The legend begins with becoming a white deer.

Ji Zhu was tightly bound by the long whip, but she was still twisting and struggling desperately, with deep red marks on her wrists.

Just as she was about to unleash her inner strength to try and break free of the restraints, Su Yanji's wrist sank slightly, the long whip tightened abruptly, and at the same time, his toes lightly touched her shoulder blade.

Two crisp "click, click" sounds.

"Ughhhhh!"

Ji Zhu let out a shrill scream as her shoulder joints were dislocated, her arms hanging limply, utterly powerless.

Cold sweat instantly soaked her back, her face turned ashen, and the veins on her forehead throbbed.

At this moment, King Bilin stepped forward, his gaze falling on Ji Zhu, and said in a solemn tone: "President Su, this person is involved in the safety of the royal family, so I will take him back to the palace for questioning. Within three days, I will give the Wanhua Chamber of Commerce an explanation."

Su Yanji retracted her whip, nodded slightly, and did not refuse.

She looked at King Bilin, her tone calm yet carrying a heavy weight: "Your Majesty's impartial handling of the matter puts my mind at ease. To be honest, my journey through the kingdoms is for a major business deal spanning hundreds of countries, which is also something the Cangliang royal family intends to promote. If this trip fails within Bilin's borders, I will have no choice but to return to Cangliang and report the events that have occurred. I cannot predict what the consequences will be."

These words are veiled in barbs; on the surface, they state the facts, but in reality, they carry a hint of warning and intimidation.

King Bilin naturally understood, but he was not angry. He simply looked at Su Yanji deeply and said slowly, "I have remembered what President Su means. I will handle this matter carefully and give the Wanhua Chamber of Commerce justice."

He knew in his heart that Su Yanji's words were half true and half false.

The Wanhua Chamber of Commerce has indeed now aligned itself with the Cangliang royal family, but it would be an exaggeration to say that a robbery would cause a rift between the two countries. Su Yanji is very likely using the name of Cangliang to deliberately scare them. King Bilin is aware of this, but he cannot afford to gamble. Moreover, fratricide within the royal family is already a huge scandal. If the Chamber of Commerce and Cangliang are involved, Bilin will truly lose all face.

Two guards stepped forward, lifted the exhausted Princess Spider, and took her aside.

King Bilin turned around, his gaze falling on Yuan Shuying, his eyes sharp as knives, filled with unprecedented sternness: "Shuying, I will ask you one more time, is what Yan Lie said true or not?"

The surroundings fell silent instantly.

Queen Ning Shu stood not far away, holding Yuan Yao in her arms, staring intently at her eldest daughter, a hint of pleading hidden in her eyes.

She preferred to believe that Yan Lie had turned on her before his death rather than believe that her daughter would commit such a heinous act of fratricide.

Yuan Yao leaned against her mother's chest, her little face full of confusion and bewilderment, as if she had not yet recovered from the shock of "her sister wanting to kill her".

Yuan Shuying took a deep breath, suppressing the panic in her heart, and maintained her usual aloofness: "Your subject does not know. Your subject has never seen Yan Lie before, let alone recognize this woman."

"Then why did this woman risk her life to protect you?" King Bilin pressed.

"How could I possibly know?"

Yuan Shuying lowered her eyes, her tone calm to the point of being indifferent: "Perhaps she mistakenly thought I was of noble status and wanted to take me hostage, but she failed instead."

This answer was too far-fetched, and King Bilin frowned even more, clearly dissatisfied.

Just then, Lin Qin strode over and bowed to report: "Your Majesty, I have interrogated more than ten criminals. They all confessed that a woman wearing a bronze mask paid them to storm the auction. The woman's figure and appearance match this woman perfectly."

King Bilin's face darkened further. Just as he was about to speak, Queen Ning Shu suddenly stepped to the side, bent down, and picked up a short sword that had fallen into the rubble.

The sword had a narrow and long blade, and the hilt was inlaid with tiny sapphires. Its workmanship was exquisite and meticulous, and it was clearly an extraordinary item.

Yuan Shuying caught a glimpse of the sword, and her face turned pale instantly.

Queen Ning Shu, sword in hand, slowly walked back to Yuan Shuying, her fingertips trembling slightly. "Shuying, this sword... do you remember it? This is 'Shattered Star,' specially crafted by the imperial craftsmen for your birthday when you were little. You said you liked it, so it's always been kept in your palace. How could it... be in that woman's hands?"

These words shocked everyone around.

Swords crafted by royal artisans are something that ordinary martial artists could never possess.

With the sword in Ji Zhu's hands, and her desperate protection of Yuan Shuying, the connection between the two is almost obvious.

Before Yuan Shuying could explain, a guard who was inspecting Ji Zhu's belongings stepped forward quickly, holding three exquisite sleeve darts in his hands, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I found these items in this person's sleeve. The mechanism and decoration are completely consistent with the techniques used in the royal palace. They are definitely not from the common people."

A sword and a hidden dart—two irrefutable pieces of evidence were laid bare before them.

With Yan Lie's accusations and the fugitive's confession, everything pointed to Yuan Shuying, leaving her with no way to refute the accusations, no matter how eloquent she was.

"What else do you have to say?" King Bilin's voice was filled with suppressed rage, his chest heaving violently.

Yuan Shuying looked at the heartache and disappointment in her mother's eyes, and then glanced at the surprised or disdainful looks of the guards and guests around her. The calm shell she had been maintaining finally shattered inch by inch.

She first chuckled softly, then her laughter grew louder and more shrill, until finally she threw her head back and laughed bitterly, her laughter filled with a desperate, reckless madness.

"At this point, what else is there to say?"

Yuan Shuying stopped laughing, raised her eyes to look at King Bilin, her gaze icy.

"That's right, I gave the sword to Ji Zhu, I hired the people, and I brought Yan Lie here. I did everything."

"evil creature!"

King Bilin was furious and slapped him hard across the face.

A crisp "snap" echoed throughout the venue.

Yuan Shuying was knocked to the side, and the exquisite eye mask inlaid with rhinestones on her face flew off and spun to the ground, revealing the gray-white necrotic eyeball in her left eye socket, as well as the several hideous scars around her eye.

This is a scar she has kept hidden for eight years, one she least wanted to show to others.

Yuan Shuying slowly turned her face, a tear rolling down her intact right eye, her eyes filled with mockery and resentment: "Hit me, keep hitting me. In your eyes, I've always just been a tool to save face, how could I be any more important than Yuan Yao?"

"What nonsense are you spouting!" King Bilin trembled with rage and raised his hand to strike again.

"Your Majesty!"

Queen Ning Shu quickly stepped forward to stop him, tears streaming down her face. Looking at Yuan Shuying, she felt both heartache and disappointment: "Shuying, how could you think like that? When has your father ever mistreated you? How have we ever stopped loving you?"

"love me?"

Yuan Shuxiang felt like she had heard the biggest joke in the world. Her face contorted with rage as she laughed, "Ever since I went blind in this eye, who inside or outside the palace hasn't laughed at me behind my back? Who hasn't been laughing at me? Do you think I don't know? Especially after Yuan Yao was born, you all ignored me completely. She doesn't have to do anything to receive everyone's favor, while what about me? I'm just a joke!"

She suddenly raised her hand and pointed at Yuan Yao, her eyes filled with undisguised hatred, like a poisoned knife.

Yuan Yao trembled with fear at her sister's crazed appearance and instinctively shrank back.

The female guard, Zhihua, quickly stepped forward, blocking Yuanyao's path and gently supporting her shoulder.

"Yuan Yao, you're so lucky."

Yuan Shuying stared at her, her laughter both crazy and cold.

"I planned this for so long, it was absolutely foolproof, you should have died in this chaos. Even if it failed this time, I would have a next time, and the time after that... But then, of all times, a white deer appeared!"

Yuan Shuying suddenly turned her head and stared intently at Qi Ji, who was standing to the side. Her eyes were filled with intense disgust and resentment, as if she wanted to devour him alive.

"It's all because of you... it's all because of you, you beast, that you ruined everything I had!"