Chapter 93: Li Mingze 2.0?"
Those words, the words that Li Jun would kill her in the most horrific way, triggered something in her, and she lost her mind. All the repeating patterns she had seen over and over again, of her and her daughter lying dead on the ground, with any and everyone trampling on their bodies, flashed in her mind.
When Li Jun died that day, her first instinct was fear. The fear of Draco’s retaliation. Draco did retaliate, but at least he hadn’t attempted to assassinate her. She told herself that if she stayed within the confines of her palace with extreme security, Draco wouldn’t be able to get to her.
This was the reason why she hadn’t left the imperial palace in a long time. However, as the fear subsided, there was a sense of relief. Relief that Li Mingze’s words wouldn’t come to pass. She didn’t have to fear. Li Jun was dead, so how could a dead man kill her? Every other day, she would come to light incense, not because she was paying respects to her beloved husband.
She was there to taunt him and let him know that his son was dead, with not even ashes to scatter. Today was one such day she came to mock Li Mingze, but as she picked up the incense, the system that hadn’t spoken to her for ages reappeared.
She snorted internally and replied in her mind, saying, "So you still have some use for me?" She wanted to make the system pay for abruptly leaving her, but the system didn’t seem interested in this push-and-pull game. It just got straight to the point: Li Jun was not dead.
Her entire body stiffened, her blood flowing backwards. What did the system mean by he was still alive? She saw him die. Everyone did. There were videos of the incident, so what the hell did it mean? She argued, saying in her mind, "Impossible!"
The system replied, "Believe it or not, he is still alive. It was all a ruse, and you didn’t see it." She didn’t want to believe it, but she also knew the system was telling the truth. Li Jun was alive otherwise, it wouldn’t have come to seek her out.
"What do I do?" she said, the fear of Li Mingze’s words coming to pass growing stronger. She could almost see his bloodied, evil face grinning at her.
The system said, "You have failed countless times to complete your missions. This is your last chance. There is no need for me to tell you what sort of ending awaits you if you don’t succeed."
Xiu Ying’s body trembled, her eyes bloodshot and watery. She clenched and unclenched her jaw before asking, "Where is he?"
"Figure it out." After saying that, the system disappeared like a ghost. Xiu Ying called out to the system several times, but there was no response. Enraged, she broke the incense stick and demanded they all leave. She was so angry that she tore the entire memorial hall apart. None of Li Mingze’s ancestors were spared.
While she was in a frenzied state, she kept seeing Li Mingze’s ghostly appearance, laughing at her and repeating the haunting words. She threw things at him, and his haunting image would disappear. Just when she thought she could feel some sense of relief, he reappeared again.
Determined to tear his stupid face, she began to throw everything she could throw at him. The cycle repeated again and again until she exhausted all her strength. She slumped to the ground, looking like her whole world had collapsed. Her hair was disheveled and hung over her face like a waterfall.
She was breathing heavily, her fingers trembling. She looked like a resentful ghost. If anyone could see her right now, they would be terrified to death. She looked up at the only memorial tablet still in its place. Her tears flowed, but they weren’t tears of sadness or grief.
She had the look of a murderous demon. With her trembling fingers, she reached for the sword, the same sword that Li Mingze had used to kill countless officials, including Yu Hu. She gripped the hilt tightly and stabbed the blade into the ground.
She laughed, the sound haunting those standing outside the hall. Soon her eerie laughter died down, and she said, "I will kill your son with this very sword and drag his body over here for you to see. Let’s see who will be laughing then.
Using the sword as a crutch, she got up and slowly walked out. When that door opened, the attendants trembled in fear as they lowered their heads further. "Lock these doors. No one is allowed to enter," she commanded, and they all replied,
"Yes, Your Majesty." If what she had done to the memorial hall was exposed, there would be a lot of displeased people. They hated Li Mingze, but every other Imperial leader before him had plenty of supporters. It would be detrimental to her image in the people’s eyes.
It wasn’t only she who thought so. Li Zimo, when he saw this video, smiled sinisterly. For years, he had failed to infiltrate Xiu Ying’s inner circle. He would plant one spy, and for some reason, they would go missing. That’s because Xiu Ying had a secret weapon, but now that it was gone, her walls were no longer impenetrable.
He beckoned his attendant over and gave him the order to sell this to the press anonymously. In a matter of hours, the news of the so-called graceful and elegant goddess being a wolf in sheep’s clothing was all over StarNet. Other headlines read, "Is this Li Mingze 2.0?"
The world was on fire, but that wasn’t the only fire that had been set. There were reports of a series of attacks on Aurelia. Massive explosions occurred in some major cities with several casualties. This was just an appetizer.
Helion formally declared war and ordered Aurelia to surrender all their territory, otherwise they will attack them just like today. Each day they delayed, there would be more bloodshed.
The imperial court was in an uproar. They gathered in the hall, yelling and shouting at each other. Why? It was because they wanted to declare a state of emergency, but who would be leading the charge?
