Chapter 262

unedited

With the imperial capital having been captured and now under the control of Chu Wenyuan, as soon as Chu Xiang and Lee Bohan entered within, they immediately went face-to-face with the captured emperor and his chamber of concubines.

The instant Concubine Hui noticed Chu Xiang, her face turned bleach pale as she fell into a state of disbelief, “Impossible! How could this be?! Why did things turn out this way?!”

At that moment, Chu Xiang’s bodyguard struck her shoulders with the shaft of his weapon, resulting in immense pain that forced her to collapse onto the ground. Despite that, she nevertheless fixed her stubborn gaze towards Chu Xiang. “You still ended up as the empress. No matter what I tried, nothing ended up changing… absolutely nothing…”

Chu Xiang raised her brows slightly and said, “Shut her up.”

People may assume that Concubine Hui was talking about her status as the most pampered concubine and her chance to become the empress. Chu Xiang, on the other hand, managed to catch the true meaning behind her words. In the first place, she had already found Concubine Hui’s rise amongst the chamber of concubines to be rather strange. Having not seen her for the past five years, she had nearly forgotten about this exact matter. But now that Concubine Hui reminded her of this, she naturally needed to ascertain the situation.

With such intentions, Chu Xiang said to Lee Bohan, “She’s a former acquaintance of mine. Let me have a quick chat with her.”

Lee Bohan nodded his head. “Go ahead. Guards, make sure to keep her safe.”

“Yes, Your Highness!” At that moment, a group of soldiers dragged Concubine Hui along with them while following Chu Xiang’s lead. Seeing that, Chu Xiang immediately walked outside in the direction of the palace to the side.

Seeing how Chu Xiang did not give him even a single glance, a sudden sense of humiliation struck through the emperor’s heart as he spoke in a cold voice, “Chu Xiang! Aren’t you going to greet me at the very least? Don’t forget how I was the one who gave you to the Prince of Qin!”

Lee Bohan squinted his eyes and retorted in a solemn voice, “Nephew, you still want to put on the airs of an emperor despite such turn of events? I’m afraid you can no longer do as you wish.”

Receiving a quick glance from Lee Bohan, Chu Wenyuan kicked the tied-up emperor in his back, causing him to roll down three flights of steps. As he crashed down violently at the bottom of the stairs, a bunch of bruises could be seen all around his body.

At that moment, Chu Xiang turned around and stared down at him. “Your Majesty, don’t feel regretful. Back then, my father and I plotted a meticulous scheme to trick you into marriage. Ever since the very beginning, you had already fallen into our trap. In other words, your defeat today was inevitable.”

“Only the victorious shall have the right to stand on the throne. That was the last time you’ll ever hear anyone addressing you as ‘Your Majesty’.”

Having spoken her mind, Chu Xiang turned back around and never looked back as she walked away with her guards dragging Concubine Hui along with them. Compared to the matter regarding the throne, she was more interested in the Concubine Hui’s situation.

As soon as they arrived in the palace to the side, Chu Xiang ordered all the guards to withdraw for now, including the two bodyguards watching over her in secret.

With that, she and Concubine Hui were the only people left within the palace — the former seated far away on the seat of the host while the latter tied up against a sturdy pillar.

Chu Xiang then asked, “You mentioned that I still ended up as the empress just now. Could it be that you’re aware that I’m fated to become the empress?”

Concubine Hui asked in a suspicious manner, “You’re not Chu Xiang. The real Chu Xiang knows nothing about commerce nor archery. You’re not actually Chu Xiang, right? Who are you? What kind of wandering  spirit are you?”

Chu Xiang leaned her head against her arm placed on the side of the seat and said leisurely, “You’ve served me for longer than a dozen years, yet you’ve already forgotten about your master? How difficult could commerce and archery possibly be? I managed to learn various kinds of fine arts at the age of five. Isn’t it simply making a change to my field of studies? What’s so shocking about it?”

In fact, at the age of five, the original host had secretly made embroidery for her grandmother. However, she accidentally scraped the embroidery and ended up not giving it to her. This matter was only known to the original host and her personal servants. Even Concubine Hui was marveled and impressed by her original master’s abilities back then. Naturally, it left a deep impression on her.

With Chu Xiang claiming to be the same person as before, Concubine Hui found this turn of events to be even more unbearable as she uttered in a dazed state, “How could this be? I’ve snatched everything away from you and destroyed everything about you. The position of the empress should naturally belong to me. His Majesty adores me so much, and I’ve even given birth to a clever prince. Why did you have to come back? Why did you help Lee Bohan? He should have been defeated by His Majesty. None of these things were supposed to happen. Just why…?”

Chu Xiang sneered at her, “What nonsense are you speaking of? Could it be that you’re able to foresee the future? Since your death is already near at hand, why don’t you choose how you want to die? Would you like to drink poison or hang yourself? Perhaps capital punishment? Let me see… What other forms of punishments are there? Being beaten to death, getting branded… How about giving everything a try?”

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