Tantai Jin said, "Third Miss."
Su Su watched him warily.
It was rather ironic that Tantai Jin, as Ye Xi Wu's legitimate husband, could only address her as "Third Miss."
Their marriage had been entirely accidental.
The original host knew that the Sixth Prince was fond of her half-sister Ye Bingshang. Consumed by jealousy, she had devised a foolish plan.
During a palace banquet, she attempted to drug her half-sister to ruin her reputation.
Unexpectedly, the drug did not affect the portly son of the Minister or her half-sister, but instead took effect on herself and Tantai Jin.
What humiliated the original host even more was that although Tantai Jin had also been drugged, the beautiful yet frail young man showed no reaction apart from flushed cheeks.
In the end, it was Ye Xi Wu who couldn't bear it and ordered him to help her.
The young man looked at her coldly and remained unmoved.
Sitting in the corner, he watched calmly as this noble young lady twisted her body, moaning and tearing at her own clothes.
For the sake of her reputation, the original host reluctantly married Tantai Jin.
Whenever she recalled the young man's gaze, the original host felt a surge of shame.
How could he act like that!
Watching her with such calm, indifferent eyes.
So, to put it bluntly, this marriage was entirely a mess created by Third Miss Ye herself.
But this did not stop the original host from despising Tantai Jin.
Su Su, in a way, shared the same sentiment as the original host.
The original host despised Tantai Jin for his wretched background, while Su Su feared the Evil Bone within him, capable of destroying the world.
Su Su asked, "Why are you here?"
Seeing her hostile demeanor, Tantai Jin replied hoarsely, "The General said that the Empress Dowager has summoned me to the palace and asked me to accompany Third Miss."
"My father said the Empress Dowager wants you to enter the palace?"
"If Third Miss doesn't believe me, you can ask the General."
Seeing that his expression seemed genuine, Su Su suddenly understood General Ye's intention—
To protect Su Su from the Empress Dowager's wrath while still saving face for her, he was pushing someone else forward to bear the brunt.
Tantai Jin was the most suitable candidate. His status was awkward and subtle—a Hostage with no backing, yet Su Su's nominal husband. If he went, the Empress Dowager, wanting to bolster the Sixth Prince's prestige, would likely make him suffer severely, if not outright kill him.
General Ye was essentially giving Su Su a personal punching bag.
Su Su looked at Tantai Jin. His expression was indifferent, as if he had long grown accustomed to it. It seemed he himself knew what his role was.
Thinking of her own short-lived fate, Su Su propped her chin on her hand and asked Tantai Jin directly.
"Do you hate our Ye family deeply?"
Not just the Ye family—the entire Great Xia nation did not treat Tantai Jin as a human being.
But the situation was already set. If Su Su had arrived in this world earlier, she might have been able to prevent everything from happening. Now, she could only guard against the awakening of the Evil Bone within the young man.
With such experiences, once he awakened, not only the Ye family but the entire Three Realms would suffer.
She decided to test just how dark Tantai Jin's heart was.
Tantai Jin glanced at her. "No."
Su Su would be a fool to believe that.
The awakening of a natural evil entity would inevitably require the sacrifice of countless lives.
"Does Third Miss despise me particularly?"
Su Su hadn't expected Tantai Jin to dare to turn the question back on her.
She saw no need to lie. "What if I do?"
"Why?" Tantai Jin asked.
He vaguely sensed something different. The previous Ye Xi Wu had despised him for his status. But the current Ye Xi Wu—he had seen her smiling at Chun Tao and Xi Xi."Hate is hate, why must there be so many reasons?" She couldn’t very well tell him what kind of existence he would become in the future, could she?
Tantai Jin glanced at her and fell silent.
If it were the former Ye Xi Wu, she would never have answered his questions—she would have considered even speaking to him beneath her dignity.
Yet Su Su detected a faint trace of bewilderment in his expression. The youth before her was not yet the fearsome demon king of later years; he was beautiful and frail, utterly devoid of aggression.
Even the junior disciple of the Immortal Sect, Fu Ya, was more robust than him.
Tantai Jin exuded an air of sickness—the torment of the past two days had nearly cost him his life.
Su Su thought to herself that if Tantai Jin followed her into the palace again, he would likely lose what little remained of his life.
Recalling how she had urgently tended to his fever the previous night, she felt exhausted just thinking about it, and hadn’t yet recovered.
"Go back, don’t follow me."
Tantai Jin himself had no intention of taking the blame for Ye Xi Wu.
But this matter shouldn’t have been brought up by Ye Xi Wu.
This woman was arrogant and domineering, yet she cared deeply about her reputation and cherished her life. Logically, shouldn’t she be relieved that he was going to face the Empress Dowager in her stead?
Seeing that he wasn’t leaving, Su Su assumed he was unwilling to defy Ye Xiao, so she provoked him: "A lowly Hostage like you, who was once bullied even by eunuchs and palace maids, will only embarrass me in the palace. Get back to the manor and don’t interfere with my meeting with the Sixth Prince."
At these words, Su Su caught a rare glimpse of icy anger in his eyes.
Tantai Jin enunciated each word deliberately: "It is my unworthy status that has disgraced the Third Miss."
This time, he didn’t hesitate any longer. Without another glance at her, he turned and headed back into the manor.
All traces of his earlier bewilderment had vanished.
Before Su Su could reach the Empress Dowager’s palace, she was intercepted.
A young woman in martial attire, holding a whip, stood with arms outstretched, blocking Su Su’s path.
"Ye Xi Wu, how dare you show your face in the palace after pushing my sister-in-law into the water a few days ago?"
The young woman’s willow-leaf eyebrows were furrowed, her expression fierce and imposing as she glared at Su Su.
Su Su was puzzled.
Who was this? She didn’t resemble the gentle half-sister she had heard about.
Chun Tao, aware that her young mistress had hit her head and couldn’t quite match faces to names, quickly whispered a reminder: "This is the Ninth Princess, the Sixth Prince’s sister."
With Chun Tao’s explanation, Su Su immediately understood.
There were countless people who disliked the original host, but the Ninth Princess was definitely among the top contenders. Favored and with a fiery temper, she had always clashed with the original host.
In the past, the original host, hoping to marry her brother, had even lowered herself to curry favor with the Ninth Princess.
Yet the Ninth Princess had scorned her every time, as if seeing right through her motives.
After several humiliations, the original host, unable to save face, stopped approaching the Ninth Princess altogether.
But the Ninth Princess adored Ye Bingshang.
When Ye Bingshang married the Sixth Prince, the Ninth Princess had even come specifically to taunt the original host, reducing her to tears.
This time, the Ninth Princess was here to seek justice for Ye Bingshang.
"My sister-in-law has a delicate constitution, yet you, a venomous-hearted woman, pushed her into the water. If not for my brother’s timely rescue, she would have perished. My sister-in-law is kind and gentle and won’t hold it against you, but I won’t let you off so easily."
The Ninth Princess swung her whip, the crack echoing sharply against the ground.
"Ye Xi Wu, do you dare to face me in a duel?"
Though Su Su was accustomed to bearing the blame for many things, she couldn’t help but retort: "Since it was your sister-in-law who fell into the water, and she isn’t saying anything, why are you so angry?"Isn't this like a dog catching mice—meddling in others' business?
Su Su was genuinely puzzled, but the Ninth Princess felt offended, her expression growing even uglier.
"Enough nonsense! Are you afraid of me?"
Hot-tempered, she lashed her whip forward as she spoke.
The young eunuch in front of Su Su hurriedly shielded her, crying out, "Oh no! Your Highness, this won't do, it really won't..."
"Get lost!"
The whip struck the eunuch. Su Su pressed her lips tightly together.
After steadying her breath, she shook her head at the Ninth Princess. "I won't fight you. This is the imperial palace—what if The Emperor and the Empress Dowager punish us?"
Hearing this, the Ninth Princess curled her lips scornfully.
Everyone knew that Great Xia revered martial arts.
The founding emperor had ascended through martial prowess, and since then, whether nobles or commoners, all took pride in mastering combat skills.
"Strength reigns supreme" was the truest reflection of Great Xia's values.
General Ye's undefeated record was why he held such high status in the kingdom.
His eldest son was also said to be exceptionally skilled. But this Third Miss Ye, with her mediocre talent, had inherited none of her father's prowess. The Ninth Princess, trained in martial arts since childhood, had repeatedly humiliated the arrogant Third Miss Ye with her whip.
Yet, the Ninth Princess was not someone to be provoked. Even Ye Xi Wu, longing for revenge, was powerless.
Thus, Third Miss Ye both resented and feared the Ninth Princess.
Hearing Su Su's words, the Ninth Princess was convinced she had intimidated her.
"If I challenge you," the Ninth Princess declared, "Father Emperor and Grandmother Empress won't say a word. I'll take responsibility if anything happens. But you—don't go crying to General Ye if you lose."
With that, she swung her whip again.
Su Su pushed the young eunuch aside.
She finally understood: the Ninth Princess had waited here knowing she would enter the palace, determined to beat her up to avenge Ye Bingshang.
The Ninth Princess was accustomed to bullying the original host. Though malicious, the original host was stubborn and never tattled.
Seeing Su Su dodge, the Ninth Princess smirked. "Someone, give Ye Xi Wu a whip."
Su Su had initially wanted to avoid trouble—in her war-torn cultivation world, peace was prized.
But the mortal realm didn't operate that way; they preferred bullying the weak.
Since there was no escaping it, Su Su simply picked up a branch from the ground.
"No need. I'll use this." Holding the branch at her side, the young girl in a light pink jacket assumed a defensive stance.
The Ninth Princess laughed in anger. "Are you mocking me?"
Su Su:...
If you say so.
"Don't you dare cry later." The Ninth Princess flicked her whip, sending it cracking toward Su Su.
Su Su blocked with the branch, but the whip snapped a section of it clean off.
The Ninth Princess sneered contemptuously.
Su Su remained silent, closing in swiftly.
The path of cultivation demanded fearlessness. The original host feared the Ninth Princess, but Su Su did not.
Using the branch as a sword, she met the whip with grace.
Her sword techniques were taught by the sect master of the Wuji Sect. The Wuji Sword, with its chilling gleam, could slice mountains and part seas.
Ye Xi Wu's body lacked Spiritual Energy, preventing her from executing the Light Swan Sword Art or unleashing even a fraction of its Sword Intent.
But for Su Su, this was enough.
The branch deftly bypassed the fierce whip, suddenly pressing close to the Ninth Princess.
Whips were ranged weapons; caught off-guard at close quarters, the Ninth Princess panicked and took a stinging hit on her arm.The pain made the Ninth Princess drop her whip, and the next moment, a tree branch was pressed against her neck.
For a moment, the Ninth Princess even felt as if what was pressed against her neck was a sharp sword.
She instinctively stepped back, stumbled, and fell to the ground.
The palace maid hurriedly went to help her up: "Princess!"
The Ninth Princess couldn't believe it—she had been defeated in just three moves!
Su Su withdrew the branch: "If you're fine, I'll go see the Empress Dowager now."
The Ninth Princess's face flushed red. Impossible! How could she have been knocked down by Ye Xi Wu's branch?
In the past, hadn't Ye Xi Wu always been defenseless? This must have been an accident.
Refusing to accept it, the Ninth Princess picked up the whip from the ground: "Stop right there!"
The whip lashed out cunningly, clearly aimed at the face. Chun Tao was startled and quickly stepped in front of Su Su.
If that whip had struck Chun Tao's face, she would have been disfigured on the spot.
Seeing the Ninth Princess act so viciously, Su Su grew angry. She pulled Chun Tao aside and simply threw the branch in her hand.
The branch was split in two by the whip—the lower half fell to the ground, while the upper half flew straight toward the Ninth Princess's face.
The Ninth Princess's eyes widened.
Just as the branch was about to strike her face, a slender, jade-like hand intercepted it.
"Imperial Brother!"
Su Su focused her gaze and saw a man with cold, star-like eyes and a jade crown, holding the branch.
He wore a sky-blue robe, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, his sleeves embroidered with cloud patterns. At that moment, he was frowning at Su Su.
Su Su froze, murmuring in disbelief, "Eldest Senior Brother..."
The person before her looked exactly like her Eldest Senior Brother, Gongye Jiewu. However, her Eldest Senior Brother had carried a cultivator's benevolence and kindness, while the man before her was more handsome and striking.
"I wonder how Xiao Jiu has offended Third Miss Ye, for you to resort to such a vicious move?" Xiao Lin asked coldly.
Hearing his voice, Su Su felt both sweetness and bitterness in her heart, even a faint, dense sense of grievance, as if tears were about to spill.
But these were not Su Su's own emotions. Her Eldest Senior Brother had always been gentle and kind to her; she respected him as she would an elder brother.
There was no way she would feel such a shameful urge to bury herself in his embrace.
Clearly, these were the lingering emotions of the original host.
She suddenly realized that the person before her was none other than the Sixth Prince, Xiao Lin, whom Ye Xi Wu had loved to the point of madness.
And Su Su's Eldest Senior Brother had died long ago in the War of Immortals and Demons for the sake of all living beings, reportedly killed by the Demon Lord himself.
Afterward, his beloved, Fairy Yaoguang, had followed him in death.
Seeing Su Su staring blankly at Xiao Lin, the Ninth Princess immediately flared up: "Imperial Brother, it's a good thing you arrived in time, or else Zhao Yu's face would have been ruined by this woman!"
The Ninth Princess clutched her swollen wrist, feeling utterly wronged.
Xiao Lin asked, "Does Third Miss Ye have anything to say?"
His gaze was cold, and Su Su felt uncomfortable under his stare.
Across the years, she was seeing an old acquaintance again, yet the Eldest Senior Brother who had once doted on her was now someone else's brother.
He was protecting another girl, coldly confronting her.
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