Princess Zhaoling 6

Although Zhaoling was fighting Di Feisheng, she kept part of her attention on Guanyin's Tear and Li Lianhua. When she saw Li Lianhua move, she cursed inwardly and abandoned any intention of fighting Di Feisheng fairly. She scattered a handful of poisonous smoke, activating the parasite inside him.

She then flew back to Consort Xuan's coffin and, before Li Lianhua could stand, took Guanyin's Tear and put it into her Chaos Pearl.

When Li Lianhua came to, he saw that Di Feisheng had already returned to his original form and was kneeling on one knee, struggling to endure the pain.

Zhaoling had only just withdrawn her hand from Consort Xuan's coffin. Seeing her expression, Li Lianhua knew she had gotten what she wanted.

Although Li Lianhua suspected that Di Feisheng had something to do with his Bicha poisoning back then, he now intended to ask Di Feisheng where his senior brother's remains were, and could not bear to see the opponent he had once acknowledged in such a wretched state.

He could only look at the satisfied Zhaoling and say, "You've accomplished everything you came to do. Surely there's no need to take this man's life?"

Zhaoling nodded and produced a pill. Under the gaze of the other two, she picked up some Asura Grass seeds from the ground and mixed them into it. Then she gripped Di Feisheng's jaw, stuffed the pill into his mouth, and pressed an acupoint, forcing him to swallow it.

When she was done, she moved very close to Li Lianhua and asked him with a smile, "Li Lianhua, I helped you feed those Asura Grass seeds to Di Feisheng. Do you like me a little now?"

Li Lianhua uneasily stepped back several paces and looked at Zhaoling with a calm expression. "Princess, stop playing. I don't know why you keep saying you want us to develop feelings for each other, but we both know perfectly well that you have no such feelings for me. Why waste your time putting on a false show of affection with me?"

Zhaoling nodded in agreement. It really was troublesome.

She walked over to Li Lianhua again and, ignoring his attempts to stop her, took his pulse. "No wonder you woke up so quickly. This Bicha poison can actually make you immune to all other poisons."

She looked at Li Lianhua again. "Li Lianhua, I'm well versed in medicine and poisons. If you're willing to marry me, how about I cure you of this Bicha?"

Li Lianhua's expression remained unchanged. "You must be joking, Princess."

Zhaoling did not mind. "You'll agree eventually."

With that, she dropped the subject and pointed at Di Feisheng. "My people will be here soon. Take him and go. We'll meet again."

Li Lianhua gave Zhaoling a long look. Knowing she would not do anything to Fang Duobing, he picked up Di Feisheng and used the Posuo Steps to leave the First-Rank Tomb.

Zhaoling ignored Fang Duobing, who was still unconscious on the ground and had been caught up in her fight with Di Feisheng several more times. She simply raised her voice and said, "You've listened to so much, Mr. Ding. Aren't you coming out? Or... must I invite you?"

Zhaoling stressed the words "I invite you." Having witnessed how ruthlessly she fought, Ding Yuanzi had no choice but to emerge from behind a pillar. He knelt before her and begged for mercy. "I will never breathe a word of what I just heard. Please spare me, Princess. I am willing to serve you like an ox or a horse."

Zhaoling smiled and took out another pill. "Human nature is cold and fickle. I never trust people's hearts. Take this and serve me, and I'll spare your life."

Trembling, Ding Yuanzi picked up the pill. He struggled with himself for a long while, but Zhaoling's expression never changed. At last, he closed his eyes and swallowed it.

The pill melted as soon as it entered his mouth. After he swallowed it, pain and itching gripped his entire body. The pain and itching radiating from within him nearly drove Ding Yuanzi to end his life on the spot.

Zhaoling pressed several points on Ding Yuanzi's body, and only then did the torment that had pierced to his marrow stop.

"Now you've experienced that pain. The torment just now was less than a tenth of what happens when the medicine takes effect. When it truly does, you won't even have the strength to die, however much you want to."

Ding Yuanzi became even more humble. "I will certainly obey your every command, Master!"

Zhaoling took out a fake Luomo Ding, which she had prepared before coming to the First-Rank Tomb. She had collected the Luomo Ding before, and apart from lacking the child parasite, the fake was identical to the real one.

She handed the fake Luomo Ding and another pill to Ding Yuanzi. "This medicine will keep you safe for three months. Take the Luomo Ding and report back to Jiao Liqiao. You know what you should and shouldn't say."

Seeing that Zhaoling even knew why he had come to the First-Rank Tomb and that he was one of Jiao Liqiao's subordinates, Ding Yuanzi dared even less to disobey any of her orders.

Only after Ding Yuanzi had left did Zhaoling walk over to Consort Xuan's corpse. Looking troubled, she asked it, "I don't believe in feelings. I even hate them, so naturally I don't know how to develop them. But Li Lianhua has been poisoned with Bicha. I don't know whether that aphrodisiac would have any effect on him.

"Must I force myself on him?"

Although she was at a loss as to what to do about Li Lianhua for now, there was still plenty of time, so Zhaoling was in no hurry. Before Yang Yunchun arrived with his people, she picked out some treasures and put them into her Chaos Pearl.

Soon, Yang Yunchun arrived with people from the Inspection Bureau. Zhaoling told him to lock up Ge Pan, who was still alive. "This Ge Pan is from the Hundred Rivers Courtyard. The Hundred Rivers Courtyard has truly become lawless. They knew in advance that someone was after the First-Rank Tomb, yet they withheld that information.

"Yang Yunchun, I intend to use this man to move against the Hundred Rivers Courtyard. Are you the deputy commissioner of my Inspection Bureau, or are you Shi Shui's dog at the Hundred Rivers Courtyard? Can you recognize your own position?

"I will never forgive a traitor. You'd better conduct yourself accordingly!"

Besides Yang Yunchun, Zhaoling had now promoted two other trusted aides. One was Feng Xiaoduo, formerly a maidservant at her side. But Zhaoling had examined her Root Bone and found that she too was a martial arts prodigy. She was also ambitious, so Zhaoling taught her a martial art that could be mastered quickly and arranged for her to join the Inspection Bureau. She was now responsible for surveillance of the palace.

The other had been chosen from the shadow guards the emperor had given her. Zhaoling named her Wu Di, and under Zhaoling's guidance, her martial arts were now no weaker than Yang Yunchun's. She was responsible for keeping watch on the court officials.

Zhaoling still thought highly of Yang Yunchun and intended to put him in charge of jianghu affairs. But if he continued his entanglement with Shi Shui, Zhaoling could not keep him either.

Whether he lived or died depended on his own choice.

Yang Yunchun was the second son of the Minister of Justice and came from an excellent family. Unless she had no other choice, Zhaoling did not want to fall out with them either.

Here, Zhaoling had used the First-Rank Tomb affair to warn Yang Yunchun and was preparing to move against the Hundred Rivers Courtyard.

Meanwhile, Di Feisheng, whom Li Lianhua had taken away, finally recognized his identity from his lightness skill. Li Lianhua promised to teach Di Feisheng his master's ultimate art, the Essence-Cleansing and Marrow-Tempering Instruction, to remove the Asura Grass's restriction on his inner force.

Di Feisheng then reached an agreement with Li Lianhua, promising to keep his identity secret and help him search for his senior brother's remains.