My brother entrusted his child to me, and I livestreamed raising the baby, making the Empress cry wi

Yao Jingyuan's eyes darted around, then he leaned closer, his lips almost touching Shu Jingwei's earlobe. His hot breath on her ear sent a shiver down her spine.

"Your Majesty, I believe this is a good thing."

Shu Jingwei suddenly turned her head to look at him, her eyes filled with hidden anger.

What does he mean?!

It's a good thing we can't find it!?

"That sorcerer is showing off his miracles so ostentatiously just to scare us and make us afraid to arrest him, isn't he?" Yao Jingyuan's lips curled up slightly, and a hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes.

"Let's turn the tables on him—we'll openly recall all our troops, making him think we're intimidated and lower his guard." He paused, licked his dry lips with the tip of his tongue, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

"But little did they know, we had already guessed the approximate area where he was hiding."

"Secretly, we'll send our best men, disguised, to infiltrate the islands of the South China Sea and quietly investigate. When he thinks he's escaped and slips up—" He raised his hand, made a throat-slitting gesture, and lightly traced his Adam's apple with his fingertip.

Shu Jingwei's eyes suddenly lit up.

That's a good idea.

A smile of appreciation slowly crept onto her lips. "Jingyuan is becoming more and more capable. Let's waive the confinement after the Lantern Festival."

Yao Jingyuan lowered his head, the muscles in the back of his neck slightly tense, and said in a low voice, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

The voice was as obedient as ever, but his eyes darted around under his drooping eyelids, as if he were calculating something else entirely.

"Later, go find Zheng Dao, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guards, and tell him to do as you say and bring Lin Ye and the eldest princess back as soon as possible!" She picked up her wine glass again, took a sip, and a cruel smile appeared on her lips.

He was already imagining how he would torture Lin Ye once he caught him.

Should she gouge out his eyes first, or pull out his tongue? She would try them one by one until he cried and begged to hand over all those magical things.

……

Against the backdrop of the sky, the camera pans through the fiery red leaves and lands in front of the villa.

The villa's door frame was adorned with pine wreaths, and a cartoon rabbit wooden sign hung in front of the door, its colorful lights flashing.

Two rows of pumpkin lanterns were placed on the steps, grinning.

The entire villa is enveloped in ivy and warm yellow lighting, like a little castle moved out of a fairy tale.

The car stopped in front of the villa gate.

Lin Ye pushed open the car door, got out of the car first, and then bent down to take the little dumpling out of the car.

She wore a loose, long coat over her small pocket, covering her up completely.

A bit of the hem of the fluffy skirt peeked out, making one curious to see what the skirt originally looked like.

She rested her small hands on Lin Ye's shoulders, looking curiously at the three-story villa in front of her.

"Godfather...where is this?"

Lin Ye reached out and picked off a maple leaf that had just fallen on her head.

Then he said, "This is another property of your godfather, and it's also Xiaodouzi's home. There are several other properties in this city. From now on, we can live wherever Xiaodouzi wants to live."

He said this in a casual tone, as if he were saying, "The weather is nice today," as if owning several properties in a city was something commonplace.

……

Under the sky, there was a deathly silence.

Then, the barrage of comments poured out like a flood that had burst its banks.

[Commoner Zhao Da: What?! Another property?! Several more in the same city?! Does that mean he has even more in other cities?! How many houses does he actually own?!]

[Commoner Sun Wen: There are still several places... several places... Suddenly I feel a sharp pain in my heart, like something has stabbed me...]

[Commoner's comment: That apartment in the high-rise was already beautiful enough, but this small building is even bigger and more beautiful! Has he taken up all the good houses in the world?!]

……

On the Taihe Hall square, Shu Jingwei's face was ashen, as if it had been coated with a layer of soot.

She'd never lived in such exquisite and beautiful houses, yet Lin Ye owned several!?

Jealousy grew wildly in her heart like weeds, binding her heart tighter and tighter, making it hard for her to breathe.

"Empress Mother—"

Just then, a faint, tearful voice suddenly came from the side.

Shu Rou slipped off her seat at some point and ran to Shu Jingwei's side, grabbing her sleeves with her small hands and pulling hard.

"That house is so beautiful... much more beautiful than Rou'er's..." she shouted, her shrill voice making the ears of the ministers sitting in the front ring.

"Rou'er wants one too...Rou'er wants a house like that too...Mother..."

Shu Jingwei looked down at her daughter and suddenly thought of something.

Yes.

She doesn't have it, but she can find someone to build it for her!

"Good girl, Rou'er." She reached out and touched Shu Rou's head perfunctorily, the movement not gentle, even a little rough.

"Your Majesty, I'll have someone build it for you right now."

As Shu Jingwei said this, she was already thinking about what kind of style she wanted.

She is twice the size of Lin Ye's.

No.

Twice the size isn't enough?

She wants five times bigger!

Let's see how arrogant Lin Ye can be now!

"Du Mingyi!"

Her voice exploded like a thunderclap, startling Du Mingyi below, who scrambled forward and knelt down.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty is here..."

"Tomorrow, find an empty space in the palace." Her tone was unquestionable. "Or demolish a few useless palaces and build me a house like this."

She pointed to the warm yellow villa in the sky.

"I want it five times bigger!"

Du Mingyi's face turned pale instantly.

His lips trembled several times, his Adam's apple bobbed, and it took him a long time to finally manage to utter, "Your...Your Majesty..."

"Before, we couldn't figure out those creations on the sky..." His forehead was pressed against the ground, and cold sweat dripped down his forehead.

"His Majesty just executed a group of artisans... Now... now there's simply no one left to spare..."

Shu Jingwei's eyes widened suddenly, her gaze shooting out like a sharp sword.

"No manpower!?"

Her voice suddenly rose, startling everyone present and causing them to shrink back.

"If you don't have enough manpower, hire more! Do I need to teach you that?!"

She stood up, took a step forward, and stared intently at the top of Du Mingyi's head.

"Have I been supporting so many people for nothing?! They're all being brought here to work for me!"

Her voice grew louder and shrewder. "If you're not happy, then fight!"

With that, he waved his arm, and the wide sleeves of his dragon robe knocked over all the wine glasses on the table. The amber-colored wine dripped down the edge of the table and onto the ground.

"If they dare to resist, then kill them!"

She practically yelled the last few words, which made the officials below turn pale. One by one, they lowered their heads as if they wanted to bury their heads in their crotches.

Du Mingyi knelt on the ground, feeling as if all his energy had been drained away.

His heart sank little by little, and he couldn't help but start to think.

Your Majesty...when did you become like this?

Disregard for human life... Selfish and self-serving...

His mind was buzzing, as if a million bees and flies were swarming inside.

Do not!

Perhaps, this is her true nature.

Previously, her throne was unstable, and with Ye Fan by her side advising and stopping her, she still seemed like a wise ruler.

But now...

The more he thought about it, the more disheartened he became, and he looked dejectedly at the sky.

Suddenly, I realized that perhaps... it was time for me to leave. What are ideals and ambitions compared to life?

With his mind racing, Du Mingyi said nothing more.

He simply knelt down deeply, his forehead pressed against the ground, and remained so for a long time.

"Your subject...accepts the decree."

Then he got up and returned to his seat. His weathered back made him look twenty years older, and he walked with a limp.

Yao Jingyuan stood behind Shu Jingwei, his smile faltering.

He gritted his teeth, his nails digging into his palms, leaving four crescent-shaped bloody marks that stung painfully.

He recalled the palace he lived in, bestowed by Shu Jingwei. It was considered quite large within the palace, but still much smaller than the residences of other wealthy officials outside.

He once wanted to move out and live on his own, but Shu Jingwei wouldn't allow it, saying, "It's convenient for you to serve me and take care of Rou'er if you live in the palace."

He was a high-ranking official, second only to the emperor, yet he didn't even own a house of his own!

His peripheral vision swept over Shu Jingwei in front of him, his eyes filled with a dark and sinister glint.

Shu Rou might not be able to see it, but surely he could see that Shu Jingwei was exactly what he wanted.

They didn't even mention building one for him, you bastard! They're all bastards!

……

On the sky, Lin Ye didn't care what they were doing. These people were not even as important as a single hair on Xiao Douzi's head. They only served to provide him with shock value.

He carefully led the little boy to the door and pressed the doorknob.

"Click—" The door opened.

Bright light streamed out from the doorway, spreading across the steps and casting long shadows of the two people outside.

……

However, in the comments section at the bottom right of the screen, two opposing voices began to argue.

[Commoner Zhao Mai: If the outside is this grand, the inside must be even more amazing! How could a place where immortals live be anything less than magnificent?]

[Commoner Sun Daniu: That's not necessarily true! I think it's just that the outside looks nice, but there's probably nothing inside! Just like that landlord Wang in our village, whose gate is as tall as a city gate tower, but there isn't even a decent chair inside.]

[Commoner Wang Xiaocao: Exactly! We've been watching this sky screen for so long, haven't we seen everything we were supposed to see? What new tricks can they possibly come up with?]

[Xiaoshan Academy student Hua Zhixiao: What do you know? This is called "keeping it hidden"! The better the item, the less likely it is to be displayed! I bet there are absolutely divine creations inside that you can't even imagine!]

[Wen Zhi, a student at Xiaoshan Academy: Come on, you're all fooled by appearances. I bet this place is all show and no substance! There are no gods in this world, and those illusions are about to run their course!]

……

The two factions argued fiercely, neither willing to concede.

Meanwhile, those who think they've seen through everything are standing with their arms crossed, a confident sneer on their lips.

Its eyes looked disdainfully at the sky, waiting to see if there was anything inside.

In the Great Flame Kingdom, countless eyes were fixed on that door.

Slowly open—