Chapter 154: Wang Jingyi, Dead

Wan Tang's fingertips in her sleeve curled sharply, but a coquettish smile blossomed on her face: "I am the Emperor's worm in his belly!"

She deliberately tiptoed closer, breathing like an orchid, "Whatever you think, I know."

In the next instant, Wan Tang was swallowed by a suddenly pressing sense of oppression.

Chu Yunzheng leaned down, trapping her between the palace wall and his arm, the scent of dragon‑saliva incense mingling with coldness enveloping them: "Then speak."

He rubbed her trembling lips with his thumb, his voice low as a lover's whisper, "What do I want to do at this moment?"

Wan Tang could feel the tremor emanating from the emperor's chest, merging with her own pounding heartbeat.

Looking at Chu Yunzheng's face, Wan Tang's heart thumped wildly.

If, at first, Wan Tang climbed onto the dragon bed merely to stay alive,

then later, Chu Yunzheng's repeated protections and daily pampering left her dazed.

He is also just a human.

The emperor is ruthless; what about Chu Yunzheng?

Wan Tang closed her eyes and said tenderly, "Emperor, I wish …"

She slowly leaned toward Chu Yunzheng's chest.

Chu Yunzheng's fingertip was about to brush the Pearl Hairpin at Wan Tang's temple when a sudden rapid footfall sounded from afar.

Li Defu bowed his head, standing a zhang away, his voice like water chilled with ice: "Emperor, Lady of Grace Jing is already waiting in Yangxin Hall, shall we send the sedan?"

Wan Tang saw clearly.

Those dragon eyes that had just been filled with lingering affection suddenly contracted, like glass shattered by a needle.

Chu Yunzheng snapped his hand back.

"Tangtang," he rasped, adjusting his sleeve, "You are truly carrying a child safely."

As he turned, his dark cloak swept over the snow‑covered ground, then he abruptly halted.

The night wind carried his low words: "Weren't you seeking revenge? Wang Jingyi, I have kept you useless."

The footsteps faded, and the palace lanterns flickered dimly.

Wan Tang watched the figure disappear behind the vermilion Palace Gate, then slowly raised her hand to her lower abdomen.

The icy fingertips touched the lips he had just caressed; the lingering warmth had already vanished.

【Dog Emperor, Dog Emperor, at last this moment has finally arrived.】

【To be honest, Wan Tang is a variable in this book; Lady of Grace Jing originally appeared in the original work and even became a headache for Xu Luoyan. After all, she was selected from the Xiao Family among thousands.】

【Indeed, moreover, this person has been on the Emperor's heart since the moment she was chosen.】

【Dog Emperor, a moment ago he was hugging Tangtang for a kiss, the next second he couldn't stand the loneliness. Give birth to a prince, give birth to a prince, and after having a prince he becomes Empress Dowager.】

The words in the Barrage made Wan Tang feel uneasy.

The emperor's true heart, indeed, is fleeting.

Wan Tang once again uncovered her own absurdity.

She repeatedly warned herself, yet still fell hopelessly deep into it.

Thinking of this, Wan Tang couldn't help to mock herself aloud.

Li Defu surprisingly did not leave with the carriage, but returned like a wandering spirit. Seeing

Wan Tang leaning against the palace wall and giggling, his thin voice mixed with the night wind: "Your Majesty, is something in your heart displeasing?"

Wan Tang was too lazy to look up, yet saw those cloud‑patterned official boots advancing step by step.

Li Defu looked around, then suddenly reached out to stroke her cheek: "All flowers will wither someday; the women of Fengqi Kingdom are all the Emperor's bedchamber guests, and you …"

"Bang!"

A slap struck his wrinkled face hard.

Li Defu covered his face, eyes wide, his eunuch‑sharp voice slicing the night: "How dare you hit my servant?!"

"It was hit, so it was." Wan Tang lightly brushed the cuff of her sleeve, as if sweeping away something filthy, "Do you still want to pick an auspicious time?"

"Heh!" Li Defu sneered, drawing nearer, "How many palace concubines beg my servant to touch their hands, you truly know no gratitude."

Before the words finished, a bucket of ice water poured down on his head!

Li Ping'er stood on the steps holding an empty copper basin, her frozen red fingers gripping the rim tightly.

Flames of terrifying fire burned in her eyes: "My master is the Emperor‑appointed Consort Wan!"

Her voice trembled badly, yet her body stood straight, "If you dare touch the lady again, I will die and call the Emperor back!"

Li Defu's teeth chattered from the cold, ice water trickling down his sable‑fur collar.

He stared fixedly at the little palace maid's reddened eyes, then suddenly gave a sly grin: "We never noticed before, Consort Wan's side also hides such a fiery temperament."

"Upon close look, they're all handsome."

"Get out!" Wan Tang grabbed the incense burner and smashed it, scattering ash and embers all over him.

Li Defu stepped back two paces, his poisonous gaze sweeping the master and servant like a viper's fang: "We'll see."

He flung his wet sleeve and turned, then turned back to lick his lips, "Little beauty, I've noted you."

【Disgusting! Li Defu is the most disgusting existence in the whole book. Yet in the story, Li Defu never gets any Retribution.】

【Indeed! In the original work, this part also disgusts me. After all, Li Ping'er is Li Defu's biological daughter! But Li Defu actually made Li Ping'er … Li Ping'er despaired, leapt into a well and killed herself.】

【Wan Tang's fate also changed; may Li Ping'er's fate also be altered!】

Wan Tang was shocked.

She silently wondered what kind of work could have such a twisted worldview.

Li Ping'er curled up in the snow, her cries tearing her lungs like a wounded little beast.

Wan Tang bent over and pulled her into her arms, the great coat wrapping their trembling bodies: "It's all over."

"I am not afraid!" Li Ping'er suddenly looked up, her blood‑red eyes blazing, "If he dares touch Master again, I will bite his throat!"

Her fingers, coated with snow foam, clenched Wan Tang's collar tightly, "Even if I have to stake this life, I will protect the Master."

Wan Tang's chest suddenly ached.

How could she not know that within that sincere hatred lay the despair of being treated as a plaything by her own father.

"Master, what's wrong with you?" Li Ping'er hurriedly wiped her eye corner with her frost‑red fingertips, "Are you still thinking about that condemned little palace maid?"

Wan Tang shook her head, snowflakes landing on her trembling lashes: "Qi Qi brought a scapegoat; I merely go with the flow."

She suddenly tightened her grip on Li Ping'er's icy hand, "But now is not the time to weep."

A razor‑sharp, icy glint flashed in Wan Tang's eyes: "Accompany me for a walk."

In the depths of the dungeon, the smell of mildew and blood congealed into a viscous web.

Water droplets fell from the rusted shackles, striking the blood‑stained floor and forming pits of varying depth.

Wang Jingyi hung from the execution rack by iron chains, her graying hair matted with coagulated clots, her once‑splendid brocade reduced to tattered strips, exposing the raw flesh beneath.

Each wound was precisely placed to avoid vital points, like a cruel life‑prolonging talisman.

As Wan Tang stepped over the slick moss, Ouyang Qing was wiping his fingers with a handkerchief.

Their gazes met briefly then split, and the creak of the iron gate opening and closing echoed long through the passage.

"Ugh!" Wang Jingyi suddenly thrashed violently, the iron chain scraping off rotting flesh fragments.

Her cloudy eyeballs bulged out of their sockets, the severed tongue root trembling wildly in her gaping mouth like a dying flesh worm.

"Bang!"

Wan Tang snapped a backhanded slap, the armor scraping three bloody streaks across her face.

"Bang!"

She struck harder with her forehand, Wang Jingyi's skull smashing against the rack, emitting a muffled thud.

A shattered croak forced its way from Wang Jingyi's throat, spattering blood foam onto Wan Tang's hem.

Wan Tang suddenly let out a low laugh, tears rolling down like broken pearls.

She drew a dagger from her sleeve, the tip tracing the old wounds slowly: "Your mother once begged you for mercy the same way, didn't she?"

The dagger suddenly drove into the shoulder blade, bending Wang Jingyi's whole body into an archer's bow.

"This strike avenges her."

The blade twisted, the sound of cracking bones ringing clearly.

The second thrust sank into the abdomen: "This is because you harmed me."

A sour, putrid odor from the ruptured intestines spread outward.

Wan Tang seemed to be performing a sacrificial rite, each bladefall delivering precise cruelty.

When the final thrust pierced the heart, she pressed almost her entire body weight down, listening to the crisp crack of broken ribs, her lips whispering beside the bleeding ear:

"Your daughter and son are both waiting for you in hell."

Wang Jingyi's pupils dilated suddenly, the last thing reflected being Wan Tang's maniacal grin.

That smile, warped by tears, was more chilling than any cry.

"Mother…" Wan Tang collapsed to her knees in the pool of blood, her trembling hand stroking the gradually cooling corpse, "Your daughter has avenged you!"

The dagger clanged onto the floor, and she suddenly tore at her own collar wildly, as if trying to extract the hollow that pierced her flesh.

Blood‑water snaked along the brick cracks into a dark river, while she stared blankly at the blood droplets falling from the cell ceiling, like a puppet whose soul had been ripped out.

【It's so heartbreaking to watch; revenge is done, is Tangtang happy now?】

【Is this the moment to think about happiness? Did everyone forget something important, that Wan Tang perhaps forgot to ask about Wang Jingyi's doll?】

【Does it matter whether you ask? Wang Jingyi has no tongue. Moreover, who the hell knows where Ouyang Qing is.】

【That's true, after all the Dog Emperor is the most suspicious.】

【Come on, the Dog Emperor is rolling in bed with someone and still sends people to watch Tangtang; does he think that's what's best for Wan Tang?】

The last breath in Wang Jingyi's throat had not yet faded when the iron lock on the cell door suddenly screeched.

Su Yanci, cloaked in a midnight‑black great coat, stood at the doorway, the lantern in his hand flickering violently; its dim amber halo swept over the sticky blood pool, finally settling on Wan Tang's blood‑splattered face.

"Did you kill her?" Su Yanci's voice sounded as if forced through clenched teeth.

The lantern clanged onto the slick floor, "Do you know the Wang family's influence in Jiangnan is a tangled web? If they learn you were behind this…"

Wan Tang slowly lifted her head, blood droplets sliding down her pale jaw.

She suddenly let out a low laugh, blood‑stained fingertips lightly tapping her temple: "Lord Su, how do you think I entered this death cell where even a fly cannot get in?"

Su Yanci's pupils snapped shut, his official boots slipping into a blood pit: "Could it be…"

He swallowed the rest of the sentence, his Adam's apple throbbing, fine cold sweat beading at his temples.

He suddenly lunged forward, grabbing Wan Tang out of the blood pool.

The blood‑stained white‑jade ring left a red mark on her wrist, its voice pressed urgent and low: "Li Ping'er! Lead your Master away."

"Run quickly!" Su Yanci ripped off his great coat to cover Wan Tang's shoulders, the cloud pattern lining the coat glowing faintly in the darkness, "Do not let anyone see you."