In the southern suburbs of Xiqin, near Beishan, there is a place called Liushulin (Willow Grove). As its name suggests, it is a small grove of willow trees growing along the river.
On the open ground nearby, a man and a madam stood facing each other, their expressions increasingly menacing.
No one could tell that they were partners with a long-standing relationship, so why did they end up so hostile to each other?
The man, looking down at the madam with an air of authority, shouted, "So, it seems you're determined to betray your master, aren't you?"
This man was Tuoba Ze's personal bodyguard. He happened to be hiding in the shadows and witnessed the madam in Wanjiao Pavilion during the final and most crucial step of refining the Ice Beauty Gu.
Upon seeing that the Ice Beauty Gu had been successfully refined by the madam, he immediately stepped forward to try and snatch it away. However, the madam, as if protecting her own child, refused to let go. Thus, the two began to fight, neither willing to give up.
Finally, they all broke through the defenses set up by Xuan Yuanhan outside Wanjiao Pavilion and fled in panic.
Ever since the madam forced her way out of the Wanjiao Pavilion, she had been relentlessly pursued by the guards, running at full speed. Adding to her already obese figure, she was also carrying a glass bottle containing the Ice Beauty Gu. Despite her efforts to dodge and weave, using hidden weapons and poison, she ultimately couldn't withstand the relentless pursuit of the guards who knew her inside and out.
Judging from her appearance, her legs were clearly weak, she was panting heavily, exhausted, and she really couldn't run anymore.
So he had to stop and catch his breath. Only after calming down a bit did he speak, muttering to himself, "'Those who do many evil deeds will surely perish.' Today, I can truly say I've reaped what I sowed. I've spent all my time helping these beasts, developing so many miraculous medicines to prevent all poisons, only to find myself in this desperate situation. It seems I'm truly doomed today, and it'll be difficult to escape them. Fortunately, the Ice Beauty Gu they so covet hasn't fallen into their hands yet."
As soon as she finished speaking, she looked down at the mysterious glass bottle that she was holding tightly in her arms and that was covered by a black cloth. Then, as if instinctively, she held it even tighter and slowly raised her head.
How could she not know that from the very beginning, Tuoba Ze had no intention of truly trusting her and was carefully monitoring and guarding against her every move?
She refused to divulge even a whisper about the purpose of refining the Ice Beauty Gu, keeping it a closely guarded secret.
Such a hard-won and dangerous object is a rare treasure in the world, so how could she willingly give away her hard work to someone else so carelessly?
In the end, she came up with a good idea. As the saying goes, "People die for wealth, birds die for food, and money can make the devil turn the millstone." By using silver, she found out all of Tuoba Ze's intentions from his close guards.
It turned out that Tuoba Ze intended to use this poison on Xuanyuan Han, the King of Qin of Western Qin, who was also the God of War.
It is said that the Prince of Qin was young and full of vigor, but people said that he was a strange man with severe mysophobia who was not interested in women at all. There was not even a maid in the Prince of Qin's mansion.
Therefore, they concluded that the King of Qin had no one he truly loved. Thus, even a divine being descending to earth would be utterly ineffective against the poison.
As long as the King of Qin is poisoned by this Ice Beauty Gu, and has any of his seven emotions and six desires, without the warmth of the body of the most passionate lover in the world, he will immediately suffer a violent death due to the extreme cold poison.
Once the King of Qin dies, there will be nothing to fear except for the mysterious force that is widely rumored to protect Western Qin.
Throughout the entire Lingkong Continent, everyone knows that Emperor Jing of Western Qin is incompetent, tyrannical, and petty, and that his narrow-mindedness and arrogance have caused widespread resentment among the people of Western Qin.
On the contrary, King Xuanyuan Han of Qin was resourceful and wise on the battlefield, a man who could hold off ten thousand men; in the court, he punished the wicked and promoted the good, loved the people like his own children, and was deeply loved by the people. He was the best candidate to be the ruler of a country. Moreover, he was particularly loyal and righteous. It is said that he was always willing to help Emperor Jing and had great respect for him.
To this day, no one knows what that mysterious power in Western Qin is, let alone has ever seen it.
Perhaps, as the rumors say, it truly vanished along with the descendants of the vampires who perished at the bottom of the cliff during the internal strife that occurred in the Western Qin imperial palace many years ago. Otherwise, how could there have been no news of it for so many years?
It was for this reason that she, like Tuoba Ze, planned to wait in the Wanjiao Pavilion of Western Qin until the Ice Beauty Gu was successfully refined, to successfully poison the King of Western Qin and witness his death, and then launch an attack to capture the Western Qin palace and rule the entire Western Qin.
Then, by integrating the forces of Beilie and Xiqin, and waiting for the spring to arrive in Beilie, we will immediately launch an attack on the relatively weaker Nan'an Kingdom among the remaining two kingdoms of Nan'an and Dongning on the Lingkong Continent.
In this way, she would soon be able to rejoin Tuoba Ze's army and return to her long-lost homeland—Nan'an; she would soon see Hao'er, whom she had longed for day and night; and of course, she could stand proudly before the vile man who had framed her and the tyrannical ruler of Nan'an, making them kneel at her feet, weeping and wailing, bowing their heads in apology; then, she would despise them and avenge herself; even in the countless nights of bitter resentment she had endured, she had excitedly imagined that when she saw them again, she would give them no chance to speak or explain, because they had treated her the same way back then, and she would personally end their lives; and so on and so forth…
But now, it is clear that everything Tuoba Ze had carefully planned had failed. Before the legendary mysterious power even appeared, Tuoba Ze had been completely defeated by King Xuanyuan Han of Qin and had no choice but to flee back to the Northern Lie Kingdom to regroup.
She suddenly realized that if Tuoba Ze were to do it all over again, the outcome would likely be the same. She herself had come from a well-educated and refined family; how could she not know the principle that 'evil cannot prevail over good'? It was only because the deep-seated hatred that had accumulated over the years had blinded her that she had made one mistake after another, committing so many heinous acts.
If it weren't for Lanxiang's seemingly farewell warning, she might have continued to suffer in hatred, never finding relief.
Yes, her older sister's betrayal back then was certainly unfair to her, but that is not enough to justify her recklessly aiding and abetting evil, destroying the world, and disrupting the order of things.
Many years ago, she learned from a merchant from Nan'an Kingdom who was passing through Xiqin that the current crown prince of Nan'an Kingdom, who would become the future ruler, was none other than her son, Hao'er.
Since that's the case, and since her son lives such a high-status, dignified life, living in luxury, it means that her sister hasn't mistreated Hao'er at all over the years. So what reason does she have to continue to hate him?!
Perhaps she should have woken up long ago...
With this thought in mind, she slowly escaped from Wanjiao Pavilion, leaving behind nothing but the so-called weapon that Tuoba Ze's close guard had been trying to seize. She then slowly raised the glass bottle that she cherished with both hands, and sneered at the guard, saying, "Is this all your master wants?"
The guard stared intently at the object in the madam's hand, fearing that something might go wrong with it, making it difficult to report back to his master. Would he be beheaded in his master's anger?
The distance between them, coupled with the booming sound of the water nearby, made it far too difficult for him to hear the murmurs the madam had made at first, but he still seemed unwilling to give up, covering his ears and trying his best to hear.
But when she saw the madam raise the glass bottle high, she immediately widened her eyes in shock and said, "What do you want to do? I'm warning you, don't do anything reckless."
The madam remained indifferent and laughed, "What? You're afraid I'll ruin it. If that's the case, you've all worked for nothing. You've spent countless resources and manpower to finally find such a rare Ice Beauty, and painstakingly nurtured its blood to refine the most poisonous Ice Beauty Gu in the world."
"What do you want? Just tell me," the guard said cautiously.
"Hmph, what do I want? What do I want... It's too late, everything is too late. Now, I don't want anything anymore. Because I suddenly realize that I already had everything. But how could I be so stupid, how could I wake up so late, how could I have committed so many heinous crimes? Yes, everything I did after leaving Nan'an Kingdom was a joke, a huge joke. Now, it's time for me to reap what I sow, hahahahaha... hahahahaha..." The madam spoke with an air of complete indifference, then seemed to have lost her mind and burst into bursts of maniacal laughter, as if she had just woken from a dream and suddenly realized the truth.
The guard standing nearby, terrified and at a loss, suddenly had a flash of inspiration and quickly said, "Didn't you want to go back to your homeland of Nan'an? Didn't you want to go back to find your son and seek revenge? Here's what we'll do: keep the Ice Beauty Gu safe, and I won't take it from you. I'll take you back to Beilie right now, and Master will definitely let you return to Nan'an so you can do whatever you want, okay? Calm down, and don't do anything foolish, or Master won't let you off easily..."
Before the guard could finish speaking, the madam's maniacal laughter abruptly ceased, replaced by a sharp rebuke. "Shut up! Who do you think you are? What can you decide? You're nothing more than a groveling dog by Tuoba Ze's side, hardly any better than me. My present is your future. You were trapped and killed in the Wanjiao Pavilion by the King of Western Qin in just a few days. If it weren't for that secret passage, Tuoba Ze would have been dead long ago. You... will never be able to defeat Western Qin, never!"
As if making a prophecy before her death, the madam had barely finished speaking when she quickly reached out with her other hand and ripped off the black cloth covering the mysterious glass bottle...
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