Chapter 334: My Name is Qing'er

When the false is taken for the true, the true also becomes false; where there is nothing, there is also something.

Within this Royal Palace, with every person and every affair, how is it not sometimes like the Land of Illusion in the Dream of the Red Chamber, where truth and falsehood are difficult to distinguish?

Sometimes when looking back, Luo Zijun feels as if this period of time has been like a dream.

Everything that has happened in the Royal Palace seems as if it were a dream.

Outrageous, absurd, inconceivable, sinking, obsessed, crazy... from the very beginning to the present, the entire process has been like a gradually evolving dream that outsiders simply cannot imagine, nor dare to imagine.

Of course, this is not a dream.

Supported by an old nurse, Imperial Concubine Jia lowered her head to take her leave and told him: "I will leave the palace tomorrow to go back and see my parents, and also go to Daguanyuan to see my sisters."

Before, she did not dare to leave the palace, fearing that if she left, she would not be able to return.

Of course, she was not afraid of being unable to return; she simply knew that she bore the fate of her entire family on her shoulders, so she could not afford not to return.

Now, she is no longer afraid.

Because she knows too many things, and also because she has regained her value.

She knows that the Queen will no longer harm her.

The Queen also smiled and said: "It is good to go back and see, especially those sisters in Daguanyuan; you must go back and see them often, and you must keep a good watch on them for Official Luo. Do not wait until Official Luo returns to find that people have been stolen away."

Imperial Concubine Jia naturally understood her meaning and withdrew after accepting the order.

When only two people were left in the room, the Queen finally spoke of the matter Luo Zijun had been waiting for a long time: "Including you, there are twelve people in the caravan; among them, eight are from the five major sects of Great Yan, two are from the imperial court, and one is a guide they hired. Every year, a team of such people goes to the Daughter Kingdom. They do not go there for the sake of business, but to exchange for cultivation resources, or rather, to steal them."

"The Daughter Kingdom has a unique kind of Spirit Stone that can allow martial artists to accelerate their cultivation speed, and there is also a unique kind of Spring Water that can change a person's constitution. They never sell them to outsiders, so there are many thieves..."

"Great Yan once briefly reached an agreement with them to exchange some cultivation resources every year, but a year later, the agreement was torn up. The cultivators from the five major sects and the imperial court were unwilling to accept this, so they could only go secretly."

Luo Zijun interjected: "Why was the agreement torn up?"

The Queen hesitated for a moment, a complex look appearing in her eyes, and she said slowly: "Next to the Daughter Kingdom, there is another country. A rebellion occurred there at the time. We in Great Yan supported the rebels, sent various resources, and even directly dispatched martial artists to help. The Daughter Kingdom supported the then-reigning royal family. In the end, the rebels won. Therefore, the agreement between our Great Yan and the Daughter Kingdom was interrupted."

Speaking of this, a trace of mockery appeared on her face: "It is a pity that later, when that rebel family completely controlled that country, they directly severed diplomatic relations with our Great Yan and even said one sentence: 'Between humans and beasts, we would rather trust the beasts.'"

"As a result, everything Great Yan plotted fell through, and we lost both our wife and our soldiers."

Luo Zijun thought to himself: That must be the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons.

He asked again: "Then did Great Yan not retaliate?"

The Queen sneered: "Of course they retaliated. They slaughtered some old, weak, women, and children, and common civilians, yet they boasted triumphantly within the country, saying they had severely taught the other side a lesson. Then, hundreds of martial artists were all skinned and dismembered by the other side and hung at the border, including even a Grandmaster."

Luo Zijun said worriedly: "If so, does that side hate humans very much?"

The Queen was stunned, her gaze looking at him with suspicion.

Luo Zijun had no choice but to admit: "I know that country is called the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons, a country composed of many demon families."

The Queen suddenly narrowed her eyes, stared at him for a while, and suddenly asked: "Are you sure that the place you are going to is the Daughter Kingdom?"

Luo Zijun remained silent.

The Queen stood up abruptly from her chair, staring at him with a gloomy and uncertain gaze.

The room fell silent.

After a long time, the Queen suddenly gave a self-deprecating smile, looking at the dark night outside the window, as if talking to herself: "This palace should have guessed it earlier, should have guessed it earlier..."

Seeing her like this, Luo Zijun was afraid she would go back on her word and was just about to guarantee again that he would return, when he saw her turn her head to stare at him and say: "When someone saw another woman outside the city, she must be a demon, right? Was she abducted?"

Luo Zijun said: "Yes."

A look of contemplation appeared in the Queen's eyes, and she asked suspiciously: "Why? She is clearly a human now..."

Luo Zijun immediately caught the key point and looked at her, saying: "Now? Does the Queen mean..."

The Queen came back to her senses, looked at him with cold eyes, and said: "Do you confess to the crime of deceiving the Emperor?"

Luo Zijun lowered his head and said: "This subject confesses."

"Hmph, then stretch your head over here, off with your head!"

The Queen sneered.

Luo Zijun did not dare to resist, walked closer, and stretched his head over.

The Queen kept her pretty face cold, stretched out a jade finger, and while poking his head, said coldly: "Do you think that if you honestly confess your crime, this palace will spare you? The crime of deceiving the Emperor should be punishable by death, but considering you have served this palace diligently for so long, this crime can be big or small; it all depends on your performance tonight!"

Luo Zijun said tremblingly: "Your Highness, then the matter of departing tomorrow..."

As long as this matter was not reneged upon, he would be willing even if she sucked him dry tonight.

"Hmph!"

The Queen let out a cold snort, patted his head, and said: "You still dare to mention tomorrow's matter?"

Luo Zijun shuddered all over and hurriedly said: "Your Highness, as long as tomorrow's matter is not reneged upon, this subject will definitely do his utmost tonight to make Your Highness happy."

The Queen did not answer immediately; she stared at him for a while and suddenly asked: "Official Luo, do you like it cold, or do you like it hot? Or, do you like both?"

Luo Zijun was startled: "Your Highness is referring to..."