An hour later, Qi Yuan was panting for breath.
After confirming no one was following him, he lay down in a valley.
"This isn't a game. This is running for my life!"
He had only killed a dozen or so Attire Demons in some remote place, yet hundreds, even thousands of Attire Demons had swarmed over and surrounded him.
He had fled without stopping, exhausting every ounce of strength before finally escaping.
Qi Yuan sat up, confusion written across his face. "How did the other Attire Demons discover me?"
He was deeply puzzled.
"Could it be that all the Attire Demons share the same perception?"
Qi Yuan thought of the insect races he had seen in anime before.
In one anime, the insect race had all been controlled by a mother body, using the same system.
"If that's the case, then this is troublesome!"
If so, Qi Yuan's battle plan of dividing and conquering would fail.
He was very troubled.
This game map was harder to clear than he had imagined.
"Should I ask Jin Li for help?
Maybe she has some kind of game guide."
With that thought, Qi Yuan sent several messages. "There are simply too many Attire Demons in the Attire Forbidden Area.
Today, I saw an entire forest with nothing but dudou hanging from the trees. That sight, tsk tsk tsk, was absolutely shocking. If I took pictures with a phone and posted them online, they'd definitely go viral!"
"Today, while hunting Attire Demons, I discovered some problems."
Qi Yuan described the problems he had encountered and sent them over.
"Do you have any guides over there? Send them to me so I can use them for reference. Many thanks!"
"Grand Chancellor, Her Majesty has returned to the palace," a man in a long robe said respectfully. "The people we sent out are gone."
Sima Ting was playing chess. Hearing this, he smiled and ignored the robed man, instead speaking to the civil official playing against him. "Bo Chang, are you sure you want to place your piece here and capture one of mine?"
"My pieces are linked together, with true eyes everywhere. The overall situation has already been decided. Your pieces are dead."
Upon hearing this, the civil official flattered him with a joking smile. "This subordinate's chess skill is far inferior to the Grand Chancellor's. The tide has already turned; I'll take whatever piece I can."
Sima Ting laughed heartily at that.
The current Empress Jin Li was like the black pieces on the board, with no path to survival left.
A trapped beast still struggling—her death was merely a matter of time.
The civil official seized the chance to say, "In six days, once Old Madam Qin is defeated, we will rise as one and attack her. At that time, Southern Qian will be the Grand Chancellor's world."
Grand Chancellor Sima Ting's eyes brimmed with even greater amusement.
Though the Nanqian Kingdom was already his world, how could that compare to possessing it openly and rightfully?
Jin Li was in an excellent mood.
She had just met Aunt Qin and gifted her the imperial-grade medicine, Nine Flower Qi Luo.
With this imperial-grade medicine, Aunt Qin's injuries would no longer pose any problem.
Moreover, Aunt Qin might even step into the Emperor realm!
To Jin Li, this was undoubtedly exhilarating news.
In a world where strength reigned supreme, one more Emperor-level expert gave her several more chances of standing against Sima Ting.
And all of this had been brought to her by Qi Yuan.
Thinking of Qi Yuan, her feelings became complicated.
Just then, Exquisite Jade Tide glimmered once more.
She took out Exquisite Jade Tide, and her joy increased further.
She looked at the contents inside and read them carefully, more carefully than she read memorials, word by word.
When she saw that Qi Yuan had encountered danger in the Attire Forbidden Area, her heart pounded in fear.
When she saw that the trees in the Attire Forbidden Area were covered in dudou, a smile unconsciously appeared on her face.
"Information about the Attire Forbidden Area?"
When she saw Qi Yuan asking her for help, she immediately took it to heart.
"I'll help you look for information on the Attire Forbidden Area immediately.
Until there are results, be careful."
"Oh, thank you for your concern."
Qi Yuan's reply came quickly.
"Let me tell you, the monsters in this Attire Forbidden Area are far too strange..."
Qi Yuan spoke endlessly.
Jin Li listened attentively as well.
At this moment, she no longer bore the identity of an Empress. In her eyes, Qi Yuan was no longer that mysterious and powerful expert either. They were merely old friends, old friends who could speak their hearts to each other.
Half an hour later, Jin Li looked at the books on the jade seat and frowned. "There are so few records concerning the Attire Forbidden Area?"
Before her lay only a thin booklet, and it contained merely a few pages of records about the Attire Forbidden Area.
All of those introductions were common knowledge, utterly incapable of helping Qi Yuan.
"Summon Grand Scholar Dong Shishun of the Wenyuan Pavilion," Jin Li said.
Grand Scholar Dong Shishun of the Wenyuan Pavilion was one of the most learned people in the Nanqian Kingdom.
Dong Shishun also belonged to Jin Li's faction. She hoped to learn information about the Attire Forbidden Area from him.
Not long after, Grand Scholar Dong Shishun of the Wenyuan Pavilion appeared in the Luan Palace.
Jin Li asked directly, "Scholar Dong, do you know any information about the Attire Forbidden Area, especially introductions concerning Attire Demons?"
Dong Shishun was stunned upon hearing this.
The Attire Forbidden Area was one of the Four Forbidden Zones and One Absolute Territory of the Moon Gazing Continent.
It was over ten thousand li away from the capital of the Nanqian Kingdom.
Why was Her Majesty asking about this?
"Reporting to Your Majesty, this subject does not know," Dong Shishun answered truthfully.
The Attire Forbidden Area was too far away, and information concerning it was indeed scarce.
Jin Li was somewhat disappointed.
Could she not help Qi Yuan after all?
But just then, Dong Shishun seemed to hesitate over something before finally speaking. "This humble subject..."
"Speak freely."
"At Duke Yu's Residence, there may be books containing records of the Attire Forbidden Area.
The old Duke Yu personally visited the Attire Forbidden Area in his youth." Dong Shishun knew that Duke Yu's Residence possessed books about the Attire Forbidden Area, and that they were highly detailed.
The reason he had been hesitant was that Duke Yu's relationship with Her Majesty was extremely poor—one could even say it had become rigid.
Duke Yu's daughter had been the former Imperial Concubine, while the current Empress's mother had been the previous Empress.
The Imperial Concubine and the Empress had borne a grudge against each other, and in the end, the Imperial Concubine had died unexpectedly in the palace.
Duke Yu blamed this matter on the Empress.
And by extension, he had come to hate Her Majesty as well.
If Jin Li asked him for the books, she would certainly be subjected to humiliation.
Jin Li realized this as well, but she was still delighted in her heart. At last, she had found a clue.
With a sweep of her sleeve, she said, "I will personally visit Duke Yu!"
She did not have many people under her command. If she sent someone to ask Duke Yu for the books, Duke Yu would surely recognize that person. It was better to go herself.
Being humiliated a little was nothing.
As long as she could find materials about the Attire Forbidden Area, it was nothing.
Late at night, Jin Li left Duke Yu's Residence holding the books in her arms.
After kneeling in mourning for too long, her legs hurt as she walked, but her face was filled with a smile.
Hua Xian, the Imperial Guard Commander, supported Jin Li. Fury filled her beautiful eyes. "Duke Yu has gone too far! He clearly knew Your Majesty's legs were injured in your early years, yet he deliberately made things difficult for you."
"Your Majesty is of imperial blood, incomparably noble, yet you actually knelt in mourning for Consort Xi for a full three hours!"
Hua Xian was both furious and helpless.
During the late Emperor's reign, imperial power had already declined, and Sima Ting had seized authority.
Later, Sima Ting slaughtered the imperial clan and supported a little girl onto the throne.
None among the civil and military officials of the court took Jin Li, this Emperor, seriously.
Seeing Her Majesty kneeling for several hours, Hua Xian's heart ached terribly.
For an ordinary person, kneeling on the ground for three hours was an agonizing ordeal.
Someone raised in pampered luxury would likely have fainted long ago.
Even an ordinary adult would find it hard to endure.
Only after truly kneeling for three hours without being able to move could one understand what kind of bitter suffering it was.
Though Empress Jin Li possessed cultivation, it was not particularly strong, and her legs were injured.
Otherwise, she would not have made a fool of herself at her enthronement ceremony.
Kneeling on the ground for three hours was also an unbearable hardship for her.
"It's nothing. At least I got what I wanted." Jin Li hugged the books tightly, her heart full of satisfaction.
PS: This book title is really awful. I might change it tomorrow. If any readers are following this, please take note, everyone—don't mistake it for another book.
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