ALSACW – Chapter 134

Tang Jianxi walked out of the Imperial Palace. She didn’t yet know how great an impact she would have on the history of the Empire. She was somewhat dejected because the Empress had not agreed to her request to halt the handover.

At the time, the Empress had smiled and told her, “This handover is not something I can easily stop. Besides, your grandmother isn’t opposed to it. From the beginning, our disagreement has been about the Howard family. I can resolve Marshal Chu’s concerns.”

“But as for what happens after that, Miss Tang, you need not concern yourself. It is not within your purview. However, I can guarantee that you will get the result you desire.”

The Empress seemed absolutely certain about this matter, and Tang Jianxi found herself inexplicably believing her.

As for the evidence, she would naturally erase all traces of it once the Empress fulfilled her promise.

The Empress seemed quite confident about this as well, not even bothering to ask any further questions.

But when Tang Jianxi opened her terminal, she discovered that the evidence she had stored in various places had vanished without a trace.

Ah, it seemed the best hacker in the Empire was surnamed Hall.

However, under the subtle influence of her little antique wife, Tang Jianxi had also collected a few antiques of her own, such as computers, USB drives, and the like.

Before meeting the Empress, she had made a special trip back to her car to store the items inside. A hacker couldn’t possibly reach them there, right?

A hacker indeed could not, but they had left a message in Tang Jianxi’s email: That person says they hope you will hand over the items in seven days.

This was certainly not a threat. If the Empress wanted to threaten her, she would use a more direct method. Therefore, the underlying meaning was that in seven days, Tang Jianxi would get the result she wanted.

And seven days was precisely the time of the starship handover.

After meeting with the Empress, Emile did not leave immediately but waited outside for Tang Jianxi. What made him both jealous and curious was how Tang Jianxi had managed to talk with his mother, the Empress, for so long.

He had never spoken with his mother for that long.

Wasn’t she afraid?

When Tang Jianxi came back to her senses, she met Emile’s admiring gaze.

Tang Jianxi: …

She suddenly understood why he could never win against the Third Princess.

Emile didn’t ask what Tang Jianxi and the Empress had discussed. Sometimes, knowing too much was dangerous. Though young, Emile had grown up in the imperial family and had learned this lesson without being taught. “What about the matter you promised me?”

This was the motivation that had kept him waiting here.

Tang Jianxi herself wasn’t sure how things stood, but if the Howard family fell from power, then the Third Princess, who was very close to them, would also be given the cold shoulder. Of course, she still had A-Virtue as a life-saving talisman. However, Tang Jianxi had used the princess’s leverage to threaten the Empress. The Empress probably wouldn’t do anything too drastic to her, but for the Third Princess, who had been at the center of two scandals, continuing to enjoy her days in the sun was basically a fool’s dream.

So she replied, “It’s as good as done.”

But at that moment, Tang Jianxi had no idea that not only would the Third Princess be unable to enjoy her days in the sun, she wouldn’t see the sun ever again.

Emile was relieved. He politely asked if she needed a ride, which Tang Jianxi tactfully declined.

Emile didn’t press the issue, only extending a casual, polite invitation for her and her wife to visit his residence next time.

Before Emile’s words had even faded, Tang Jianxi’s face instantly turned deathly pale.

Her conversation with the Empress had been so tense that her overloaded brain had forgotten something extremely important.

Yun Chuji. What happened to Yun Chuji?

No wonder she had been feeling so uneasy.

Under Emile’s confused gaze, Tang Jianxi frantically opened her terminal: no messages.

She called Yun Chuji again.

No one answered.

Tang Jianxi felt her limbs go weak.

How could she have believed Yun Chuji’s assurance that she would be fine? She had even brought that thing with her; she had clearly been prepared for the worst all along.

Tang Jianxi bit her lower lip until she tasted blood, which shocked her back to her senses. She quickly hailed an autonomous skycar and rushed to the Spartacus building.

Tang Jianshen. Tang Jianshen would surely have a way.

For the time being, however, Yun Chuji was in a slightly better state than Tang Jianxi’s worst fears imagined.

She was indeed tied up securely. The curtains were drawn tight, making it impossible to tell where she was. She couldn’t muster any strength, likely due to being drugged, and her terminal was gone.

But her life was not in danger.

All these precautions were to prevent her from escaping, not to torture her.

It seemed that to her elder brother, she still held some special significance after all, Yun Chuji thought with a self-deprecating smile.

The moment Yun Chuji opened her eyes, an AI reported the news to Yun Xuan. He happened to be free, so he came over to see his younger sister.

Her gratuitously large body was bound to an even larger chair, which finally made her look as delicate and weak as she had in the past. Yun Xuan narrowed his eyes in satisfaction. The regret he felt for impulsively killing Lucia because she was too easy to kill instantly dissipated by a great deal.

Torturing scum would only make one reek of scum oneself.

Compared to that, sharing his magnificent achievements with his sister was far more interesting.

“Are you hungry?” Yun Xuan asked gently.

Yun Chuji looked at him for a long time. He maintained his gentle expression for just as long, as if it were a mask that could be worn with ease.

“I’m not hungry,” Yun Chuji replied.

“Are you thirsty, then?” Yun Xuan was quite solicitous. If Yun Chuji weren’t already bound as tightly as possible, she might have started to suspect he was planning to drug her.

“Elder Brother, what exactly are you trying to do?”

Yun Xuan appeared to be in a very good mood. Had it been before today, such an impertinent question from Yun Chuji would have long since made him angry.

But things were different now. Now, Yun Chuji had transformed from his shame into his sister.

And he had always been a good brother who doted on his younger sister.

Yun Xuan didn’t answer Yun Chuji’s question. Instead, he said with a smile, “Chuniang, from now on, Elder Brother will protect you. This world can no longer bully us.”

“Elder Brother, this world has never bullied us.”

Hearing this, Yun Xuan’s brow furrowed. Then, the corners of his lips curled up again. It seemed he was truly happy today, able to forgive even this offense. He wore a tolerant expression. A moon-white long robe enveloped his thin frame, and the bulge of his abdomen gave him a precarious appearance. He took a few steps forward until he was in front of Yun Chuji, then bent slightly, their two pairs of similar eyes meeting.

He said, “It has.”

Then he straightened up and said with a smile, “I’ve put away those crude things you brought. When things quiet down in a while, I’ll set up an embroidery room for you, so you can do what a young lady of the Yun family should do—I remember Chuniang’s embroidery was better than even the best seamstress in our estate.”

“What have you done?” Yun Chuji asked again.

This time, Yun Xuan didn’t evade. He glanced at her with feigned surprise and said, “Don’t you already know? War.”

War? There was still going to be a war?

Could it be that Tang Jianxi had failed to persuade the Empress?

Seeing her expression, Yun Xuan immediately understood what she was thinking. He sat down leisurely in another chair, still wearing the inconvenient wooden clogs beneath the hem of his robe.

She would have to find out eventually.

But before discussing things further, he first asked, “How did you manage to anger Lucia so much?”

“You don’t know?”

“I don’t know everything. I only need to know what’s necessary.”

Yun Chuji’s pale lips tightened. She didn’t plan to lie, as she currently lacked the excess mental energy to weave an elaborate falsehood. “I stole some of her videos.”

“Some videos about Glory.”

“Ah,” Yun Xuan nodded. “No wonder she was so terrified.”

“So you brought the gun to protect yourself from her?”

Before the sound of Yun Chuji’s “mm” had even faded, she saw Yun Xuan pull a familiar spray from his sleeve. Yun Chuji’s eyes widened. Beside her, Yun Xuan remained perfectly at ease. He then produced a small glass vial from his sleeve, containing a single small pill.

This pill had originally been in the inner pocket of Yun Chuji’s side seam.

The spray’s purpose was to induce sleep; the pill’s purpose was to induce wakefulness.

At that moment, Yun Xuan spoke again. “Then you brought these things to protect yourself from me, didn’t you?”

“Chuniang, you’ve really grown up. Jade cannot be perfected without carving. You’ve finally shed your original clay form.”

Yun Chuji lowered her eyes. She should have been panicking, but right now, she had no energy to panic.

“Elder Brother, I’m hungry.”

As if he had anticipated it, Yun Xuan’s lips curved into a smile before he resumed his gentle facade. “I knew you’d be hungry.”

“I’ve prepared your favorite meatball soup. Mother isn’t here to watch over you now, so you can eat more without worrying about your figure.”

Yun Xuan was dreaming.

Yun Chuji was well aware of this.

But for now, she could only play along in this dream, becoming a prop to deepen the reality of his delusion.

“Thank you, Elder Brother,” Yun Chuji said softly.

Even to eat, Yun Chuji was not untied. And even if she were, with her strength so depleted that even chewing was an effort, she probably couldn’t have held the bowl steady.

Yun Xuan fed her spoonful by spoonful, his gaze filled with a dreamlike quality.

This dreaminess masked the loneliness and fear that had always lurked in the depths of his eyes.

However, an AI wiped her mouth. This was not surprising. No matter how deep into his dream Yun Xuan was, he would never dream of himself serving someone like a servant.

After the things were cleared away, Yun Chuji found that the little bit of strength she had regained was gone again.

Ah, so he had drugged the food after all.

Yun Xuan’s excitement had clearly not dissipated. He didn’t leave the room, as if watching the bound Yun Chuji could provide him with endless energy.

After the meal, he continued to sit in the chair to the side, resuming the topic they hadn’t finished earlier. “Did you think the war I spoke of would be fought by the beta military?”

He looked at her with delight, a proud smile seemingly frozen on his lips. “Of course not. That would be too slow.”

“Chuniang, wars often don’t start big. They build up, little by little. It might start with a border skirmish, then evolve into mutual hatred, then large-scale armed conflicts, and then a full-blown fight. More and more people get involved—friends, enemies, bystanders. That’s how wars grow.”

“So, I don’t need all the betas to turn against the Empire. I just need some of them to. There will always be dissatisfied people in this world willing to join them. If there aren’t, I’ll create some.”

“See? It’s actually quite simple.”

Yun Chuji rapidly replayed the events of the past few days in her mind. If what Yun Xuan said was true…

Then—

“You’re going to make the Howard family commit treason?”

Yun Xuan clapped his hands lightly, saying with approval, “See? I told you you’ve grown up.”