Killer Queen: Tyrant, prepare to die!

Chapter 68 The intelligence network penetrates the palace! The tyrant dreams of her name every night.

It rained in Hangzhou for three days.

The bluestone slabs in front of Jinxiufang were washed until they shone, reflecting the swaying light of the lanterns with the character "Huang" on them.

The study in Qihuang Garden was brightly lit by candlelight.

Mo Shisan placed a secret letter on the table, his voice extremely low: "Miss, the capital line... is open."

Ye Huang looked up from the ledger: "Tell me in detail."

"Yes." Mo Shisan unfolded a simple map of the capital and pointed his finger towards the imperial city. "Xiao Luzi is currently working at Huayang Palace. On the surface, he is Consort Rou... Now he is Consort Liu, and on the surface, he is a eunuch in charge of purchasing in Consort Liu's palace."

"Actually?"

"In fact, he took over some of the covert intelligence left behind by Eunuch Li." Mo Shisan's eyes gleamed. "The late Empress Dowager cultivated a network of informants in the palace for decades. These informants were dormant after Eunuch Li left the palace, but now they have been reactivated by Xiao Luzi."

He pointed to several points on the map: "Our people are in the Imperial Kitchen, the Laundry Bureau, the Imperial Guard Office, and... even at the tea station in the outer hall of the Hall of Mental Cultivation."

Ye Huang tapped her fingertips lightly on the table: "The Hall of Mental Cultivation? People can even enter it near Nangong Ye?"

"We can't get close." Mo Shisan shook his head. "Xuan Ying's guards are too tight. But the eunuch serving tea in the outer hall is one of our people. He can see His Majesty coming and going every day and hear snippets of conversation."

"That's enough," Ye Huang asked. "What's the situation in the palace now?"

Mo Shisan took a deep breath and began his report.

---

The capital city, the imperial palace, the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

It was past midnight, but the lights were still on inside the hall.

Nangong Ye sat behind his desk, a tall pile of memorials before him. He reviewed them quickly, his vermilion brush sweeping across the paper, sometimes approving, sometimes rejecting, and sometimes simply slamming them to the ground.

"waste!"

Another memorial was thrown out, grazing past the kneeling eunuch's ear before landing on the gold bricks.

The memorial was submitted by the governor of Jiangnan, stating that merchants in Hangzhou had recently colluded, implying that the Liu family had monopolized the textile industry, and requesting the court to intervene.

"The Liu family..." Nangong Ye stared at the memorial, his eyes bloodshot.

Since Shen Qingci's "death," he has never had a full night's sleep.

The moment he closed his eyes, he saw the image of her standing in the sea of ​​fire, holding her child, on the night the Cold Palace burned. Her red dress was licked by the flames, and she looked at him, her eyes as cold as ice.

"Your Majesty..." Xuan Ying stepped out of the shadows, "It's time to rest."

"Resting?" Nangong Ye laughed, his laughter laced with malice. "How can I rest? Merchants from Jiangnan are causing trouble, 100,000 iron cavalry are pressing in from the north, and the Liu family's faction is deeply entrenched in the court—tell me, how can I rest?"

Xuan Ying remained silent.

He knew His Majesty had changed.

Your Majesty was ruthless before, but that was the art of rulership, a matter of weighing options. The current Your Majesty... is more like a trapped beast, ready to bite anyone in its path.

"Is Consort Liu here again today?" Nangong Ye suddenly asked.

"Yes, he knelt outside the hall for half an hour, saying he had personally prepared ginseng soup..."

"Tell her to get out," Nangong Ye interrupted. "I don't want to see her."

Xuan Ying lowered his head: "Yes."

The hall fell silent once more.

Nangong Ye leaned back on the dragon throne, looking up at the dragon-shaped caisson ceiling above the palace. The dragon was menacing, but in his eyes, it was a joke.

"Mysterious Shadow".

"Your subject is here."

"Tell me..." Nangong Ye's voice was hoarse, "When she died, did she hate me?"

Xuan Ying's Adam's apple bobbed, but he dared not answer.

"She definitely hates me." Nangong Ye answered himself, a nasty smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "She's such a stubborn person... she'll haunt me even as a ghost."

He closed his eyes and pressed his fingers against his throbbing temples.

The imperial physician said it was a heart ailment and he needed to rest and recuperate.

How could he find peace? The moment he tried to quiet down, her image filled his mind.

---

Huayang Palace, side hall.

Liu Ruyan smashed all the tea sets on the table.

The sound of shattering porcelain was particularly jarring in the night, but none of the palace servants outside dared to come in and offer any advice.

Since being demoted to the rank of concubine and moved to a side palace, Huayang Palace has become a cold palace for her—on the surface, she still enjoys the treatment of a concubine, but in reality, His Majesty has never set foot there again.

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger..." The trusted palace maid knelt on the ground, trembling.

"Calm down? How can I calm down!" Liu Ruyan's eyes were red. "Father sent a message urging me to conceive a royal heir as soon as possible to regain the Emperor's favor—but His Majesty won't even see me!"

She grabbed the bronze mirror from the dressing table and smashed it hard on the ground.

The face in the mirror was still beautiful, but fine lines had appeared at the corners of her eyes. Three years had passed since she entered the palace, rising from a Noble Consort to a Concubine, and now she couldn't even see the Emperor.

"It's all that bitch Shen Qingci's fault!" she gritted her teeth. "Even in death, she won't rest in peace!"

The palace maid whispered, "Your Majesty, His Majesty's temperament is unpredictable these days. Even the Empress... after that 'passed away,' no one in the harem can get close to him. If you insist on this, it will only..."

"Then what should I do?" Liu Ruyan grabbed the palace maid's shoulder. "Wait? Wait until I'm old and faded? Wait until the Liu family finds another pawn to replace me?!"

She can't wait.

Her father's letter made it very clear: the Liu family needed a prince with Liu family blood. If she couldn't, there were other eligible women in the clan who could be sent to the palace.

At that point, she will truly have nothing left.

"Go." Liu Ruyan released her grip, her eyes hardening. "Find the 'Warmth Incense' that Father sent last time."

The palace maid's face changed drastically: "Your Highness, that incense..."

"If His Majesty won't come, I'll go." Liu Ruyan said each word carefully. "I can't enter the Hall of Mental Cultivation, but there will always be opportunities in the Imperial Garden, the Thousand Carp Pond..."

She stared at the shattered mirror fragments on the ground, her own distorted face reflected in them.

"Shen Qingci, you win by dying. But I... I must win by living."

---

Hangzhou, Qihuang Garden.

After listening to Mo Shisan's report, Ye Huang remained silent for a long time.

The candlelight cast flickering shadows on her face, obscuring her expression.

"So," she finally spoke, her voice eerily calm, "Nangong Ye is now suffering from insomnia every night, his temper is violent, he treats the court like a battlefield and the harem like a graveyard?"

"Yes," Mo Shisan said. "According to the news from Xiao Luzi, His Majesty has dealt with seventeen officials in the past three months. Nine of them were members of the Liu faction, and eight... were upright officials who had spoken up for the Shen family."

Ye Huang smiled.

The laughter was soft, yet chillingly cold.

Is he atoning for his sins, or just venting his anger?

No one dared to answer.

She stood up and walked to the window. The rain had stopped outside, and moonlight peeked through the clouds, casting a cold glow on the courtyard.

"Liu Ruyan wants to have the emperor's child?" Ye Huang said with her back to everyone, her voice carrying a hint of sarcasm. "Have the emperor's child? That would require Nangong Ye to be willing to touch her."

Jinshu asked softly, "Miss, shall we...do something?"

"What for?" Ye Huang turned around. "To warn Nangong Ye to be careful of the Liu family women? Or to help Liu Ruyan get pregnant sooner?"

She shook her head: "Let them deal with their own affairs."

She walked back to the table, pointing to the capital city on the map: "Have Xiao Luzi continue his covert work. Focus on two people: Nangong Ye's health and Consort Liu's every move."

"Furthermore," she looked up, "tell our informants in the capital that if Consort Liu really did use some underhanded methods... don't stop her, but make sure to preserve the evidence."

Mo Shisan was taken aback: "What do you mean, young lady?"

"The Liu family is desperate for a prince, and Liu Ruyan is capable of anything, even a cornered dog," Ye Huang said calmly. "Once she actually does something, that evidence... will be another weapon to bring down the Liu family in the future."

She paused, her voice growing even colder: "As for Nangong Ye..."

She didn't finish speaking.

But Mo Shisan understood.

The young woman truly had no lingering feelings for that emperor. She didn't care whether he could sleep, whether he would be schemed against by Liu Ruyan, and even... she was happy to see it happen.

"Any news from the North?" Ye Huang suddenly asked.

Mo Shisan snapped out of his reverie: "Not yet. Young Master Xiao should have just arrived at Zhenbei Pass. The war is intense, and carrier pigeons are not easy to use."

Ye Huang nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

She sat down again, picked up her pen, and began to write down the plans for the next phase. Her handwriting was neat and her thoughts were clear, as if the news about the capital and old acquaintances she had just heard were nothing more than insignificant interludes.

Only Jinshu noticed that the girl's fingers, which were holding the pen, were slightly white.

The moonlight outside the window moved quietly, creeping up her profile.

There was no hatred or resentment on that face, only a cold, calm expression.

It is as calm as a deep pool, but beneath it lies a whirlpool that can devour everything.

---

That night, in the capital city.

Nangong Ye woke up from a nightmare once again.

He dreamt of the great fire in the Cold Palace, and of Shen Qingci looking at him through the flames, who suddenly smiled. Then the flames engulfed her, and the child in her arms let out a loud cry—

The crying turned into Bao'er's laughter.

"Father, hug me—"

He sat up abruptly, his undergarment soaked with cold sweat.

The hall was empty except for the flickering candlelight.

He clutched his chest, where a sharp pain had ripped out, as if a piece of his heart had been ripped out.

"Qingci..." he murmured, "I regret it."

Only the night wind blowing through the hall could respond to him.

The wind carried the chill of late autumn, and a faint, almost imperceptible, floral fragrance.

That was the fragrance wafting from the direction of Huayang Palace, a new blend of incense by Liu Ruyan.

Nangong Ye frowned, lay down again, and turned his back.

The aroma was so cloying it was irritating.

Everything in this palace is so upsetting.

---

Thousands of miles away, in Hangzhou.

After Ye Huang finished writing the last stroke, she blew out the candle.

The study was plunged into darkness.

She sat in the darkness for a long time, until the sky outside the window began to lighten.

Then she got up and opened the window.

The morning breeze, carrying moisture, rushed in, dispelling the last bit of warmth in the room.

"It's a new day," she said softly.

Once again, another day brings us one step closer to revenge.

---

[Next Chapter Preview: Technological Barriers Established! Ye Huang Poses Over the Revolutionary Loom Blueprints, Liu Chengming Desperately Tryes to Snatch Them! The Business Wars in Jiangnan Intensify!]