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

Cangming led his men away slowly, leaving only the two of them facing each other in the courtyard.

Crabapple blossoms rustled down in the night breeze, landing on her fiery red wedding dress and on his snow-white hair.

"Insolence!" Si Chen's spiritual energy surged, his purple robes billowing even without wind. "Chu Qingyue, please have some self-respect!"

"Have some self-respect?" Chu Qingyue said as if she had heard a joke, reaching out to stroke his chest.

"The Imperial Advisor came to my door on my wedding night; if not to become the groom, then what is his purpose?"

These words struck Si Chen like a thunderbolt.

He then remembered his original purpose for coming tonight—to demand an explanation.

Suppressing the shock in his heart, he pushed Mei Shiliu forward:

"Chu Qingyue, you ordered this woman to impersonate the Fifth Princess Chu Qingyao, instigating the First Prince to assassinate me, thus triggering heavenly lightning that killed him."

"You saw that I had appointed Chu Xuanche as crown prince, so you plotted to kill your brother—such treasonous and cruel methods! I have painstakingly taught you to be virtuous for eight years, but you haven't listened to a single word, have you?"

Chu Qingyue listened quietly, her smile undiminished, but her eyes gradually turned icy.

After he finished speaking, she said softly, "Since the Imperial Advisor is so certain, why not take Mei Shiliu to see Father?"

"Father will surely believe you. A single imperial edict can execute me. Wouldn't that be cleaner?"

She paused, her voice turning cold:

"You just... lack concrete evidence."

"What have you done to the Fifth Princess?" Si Chen's grip on his sword tightened. "You killed your brother, are you going to kill your sister too?"

Chu Qingyue laughed, a laugh filled with madness and resolve: "Dead... If I want them dead, how can they live?"

"Personally planning to send them off is the greatest honor I can bestow upon them."

"You—" Si Chen drew his longsword, pointing it straight at her heart. "So be it. You are ultimately the 'Black Dragon Fallen Demon,' destined to kill your brother and father, stain the palace with blood, and overthrow the Great Chu."

The tip of the sword pressed against the phoenix heart embroidered on her wedding dress, the gold thread gleaming coldly in the moonlight.

Chu Qingyue looked down at the tip of the sword and suddenly smiled.

That smile was so beautiful it was heartbreaking.

"So?" she asked softly.

"Ah Chen wants to kill me?"

"Just like seven years ago, when you killed me with a divination, are you going to kill me again with your own hands?"

Si Chen's sword tip trembled almost imperceptibly.

"I will not kill you." There was a weariness in his voice she had never heard before.

"But I will cripple your martial arts skills and strip you of your military power as the Princess of the Nation."

"For the rest of your life, you will recite scriptures, observe the stars, and measure the moon in the Star-Picking Tower."

"I... will protect you until your peaceful old age."

"Hahahaha—" Chu Qingyue suddenly threw her head back and laughed wildly, her laughter so loud that the crabapple blossoms fell in a flurry, like blood and tears.

After laughing, she looked down at him, her eyes devoid of any warmth.

"Cripple my martial arts? Strip me of my military power? Imprison me until death?"

She suddenly took a step forward.

"Pfft—"

The sword tip pierced the wedding dress, and blood instantly seeped out, blooming into a deeper crimson flower on the fiery red brocade.

Si Chen's pupils constricted sharply, and he reached for his sword—

Chu Qingyue had already raised her hand and grasped the sword.

The sharp blade sliced ​​through his palm, and blood trickled down his wrist, dripping onto the bluestone slab, one drop, two drops, like some ancient and cruel sacrifice.

She paid no heed and continued forward step by step. The blade sank deeper into her body, yet she seemed oblivious.

Si Chen retreated step by step until his back hit the trunk of the crabapple tree, leaving him with nowhere to go.

"Si Chen," she finally stopped in front of him, her bloodstained hand touching his cheek, her fingertips leaving a shocking mark on his jade-like skin.

You can only hurt me.

She suddenly grabbed his shirt, pulled him closer, their eyes met, and their breaths mingled:

"And your spiritual power, which can heal all things in the world, is uniquely... unable to heal me in the slightest."

"Si Chen," she said, her voice as soft as a sigh, but her eyes burned like poisoned flames.

"Once you step into this princess's residence tonight, you're destined... to never leave."

Before she could finish speaking, the gold chain on her wrist suddenly popped open!

That was no ordinary object—the chain was as thin as a little finger, yet it shone with a dark golden luster, and each link was engraved with dense ancient runes. Upon closer inspection, the runes seemed to be slowly flowing, like a living thing breathing.

The chain tip moved like a venomous snake spitting its tongue, so fast that only a blur remained, aiming straight for Si Chen's right wrist, which was gripping the sword.

Si Chen's eyes narrowed, and he turned to leave.

But it was too late.

"When...when did you forge this item?!"

For the first time, he lost his composure, his voice filled with shock and anger.

"This is no ordinary human art! What exactly are you—"

Chu Qingyue smiled.

The smile, bathed in moonlight and against the backdrop of her wedding dress, was breathtakingly beautiful, yet also chillingly mad.

"Seven years in the Northern Underworld," she said, each word sharp and enunciated, as if ground from between her teeth, carrying a chilling aura of blood and ice.

"Whenever the cold poison flares up, it feels like a million needles are pricking my bones..."

"I thought to myself, my Imperial Preceptor cultivates the Supreme Dao of Forgetfulness, he is immortal, indestructible, and undying, truly... enviable."

She pulled him closer by the gold chain, their noses almost touching, their breaths mingling.

"So I thought day and night—how could I make you feel pain too?"

Si Chen tried to use his spiritual power to break free, but found that his spiritual power receded like a tide under the restraint of the golden chain, and the incantations on the golden chain seemed to devour his power like living things.

He was horrified—when did this woman acquire such an evil cultivation technique?

Ignoring the bleeding wound on her chest, Chu Qingyue pulled hard.

Si Chen stumbled and nearly bumped into her arms.

The silver hair brushed against her cheek, bringing a touch of coolness.

"As I said,"

She leaned close to his ear, her breath warm, her words sharp as knives, "Tonight we're getting married and consummating our marriage. You have to wear that wedding dress, whether you like it or not."

She paused, her fingertips tracing his throat.

"I will strip you naked, lock you up with this golden chain, and hang you on the crabapple tree so that all the civil and military officials can see what their revered Grand Preceptor looks like."

"You're insane!" Si Chen roared in fury.

Chu Qingyue chuckled softly, "Whether I'm crazy or not, I don't know, but even if you, Si Chen, turn to ashes, I will mix your ashes into rouge and use them to draw my eyebrows and hair every day; or I will scatter them into a wine jar and drink alone under the moon every night."

"Si Chen, you can't escape."

"Chu Qingyue." He gritted his teeth, trying to break through the double seal of his acupoints and golden chains, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead. "How long do you think this evil creature can hold me captive?"

"Really?" Chu Qingyue suddenly smiled.

That smile was alluring, like a begonia blooming in the dead of night, with a dying kind of beauty.

She moved with lightning speed, striking several major acupoints on his body, including Shenque, Lingxu, and Qihai—the technique was actually the "Spirit Sealing Finger," which he had personally taught her years ago so that she would have the power to protect herself in the chaotic world.

Now, he's using that finger technique on himself.

However, her methods were more unpredictable and more ruthless.

Si Chen's body stiffened, and he was completely unable to move.

For four hundred years, he had been above all living beings, watching the clouds rise and fall, never imagining that one day he would become like this—a mere puppet in someone else's hands, unable even to lift a finger.