"Sister, it's not as serious as you make it out to be."
Come on, do you, Ruo Qiu, and High Priest Hanye ever ask for money and ask for less? The moment you run out of money, you're reaching out to them.
"How is it not serious? Look, when I went to Lord Li at the Ministry of Revenue today to ask for money, the way he looked at me, he seemed like he wanted to devour me alive. If it weren't for him being in charge of the Ministry, living day by day more miserably than me, I would have fought him right then and there."
"But Sister, Lord Li is an upright official, a rare good official."
"I know! Otherwise, this morning I would have just been on the defensive, not actively engaging him in battle!"
Listening to Lin Zaozao's matter-of-fact tone, Xiao Liuli turned her head aside and rolled her eyes discreetly.
This morning, if it weren't for High Priest Hanye taking over the twenty-two thousand seven hundred taels of silver, Sister would have been so infuriated she'd be digging up the floorboards with tools. According to her, a piece of black jade flooring is worth a fortune, and if she were to dig up just one, she could pave many roads with it. Whenever she's short on money, she thinks about digging up the floorboards, but every time, High Priest Hanye stops her helplessly.
As long as High Priest Hanye intervenes, he'll definitely help Sister get the money. Sometimes, watching Sister and Lord Li going back and forth, he feels like they're putting on a show for High Priest Hanye and Ruo Qiu. After all, in the end, the ones who end up footing the bill are always High Priest Hanye and Ruo Qiu.
But, Lord Li may seem honest and sincere, but he's quite cunning. Take this morning, for example!
When he was arguing with Sister, he was almost driven over the edge by her. Of course, if he hadn't seen High Priest Hanye offering to make up the remaining silver, it would have been even better if Lord Li and Sister had laughed sneakily with their heads bowed.
This old man and young girl are really...
Speechless.
"Xiao Liuli, stop rolling your eyes in secret, do you really think I can't see? Don't just stand there dumbly, get me some sweets.
Remember, I want them super sweet. I'm feeling miserable all day long."
"Sweets!"
Xiao Liuli's voice suddenly raised a few decibels.
"What's wrong? Am I, a majestic empress, not allowed to eat sweets?"
"No, Sister. Weren't you suffering from toothache a few days ago because you ate too many sweets? When you had toothache, you were hugging a pillar and crying loudly. If it weren't for Divine Doctor Ji, you would have cried all night. Sister, are you still daring to eat sweets now?"
"Well..."
Lin Zaozao instinctively rubbed her cheek, remembering the toothache from a few days ago. Honestly, she still shuddered at the thought. Although toothache isn't considered a serious illness, it's truly unbearable when it strikes! Most importantly, the darn system told her that toothache doesn't count as an illness, so, according to it, root canal treatment is useless for treating toothache!!
She was in so much pain, and it still doesn't count as an illness?
Sigh! Enough said, tears will be shed if more is said!
"In that case, Xiao Liuli, get me some soft and chewy pastries. Of course, spicy ones would be even better. Fiery hot, I want to counteract the impending eruption of my heart with poison."
"Spicy pastries?"
"Mm..."
"Okay, okay, elder sister. I'll go get it, Lin Zaozao."
Lin Zaozao saw Xiao Liuli leave the study early, and only then did she put down the memorial in her hand, resting her chin as she looked at Princess Yezhao kneeling on the ground.
"Princess Yezhao, what's the matter? Unable to thrive in Canglan Country and now seeking an alliance with me, someone you can abandon at any time?"
"Ming Zhu Majesty, I dare not!"
"Tsk! What are you afraid of? Let's not talk about the military defense map and Ruo Qiu's antidote you gave me last time, all of it is fake.
Just look at the things you did when you went back, those unethical acts of sowing discord. Did you really think I wouldn't know about them?"
"Ming Zhu Majesty, spare me."
Princess Yezhao knelt on the ground, her voice trembling noticeably.
"Oh! So, Princess Yezhao, you're afraid of death too! I thought you really wanted to abandon your twin sister and ignore everything.
You thought you could stand between me and your mother, sow discord, and profit from both sides. But the result is, your little schemes were known by your mother, and now she wants to kill you.
After involving your own father's clan, you come here seeking help?"
Princess Yezhao looked up, meeting Lin Zaozao's mocking gaze, and could only lower her head in embarrassment.
After all, the words spoken by this young Empress of Han Country were indeed true.
She thought that with her scheming, she could gain the trust of both her mother and the Han Country Empress, and benefit from both sides.
But she never expected that her little schemes, not to mention deceiving her mother, couldn't even deceive the young Empress of Han Country before her.
Perhaps, this young Empress of Han Country had seen through her from the beginning!
Seeing Princess Yezhao not speaking, Lin Zaozao, at this moment, had to admire her ability to stay calm.
Even though the situation was urgent, she still refused to speak first and seek help, trying to gain the upper hand.
But now, as Princess Yezhao had sought help, whether she spoke or not, the initiative would be in Lin Zaozao's hands.
"Princess Yezhao, you've been kneeling here without saying a word. It seems you don't have anything important. If there's nothing, then go find your sister Ye Mu and withdraw.
To be honest, you kneeling here all the time is quite annoying. Sister is a busy person, with no time to play guessing games with you."
Hearing Lin Zaozao's sarcastic tone, Princess Yezhao's face turned pale. Indeed, she was now at the mercy of others, and she needed to recognize her current situation.
"Ming Zhu Majesty, I beg you, please save my father's clan! They have been imprisoned by my mother, and if I don't rescue them soon, their fate will be the same as the father clan of Third Older Brother, becoming half-dead living corpses."
"Your mother ordered the execution for your father's clan, wasn't it supposed to be after autumn? Since when did it turn into turning your people into living corpses?"
Princess Yezhao, you've got to have some humility when asking for help. Do you really think I'm a fool who'll buy whatever you're selling?"
"I wouldn't dare!"
Facing Lin Zaozao's mocking gaze, Princess Yezhao replied cautiously.
"Oh, spare me the theatrics. You're inherently cold-hearted, yet here you are, trying to play the righteous, passionate character in front of me.
Let me ask you this, what's a living dead person? What did your mother, the empress, do to the fathers of the Ye clan?"
Lin Zaozao asked, puzzled.
"Your Majesty, I don't know the specifics because my mother kept it tightly under wraps.
All I know is, many years ago, for reasons unknown, my mother poisoned my elder sister, Ye Xi, turning her into a half-dead, half-alive person, and sealed her in a coffin.
When Ye Yi's father, Luo Xuan, learned of this, he confronted my mother, demanding to know why she'd harm her own daughter.
But the result of Luo Xuan's inquiry was that the entire Ye clan, the Bai Chi clan from Tianshan, were all poisoned by my mother, turning them into living dead.
Later, when Ye Yi rebelled, my mother, to control him, even captured the surviving children of the Bai Chi clan and used them to threaten Ye Yi.
Because of those children, not only did Ye Yi's rebellion fail, but those captured children of the Bai Chi clan were also poisoned by my mother and sealed in coffins, thrown into Ye Yi's father's Feixu Palace."
"Does Xiao Liuli know about this?" Lin Zaozao asked, furrowing her brow.
"Because Ye Nuo was frail since childhood, Ye Yi protected him too well. Coupled with the fact that my mother poisoned him, Ye Yi never dared to tell him about this.
Ye Yi only told Ye Nuo that the surviving children of the Bai Chi clan were safely hidden outside the palace."
Listening to Princess Yezhao's voice, which seemed to be a mix of envy and jealousy, Lin Zaozao couldn't be bothered to deal with her now!
[System, can you save Ye Yi's clan, whom Princess Yezhao said had all turned into living dead?]
[Yes, host.]
[What's the solution?]
[Host, once you're inside Canglan Country, after killing the Empress of Canglan and seizing control of the country, as a reward for completing the task, the system will naturally provide you with a way to save them.]
[But, System, the Empress of Canglan is Ye Yi's mother. If I kill her, Ye Yi would understandably loathe me!]
[Host, regarding this matter, you can ask Ye Yi yourself once you're in Canglan Country.
Oh, and host, why weren't you actively helping others transfer diseases later on? Don't tell me you don't want the random rewards this system gives you anymore?]
[System, how dare you bring that up! Every random reward I've received so far has either made me gain six pounds or fart loudly.
Such inhumane rewards! Do you think I'm an idiot?
Actively help? What a load of nonsense! Am I crazy or just plain stupid?]
"Host, do you just realize that you're a complete idiot? I thought it would take you longer to figure it out!"
"Shove off, you dog of a system."
"I'm not going anywhere! Let me say a few more words, benevolence brings rewards, and evil brings retribution, isn't just empty talk.
Host, when you reach Canglan Country, make sure to help others as much as you can.
Only by assisting others and accumulating virtue and kindness, will you have a smoother journey in Canglan. Then, you can successfully eliminate the Canglan Empress and change the fate of your husbands.
Host, if you don't accumulate some merit to change the deteriorating fortune of your husbands.
This system guarantees, if you don't accumulate good deeds, they will really die."
"System, don't you dare scare me by using the lives of my husbands to threaten me. If need be, I'll act like an idiot for a few more days and help others for free.
If I weren't trying to save my husbands, honestly, I wouldn't bother arguing with you. You're truly a damn host who's more trouble than you're worth!
Last time, I was thrilled because, besides having third-grade marrow-cleansing liquid and beauty serum for free, there was also a free random selection reward. I was happy for half the day.
But what was the result? Mostly just fart sounds and six pounds of extra fat. This random reward is almost worse than none at all!"
