Chapter 328: Chapter 148: The Empress’ Heart Inquiry Again! The Empress’ New World Gate!
The atmosphere in the hall was quiet, a pin drop could be heard.
The Empress narrowed her phoenix eyes slightly, her beautiful oval face showing a somewhat gloomy expression.
The chaos caused by the Gu God Sect at the Southern Border, and the corruption of court officials, should have been good news for Yu Youhan.
Yet, she traveled all the way to Nantu State to personally extinguish the branch of the Gu God Sect... This move wasn’t motivated by interests, but seemed more like a gesture to vent for Chen Mo.
Besides that, there was Ji Hongsleeve.
That Daoist Venerable hadn’t come down the mountain for a long time, and upon making an appearance, became entangled with Chen Mo...
Tianshu Pavilion excels at deducing heavenly secrets, every move has deep meaning. Now deliberately approaching Chen Mo, there must be something up their sleeves.
"What exactly are those two plotting?"
The sense of crisis within the Empress grew stronger.
After a moment of pondering, she raised her hand lightly, a stream of light flashed through the hall and fell into her palm.
It was a white incense stick, the tip had already been burnt a bit.
"Heart-Seeking Incense?!"
Chen Mo’s pupils contracted.
He had personally experienced the power of this thing!
He had been thinking of muddling through, almost forgetting she had such a tool at hand!
"Your Highness, such a precious treasure shouldn’t be wasted on someone like me, right?"
"This matter is of great importance, you little thief are very slippery. I must get to the bottom of this."
"How would I dare to deceive the Holy Empress, I would surely speak all I know in full detail... Does Your Highness not trust me?"
"I do not."
"..."
The Empress inserted the incense into the incense burner on the imperial desk, the tip self-ignited, and a faint scent spread out.
Immediately, she asked, "Chen Mo, answer my question, in these past few days, what did Ji Hongsleeve say and do to you?"
Chen Mo’s mind was clear, but his mouth was out of control and said, "Daoist Venerable originally wanted to kill me, but was stopped by Ling Ningzhi. She seemed very interested in me, saying something about ’destined person,’ then tied me to the bed..."
The more he spoke the more panicked he felt, with great effort he swallowed the latter half of the sentence.
Heart-Seeking Incense could force one to face their true heart, unable to lie, but if one’s willpower is firm enough, they could remain silent.
"Tied to the bed?!"
The Empress’s complexion changed slightly, suddenly rose, "Then what did she do?"
"Mmm mmm mmm..."
Chen Mo clamped his lips tightly, his face turning red from holding back.
"You little thief!"
The Empress waved her sleeve, the incense burnt rapidly, and tangible smoke drifted towards him.
The rich scent around his nose made his hastily-built mental defenses collapse, uncontrollably continuing:
"After Daoist Venerable bound me, they used a secret technique to force out Dragon Qi, then master and apprentice played Ink Treasure..."
Upon hearing the first half, the Empress wasn’t surprised.
She had long seen that Chen Mo was tied to the country’s destiny, not only having a very similar aura to the Princess but also repeatedly able to turn the tide... This explained why the Daoist Venerable and Yu Youhan were so interested in him.
But the latter half puzzled her.
"What Ink Treasure? Ji Hongsleeve tied you up just to study calligraphy and paintings?" the Empress asked puzzledly.
Chen Mo’s eyes filled with panic, stammered, "N-no, not calligraphy and paintings..."
The Empress was even more bewildered, "Then what is it?"
"It’s my momentum..."
"?"
The Empress looked a bit confused.
Then she thought of something, her pretty face quickly reddened, cherry lips slightly parted, almond eyes wide open, filled with shock and disbelief.
She often mentioned ’castration’, so naturally knew what this word meant.
What a scoundrel!
The dignified Daoist Venerable of Tianshu Pavilion, could actually do such a thing?!
And with their disciple together...
Simply preposterous!
The Empress suppressed her inner shock, taking advantage of the incense not burning out, asked again, "And Yu Youhan? Did she tie you up as well?"
"No, Empress, she tied herself up."
"...And then?"
"Then also played Ink Treasure, spilled ink everywhere."
"..."
The hall fell into dead silence.
The Empress’s pretty face turned from red to white, her slender hands clenched tightly under her phoenix robe.
Since that accidental kiss, her heart had been tormented.
Previously, she could justify Chen Mo’s various audacious actions as being forced by circumstances to comfort herself.
But that day in the soft sedan, that moment of surrender and compliance made her realize she might indeed have become a shameless woman.
As a model to the world, she engaged secretly with an outsider... she felt she had betrayed her identity as the Eastern Royal Palace Empress, and the strong sense of guilt burned her like fire, almost destroying her.
Yet she found that compared to what the Daoist Venerable and Imperial Concubine did, she seemed conservative?!
"To obtain Da Yuan’s destiny, these two could actually be so unscrupulous?!"
"Despicable! Shameless! Vile!"
The Empress’s bosom heaved, teeth gnashing in anger.
A surge of inexplicable sourness and grievance rose in her heart.
Clearly, she came first, Chen Mo had also expressed his feelings to her, but those two wicked women got ahead!
Gazing at the handsome young man before her, the Empress bit her lip, and after a moment of silence, impulsively asked, "Then in your heart, what kind of person am I?"
Chen Mo answered honestly, "Your Highness diligently handles myriad affairs, spares no effort, and works tirelessly for the country’s affairs, consolidating the nation’s foundation, a blessing to all people..."
He was speaking from the heart.
If not for the Empress’s diligent governance, the court might have long been in disarray.
However, the Empress was not satisfied with this formal answer, and continued to ask, "Setting aside my identity, solely in private interactions, how do you see me?"