeze in mid-air.

Ye Xuan looked at them. There was no hatred in his eyes, only deep sympathy:

"Really, I don't blame you."

"You are victims just like me. It was that Empress who turned you into ghosts."

"You beat me because you are jealous of me. Jealous that I can still stand, while you have knelt for so long that you can no longer get up."

"You vent your anger on me because you don't dare to rebel against her. You are pitiful people too..."

"Shut up! Shut up! I won't allow you to say I'm pitiful too! I am above others! I am a favored concubine!"

Su Jin screamed, covering his ears as if he had broken down.

The quietest one, Chu You, dropped the club in his hand to the ground with a clatter.

He looked at Ye Xuan, who was covered in blood yet still sympathized with them, and looked at those clean eyes that were free of any impurities.

Suddenly, Chu You covered his face, squatted on the ground, and began to cry bitterly.

"Wuu wuu wuu..."

He cried his heart out.

Ye Xuan's words had shattered the last line of defense in his heart.

Yes, he was jealous. Jealous of the flawlessness of the man before him.

"I won't beat him anymore... I can't do it anymore..."

Chu You shook his head as he cried, stumbling backward:

"I am an animal... I am a beast..."

Lin Zimo's hand holding the whip was also trembling.

He looked at Ye Xuan's calm gaze and suddenly felt that the whip in his hand weighed a thousand pounds.

He wanted to continue beating, wanted to shatter this mirror, but he realized he no longer had the strength.

This shame coming from the depths of his soul was far more unbearable than physical pain.

"Let's go."

Lin Zimo finally gritted his teeth, tossed down a bottle of healing pills, and the few of them scurried away dejectedly.

The Imperial Study.

Through a water mirror, Wu Lingxiao watched this entire scene unfold.

When she saw Chu You drop his club and cry bitterly, when she saw Lin Zimo's trembling hands not daring to strike again, when she saw Ye Xuan covered in blood yet saying I don't blame you.

Pfft!

Wu Lingxiao violently spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Her face instantly turned as pale as paper, and her body tottered.

This was not a physical injury; this was damage to her Dao Heart!

Wu Lingxiao slowly raised her head, the blood at the corner of her mouth not yet dry. In those phoenix eyes that had once looked down upon the world, there was now only a terrifying dead silence and madness.

"I don't blame you..."

Ye Xuan's light, fluttering words echoed in her mind like a nightmare.

Did she lose?

Would I, the sovereign, lose to a mere ant at the Qi Condensation realm?

"No."

Wu Lingxiao stood up abruptly, her voice low and dark, like the sinister whispers of a demon god from the Nine Nether Abyss.

"I have not lost. As long as I desire it, there is nothing in this world that I cannot obtain."

Staring at her disheveled and twisted reflection in the mirror, she suddenly let out an unhinged sneer.

"Since I cannot win your heart, and since you refuse to yield to both soft words and hard force..."

"Then I shall simply take your body."

"Once you are tainted with my aura, you will never again be able to walk this world as a pure and untarnished man."

"Ye Xuan, you forced my hand."