Blood-Sucking Empress - Chapter 40

The Sang Empire’s envoys were seized and escorted out of the palace by the Imperial guards. During morning court, Qianhe Liyou had made such a chilling declaration, making everyone feel inwardly fearful. Afterwards, her gaze became even more frigid and chilling as she looked upon the envoys as if they were dead people. It was not until she watched them collapse to the ground that she ordered the Imperial guards to escort them out of the palace and sent them to the embassy.

And on the Imperial court, after a spell of stifling silence, there was a series of heart-pounding arrangements that caused one to be impassioned. From the troops to the people’s livelihood, from propaganda to stratagems, from the honor and disgrace of a country to the flourishing of a nationality, although Qianhe Liyou did not say much, every word was left to everyone’s unlimited imaginations. The entire Imperial household resembled a division, a functional and operating war machine that was beginning to arise. 

Each person incomparably stirring with a fire and restlessness, bustling to make the proper preparations and waiting…

“Empress, they are moving.”

“Talk.” Anhui had disappeared for a while, so she had guessed that some new developments must have occurred. Anhui was still in charge of the Anbu Black Ops, and he was still responsible for making the reports to her.

“They bribed this subordinate’s already previously arranged for men and secretly infiltrated the palace to meet up with Sang Zixin. They gave Sang Zixin a sachet of poison, planning on poisoning you. Besides that, they also intend to steal the military’s distribution charts and maps.” When Anhui said ‘poison’, those two syllables, a cold murderous intent flashed in his eyes. Anyone who wanted to murder the Empress would die!

“What was Sang Zixin’s reaction?” Qianhe Liyou was not surprised that the other party wanted her own life. She was more concerned about how Sang Zixin would react to this matter and hoped that the poor child would do anything more to make himself more pitiful. Otherwise, she would no longer pity him. Everyone’s fate lies in their own hands and devices, not something predestined by the Heavens.

“At first, he was silent and did not accept. He then refused, but the other party was enraged by his refusal. It seemed that they had prepared some kind of medicine long ago to control Sang Zixin and they force fed him poison that would flare up in seven days’ time. They threatened that if he was unable to complete his mission in seven days, he would be poisoned to death. The man this subordinate had arranged to secretly monitor Sang Zixin stated that his reaction had been a bit strange at the time. First, he panicked, but then he fell into an abnormal silence. Without saying anything, Sang Zixin let those two individuals make some threats and promises. Finally, after being slapped twice, Sang Ziling threatened with a few more words and then left. They most likely believed that Sang Zixin had agreed. After all, everyone is afraid of death…”

Anhui did not want to look down on human nature, but he had already witnessed too much filth and darkness. Living in this world, there were truly too many compelling, outside pressures that would force people to have no choice but to act against one’s will. Just how many people would not compromise? In this world, there were too many people in this world who feared dying…

“Many people are afraid of death, but they do not necessarily betray their own wills just to live. Anhui, continue to send people to monitor their movements. Zhen wants to see just how big of a wave these two or three small fish can make.”

“Yes!” Even if the Empress had not ordered as such, he would not have let these people off so easily. He would absolutely not allow anyone to harm the Empress…he still remembered that on the day of that tumultuous rebellion, he had been away from the Imperial city because of a mission. When he caught wind of the coup, he had really wanted to offer up his life as an apology then. As the leader of the Anbu Black Ops, if he had been unable to uncover such intelligence, then what was the meaning of his existence? At the time, he thought that if something had happened to the Empress, even if it was just an injury, he would have been willing to compensate with his life. He would never drag out such an ignoble and degrading existence unworthy of living. But, the heavens had eyes and not only did the Empress survive unscathed, but she had also demonstrated extraordinary martial prowess and resourcefulness. Not only did she easily quell the rebellion, but she had simultaneously made everyone under the heavens acknowledge her unshakeable position as Empress. Once he had the chance it had also thoroughly investigated the matters pertaining to the armed rebellion. The rebellion had occurred because, one, it had truly been too abrupt and unexpected, but also secondly, it was because the secret agent assigned to investigate Situ Changqin had their identity discovered and was killed before the rebellion. This was why he had not received any news on the matter, and when the other Anbu secret agents had noticed these changes, Anhui had not been in the capital at the time, so they could not notify him in time…

When he rushed back afterwards, he only had some time to deal with some of the aftermath. After dealing with everything, he knelt in front of the Empress and asked for punishment. But, the Empress ignored his request and only asked him to reorganize the Anbu Black Ops’ communication systems. She had not passed down any punishment, making him both feel moved and guilty….

 Qianhe Liyou waved her head to indicate that Anhui could withdraw. He nodded and faded into the shadows to handle logistical matters, and then quietly returned to the Imperial Study to continue protecting the Empress. Shortly after his return, Sang Zixin had returned and changed into a new set of robes. His face looked a little dim and gloomy, but nothing else was out of the ordinary.

“Where did you go?” Qianhe Liyou asked with a casual tone. He had been serving her personally these days. Although she clearly knew what he had been up to these days, she still wanted to tease him a bit.

“This servant. This servant accidentally fell down just now, and went to bathe and change clothes. It took a bit more time than expected, please punish as Your Majesty sees fit.”

Hearing Sang Zixin’s answer, Qianhe Liyou raised her eyebrows and stopped probing. Sang Zixin was quietly relieved when he saw that the Empress did not intend to continue her questioning…Of course he had lied, but this was not his true intentions. It was just the only method he came up with at the moment and anyway, he just had to stick to it for the next few days…

As if he had thought of something, a touch of sadness melted into Sang Zixin’s eyes.

Throughout the afternoon, Qianhe Liyou spent her time mainly reading the official’s memorials (reports). Most of them were related to the Sang Empire, while the rest were related to national affairs in various places in the empire. For example, the southern part of the empire had been severely impacted by flooding and many victims had been displaced from their homes. Banditry was running rampant in the north, many merchants had been captured and robbed. Additionally, in the southeast, pirates emerged and many fishermen and merchants suffered a lot as a result, etc. Qianhe Liyou wrote down notes on the memorials—annotating in the margins who from the Imperial court was best suited to handle and deal with these issues.

“Empress…” Feng Ying walked in with a bowl of something she was unsure what it was made out of.

Qianhe Liyou raised her head and looked at Feng Ying with questioning eyes, indicating that the guard could speak.

“The King Consort sent over a bowl of ginseng soup, and it is said to be personally made by the King Consort. He said that it was to remind the Empress not to tire Your Majesty too much from work and remember to rest.”

“Put it here then.” She had always felt pity in this regard. A zombie’s bloodthirst was rarely gluttonous or voracious. They would have no appetite for ordinary food, and here, 99% of the men could cook, which to her, was quite a pity.

In regards to this matter, Feng Ying was also a little confused. The Empress’ appetite seemed to be extremely small. Sometimes, if it was not for her reminder, then the Empress would not have remembered to eat anything at all. Occasionally, one cup of tea was counted as enough for the day, as if the Empress did not need to eat at all. At first, she thought that the Empress had a poor appetite, but later on, she became more concerned that the Empress’ body would not be able to endure. Until now, nothing had been wrong with the Empress’ body and only then did she feel relieved.

Feng Ying retreated and Qianhe Liyou and Sang Zixin were left alone in the room again.

“Come here.” Seeing Sang Zixin standing to one side, his eyes full of envy, Qianhe Liyou suddenly thought that it was rather funny because she felt that she knew what this man was envious of…

“Empress, what is Your Majesty’s order?” Sang Zixin obediently approached.

“Soup, take it and drink it.” Besides, she did not like it anyway, it wouldn’t be considered a waste to give it to him. Seeing his small and pitiful appearance, he indeed needed some more supplements and sustenance.

“Ah…this, this is the King Consort’s good intentions, this servant does not dare drink it.” Sang Zixin fiercely shook his head. How could he drink the King Consort’s personally made soup? This was the King Consort’s affections…

“You want to defy the decree?” She found this sentence especially useful, no matter who it was directed at.

“…” This time Sang Zixin really could not say anything in refutation. The two words ‘defy decree’ was a very serious matter!

Sang Zixin, trembling, picked up the bowl of hot soup and carefully took a sip. It was delicious and he had never had such delicious soup before. He could not help but to look up at the Empress again and happened to meet the Empress’ gaze. His heart skipped a beat from shock and he almost knocked over the bowl.

“Emp-, Empress, this soup is delicious, it should not be poisonous…” Sang Zixin stupidly uttered.

“Poison? Do you think zhen asked you to test for poison?” Seeing that her good intentions had been turned into donkey liver and lung, Qianhe Liyou could be considered to finally understand the meaning of this phrase now.

TN: chinese phrase meaning to treat good intentions as bad intentions

“Was it not?” Sang Zixin continued to ask stupidly. If it was not to check for traces of poison, why would the Empress bestow him the King Consort’s personally brewed soup for him to intake?

“You…”Not only was he was a little bit pitiful, he was also a blockhead! Qianhe Liyou stopped herself from blurting out this sentence, but there was a tinge of irritation in her eyes, “Pitiful thing, you drank all the soup already. If it was poisonous or not, it would take more than a few days after ingesting it to determine that. If you are still alive in a few days, treat it as not poisonous.”

These words could not travel to Luo Weiqing’s ears, otherwise it would cause him to be heartbroken. But, thinking of people like Sang Ziling who poisoned this little pitiful thing, she wanted to see how little pitiful would reach….would he really poison her? Qianhe Liyou was a little curious…