Scourge Messenger

Chapter 124 The emperor’s heart is unpredictable
The City That Never Sleeps, the Palace City.

When Ying Rushi entered the Hall of Longevity, she saw Ying Le personally demonstrating and instructing the dancers. The dancers sat in a circle around the Empress, gazing up at her breathtaking dance. The braziers in the hall burned brightly, illuminating their faces filled with longing and reverence.

The only person in the hall who was not attracted by Ying Le was Ying Ru Shi. She saw the admiration in the dancers' eyes, and before she knew it, her clothes were already soaked with tears.

"So you've arrived." Ying Le stopped, waved her hand to signal all the dancers and guards to leave, and soon only the two of them remained in the Hall of Longevity.

She wore a light gauze dress and a short skirt that bound her chest. She turned and walked briskly to the pedestal, as if she were just a young girl in the prime of her youth. Every move she made was lively and lovely. But when she half-reclined on the throne, barefoot and languid, she transformed into a peerless beauty who could topple kingdoms. Every smile and frown of hers was full of charm.

No one doubted Ying Le's beauty, and Ying Le generously displayed her beauty to the world. Anyone who had seen Ying Le must have harbored disrespectful thoughts, imagining themselves as an all-powerful emperor, with Ying Le as the bewitching enchantress by his side. They would shatter the world just to win a smile from her; they would slaughter all their offspring and imperial relatives to pave the way for the children of their beloved woman; even if rebellions were raised on all sides, any emperor would willingly die just to be with her.

The so-called femme fatale who brought ruin to the country and the beauty who caused the downfall of a nation are nothing more than this.

However, Ying Le was neither a femme fatale nor a beautiful woman.

She is the Foundation Establishment Messenger.

She was the emperor.

Without needing anyone else, she can erase towns from a map with a single outburst of anger, and cause millions to roll their heads with a single smile.

"Your Majesty," Ying Rushi knelt on one knee and said respectfully, "I come from a family of thieves—"

"Don't panic, look up and see if you notice anything wrong?"

Ying Ru looked at it carefully, her gaze settling on the shoe next to the throne: "Why does Your Majesty only have one shoe?"

"Because I sold the other one." Ying Le's face lit up with joy as she recalled this, and she asked cheerfully, "How much do you think you got for it?"

Ying Ru was not surprised by this, as Ying Le had done many outrageous things: "Your Majesty is the most beautiful woman in Qi and a master of dance, so your shoes are naturally priceless."

“Everything has a price, and my shoes are worth only a third-tier rare item.” Ying Le suddenly had a mirror in her hand. Every item she possessed was more precious and powerful than this mirror, but she held it in her arms like a precious treasure and laughed, “Haha, some fool actually traded a third-tier rare item for my shoes! I really want to know what he bought it for, preferably something interesting.”

"This last one is for you," she said, tossing the remaining ballet shoe to Ying Rushi with her toe. "If you sell it, remember to share the profits with me."

Ying Rushi put the dancing shoes into his bosom and nodded with a normal expression: "Your Majesty, I remember."

"Tell me, what did you find at the Thieves' House tonight?" Ying Le yawned, crossed her legs, her breasts barely concealed, and asked with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Your Majesty, I am ashamed that I failed to seize the opportunity to kill Shang Xuanwen. However, I have successfully bid for the legendary artifact, the Heaven-Slaying Sword, and have come to present it to Your Majesty!"

Ying Rushi took the Yitian Sword off his belt and held it up with both hands, sword and scabbard.

Ying Le seemed somewhat surprised. She reached out and stroked the scabbard of the Yitian Sword, running her fingers over the inscriptions on the side of the scabbard. She smiled and said, "A second-tier legendary sword? It's just right for someone like you. Why don't you keep it for yourself? I can't offer a more precious reward than this sword."

"Your Majesty, I believe that the Heaven-Slaying Sword is the sword of the Son of Heaven, the sword of the king. Only in His Majesty's hands can it unleash its full value. How can it be allowed to be tarnished in my hands?"

Ying Rushi briefly introduced the three powers of the Heaven Sword: governing the world, controlling chaos, and wielding hegemony, and sincerely said: "Your Majesty, by wielding the Heaven Sword to govern the world, you will surely be able to cleanse the world and win the hearts of all people."

"The Heaven-Slaying Halo is incredibly powerful. With this divine artifact, Your Majesty can easily win over the young talents of the Bu Liugu, Tuoba, Yuchi, Lu, Che, and Yi families. Furthermore, you can select elites from various regions to train in the capital. A vast force united under Your Majesty's command will be formed in no time!"

Ying Rushi became more and more excited as she spoke. From the moment she saw the power to govern the world, Ying Rushi was determined to seize the Heavenly Sword.

To others, the Heaven-Slaying Sword might just be a tool for cultivating their own factions, but to Ying Le, it was a banner that would allow him to restore the emperor's prestige!
For many years, Ying Le has acted recklessly and arbitrarily, but what worries Ying Ru the most is that Ying Le neglects the affairs of the court and cuts off all channels of communication. How can a country be governed if ministers do not see the emperor and the emperor does not see his ministers? The Heaven-Slaying Sword can solve this problem perfectly. As long as Ying Le has someone she wants to cultivate, no matter who she cultivates, she can gradually build a loyal imperial faction.

With the aura of a well-governed reign, if His Majesty were to act a little more normally, they would surely admire him just like the dancers from earlier.

Ying Rushi could neither advise Ying Le nor influence the major clans of Qi, but as long as there were enough members of the imperial faction in the court, at least the government would not continue to degenerate, at least there would be people willing to do things, and at least Ying Le could still hear the voices from below!
Filled with anticipation, she spoke eloquently, offering a multitude of suggestions she had pondered for a long time, so much so that she did not notice that the braziers in the Hall of Longevity were going out one by one, and darkness was engulfing her shadow like a tide.

Keng!
The Heaven-Slaying Sword was suddenly drawn, and Ying Rushi was overjoyed. However, the next second, the tip of the Heaven-Slaying Sword pierced her right eye, only a hair's breadth away from her eyeball. The sword was scalding hot, and Ying Rushi felt as if her right eye was about to melt.

"Are you teaching me how to do things?" Ying Le's emotionless voice came from above.

Ying Rushi neither retreated nor dodged, maintaining his posture and ignoring the scorching sword that was about to pierce his eyeballs, and earnestly said, "I have absolutely no intention of overstepping my bounds, and every word comes from the bottom of my heart. I was just overwhelmed with emotion and lost my manners before the palace. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

After an unknown amount of time, when Ying Rushi felt that her underwear was completely soaked, the Heaven-Slaying Sword moved slightly downwards, pointing at her lower eyelid.

"Even without this broken sword, the major clans still wouldn't dare to rebel against me, and the Baibao are still my troops. My decree is still the will of Heaven!"

As Ying Le spoke, she swung the Yitian Sword, drawing a bloody line on Ying Rushi's lower eyelid. Because of the scalding heat, the wound was charred the moment it bled, leaving a cruel mark on her beautiful face, like a branding iron.

Ying Rushi remained expressionless and spoke as usual, as if she were not the one who was injured. She cupped her hands and replied, "I know I was wrong, and it was I who was presumptuous!"

Clang! Ying Le sheathed the Yitian Sword again. Seemingly exhausted, he lay back down lazily and said softly, "Take the Yitian Sword back. I don't need such a thing, nor do I want to waste time on these trivial matters."

She paused for a moment: "Since you have so many ideas, then go ahead and do them. If they don't work, you'll be held responsible."

"Yes!" "Get out." Ying Le waved his hand, completely uninterested: "Tell the people outside not to come in, I'm going to sleep."

Ying Rushi bowed respectfully, facing Ying Le as she retreated step by step. Even though Ying Le had closed her eyes, she dared not expose her back to the Empress. She silently closed the palace door, instructed the demon warriors on night duty not to enter and disturb the Emperor, and hurried out with small steps.

As the palace gates closed behind her, Ying Rushi gazed at the still dark night before dawn, and suddenly her legs went weak, almost causing her to kneel on the ground.

She touched the charred mark below her right eye, trembling all over, her eyes filled with fear, as if she had experienced a terrifying brush with death, so much so that she could only feel pain and fear again now.

She had no doubt that if she had shown even the slightest bit of hatred or fear just now, she would probably have turned into a charred corpse in the Hall of Longevity. She had seen countless similar charred corpses, each one like a sinner who had crawled out of the deepest hell, suffering endless torment before dying. That was why she could be so calm, as if she didn't even consider herself human... Only monsters could survive around monsters.

She first realized how terrifying Ying Le was in the Misty Land, a third-level secret realm, which was also the only time she had ever entered a third-level secret realm.

Black Wolf asked her what her strength was when she entered the third level of the secret realm, but she did not answer. It was not to hide anything, but because she had no strength. At that time, she was only eleven years old and still a little girl who had not even reached the first level.

Those who entered the Third Transformation Secret Realm with her included members of various clans. She was the youngest, while the others were older brothers, sisters, and seniors who had already completed their transformations.

Ying Le said he would take them to see the Third Stage Secret Realm, and no one had much doubt. After all, with the Foundation Establishment Messenger there, conquering the Third Stage Secret Realm would be a piece of cake.

Along the way, Ying Le did indeed lend a hand from time to time, and everyone enjoyed themselves as if they were on a leisurely outing in the countryside. Little Ying Ru Shi even picked a flower and gave it to Ying Le. All these years later, Ying Ru Shi still wondered if it was because of that flower that Ying Le spared her life.

The story that followed was exactly as Ying Rushi had told Yaoshi Yuan: when everyone faced the Third-Rank Demon King, Ying Le did not make a move and watched helplessly as everyone was slaughtered by the Third-Rank Demon King.

Xiao Ying, having narrowly escaped the Demon King's widespread attacks by hiding on the outermost edge, watched as the Demon King tore apart her familiar brothers, sisters, uncles, and grandfathers one by one, before turning and walking towards her. She was already numb with fear and sat there blankly, waiting for death to come.

However, Ying Le finally made her move. The young empress easily crushed the third-level demon king, then squatted down in front of little Ying Rushi, patted her head and laughed, "You are a member of the Great Qi royal family, of the Ying bloodline. When you encounter an enemy, you must at least fight back. You can't just surrender, understand?"

Xiao Ying nodded in agreement, and Ying Le took her hand and left the Three Turns Secret Realm. They flew kites together in the afternoon and slept together at night, as if nothing had happened.

However, in the dead of night after she grew up, Ying Rushi would wake up in a cold sweat. Every nightmare contained the same content—she returned to the Land of Misty Shadows and witnessed the bloody scene again. But this time, Ying Le was no longer the emperor who saved her, but a cold-blooded and ruthless bystander.

Ying Rushi had also wondered if Ying Le was deliberately framing and killing members of various clans in order to suppress powerful clans. However, she could never convince herself... nor could she deceive herself.

Inside the Hall of Longevity, all the braziers had been extinguished, and Ying Le was almost asleep. But just then, she heard voices speaking:

"This little girl is probably dying soon, isn't she? What a pity."

"What a pity! They still can't see Ying Le's true colors and still have illusions about this monster. They deserved to die! Good riddance!"

"It's good that she's dead. With her qualifications, she could definitely join us. Then I'll have another best friend, and I won't have anything to say to you bunch of stinky men."

Ying Le suddenly opened her eyes and yelled at her arm, "What's all the noise about in the middle of the night?!"

Her fair, jade-like arms were now covered with distorted human faces, eyes, mouths, and noses squeezed together, swirling back and forth across her arms like boats made of human faces. Seeing Ying Le's anger, they showed no fear, instead bursting into laughter:
"Ying Le, you're thinking of killing someone again!"

"Demon, when you forged your demonic immortal foundation, did you ever imagine this day would come!"

"You were the one who had the urge to kill, and you're blaming us? You're a beast."

"You're doomed. No one can save you. Your immortal foundation will be gradually eroded, destroying your soul... But this is the retribution you deserve! You deserve it, you deserve it!"

Ying Le's face turned ashen, and he roared, "I will not die!"

Her right hand suddenly burst into flames, charring her skin to a crisp. Staring at the distorted face within the flames, she gritted her teeth and said, "I won't die... As long as I lure out that bastard from the Divine Marquis's Mansion and kill her, my heart will be without flaws, and I can complete my immortal foundation! I won't die!"

"Impossible." The human face burrowed into Ying Le's right cheek and mocked, "How could you possibly defeat the Divine Constable? You couldn't beat him before, and now you're even less likely to win because of your fear! You're an evil monster, a demon, a beast! The Divine Constable is the embodiment of justice; good will never prevail over evil!"

"I've been cultivating my foundation for many years, how could I possibly lose! If I win, I am the embodiment of justice!"

"A Foundation Establishment cultivator who can't even control his killing intent? A Foundation Establishment cultivator whose soul is incomplete? You're just a defective product, a useless waste who failed at Foundation Establishment!"

"Noisy!"

Ying Le smeared her right hand on her face, and immediately the right side of her face also caught fire. The excruciating pain penetrated deep into her nerves, causing her to grip the handle tightly with her left hand.

She suddenly called out, "Come in."

The demon warrior pushed open the palace door and entered.

"Kill them."

The demon warrior left, and soon after, a mournful wail echoed from another part of the palace. At the same time, the flames on Ying Le's arms and face gradually subsided, revealing charred bones. She let out a long sigh of relief, her expression relaxing, and she lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep. Only her eyebrows twitched, as uneasy as a newborn baby.

(End of this chapter)