In the grand hall, Hua Yanyun sat upon the throne with He Shu held in her arms. The civil and military officials stood neatly arranged on both sides. Even the weakest among them were at the Nascent Soul stage, with many at Soul Transformation and even Void Refinement realms.
The moment the officials saw Hua Yanyun appear, they bowed in unison and shouted loudly.
“We officials pay our respects to the Monarch.”
“All of you may rise.”
As the officials stood up, they noticed the petite and delicate girl in Hua Yanyun’s embrace. Murmurs immediately spread throughout the hall.
An elderly man whose aura reached the sixth layer of Soul Transformation spoke first. “Your Majesty, may I ask the origin of the young girl in your arms? Who is she?”
Hua Yanyun waited for the elder to finish before replying calmly. “She is this monarch’s new girlfriend. I was planning to make this public to all my ministers today. From now on, seeing her is equivalent to seeing this monarch.”
“As for her identity, she is the former City Lord of Flowing Flower Immortal City, He Wanyi.”
When the officials heard that the young girl who looked barely of age in Hua Yanyun’s arms was the recently mysteriously missing He Wanyi, they were utterly shocked. The two looked nothing alike—one could even say they were completely unrelated.
“Your Majesty, how did City Lord He end up like this? Her aura is extremely weak, almost like that of a mortal,” another middle-aged man at the first layer of Soul Transformation asked respectfully.
“City Lord He suffered a backlash while cultivating. A massive explosion occurred at the City Lord’s Mansion. She barely managed to preserve her life, but her cultivation was completely destroyed and she has become a mortal. Her current appearance is also a result of the cultivation deviation.”
“So that’s how it is. Thank you for clearing up our doubts, Your Majesty.”
The officials didn’t truly believe Hua Yanyun’s explanation. Everyone present in this court was an old monster who had cultivated for hundreds or even thousands of years. They were all extremely shrewd and could easily tell there were holes in her story.
Just two days ago, a major incident had occurred at Flowing Flower City. The City Lord’s Mansion had been breached, the grand protective array nearly destroyed, and rumors were spreading everywhere. Combined with the mysterious disappearance of Flowing Flower Immortal City’s City Lord and the murder of Hua Yanyun’s favored concubine Bing Yao, many had already guessed the general truth of the matter.
However, everyone tacitly kept silent. They all knew Hua Yanyun’s capricious and vicious temperament. No one wanted to step on this landmine.
After He Shu had been knocked unconscious by Hua Yanyun, she had been out for a full day and two nights. Rumors about her had already spread like wildfire—everything from “A terrifying demonic cultivator attacked the immortal city and City Lord He fought to the death in resistance” to “City Lord He’s old enemies came for revenge in a desperate one-for-one exchange” and even “A love triangle between City Lord He, City Lord Yining, and some young master.” Of course, He Shu herself knew nothing about any of this.
After the small interlude, many officials began reporting on various matters one after another.
“There is a Soul Transformation realm demon beast causing chaos in the Longwind Mountain Range. Two immortal cities have been affected and require support from other cities.”
“Strange lights have been flickering at night in the Changji Mountain Range. We need to send people to investigate.”
“A large new resource point has appeared in the Luanyue Grand Depression. We need to set up immortal arrays and dispatch Nascent Soul cultivators to guard it.”
“Demonic cultivators are causing trouble in Tianqing Garden. We need to send powerful cultivators to exterminate them.”
…
After court was dismissed, Hua Yanyun teleported back to her bedchamber while still holding He Shu.
She casually tossed He Shu onto the bed and asked, “How was it, little one? How did it feel being in court?”
He Shu wasn’t hurt from being thrown onto the bed, but she still rubbed her shoulder symbolically.
Honestly, the feeling in the court hadn’t been pleasant at all. Many gazes had kept drifting toward her intentionally or unintentionally, making her extremely uncomfortable.
“It didn’t feel very good.”
“Oh? Is that so? But I felt like you were quite comfortable in this monarch’s arms,” Hua Yanyun teased with a wicked grin.
Throughout the entire court session, Hua Yanyun had been stroking and kneading He Shu’s hair like she was petting a cat. Now that she had been tossed onto the bed, He Shu’s hair was slightly disheveled.
“You are now just an ordinary mortal. You haven’t eaten for two days. Are you hungry, little one?”
He Shu immediately caught the key point in Hua Yanyun’s words.
“I was unconscious for a whole day and two nights?” No wonder she had felt so hungry since waking up. He Shu finally understood the reason.
She was now a mortal and naturally needed to eat. For cultivators, eating was merely to satisfy their appetite, but for her—who had lost her cultivation and become mortal—eating was necessary to sustain life.
“You really are a big lazybones, sleeping for a day and two nights.”
“I’m… a little hungry…” He Shu touched her stomach, her voice as soft as a mosquito’s buzz.
Hua Yanyun chuckled lightly. “Hungry? Then take a look at this.”
A beautifully crafted pastry suddenly appeared in her hand, immediately drawing He Shu’s gaze.
“Want to eat it?” Hua Yanyun asked with a mischievous smile.
He Shu nodded in confusion.
“If you want to eat it, call me Master and let me hear it.”
“Eh?”
He Shu finally understood where Hua Yanyun’s wicked smile was coming from. This old demoness had been setting a trap for her.
“What? You don’t want to call me Master?”
Before He Shu could react, Hua Yanyun popped the pastry into her own mouth and took out another one.
“Still don’t want to call me Master?”
Seeing that He Shu kept her mouth tightly shut, Hua Yanyun ate the second pastry as well.
She then took out a third one. He Shu still refused to call her Master.
“Hmph, little one, don’t be ungrateful. Just because this monarch publicly declared you as my girlfriend doesn’t mean I’ll actually spoil you. You are nothing more than my captive.”
“When dealing with captives, there’s no need to be polite. Letting you live is already a tremendous mercy. Talking nicely to you is me giving you face. In truth, you are simply a pet I am raising.”
Hua Yanyun’s tone turned dangerous, then suddenly softened again. “Fine, if you don’t want to call me that, then don’t. This monarch has plenty of time to train you slowly. Besides, taming a disobedient little pet can be quite interesting~”
Watching Hua Yanyun change faces in an instant and act crazy by herself, He Shu kept her lips pressed tightly together. Although she was indeed very hungry, she still had her dignity and pride. Asking a former Nascent Soul powerhouse like herself to act as someone’s pet and call them Master was something she could not do—especially when that person was the murderer of her beloved Bing Yao.
He Shu sat on the bed with her legs tucked under her. Hua Yanyun pinched her chin with one hand, leaned close to her face, and whispered softly, “Little one~ The days ahead are still very long. This monarch has plenty of time to play with you slowly. I quite like this stubborn and untamed look of yours right now. Please keep it up~”
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