Dai Li stood rooted to the spot, staring blankly at Zhu Qingque before him. He seemed not to have heard her at all, showing not the slightest reaction.
"Your Majesty."
Zhu Qingque spoke again.
This time, her voice held a trace of coldness. "Please leave."
She did not even look at him. She merely raised a hand and straightened her sleeve, her movements calm and graceful, as though what she had just said had been nothing more than an ordinary greeting.
Dai Li's Adam's apple bobbed.
A rush of indescribably complicated emotions surged up from the depths of his heart.
But now, even he couldn't tell what he was feeling.
But.
He just didn't want to leave.
He wanted so badly to say that he took back the words he'd said yesterday, to tell her he could pretend last night had never happened...
Swallowing, Dai Li took a deep breath and stepped forward. "Qingque..."
Before he could finish.
Zhu Qingque suddenly erupted like a bristling cat, a tremendous burst of Soul Power exploding from her!
The next moment!
Eight Soul Rings appeared in succession: two yellow, two purple, and four black.
The terrifying pressure of an eighty-ninth-level Soul Power swept out with a thunderous roar.
Completely unprepared, Dai Li was blasted backward by the pressure, stumbling back several steps before landing hard on his rear, looking thoroughly wretched.
"Qingque, you... you're level eighty-nine?"
Dai Li's eyes widened in disbelief. "Wait, your Martial Soul..."
"I said, get out!"
"Qingque, wait..."
Seeing Zhu Qingque about to close the door, Dai Li panicked and hurried to his feet, trying to catch up with her.
But the moment she saw him move toward her, Zhu Qingque's expression turned icy. Before Dai Li could react, he felt a tremendous force slam into his forehead!
In an instant!
He flew backward as if a charging rhinoceros had hit him head-on. With a muffled thud, he tumbled down the steps outside the hall, rolling several times before finally coming to a stop.
"Pfft!"
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Dai Li lay sprawled on the ground, a clear shoe print stamped across his face. His forehead throbbed with pain, and a coppery sweetness welled up in his mouth.
He struggled to push himself up, but his whole body felt as if it had been smashed to pieces. He couldn't even summon the strength to lift a hand.
Though Dai Li was an eighty-ninth-level Soul Douluo, he was in terrible shape. His injuries had yet to heal, he'd been beaten up the previous night, and his anger had caused him to pass out. Now, he had barely seven percent of his strength left.
"Pfft!"
A full two and a half minutes passed before Dai Li finally caught his breath and managed to struggle to his feet. He spat out a mouthful of blood, then raised his head with effort and looked toward the entrance to the bedchamber.
Zhu Qingque stood there, just inside the threshold, looking down at him with an expression as cold and indifferent as ice.
"Guards."
"Escort His Majesty back to his palace."
As soon as she spoke.
Several palace maids and guards, still shaken, hurried over and helped Dai Li to his feet from all sides.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, are you all right...?"
Dai Li opened his mouth to speak, but the moment he did, he spat out a gush of blood. Darkness swept over his vision in waves, and the world spun around him.
In the last moments of his consciousness, he saw Zhu Qingque standing in the doorway, watching as he was carried away. She turned away indifferently, then shut the hall doors with a bang.
Then everything went completely dark!
"Your Majesty!"
"Your Highness, His Majesty..."
"Take him to the Imperial Hospital!"
Zhu Qingque's cold voice came from inside the palace. The palace maids froze and exchanged glances, then silently carried Dai Li away as quickly as they could.