CHAPTER 10: The Tyrant
[DING! Face-Slapping successful! Villainess Redemption Points +500. Current Status: Plot Altered. Caution: Imperial hostility rapidly increasing.]
I ignored the System’s chime as the disguised carriage rattled violently over the dirt roads leading out of the capital.
If I wanted to survive the Emperor's impending fury over the shattered engagement token, I needed the Regent Prince, Ye Wuchen.
Known throughout the empire as the "God of War," Ye Wuchen was the Emperor’s younger brother. He controlled half of the Great Yan Empire's military, a ruthless, bloodthirsty commander who possessed a cultivation base that terrified even the bravest martial artists.
But he had one fatal, closely guarded flaw: he was afflicted with the "Frost Wyrm Poison," an ancient curse that had left him completely paralyzed from the waist down, slowly freezing his internal organs to death.
In the original plot, Lin Wan eventually cured him with my stolen Spring of Life, turning the terrifying God of War into her most loyal, obsessive, and lethal attack dog. He was the one who had provided Xiao Chen with the Dragon's Fang—the ceremonial sword that had pierced my heart.
This time, I was going to steal the heroine's attack dog before she even had a chance to put a leash on him.
The Regent’s secluded manor was nestled deep within the eerie, whispering Bamboo Sea, heavily guarded by elite, shadow-clad assassins. I didn't bother sneaking in. I stepped out of the carriage, walked straight up to the massive, black-iron gates, and pounded on them with my fist.
Instantly, two guards dropped from the bamboo canopy above, their cold steel swords pressed tightly against my throat.
"State your business, trespasser, or die where you stand," one hissed, his eyes devoid of humanity.
"Tell your master," I said, not flinching at the sharp bite of the steel against my skin, "that Lady Shen Luoyan is here to cure the Frost Wyrm Poison. If he wants to walk again, he has exactly five minutes to invite me in before I leave him to freeze."
The guards exchanged a highly skeptical look, but the mention of the Regent's supreme secret was enough to make them hesitate. One vanished into the shadows. Three agonizing minutes later, the massive iron gates groaned open.
I was escorted deep into the manor, arriving at a dimly lit pavilion overlooking a completely frozen koi pond. The air in the pavilion was unnaturally cold, biting violently through my silk cloak. Sitting in a heavy wooden wheelchair, wrapped in thick black furs, was the tyrant himself.
Ye Wuchen.
Even pale, sickly, and confined to a chair, he was devastatingly handsome. He had a sharp, aristocratic jawline, raven-black hair cascading down his broad shoulders, and eyes that looked like they were carved from shattered ice. He emanated an aura of sheer, suffocating terror.
"Shen Luoyan," his voice was a low, rumbling purr that sent involuntary shivers down my spine. "The arrogant little girl who just publicly humiliated my nephew and smashed an Imperial engagement token. And now you come to my home, boasting of impossible miracles. Do you have a death wish?"
Comments