Yuwen Wuji quietly observed her expression, but she showed no panic at all; in fact, one could even see a hint of speechlessness on her face.

Yuwen Wuji suddenly found himself in a difficult situation.

"What, you don't care about the Song family or the Xie family at all?"

Song Yaozhu bluntly stated, "What do they have to do with me that I should have to humiliate myself?"

Yuwen Wuji was furious when he heard her say this. What did she mean by "humiliating herself"? He was the Son of Heaven! He was the Emperor! Countless women in the world would line up to serve him, yet she said it was humiliating herself!

"Song Yaozhu, you need to understand this: I'm giving you a chance. If you agree, I have plenty of ways to make you my empress. If you don't agree, ha! You won't exist in this world anymore!"

When an emperor is enraged, most people would have been terrified and knelt down, but Song Yaozhu simply looked up at him with a cold gaze.

His anger, as seen in her eyes, seemed more like rage born of embarrassment. He was probably annoyed that, as the emperor, he couldn't easily obtain a woman.

In his eyes, women have always been appendages of men, not worth mentioning. He has now readily granted her the position of empress simply because she is a "rare commodity."

"When His Majesty looks at my face, will he think of Empress Jingxian?" she asked with curiosity.

The question seemed to please Yuwen Wuji, who looked at Song Yaozhu with disdain and sneered, "So you also know why I took a liking to you."

"If you didn't resemble her somewhat, how could I have ever had any interest in a married woman like you?"

His tone was disdainful, as if he could compensate for his fragile self-esteem with such belittling words.

"His Majesty's love for Empress Jingxian is truly profound," Song Yaozhu said sarcastically, her gaze shifting from Yuwen Wuji to the tree behind him. "If His Majesty loved the Empress so much, why did he kill her?"

Yuwen Wuji's pupils contracted. He strode up to her, reaching out to grab her neck. He absolutely could not let anyone else know this secret; everyone who knew it had to die!

However, Song Yaozhu raised her arm to block, and with her other hand she made a feint in front of him. Yuwen Wuji thought she had some kind of weapon in her hand, and subconsciously took a step back. In that instant, Song Yaozhu had already increased the distance between them.

"You're still so afraid of death; you'll never be able to withstand this move."

Yuwen Wuji looked at her in horror. Images of his sparring with Xie Wanqing flashed through his mind. She would always use this close-quarters fighting style to feint and deceive him.

He always instinctively backs away because he's afraid of getting hurt.

"Playing tricks!" He was furious, and he was even more certain that Song Yaozhu was trained by Xie Liwei to provoke him.

He didn't believe that people could come back to life after they died!

Thinking of what Song Yaozhu had just said, he was afraid that calling the Imperial Guards would cause others to hear things they shouldn't hear. He also thought that the woman in front of him was just a pregnant and weak woman. So he took a few steps forward and attacked Song Yaozhu with a grappling technique.

Song Yaozhu neither dodged nor yielded, raising her hand to receive several of his moves.

Although she was a bit clumsy because of her pregnancy, she had been exercising her body since her rebirth, striving to make her muscle memory react faster than her brain.

Yuwen Wuji's first two moves were aimed directly at her face, which she parried with her arms. He was quite surprised, so he turned his attention to attacking her lower abdomen.

Song Yaozhu took a step closer and attacked his face with one hand.

Seeing that her hands were empty, Yuwen Wuji knew she was about to use the same trick again, so he didn't dodge and tried to grab her. But unexpectedly, a stream of powder spilled from her sleeve, drenching his face. His other hand, which was aimed at her lower abdomen, also stung. He staggered back a few steps and saw a long cut on the back of his hand from a sharp weapon.

Yuwen Wuji was immediately enraged. In all the years he had been emperor, no one had ever dared to harm him like this!

Any pity he had felt for Song Yaozhu was instantly burned away by his rage. He roared, "Guards! The Princess Consort of Xiaoyao is attempting assassination! Seize her!"

Hearing the commotion, the imperial guards outside rushed in. As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw their emperor with a wound on his hand, his bright yellow robe stained with blood, a truly horrifying sight. His face was also covered in white powder, making him look quite disheveled.

The imperial guards immediately surrounded Song Yaozhu, and the leader said to her, "Your Highness, please forgive us!"

However, before they could capture Song Yaozhu, a sharp arrow shot straight at Yuwen Wuji. This caught everyone off guard; everyone thought Song Yaozhu was the only one carrying out the assassination, never expecting she had a group.

Therefore, when the arrows were fired in unison, everyone was a step too slow, and no one was able to protect Yuwen Wuji.

Yuwen Wuji, already dizzy and disoriented from Song Yaozhu's drug, was caught off guard by the arrows flying towards him. He instinctively dodged them, leaving several bloody marks as they grazed his body.

This was arguably the most humiliating day of his imperial career.

"Assassins! Protect the Emperor!" With a cry for help from the Imperial Guards, even more Imperial Guards poured into the courtyard, filling it completely in an instant.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Song Yaozhu crept along the wall and slipped into the side room. The imperial guards escorted Yuwen Wuji into the side room, and Song Yaozhu had already bolted the door from the inside.

The first thing she did after entering the house was to open the window to observe the situation outside. This window was connected to the large courtyard behind the temple. Just as she was thinking about whether to jump out of the window, a hand reached out.

Xie Liwei immediately emerged from the bushes and opened his arms to her.

Without hesitation, Song Yaozhu jumped into his arms. Meanwhile, the assassins had already leaped down from the rooftops and trees, swords in hand, and charged at them.

Fang Rao no longer hid and led his men to confront the assassins.

The courtyard was filled with the sounds of clashing weapons, mingled with the screams of the wounded. It seemed that assassins had struck not only their courtyard, but other courtyards as well, and cries of alarm echoed throughout the entire Huangjue Temple.

"The front yard is blocked, let's go to the back mountain!" Xie Liwei tried to hug Song Yaozhu, but she pushed him away.

"I can run! I need to conserve my energy!"

The group headed towards the back of the mountain, where the assassins swarmed like wasps, numerous and persistent.

"Who sent them?!"

The assassins' martial arts skills varied greatly. The group that attacked Yuwen Wuji was clearly elite, and the Imperial Guards suffered countless casualties. However, the further away they ran, the more ordinary the assassins' martial arts skills became. Fang Rao dealt with them as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.

"I don't know, but they're clearly after Yuwen Wuji!"

"He's done so many bad things, he deserves it!" Song Yaozhu cursed as she ran.

Escorted by the guards, they quickly escaped the pursuing assassins and even found a cave in the back mountains where they could hide. It was dusk when they were attacked, and now it was getting dark. At night, the animals in the back mountains would come out, so it was not advisable for them to go out.

"Who has so many men who were able to break through Yuwen Wuji's imperial guards and storm the mountain?"

"Could it be that the Crown Prince has rebelled?"