Chapter 364: Beauty

Chu Yunzheng held Bai Li's hand and stepped onto the palace wall step by step.

Bai Li's hand was clenched tightly by him; the force was so great that there was no tenderness, only a heart‑pounding resolve.

A warning bell rang in her heart, and she felt uneasy.

"Emperor…" she lifted her face, straining to find a trace of past warmth in his eyes: "Do you still remember?"

"That year, when pear blossoms fell in a light rain, you said Subject's skirt fluttered like a White Butterfly finally landing in your palm…"

She made a final effort: "You said then that you would take me away."

"Subject is waiting for you in Fengdu, waiting for you to come…"

He was momentarily dazed, as if he truly saw, fourteen years ago, the girl under the pear trees who had turned back and smiled lightly at him.

"Fourteen years… Li'er," his voice drifted as his gaze fell on the rioting mob whose shouts shook the heavens, "the flowers will wither, the butterflies will fade, and we can never return."

The color drained from Bai Li's face in an instant, terror filling her eyes: "Emperor, you cannot abandon Subject; you know Subject loves you."

"The one who harmed you is Wan Tang; she deliberately cut off the army's pay, causing your shortage."

"That scoundrel Nan Zhu was also placed by her beside me on purpose. All the schemes were urged by that scoundrel Nan Zhu."

She tried to break free, but Chu Yunzheng restrained her even more tightly.

In her anxiety, Bai Li nearly collapsed, shouting recklessly: "Moreover, didn't you, Emperor, say those ideas were good at the time?"

Amid the roar of countless citizens and the silent gaze of civil and military officials behind them, Chu Yunzheng held her, as if completing a sacrificial rite, and stepped toward the edge of The City wall…

Even if Bai Li were foolish, what else could she not understand?

She roared: "From the start you knew these deeds could never be done, yet you claimed they were the quickest way to solve the problem."

"Chu Yunzheng, when you praised my merits in the Grand Hall, it was not an acknowledgment of me. It was only for today…"

The more Bai Li struggled, the tighter Chu Yunzheng's grip became.

When they reached the wall, he suddenly released his hand and stepped back half a pace.

He no longer looked at her, turning toward the surging crowd below the city:

"I, deceived by treacherous courtiers and indulging in pleasure, have let the state's order fall into chaos, causing the masses to suffer."

"Heaven's calamities are indeed my fault!"

"Yet those who deceive the holy heart, rely on favor and become arrogant, and whose families run rampant, sowing chaos in the state…"

His finger, mercilessly, pointed at Bai Li's trembling figure beside him, "All are the crimes of this demon concubine!"

"Today, I will hand this nation‑ravaging demon over to the people, to appease Heaven's wrath!"

Bai Li stood there, her whole body icy, as if her blood had frozen at that moment.

The so‑called youthful deep love, the so‑called white moonlight, the so‑called unique pampering, were nothing but a mirage.

Before imperial power, she ultimately became the most expendable offering used to quell the masses' anger.

Bai Li, filled with sorrow and anger, turned her head and looked at the proud Wan Tang in the distance, grief welling from her heart.

Only at this moment did she finally understand why Wan Tang said she had never been her own opponent.

It turned out this was a game of chess set by Wan Tang and Chu Yunzheng; she was merely a piece, how could she claim the right to be an opponent?

She neither cried nor defended herself further.

After the utmost despair came a strange calm.

She summoned her last strength to uphold that pitiful pride: "Chu Yunzheng, so this is the ending you gave me."

Chu Yunzheng stared at Bai Li, his voice low: "Li'er, you once said you would do anything for me, right? You love me deeply, don't you?"

Bai Li looked at the false affection in his eyes, tremblingly shaking her head and stepping back: "No… Emperor, don't…"

Seeing her refuse, the tenderness on Chu Yunzheng's face vanished instantly, replaced by a frost‑like coldness.

He sneered: "What, now that the moment is at hand, you're scared? Or do you feel aggrieved?"

He stepped closer, his gaze sharp: "Don't put on an innocent front before me! From when you first schemed in Fengdu, deliberately falling into Yan Wang's hands, and then endured humiliation to return to my side."

"While you did those things, I already knew exactly what kind of woman you are!"

Bai Li, as if struck by lightning, lost all color in her face and began to tremble violently.

So he knew everything!

The schemes she thought clever, the disguises she relied on for survival, were, in his eyes, nothing but a clumsy performance.

Fatigue showed in Chu Yunzheng's eyes: "I have already secured the world, yet I do not know what more I desire."

"Back then, I truly believed that an unattainable youthful love could fill the void in my heart," Chu Yunzheng's voice was unbearably cruel.

"Chu Yunzheng…" her voice was as light as a sigh, drifting in the wind, "You made me lose so terribly!"

Bai Li's figure fell from the towering palace wall, eventually swallowed by the surging crowd below.

For a moment, the roar and commotion beneath the city seemed to freeze.

Chu Yunzheng stood at the wall's edge, the gale whipping his bright‑yellow dragon robe, rustling loudly.

No trace of emotion remained on his face, only the emperor's chill.

He slowly raised his hand, the same simple gesture as before, still striking fear into the mob below.

His gaze, like torches, swept the crowd, his voice deep and powerful:

"The demon concubine who plagued the nation is now condemned!"

In just six words, decisive and unyielding, all the mistakes were said to stem from Bai Li.

And he had merely made the mistake every man in the world makes.

It was just the hero's difficulty passing the beauty's hurdle!

Chu Yunzheng's emotions shifted swiftly, and he sighed with countless emotions.

"I am fully aware of the suffering you have endured!"

He continued, his tone heavy with anguish, "It was my negligence, being deceived, that let treachery rule and the common people suffer!"

Immediately after, his voice suddenly rose:

"I, the Son of Heaven, hereby swear: from this moment, I will open the granaries, release food, reduce taxes, strictly investigate corruption, and restore peace to the world!"

His tone shifted, his gaze becoming as sharp as a hawk, his whole body exuding a chilling killing aura:

"If any petty ruffians exploit this natural disaster and human calamity to plot rebellion, seeking to shake the foundation of Fengqi Kingdom and harm the people."

He paused, letting the invisible pressure envelop the whole scene, then each word struck like a thunderclap:

"I will personally lead the royal army, scour the courts and sweep the dens, annihilate their nine clans, and show no mercy!"

He combined benevolence and terror, decisive in slaughter.

Where he stands becomes the center of imperial power.

Chu Yunzheng remains exactly the same Chu Yunzheng.

All that Wan Tang painstakingly crafted seems able to be exchanged for peace by Bai Li's death.

On the palace wall.

Su Yanci walked slowly to Wan Tang's side, his gaze finally resting on her calm profile.

"Your Majesty," his voice low, "are you satisfied with this scene?"

Wan Tang heard this, a faint curve lifting her lips, a detached knowing that saw all: "As expected."

Su Yanci nodded slightly, then asked, "Since that is so, should Subject now obey the previous decree, capture Your Majesty and send her to the Heavenly Prison?"

His words paused briefly, deep affection gathering in his eyes: "Or, escort Your Majesty away?"

One sentence, bottled up inside: leaving the Capital, a place of right and wrong…