The Great Qian Imperial Family, the Princess's Palace.
Inside the hall, the aloeswood incense burned quietly, its wisps of smoke rising straight up.
Ling Xueyao stood in front of the carved vermilion window, looking somewhat dazed.
It's been half a month.
Since Chu Yunfei left the palace that day, for fifteen days and nights, she had not received even the slightest news from the outside world.
Her last attempt to contact Chu Yunfei was on the night he left the palace.
Before the jade talisman could be fully activated, Zhou Xuancheng suddenly appeared with more than ten imperial guards, not only forcibly interrupting the communication but also coldly confiscating all of her personal storage rings.
From that moment on, the world seemed to be forcibly torn apart.
The guards surrounding the palace were rotated time and again, their tight security making it suffocating.
In addition to the protective array that originally enveloped the main hall, multiple obscure and cold arrays quietly appeared, sealing off the void completely.
At first, Ling Xueyao thought that her father was worried that she was determined to find Chu Yunfei, so he used this method to stop her from escaping.
Until later.
As she paused in the courtyard, she keenly sensed the presence lurking beneath the shadows of the palace rooftops.
That wasn't the aura of the Imperial Guards.
Those were several Late Divine Sea Realm experts whom she had never seen in the palace before.
In that instant, a chill shot from the soles of my feet straight to the top of my head.
The Emperor's elaborate preparations were not out of fear that she would leave this small place.
This intricate web of deadly traps, this meticulously concealed murderous intent... it's clearly a trap set to lure someone into walking right into it, using her as bait.
And the person who might recklessly crash into the net...
Only Chu Yunfei.
" Chu Yunfei... please, please don't come."
Ling Xueyao murmured softly, her nails digging deep into her palms, drawing out fine lines of blood.
This thought nearly tore her heart and lungs apart.
She couldn't accept it, much less understand it.
Why has her father, who cherished her like a precious jewel since childhood and sheltered her from all hardships, become so sinister and terrifying after awakening from a ten-year coma?
For the past two weeks, she has requested an audience several times, even threatening to go on a hunger strike, but all she has received outside the palace gates is a cold, impersonal order.
Even Shen Qianyue, who had watched her grow up since childhood, was strictly forbidden from getting close to her.
She was like a canary stripped of all its wings, trapped in a magnificent cage, awaiting the arrival of an unknown storm.
Tap, tap, tap.
Suddenly, a series of unhurried footsteps echoed along the long corridor outside the palace gate.
Ling Xueyao's body trembled slightly, and she suddenly turned around.
The heavy rosewood door was pushed open a crack, and the hem of a bright yellow dragon robe swept across the threshold.
Ling Zhantian stepped in.
His expression was as calm as a still pond, his eyes deep and dark, and when they fell on Ling Xueyao, not even a trace of the warmth of a long-awaited reunion could be found.
Their eyes met.
The entire empty palace fell into a deathly silence in that instant.
The once closest father and daughter now stand facing each other, their eyes filled only with chilling defensiveness and cold indifference.
After a long silence, Ling Zhantian lowered his eyelids, breaking the silence.
" Yao'er, are you still blaming me?"
Ling Xueyao bit her pale lower lip tightly, not responding immediately.
Is that strange?
How could she not be angry?
It's his fault for being so ungrateful as soon as he woke up, banishing her savior from the palace.
She blamed him for ignoring her pleas and imprisoning her in such a humiliating and cold manner for half a month.
But at this moment, the churning pain in his chest was far more intense than any resentment.
Ling Xueyao took a deep breath, her usually cold voice trembling uncontrollably.
"Father... Yao'er asks for nothing else, but only requests the truth from you today."
She raised her beautiful, bloodshot eyes and stared intently at that imposing face.
"The array and experts outside the palace are not there to defend against me at all."
"You... do you want to kill him?"
Ling Zhantian stood there, his face appearing somewhat obscure in the dim light.
His fingers, which were tucked into his sleeves, tightened slightly.
Several breaths passed before a cold, emotionless word rang out in the hall.
"Yes."
boom!
Although she had already guessed the truth, when she heard the words uttered by her father, Ling Xueyao's heart still felt as if it had been stabbed by a dull knife.
She swayed, nearly collapsing against the windowpane, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Why?!"
Ling Xueyao's eyes were filled with despair and heartbreak, and she questioned him almost Weeping Blood:
What exactly did he do wrong?
"He saved Yao'er's life; he removed the Soul-Devouring Nether Poison from your body that you had been suffering for ten years."
"If it weren't for him, you would still be lying unconscious on the emperor's bed, waiting to die."
"Not only do you deny this life-saving grace, but why did you go to such lengths to kill him?!"
Ling Zhantian's originally calm eyes suddenly sharpened, and his imperial aura swept out like a raging wave, forcing the curtains in the hall to flutter wildly.
"Presumptuous!"
Ling Zhantian's tone was chilling and devoid of any warmth:
"What if he saved me? What if he saved you?"
"This boy is unruly and arrogant, and now he has offended several major sects and disrupted my grand plan that I have been developing for many years!"
"Even outside the imperial city... He deserves to die!"
Ling Xueyao stared blankly at the man in front of her, who seemed to have gone mad, feeling utterly unfamiliar with him.
"What grand plan? Can it compare to the bottom line of being a human being? Can it compare to the kindness of saving a life?!"
Ling Xueyao wiped away her tears and asked urgently, "What did you just say about outside the imperial city...? How is he now? What did you do to him?!"
Ling Zhantian snorted coldly, flicked his sleeve, and turned away.
You don't need to know any of this.
"You only need to understand one thing: the Great Qian Imperial Family cannot tolerate him, nor can the Eastern Continent."
He turned his head, a cruel smile playing on his lips:
"Between me and him, only one can live."
"And I will never die!"
Ling Xueyao was struck dumb, completely frozen in place.
One was his most respected biological relative, whom he had called "Father Emperor" for twenty years.
One is a domineering and arrogant lover who has long been ingrained in her bones and soul.
Only one can survive?
In just half a month, what terrible changes have occurred between these two that have caused the situation to deteriorate to such a point of no return?!
Ling Xueyao's face was ashen, and she trembled as she uttered a few words:
"You... you've already personally attacked him, haven't you?"
Ling Zhantian remained silent, his fists clenching quietly beneath his sleeves, knuckles turning white.
Make a move?
He did more than just take action.
In the desolate mountains outside the imperial city, he even used his trump cards, the Nine Dragons Suppress the Mountain Suppressing the Divine Sea, and even the imperial family's fortune, but he was almost shattered by that madman's sword. In the end, he only managed to escape back to the deep palace in a sorry state thanks to the life-saving escape talisman left by his ancestor.
He would never utter a single word of such a humiliating disgrace to anyone.
Ling Zhantian forcibly suppressed the surging humiliation and violence, let out a long sigh, and softened his tone for the first time ever.
" Yao'er, your father's tone was a bit harsh just now, but you must understand that everything your father did was for your own good."
He turned around, his expression seemingly kind:
"Stop being willful. As long as you behave, your father promises that you will always be the most noble princess of the Great Qian, enjoying endless wealth and honor."
Hearing these explanations, Ling Xueyao smiled bitterly and shook her head.
"Father, this is not what Yao'er wants."
She raised her head, and on her beautiful, aloof face, there was a resolute determination that bordered on martyrdom.
"I don't want the honor of being a princess, nor do I want any wealth or glory."
"I only want him."
"I just want to... be with him."
Click.
A thin crack silently appeared on the blue brick beneath Ling Zhantian's feet.
The emperor's gentle expression vanished instantly, replaced by a chillingly sinister look in his eyes.
Do you really think that way?
Ling Zhantian stared intently at her, enunciating each word clearly:
"For an outsider, you'd rather abandon royal dignity, abandon everything? Even... even if he wants to kill me with his own hands?!"
Ling Xueyao's delicate body swayed violently, and she took half a step back.
"No... Yunfei isn't the kind of person who kills innocent people indiscriminately. How could he possibly want to kill Father Emperor for no reason?"
Ling Xueyao's hurried explanation seemed to be trying to persuade Ling Zhantian, or perhaps desperately trying to convince herself:
There must be some huge misunderstanding between you two.
"Father, please remove the outer array and let me see him, okay?"
She reached out, almost pleadingly grasping Ling Zhantian's bright yellow dragon robe. "If only my daughter could explain things to him face-to-face, everything could be resolved..."
"Misunderstand?"
Ling Zhantian seemed to have heard the most ridiculous and absurd statement in the world, a venomous sneer curling at the corner of his lips:
" Yao'er, you're too naive."
"He now hates me to the core, and thinks of tearing me to pieces and scattering my bones to ashes every moment."
"And I... am the same."
Between us, it's a fight to the death!
Boom!
As if utterly exhausted, Ling Xueyao loosened her dragon robe, staggered back several steps, and her back slammed heavily against the cold vermilion window.
His face was so pale it was completely bloodless.
It's a fight to the death.
These four short words completely extinguished the last glimmer of hope and illusion in her heart.
Looking at his daughter, who was distraught and on the verge of a mental breakdown, a deep, calculating glint flashed in Ling Zhantian's eyes.
It's almost done.
Ling Zhantian's tone softened again, revealing a helpless elder's demeanor:
" Yao'er, there are some things I cannot tell you."
"I know you're too deeply involved, and you can't bear to see him die."
"Now that things have come to this, if I were to forcibly execute him, you would likely harbor resentment towards me for the rest of your life."
Ling Zhantian paused for a moment, then delivered the prepared statement:
"If you truly wish him to live... I can grant your request and spare his life."
Ling Xueyao's unfocused pupils suddenly contracted, and she abruptly looked up. "Really?!"
"Of course it's true; a ruler's word is his bond."
Ling Zhantian's expression was calm, his tone carrying an undeniable domineering air:
"But the prerequisite is... you must let go of all your obsessions and completely obey all my subsequent arrangements."
The hall fell into a deathly silence once again.
Ling Xueyao bit her lip hard, and blood spilled from the corner of her pale mouth.
arrange?
She knew all too well what her father's "arrangements" meant.
That might mean she would be completely reduced to a tool for a royal marriage, or it might mean she would never see Chu Yunfei again in her life.
But... as long as it saves Chu Yunfei's life.
As long as that man is safe and sound.
She didn't care what happened to her.
After an unknown amount of time, Ling Xueyao slowly lowered her eyes, her voice so weak it was almost hoarse:
"Good."
"I'll follow all your arrangements, as long as... you really can spare his life."
A triumphant glint flashed deep in Ling Zhantian's eyes, and he nodded slightly.
"Rest assured, my word is my bond."
He flicked his sleeves, turned, and strode towards the palace gate, his cold voice carried into the palace on the night breeze:
"Now, come with me to a place."