Chapter 142 Yet Another Stone

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Ning Xianyu and Xiahou Fang concealed their forms and entered the imperial palace of the Jade Radiance Kingdom without hindrance.

Xiahou Fang soon located the kingdom’s current ruler.

She was easy enough to find. Anyone destined to rule naturally carried an aura of purple majesty, visible from a great distance.

He put the empress into a deep sleep, then worked his magic on Ning Xianyu, transforming her body and face until she looked exactly like the empress.

Ning Xianyu examined herself in the mirror. The empress was a remarkably beautiful woman, dignified and regal.

“Not bad. Not bad at all.”

Xiahou Fang then hid the real empress in a secret chamber beneath her sleeping quarters.

Every emperor seemed to have several secret rooms, and this one happened to possess one as well.

Ning Xianyu asked, “She won’t starve to death in there, will she?”

Xiahou Fang assured her that she would not.

“Killing mortals creates karmic entanglements. I have no intention of inviting that trouble.”

“Good.”

Ning Xianyu surveyed the bedchamber, then flopped comfortably onto the bed.

Being emperor really was wonderful.

Xiahou Fang did not transform into anyone. He simply concealed himself and stood guard nearby.

Ning Xianyu had barely begun to enjoy herself when a palace maid arrived to inform her that it was time to go to the Imperial Study to discuss state affairs.

She did not want to go. She simply told the court lady that she was not going, that she was tired.

But the maid continued knocking outside and repeatedly urged her to attend.

“Your Majesty, if you do not go soon, the Grand Tutor will come himself.”

Ning Xianyu snorted. “What does the Grand Tutor matter? I said I am not going.”

The palace maid sighed and could only leave.

Ning Xianyu was just thinking of visiting the inner palace to see her three thousand handsome consorts when the door was suddenly kicked open with a bang.

“I heard that Your Majesty was tired and unwilling to attend the court meeting?”

A tall, handsome young man with an imposing bearing strode into the room. He marched toward the bed and looked down at her with an intimidating air.

Ning Xianyu blinked and stared at him.

She had been so busy enjoying herself that she had forgotten to investigate the empress’s background.

“How dare you barge into My sleeping quarters?”

Who was this Grand Tutor, to be so arrogant?

The Grand Tutor gave a cold laugh. “It seems Your Majesty has forgotten many things after your nap. Perhaps this humble minister should help you remember?”

With that, he actually began taking off his clothes.

What in the world was this? Was she about to witness some scandalous affair between the empress and her Grand Tutor?

Ning Xianyu thrust out a palm and sent him sprawling.

Caught completely off guard, the Grand Tutor froze for a moment. “Your Majesty actually pushed me?”

Ning Xianyu understood at once. This Grand Tutor must have had some illicit relationship with the empress—and he was probably the dominant one, with the former ruler under his control.

How outrageous. That had been the past. Now she was the emperor. Did he really think she would let him continue acting so arrogantly?

“So what if I pushed you? I am the emperor. Not only may I push you, I could have you dragged out and executed.”

Ning Xianyu shouted toward the outside, “Guards! Drag this Grand Tutor away. Yes, yes—give him fifty strokes!”

Guards and palace maids rushed in, but when they saw the Grand Tutor, none of them dared to touch him.

The Grand Tutor took the opportunity to rise and sat there, looking at her mockingly.

Seeing how timid everyone was, Ning Xianyu immediately decided that if she wanted to live freely here, the first thing she had to do was deal with the Grand Tutor.

She gave Xiahou Fang a meaningful glance and sent him a message through spiritual communication: Senior, it is up to you. Help me out here.

Seeing how much fun she was having, Xiahou Fang waved a hand at the guards and quietly employed a minor technique. The guards immediately charged forward and truly dragged the Grand Tutor away.

The Grand Tutor himself was utterly stunned. He had never imagined that anyone would actually dare lay hands on him.

Ning Xianyu ordered them to beat him right outside the bedchamber. She wanted to watch.

The Grand Tutor was indeed made of stern stuff. Even after taking a beating, he did not utter a single cry and continued to look at her with contempt.

Let him look. She was not truly the emperor, so she had nothing to fear.

When it was over, the Grand Tutor was carried away. Ning Xianyu cheerfully high-fived Xiahou Fang.

“Senior, it was a pleasure working with you.”

Xiahou Fang found it rather pointless, but he did enjoy this kind of willful, carefree life.

Ning Xianyu closed the door and hurried down to the cellar, where she found the empress.

“Is there any way to see the empress’s memories without harming her?”

Ning Xianyu felt that she had to obtain those memories. Otherwise, her impersonation would be exposed far too easily.

Xiahou Fang said, “There is no way. To learn her memories, you would have to search her soul. Even cultivators cannot withstand soul-searching, let alone a mortal.”

The system added: [A cultivator subjected to soul-searching becomes an idiot. A mortal will suffer immediate brain death.]

It was that serious?

Ning Xianyu had no choice but to abandon the idea. She woke the empress and demonstrated a little immortal magic before her, lest the woman start screaming about demons and monsters.

“For now, I am merely borrowing your identity for a bit of fun. You would do well to obey me and obediently tell me everything about the people around you. Otherwise, I will crush you to death.”

The empress stared blankly for a moment, then suddenly knelt and began kowtowing.

“Please, Immortal, save me! I am not the real empress! I am an impostor! The true empress died long ago. Please take me with you to cultivate immortality!”

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What?

Ning Xianyu hurriedly stepped back, never expecting such a turn of events.

“What did you say?”

The false empress wept as she explained, “The original empress actually died two days ago. I was originally the Grand Tutor’s favored concubine, but he forced me to impersonate the empress. This is a capital offense! I truly did not want to do it, but I had no choice.”

Ning Xianyu’s head began to ache. How had this suddenly turned into a web of palace intrigues?

“How did the empress die?”

The false empress replied, “They say she went boating on the lake and saw a particularly beautiful stone beneath the water. She wanted a closer look, but she fell in and drowned.”

“Actually, she was not completely dead. After they pulled her out, she was still breathing, and there was even a very faint pulse. But unless one examined her carefully, she appeared no different from a corpse.”

A stone?

Why did it have to be a stone again?

Ning Xianyu felt that she and stones were somehow fated to be enemies, and she wanted to steer clear of the subject.

Xiahou Fang, however, asked with great interest, “What kind of stone? Where is it?”

The false empress answered, “It was in Peace Lake, beside the nearby Summer Palace. I have heard that an immortal lives there. The lake is warm in winter and cool in summer, and anyone who rests there can be cured of every illness.”

Those words sounded far too intriguing. There had to be something unusual about that stone.

Xiahou Fang hurried away at once. He was going to inspect it.

Ning Xianyu had no desire to go. She continued questioning the favored concubine about the Grand Tutor.

According to the concubine, the Grand Tutor was actually a good man. He had diligently assisted the emperor, but after the emperor’s accident, he feared the court would fall into chaos and had no choice but to hold everything together.

Ning Xianyu realized that she had beaten the wrong person.

“What is the relationship between the Grand Tutor and the emperor?”

The favored concubine replied, “They are master and disciple. There is a rumor that the emperor is actually the Grand Tutor’s daughter.”

No wonder the Grand Tutor had been able to enter the emperor’s sleeping quarters.

Ning Xianyu covered her face. This misunderstanding had grown far too large.

By then, Xiahou Fang had already entered Peace Lake. Strangely, he was ejected the moment he went in. He tried several times, but the result was always the same.

There was indeed something wrong with this lake.

Far away, in the Myriad Treasures Forest, the Fire-Eating Stone suddenly grew animated. Upon the compass Xuanyuan Tunhan had made, it began pointing insistently toward the east.

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