Chapter 288: Volume 1 Chapter 288 Empress x Top Courtesan (18)

When she was about to suffocate, the young man loosened his fingers, gripping her neck madly, pressing close to her ear, his low tone giving the illusion of gentleness.

"Be good and stay by my side."

Jiang Zhi saw how quickly his face changed, comparable to Sichuan opera face‑changing, sending a chill down her spine.

Isn't that right? Where is his first personality?

777 whispered: "Host, since the villain's first personality is completely suppressed by the second, unless the second personality relaxes, the first hardly appears."

Jiang Zhi's heart gave a sudden jolt.

Is that little angel Wen Ci not coming out?

What a pity.

While she was lost in thought, Wen Ci and Lao Du Bian left the palace and went outside.

Jiang Zhi lifted the covers, got out of bed, and wanted to return to the Cold Palace.

Just as she reached the Palace Gate, the young man walked over toward her.

His pupil color darkened suddenly, he strode over, grabbed her wrist, and forced her to follow.

Arriving at the bedside, the young man shoved her over; she stumbled and sat awkwardly to one side, sensing the dangerous aura emanating from him, her heart tightened, and she hurriedly said: "You… don't come over."

Could it be that he's about to twist her neck right now?

Wen Ci's ruthless and sinister emotions were no longer concealed; his handsome face now looked like a demon's, twisted and spliced.

"Where are you fleeing to?"

As he spoke, he drew nearer; the bluish‑black shade under his eyes was deep, as if he hadn't slept in ages, bloodshot lines tracing the whites, and he pressed her down like a madman.

"It's useless; even if you fled to the underworld, I would still take you with me."

Even his self‑reference changed to 'I', showing the young man had gone completely mad.

Jiang Zhi looked at the stranger before her; even if he had been terrifying five years ago, she never imagined he would become such a psychological deviant now.

What exactly happened to him over these five years?

"I… just want to return to the Cold Palace; tomorrow morning I still need to go to the Laundry Room, or I'll miss breakfast." She explained word by word, earnestly, as if stating something quite important.

After she spoke, she clearly sensed the young man's emotions stabilizing, no longer as frenzied as before.

"You needn't go there anymore." He said softly, then rose and left the Sleeping Palace.

He left her alone.

This time Jiang Zhi dared not get out of bed; she sat there waiting for him to return, and after a few minutes she grew so sleepy she could barely keep her eyes open.

She curled up in a corner and fell asleep.

The next day she woke up.

Her treatment received an unprecedented upgrade.

A table full of delicacies made her salivate just from the smell.

After the palace attendants helped her change clothes, the young emperor in a gold‑threaded dragon robe stepped into the hall; the attendants then withdrew, leaving only the two of them.

Jiang Zhi stood motionless, imitating the attendants by kneeling on the ground and sincerely kowtowing twice.

Seeing this, the young man's brows furrowed slightly; watching the person whose forehead had turned red from kowtowing, his fingers unconsciously tightened.

If before he had suspected she was feigning amnesia to escape his torment, now he fully believed her.

As Empress, Jiang Zhi was arrogant and cruel; it was utterly impossible for her to go to the Laundry Room to wash clothes and pay him respects.

Because for her, that would be more humiliating than anything else.

But the amnesiac before him resembled the guard who had accompanied him for a month in every way.

Wen Ci's face was expressionless: "Attend to My meal."

Jiang Zhi hurriedly rose, walked to the table, picked up the long chopsticks, and placed the vegetables she had picked onto his plate.

The young man's elegant fingers rested on the table edge, tapping intermittently, but he did not eat.

Jiang Zhi froze for a moment, then realized she should first taste the food to check for poison.

She used another pair of chopsticks to sample each dish, but there were so many that while tasting she forgot everything and began eating the rice.

The cooking of this Imperial Kitchen is excellent, truly on par with a five‑star hotel.

When she had eaten and drunk her fill, sitting in the chair like a limp corpse, she unintentionally met a sharp gaze nearby; glancing over lazily, her body shuddered and she suddenly knelt down.

"Please punish me, Your Majesty."

Before, as Empress, she could never eat so freely; the original owner's setting was someone who disliked food, and eating too much would break character.

But now it's different; she is no longer the Empress.

Wen Ci said succinctly: "Get up."

Jiang Zhi had already braced herself for death, but she never expected that he would not only not blame her, but also let her eat all the dishes on the table.

She had originally been eighty percent full, but now she had eaten the whole table, feeling completely stuffed.

She involuntarily let out a burp; meeting his gaze again, she quickly covered her mouth and asked seriously, "Your Majesty, aren't you eating?"

She had finished the entire meal, not a morsel left.

Wen Ci finished the vegetables she had previously placed on his plate.

He rose and said, "Undress me."

Jiang Zhi wiped her mouth and followed him into the Sleeping Palace.

Never having undressed anyone before, she was fumbling; her fingertips occasionally brushed his skin through the inner garment, feeling as cold as he was.

After a couple of touches, she suddenly leaned toward his chest, astonished to see a red flush spreading on the skin at his collar.

Where his skin had been pale with visible bluish‑green veins, patches of red now spread.

She hadn't been looking long when he reached out, pushed her away, walked to the bedside, lay down, and told her, "Come over."

Jiang Zhi's face flushed as she listened, and she stammered, 'Your Majesty, it… it isn't proper.'

No matter how you say it, she is still a woman, sharing a bed with him—clearly taking advantage of him.

Wen Ci gave her an indifferent glance.

Jiang Zhi swallowed, her throat churning wildly, she walked over with heavy steps.

When she lay down on the bed, she clearly felt the chill emanating from the youth's body, a genuine, biting cold.

Jiang Zhi shrank her neck, wanting to shift a bit outward.

An arm stretched out from beside her, tightly gripping her waist, pulling her into an embrace without giving her a chance to refuse.

Feeling the ice‑like chill, Jiang Zhi shivered uncontrollably and couldn't help asking, 'Your Majesty… are you seriously ill?'

Before she could finish speaking, the youth coldly interrupted: 'Shut up.'

Jiang Zhi kept silent, but pressed against the ice‑like chill she couldn't sleep, nor dare to move; she had thought he would be awake like her, yet a steady, even breathing sounded behind her ear.

He can actually sleep like that?

She didn't dare ask, lying uncomfortably on the bed for over an hour; her posture was terribly sore, so she gently shifted, hoping to change position.

As she lifted her gaze, she met the youth's black eyes filled with scarlet bloodshots, deep and unfathomable, frighteningly profound.

Jiang Zhi was about to explain a sentence when the youth closed his eyes before she could speak, as if already fallen into deep sleep.

She couldn't help doubting whether she was hallucinating—how could someone who was sleeping soundly suddenly open his eyes?

After shifting her posture, Jiang Zhi felt a bit more comfortable; in the boredom, she caught a faint herbal scent from the youth, not unpleasant, and as she kept sniffing she also grew drowsy.

She dozed off in a haze for an unknown length of time, then was awakened by shouts from outside.