Chapter 72: 68. Always by Your Side (2.8K words - Please Subscribe) A few days later, early in the morning... The door of the inn was knocked on, and a eunuch arrived, asking for "Li Fan’s" name and, after a brief comparison of appearances, took Song Yan away. Li Fan was, of course, the pseudonym previously agreed upon with Fu Shirong. "Are you the Empress’s savior? Listen, ask for your reward later and leave as soon as possible, got it?" The eunuch said sharply. Song Yan nodded and replied, "Understood, understood." Before long, the two of them arrived at a nearby carriage. The curtain was lifted, and a snow-white delicate hand reached out and beckoned. The eunuch frowned and said, "Madam, if the Wei King knows..." A voice from inside the carriage interrupted, "Just a brief conversation." A chill flashed in the eunuch’s expression, and he said, "Then make it quick." Song Yan boarded the carriage, lifted the curtain, and entered. The eunuch stood obediently to the side. Today, the Wei King knew the Empress wanted to meet some savior and ordered him to follow, and afterwards... he was still responsible for quietly dealing with this so-called savior. The Empress had suffered misfortune and was rescued by a man, who knows what happened between them. Therefore, the eunuch received a secret order: to torture the Empress’s savior to death, making him regret ever coming into this world! Inside the carriage, the Empress, dressed in a pale golden phoenix robe, held a warm bottle. Her pinky finger was adorned with a gold phoenix patterned claw, exuding an indescribable nobility and grace. She slightly raised her snow-white neck, her pretty face tilted upwards, carrying an air of arrogance. "Brother Li, was I not truthful with you?" "You... you really are the Empress..." "Go ahead, what reward do you desire? I promised you that as long as you could escort me back to the Imperial Capital, I would fulfill your wish." "Really... fulfill anything?" "I keep my word, no reneging." "Then..." The eunuch listened from outside. He listened secretly. He was also quite eager to know what this savior of the Empress wanted. However, suddenly there was no sound from inside the carriage, followed by the urgent rustling, and then a soft "hmm" sound came, suppressed and impatient. The eunuch’s face changed greatly, guessing that the audacious man might have said something outrageous like "I want you," his eyes burned with anger, and he shouted, "Audacious!!" Saying that, he swiftly moved, stepping into the carriage to catch them in the act. However... nothing had happened inside the carriage. The Empress and the man were sitting upright, neatly dressed, calmly watching him. ... A few moments later... The eunuch returned to the driver’s seat, whipping the horse, and arrived at a secluded place. He moved the bodies from the carriage, tied them to rocks, submerged them in the water, then got back on the horse and drove towards the Imperial Palace. The Empress adjusted her position, sitting closer to the driver’s seat, and sincerely praised, "Your Illusion Technique is truly excellent; even I couldn’t tell." Song Yan focused solely on driving the carriage. The Empress lowered her voice, explaining the eunuch’s identity to prevent Song Yan from exposing himself. Finally, she said, "I’ve long been short-handed, so you, Eunuch Shan, are now one of my people at Fengning Palace." Eunuch Shan, huh? Song Yan nodded and replied, "Yes." However, his eyebrows slightly furrowed in an extremely subtle manner. He and Fu Shirong had once been intimately acquainted, and he was familiar with the Empress’s temperament, actions, posture, even her breathing rhythm, and which leg she used to get off the carriage. But today’s Empress... seemed a bit strange. Anyone else might not have noticed at all. But he was Song Yan. Fu Shirong had once been his Furnace. Was he overthinking it? Or did the Empress naturally change in some small ways when dressed in the phoenix robe? After all, different attire and occasions could change one’s demeanor and behavior. Yet, despite having some minor doubts, Song Yan didn’t ask or probe, he simply drove the carriage quietly into the Imperial Palace. The snow remained unmelted, and a gust of wind blew silver flecks everywhere... ... ... ... In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed. The Empress, being highly capable, had mostly figured out the personnel and arrangements of Grandmother Fox’s line, but there were still some gaps. Tonight was the last opportunity to fill those "gaps." Since returning to the Imperial Palace, "Wei King" Cao Zhengjing had never touched her. But now it seemed that he had investigated many matters and regained trust in her, thus he decided to come to Fengning Palace tonight to relive old memories. As for safety, the Imperial Palace was filled with his people, and his trusted Eunuch Shan was guarding outside, so how could anything go wrong? At the third watch... The royal carriage arrived at Fengning Palace. Wei King hurriedly stepped into the palace. The palace seemed to be filled with voices of conversation. After a while, the style of the conversation changed. "Bitch, do you know who that Demon Sect bastard who fucked you is?" "Did he make you feel good?" "Did he come on to you, or did you go to him?" "Today, use all the tricks you used to please him on me!" The frenzied words were mixed with extreme lewdness. King Wei had been suppressing a strand of sinister fire in his heart ever since he heard the name "Song Yan." Now, he hadn’t truly regained trust in the Empress; he still needed her status to do some things for him, to help him consolidate the "Demon Dynasty" he was building. To him, it was merely the lives of some lowly people, but in exchange, he could have the grand presence of the First Lady Fox, thus establishing a powerful Demon Dynasty capable of crushing surrounding sects. What harm was there in that? In this day and age, only those with the biggest fists have a say. If Great Wei weren’t weak, how could it have been overthrown by the Blood Spear Sect? How could the royal family be sent to the Puppet Sect to suffer humiliation? The Nanwu Sword Sect was also extremely hypocritical. They spoke of benevolence and righteousness, but where were they when Great Wei fell? Only the ancestors are reliable! Only a fool like Cao Shiyin would think of pleading for the people. Millions, tens of millions of commoners dying, what does it have to do with the Cao family? "King Wei" Cao Zhengjing thought, as he violently threw the Empress to the ground like a thug. The ground was warm, so the palace floor wasn’t cold. "King Wei" Cao Zhengjing mounted her harshly, reaching out to tear the golden silk ribbons of her phoenix robe. The Empress seemed resigned to her fate, alluringly calling out, "Your Majesty, whether on the ground or the bed, best turn off the lights first~ How about it?" "King Wei" Cao Zhengjing, driven by her seductive voice to a fever pitch, quickly rolled over, blew out the nearby candle flame, then pressed down again. The door suddenly opened a crack, and from outside... a black shadow swiftly darted in, delivering a chop to the back of "King Wei" Cao Zhengjing’s neck. Cao Zhengjing only felt his vision go black as he passed out. Slap. The Empress held the forehead of the fallen head with her five fingers and gently turned it aside. Cao Zhengjing immediately toppled to the side. The shadow that flew in was Song Yan. He raised a finger, proficiently executing a soul search. The Empress asked, "How is it?" Song Yan was silent for a moment, then said, "Indeed... nothing. It must be that the First Lady Fox applied a technique in advance to ward off the Soul-Searching Skill from being detected by others." The Empress said, "Then hurry and act. I’ve figured out the last part of the First Lady Fox’s plan. Let’s proceed according to plan." Song Yan nodded, quickly handling Cao Zhengjing, then his figure flickered as Illusion Technique shrouded him, changing his facial features and body. At his core, he still resembled the "Deformed Soul One-tailed Demon Fox Shadow Puppet," but as long as no one saw through his Illusion Technique, he was "King Wei" Cao Zhengjing. In the darkness, the Empress watched him quietly and said, "Your Illusion Technique is really good; it seems we make quite the pair." Song Yan didn’t waste words, proceeding according to plan to deal with King Wei’s corpse. The next morning, he pretended to be King Wei unable to get up from the bed, while also instructing Eunuch Shan to go out for business. Then, he disguised himself as Eunuch Shan, drove a carriage over, carried King Wei’s body out of the palace to handle it, and subsequently snuck back into the palace, reverting to his King Wei disguise to join the Empress in investigating the location of the First Lady Fox. ... ... Several days passed. Everything was thoroughly investigated. Song Yan also used the Communication Stone, about to send the information to Su Canli. Since the day he left the inn, Su Canli’s whereabouts had been unknown, and their only method of contact was this Communication Stone. Then, Mr. Su San would pass the message down again. He was about to activate the Communication Stone when he suddenly felt a tightness around his head. The Empress’ face peeked from the side and casually said, "Just say... three days later, the First Lady Fox will be in Fox Kui Palace." Song Yan seemed not surprised and nodded. Soon, the Communication Stone connected. "Three days later, the First Lady Fox will be in Fox Kui Palace." Su Canli’s voice swiftly came through: "Got it, you and Shirong be extra careful." The communication ended. Song Yan slightly tilted his head, only to see the Empress’ profile. The Empress’ five fingers were lightly placed on his head, and upon seeing the communication end, she smiled and said, "At least you were obedient, passing on the message exactly as I said. But really, what sort of strange thing are you, wearing my children’s skins, using my children’s abilities, how fascinating, ha-ha-ha-ha..." A silvery, bell-like laugh rang out. Song Yan calmly said, "I’ve met the First Lady." "Oh, sensible you are." "Don’t you hate me for killing your children?" "There’s as many as needed... why hate?" the Empress said indifferently, "But junior, what on earth are you? If it weren’t for your novelty, you’d be dead by now. However, my patience is also limited; if you won’t say, I can still kill you."