Tang Nian's pupils contracted; she hadn't expected the person in front of her to be so bold.
"You also want the throne?" Tang Nian asked tentatively.
Unexpectedly, Chu Roujia flatly denied it: "I don't want the throne. After all this is over, Miss Tang, could you take me away from the capital?"
"Me? Take you away?"
Chu Roujia nodded: "I want to stop Father from continuing to harm innocent people, and now the only way is to kill him."
"I know you are the Celestial Master Tang. I want to travel with you to see the world and meet people and things I've never seen before. Is that alright?"
Chu Roujia couldn't help but gently tug at Tang Nian's sleeve and blink her eyes.
“We don’t need to lift a finger; he’s doomed.” Tang Nian said softly.
"What?"
Tang Nian shook her head: "Traveling with me could put your life in danger at any moment. I can't protect you. Are you sure?"
Before Chu Roujia could speak, Tang Nian added, "You don't need to tell me now. Tell me your answer after everything is over."
"Princess, you must have other matters to discuss with me tonight."
She didn't believe the princess had risked coming here just for these two things.
Chu Roujia slapped her forehead: "Did Miss Tang do something to Master Wang?"
"What?"
"Father just ordered a large-scale arrest and killing of eunuchs and maids in the palace to take their internal organs."
Upon hearing this, Tang Nian's smile vanished, and she slammed her hand on the table, standing up abruptly.
That damned Emperor Chu is truly so heartless and insane!
She knew that Master Wang treated human life as worthless, but she never expected that Emperor Chu would be so incompetent and tyrannical.
Seeing Tang Nian's strong reaction, Chu Roujia also hurriedly stood up.
"Miss Tang, does the elixir of immortality necessarily require the lives of so many people?"
There is no such thing as true immortality; it's all just human greed.
Tang Nian gave a cold laugh.
It is precisely because life is finite that it is all the more precious, yet these mortals are driven by greed, fantasizing about immortality and ignoring what is most valuable to humankind.
The Chu Emperor was truly foolish, but Master Wang had also made a clever plan.
Chu Roujia was unaware, but Tang Nian could guess quite a bit.
It's highly likely that Master Wang deceived Emperor Chu again, demanding the lives of these palace servants to refine elixirs, when in reality he was using this pretext to heal the wounds of these innocent mortals with their internal organs.
A demon is a demon.
But now I can't wait to find Lou Mu.
"Please, Princess, take me to the Emperor."
Chu Roujia dared not delay, pushed open the door, and pulled Tang Nian out of the house.
The next second, however, his path was blocked by the hilt of a sword outside the door.
“Your Highness, you can leave, but she cannot.”
His words were completely flat, and his expressionless face made him look like a living dead person.
"you……"
Chu Roujia was furious, never expecting that with her around, these people would still stop Tang Nian.
"Who is this person?" Tang Nian whispered in Chu Roujia's ear.
"They are all Father Emperor's secret guards."
Suddenly, flickering firelight appeared in the distance, followed by a commotion of screams and the clash of weapons.
The guard frowned slightly, but did not forget his identity and dutifully stopped the two.
Tang Nian was about to intervene when Chu Roujia stopped her.
She took out a token from her sleeve, and several guards immediately knelt down.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
Tang Nian was secretly surprised. She had long heard that the Chu Emperor doted on Chu Roujia, but she never expected that he would give Chu Roujia such a precious gift.
"I'm taking Miss Tang out of here," Chu Roujia said loudly. "An Yi, you take the others and go rescue her."
An Yi, the guard who had stopped the two, was in a difficult position: "But Princess..."
It was obvious that he knew what was happening outside.
"Don't provoke Master Wang."
These ordinary people should not be allowed to confront evil spirits directly.
Tang Nian gave Chu Roujia a hand signal, and rushed out of the courtyard through the layers of guards without anyone stopping her.
"Dark One!"
Chu Roujia said sternly again.
These bodyguards had grown up with her since childhood, and she believed that these people in front of her would not continue to aid and abet evil.
An Yi looked around, and all his brothers were looking at him, their eyes conveying the same message.
He closed his eyes and knelt on one knee: "Your subject obeys the decree."
When Chu Roujia arrived, a group of Imperial Guards lay sprawled around Tang Nian, while several trembling palace maids squatted behind her.
"Miss Tang, this..."
Tang Nian shook her head and slung her sword behind her back: "They're not dead, they've just passed out."
Fortunately, they were just a hair's breadth away from dying.
Chu Roujia quickly instructed her guards to settle the palace maids.
"Does the princess know martial arts?"
Chu Roujia nodded.
"Then please protect everyone in the palace, Princess. I will go to find the Emperor."
"Wait." Seeing Tang Nian turn and leave, Chu Roujia quickly called out, "Miss Tang, be careful."
The entire palace was filled with the stench of blood. The Imperial Garden, where palace maids and concubines would usually stroll, was now eerily quiet. The evening breeze carried a sense of desolation.
Tang Nian had no idea how many people the Chu Emperor had already killed. Along the way, she only saw a few pools of blood and no corpses.
She dared not delay, and after dodging the patrolling Imperial Guards, she headed towards the Imperial Study.
Just as she expected, the Imperial Study was heavily guarded.
Ha, if he's so afraid of death, how come he killed so many people?
She leaped and landed lightly on the roof without making a sound.
Tang Nian lifted a brick and peered down, but did not see the Chu Emperor.
She thought for a moment, then lifted another brick and found the Chu Emperor there.
At this moment, the Chu Emperor was standing in front of that row of medicinal herbs, holding a Ganoderma lucidum that was larger than both of his hands, and gently stroking it.
His eyes were filled with greed, and a terrifying smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
Suddenly, his expression froze, his eyes widened as if they were about to pop out of their sockets, greed vanished, replaced by endless fear.
"you……"
"What about me?"
Tang Nian smiled and raised an eyebrow slightly, as if she wasn't the one choking the Chu Emperor.
"Does Your Majesty truly believe that with Master Wang in power, you can act with impunity?"
"You...you, you're not human! Come here..."
Emperor Chu's eyes were bloodshot. He struggled to raise his hand, trying to pry open Tang Nian's slowly tightening hand, letting the giant Ganoderma fall to the ground.
He tried to call for help, but no sound came out of his throat.
"Oh, you found out. Now you're even less likely to live."
Tang Nian's snake-like eyes were even more alluring in the candlelight, her cold gaze devoid of any emotion.
Suddenly, a loud clap of thunder rang out.
Immediately afterwards, a bolt of purple lightning shot through the roof and struck straight down at Tang Nian.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com