After exchanging just a few moves with the emperor, the masked assassin knew he was no match for him.
By now, his arm had been run through, blood mingling with cold sweat as it dripped down.
Since this was fated to be his final day, he would take someone down with him before he died.
The assassin yanked down the canopy curtains and swung his sword backhanded.
Crash—a deafening sound as the bedpost snapped clean in two!
Yun Yi under the bed: An earth-earthquake?
She crawled to the other side to save herself.
The moment her hand emerged from under the bed edge, a bloody hand flashed before her eyes and yanked her out viciously.
Yun Yi found herself face-to-face with a dark, shadowy figure: not the emperor, but an assassin.
The assassin let out a grating, gleeful laugh: Heaven will not let me die! The emperor has hidden his woman here!
Xiao Zhi rushed out from the collapsed dragon couch, his heart pounding inexplicably as he searched everywhere.
“Yun Yi?!”
“Mm—”
She was trapped in the assassin’s grip, sending out a signal for help.
“Don’t hurt her,” Xiao Zhi said in a low voice.
The thick clouds parted, and a pale, silvery moonlight filtered down, illuminating the bedchamber.
Like a cornered beast, the assassin dragged his prey toward the folding screen. Two silhouettes—one tall, one short—resembled a shadow-puppet play of hostage-taking.
Yun Yi thought for a moment, then opened her mouth—and with astonishing ferocity, bit down on the assassin’s foul-smelling arm, chomping down hard.
“AHHHHHHH—”
The masked assassin let out agonizing screams as searing pain shot through him. This wasn’t a person—it was a pouncing tiger!
Xiao Zhi seized the moment and flipped the folding screen over. The carved rosewood screen crashed against the wall and shattered with a loud crack.
Yun Yi’s vision went dark: “Be careful! Those are antiques!”
Xiao Zhi pulled her protectively behind him, his foot already pressing down on the assassin’s wound. He suddenly applied force, grinding down viciously.
Crack—the sound of splintering bone.
“Your Majesty!” The imperial guard captain had arrived too late.
The scene inside the bedchamber was horrifying. The shattered screen, the collapsed dragon couch. His breath caught—he felt a faint, pathetic sense that today might be his last day on earth.
The masked assassin bit his tongue, a muffled groan rolling from his throat. A strange, sweet fragrance spread through the air as dark, brownish-black blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Yun Yi had grown up following her father around and had seen plenty of mummified corpses in tombs, so she felt no fear at all. The thrill-seeking gene ran through her veins. She stood on her tiptoes, eager to get a closer look. But Xiao Zhi was working against her, raising his arm to block her completely.
Annoyed, Yun Yi grabbed Xiao Zhi’s arm and shoved it aside, then forcefully squeezed her head out from under his armpit.
Xiao Zhi: “…”
The guards were impressed: How bold. How audacious.
Xiao Zhi looked down. Beneath his arm, two rows of long, thick eyelashes fluttered at him. Yun Yi tilted her neck, her eyes looking up at him from below. “I’ve never seen a fresh corpse before.”
She smiled at him, a horrifying streak of red hanging from the corner of her mouth.
It was left over from biting the assassin.
Xiao Zhi frowned and roughly wiped the corner of her mouth with his other sleeve. “You bite such filthy things?”
All three masked assassins had taken poison and died.
They were a group of death warriors.
Xiao Zhi said, “Interrogate every palace attendant on duty tonight.”
As he had been falling asleep, he vaguely recalled smelling a heavy, cloying fragrance, and his eyelids had grown heavy. Thinking back now, the scent rising from the heated floor was suspicious.
The palace attendant currently being restrained by the guards suddenly broke free and tore open his robe with great force.
Swish!
A silver streak shot from the attendant’s hand, drawing a cold, sharp line through the air—straight for the emperor’s heart!
Yun Yi’s heart leaped: Here comes the climax of a Hollywood action movie. The villain won’t die that fast.
No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than her body instinctively threw itself in front of the emperor. “Look out!”
Xiao Zhi never expected that this small body crashing into him could possess such astonishing force.
That tremendous force knocked him to the ground. A flash of white light appeared, and a weight lifted from his chest.
Not far away, the guards subdued the assassin who had disguised himself as a palace attendant.
Xiao Zhi looked around in confusion. The young woman who had just pressed herself against him, eager to see a corpse, had vanished. In her place, two objects now lay beside him.
A strange little satchel.
And the imperial seal.
Xiao Zhi picked up the seal, turning it over and over in his hands.
He remembered her saying, “I am your imperial seal.” It turned out not to be nonsense.
He quickly pressed the seal to his ear, wanting to hear the voice inside.
The warm jade rested against his ear, but all he could hear were the voices of the guards. Nothing else.
“Is Your Majesty injured?”
The wound on Xiao Zhi’s palm had split open, blood seeping out.
He glanced down briefly and only said, “It’s nothing.”
The imperial guard captain lowered his voice. “Your Majesty, what about… the young lady?”
Only three people had witnessed Yun Yi’s disappearance: the emperor, the guard captain, and the palace attendant who had thrown the hidden weapon.
Xiao Zhi rose to his feet. The corner of his sleeve still bore the bloodstain from wiping Yun Yi’s mouth—the mark had now blurred into the shape of a plum blossom. He walked toward that attendant.
Unlike the death warriors, this attendant, who had infiltrated the emperor’s retinue, carried no poison in his mouth.
Seeing the emperor approach like a vengeful ghost, an eunuch tremblingly raised a palace lantern higher to illuminate the attendant’s figure.
Knowing that death was certain—seeing the three cold corpses on the ground—the attendant suddenly bit down on his own tongue!
Xiao Zhi’s eyes turned bloodshot. He seized the man’s jaw with fierce force, his five fingers clamping down.
With a sharp crack, the attendant’s jaw dislocated.
The emperor raised his hand. The guard understood and presented a dagger.
“You wanted to bite your tongue? I’ll help you.”
The dagger’s cold blade turned slightly, and a severed piece of tongue fell to the ground.
“Take him to the dungeon and interrogate him thoroughly.” Xiao Zhi wiped the blade clean, his voice icy. “If he can’t speak, it doesn’t matter. Give him paper and brush.”
—
The bedchamber was ablaze with light. The dragon couch was destroyed.
The emperor sat behind his desk, in low spirits.
An empty tray lay on the desk, but Xiao Zhi did not place the imperial seal on it. Instead, he held it in his palm, rubbing it repeatedly.
When Yun Yi had blocked the hidden weapon, Xiao Zhi had clearly heard the sound of something hard striking, followed by a flash of white light.
And then she was gone.
He carefully examined the four corners of the imperial seal. No nicks or damage. It was perfectly intact.
Was this some kind of immortal magic?
Then he looked at the strange little satchel Yun Yi had left behind.
Xiao Zhi spoke to the seal: “…May I take a look at your bag?”
“That doesn’t mean I’m trying to snoop,” he lowered his voice slightly. “You used a long-distance communication device to talk to your father. Can I use it to talk to you?”
No one answered.
Xiao Zhi looked out the window. The night sky had no moon. The starlight was sparse and forlorn.
“So I really am looking? You won’t be angry, will you?”
No thunderbolt came down from heaven. Did that mean she wasn’t angry?
Xiao Zhi picked up the satchel clumsily, examining it from side to side.
A plush keychain dangled from the bag, swaying before his eyes. His finger accidentally brushed against it, and the keychain made a strange noise.
“Biubiu~ Freeze!”
The emperor stiffened into a corpse.
What an embarrassing scene. Fortunately, no eunuchs or palace maids had witnessed it.
He could hear the voice but saw no one. Something was off.
Xiao Zhi pressed it again.
“Biubiu~ Freeze!”
“…”
He sat up straight. He truly wasn’t moving.
But his mind was racing: the voice was Yun Yi’s. Was this also a long-distance communication device?
The immortal realm really had so many tricks.
After several attempts, Xiao Zhi gave up trying to speak through the device.
Without any immortal arts, he looked like a complete fool trying.
After another incense stick’s worth of contemplation, Xiao Zhi finally managed to open the satchel along its opening.
The ingenious way the immortal realm’s bag sealed itself opened his eyes.
Inside the bag were only a few small boxes, each covered with dense rows of tiny characters—what Xiao Zhi called “simplified script.” Some he recognized, but others were so simplified that he couldn’t understand them.
Still, he vaguely guessed that these were likely what Yun Yi called “immortal medicines.” The things she had used to dress his wound before were similar.
With such a major incident occurring in the emperor’s bedchamber, the entire palace was ablaze with light.
The Empress Dowager personally arrived. “Where is His Majesty injured?”
Her tone was sincere and earnest, as if they were nothing more than an ordinary mother and son.
Imperial Physician Zhang followed close behind and stepped forward to take the emperor’s pulse. The state of his injuries was alarming.
Although thick, purulent fluid oozed from the emperor’s wound, his gaze remained sharp.
Xiao Zhi frowned: I’m not dead yet.
“His Majesty has developed a high fever,” Physician Zhang said gravely. “This humble subject will first prescribe some medicine.”
The Empress Dowager said, “His Majesty must prioritize his own health.”
Xiao Zhi leaned against a nearby couch, covered with a dragon-patterned cloud quilt. Beneath his pillow were Yun Yi’s immortal medicines.
He had been about to use them when the Empress Dowager’s people burst in, delaying him for quite a while. Only then did he realize his forehead was burning hot—an illness that struck with the force of a collapsing mountain.
Finish the examination and get out. The emperor’s eyes churned with murderous intent.
The Empress Dowager’s gaze fell on the imperial seal resting on the small desk. She couldn’t help but stare at it for a moment longer.
The imperial seal lay there quietly, completely intact. The qilin beast carved atop it held its head high, gazing back at her.
Yun Yi’s three souls and five spirits had been sucked into the imperial seal, and she was equally helpless. How exactly do I get out of here?
After the Empress Dowager’s people withdrew, that barefoot doctor surnamed Zhang proved equally useless. All he knew was taking pulses and writing prescriptions.
Hearing that the emperor was ill, Yun Yi paced anxiously in circles: Ah, it took him half an hour just to figure out a zipper. I’ve never seen such a clueless ancient person. Just use the medicine! There are plenty of anti-inflammatories and fever reducers right here!
Wait.
How would an ancient person understand what “anti-inflammatory” meant?
Yun Yi sighed. If you die, you’ve only yourself to blame.
“Your Majesty…” A young eunuch entered, sniffling.
Xiao Zhi sat back down at his desk. “What are you here for?”
Yun Yi hopped in place inside the seal. Her view was obstructed, but she could barely make out a thin eunuch kneeling on the floor—this was Wang Delan, Xiao Zhi’s trusted aide.
The young eunuch looked up.
His lips were chapped, his cheeks flushed as if caked with an excess of rouge.
He looked sickly.
Then she looked at the emperor. His complexion was identical to the eunuch’s.
Master and servant both celebrated their high fevers together.
“This humble servant heard His Majesty was ill and wished to attend to him.”
“So you can pass your pestilence to me?” Xiao Zhi snorted.
Yun Yi inside the imperial seal: Stop bickering, Your Majesty! Use the medicine! Use it now!
She jumped and bumped about, surging outward with reckless determination.
“Your Majesty, this humble servant wouldn’t dare! Your Majesty…” Wang Delan knelt and cowered backward.
This was his first time serving in the emperor’s presence. Hearing that the emperor had been attacked, he felt he didn’t want to live anymore. Crawling here, he had come to see the emperor one last time before he died.
Clack!
Yun Yi, seal and all, rolled off the desk.
The imperial seal, which had been resting on the small desk just a moment ago, suddenly slid onto Xiao Zhi’s lap.
Something heavy settled beneath him. Xiao Zhi looked down at his lap. “?”
Yun Yi lay on something soft—the emperor’s sleeping robe. She reached out to push herself up. Wait. The texture felt strange. Soft and squishy, it seemed like…
She suddenly looked up and met those pitch-black, lacquered eyes.
The emperor’s illness had soured his mood, making him even more gloomy.
Yun Yi raised both hands in surrender. “I didn’t mean to!”
Xiao Zhi, struck in a vital spot, grabbed the imperial seal and examined it from all sides.
“You’re inside,” he said, his tone certain.
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