The King of Dongzhou's expression changed drastically.
It was all in vain.
It turned out that from beginning to end, he had merely been a pawn.
Then, was Jin'er's affection for him false too?
This thought was even harder for the King of Dongzhou to bear.
He picked up the royal sword that had fallen to the ground and sprinted towards the royal city. He was determined to find out the truth.
Mo Yan was about to seize the King of Dongzhou's spiritual soul, but Mo Bai stopped him.
"Father, there's no need to waste time on him. By the time we reach Bai Zhi, she'll bring back the King of Dongzhou's spiritual soul."
Mo Yan thought it over and stopped his hand.
To kill someone, one should first break their spirit. Once the King of Dongzhou learned this news, he would probably wish to be dead. Going to Bai Zhi for confirmation would be like rubbing salt into his already gaping wounds.
"When he decided to abandon his old love and choose Bai Zhi, he should have foreseen such an outcome."
The King of Dongzhou rushed towards the royal city all the way. Outside the city, heavy troops were on guard, blocking any entry. Inside the city, however, it was rather desolate. Only guards and eunuchs patrolled back and forth, and it was extremely quiet.
The sky had already brightened.
After he rushed back to the royal city, the first thing he did was to go to the place where Lady Jinse lived to look for her. Before he even reached there, he bumped into a guard.
The guard was covered in blood. Behind him, there was also a court physician. They had just come out of Lady Jinse's palace.
"Your humble official pays respects to the King."
"Your humble servant pays respects to the King."
"What happened to Lady Jinse? Is she injured?" the King of Dongzhou asked anxiously.
The court physician behind him stammered, "Lady Jinse was poisoned. Her vital energy has returned to normal, but she won't be able to use her true qi for a while."
"True qi? What true qi?" Jinse was just a weak woman, not a practitioner. Where would she get true qi from?
The court physician immediately bowed his head to the ground and dared not say a word.
This kind of reaction made it clear to the King of Dongzhou.
Could it be that he was the only one kept in the dark in the entire royal city?
The King of Dongzhou pushed the guard aside and walked towards Lady Jinse's palace with trembling steps.
The court physician got up, and the guard helped him up.
"He's so muddle - headed, so utterly muddle - headed!" the court physician shook his head and sobbed.
The guard was also filled with anger.
"Everyone in the palace knows about Lady Jinse's immoral behavior. The King was blinded by that woman and hurt the kind and virtuous Queen. Although the Queen was sometimes strong - willed, she would never be unjust. She was strict with the King back then just to help him govern Dongzhou better. Who would have thought it would end up like this?"
In the harem, there were many who could see clearly. Only the King of Dongzhou was deeply trapped in Jinse's tender trap.
There were rumors in the palace that Lady Jinse had tortured maids and humiliated guards and servants. But he always laughed it off and never took it seriously. He only thought it was because the Queen was jealous and didn't want to see him getting along well with any woman, so she spread these rumors to slander Jin'er.
He had never suspected that the gentle and lovely Jin'er who accompanied him every night could be such a venomous woman.
When he rushed to the palace, he didn't even ask for an announcement. He walked quickly into Lady Jinse's palace by himself.
Before he pushed open the door, there came the sound of smashing things. Moreover, there were also the screams of maids.
"Do you think I'm a nobody? How dare you come in front of me looking like that and try to flatter me!"
She called herself "this palace". Such a domineering title. The King of Dongzhou thought only a woman like Dongfang Ruoxi would use such a term. Jin'er always called herself "your humble concubine" or "your humble servant" in front of him, like a delicate lark. Where did this side of her come from?
The screams of the woman came. The King of Dongzhou pushed open the door with a loud noise.
What greeted his eyes was the sight of several women lying in a pool of blood. One of the maids was still breathing, and her body was still heaving. There were dozens of wounds on her body.
At this moment, Lady Jinse was standing in front of the maid with a knife in her hand. There was still blood dripping from the tip of the knife. The blood was still warm and hadn't coagulated yet.
The King of Dongzhou was stunned. He never thought that such a cruel and heartless act could be done by the seemingly weak her.
The blood on the guard and the court physician just now was not hers, but from these maids.
The sudden noise alerted Bai Zhi. She looked up and saw the King of Dongzhou staring at her in disbelief, looking as if he had lost his parents.
Her knife fell to the ground with a clang.
The way the King of Dongzhou looked at her was as if he was looking at a complete stranger.
There was a momentary look of loss in Bai Zhi's heart. But it was just a moment. She hadn't done anything wrong, so why should she care about what this man thought?
However, "Your Majesty was supposed to be defending against the attack of the rebel Dongfang outside the royal city. Why did you come back so soon? Is the battle over?"
The King of Dongzhou looked at the smiling woman in front of him. Clearly, this face was so familiar. But why did he feel so cold when she smiled now?
He walked towards her step by step. The smile on her face gradually faded.
"What are you going to do!" Bai Zhi couldn't use her internal energy and true qi at the moment. Otherwise, she wouldn't have to be so submissive.
"Jin'er, what are you afraid of?" He continued to approach her, closing in step by step.
"Oh, right. How much of your affection for me is real?"
"Were the words you said to me every night true?"
"Were your words that only I in this world could comfort your heart, calm your heart, and fulfill your heart true?"
"Were your words that only His Majesty could make you fall in love in this lifetime true?"
Why had he suddenly changed like this?
Bai Zhi took a step back. Her expression changed constantly.
Could it be that the plan between the Divine Throne and herself had been exposed?
"Is it true?"
There was nowhere to hide. Behind Bai Zhi was a cushioned couch that the King of Dongzhou had made for her with his own hands.
She sat on the couch, her expression flickering.
"Your Majesty, you're scaring your humble servant."
"Are you really just a humble servant? I heard clearly just now. Didn't you call yourself 'this palace'? Why are you back to being a humble servant now? By the way, is even the name Jinse fake?"
Bai Zhi felt guilty and tried to dodge to the side.
The King of Dongzhou waved his hand and slapped the other side of the cushioned couch. Immediately, that end of the couch sank a bit, blocking Bai Zhi's retreat.
"Your Majesty, you're really scaring me." Bai Zhi's eyes welled up with tears.
Normally, as long as she did this, the King of Dongzhou would immediately put aside all his dissatisfaction and comfort her. But today was different.
The King of Dongzhou laughed wildly for a long time.
"What is Your Majesty laughing at?"
"I'm laughing at myself for being such a fool. I've been played by a woman like you with such a low - level trick for so many years."
The King of Dongzhou grabbed Bai Zhi's left hand forcefully, showing no pity. He said, "It's these hands that calmly ended the lives of so many maids just now, even performing the torture of slow slicing with your own hands. Even I can't be so calm. Now you're telling me you're scared?"