Gu Sang: Why is it this idiot again??
"Also, did you already know about the flood in Liujiang City?"
"You've been helping Pei Weiqi all along!"
Pei Changying was so enraged that his eyes were bloodshot. He stared intently at Gu Sang, as if he would devour her if she dared to deny it.
The taste of being betrayed again by his beloved nearly drove him to lose his sanity.
Just moments ago.
He had received a report from the general he sent to aid Liujiang City.
That disgraced woman Pei Weiqi had already arrived in Liujiang City ahead of them, and what's more, she had invented something called a "makeshift lifeboat"!
These lifeboats were far more portable than bamboo rafts.
This was clearly not something their country could produce, with extremely unusual materials. It must have been Gu Sang who told Pei Weiqi how to make them.
Seeing it was Pei Changying, Gu Sang raised her eyebrows and smiled, showing eight teeth: "Yes, yes, I told Weiqi. Are you angry again?"
"Should I have told you instead of her?"
"Last time with the plague in the city, you knew before Weiqi, and then what? What did you do! If you had known about this in advance, would you have locked up the imperial physicians and consorts again, preventing them from saving people?"
"I'm telling you to have some shame, you've nearly ruined the royal family's reputation."
Pei Changying's face alternated between green and red. As his expression changed, he suddenly remembered Consort Li, whom he had confined in the palace.
This wretched woman had conspired with Consort Zhao to deceive and scheme against him, making him lose face in front of the whole world.
This bitch deserves to die!
Thinking of this, Pei Changying stared at Gu Sang with meaningful eyes, and as he looked, he suddenly smiled.
He revealed that confident smile that Gu Sang despised the most.
Gu Sang: "......"
Every time this idiot shows that smug, slimy smile, it's never a good thing!
Indeed, I should help Weiqi recruit more troops quickly and get rid of him sooner!
Pei Changying ordered in a deep voice: "Bring Consort Li here."
Consort Li?
Seeing Gu Sang frown, Pei Changying curled his thin lips and said, "Sang Sang, don't you think this bitch deserves to die? She dared to conspire with Consort Zhao to deceive me."
"Consort Zhao is already dead, I won't pursue her anymore."
"But Consort Li, I absolutely won't let her die so easily."
The implication of these words to Gu Sang was that he would no longer easily trust anyone's words, and the incident with Consort Zhao jumping off the building would never happen again.
Gu Sang had long since experienced Pei Changying's cruelty and selfishness.
Although she was worried about Consort Li's situation in her heart, she had to maintain a calm exterior.
Under imperial power, what were consorts?
They were just beings slightly stronger than ants! In this palace, Consort Zhao wouldn't be the first to die.
"Your Majesty, Consort Li has arrived."
The eunuch called from outside the door, then brought Consort Li in.
Gu Sang immediately looked at Consort Li.
Her clothes were neat and clean, it seemed she had only been confined in the palace by Pei Changying, but her face looked somewhat haggard, whether from fear or worry was unclear.
Consort Li's timid and fearful face immediately began to tremble as she knelt on the ground upon seeing Pei Changying.
"Your Majesty, I truly didn't know that Sister Zhao would betray you."
"I was unaware."
Pei Changying walked over and kicked Consort Li to the ground.
In Consort Li's violently contracting pupils, Pei Changying's gloomy, demon-like face was reflected. Not satisfied, he pulled out the jade belt from his waist.
With a "whap," he struck Consort Li.
"Ah!!!"
Consort Li curled up on the ground, screaming in agony.
Pei Changying's jade belt continued to strike various parts of Consort Li's body without pause.
Consort Li begged in pain, her body curled into a ball: "Your Majesty! Ah!! Your Majesty, it hurts so much, I'll never dare again, please stop beating me......"
Gu Sang's heart skipped a beat, a flash of bloody light passed through her eyes before returning to calmness.
A moment later, Gu Sang sat there with a composed face, seemingly unmoved as she watched Consort Li being brutally beaten by Pei Changying.
She looked as if she truly didn't care about Consort Li's life or death.
Really?
No!
She just didn't want to excite Pei Changying!
Pei Changying, oh Pei Changying, you think you can control me like this? You're too useless!
Gu Sang suddenly revealed a complex emotion and said, "Pei Changying, are you serious? You want me to come back so badly that you'd use such methods?"
As she finished speaking.
Pei Changying carelessly tossed the jade belt on the ground.
He raised his eyes to look at Gu Sang, revealing a dark possessiveness: "Sang Sang, don't you understand my feelings yet? I was truly wrong before!"
"Forget about using these methods, even if I killed her, so what? As long as you come back! I'll immediately depose Qing Rou and make you the Empress!"
"Sang Sang, will you come back?"
Consort Li lay on the ground, barely alive. Hearing Gu Sang speak up to save her, she turned her eyeballs and finally caught sight of a corner of the screen in her peripheral vision.
She opened her mouth towards the direction of the screen.
In the end.
She still said nothing.
She wanted Gu Sang to save her, but if, if Sister Sang had to return to the Emperor's side to save her, then forget it.
This palace was not suitable for Sister Sang.
And the Emperor, exalted as the Son of Heaven, was even less worthy of being a husband!
Gu Sang looked at Consort Li with concern, her face seeming to flash with struggle and guilt.
A few seconds passed.
Under Pei Changying's unwavering gaze, Gu Sang sighed and said to him, "Pei Changying, it's not that I don't want to come back, but that I can't come back now."
"My mission is to help the chosen one selected by the system to seize the throne."
"Originally, you were this chosen one, which is why I helped you ascend the throne. As long as you made me the Empress, the mission would be considered successful, and I could stay in ancient times forever, to be with you for life as a couple."
Bah!
Only an idiot would want to stay in ancient times.
Gu Sang cursed inwardly while maintaining a poker face as she lied: "Unfortunately, you broke your promise, I didn't become the Empress, so I was forced to return to modern times."
"And the Elder Princess, like you, is the reincarnation of the Purple Star. One of you two must fall."
"Because of your broken promise, I changed my mission to assist the Elder Princess in ascending the throne."
"If you want me to return to the palace, you must face off against the Elder Princess. Either she dies, or you die. The victor must then burn three incense sticks in the Xuyang Palace where I died and proclaim me as the Empress. Only then can I come back."
Gu Sang's lie could have easily been exposed by Pei Changying if he had carefully reflected on it, as there were many loopholes.
A hastily concocted lie simply couldn't hold up under scrutiny.
After all, before she died, she had cried out that she wanted to go home and see her grandmother, not that she wished to spend eternity with Pei Changying.
But Pei Changying was too confident in himself.
He didn't even consider the Elder Princess as a worthy opponent, and firmly believed that Gu Sang had always loved him—loved him to the point of obsession!
Upon learning that there was a way for Gu Sang to return to the palace, Pei Changying's face lit up with joy as he declared, "I knew it! I knew there had to be a way to bring you back!"
