Her Majesty Chose Violence, They Chose Her

Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Seeing You Suffer Puts My Mind at Ease

"Brother, watch his right hand!"

"Your Majesty, attack his armpit!"

"Heh, I’ll get the back of his knee."

"Watch your back!"

The longer they fought, the more fired up—and shameless—they became. They even developed a bizarre synergy with their underhanded tactics.

Several times, Li Wei was almost cheap-shotted in a... sensitive area. He was so exasperated he actually laughed.

These two were truly brothers.

The consequence of provoking him was that he stopped holding back, sending both of them flying. This time, they lay sprawled on the ground, unable to get up for a long while.

Xiao Yang’s energy was completely spent. She lay right where she had fallen.

Drenched in sweat and gasping for air, she turned to give Xiao Lv a listless, despairing look.

"Brother, we can’t beat him."

Xiao Lv was very self-aware. "It would be strange if the two of us actually managed to beat General Li."

Which one of the generals from the battlefield wasn’t stronger than them?

Li Wei had clawed his way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood; how could they possibly hope to defeat him?

Even now, Li Wei was just going easy on them.

Xiao Yang said, "Do we have any relatives skilled in martial arts? Go round up a few. We can all jump him together."

’Relatives skilled in martial arts?’

Xiao Lv thought for a moment. "I think there might be one or two. I’ll ask around."

The two of them lay on the ground, brazenly plotting to call for backup as if no one else was there. Their pathetic display left Li Wei speechless.

Bending over, Li Wei offered Xiao Yang his hand. He sighed, suppressing a laugh. "Your Majesty, are you not getting up?"

Xiao Yang took his hand, intending to pull herself up. However, the instant their hands clasped, a searing pain erupted in her chest, as if a branding iron had been pressed to her heart.

Xiao Yang suddenly tightened her grip, fighting through the strange sensation to get to her feet. Once she let go of his hand, the pain gradually subsided.

Puzzled for a moment, she suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Li Wei’s hand again. When the pain returned, she realized something was wrong with her.

’But this is too strange.’

She turned and held out her hand to Xiao Lv.

Xiao Lv didn’t understand why, but he offered his hand anyway.

Xiao Yang grasped it. Sure enough, the pain struck again.

Xiao Yang’s face paled. Seeing their bewildered expressions, she suddenly curved her lips into a smile. "I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

-----

After sparring all afternoon, Xiao Yang was covered in dust and sweat. The first thing she did upon returning was plunge into the Dragon Spring Pool for a long, relaxing bath.

Because of her gender, she never allowed attendants to serve her while she bathed or dressed.

It was worth noting that in the past, Liu Sheng had kept his distance because he knew Xiao Yang’s true gender. Bi Fang, on the other hand, had never given any indication that he knew, yet he was always obedient and never entered any area where her identity might be exposed.

Whether this was out of genuine obedience or deliberate avoidance was unclear.

Xiao Yang was soaking comfortably. Usually, no one would disturb her at a time like this, but she heard footsteps. They weren’t Bi Fang’s.

Xiao Yang turned to look. The moment she saw the newcomer, she was surprised, yet somehow not entirely.

Liu Shixu.

Xiao Yang watched as this ethereal Mr. Liu approached, step by step, and began to disrobe, revealing his physique.

Yet even as he stripped himself bare to display before another person, his expression remained placid, like that of a wooden puppet devoid of emotion or thought.

Xiao Yang watched him approach, clad only in his thin inner shirt, before she finally spoke. "Liu Shixu, what poison did the Empress Dowager give me?"

Liu Shixu walked over to the steps beside Xiao Yang and sat down. Now that he was closer, she could hear his slightly suppressed, ragged breaths. It seemed he wasn’t having an easy time of it either.

"Mandarin Duck Knot. An aphrodisiac from the Outer Domain. It induces mutual attraction between a man and a woman, and it must be resolved within seven days."

Xiao Yang had still underestimated the Empress Dowager’s shamelessness.

When she had gotten close to Liu Shixu earlier, she had felt that something was off with her body. But the reaction was so strange that she had only been suspicious.

After touching Li Wei and Xiao Lv, her reaction was pain. That had made her dismiss her initial suspicion, convincing her that the Empress Dowager had used a real poison, and that her own mind was just in the gutter.

But as it turned out, her first suspicion of the Empress Dowager hadn’t been an insult at all.

’To think the Empress Dowager would actually give her own daughter such a vile drug. She was truly capable of anything.’

As Liu Shixu drew closer, Xiao Yang could clearly feel her own body reacting.

She clenched her fists, her nails digging deep into her palms. In all her time since transmigrating, she had never been this furious.

Xiao Yang asked him, "Did you do this willingly?"

Liu Shixu’s voice was flat. "Willing? Unwilling? What difference does it make? After all, I was the one ’fortunate’ enough to catch Your Majesty’s eye."

His tone seemed devoid of emotion, but it was tinged with a faint resentment.

He had no desire for any of this, but because he had caught the Emperor’s eye, he was forced to become a pawn for the Empress Dowager to control the Emperor.

Xiao Yang rose slowly from the water, which parted to reveal a delicate, graceful figure just beginning to blossom.

Without her lavish robes to conceal it, her form was unmistakably that of a woman.

Even someone as cool and seemingly passionless as Liu Shixu was scalded by the unexpected sight, his cheeks flushing red as he quickly averted his gaze.

In the brief moment he looked away, Xiao Yang had already dressed.

She sat down a short distance away, picked up a teacup, and took a sip.

"I’ve heard you’re a man of immense talent, an otherworldly Immortal, who has long held the title of Immortal Young Master Liu. I’m just curious, in all those books of sages you’ve read, was there a single one that taught you to use your body like a woman to achieve your goals?"

Hearing this, Liu Shixu looked utterly ashamed. It was a long moment before he replied, "This was not my intention."

Xiao Yang said, "And yet, you came."

Liu Shixu looked up at her. "I was forced to drink the poison. There is no antidote for the Mandarin Duck Knot."

Xiao Yang asked, "And what happens if it is not resolved?"

Liu Shixu replied, "For seven days, you will feel as if you are being consumed by fire. It is a fate worse than death. No one can withstand it for the full seven days."

Xiao Yang thought of the piercing pain she’d felt when she touched Li Wei. A sarcastic, ice-cold smile touched her lips. "And it has to be you, doesn’t it?"

She rose, her bare, snow-white feet padding across the white jade tiles toward Liu Shixu. As he watched her with eyes full of unbearable agony, she brushed right past him.

"Seeing you suffer puts my mind at ease," she said. "Consider it your punishment for setting foot in here. You can join me in ’enjoying’ this seven-day-long fiery torment."

As Xiao Yang’s resolute figure disappeared behind a screen, a crack finally appeared in Liu Shixu’s pristine, untroubled eyes, revealing a storm of complex emotions.

’The Little Emperor has changed so much,’ he thought. ’He’s become someone I don’t recognize at all.’

The next moment, a strange sensation spread uncontrollably through his body. It wasn’t pain, but a tingling itch that was its own form of torture.

He didn’t know whether to be relieved that the Little Emperor hadn’t touched him, or terrified of the torment he was about to endure.

The Mandarin Duck Knot had been specially created by a Great Witch Doctor from the Outer Domain who wanted to possess his lover. Two different powders were administered to a man and a woman, causing them to become irresistibly drawn to each other. The only antidote was sexual intimacy.

Furthermore, once they consummated their union, a unique bond would form between them. From that day forward, even if their hearts and minds were at odds, their bodies would continue to crave one another.

The effect lasted for seven days, and no man or woman, no matter how chaste or strong-willed, could possibly withstand it.

’The Little Emperor is being stubborn for now,’ he thought. ’We’ll just have to see which one of us goes mad first over these next seven days.’