Chapter 5 Regicide

last night.

Chi Lan opened the window, and moonlight streamed in like water, illuminating the room brightly.

She looked back and saw Zhao Mingyue lying on the outside of the bed, her round face pressed on the pillow, her eyebrows tightly closed, her lips slightly moving, and she uttered indistinct mumblings.

Just by perfunctorily showing concern for her, he earned 150 points. What a naive child.

Before Chi Qi realized it, the corners of her mouth rose on their own.

She kept smiling and opened the system store.

The virtual light screen unfolded, and a faint blue light flowed along the edge.

Unlike those shops that displayed various items, there was only a lonely input box on the light screen, and nothing else.

This is a store that generates items by simply entering a name and description.

Chi Li was thinking in her mind, and a line of words was typed into the box: Invisibility cloak, which can make people invisible when worn.

A payment button pops up below: 2,500 points.

The smile on Chi Li's face disappeared immediately.

Damn it!

She never looked at the price when exchanging goods in the past, but she didn't expect the invisibility cloak to be so expensive.

006 spoke at the right moment, "Two hundred points isn't a small amount. If the host could still easily obtain large amounts of points like before, this wouldn't be called a punishment mission."

Chi Li responded, "Huh."

She changed her description to: Night Clothes, with 60 minutes of invisibility.

Four hundred points.

After another modification, the price of being invisible for 30 minutes was reduced to 200 points.

The time was a bit short, but it was enough for Chi Li. The trouble was that she didn't have any extra points to buy more weapons.

Chi Qi put on her nightgown and looked down at her hands. Her palms gradually became transparent and quickly blended into the surrounding environment.

She jumped out of the window, landed lightly on the ground, closed the window with her backhand, turned around and left quickly.

Ten minutes later, Chi Li arrived at Lingxiao Palace.

Looking at the guards patrolling outside the palace, she did not feel nervous, but instead felt a long-lost excitement.

She hasn't taken action for a long time since she failed to kill the Lord God.

Unfortunately, this time she had very little time and had to finish the cleanup quickly.

Chi Lu avoided the guards outside the palace, climbed over the wall, and entered the bedroom she had visited during the day.

The eunuchs in charge of night watch were all asleep, and no one noticed that the palace door was gently pushed open and then closed again.

Chi Qi walked to the bed and lifted the curtain, only to see the emperor lying quietly on the bed facing inward. In the enclosed space, the almost decayed smell on his body became even stronger.

She lifted her foot onto the bed board, knelt on it with the other foot, bent down, put her left hand around his neck, grabbed his right arm, and at the same time, put her right hand on her shoulder and tightened it suddenly.

"Uh uh..." The emperor woke up from his dream, struggled up, and kicked open the quilt with his feet.

But the struggle was very weak. Within two seconds, he fainted because his carotid artery was strangled and he was unable to make any more sound.

This is strangulation, which can kill quickly.

Chi Lan learned this technique from a criminal during a cleanup mission.

Late at night, the man dragged a passing woman into a secluded alley. Every time the woman tried to struggle, he pinched her carotid artery, causing her to fall into a brief coma.

Chi Qi stood in the darkness and observed for a while, then raised the crossbow in her hand and aimed at the man's head.

Whoosh! A headshot!

The crossbow's lethality is not as good as that of firearms, but it is fast and silent, and is one of Chi Lan's favorite weapons.

If you lose your weapon, using strangulation to clean up the enemy is a good option, at least it won't leave a bloody mess.

Half a minute later, the emperor regained consciousness tenaciously.

He rolled his eyes in fear, but saw no one. He uttered a painful and subtle cry, "Ghost...Ghost..."

Chi Qi maintained her posture, her arm muscles contracted to the limit.

Suddenly, she felt the body in her hands twitch, and then stopped abruptly.

She let go of her hand, and the emperor fell heavily back onto the bed. His eyes were still open, but his pupils were dilated and had completely lost their luster.

Chi Luo immediately jumped off the bed, left the emperor's bedroom, and returned the same way.

She can't see the clock, but she can accurately control the time based on her intuition.

I returned to my residence almost at the end of thirty minutes, and as soon as I walked under the window, the stealth effect of the nightgown lost its effect.

She pushed open the half-closed window, jumped in lightly, and then closed the window. The pure moonlight was blocked outside, and the room became dark again.

I walked to the bed and was about to take off my nightgown when I heard a rustling sound on the bed.

"Mother, where have you been?"

It was Zhao Mingyue's voice. Could it be that she wasn't asleep?

Chi Qi's eyes sharpened, she slowed down her breathing, and leaned closer to Zhao Mingyue, only to see that she had her eyes closed and was mumbling something incoherently.

It turned out that I was just talking in my sleep.

Chi Li felt relieved, took off her nightgown, put the system into her backpack, stepped over Zhao Mingyue, and lay down on the bed.

He looked at the girl sleeping beside him, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and his low, hoarse voice was like a devil's whisper, "Mingyue, thank you so much. Without your help, I couldn't kill your father."

————

Click!

The closed door behind him was pushed open, and a burst of hurried footsteps rushed in.

Chi Lan quickly came back to her senses from her memories.

Seeing the emperor lying on the bed, unable to open his eyes anymore, the irritability that had been lingering in his heart was replaced by calmness and joy.

When she turned around and looked at the person who came, there was still a wonderful smile on her face.

It was Zhao Mingyue who rushed in. Seeing the smile on Chi Li's face, she suddenly stopped in her tracks, looking terrified, "Ah, mother, what's wrong with you?"

Chi Lan was a little confused, and then she realized that her smile was too suspicious in this situation.

What emotions should normal people have?

She closed her eyes and images flashed through her mind.

A noisy funeral... a black and white mourning hall... wailing family members... paper money flying in the sky...

He opened his eyes, frowned slightly, pursed his lips, and perfectly imitated a hypocritical sad expression.

She rubbed her dry eyes with her fingers and whispered, "The sudden death of the emperor is so heartbreaking."

Chi Qi felt that her acting was terrible, but Zhao Mingyue didn't notice anything. On the contrary, the panic on her face eased a lot.

Zhao Mingyue walked to the bed, looked at the emperor lying on it, and with trembling hands, she lifted the white cloth covering his face.

For ordinary people, looking directly at a corpse is probably a cruel thing.

Chi Qi observed her expression and could not see much sadness, but more fear - she could write it down, maybe it would come in handy someday.

Zhao Mingyue didn't know what she was thinking, otherwise, she might have fainted from fright.

She only took one look, then turned her face away in unbearable pain and covered herself with the white cloth again.

Just as she was about to withdraw her hand, Chi Qi suddenly reached out, grabbed her wrist, and pressed her back heavily onto the corpse.

Zhao Mingyue was so frightened that her whole body trembled and she cried out, "Ah——!"

Chi Yu stared into her eyes, her voice unusually gentle, "Since your father died, I'm all alone. Mingyue, you won't refuse to help mother, right?"

After hearing this, Zhao Mingyue seemed to understand something. She opened her mouth in surprise and her breathing became rapid.

After a long moment, he lowered his brows, as if out of fear, and replied in a low voice: "Of course, of course I will help my mother."

Chi Li let go of her hand, patted her shoulder soothingly, and said with a smile: "That's good, I like smart people."

She turned around and walked out of the hall.

"Seal off the High Heaven Palace. Arrest all the eunuchs and guards on duty last night and interrogate them strictly. We must torture them to uncover the true culprit who murdered the emperor!"

The order was passed down, and all the inner and outer palace gates of Lingxiao Palace were closed and guarded by guards.

Wang Li and others were also imprisoned. Under torture, the eunuchs could not bear the torture and signed and confessed to the murder of the emperor.

Afterwards, Chi Qi summoned the princes and ministers who were accompanying him and told them the news that the emperor had been murdered by eunuchs.

When the officials saw the emperor's body, they were all shocked and turned pale. They all cursed the eunuchs for their treason and comforted Chi Luo not to be too sad.

After discussion, everyone decided to keep the news secret for the time being to avoid causing unrest, and to arrange the funeral after returning to the capital.

The date was finally set, and two days later, the emperor returned to the capital.

————

The news of the emperor's death was blocked, but the gates of Lingxiao Palace were closed in broad daylight, and additional guards were dispatched. People in the palace couldn't help but talk about it, speculating whether something big had happened.

However, Wu Wenxiu, who was in the slave camp, did not care about this.

Today is the day to send ice gifts to the chief eunuch Sun Ren, but she has used up all her savings in order to get in touch with the Queen.

Unfortunately, she never met the queen in the end.

While starching the collar of his clothes, Wu Wenxiu was thinking about where to get ten taels of silver.

Do I have to sell those ancient books?

But those books were saved by her mother at great cost when the house was searched, and her childhood enlightenment was also thanks to these books.

Just as I was thinking deeply, my arm was suddenly poked.

A palace maid beside her whispered, "Wenxiu, Eunuch Sun is here to see you."

Wu Wenxiu immediately came to her senses, turned around, and saw a young eunuch walking towards her through the ropes hung with clothes.

The young eunuch smiled politely, "Miss Wenxiu, how could you forget the ice gift for our godfather?"

Wu Wenxiu quickly took out her wrinkled fingers from the starch, wiped them on her clothes, and whispered, "I, I don't have any money. I beg you to forgive me for a few days."

The smile on the young eunuch's face instantly disappeared. "You'd better tell our godfather about this yourself. I don't dare to make the decision."

After saying that, he turned and walked towards the row of houses in front.

Wu Wenxiu lowered his head and followed quietly, feeling very nervous.

Sun Ren was a tyrant in the Li Lu prison. He was a very sinister and cruel person. Anyone who offended him would end up in a miserable situation.

Wu Wenxiu has always been a person who hides her talent, but last month, this man heard of her reputation as a talented woman from somewhere and wanted to buy her poems at the price of ten taels per word.

Asking her to write an ode to such a villain is an insult to her!

He soon arrived in front of the house and lifted the bamboo curtain in front of the door. He saw Sun Ren sitting on the mahogany armchair on the north side, with a set of writing brushes, inkstones and paper on the desk in front of him.

As soon as Wu Wenxiu stepped over the threshold, the young eunuch closed the door. She immediately became nervous and alert.

Sun Ren had a smile on his face, but his eyes held some ill intentions. He looked her up and down and said in a shrill voice, "Miss Wenxiu, don't worry. I didn't invite you here to ask for the ten taels of ice money. I admire your literary talent and want to ask for a piece of your calligraphy."

Wu Wenxiu lowered her eyelids, avoiding his gaze. "Eunuch Sun, I am not very knowledgeable in literature. I am afraid that I might offend your eyes, so I dare not offer you anything rude. As for the ice gift, please forgive me for a few days. I will definitely double the gift another day."

Sun Ren's face changed slightly, but he didn't get angry immediately. Instead, he stood up, added water to the inkstone, and slowly ground the ink. "So, I personally help you grind the ink. This will at least show my sincerity, right?"

Wu Wenxiu fell silent and thought to himself, if he agreed to this, there was no guarantee that this villain would not become more demanding. It would be better to get out of here as soon as possible.

So he said politely, "It's not that I want to refuse on purpose, it's just that I can't write poetry, and Eunuch Sun thinks too highly of me."

"Enough!" Sun Ren suddenly threw down the ink stick in his hand, his eyes extremely gloomy, and walked quickly towards Wu Wenxiu.

Wu Wenxiu's hair stood on end and he immediately stepped back. Just as he grabbed the door frame, his hair was pulled hard, causing a pain on his scalp.

Sun Ren raised his hand and slapped her hard, "Don't give me face, you are such a shameless slave, why are you pretending to be so noble with me?"

Wu Wenxiu felt a burning pain on his cheeks. Realizing that soft words were useless, he looked directly at Sun Ren and angrily said, "Though I may be of humble origin, my strength cannot be forced. Even if I die, I will not write poetry for you, a eunuch who enriches himself and exploits his servants!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she was kicked in the abdomen and fell to the ground. Then, a foot stepped on her palm and crushed it hard.

The noise was quite loud, but outside the door there was complete silence, not a sound at all.

Sun Ren's face was filled with ferocity, his eyes red as he glared at her fiercely. "You, a pretending genius, dare you look down on me? If you know what's good for you, just be my partner. Otherwise, I'll strip you of your clothes and throw you out for everyone to see your ugliness!"

Wu Wenxiu bit her lips tightly, a fishy taste rising from her throat, blood overflowing from the corners of her mouth. She had never been humiliated like this before and was extremely angry. The intense hatred even overshadowed the pain of her body.

She struggled to sit up from her knees and spoke sternly, "Sun Ren! I'm telling you, the Queen has read my poems, and I'll be summoned by her sooner or later. If you dare to insult me today, I'll never let you go easily when I'm successful!"

Sun Ren was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Hahahaha! Queen? Stop dreaming! The Queen will be returning to the capital in two days. If she really wanted to promote you, she would have pulled you out of the slave camp long ago. Why would she keep you here washing clothes?"

Wu Wenxiu was stunned. Is the Queen going to leave the palace?

"No, that's impossible!"

"The High Heaven Palace is heavily guarded. I'm afraid the Emperor is seriously ill. You're completely unaware of this important news, and you're still dreaming of a meteoric rise to prominence. It's truly laughable!"

When Wu Wenxiu heard this, he felt that the faint glimmer of hope in his heart was completely extinguished. His body went limp and he collapsed to the ground again.

Tears slowly flowed from her melancholy and desperate eyes, and the cold tears mixed with the blood at the corners of her mouth, looking ridiculous and pitiful.

Why? Why had she fallen into such a miserable state?

Just because she is a woman, the daughter of a sinner, should she be bullied and never be able to turn things around?

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside the door, and a clear and strong voice was heard.

"Open the door!" was a tone that did not allow for refusal.