So You Were This Palace's Inner Demon!

"Who exactly are you?"

Yu Youhan's phoenix eyes turned icy.

Her left wrist faintly burned. This man could actually resonate with the "Red Silk"!

For that instant, she even felt as though she were facing her Inner Demon once more!

"This subordinate is utterly loyal to Your Highness and harbors no second thoughts. I beg Your Highness to see clearly..."

Chen Mo spoke with difficulty.

A vast, crushing pressure bore down on him. He felt like a lone leaf-boat upon a boundless sea, liable to be swallowed by towering waves at any moment!

"Enough."

"Since you refuse to speak, This Palace will see for myself."

Yu Youhan's eyes were jade-green, dazzling divine light spilling forth from them.

Beneath that divine radiance, Chen Mo's body seemed to be stripped away layer by layer, wisps of brilliantly colored threads continuously drawn out.

The threads crisscrossed and tangled like sprawling vines.

These were Life Threads, recording everything from a person's past.

Among those countless Life Threads, a black thread suddenly shattered apart, then gathered together again. Its color grew paler and paler until it finally vanished.

"Returning from death, fate beyond reckoning."

"As expected, there is something fishy here."

Yu Youhan narrowed her eyes, murderous intent already stirring within her.

The Chen Family was an important chess piece she used to keep both the court and the martial world in check.

If she killed Chen Mo, the Chen Family would surely turn against her. For her, that would be no different from cutting off one of her own arms...

But even so, she would not allow such an unpredictable variable to exist!

"Die."

Green light blazed from her eyes!

Suddenly, her wrist turned scorching hot, and a length of Red Silk appeared out of thin air.

This time, it was no longer an illusory gleam of light. It materialized into substance and bound her tightly in the blink of an eye!

"What is this?!"

Yu Youhan's entire body went limp and powerless. Even her Primordial Qi was completely sealed!

The green light enveloping Chen Mo dissipated, and he fell from the air, hitting the ground with a thud.

"?"

Chen Mo looked up, and his expression instantly froze.

The Noble Consort who had been overflowing with killing intent just moments ago had now been tied up like a human rice dumpling.

The Red Silk looped around her neck, across her chest, beneath her arms... passed between her thighs, then tied into a knot at her waist, outlining her proud curves in exquisite detail.

Shameful. Far too shameful!

The two stared at each other, wide-eyed.

"So it really is you!"

"You are This Palace's Inner Demon!"

Yu Youhan clenched her silver teeth.

Though she did not understand why, she could now be certain that this man was the demon from that Nightmare!

Remembering the countless humiliations she had suffered before, the killing intent in her eyes grew even stronger.

Yet the Red Silk seemed to react. It suddenly tightened, and an inexplicable tremor made her delicate body shudder slightly!

"Damn it, what exactly is this thing?"

"Your Highness..."

A female official's voice rang out.

Yu Youhan's breath caught, and a flicker of panic crossed her eyes.

Her mind had been in disarray just now, and she had failed to notice someone entering.

Now the footsteps were right at hand. As long as the other party passed through the curtain, she would see her in this utterly bedraggled state!

"No..."

At that awkward moment, with no way forward or back, Yu Youhan felt her body suddenly grow light. She had actually been lifted around the waist.

Chen Mo's low voice sounded by her ear:

"Your Highness, forgive my offense."

The female official lifted the curtain. Looking at the empty Phoenix Throne, she frowned slightly.

"Where did Her Highness go?"

"There seemed to have been a Primordial Qi disturbance just now... What happened?"

In the inner bedchamber.

Chen Mo gently placed Yu Youhan onto the bed.

He then swiftly backed away several steps, lowered his head, and said, "Circumstances were urgent. This subordinate offended Your Highness; I beg Your Highness for forgiveness."

The situation had been urgent just now. If anyone else had seen Imperial Concubine Yu in this state, he would probably have been chopped into dumpling filling...

"Come to think of it, what exactly is going on?"

"Jade Lock Deep Palace... This is exactly like a game scene."

If this were a game, Chen Mo would not have hesitated before diving right in.

But in reality, facing this cold-blooded, ferocious she-devil, he did not even dare to look at her twice.

"You dog slave, This Palace will definitely kill you..."

Before Yu Youhan could finish speaking, the Red Silk suddenly tightened.

"Mm~"

Her eyes turned hazy, and she could not help letting out a soft moan.

The Red Silk seemed to affect the soul itself. The trembling that rose from the depths of her soul left her utterly unable to resist.

"..."

Chen Mo kept his head lowered, pretending he had heard nothing.

Yu Youhan came back to herself, breathing heavily as she said in a deep voice, "Why are you not hurrying to release This Palace?"

She was trying to kill me just now, and now she wants me to untie her...

Chen Mo grumbled inwardly, but he did not dare disobey.

He walked to the bedside and reached out to untie the knot.

Yet no matter how he tried to unravel it, the Red Silk only wound tighter and tighter.

Waves of trembling surged over her like the tide. Yu Youhan's jade cheeks flushed crimson, her breath fragrant as orchids, and her legs rubbed unconsciously together.

"You dog slave, you must be doing this on purpose..."

"This subordinate would not dare."

Chen Mo was drenched in sweat.

He truly could not undo it!

Suddenly, Yu Youhan's body went rigid. Her swan-like neck stretched straight, and her phoenix eyes grew unfocused.

Then the Red Silk scattered away of its own accord, turning into mist and vanishing.

She lay upon the bed, staring at the ceiling in silence for a long while.

"Your Highness, are you all right?"

Chen Mo tentatively asked.

"Get out."

Yu Youhan waved a hand.

Chen Mo's vision blurred. When he opened his eyes again, he was already outside the imperial city.

"..."

"Sigh, what kind of mess was that?"

Chen Mo sighed.

Before entering the palace, he had imagined many possible outcomes, but the way things had unfolded was truly beyond expectation.

Not only had he failed to obtain the reward, he had nearly lost his life.

"She really is a she-devil, moody and mercurial. Looks like this thigh isn't so easy to cling to after all..."

Begonia Pool.

The entire pool was built from spirit jade. Water mist drifted through it, while rare and exotic flowers and herbs floated upon its surface.

Yu Youhan soaked within it, cleansing her jade-like body.

The palace maid attending her found it rather strange.

Her Highness's body was immaculate and untouched by dust. She simply enjoyed bathing.

Yet today, she seemed to be scrubbing especially hard...

"This Palace actually..."

Thinking of what had happened earlier, Yu Youhan's breathing became somewhat unsteady.

As the Imperial Noble Consort of Great Yuan, a supreme expert who looked down upon the Nine Provinces, when had she ever been so humiliated?

What shocked her even more was that the "Inner Demon" that had repeatedly tormented her in her Nightmare had actually appeared before her alive and in the flesh!

"He is merely a sixth-rank martial artist. This Palace could crush him to death with a flick of my hand."

"But once This Palace harbors hostility toward him, that Red Silk appears on its own..."

"What if This Palace does not act personally, but sends someone else to kill him?"

The moment the thought arose, her wrist grew scorching hot. She hurriedly abandoned the idea of "killing with a borrowed knife."

Moreover, she had a faint premonition—

If Chen Mo died, she likely would never be able to free herself from that "Red Silk" again!

"Until a solution is found, This Palace must ensure he stays alive and well..."

Yu Youhan felt utterly stifled.

To untie the silk, one must find the one who tied it. From what had happened just now, the key to this matter clearly still lay with Chen Mo.

"Attend me."

"What are Your Highness's orders?"

The female official entered and bowed.

Yu Youhan raised her hand. Two gleams of light flew out and hovered before the female official.

"Deliver these two items to the Chen Estate. Say they are Chen Mo's 'rewards.'"

The female official reached out and accepted them.

A jade slip and a token.

Looking at the purple token carved with a Luan Phoenix spreading its wings, the female official's pupils contracted, her expression stunned.

"The Purple Luan Token?!"

"Your Highness is actually bestowing this item upon him..."