Someone Come, Drag This Lecher Out of the Palace and Beat Him to Death! [Please Subscribe!]

Old General Chen's name was Chen Huan. In his early years, he had always been a staunch supporter of the emperor.

Yet because he had repeatedly suffered losses at the empress dowager's hands, the emperor had mistaken him for one of her supporters and repeatedly refused to entrust him with important duties.

A dignified old general of the Golden Core Realm had actually been sent into the desert to scour for treasures.

In the end, he had gradually become a fence-sitter, offending neither side, seeking no merit, only avoiding fault.

If not for finding two exceptionally valuable merfolk twin girls this time and planning to present them to the emperor—guaranteeing a promotion—he would have been ready to retire in the desert.

How could he possibly hand over such an opportunity?

But the empress dowager's man?

He had never heard that the empress dowager had a habit of keeping male lovers.

Still, out of caution, he instinctively sized up the young man before him.

Tall and striking, with an extraordinary bearing.

Though his cultivation was only at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, he had dared to venture alone into the desert, pursue a deep-diving Artificial Sandworm, and even kill a Foundation Establishment merchant above his level.

Any daughter or granddaughter of his who saw such a handsome, capable, and exceptional young man would surely be smitten.

His only flaw was that his talent seemed somewhat mediocre.

But for the empress dowager, who possessed Early Golden Core Stage cultivation and had long been plagued by illness, a man's talent was not what mattered.

Especially with this boy's Five-Element Endowment Constitution. Though it provided little nourishment to powerful female cultivators, it was the kind of furnace vessel least likely to be ruined and could serve as a fine emotional comfort.

By that reasoning, the boy's words might not have been lies.

Taking his right hand off the hilt of his greatsword, Chen Huan asked:

"What is your name?"

Jiang Chen let out a breath of relief.

He had won the gamble.

At the very least, this old general was not the empress dowager's enemy.

That meant no one would die in this ending, making it one of the three possible choices.

"Jiang Chen."

With a stern expression, the old general asked skeptically:

"What proof do you have that you are the empress dowager's man?"

"If I tell you, General, you will have to die."

Jiang Chen leisurely drank his tea, calm and composed, though his words seemed to carry flashing blades and shadows of swords.

The old general was not so easily fooled. He would either get to the bottom of it or split Jiang Chen's skull open with one sword.

"I am not the empress dowager's enemy. I will keep it secret."

Since the old man had put it that way, Jiang Chen could no longer keep playing along. He could only reveal his trump card.

He set down his teacup and stared into the old general's deeply sunken eyes.

"The empress dowager is not human."

Chen Huan's expression changed.

Rumors that the empress dowager was not human had been physically suppressed by the empress dowager herself many times.

If the empress dowager had been human, then with his cultivation and abilities, he would have helped the emperor remove her from power long ago.

At present, only a few people in the palace had heard rumors that the empress dowager might be a fox demon. Ordinary people could not possibly know.

Much less such a young, unfamiliar face.

"Come with me."

Afterward, the old general brought Jiang Chen and the two Merfolk Women back to Xiyang City and hid them in his residence.

After dawn.

On one hand, he sent the Merfolk Women to Taigan Palace, where the emperor resided, and handed them over to the emperor's imperial physicians.

On the other, he sent someone to Peaceful Palace to ask whether the empress dowager knew a young man named Jiang Chen, whom he had rescued in the desert.

It was not until evening that Peaceful Palace sent a reply, saying that Jiang Chen was indeed an old friend of the empress dowager.

The old general understood.

The boy was only around twenty. What kind of old friend could he be?

Could he be the incarnation of an old friend?

And why had the report delivered to Peaceful Palace in the morning received no answer until night?

There should be no mistake about Jiang Chen being one of the empress dowager's people. As for whether he was truly her man, that was still hard to say.

Though he had been demoted for many years, now that the emperor had gained power, he remained an imperial loyalist... though the firmness of that loyalty changed with the empress dowager's strength.

At the very least, he no longer dared to offend the empress dowager, who might not even be human, as easily as he had before.

With that in mind, he sent a trusted confidant to secretly escort Jiang Chen to Peaceful Palace.

Not only did he refrain from confiscating Jiang Chen's spoils of war, he even sent along some nourishing supplements.

Peaceful Palace stood within the central woods of Spirit-Calming Garden.

Spirit-Calming Garden lay at the northernmost edge of the imperial palace.

The garden was planted with all kinds of rare herbs and exotic flowers. It was now late spring and early summer; as the wind blew, flowers fell by the thousands, carpeting the ground in layers. Only the rear courtyard looked as though fresh snow had fallen, exquisitely beautiful.

A winding stream ran through it, duckweed filling its clear emerald waters, while Rainbow Crucian Carp swam within.

At the center stood a grove of pines and maples. Amid the trees, gleaming glazed tile roofs could be seen, like a golden island.

"Looks like the empress dowager really knows how to enjoy herself..."

Thinking this, Jiang Chen strode into the grove and wandered along its secluded winding paths before finally reaching the mysterious Peaceful Palace.

Two sword-bearing palace maids stood guard outside the palace gates.

It was Jiang Chen's first time seeing palace maids carrying swords.

It was obvious that the empress dowager had no regard for the emperor. He was probably not even her biological son.

The two palace maids did not spare Jiang Chen a glance, treating him as though he did not exist.

Jiang Chen deliberately stepped forward and touched one palace maid's hand.

There was no response at all...

Then he touched the other palace maid's hand.

Still no response.

They had clearly fallen under the empress dowager's illusion technique.

Jiang Chen thought, If the empress dowager weren't in the palace, I'd definitely show you two some of my special tricks.

He strode into Peaceful Palace.

Inside, cloud sandalwood served as beams, water jade as lamps, strings of pearls as curtains, and gilded metal as foundations, all of it glittering brilliantly.

The floor was paved with white jade inset with golden pearls, carved into lotus patterns. The moment he stepped on it, warmth seeped into the soles of his feet, making each step graceful and smooth as silk.

Beyond the pearl curtains, he saw only a voluptuous figure seated behind hanging drapes, hazy and graceful, like dark mountains after rain.

Jiang Chen respectfully cupped his hands toward the voluptuous figure behind the curtain.

"This commoner, Jiang Chen, greets Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager!"

From behind the curtain came a woman's voice, lofty as a hanging moon. Solemn and majestic, it carried a faint but unmistakable killing intent:

"I do not know any Jiang Chen. I summoned you into the palace only to see what sort of thief dared impersonate an old friend of mine. I will personally kill you!"

Jiang Chen strode forward and laughed loudly.

"Calling me an old friend from Azure Mist Sect a month ago isn't really wrong, is it?"

"How presumptuous!"

The woman behind the curtain struck out with her palm through the drape.

Bang!

She actually killed Jiang Chen with a single palm strike...

The end.

Jiang Chen felt as if his soul had already drifted beyond the heavens and he was about to return to his hometown to continue being a little sunshine. Pain spread through his entire body.

Fortunately, he quickly came to his senses.

It was an illusion!

Jiang Chen knew that after this woman had sensed his transparent, pristine aura, she was testing his abilities again.

She did not even dare confirm his identity.

After that brief moment of spiritual wandering, Jiang Chen remained perfectly still, as calm as ever.

A moment later.

He raised a hand, lifted the pearl curtain, and strode into the inner hall.

Before him was a broad six-foot-wide agarwood bed, draped with a precious gauze canopy of merfolk silk. The canopy was embroidered throughout with silver-threaded crabapple blossoms sprinkled with pearls. When the wind stirred the gauze, it resembled a dreamlike sea of clouds and mountains.

Jiang Chen was stunned. There was another curtain in front of him!

The outer garden, the woods, the outer hall, the inner hall—and after entering the inner hall, there was still another layer of drapery...

You're playing Russian nesting dolls with me, huh?

Never mind. With the dual support of Plot Simulation and illusion techniques, Jiang Chen did not care at all.

He lifted the drapery and strode inside.

On the agarwood couch lay a green jade fragrance-embracing pillow, a soft silk ice mat, and layered jade-belt brocade quilts.

The empress dowager sat cross-legged upon the bed.

She wore thin gauze robes interwoven in purple and crimson, with a white shawl draped over her shoulders like rolling clouds. Her hair was piled into a high coiffure, her forehead adorned with floral ornaments, her dark brows extending to her temples...

Her open collar was lightly veiled by a layer of pure white gauze. Beneath it, pale fullness rose and fell like surging waves, lending an immortal aura wholly at odds with her voluptuous figure.

Her skin was white as moonlight, and her fragrance seeped into the heart.

Her bearing was noble and graceful, truly worthy of being called voluptuous.

Her features were exceptionally dignified and beautiful, yet her eyes held a watery, alluring charm. Seductive without being vulgar, she was truly peerless.

Looking closely, aside from faint crow's feet at the corners of her eyes and weariness in her gaze, there was nothing to criticize.

Especially that broad bosom. Though it could not compare to Tian Mingye's towering magnificence, it could still encompass heaven and earth and contain all things...

Yet at this moment, the empress dowager, Mu Rong, glared angrily at the lecher before her.

Her vast bosom rose and fell with her breath.

"Guards, drag this lecher out of the palace and beat him to death!"

You can't bear to do it...

Jiang Chen strode forward, smiling mysteriously.

"This commoner knows that Your Majesty wishes to test my ability to break illusions, but that ability is nothing special... I possess a new ability that Your Majesty will definitely like."

"What are you doing!"

Mu Rong was so furious that her spiritual pressure surged. Her face flushed white and red as her left hand struck at Jiang Chen's forehead, her right hand clawed toward his back, and she bit down on his left shoulder... until blood flowed everywhere.

Any one of those attacks, if she had used just a little more force—just a tiny bit more—would have been enough to kill Jiang Chen.

And so...

Jiang Chen lived until midnight.