The mad princess forces love upon him, and the aloof imperial advisor trembles every night.

After saying that, she let go of his hand and rolled out of bed without waiting for his response.

She walked to the window and glanced back at him. In that glance, there was hatred, resentment, infatuation, madness, the poison of seven years of blood feud, and the fire of fifteen years of unquenchable obsession. Then she leaped, her crimson figure disappearing from the observatory.

Si Chen stood there, motionless for a long time. The lip print on the back of his hand was still burning. The red mark on his neck throbbed faintly; for over four hundred years, he had never died, never been injured, never perished.

Today, for the first time, I felt the pain that belongs to a mortal. It turns out that there really are people in this world who can hurt him.

And she, Chu Qingyue, is the only person on the entire Cangqiong Continent who can hurt him.

He raised his hand and lightly touched the wound on his neck, his fingertips stained with a trace of blood. The blood wasn't his; it was from when her fingernails scratched her skin—her blood, surprisingly, also carried a burning temperature.

Si Chen walked to the window and gazed in the direction she had disappeared. He closed his eyes and tried to suppress her by circulating the Ruthless Dao Heart Sutra.

But what lingered in my mind were her bloodshot eyes, her words, "I want you to kneel down and beg me," the warmth of her fingertips, and the burning heat of her lip print...

"Pfft—" A mouthful of blood spurted from his mouth, splashing onto the front of his purple robe, like red plum blossoms blooming on snow.

Si Chen looked down at the bright red stain, a look of near bewilderment flashing in his eyes for the first time.

For over four hundred years, the body of Wuqing has remained untouched by dust or bloodshed.

Today, however, he made two exceptions for her. Once to feel her warmth. Once... to cough up blood for her. Sunlight illuminated his pale face.

Silver hair fluttered slightly in the wind, purple robes were stained with blood, and on that face that was always as aloof as a god, a very faint... human confusion appeared.

He raised his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his lips, the bright red stain on his fingertips stark and shocking in the sunlight.

"Chu, Qing, Yue..."

He whispered the name, his voice carrying warmth for the first time—the warmth of blood, and the warmth of destiny.

------

Chu Qingyue descended from the Star-Picking Tower, glanced at her slender fingers, a slight smile playing on her lips, her eyes swirling with a bloodthirsty light, and murmured to herself:

"Si Chen, in this lifetime... there is no end between us... until death."

Chi Xiao and Liu Yun exchanged a glance, both seeing fear in each other's eyes—the last time their master had shown such an expression was when Bei Ming destroyed the kingdom.

She stood alone on her horse atop a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood, her white clothes stained crimson, her laughter both manic and tragic.

His master came down from the Star-Picking Tower with bloodshot eyes, which meant that the Imperial Advisor must have offended his master again.

"Liu Yun," Chi Xiao gestured with his eyes, "you go."

Liu Yun, expressionless, stomped on the back of his foot. Chi Xiao gasped in pain, but had no choice but to grit his teeth and step forward.

"Your Highness, the Imperial Advisor has designated the First Prince as the Crown Prince, but the First Prince... Is the Imperial Advisor's divination inaccurate this time? Could it be...?"

"The Imperial Advisor—will never—be wrong—!!!"

Chu Qingyue suddenly turned around to interrupt him, her voice sharp as a knife, and the blood in her eyes suddenly thickened.

He fell to his knees with a thud, his forehead pressed against the cold floor tiles. It was over.

Chi Xiao closed his eyes.

How could he forget that during those seven years in Beiming, whenever his master fell ill with longing on the night of the full moon, he would climb the highest tower in the northern border alone and drink a little wine towards the capital.

With wine filling her heart with sorrow, she drew her sword and left the city, charging alone into the camp of the remnants of the Northern Underworld army, fighting from the dead of night until dawn.

When she returned, her white clothes were stained with blood and she was covered in wounds, but she never said a bad word about the Imperial Advisor.

Even when the "Red Beauty's Ashes" flared up later, and she was writhing in pain in the snow, her fingernails digging into the frozen earth, her blood mixing with the snow and staining the ground red, she was biting her own wrist, not the name of the Imperial Preceptor.

"Your subordinate knows his mistake," Chi Xiao's voice trembled, "Your subordinate will go and receive ten lashes in a moment."

Chu Qingyue closed her eyes briefly, suppressing the bloodlust surging within them. Her voice returned to calm, yet grew even colder:

"Five lashes. I'll say it one last time: no matter how much Si Chen and I argue, fight, or get entangled, it's all between us. Whether it's love or hate, life or death, it belongs only to the two of us."

She slowly crouched down, her jade-white fingers lifting Chi Xiao's chin, her tone eerily gentle:

"If I hear you say another bad word about him, then our master-servant relationship will be over. Do you understand?"

Liu Yun also knelt down, his forehead touching the ground alongside Chi Xiao's: "Yes, Your Highness. Your subordinate will remember."

Chu Qingyue stood up and dusted off non-existent dust from her sleeves, as if the momentary violence had never existed.

She gazed into the depths of the palace, her tone returning to its indifferent state:

"Get up. Have you found out? How is Chu Qingyao now? Is she able to attend tonight's palace banquet?"

Chi Xiao stood up, still not daring to raise his head, his voice somewhat weak:

"Your Highness... Half an hour ago, the Fifth Princess sent someone to deliver an invitation, inviting you... to have tea and a chat."

"Oh?" Chu Qingyue slowly curved her lips into a smile, her voice sweet as honey wrapped around a blade. "She...has recovered?"

Liu Yun said, "Your Highness... the Fifth Princess is alright, yes... yes..." Her gaze involuntarily drifted towards the Star-Picking Tower, and she didn't continue.

Chu Qingyue immediately understood—the string of eyeball necklaces she gave to the Fifth Princess as a "thank you gift" would surely frighten her pampered younger sister so much that she would be unable to get out of bed for at least a month.

But now, in just one morning, Chu Qingyao has recovered. Who else in this palace, besides the all-powerful Imperial Advisor, could so quickly calm her mind and dispel nightmares?

She raised her head, took a deep look at the Star-Picking Tower, and a bewitching smile appeared on her lips.

"It's alright. The person I want to deal with... the Imperial Advisor... he... can't protect. Have you found out? Why did she invite me? What's she up to?"

Chi Xiao stood up and lowered his voice: "Your Highness, since the 'Eyeball Incident,' the Empress has arranged for three times the number of imperial guards to guard the Fifth Princess day and night. To avoid alerting her, our men have not dared to approach."

He paused, his voice even softer: "But I heard... about an hour and a half ago, the Fifth Princess ordered someone to bring in an adult tiger and put it in a black iron cage in the back garden of Qingyao Pavilion."

Chu Qingyue fell silent. Three breaths later, she suddenly threw her head back and burst into laughter. The laughter was initially low, but then grew louder and louder, more and more manic, until finally tears streamed down her face.

The setting sun cast her long shadow, projecting it onto the vermilion palace wall, like a ghost about to break free of its cage.

"Hahaha...hahaha..." She laughed so hard she could barely breathe, raising her hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes, but her voice was chillingly cold.

"My dear elder sister, are you... reminding me of how you fed my mother to tigers back then?"