Holding a lantern, guiding souls across, Lady Hou comes from the underworld.

"Mingzhu, if you like this body, then I will cripple that woman in Chenghua Palace tomorrow!"

The dark and spacious secret room was filled with a strong ghostly aura.

The candlelight on the table flickered, illuminating the man's face.

He had gentle features, but his eyes revealed a sinister and evil nature.

The woman beside him smiled gently, her eyes tender, and said, "Ah Chen, I love this body very much. I want to use this body to stay by your side forever."

But as she spoke, she suddenly became worried: "But the soul in this body is strange, it doesn't seem like an ordinary person. I don't know if I'm confident I can..."

The man immediately frowned and interrupted her, "Don't be afraid."

He pointed to the "blood array" not far away and said in a low voice, "I am just missing the last wisp of Yin soul. Once I have refined this 'Yin-Yang Fiend,' I will take advantage of the chaos to kill the emperor of Daqi and restore my Qi Kingdom."

"Once I ascend the throne and become emperor, I will make you empress. At that time, we will be in charge of the entire world!"

"Our souls will never die, and for all eternity, we will enjoy the throne forever."

He began to laugh wildly, his laughter echoing throughout the entire secret room.

The woman beside him nestled gently in his arms, her face full of longing: "As long as I can stay by A-Chen's side, I don't care whether I become Empress or not."

The man said solemnly, "You must become my queen. This time, no one can stop me!"

As she listened to his words, the woman couldn't help but gently stroke his eyebrows and eyes, and those long-forgotten memories began to flood back into her mind.

At that time, the country was called Qi, and the imperial family's surname was Murong.

As the eldest son of the emperor, Murong Chen was expected to achieve great things from a young age.

His birth mother died early, and he was raised in the Empress's palace from a young age.

But the empress did not like him and treated him very harshly.

Therefore, even as the only prince at the time, his days in the palace were not happy.

Even children who are just beginning to remember things must study hard and practice martial arts diligently every day, without any slackness or negligence.

Even though he tried his best, the Empress never praised him once.

As other concubines in the palace gave birth to princes, the emperor gradually stopped focusing his attention on him.

When he was seven years old, the empress, who had not conceived for many years, gave birth to the ninth prince for the imperial family.

From then on, the empress would never give him a second glance.

On Murong Chen's seventh birthday, the Emperor and Empress were busy with the Ninth Prince's 100-day celebration.

None of the palace servants paid any attention to him; it was his wet nurse who personally brought him a bowl of longevity noodles.

It was a spring day when the eldest prince, after eating longevity noodles, suddenly became willful. Instead of obediently staying in the study to read and write, he scurried away from the eunuchs and ran to the Imperial Garden alone.

He hid under a tree and poured out his heart, even hoping that the tree spirit could convey his words to his deceased mother.

However, no sooner had he finished speaking than a voice came from behind the artificial hill, asking him, "What birthday gift would Your Highness like?"

The little child thought it was a manifestation of the tree spirit and hurriedly said, "I want a sachet that my mother embroidered herself."

His younger brothers could wear sachets embroidered by their mother, but he didn't.

The "god" behind the artificial hill readily agreed and told him to remember to come back to pick it up at dusk two days later.

Murong Chen was overjoyed and arrived as promised at dusk two days later.

Sure enough, on a rock behind the artificial hill, there was a sachet with a unique scent.

This led the young Murong Chen to believe that it was truly his birth mother's spirit in heaven, a birthday gift to comfort him.

Not long after, at a family banquet, a young concubine whom the emperor had recently brought into the palace passed by him, and he suddenly smelled a familiar fragrance that matched the sachet at his waist.

So, he couldn't help but stop and take a second look at the talented woman.

But the other person seemed to notice as well, and turned to smile at him.

They never spoke to each other face to face, but that smile and fragrance began to appear frequently in their dreams.

Three years passed in the blink of an eye. On every birthday during those three years, Murong Chen would go to the tree where he had first met Murong Chen to ask for a birthday gift.

And the "god" hidden behind the artificial hill will arrive as promised to fulfill his wish.

Finally, on his tenth birthday, he made a wish to see her.

The "god" behind the artificial hill remained silent.

Murong Chen couldn't contain himself and rushed behind the artificial hill, but almost bumped into the other person.

At that moment, his wish came true.

It turns out that the person who had been secretly fulfilling her wishes was none other than the emperor's concubine, Consort Ruan.

Later, Murong Chen learned that on his seventh birthday, Ruan Mingzhu had just entered the palace and was secretly heartbroken in the Imperial Garden because she did not want to serve the old emperor who was about the same age as her father.

Until she saw a little boy hiding under a tree talking to himself, his figure and back view were very similar to her own younger brother.

After hearing his words, Nguyen Minh Chu missed her parents and younger brother even more, and felt compassion for them, so she agreed to give him a birthday gift.

The years in the palace were long, and by chance, the two began to meet frequently in the Imperial Garden.

Nguyen Minh Chau doted on him as if he were her own younger brother, giving him homemade pastries, sachets, and even clothes and shoes.

Murong Chen was growing up day by day, and at the age of fifteen, he was named Crown Prince.

On the day of his investiture, the first person he wanted to see was Nguyen Minh Chau.

Nguyen Minh Chu was also happy for him, but before she could say anything to congratulate him, the young man hugged her tightly.

Their close contact over the years has fostered a special kind of affection between them.

However, Murong Chen knew clearly that as long as he could not become emperor, he could not be openly with Mingzhu.

However, as he grew older, Murong Chen, as the crown prince, ultimately proved to be too mediocre.

Although he was diligent in his duties during his several years in office, he did not accomplish much.

On the contrary, his younger brothers all have the potential to surpass him.

In particular, the youngest brother was not only the son of the Empress, but also exceptionally intelligent.

To secure his position as Crown Prince, Murong Chen resorted to every means at his disposal, even secretly harming his own brothers.

Not only that, he also secretly set up a room in the Eastern Palace and bribed the palace maids and guards to invite Nguyen Minh Chau to the Eastern Palace for secret meetings on several occasions.

As the saying goes, you can't hide fire with paper; his actions eventually came to the emperor's attention.

After the palace coup, the emperor secretly ordered him to be imprisoned in that secret chamber that sealed away evil spirits, where he was trapped and died.

Afterwards, the emperor ordered a thorough investigation of the Eastern Palace and a search for the missing concubines. In the end, they found Nguyen Minh Chu's body in a secret room.

She has hanged herself in a secret room.

They thought this was their end.

However, after Ruan Mingzhu died, her obsession with waiting for Murong Chen to return was so deep that her soul remained trapped in the secret room.

After an unknown amount of time, the sealed door to the secret room was suddenly opened, and a man with unfamiliar features walked in.

He could not only see the ghost of Mingzhu, but also spread his arms and say something to her.

"Mingzhu, I'm back."

These past events made Nguyen Minh Chu sigh with emotion.

Now that Murong Chen has returned to the mortal world in the body of the current crown prince, he naturally hopes that his former lover, whom he could not reveal to the public, can also be with him.

He obtained a method from who-knows-where to nourish Nguyen Minh Chu's soul with "Soul-Nourishing Pearls".

It kills and craves blood, and feeds on resentment.

Only by becoming a "demon" can one have the ability to devour souls.

Only by possessing a living person's body can one conceal their identity and walk in the sunlight as if they were no different from an ordinary person.

Originally, she was almost able to successfully possess the Crown Princess's body, but was interfered with by a vengeful spirit.

However, that body had been abusing itself, and Nguyen Minh Chu was beginning to feel disgusted with it.

Fortunately, she has now found a body she prefers and that is more suitable for her…

Looking at the "blood array," Nguyen Minh Chu couldn't wait to return to the human world.

But then she heard a voice inside her body coldly say, "My body is not something you can have just because you want it."