Zhan Haoting waved the hand he had kept behind his back, signaling the hidden guards who were about to reveal themselves to stand down.
Right now, she was just like a desperate fugitive with countless lives on her hands, instinctively reacting after waking in an unfamiliar place.
She must have killed quite a few people!
What had she been through?
Cheng Yao had come to her senses somewhat by then. Not daring to meet his unfathomably deep eyes, she awkwardly withdrew her hand, then helped straighten his rumpled collar. With an ingratiating chuckle, she said, “Well, I was having a nightmare. In the dream, some villain was strangling me, so I couldn’t just sit there and wait to die, could I? Naturally, I strangled him back. Hehe…”
Zhan Haoting seemed to believe her and did not press the matter. “Why aren’t you resting in bed?”
“I was waiting for you to come back so we could talk.” Cheng Yao rose to her feet. “Did the physician say what kind of medicine it was?”
After she returned, the physician had taken the handkerchief away to examine it and had not returned it to her.
She had been thinking about this the entire time?
Zhan Haoting’s eyes flickered. “Your soup contained an anti-pregnancy decoction. The one in my bowl was a sterilizing drug. Both are forbidden medicines from the previous dynasty.”
Sterilizing?
Holy crap!
That bastard emperor was vicious!
Exiling him wasn’t enough—he even wanted to make him impotent!
And she was being dragged into his suffering too!
From the original owner’s memories, the anti-pregnancy medicines here were all extremely cold in nature. Nine out of ten pregnant women who drank them would miscarry.
So this was to prevent her from conceiving on their wedding night.
Fine, fine, fine. Bastard emperor, I’ll remember this grudge for poisoning us today!
Cheng Yao gritted her teeth. Though she looked ferocious, in Zhan Haoting’s eyes she was merely adorably fierce, like a little beast whose fur had been ruffled.
His gaze gradually softened, and his heart grew somewhat heavy with emotion.
“Since neither of us drank the medicine today, I’m afraid I won’t be able to let you go.”
The bastard emperor was worried that she might be carrying his child. If she left, he would certainly have her killed to silence her.
Cheng Yao understood what he meant. “Then what do you plan to do?”
Seated upright in his wheelchair, Zhan Haoting closed his eyes as if utterly exhausted. Yet Cheng Yao felt that he was like an evil dragon rising from the abyss, its claws and scales gleaming with a chilling light, every sharp edge exposed.
“You should sleep first. I still have some matters to deal with.”
Zhan Haoting did not answer her directly. He turned his wheelchair and left.
…
She slept soundly through the night.
Just before dawn, Cheng Yao quietly got out of bed.
Zhan Haoting was gone, and the spot where he had lain was cold. He probably had not returned all night.
It seemed he was anxious too.
Without making a sound, she entered her portable space.
The place was shrouded in mist. The black soil gleamed with a rich, oily sheen and stretched as far as the eye could see. Only one mu of land held the seedlings of the mutant spirit plants she had personally cultivated.
A clear spring bubbled and flowed in the center, its surface shimmering with tiny golden flecks.
All around it were neatly stacked supply crates from the apocalypse: compressed biscuits, antibiotics, hot-pot ingredients, and more.
She crouched down and dipped her fingertips into the spirit spring. A cool sensation traveled up through her veins.
The space was still there. The spirit spring was still there. Even the supplies she had risked her life to obtain during the apocalypse were still there.
This was her trump card. She had to come in and check on it every day before she could feel at ease.
After leaving the space, she teleported to Murong Chen’s storeroom.
Today was the third-day return visit to her family home. Before that, she had to empty his storeroom first. She wanted to see how Cheng Lan could still go home and gloat afterward.
With the support of his mother, the imperial consort, and his maternal grandfather’s family, Murong Chen had gathered countless treasures in the palace.
But later, he would become a traitor who sold out his country.
A great villain like him did not deserve an easy life.
Upon entering the storeroom, Cheng Yao was nearly blinded by the glittering treasures inside.
Crates of gold and silver ingots, pearls as large as fists, countless delicacies and rare ingredients, ancient antiques and calligraphy and paintings… The entire storeroom was piled high.
The phrase “mountains of gold and silver” had finally become a tangible reality.
Good heavens, had he calculated that she would come and prepared all this especially for her?
Fine, fine. Since that was the case, she would gladly accept it.
Cheng Yao’s eyes curved into crescents as she waved her little hand. Every treasure vanished into her space.
Beside the storeroom was a secret chamber. It was filled with weapons, as well as a dragon throne, dragon robes, and an imperial crown.
Had Murong Chen gone insane dreaming of becoming emperor?
Since that was the case, she might as well give him a hand.
She moved the dragon throne into his study and hung the dragon robes and imperial crown conspicuously beneath the eaves.
Then she scattered the weapons everywhere, tossing them from the secret chamber all the way to the main gate.
It was still before dawn, and everyone in the residence was asleep. Even the night guards and serving matrons were dozing off and shirking their duties. Cheng Yao used teleportation to flash in and out without a trace, and no one noticed her.
Having finished the job, she concealed herself and took no credit.
About half an hour later, the sky began to brighten. A guard yawned, stretched, and dragged his feet along on patrol.
Suddenly, his gaze sharpened.
A patch of bright yellow was right in front of him, looking as if someone had been hanged there.
Wondering if he was seeing things, he rubbed his eyes and looked again.
That splendid, majestic dragon robe was hanging beneath the eaves, so clear that there could be no mistaking it.
His pupils contracted. He turned and ran toward the house.
But he had not gone far before he ran back in panic and jumped up, trying to take down the dragon robe.
The commotion he made was so loud that it attracted everyone else’s attention.
“Ah!”
The entire residence erupted into an uproar. Soon, more people discovered weapons scattered around the estate, and they were terrified. They ran through the residence, shouting the news to one another.
Secretly possessing weapons and dragon robes—either offense alone was punishable by beheading.
The Second Prince was finished.
And so were they!
Murong Chen had knelt until both his knees were swollen and unable to support him properly the day before. He was also insatiably lustful and had overexerted himself in bed the previous night, so he had only just fallen asleep.
Now, hearing the commotion outside along with cries and screams, he opened his exhausted eyes.
Not a single servant attending him was in the room. He pulled open the door and roared like a furious dragon, “Where has everyone gone?”
At that moment, the commander of the guards, Chen Qi, hurried over to report. His face was deathly pale.
“His Highness the Second Prince, something terrible has happened! The residence has been robbed. The storeroom has been emptied, and everything inside has vanished. But the weapons have been thrown everywhere, and the dragon robes—the dragon robes have been hung beneath the eaves…”
“What!”
Murong Chen felt as though a bolt of lightning had struck him. His mind went blank, his knees buckled, and he pitched forward.
“His Highness the Second Prince!”
Chen Qi hurriedly caught him.
Cheng Lan, having heard only the general outline, came out while pulling on her clothes and shouted, “What are you standing around for? Hurry and report this to the authorities!”
Murong Chen’s mind exploded, and he suddenly snapped back to his senses. “You idiot! We can’t report this!”
Cheng Lan flinched in fright. Before she could recover, he shoved her aside roughly, and she staggered, nearly falling.
But his eyes held nothing but disgust. There was none of the tenderness or pity he had once shown her.
“Chen Qi, seal the entire residence immediately. No one is to leave. Anyone who disobeys is to be killed without mercy.”
“Chen Bohai, go get the black box from my study.”
Murong Chen planted his hands on his hips and panted heavily.
His face was hideous, the veins on his neck bulging. He looked just like a gambler who had lost everything, without a trace of the dignity or nobility befitting a prince.
Cheng Lan felt disappointed and wronged. She silently got to her feet and moved aside.
A moment later, Chen Qi brought over the black box.
Murong Chen fumbled with the lock, opened it, and rummaged around until he found a bottle. “Go. Give everyone half a pill.”
He shoved the bottle into Chen Qi’s hands. “Tell them to keep what happened here a secret. They can come to me for the antidote every month, and then they’ll remain safe and sound.”
Poison?
Chen Qi’s hand trembled, and he nearly dropped the bottle.
“His Highness the Second Prince, there are over a hundred people in the residence…”
