As dawn broke, a flock of white doves emerged from a palace amidst a loud whistle, circled briefly above the Forbidden City, and flew towards the White Pagoda in Beihai Park.

"Players who can enter this game are considered experts, so why would they become the emperor's concubine?" Li Qianxia looked at Consort Cao's graceful back.

"Male players want to sleep with all the beauties throughout history, and some women also have this idea, but they sleep with men," Yaochi explained.

She continued, "With such thoughts, coupled with a suitable 'background,' the game will naturally prioritize assigning her a similar identity. So Changzhou and I are the Heavenly Emperor and Empress, Qianxia, ​​you are the Heavenly Emperor's sister, and Qinglan is the otherworldly goddess of Gusha."

In short, it implies that she and Li Changzhou are in love, elevates her sister-in-law, and points out that Yang Qinglan doesn't actually love Li Changzhou that much deep down, and still prefers to be alone and detached from worldly affairs.

After listening, Li Qianxia didn't pay attention to the first two points, but she kept the last point in mind.

Could it be that Qinglan doesn't really like my brother that much? No, when assigning identities, all aspects must be considered, such as appearance and skills.

Yang Qinglan said, "It seems I did a good job. I did go against the grain and didn't follow the game's arrangements to be detached from worldly affairs. I am a qualified Black Card holder."

She walked gracefully, holding a fairy scepter in her hands, dressed in white, with her sash fluttering like a butterfly.

A palace maid hung a parrot cage on the sunny eaves of a corridor.

While the palace maid turned to fetch birdseed, Li Qianxia flicked the parrot's head with her finger.

"Happy New Year! Happy New Year, Your Majesty!" the parrot cried, raising its neck. It was a parrot specially trained for New Year's Day.

Li Qianxia chuckled twice and teased it a couple more times.

Emperor Jiajing's biological mother, Lady Jiang, died in 1538. The current Empress Dowager Zhang in the palace is Emperor Jiajing's aunt.

Empress Fang, the "Jade-Handed Beauty," led all the concubines, princesses, and some noble ladies to the Empress Dowager's palace to offer congratulations.

According to palace rules, the emperor should also offer congratulatory gifts to the empress dowager, but Emperor Jiajing did not have a good impression of Empress Dowager Zhang.

Empress Dowager Zhang had two younger brothers. One was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Shouning. In the early years of the Jiajing reign, he was promoted to the Duke of Changguo. In 1529, he was stripped of his title, and in 1533, he was arrested and died in prison.

His other younger brother was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Jianchang. If it weren't for Empress Dowager Zhang kneeling down to plead for him, the Marquis of Jianchang would also be dead, and he is still in prison.

Because of these two incidents, Empress Dowager Zhang, who was already 69 years old, fell seriously ill and never recovered.

When Yang Qinglan and her group arrived at Cining Palace, the large entourage of beautiful women had already begun to leave. Empress Dowager Zhang did not try to keep them, and they did not want to stay with Empress Dowager Zhang, who was at odds with Emperor Jiajing, for an extended period of time.

The empresses, imperial concubines, princesses, and ladies-in-waiting, dressed in bright and luxurious palace gowns and court robes, resembled a flowing river of five colors within the snow-covered Forbidden City.

"Zisui, go and check on this Empress Zhang," Yaochi instructed her alluring subordinate.

“Misha,” Bi said, looking at a Russian female player, “you’re going too.”

“Yes.” Misha nodded.

The two leaped into Cining Palace. Yaochi didn't wait for them and followed directly to Consort Cao. Yang Qinglan's gaze fell on the carriage of the Jade Hand Beauty, Empress Fang.

After a while, Zi Sui and Misha rushed up.

"Princess Yaochi, the person is dead!"

Everyone stopped in their tracks.

"What's going on?" Yaochi stepped forward and continued to follow Consort Cao.

“After we went in,” Zi Sui replied quickly in a low voice, her tone filled with fear, “the Empress Dowager and all the palace maids and eunuchs were sitting neatly in the hall, holding their heads in their hands.”

Li Qianxia took a step closer to Yang Qinglan.

"That scene was terrifying." Misha shrank her shoulders as if she felt cold.

"What are you afraid of! Useless thing!" Bi crossed her arms.

Misha knew the princess's mouth well and wasn't afraid of her at all, though she was still terrified inside.

She and Zi Sui sneaked in, but didn't sense anyone, so they went straight into the house. They were startled to find everyone sitting in chairs.

Upon closer inspection, they realized that they were all holding their own heads.

Empress Dowager Zhang, nearly 70 years old and seriously ill, looked extremely frail. She sat at the head of the table, holding her own head, just staring at them, more terrifying than any ghost.

"To kill someone so quickly and silently..." Yaochi fell into deep thought.

"Be careful with this skill," Yang Qinglan said.

Li Qianxia tentatively asked, "Could it be—"

She suddenly fell silent.

"What's wrong?" Yang Qinglan asked, looking at her.

Li Qianxia pointed ahead.

Everyone looked over and saw a eunuch at the back of the group taking off his head as if removing his hat, holding it in his arms, and continuing to walk forward with the group.

Not long after, a palace maid who was next to the eunuch also took off her own head.

The Queen and her entourage walked in silence, without exchanging a single word, and one by one, they removed their own heads, starting from the very end.

The people walking in front had no idea that the eunuchs and palace maids following behind had become corpses.

Under a clear blue sky, with the sun just rising, a chill permeated the Forbidden City, and an inexplicable fear welled up in one's heart, making one feel cold all over.

"What should we do?" Li Qianxia's lips trembled slightly. "Should we just take down that Consort Cao?"

So far, Consort Cao is the most suspicious.

"What kind of skill is this? How can it be so bizarre?" Zi Sui's face was equally pale, not because she was afraid of ghosts, but because she was worried that she would lose her head as well.

Thinking of this, Zi Sui quickly turned around and saw Shui Xian at the very back of the crowd, holding her head in her hands. She was so frightened that she screamed.

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!