"You didn't get yourself into some huge mess and are too scared to go back, did you?" Shen Yunyun's eyes sparkled with gossipy curiosity.
Meeting her inquisitive gaze, Xu Zimo was speechless.
He had no choice but to recount the whole story of his revenge.
Shen Yunyun listened intently, and after hearing it all, she was utterly shocked.
She never expected that the imposing elder wasn't actually an elder at all—he was the sect leader, Xu Zimo's father.
Wait. Xu Zimo's father killed his mother and his senior brother, and then Xu Zimo killed his father.
Patricide.
Though understandable, it was unforgivable in principle.
Since ancient times, killing one's father meant being struck by lightning from the heavens.
"Is it that when you return to your original world, you'll be struck by lightning?"
Xu Zimo hadn't expected Shen Yunyun to think of that angle. He immediately nodded, putting on a weak, helpless, and pitiful act.
"What a tragedy. That old bastard." Shen Yunyun, channeling Xu Zimo's emotions, easily connected it to the Qiao family and gritted her teeth in hatred.
"You probably can't stay in this world of mine. How about I send you to another world? Maybe you can become a state preceptor there." Shen Yunyun thought of Little Tangyuan.
Last time Little Tangyuan was poisoned and nearly died—if not for Xu Zimo's Nine-Turn Resurrection Pill, he'd have been long gone.
She had already guessed that whoever was targeting the Empress couldn't be ordinary.
That person was likely the Emperor.
Though she had no proof, it was a reasonable assumption.
Who else but the Emperor had the ability to tamper with the Empress's childbirth?
If she sent Xu Zimo over, he'd be more than qualified to serve as state preceptor.
She looked at Xu Zimo.
Xu Zimo tried to resist one last time: "Can't I just stay here?"
"There's someone I need to protect. Go protect them for me."
Xu Zimo agreed.
Shen Yunyun felt uncertain, unsure if she could actually bring Xu Zimo along.
But she had brought Little Tangyuan to this world before, so theoretically, it should work.
So, she opened the Empress's return visit.
The scene instantly began to shift.
Shen Yunyun nervously glanced at Xu Zimo, who remained as calm and detached as ever, like an immortal untouched by worldly dust.
Suddenly, low chanting echoed around them, carrying a strange sense of familiarity.
Shen Yunyun remembered—this chanting was similar to the sacrificial rites of the beast-world high priest she had visited.
She quickly looked around and realized they were in the Fengyi Palace, where the Empress resided.
The chanting came from the courtyard of Fengyi Palace.
The entire courtyard was thick with incense smoke. A Taoist priest in purple robes held a peachwood sword in one hand and a bell in the other, muttering incantations.
Suddenly, his peachwood sword hung suspended in midair, its tip pointing straight at Fengyi Palace.
Inside the palace, Little Tangyuan let out a whimper and then went completely still.
"Hurry, save him!" Shen Yunyun shoved Xu Zimo.
Xu Zimo swept his wide sleeve, and the peachwood sword snapped in two. The Taoist priest spat blood and collapsed backward.
His disciples rushed forward to support him, shouting anxiously, "Heavenly Master! Heavenly Master!"
Shen Yunyun hurried to check on Little Tangyuan.
Little Tangyuan's eyes were vacant, lying in the Empress's arms like a lifeless doll.
A surge of resentment rose in Shen Yunyun's heart. What was wrong with this Empress?
This was probably the most useless Empress she had ever seen. How could she be so pathetic?
She was the ruler of the central palace—couldn't she even protect a child?
When the Empress saw her, she immediately knelt before her.
Shen Yunyun said angrily, "What's wrong with you? Aren't you the Empress? How did you let yourself be bullied like this?"
The Empress sobbed, unable to speak.