It was done.
Seeing Dongfang Xiao's choice, Xu Shi revealed a satisfied smile.
Of course, he probably did not feel much of a sense of accomplishment—this was hardly his first time doing something like this. Calling it effortless would not be an exaggeration.
Even without the genuine Mind Reading ability his silly disciple possessed, he was exceptionally skilled at reading and judging people. It was easy for him to find the little empress's greatest inner weakness.
It was an extreme desire to break free from her shackles, one so distorted it could even be called madness.
On the smaller scale, it was Cheng Gujian before her; on the larger scale, it was the church that had always stood opposed to the royal family.
Either one was something she wanted to overthrow. The only difference was which was closer at hand.
What she wanted was to become the Hualan Empire's one and only ruler, whose word was law, with no one else allowed to touch the power in her hands.
But if it were only her, how could she possibly achieve that wish? Xu Shi did not believe she had spent all these years making no preparations in secret, yet in the end, all she could do was watch Cheng Gujian's influence grow greater and greater while she herself was left in an increasingly precarious position...
Under such circumstances, just targeting that one point gave him every confidence he could shatter Dongfang Xiao's psychological defenses. Empathy was naturally one step in that process—though Xu Shi really had experienced something similar, even if he had not, this bad man would probably have made something up on the spot.
After all, Dongfang Xiao did not know anything about his past. Whatever he said was entirely up to him, was it not?
And that