Chapter 2: Extending Life Through Supernatural Tricks

Jiang Nan's voice was not loud and had a slightly hoarse quality, yet it was like an invisible talisman.

It instantly froze the two old women who were rushing towards them.

Granny Li's hand froze in mid-air, only inches away from Jiang Nan's neck.

Granny Zhang gasped, her cloudy old eyes filled with horror.

The underworld? Yama, the King of Hell? Lifespan?

These are things deeply rooted in their hearts, things they have revered their entire lives.

The fact that this girl, who had just crawled back from the brink of death, said it in such a calm, even slightly eerie and teasing tone was astounding.

The impact was so great that it made their scalps tingle.

"What...what nonsense are you talking about!"

Granny Li tried to remain calm, but her voice trembled slightly.

"Even when facing death, he still dares to spout such nonsense."

Jiang Nan was terrified inside, but on the surface she forced a half-smile, an inscrutable expression.

His gaze swept over them with even a hint of pity.

"The old women have been in this palace for so many years, haven't they heard of some... strange and inexplicable things? The underworld, the Yama's Palace, the judge's pen, the Book of Life and Death, the Black and White Impermanence, the Ox-Head and Horse-Face... and the eighteen levels of hell, the mountain of knives, the sea of ​​fire, the cauldron of boiling oil, these are not things that people made up out of thin air."

With each word she uttered, the two old women's faces paled a little more.

These images were too concrete and terrifying for them.

"The King of Hell told me himself."

Jiang Nan continued to make up stories, her tone becoming increasingly certain.

"The reason I was able to come back is because I still have a destiny on my shoulders, and there is a major matter that I haven't finished."

"What...what destiny?"

Granny Zhang couldn't help but ask in a trembling voice, already being led into the ditch.

Jiang Nan took a deep breath and dropped the most bombshell she could think of.

"The King of Hell said that I must give birth to a child destined by Heaven for our true dragon emperor of the mortal realm—our current emperor!"

The room was deathly silent.

The two old women's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and their mouths were agape enough to fit an egg.

To bear the emperor's son? Or to be the chosen one?

"Nonsense!"

Granny Li was the first to react and retorted in a shrill voice.

"You lowly servant girl who climbed into someone's bed, do you even deserve to be my concubine?"

"I don't believe it either!"

Jiang Nan immediately chimed in, her expression even more confused than theirs.

“I told the King of Hell, I’m just a lowly palace maid, not an empress. How did I become the emperor’s son? Did you take the wrong soul?”

She mimicked her earlier confusion by shrugging her hands.

"But the King of Hell said that matters of destiny are mysterious and unpredictable. He only needs me to see the Emperor, and the true dragon's aura will naturally be felt. Before I give birth to the prince, no one can touch me; otherwise, it would be defying Heaven and interfering with destiny..."

Her voice lowered again, carrying a sinister, ghostly quality.

"If anyone harms me or obstructs the birth of the chosen one, their sin will be to be sent directly to the lowest level of the eighteenth level of hell, to suffer endless torment, and never be able to be reborn."

She spoke the last few words almost in a whisper.

"May they never be reincarnated..."

Zhang Mama's legs went weak, and she almost collapsed to the ground, only managing to hold onto the table next to her.

Her face was ashen, and her lips trembled violently.

"Sister Li...this...this..."

Granny Li panicked, cold sweat beading on her forehead.

What this girl said was absurd, but considering the fact that she survived being poisoned twice, it's plausible.

It's impossible not to think about the strange and eerie aspects.

These old palace women are most afraid of this kind of retribution from the underworld.

"You...you're just making empty promises..."

Granny Li was still struggling, but her momentum had completely weakened.

"Does the nanny need proof?"

Jiang Nan pointed to the empty bowl on the ground, then pointed to herself.

"Isn't this living proof enough? What kind of poison, after being forced down the throat twice, would leave a person completely unharmed? Why don't you go find an even more potent one to try? Or just stab me?"

As she spoke, she even leaned her neck forward, as if to invite someone to do as they pleased.

This strategy of retreating in order to advance completely shattered the psychological defenses of the two old women.

They wouldn't dare to make a move.

The two exchanged a horrified glance, both seeing the same fear and hesitation in each other's eyes.

"What...what should we do?"

Granny Zhang asked, her voice trembling with tears.

Granny Li took a few deep breaths and glanced at Jiang Nan, who looked completely confident.

After thinking about the terrifying eighteen levels of hell again, he finally gritted his teeth.

"This matter...this matter is too big, we can't make the decision."

She turned to Jiang Nan, her tone complex and tinged with a barely perceptible sense of awe.

"You stay in the room and don't go anywhere. We need to report this to the Emperor. Whether it's true or false, whether to kill or spare, it's up to... to His Majesty's sole decision."

Jiang Nan felt a huge weight lifted from her heart, but she still maintained her mysterious expression and nodded slightly.

"That's only right, thank you for your trouble, two old ladies."

Granny Li tugged at Granny Zhang, who was still trembling, and the two of them hurriedly left the room as if avoiding a plague.

They carefully closed the door from the outside, and you could even faintly hear whispered instructions, as if someone had been left nearby to keep watch.

As the footsteps faded into the distance, Jiang Nan slumped against the wall, utterly exhausted.

My heart started pounding wildly, almost bursting out of my chest.

"That scared me to death..."

She gasped for breath and realized that her palms were covered in cold sweat.

This is such a fabricated story; it's as if he used up all his deceptive skills in his entire life.

The gamble is on the ancients' reverence for gods and ghosts and their inexplicable immunity to all poisons.

"A chosen one, destined to bear a son for Emperor Kangxi..."

Jiang Nan muttered to herself, finding it outrageous even to herself.

"That's quite a boast. What if Emperor Kangxi was a staunch materialist... Pshaw, there are no materialists these days. But if he thought I was spreading heresy, he could still chop my head off..."

My relaxed mood suddenly became tense again.

This talisman she received from the King of Hell may only be valid until she meets Emperor Kangxi.

————————

Inside the East Warm Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, the air was filled with the fragrance of sandalwood.

The young Emperor Kangxi was holding a memorial to the throne, but he didn't turn a single page for a long time.

Granny Li and Granny Zhang knelt below, trembling.

He recounted the unbelievable event in a disjointed and incoherent manner.

"He was given the poison twice, and both times he was fine..."

Granny Li's voice was trembling uncontrollably.

"That girl also said that the King of Hell sent her back to give birth to... a child destined for the Emperor... a child destined for the Emperor, and that anyone who harms her will go to the eighteenth level of hell..."

The chief eunuch Liang Jiugong, who was standing to the side, felt his eyelids twitch as he secretly glanced at the emperor's expression.

Kangxi remained outwardly calm, but the fingers gripping the memorial tightened slightly.

Poison can't kill?

Is the King of Hell protecting your life?

The chosen one?

The combination of these words is so absurd that it would make any rational person laugh.

However, the report came from two elderly nannies who had served in the palace for decades.

He was so frightened that he could barely speak, and it didn't seem like he was lying.

Moreover, they wouldn't dare to fabricate such an outrageous lie.

The youthful spirit ultimately overwhelmed the emperor's composure, and a strong sense of curiosity welled up within him.

He wanted to see what kind of palace maid could possess such supernatural powers.

As for the idea of ​​a chosen one…

A barely perceptible glint flashed in Kangxi's eyes.

This idea is too big, and too sensitive.