From Cold Palace Princess to Heavenly Empress

"The Emperor Xia's ninth daughter, the Ninth Princess Xiao Minghuang, who swore vows of love and deep affection with you, promising to hold your hand until we grow old and that she would marry no one but you, is me!"

Xiao Minghuang spoke without any particular expression, merely repeating the woman's earlier words with perfect clarity.

"Ah?!"

The woman's head snapped up, her eyes wide, disbelief filling her pupils. If she hadn't been bound by ropes all over, she would have pounced on Xiao Minghuang, torn open her clothes, and checked if there was really a sesame-seed-sized mole on her chest.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

The woman's lips twitched, and she forced a smile. "Miss... you jest. With your celestial beauty, like an immortal descended to the mortal realm, why would you impersonate someone else?"

In an instant, countless guesses flashed through her mind.

How could such a coincidence happen? She goes out of the city to gain experience, encounters an Evil Cultivator, is captured, and then uses the Ninth Princess's name to intimidate them, only to meet the actual person?

Whether anyone else believed it or not, she certainly didn't.

Seeing the woman's disbelieving expression, Xiao Minghuang felt helpless.

After dealing with the village chief, the woman had taken the initiative, speaking first.

Xiao Minghuang, feeling curious, had wanted to exchange a few words with her. She hadn't expected it to become so real, making the woman believe it so thoroughly.

"I am truly the Ninth Princess Xiao Minghuang, and I don't have a mole on my chest."

To the woman, whether the Ninth Princess had a mole on her chest was no longer important.

What truly mattered was the breathtakingly beautiful girl before her, who seemed like a celestial being.

She appeared to be only fourteen or fifteen years old yet possessed Qi Refining Realm cultivation. There wasn't another like her in all of Great Xia!

Moreover, this girl had just saved her. What a wonderful fate.

She couldn't believe that such a beautiful girl, like a celestial fairy, could be some kind of evil Evil Cultivator.

From their previous conversation, she could roughly tell that the girl before her was young and liked to play around, otherwise, she wouldn't have pretended to be an Evil Cultivator to scare her.

The woman curled her lips, revealing a pitiable yet perfectly proper smile, her voice soft and tinged with tears.

"Miss, those bad guys captured me and kept me locked up for several days. I'm tired, hungry, and thirsty now. Could you please..."

Xiao Minghuang frowned slightly, wondering if the woman had a mental illness. How else could she switch so quickly from being resourceful and calm to appearing weak, helpless, and pitiful?

She sighed helplessly. This was all the trouble caused by her playing around.

If she had immediately untied the woman and revealed her identity, there wouldn't have been such a misunderstanding.

Furthermore, the woman's conversation just now clearly showed she had her own opinions and wasn't some ignorant girl who could be easily persuaded.

"Fine, when we reach Beiyang City and I meet the Beiyang City Lord, my identity can naturally be verified."

Xiao Minghuang reached out and untied the woman's restraints, explaining:

"I am truly the Ninth Princess Xiao Minghuang. You can ask me anything about the Imperial City, and I will tell you."

As the ropes loosened, the woman twisted her body and naturally fell into Xiao Minghuang's embrace. She didn't ask anything about the Imperial City at all, speaking in an extremely weak tone, pitifully saying:

"I've been tied up for so many days, I'm so tired and hungry, I can't move."

Feeling a soft, warm body suddenly in her arms, Xiao Minghuang couldn't help but frown. In her life, apart from Ruoshui, she had never been this close to anyone else.

However, being tied up for so many days, tired and hungry, would indeed make one feel weak and limp.

Xiao Minghuang didn't push her away. She took out a water flask from her storage bag and placed it in the woman's hand.

After some conversation, she learned that the woman's name was Lin Wanqiu, the only daughter of the Beiyang City Lord.

Seven days ago, Lin Wanqiu received news that a spiritual medicine had appeared in the Savage Forest, so she left the city with several Guards.

After some exploration, she found the spiritual medicine but was targeted by Evil Cultivators.

The Guards died protecting her.

Before being captured by the Evil Cultivators, she hid the spiritual medicine in a secret location.

After capturing her, the Evil Cultivators, wanting to find the spiritual medicine's whereabouts, delayed harming her.

When Xiao Minghuang had pretended to be an Evil Cultivator and bargained with her earlier, Lin Wanqiu had already felt suspicious. Why wasn't the spiritual medicine, which they had repeatedly demanded the whereabouts of, mentioned at all now?

At first, she thought the village chief didn't know about the spiritual medicine. But when she saw Xiao Minghuang's true face, she realized there was no village chief at all.

Lin Wanqiu rested her head on Xiao Minghuang's lap, her eyes narrowed, and said softly:

"Miss, you haven't told me your name yet?"

Xiao Minghuang sighed lightly, her eyes filled with sincerity.

"I am truly the Ninth Princess Xiao Minghuang!"

Lin Wanqiu blinked her beautiful large eyes, staring into Xiao Minghuang's pupils, trying to see something else through those bright eyes, but found nothing.

Xiao Minghuang felt a little strange, wondering why Lin Wanqiu was staring at her like that.

Could this beautiful girl really be the Ninth Princess?

A flicker of confusion flashed in Lin Wanqiu's eyes, quickly disappearing. Since things have come to this, I might as well go along with it...

After a moment, she seemed to have figured something out and smiled charmingly.

"Then I'll call you Miss Xiao!"

Seeing that the other party still didn't believe her, Xiao Minghuang shook her head slightly and stopped trying to explain. Once they reached Beiyang City and met the Beiyang City Lord, the truth would naturally be revealed.

As the two chatted, time flew by.

During their conversation, Xiao Minghuang frowned slightly and asked, "Does Miss Lin know where those civilians abducted by the Evil Cultivator are being held?"

Mentioning this matter, Lin Wanqiu's usually gentle expression turned serious. She reluctantly climbed out of Xiao Minghuang's soft embrace and said, "Follow me."

Afterward, Lin Wanqiu led her back to the stone building and found the imprisoned civilians in the back hall.

In two huge cages, young women and children were held separately.

What they had in common was that everyone was bound with ropes, their eyes blindfolded with white cloth, and their mouths gagged. They lay motionless.

"I'm afraid someone couldn't hold on any longer…"

Xiao Minghuang frowned slightly, her fingertips flashing with golden light as she shattered the iron cage with a single blow.

Lin Wanqiu quickly stepped forward to untie everyone's ropes.

After a headcount, half of the captured civilians had already died.

Upon hearing this news, Lin Wanqiu's already pale and thin cheeks became even more somber.

"These are all people from my Beiyang City…"

The few survivors trembled uncontrollably or remained still, clearly having suffered immense psychological trauma that would be difficult to recover from even with the rest of their lives.

Miss Aki, Who Wants to Become an Adult

Ren'gawa Aki, 19 years old, 1.5 meters tall, weighing 83 kilograms, looks like a middle schooler.

She has a sweet and cute appearance, a gentle and kind personality, but is a bit timid and cowardly.

Despite being a pure, soft, and moe character, she is determined to become an "adult" to live up to her senpai's expectations.

Working various part-time jobs, dealing with the relationships of those around her, a passionate underground singer who loves to drink, A sickly manga artist living in her room, a mischievous little devil of a stepsister.

Before being claimed by someone… strive to grow into a mature adult!

23. Slaying Evil Cultivators, Dual Cultivation Technique

After a long period of comfort, the civilians who had been imprisoned for a long time gradually regained consciousness and thanked them profusely.

"Thank you both, heroines, for saving us. We can never repay this debt!"

Xiao Minghuang waved her hand and said, "It was just a small effort. You don't need to be like this. Go home and live your lives!"

Next, Xiao Minghuang led the crowd out of the stone building and was about to continue forward.

Suddenly.

She frowned slightly, sensing a hidden aura lurking in a corner.

"Miss Lin, you take them back inside first. Don't come out unless I call you."

Lin Wanqiu, with her delicate and perceptive mind, immediately understood her meaning. After leading the civilians back inside, she looked at Xiao Minghuang with some concern and reminded her, "Be careful not to hurt yourself."

The corners of Xiao Minghuang's lips curled up slightly, her eyes showing three parts mockery and seven parts nonchalance. She looked at a dark corner and said calmly, "He's not worthy!"

Before her words had even fallen.

A burly figure emerged from the darkness, exuding a bloody aura as if he had just finished a massacre.

"Your Excellency, killing all my brothers is a bit excessive, wouldn't you say?"

The speaker was the leader of the Evil Cultivators, radiating the aura of a fourth-level Qi Refining realm cultivator, his killing intent and imposing presence not to be underestimated.

He had been out pillaging and upon returning to the cave, found corpses everywhere. At first, he thought the imperial court had sent experts to secretly eliminate them.

But after some investigation, he discovered it was merely a young girl at the fourth-level Qi Refining realm.

However, he had just fought a fierce battle with the Beiyang City Guard and barely escaped with his life. He was currently extremely weak and had no desire to engage in a fight to the death with the young girl before him.

But Xiao Minghuang didn't think so. She spoke indifferently, "Excessive? Since you dare to appear before me, you should be prepared to die."

The Evil Cultivator leader's expression changed. Knowing that today's matter could not be easily resolved, he put on a brave front and said coldly, "We are both at the fourth-level Qi Refining realm. You are just a brat who hasn't even grown all his hair. What can you use to fight me?"

"I'll give you a chance. Hand over all the Spirit Stones and elixirs on your person, and get out of the cave. You can live!"

Hearing this, Xiao Minghuang raised her palm, golden light flashing at her fingertips, her gaze towards the Evil Cultivator leader filled with a hint of disdain.

"You, worthy?"

Hearing this, the Evil Cultivator leader could no longer stand it. He made a decisive move, striking first and immediately roaring.

"Blood Waves Soaring to the Heavens!"

Four vortexes of energy appeared on his body, rapidly pulling in the surrounding spiritual energy, raising a blood wave several meters high that crashed towards Xiao Minghuang.

Seeing the fierce blood wave surge towards her, a faint light flashed in Xiao Minghuang's pupils. Golden light flickered on her fingertips. She then formed her fingers into a sword and slashed through the air.

"Seven Star Sword · Yao Guang!"

Xiao Minghuang's red lips parted slightly as she softly chanted. The golden light condensed into a brilliant thread, carrying boundless, dazzling, and sharp sword energy. In an instant, it annihilated the blood wave and slashed towards the Evil Cultivator leader.

The blood wave, cultivated for many years, was easily destroyed. The might of the Yao Guang Sword instilled fear in the Evil Cultivator leader. He subconsciously condensed all his spiritual power into his palms, intending to swat away the sword light.

The moment the sword light met his palms, a dull sound suddenly rang out.

The starlight extinguished. Xiao Minghuang's expression remained unchanged.

The Evil Cultivator leader's face turned ashen. Blood poured from his wrists; they were gone, directly severed!

"This... how is this possible?!"

He had practiced the Blood Wave Palm for many years, and almost all his Cultivation Method was concentrated in his hands. Even facing a cultivator at the fifth level of Qi Refining, he believed he could put up a fight.

But this seemingly delicate young girl before him had effortlessly severed his palms with a single finger.

Such strength was simply astounding!