Chapter 57: Clearly, He Was the Rightful Husband

Late into the night, Huo Renli was subjected to relentless torture by Liu Jian, leaving his fingers swollen like carrots.

Just as he opened his wide mouth to wail, Liu Jian violently stabbed a barbed object straight into his throat. A massive surge of blood gushed out instantly, rendering Huo Renli unable even to scream. The agony can well be imagined.

Liu Jian, however, said with malicious satisfaction, "Don't think I am unaware that you are the person the Prince of Ding's Consort is looking for. The Fourth Prince wants to protect you, so I cannot expose you. No matter; aren't your waist and buttocks injured? I simply won't touch those two places."

"Your hands weren't broken during the execution, were they? And your throat—how is it so frail that it rotted away after so little shouting?"

A wave of overwhelming hatred washed over Huo Renli. In his hazy, delirious state, he recalled when he used to torture Consort Shu; back then, Consort Shu had also wished she were dead.

Yet he had never believed in karmic retribution. If he believed in anything, it was only that he had not been strong enough or ruthless enough, which was why others now had the opportunity to torture him like this.

Just wait. He would not die. He would surely survive, and he would make Liu Jian wish he were dead.

In his daze, he thought he caught sight of the Fourth Prince standing outside the window.

Why would the Fourth Prince just stand there and watch Liu Jian torture him?

No, it couldn't be him.

Even so, he rasped out a plea: "Fourth Prince."

Startled, Liu Jian hastily spun around to look. The outside was completely empty—where on earth was any Fourth Prince?

He snapped his head back, grabbed a fierce handful of Huo Renli's hair, and snarled, "Trying to scare me?"

"You truly refuse to shed tears until you see your own coffin!"

With that, he violently smashed Huo Renli's head against the bed frame. Only when Huo Renli was on his last breath, looking like a dead dog, did he spit in disgust and stride out.

After glancing at the extinguished lamps in the Fourth Prince's bedchamber, Liu Jian ultimately decided to take a risk and seek a powerful backer for himself first.

In case the Fourth Prince truly intended to protect Huo Renli, he had better switch places as soon as possible.

The Pine Moon Palace where the Prince of Ding's Consort currently resided was still managed by Eunuch Deng, albeit as a shared responsibility. If possible, going there would at least be peaceful.

When the time came, he could seize an opportunity to perform a meritorious service, and ask the Prince of Ding's Consort to recommend him to the Eastern Palace—that was the true path to his future prominence.

At this thought, Liu Jian quickened his pace.

What he had not anticipated, however, was that his trip would be in vain.

The Prince of Ding's Consort was still inside the Empress's palace. At that moment, Liu Jian felt as though a basin of icy water had been dumped over his head.

For the Empress to keep the Prince of Ding's Consort entwined like this, she must have already learned the Emperor's intentions and was guarding against the Consort.

For him to cozy up to the Prince of Ding's Consort in private was tantamount to going against the Empress—what kind of good end could possibly come of that?

Dispirited and cold at heart, Liu Jian returned, only to find the Fourth Prince standing by the palace gates, gazing at him with a chilling stare.

A sudden shiver ran down Liu Jian's spine.

"Your Highness, please listen to me—"

With a ferocious punch, the Fourth Prince slammed his fist forward, pinned Liu Jian's head down, and bashed it against the wall with loud, heavy thuds. Then, just as Liu Jian was spinning and on the verge of passing out, the prince delivered another fierce blow directly to his eye.

Accompanied by a miserable howl from Liu Jian, his whole body was instantly shocked back to sobriety.

The Fourth Prince raged, "I heard this is precisely how you beat him! Tomorrow I shall invite Grand Doctor Wang to continue his examinations. If his injuries deteriorate any further, you had better look out for your worthless dog's life!"

Liu Jian collapsed, sliding down to his knees in a limp heap of terror and dread. No one had ever told him the Fourth Prince could be this brutal!

"This slave understands! This slave will never dare again!"

"Hmph! Remember your words!"

"Get out!"

Liu Jian scrambled away in absolute panic.

The Fourth Prince cast a gaze toward the direction of the Palace of Fengyi, his eyes carrying an exceptionally resentful expression.

He had waited the entire night, yet his Imperial Aunt still refused to return to the Pine Moon Palace. He had no chance to see her at all—how was he supposed to carry out his plan?

This Empress usually appeared decisive and forceful, letting no one stand in her way when she flexed her authority.

How was it that the moment she encountered his Imperial Aunt, she became like a spoiled little darling who demanded someone's company deep into the night!

It had put him in a thoroughly foul mood, leaving him with no outlet other than to take it out on that vicious, scheming dog, Liu Jian.

Huo Renli could not be allowed to die just yet; he still needed to figure out a way to send Huo's entire family to their graves and extract the truth about his birth mother's death.

Suddenly, a thought seemed to flash across the Fourth Prince's mind. His gaze flickered for a fraction of a second before turning even darker and more murky.

...

Deep in the night, the Empress was murmuring softly in Lin Yue's embrace, having finally drifted off to sleep.

Yet her head was resting squarely on the small mirror, pressing painfully against Lin Yue's chest. Lin Yue couldn't very well reach out to shove her away; otherwise, it would look as though she were groping the top of the Empress's head—what kind of sight would that be?

Therefore, she muttered to the small mirror, "Could you lighten up a bit? Stop pressing against my chest."

On the other side of the mirror, Xiao Jingyun wore a suspicious flush on his face as his gaze darted shiftily. "I am already being as light as possible. Why don't you just push the Empress away?"

He was being treated like some peeping third party—what a nuisance!

Clearly, he was the legitimate husband!

Lin Yue retorted, "Would you care to repeat what you just said? She is the Empress! You expect me to push her away?"

"Do you seriously think the person I'm holding is the Empress?"

Xiao Jingyun asked, "What else could it be?"

Lin Yue scoffed, "Pfft, that just shows how utterly uncultivated you are. What I am holding is political backing, a golden leg, and supreme power."

Xiao Jingyun: [...] So, if he became sufficiently powerful and influential, would she stop thinking about leaving?

"Can't you exchange some of the merit points you've accumulated for these things? I thought you were all-powerful."

Lin Yue snapped, "Stop right there. Cut out the passive-aggressiveness; you sound like a jealous little wife."

"I do accumulate merit, but I also have to feed it back into the system and occasionally upgrade it. I can't just exploit it without nourishing it—how would that make me any different from a heartless scoundrel?"

"Can't you enter dreams? While you're at it, help me check if Xiao Jingyun has any childhood sweethearts or white-moonlight kind of women. The last thing I want is for him to come back and stab me in the back."

Xiao Jingyun's mouth twitched as he hastily replied, "He won't. You can rest assured."

Lin Yue pressed, "Why should I find that hard to believe? Are you his internal parasite or something?"

Xiao Jingyun said, "No, but he is just like you—I know whatever is on his mind."

With an expression of utter astonishment, Lin Yue asked, "Then what is he thinking about right now?"

Blushing, Xiao Jingyun answered, "You."

Lin Yue couldn't help letting out a scornful scoff: "Tch..."

The Empress rolled over, waking up in a sleepy haze as she asked, "Sister-in-law, what are you scoffing at?"

"Did I press down on you too hard?"

Lin Yue quickly placated her, "No, no, not at all. Imperial Sister-in-law, please go back to sleep."

The Empress hummed softly, shifted back onto the pillow to resume her slumber, but did not forget to clasp Lin Yue's hand as she murmured, "You should sleep too. Women who stay up late age quickly."

Lin Yue: [...] Was it necessary to hit that close to home?

Poor Lin Yue had barely fallen asleep when a series of merit notification sounds startled her awake, giving her a fright.

Awoken right along with her was the Empress.

System: [Detected merit converted from the villain establishing correct three-views energy: twenty thousand points.]

System: [Detected excessive consumption of villain's three-views energy, consuming merit: ten thousand points.]

System: [Detected excessive consumption of villain's three-views energy, consuming merit: five thousand points.]

Lin Yue: [...]

[What time of the night is it?]

System: [The third watch of the Yin hour.]

Lin Yue had a breakdown: [Is this dog of a villain Xiao Huaizheng playing Landlord in the middle of the night? Why is his mood fluctuating between sunny and stormy?]

[How is he even generating merit? And how is he able to independently consume it? What kind of logic is this?]

System: [Once merit points exceed one million, even if the system is not upgraded, hidden skills may be triggered at any time.]

System: [Since the villain is changing because of the host, the merit points naturally belong to the host as well. However, if the villain refuses to heed teachings and stubbornly insists on walking a dark path to the end, it will consume the host's merit.]

System: [Simply put, the blessings he creates count toward the host, and the sins he commits count as well.]

Lin Yue: [I'll be damned...]

Isn't this just like running a company where the employees who work for you mess up in the end, leaving her, the boss, to foot the bill?

Theoretically speaking, did there seem to be anything wrong with that?

The problem was—could she choose her own employees?!

She did not want the Fourth Prince working for her at all!

[System, how do I kick the Fourth Prince out?!]

System: [Detected excessive negative energy from the Fourth Prince, consuming five thousand merit points...]

System: [The host currently has only one million and two thousand merit points left... If this consumption continues, the plan to save Xiao Jingyun will be declared a failure.]

With a sudden, energetic leap, Lin Yue bounded right out of bed!

That scoundrel Xiao Huaizheng—refusing to sleep in the middle of the night and going completely mad, is that it?

Let's see how she deals with him!

As soon as Lin Yue scrambled up and bolted out, the Empress leisurely sat upright.

That little wretch Xiao Huaizheng wanted to wreck Lin Yue's merit system?!

No way. She had to think of a way to put a stop to this.

Thus, the Empress also climbed out of bed and quietly chased after Lin Yue.