Marrying a playboy? She turned the tables and used a magical talisman to become famous throughout th

The Empress also didn't sleep all night; her phoenix robe was wrinkled, a few strands of her hair were disheveled, and she looked ten years older.

"Liuli," her voice was hesitant and tentative, "you...you found out?"

Yin Liuli looked at the Empress, then at Gu Jinyan, and recounted in detail the events that had been uncovered in the Underworld.

From the moment the Shen family was abandoned by the Xiao family, to the bridge that was burned down, to the 123 lives lost, to Master Shen kneeling before Yama for a hundred years, and then to his reincarnation to seek revenge...

Every word spoken in the secret room felt like a stone being thrown down.

The Empress turned as white as a sheet after hearing this.

She opened her mouth, but managed to squeeze out a few words, "One hundred and twenty-three... lives?"

If it were gold, silver, or jewels, or even wealth and luxury, she could find a way to settle the matter.

But that's a human life!

She couldn't bear to watch all her loved ones be taken away and the Xiao family wiped out overnight!

"Yes."

Yin Liuli nodded.

"The entire Shen family, from the eighty-year-old grandmother to the newborn baby, is gone. Not a single one is left."

"Your Xiao family owes a blood debt that led to the extermination of your entire clan."

The Empress's legs went weak, and the old nanny hurriedly tried to support her, but she pushed her away, muttering in a daze, "..."

"I just thought that Jia was naturally violent, that he had a bad temper... I didn't know... I really didn't know..."

Yin Liuli looked at her calmly, "Your Majesty, I have done what I should do."

The Empress nodded, then suddenly a glint of something flashed in her eyes, and she said anxiously,

"So what do we do now? What...what will he do to the Xiao family before he's finished?"

Yin Liuli said calmly,

"According to the judgment in the Book of Life and Death, he must cause the Xiao family to be destroyed before this debt is settled."

"Family destroyed and everyone killed?" The Empress trembled. "He...he wants the entire Xiao family dead?"

"We want the Xiao family to fall from the pinnacle of wealth and glory, and crash into the mud."

Yin Liuli raised an eyebrow. "Your Xiao family escaped by stepping over the corpses of the Shen family, which is how you became rich and powerful. They've come here to take all of that back."

The old woman standing nearby was trembling with fear.

"What... what should we do... Princess Consort, you are all-powerful, please think of a way!"

Yin Liuli glanced at her.

"I've said it before, I don't want to get involved in this cause and effect. I've already done my best to find out the cause and effect and tell you."

The Empress suddenly scrambled to her feet and grabbed Yin Liuli's hand: "Liuli, take me to see him!"

Yin Liuli was taken aback. "See whom?"

"See the person inside Jia's body!"

The Empress's eyes held a resolute determination that disregarded everything, and she said in a stern voice,

"Go see Master Shen! Isn't he here to collect a debt? We owe him, we acknowledge that! I'll talk to him!"

"Negotiate face-to-face with the spirit of a debt-collecting ghost? Your Majesty, this is not something you can do."

Yin Liuli refused without hesitation.

"Could anything be bigger than the injustice suffered by the Shen family?"

The Empress's voice was hoarse but firm, "Liuli, take me there. I won't force you to get involved in this mess; you just need to let me speak to him."

Yin Liuli paused for a moment.

She disliked meddling in other people's business, but she respected the responsibility of an empress.

She knew perfectly well that the other party had come to take her life, yet she still dared to talk to them face to face. This courage truly befits her position as Empress.

Yin Liuli thought for a moment, then pursed her lips and said,

"But let me make this clear: I can only let your consciousness see him."

Whether he's willing to talk to you or what the outcome of the talk is, I don't care.

There was no hesitation in the Empress's eyes; she said resolutely,

"I've thought about it all night. As a daughter of the Xiao family, I will repay the debts the Xiao family owes."

Another hour passed, and the sky was beginning to lighten.

Yin Liuli had the nanny pull Xiao Huanjia out of the pool.

The child had been soaking in cold water all night; his face was deathly pale, his lips were purple, and he was trembling uncontrollably. But the dark aura in his eyes remained, and he stared intently at Yin Liuli.

Yin Liuli ignored his gaze, drew a formation on the ground, and dabbed a piece of cinnabar on Xiao Huanjia's forehead.

Then she took out two talismans, one and stuck them on Xiao Huanjia's chest, and the other on the Empress's palm.

"Sit cross-legged."

She said to the empress, "Close your eyes, hold the talisman in your palm tightly, and I will guide your consciousness into it."

Remember, you only have the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. Once that time is up, regardless of whether it works or not, I have to bring you back.

Despite her trembling body from nervousness, the Empress sat down as instructed and slowly closed her eyes.

Yin Liuli made hand seals and silently chanted incantations. Two talismans lit up simultaneously, and the array drawn with cinnabar emitted a faint red light.

The Empress felt a lightness in her body, and her vision went completely black before slowly brightening.

She looked down at herself—she was still wearing that rumpled phoenix robe, but she was no longer in the secret room.

This is a hazy, gray space. There is fog underfoot, fog above, and fog all around.

Only a blurry figure stood in the mist not far ahead.

The figure was not tall, appearing to be only the size of a seven or eight-year-old child.

But as the empress approached, she realized that the aura projected by that shadow was something no child could possess.

"Master Shen...?" the Empress asked tentatively.

The figure in the mist turned around.

It was the image of a middle-aged man, with a thin face, wearing a faded blue long gown.

He didn't look fierce; his gaze was calm, even carrying a touch of scholarly refinement. But the chill in his eyes made the Empress involuntarily take a step back.

"You're a daughter of the Xiao family?" Old Master Shen spoke, his voice low and slow, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth. "Do you know what the Xiao family owes me?"

"I know." The Empress took a deep breath and steadied her voice. "The Xiao family owes you one hundred and twenty-three lives. It was my ancestors who broke their promise and harmed your entire family."

Old Master Shen stared at her for a while, then suddenly laughed, a laugh even more unpleasant than a cry.

"You know? What's the use of just knowing? Can my 123 relatives come back to life?"

"cannot."

The Empress bit her lower lip, struggling to control her trembling as she said, "The person can't live anymore, but Master Shen, this debt has been incurred for over a hundred years. If we continue to owe it, it will only lead to endless cycles of revenge. Will there ever be an end to it?"

"Why does it need a beginning?"

Old Master Shen slowly took a step closer to her, and said with a chilling laugh,

"I never intended for this to end. I knelt before the King of Hell for a hundred years, just waiting for this day!"

I was reborn into the Xiao family so that I could watch your family fall from grace, and see you all suffer the loss of your families and the separation of your wives and children.

"I have suffered so much, and your Xiao family will suffer twice as much in return."

The Empress looked directly into Master Shen's eyes and said, word by word,

"What if I could pay it back?"

Old Master Shen's expression froze. "You? You're still like this?!"