Chapter 108 The Path to Immortality: This world is truly a mess. ...

Xiao Liling's grip was very strong, pinching Feng Tan's jaw and cheeks so hard that his teeth were forced to show.

As the light brown pill approached, Feng Tan gathered her strength and turned her head to the side. Xiao Liling loosened her grip slightly, causing Feng Tan's cheek to fall to the ground, and she opened her mouth to exhale sharply.

"Ha, you refuse to eat, yet you have no choice." A cold laugh escaped Xiao Liling's throat. She tore away all her past pretense, revealing her true nature to Feng Tan, a detached madness in her eyes. "I was once just as helpless, but why... As princesses, Emperor Chongming treated you like a precious treasure, while my father and brothers only saw me as a pawn in a political marriage. That's bad enough, I accompanied him through the most difficult ten years, poured my heart and soul into caring for his mother, but in the end, he only worked with you for two years before falling into a quagmire... What's even more hateful is Ban Huayun, who, after only a few meetings with you, used you to threaten me, even though I was the one who imprisoned her for years! You have everything I don't, all I have is the Empress's position, and the power that belongs to this position, I will never let you take it away."

Xiao Liling, dressed in elegant robes, revealed her base and jealous nature, her noble and refined demeanor now stained with ink. She murmured, "Don't drool on my hands."

After saying that, she leaned down to hold Feng Tan again, and the dangling hair ornament on her hair fell to Feng Tan's cheek and trembled slightly.

Feng Tan turned her face back first. Although she was weak all over, her eyes still held a domineering light as she stared at Xiao Liling and said, "Xiao Liling, who do you think you killed? Just Feng Youming?"

The brown pill was right in front of him. Feng Tan looked at her, without accusation, only calmly saying, "The root of all your misfortunes is that you have never been valued by your father and brothers. Why were you not valued by your father and brothers?"

Xiao Liling didn't rush to make Feng Tan swallow. She wanted to see how Feng Tan would argue, so she said softly, "Preferring sons to daughters... A man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime. Being a woman is the original sin."

Xiao Liling's muscle-softening powder was really powerful. Feng Tan felt that she needed to use all her strength to speak. She quietly moved one foot closer to the hidden rope on the corner of the table and said, "It is the deep-rooted ideology of patriarchal families. They try every means to turn their wives and daughters into tools to serve them. Therefore, there is always resistance to women entering politics. So Feng Youming started the Great Rites Controversy. She is teaching all women to stand up."

The candlelight flickered and crackled, and in the swaying light, Xiao Liling smiled slightly. Her beautiful smile was like a venomous snake, sending a chill down one's spine. "I used to admire her too, but later I realized that she was nothing but a clown. Did she think she could teach them to stand up? A group of young ladies, corrupted by thousands of years of Confucian thought, how could they really overturn this world? As for me, Feng Youming... is just a desperate, defeated fool."

Feng Tan clearly remembers what Xiao Liling said when everyone sat around the campfire in front of Wan Niang's grave: "I think Mr. Feng is an admirable person... By chance, I read Mr. Feng's book 'Women's Script,' which tells all the girls in the world that we can also have our own ideals."

It turns out that from the very beginning, not a single word she uttered was true. Feng Tan had met all sorts of people along her journey, but Xiao Liling completely overturned her understanding of good and evil.

One cannot judge someone's character based on a momentary reputation.

It seems she hasn't mastered any of what her husband taught her.

As the gentleman once said, the predecessors, carrying the torch against the wind in a relay-like manner, eventually set themselves ablaze and died. Through this experience, their struggle for power gradually matured from political naiveté to political sophistication. Political maneuvering is not only a concrete manifestation of male tactics, but can also be a ladder for women to leverage in their fight for their rights.

Xiao Liling was right about one thing: simply teaching them to stand up wasn't enough, because their real adversaries were always the deeply entrenched patriarchal ruling class on the other side. Therefore, they could only shine their own little star in this era, unable to make all the stars shine together.

Aside from this point, Xiao Liling had no right to criticize. She didn't know that given Feng Youming's circumstances at the time, without access to the weapons in the system, he naturally had no right to violently confront the entire dynasty. Every step Feng Youming took was paving the way for Feng Tan; she was a wise pioneer.

Feng Tan's suppressed hatred finally surfaced in her eyes. Xiao Liling, like Consort Su, was a cunning woman who would stop at nothing to become Empress. Was her mother also killed because of Su Zirou's covetousness of the Empress's position?

Xiao Liling watched as she finally stopped pretending to be calm. Her hateful gaze filled her with immense pleasure. Looking down at Feng Tan, she said, "Those who share the same desires hate each other. Although we do not share the same desires, you have hindered my path, so I hate you."

"Don't tell me that! I don't care!" Xiao Liling interrupted Feng Tan. The righteousness of the young subject was as clear as a mirror, highlighting her inadequacy. She gritted her teeth and said, "Heaven treats the people like straw dogs, and so do I."

Xiao Liling's brows furrowed with impatience as she bent down to completely surround and annihilate Feng Tan. "Stop resisting, Feng Tan. You don't want his child either. Besides, I'm doing this to help you."

Finding medicine on your own and being forced to find medicine have completely different meanings. Feng Tan would not easily give in to Xiao Liling's wishes. She was just trying to stall for time to hook the hidden rope so that Arslan outside could hear the noise. Just as Xiao Liling pried open Feng Tan's lips and the pill was about to fall into her throat, Feng Tan hooked the hidden rope with her toe.

At the same time, someone emerged from a dark corner of the hall, their figure like black mist or a ghost. In the blink of an eye, they were in the position of the two. A graceful yet mocking voice rang out, and a pampered hand snatched the fertility pill from Xiao Liling's hand. Another hand lightly swept across her chest, and Xiao Liling was unable to move or speak.

Feng Tingxiao played with the light brown pill in his hand, brought it to his nose and sniffed it, commenting, "It smells bitter."

“Such bitter stuff is not suitable for my little niece,” Feng Tingxiao squatted down, looked at Xiao Liling leisurely, pinched her chin with two fingers, chuckled, and said, “Then you can have it.”

The man's fingers clenched tightly under his chin. As the pill drew closer, Xiao Liling's eyes flashed with terror. This pill was a genuine infertility pill; once taken, a woman would be childless for life. Not only would she lose her fertility, but more terrifyingly, it would accelerate her aging. Xiao Liling was ruthless and hadn't intended to leave Feng Tan any way out. Once she took it, there would be no hope of recovery.

A cold glint flashed in Feng Tingxiao's eyes. With a flick of his finger, he sent the pill into Xiao Liling's mouth, lifting her chin to force her to swallow. Only then did he slowly release his finger and take out a handkerchief from his sleeve to wash his hands with disgust.

He turned his gaze to Feng Tan, wanting to reach out and help her up, but he hesitated because of his closeness. However, his hesitation only lasted for a moment before he reverted to his dashing and debonair demeanor as a prince. He leaned over and pulled Feng Tan into his arms. When she struggled, he held her tighter, in a posture like holding a child, just like the night Princess Yongle offered him help in the snow.

The bite mark on Feng Tan's neck was clearly visible. Feng Tingxiao's gaze shifted downwards, landing on her hands, which were tightly bound by chains. His eyes suddenly darkened. "That bastard! How dare he..."

Feng Tan remained indifferent. She raised her eyes to meet Feng Tingxiao's and said, "A scoundrel curses a scoundrel. This world is truly a scoundrel."

Hearing that she still had the energy to be sarcastic with him, Feng Tingxiao felt a little relieved. He then ran his fingers over the wound on Feng Tan's neck and rubbed it. "Chen Shiyi said that if I arrived late, you would be tormented by evil spirits. But looking at you like this... calm and collected, it seems like you have a backup plan."

Of course, she had a backup plan. Feng Tan didn't need anyone to play the hero; Arslan was allied with her and was waiting outside at any time. But she had already laid all the traps, so why hadn't Arslan entered the hall? Perhaps high-level martial artists could sense the breathing of those inside and knew she was unharmed?

She didn't dwell on it for long. The anger she felt while struggling against Xiao Liling was still lingering between her brows, and the tension in her body, held tightly in Feng Tingxiao's arms, made her even more agitated. "Since Shen Shiyi knows I'm in danger, she should know all the details. How long are you going to hold me like this?"

No matter the situation, Feng Tan's mind always worked quickly. After the love in Feng Tingxiao's eyes was revealed, he no longer concealed it and sighed, "I can't save you tonight, so can't I just hug you? Fine, I'll give you the antidote for the muscle-relaxing powder."

He held the antidote to his lips, then pressed it against Feng Tan's swollen lips, his covetousness clearly visible to her.

Feng Tan looked at his expression with wariness in her eyes and said, "Feng Tingxiao, what are you going to do?"

Feng Tingxiao said, "Eighteen years... I raised you with my own hands, and you, who was filled with my heart's blood, have been ruined like this by others... I really want to clean you up."

"Don't be a pervert." Feng Tan knew that the silver-masked venerable one on Evil Spirit Island was the real Feng Tingxiao, and his methods were no less than Xiao Yinshi's. So, since he appeared in the hall, her sense of crisis had only increased. "I don't have any incestuous tendencies."

Upon hearing the word "incest," Xiao Liling's eyes flickered. She and Xiao Yinshi were also very close relatives, but because she loved Xiao Yinshi and he disregarded worldly ethics, it didn't bother her. However, she knew that many people in the Dahua court had discussed this matter because of their kinship.

Upon hearing this, Feng Tingxiao's lips curved slightly, and his voice, tinged with danger, slowly approached Feng Tan's ear, whispering, "Yongle, I'd be more pleased if you called me Imperial Uncle. It's not like I'm incapable of forcing my niece into marriage; in fact, it would be even more exciting in the palace of an enemy state."

After not seeing her for several months, he craved the person in front of him like a madman, but he was also afraid that if he really kissed her, Feng Tan would scream wildly. So he took her wrist and kissed along the bluish-purple veins, his love and desire showing in his eyes. "The red thread of the matchmaker has been tied together and has been stretched longer. Blood is the red thread that binds you and me. Since we are born from the same root, we should sleep in the same bed."

"Get out..." The effects of the muscle relaxant hadn't worn off enough, so Feng Tan's voice was still weak and feeble. The chains rattled as she struggled. "You're all fucking crazy."

The golden dragon's black boots made a slight sound as they stepped on the carpet, and the tightly closed palace doors slowly opened from the outside.

The newcomer looked down at the chaos in the hall. Xiao Liling was frozen to the side, while the King of Chu held Feng Tan and kissed her wrist.

Feng Tan turned her head to look over, her eyelashes fluttering violently. So this was why Arslan hadn't come in.

Xiao Yinshi remained outside the palace from beginning to end.