When Qianlong saw the fear and panic on Consort Li's face, he burst into laughter and reassured her. "My beloved consort, there's no need to worry. They're nothing but antiques from a thousand years ago. How could the armies they lead compare to the Great Qing under my rule?"
As he spoke, Qianlong's face filled with confidence. "My men of the Great Qing will surely return victorious from this campaign. Those antiques won't be coming back!"
Qianlong wore a self-satisfied smile. He was already imagining himself punching Zhu Yuanzhang and kicking Li Shimin, while Ying Zheng and Liu Che knelt at his feet and sang "Conquer."
Just like Consort Li had when he'd first favored her, begging for mercy in a miserable state.
Watching Qianlong daydream and make such confident claims, Consort Li was utterly speechless. She rolled her eyes so hard they nearly reached the heavens.
What an idiot. Did he have no idea how things really stood? Just look at what his Great Qing was like—he hadn't the slightest clue. He actually believed the Great Qing was some invincible Celestial Empire, capable of anything and unbeatable in battle.
It was all that Heshen's fault, too. He'd fawned over Qianlong without the slightest restraint. The officials at court were much the same; nearly all of them flattered Qianlong. No wonder he'd lost all sense of reality.
Watching Qianlong lost in his fantasies, Consort Li knew she couldn't rely on him. When disaster struck, everyone had to fend for themselves.
So the most important thing now was to figure out how to find a way out for herself. Fortunately, she still had her peerless beauty and an ability to charm people.
Perhaps she could use those assets to get aboard the Chat Group's ship.
She wondered whether killing Qianlong would earn her access to the Chat Group.
As Consort Li thought this over, a trace of ill intent crept into her gaze as she looked at Qianlong. But for the moment, she didn't dare make a move.
She couldn't beat Qianlong, and she had no idea when the people from the Chat Group would attack. It was better not to give herself away yet.
In the deepest part of the capital's imperial prison, a dim cell reeking of filth lay hidden away.
In the middle of the cramped cell, someone lay sprawled on the ground. Her limbs were bent at unnatural angles, and bone fragments jutted through her flesh. It looked as though someone had snapped them by brute force.
Her face had been slashed beyond recognition. It had even begun to rot, leaving her in a truly pitiful state.
She lay motionless on the filthy ground, like a corpse that had been dead for a long time. Were it not for the faint, ragged wheezing that escaped her every so often, a guard would likely have dragged her away for disposal as a body.
But how much longer could she keep clinging to life like this?
The places where her limbs had been broken were already festering and oozing pus. Maggots even squirmed in her wounds. And after she'd been thrown into the prison, a guard had brought her some food out of routine at first. But when they realized she couldn't eat, they stopped bringing it.
She'd gone so long without food and was still alive. It was almost unthinkable.
At least, in the guards' eyes, she was no longer human. Some had even started thinking of her as a corpse demon from a book of strange tales.
After that, the guards rarely came to her cell. They all assumed she was already dead.
The woman lay on the ground with a vacant stare, but her mind was quite active. She was watching an animated show through her system.
She knew her useless system couldn't save her. She wanted to die, but couldn't, because the system had a feature that prevented its host from committing suicide.
So she'd had the system block her senses, then activate a full-dive projection in her mind, overlaying her retinas and shutting out her hearing. She was fully immersed in her binge-watching.
Liu Bing appeared abruptly in the cell. The moment he arrived, he caught a sharp stench of rotting flesh and filth, and his brow furrowed slightly.
The foul odor vanished without a trace the next instant.
Then his gaze drifted to the woman on the ground. His lips curled into an amused smile...
A long while passed, but the woman still didn't react. She lay there like a corpse, seemingly unaware that someone had entered the cell.
Liu Bing decided he ought to get her attention, so he cleared his throat.
Another long while passed, and the woman still didn't react. Liu Bing blinked and swept her with his divine sense. Only then did he realize that she was using her system to watch a show inside her mind.
She'd turned her system into a brain-computer interface.
Liu Bing hardly ever used his divine sense to scan other people. It was basically the same as looking them over from the inside out. Doing that to a woman felt disrespectful. It wasn't right.
And looking at a man—cough, cough—was an assault on the eyes. Better to look at a woman.
With no other choice, Liu Bing pierced the system's interference and sent his voice into the woman's mind. "Oh, tragic girl, do you want revenge?"
The woman's body stiffened. What the hell? System, didn't you block my senses and hearing? Where did that voice come from?
[Host, the system did not hear any voices.]
The woman was dumbfounded. She'd clearly heard a voice just now. Had she imagined it?
After a while, the woman still didn't react. Liu Bing shrugged. "Could you at least give me some kind of response?"
The woman shuddered. She was certain she'd heard a voice this time; it definitely wasn't her imagination. She told the system to shut off the projection, then looked toward Liu Bing and opened her mouth, showing him the hollow inside. Someone had cut out her tongue. How the hell was she supposed to respond?
Then the woman got a good look at Liu Bing, and her eyes flew wide. She began making excited, unintelligible noises.
What was she looking at? Someone dressed in modern casual clothes, with a three-seven slicked-back hairstyle. That haircut, those clothes—he had to be a fellow countryman.
To her, Liu Bing was like a savior. If she'd been able to speak, she would absolutely have said, "Yu Tuo, save me!"
"Ah, good enough. You responded." Liu Bing nodded in satisfaction at her movements, then continued, "You can see that we're the same kind of person. I want you to do something for me. Are you willing?"
The woman nodded without hesitation. All four of her limbs were broken, and she'd been thrown into this dark cell where the sun never shone. If the useless system inside her hadn't kept her alive, she'd have died long ago.
Now a fellow countryman had come to help. She'd have to be out of her mind to refuse.
"Okay, I'll make this clear first. I can save you, but you can't show yourself in public for two months."
The woman nodded to show she agreed.
Liu Bing took out a Heavenly Immortal Pill and flicked it with his finger. The pill flew straight into the woman's mouth.
As soon as it entered her mouth, the woman felt something like clear water flow down her throat and into her stomach. Then she felt her body begin to repair itself automatically.
She didn't even have time to feel the itching as her body healed before she was completely restored. She could even sense an extremely terrifying power within her.
Just then, her system chimed.
[Ding! The host has consumed a Heavenly Immortal Pill from another world and gained power comparable to a Heavenly Immortal from that world.]
The woman's eyes went wide. She stared at Liu Bing in disbelief. "Holy crap, you're amazing! Please take me in!"
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