Liu Fenggu's brows immediately knotted as she barked, "Who let you come out? Get the hell back inside!"
Looking at Liu Fenggu a few steps away, Chu Lu did not want to waste any extra strength. Standing in the doorway, he said, "What are you supposed to be, ordering me around?"
Liu Fenggu instantly flushed crimson. Then she noticed the soldiers beside her looking at her with strange, suspicious eyes, and her fury flared even higher.
She had just bragged that she had scared the Emperor into silence, that even after slapping him twice, he had not dared resist. Yet in the next moment, the Emperor had run out, wearing a look of utter contempt.
What did this mean? Had he come out just to slap her in the face?
Liu Fenggu sprang to her feet, a savage grin spreading across her face. "Looks like you're asking for a beating!"
She strode over quickly, reaching out as she said, "Was it that you didn't get enough of those two slaps last time—"
Splat.
With a strange sound, Liu Fenggu's eyes flew wide open.
Chu Lu pulled out the scissors. A bloody, mangled gash suddenly opened across Liu Fenggu's throat, blood gushing endlessly from it.
She instinctively clutched her neck as bloody bubbles gurgled out of her mouth.
She pointed at Chu Lu with one hand, seemingly trying to say something, yet no words would come out.
In the end, she crashed to the floor with a bang.
That sound seemed to rouse the remaining people. The soldiers' faces changed drastically, and they instinctively drew their blades, aiming them at Chu Lu.
Unhurried, Chu Lu pulled the sword from Liu Fenggu's waist. With some effort, he raised it and faced them down. "I am the Emperor. Who dares make a move? Which of you can bear the charge of regicide?"
The moment those words fell, terror appeared on the soldiers' faces, and they instinctively lowered their blade tips.
A cold smile touched Chu Lu's lips. As expected, the Emperor's title still carried weight.
"Since you don't dare move, then get the hell out of my way!" Chu Lu suddenly swung his sword with force. The soldiers all retreated, clearing a path.
Chu Lu straightened his back and forced himself to walk out.
After walking only a short distance, he asked inwardly, "I've escaped for now, but I can't hold on by myself. Xu Liniang, you're the Emperor after all. You should have a few trusted people in the palace, right? At the very least, there should be palace maids and eunuchs."
Xu Liniang immediately replied, "Yes. Xiao Lizi is utterly loyal to me."
"Where should I find her?"
"She's at..."
Before long, Chu Lu found Xiao Lizi. Though she had the name of a eunuch, this was an all-female world, so she was naturally a woman as well.
Seeing Chu Lu in such a state, she was both delighted and flustered. She hurried over to support him, opening her mouth to ask what had happened.
Chu Lu immediately stopped her. "Less nonsense. Help me to a safe place to rest, then summon the Imperial Physician."
"Yes." Xiao Lizi hurriedly answered.
Meanwhile, although those soldiers did not dare lay hands on Chu Lu, Liu Fenggu's murder was far too serious to conceal, so they immediately sent someone to report it.
After the news was passed upward layer by layer, it finally reached the Empress's ears.
"The Emperor suddenly ran out and killed Liu Fenggu?" The Empress was stunned at first, then slapped the table and burst into laughter. "Hahahaha! What's wrong with all of you today? Why are you suddenly playing this kind of joke on me? Him? Him killing Liu Fenggu? Hahaha. I doubt he could even kill a chicken!"
"It's true." Chunhua, the palace maid beside the Empress, said anxiously, "I saw the body myself."
"Fine, fine. I'd like to see what medicine you little girl is selling in your gourd today." The Empress said with a grin, "Take me there and let me have a look."
Yet when the palace maid led her to the morgue and lifted the white cloth, the Empress's expression abruptly changed.
The Empress touched Liu Fenggu's nose, then snatched her hand back as though electrocuted. She muttered, "Cousin? Cousin!? She's really dead?"
She suddenly turned to the palace maid. "The Emperor really killed her?"
"That's what all the soldiers said. And I went to check—the Emperor truly isn't in the inner palace anymore." Chunhua said.
The Empress's face was filled with shock.
She simply could not picture it. Xu Liniang, whom she had chased all over the Imperial Palace, actually dared to kill someone? Besides, hadn't he drunk so much of her poison that he was already terminally ill? How could he still have the strength to kill broad-shouldered, thick-waisted Liu Fenggu?
But in the next instant, her heart filled with rage.
He actually dared kill my cousin!? He has truly turned the heavens upside down!
"Chunhua, let's go." She stormed outside.
"Ah? Your Highness, where are we going?"
"Silly girl, of course we're returning to the palace to fetch the Imperial Sword." The Empress sneered. "I'm going to demand an explanation from the Emperor!"
Chunhua's face went pale. She had a feeling something major was about to happen again.
After all, the last time the Empress had gone to find Consort Ping, who had grown arrogant from favor, she had said the very same thing.
I'm going to demand an explanation from Consort Ping!
Hall of Mental Cultivation
Chu Lu had his eyes closed. An Imperial Physician beside him was taking his pulse, while Xiao Lizi waited nearby.
At this moment, Chu Lu appeared to be resting with his eyes closed, waiting for the Imperial Physician's diagnosis, but that was not actually the case.
As he became increasingly familiar with Xu Liniang's body, he vaguely sensed that the restrictions on his cultivation realm seemed to be loosening.
He did not know whether it was because Xu Liniang was a protagonist or because she was a native inhabitant, but the restrictions on her seemed lighter.
In any case, although he still could not use any spells or magical power, after repeated attempts, he discovered that some rudimentary techniques involving no spiritual energy, merely the circulation of blood and qi, could actually be used.
Chu Lu slowly opened his eyes and ordered, "Xiao Lizi, take a silver needle from the Imperial Physician's case and give it to me."
Xiao Lizi was somewhat puzzled, but she obediently handed him a silver needle.
Chu Lu pinched the needle between two fingers, circulated his technique, and flicked his hand sharply.
With a faint sound, the silver needle burrowed into the wall ahead, leaving only a tiny tail exposed.
Chu Lu frowned slightly at the sight. Normally, the silver needle should have pierced straight through the wall. Clearly, his excessively weakened body had held him back.
But when Xiao Lizi saw this, her eyes went wide.
Th-that silver needle was thrown by the Emperor!?
Although Xiao Lizi had spent years in the palace, she knew quite a few people and had learned much about the outside world.
She knew there was a martial world beyond the palace, and that within it were people who trained their skills bitterly. Some peerless masters could drive silver needles into walls.
But those people could not do it with such effortless ease, nor could they sink them so deeply. And the walls they pierced were merely shabby wooden walls, nothing remotely comparable to the walls of the Imperial Palace.
In her eyes, Chu Lu's move was already no different from that of an immortal.
Looking at Chu Lu, Xiao Lizi thought, When did the Emperor learn such an incredible method?
At that moment, the Imperial Physician finally finished her diagnosis. She rapidly wrote out a prescription and said, "Your Majesty, have someone gather the medicine according to this prescription. As long as you take it continuously for two months and rest well, you will recover completely."
"Imperial Physician, what illness do I have?" Chu Lu looked at her and asked.
"Uh, well..." The Imperial Physician immediately began to hem and haw.
Chu Lu smiled faintly, instantly understanding her concerns.
"From now on, you will live in the same room as me. Every medicinal ingredient must pass through your hands, and you will personally decoct every dose. If I show no improvement after drinking the medicine—Xiao Lizi." Chu Lu tossed the sword in his hand over to her.
Xiao Lizi caught it in a fluster, then answered, "Yes!"
"You will chop down this quack." Chu Lu said.
The Imperial Physician's face immediately turned pale.
Xiao Lizi held up the sword, her face solemn. "Yes!"
Just then, a burst of hurried footsteps sounded outside the hall.
Chu Lu did not even need to look to guess who had come.
Though he knew she would certainly come, he had not expected her to arrive so quickly.
Chu Lu instructed Xiao Lizi to bring him another silver needle.
Before you continue