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

The empress collapsed to the ground, her magnificent mourning clothes scattered like withered flowers.

She knew she had lost.

With just a few casual words, Chu Qingyue nailed her and Che'er to the pillar of shame for "murdering their teacher and betraying Heaven."

From then on, any questioning of Chu Xuanche's death would be seen as a provocation against the will of Heaven.

She couldn't even openly resent Chu Qingyue, otherwise it would be considered "harboring resentment and disrespecting the authority of Heaven."

How ruthless... how vicious!

Chu Xuanjing knelt before the spirit tablet, head bowed, a faint hint of pleasure playing on his lips.

His sister, the princess, always manages to give him "surprises".

Forcing the empress to prove herself? This is tantamount to killing her spirit and crushing her remaining reputation into the mud.

Chu Qingyue stopped looking at the Empress and turned to face the coffin, a perfectly measured expression of pity appearing on her face.

She took the paper money from Liuyun and lit it on the candle.

The flickering firelight illuminated her pale face—silver hair, vermilion, and plain clothes, creating an extremely eerie and beautiful scene.

The paper money turned to ashes and fell in a flurry, like a black snowfall.

"Eldest brother," she spoke softly, her voice barely audible to those nearby, "the road to the underworld is long, I hope you... depart peacefully."

The Empress suddenly looked up and stared at her intently.

She saw the fleeting smile in Chu Qingyue's eyes when she lowered them—cold, mocking, and confident.

The Emperor of Chu took a deep breath, his voice weary yet authoritative: "I have already made myself clear regarding Che'er's matter. Heaven's punishment has been delivered, and the guilt has been determined. From now on... there is no need for further discussion."

This is a definitive conclusion.

The empress collapsed to the ground, her phoenix crown askew, and paper flowers fell to the ground beside her.

She stared intently at Chu Qingyue, her phoenix eyes, once the rulers of the six palaces, now terrifyingly empty.

"Good...good..." The Empress chuckled softly, initially suppressed, then gradually becoming frenzied.

"What a magnificent princess who protects the nation... what a wonderful way to share her mother's burdens!"

She abruptly propped herself up, swaying as she stood, staring at Chu Qingyue, and said, word by word:

"I have made a note of this today."

These words, though spoken lightly, were more chilling than the most vicious curse when they landed in the mourning hall.

Chu Qingyue smiled gently, her demeanor as serene as melting snow in early spring: "Mother, please take care of your health. If my eldest brother were alive, he would certainly not want to see you like this."

She curtsied, turned around, and the white hem of her robe traced a cold arc in the candlelight.

"Father, Imperial Advisor, Yue'er takes her leave."

The Chu Emperor opened his mouth, but in the end he only waved wearily.

When Chu Qingyue walked out of the mourning hall, the sky was covered with low-hanging leaden clouds, and it was about to snow again.

Liu Yun asked in a low voice, "Your Highness, shall we return to the residence?"

"Of course," Chu Qingyue said, her fingertips tracing a warm copper coin hidden in her sleeve, a seductive smile curving her lips, a stark contrast to her gentle demeanor in the mourning hall just moments before.

"I'm going to have my wedding night tonight, so naturally I need to go back and try on my wedding dress."

She listened intently, and from inside the mourning hall came the Empress's suppressed sobs, the sound as broken as tearing silk, drifting away in the cold wind.

Chu Qingyue laughed seductively and maniacally, her eyes flashing with icy light:

"Liuyun, listen, the Empress's crying is so beautiful. I wish she could keep crying like this forever."

—————The Residence of the Princess Zhenguo————

As dusk settled, Chu Qingyue was already sitting in front of the bronze mirror.

Liu Yun combed her hair, and her long black hair fell like splashed ink. Now that the effects of the "Red Beauty Ashes" medicine had worn off, her black hair had finally returned to normal.

"Your Highness's black hair," Liu Yun carefully picked up a strand, "is truly... breathtakingly beautiful, paired with this wedding dress and this nine-phoenix pearl crown."

Chu Qingyue slowly raised her eyes.

The mirror reflected a face powerful enough to overturn mountains and rivers—eyebrows like distant mountains shrouded in mist, eyes like cold stars tempered with ice, a nose as straight as if cut by a knife, and lips of a natural rosy red.

The most lethal thing is those eyes: when they are lowered, they are the compassion of a fairy for the world; when they are open, they are the fierce look of a war god looking down on all living beings.

The cinnabar scar on his forehead, far from detracting from his appearance, added a touch of broken yet dangerous beauty—like a crack on a fine piece of porcelain, reminding the world of the mad soul hidden beneath this perfect exterior.

Chu Qingyue looked at herself quietly in the mirror and suddenly smiled.

That smile was like the first melting of ice and snow, the first bloom of spring flowers, so beautiful that Liu Yun's hand trembled, and the rouge box fell to the ground with a "thud," the crimson ointment splattering out, just like the blood flowing from someone's heart.

"Your subordinate has been disrespectful!" Liu Yun hurriedly knelt down.

Chu Qingyue didn't care.

She stretched out her finger, dipped it in some rouge from the ground, and slowly drew an arc on the mirror.

"Liu Yun, do you think I'm beautiful?"

"Beautiful..." Liu Yun's voice trembled slightly, "In the entire Cangqiong Continent, the beauties of the four kingdoms combined cannot compare to even a fraction of Your Highness's beauty."

"Really?" Chu Qingyue tilted her head, her eyes innocent like those of a naive young girl.

"Then why can't she catch Si Chen's eye?"

The beauty in the mirror smiled more deeply, but her eyes hardened with coldness.

"Is he blind, or am I not beautiful enough?"

Liu Yun dared not reply.

That's a serious offense—saying His Highness isn't beautiful enough is a capital offense, and saying the Grand Preceptor is blind is an even greater one.

Chu Qingyue didn't need her to answer.

She stood up on her own, her fiery red wedding dress shimmering like blood in the candlelight.

A phoenix embroidered in gold thread spirals upwards from the hem of the skirt, its eyes inlaid with obsidian, making it seem as if it is staring intently at you from any angle.

"The Empress has suffered such a great loss today," Chu Qingyue said casually, stroking the dark pattern on her sleeve. "Given her vengeful nature, she will certainly not let this go."

Liu Yun's heart skipped a beat: "Your Highness means..."

"Tell Cangming," Chu Qingyue walked to the window, pushed open the carved wooden window, and let the cold wind carry away the warm fragrance that filled the room.

"If a 'guest' visits tonight, there is a dark brocade pouch in the third hidden compartment of the study."

She turned her head, and the candlelight flickered in her eyes.

"You know what to do."

Liu Yun hesitated: "Why doesn't Master just give the order directly? I'm afraid I'll misunderstand..."

"Because at that time," Chu Qingyue's voice suddenly lowered, carrying an almost gentle cruelty, "Si Chen was definitely by my side."

She turned around, her red dress surging like waves of blood.

"If we push him to the brink, Si Chen will get angry. And when he gets angry, I... feel heartache."

"But if we don't go all out—" she chuckled, her laughter sweet as honey, yet sending chills down one's spine, "that's not in my nature."

"So," Chu Qingyue gazed at the deepening night outside the window, her voice as soft as a sigh, "we have to leave them a way out. A way that seems like a path to survival, but in reality, a path that leads to utter destruction."

Cold sweat beaded on Liu Yun's forehead: "Yes, Your Highness."

She paused, looking out at the dark sky. "Your Highness, did the Imperial Advisor say when he would arrive? Should we go to fetch him?"

Chu Qingyue smiled, a smile that held a certain unwavering madness: "He didn't say when he would come."

She paused, then added.

"He doesn't even know that I'm getting married today."

Liu Yun was completely stunned: "Your Highness, this... isn't it inappropriate not to tell the groom on the wedding day? I'm worried that the groom might... might..."

"What if he doesn't come?" Chu Qingyue finished for her, her smile deepening. "Don't worry, he... will come."

Before she finished speaking, a sudden gust of wind swept through the courtyard.

All the candles went out at the same time.

A detached and otherworldly voice pierced the air, each word chilled to the bone: "Chu, Qing, Yue."

Chu Qingyue smiled, her smile so alluring it could eclipse the moonlight.

She turned to Liu Yun, raising an eyebrow, her eyes gleaming with an almost manic certainty:

"Look...isn't this...coming here?"