Chapter 554: Chu Emperor, Truly a Failure!

Along with Ji Gonggong came two stout grandmothers and four knife‑wielding guards.

If Li Qingluo showed any sign of resistance, they would act at once, bind her and take her to Qian Yuan Hall.

Li Qingluo, of course, would not impulsively defy.

She nodded toward Zheng Mama standing nearby.

Then she, with Xi Qiu and Ji Gonggong, walked outward.

The Seventh Princess hurried over at the sound.

"Grandfather!"

"What's happening?"

"Is there something the Father Emperor cannot ask again tomorrow?"

"Lady Nangong is, after all, a woman; if she is summoned by the Father Emperor to Qian Yuan Hall in the dead of night, her purity would be compromised."

"Perhaps I should go with her as well?"

Ji Gonggong looked at Li Qingluo with difficulty.

Li Qingluo:?

She could still manage a princess, couldn't she?

And what even a princess can think of, this chief steward Ji Gonggong can't fathom!?

It's clearly trampling this woman's reputation at will!

Dog Emperor.

Li Qingluo gave Ji Gonggong a cold, shivering stare.

The look sent a chill down Ji Gonggong's spine.

However, the Seventh Princess coming out for her at such a late hour was something Li Qingluo had never expected.

Ji Gonggong was sweating profusely, with a lingering apprehension toward Li Wu.

So he finally replied: "Princess Your Highness, if you don't mind the trouble, perhaps you could go together with this servant and the General's lady."

"Right, wait!"

"Please have the General's lady remove all weapons she carries and leave them here."

Li Qingluo pointed at the sleeve arrows on the windowsill: "You mean those?"

"Ji Gonggong, no one is sleeping yet still wearing these things."

Qian Yuan Hall.

"Your Majesty, Lady Nangong has arrived."

However, within the tightly shut door there was no sound at this moment.

"Your Majesty?"

Ji Gonggong called out again.

Suddenly a booming voice from inside shouted: "Let her in!"

Ji Gonggong, trembling, pushed the door open and ushered Li Qingluo inside; just as he was about to close the door, Zongzheng Xingyao darted in like an arrow from the side.

"Princess—Princess Your Highness, the Emperor has not let you in, come out quickly!"

Ji Gonggong, terrified, was instantly covered in a dense sheen of sweat, lowered his voice in tension and reached out to seize the Seventh Princess.

Zongzheng Xingyao kicked the door shut with his foot.

It slammed into Ji Gonggong's head.

And with a wail, he fell to the ground.

Ji Gonggong, frantic and regretful, shouted: "It's over, it's over, my life is finished too…"

Yet inside the hall, where was any sign of the Chu Emperor?

A faint smell of wine filled the entire hall.

Li Qingluo pointed at a door and said: "He went in."

"The moment I entered, I saw him slip inside with my own eyes."

Zongzheng Xingyao: "You truly disrespect the Father Emperor. You're courting death, aren't you?"

Li Qingluo smiled: "Princess Your Highness came today with a resolve to die; how can you just call me a servant wife?"

Li Qingluo did not think she would truly risk herself just out of concern for her safety and chastity.

She wanted to find an opportunity to escape the matter of marriage.

Zongzheng Xingyao did not deny it.

"Stop babbling and go see what my Father Emperor wants from you this time!"

Zongzheng Xingyao grabbed Li Qingluo and sprinted toward that small door.

Yet as they neared within ten steps, they hesitated and slowed.

Li Qingluo: "What's wrong?"

"Is there a ghost in that room?"

"Your Highness is actually scared like this?"

Li Qingluo lifted the Seventh Princess's trembling hand.

Zongzheng Xingyao: "I only know there is a secret chamber inside Qian Yuan Hall."

"No one may step inside even a half step."

"Otherwise, one will die without a burial place."

"Back then, a beauty favored by the Father Emperor, thinking herself special in his heart, foolishly opened the door halfway; before she could step in, the Father Emperor caught her red‑handed."

"It is said she was dragged by the Father Emperor into the secret chamber."

"From then on, she never came out again."

"Only people have heard her mournful wailing from inside......"

Li Qingluo: "So your father the emperor intends to lure me into the secret room and then kill me cruelly?"

The Seventh Princess, somewhat frightened, grabbed Li Qingluo and suddenly wanted to turn around and flee.

Li Qingluo took the opportunity to shove her away, then quickly stepped forward and pushed open the small door, and walked inside.

"No—Nangong Qingluo!"

Li Qingluo closed the door.

She lifted her head and looked at the secret room before her.

The walls were covered with densely packed portraits.

On the desk lay a new scroll, along with wet ink and dozens of messy palettes scattered across the tabletop.

The floor was littered with scattered papers.

Some depicted eyes.

Some depicted eyebrows.

Some depicted only a mouth.

And these lively features seemed to have come alive, piecing together into that person covering the entire wall.

Leaping off the paper, lifelike.

It was the face of Duan Rongshi, and also the face of the mother consort, Zongzheng Qingyue.

"Is she beautiful?"

The Chu Emperor, Zongzheng Langri, wearing a loose, disheveled robe, holding a wolf-hair brush, staggered out from the rack behind him.

He gazed at the portraits of beauties on the wall with an obsessed expression.

Some were standing.

Some were lying down.

Some were sitting among the flower bushes, admiring the flowers and watching butterflies.

There were also tender, youthful girls sitting on swings, flashing them bright, toothy smiles.

Moreover, some rested their cheeks on their hands, silently gazing at the profile outside the window.

They were all Zongzheng Qingyue.

These were the longing that the Chu Emperor himself had painted stroke by stroke over these years.

"Very beautiful. She is the most beautiful person I have ever seen in this world."

Li Qingluo spoke these words from the heart.

Zongzheng Langri curled the corner of his mouth: "Then what about you dying as a burial companion for her?"

Li Qingluo: "No way."

On Zongzheng Langri's face, which still showed his handsome aura, a flash of astonishment was clearly visible.

"What did you say?"

"Bold slut, you dare to refuse such an honor!"

"Do you know who she is——?"

Li Qingluo: "Who she is—shouldn't you, Your Majesty, be the one to say?"

Since entering the room, Li Qingluo had neither knelt nor performed any greeting rites.

She walked in a half-circle, circling the Chu Emperor.

She also took the opportunity to size up the structure of the entire room.

Zongzheng Langri: "She is the woman I love most in this world."

"Having seen her appearance, you must not even think of leaving this room half a step."

Saying this, he drew a sword from the nearby easel and pointed it directly at Li Qingluo's position.

"I see you have some beauty, and you are also frank and cheerful. Otherwise, do you think I would take a liking to a married woman like you to accompany her?"

"My Yue'er likes most a maid like you who is quick-witted and intelligent; having you serve her, she will surely be delighted."

The Chu Emperor spoke, gradually becoming excited.

Until Li Qingluo poured a basin of cold water over his head.

"Using a living person as a burial companion—do you really think she would be happy?"

"Moreover, my husband has been running errands for you abroad for several months; though he returns only a day or two late, you have killed his wife."

"Knowing you are an unkind tyrant, I never imagined you would also be a shameless scoundrel."

When had the Chu Emperor ever been scolded to his face like this?

He instantly flew into a rage from shame: "Killing you as a burial companion is also his honor!"

"It's just a woman. If he finishes his errand and returns, what kind of beauty could I not provide for him?"

"By then, who would still remember a trivial merchant's wife like you?"

"He wouldn't even know that you had come to the Qianyuan Hall."

"Nangong Clan, prepare to die!"

The Chu Emperor raised his sword and thrust it forward.

Li Qingluo swiftly dodged and, taking the opportunity, pulled down a scroll.

When the Chu Emperor thrust his sword again, she quickly unfurled the scroll, placing the painted figure against the blade.

Zongzheng Langri hastily retracted his sword, causing himself to stumble backward several steps.

Li Qingluo seized the chance to turn and run toward the door.

Chu Emperor: "You want to escape?"

"You can't escape!"

He let out a cold snort, and then, unexpectedly, he became calm and steady behind him.

Li Qingluo heard Zongzheng Xingyao's voice from outside: "Let go of this palace—"

"Nangong Qingluo, they've locked the door!"

"Quickly think of a way to get out—"

Li Qingluo turned and faced the Chu Emperor's grim, terrifying countenance.

She calmly gripped her own wrist.

Her face bore a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

"It's actually locked."

"That's really great!"

The Chu Emperor was momentarily unable to react: "What did you say?"

Li Qingluo removed her bracelet, and in the Chu Emperor's astonished gaze, the fine thread made a swoosh as it was pulled open.

"I've heard that the Emperor of Great Chu, when young, was unmatched in horseback archery and battle, never yielding to any general in the slightest."

"Today, let this subject consort ask you for a little instruction?"

The Chu Emperor looked at the little trinket in her book, his face full of contempt.

"Just you?"

"Ignorant of heaven and earth, seeking death!"

"However, you must first put down the painting. Otherwise, I will have your corpse cut into ten thousand pieces."

Li Qingluo tossed the scroll aside.

Her rough action thoroughly angered the Chu Emperor.

He let out an angry roar: "I will have you die!"

However, when the sword became entwined with that fine thread, he discovered it was not ordinary iron wire.

His Shangfang treasure sword actually could not cut through it!

What on earth is this thing!?

Just as the Chu Emperor was taken aback, Li Qingluo lunged forward like an arrow.

She grabbed the fine thread with both hands and jerked downward hard at the sword's tip; the sword easily slipped from the Chu Emperor's hand.

With a pull and release of the bracelet, she seized the moment to leap forward and jump onto the Chu Emperor's back; in the blink of an eye, the fine thread tightly wound around his neck.

"Don't move!"

"Your Majesty, this fine thread you look down on can easily sever your entire head."

"But you must never, out of disbelief, want to try it."

The Chu Emperor realized he had fallen for her trick.

Even gritting his teeth, he truly remained motionless in place.

Li Qingluo smiled satisfactorily: "These years, your nightmares and love of drink have long drained the vigor of your youth."

"Now, Zongzheng Langri is truly a good-for-nothing!"

Having said that, she grabbed the Chu Emperor's head and gave it a gentle twist.

The Chu Emperor let out a thud and passed out.

Li Qingluo checked his breath, confirmed he was still alive, and then got busy.

Li Qingluo had merely been testing the waters; she never expected the Chu Emperor to be this useless.

Just like the present-day Great Chu, its foundations are probably already utterly fragile; anyone could easily topple this tottering dynasty.

Li Qingluo shook her head and yanked down the curtain she had already marked.

After cutting the curtain open, she used it to tightly bind the Chu Emperor.

She also wasn't in a hurry to knock on the door and demand to go out.

Instead, she dragged the Chu Emperor into a corner and left him there, while she lifted her gaze to the portraits of the imperial consorts filling the room.

How should these paintings be dealt with?

Li Qingluo narrowed her eyes; she quickly had an idea in mind.