Chapter 11634 — The Queen Is Speechless for a Moment

Her strength was not to be underestimated—at the very least, it far surpassed Cheng Shuang'er's.

The trouble was that the blade in Cheng Shuang'er's hand had been tempered with deadly poison; once blood was drawn, even a cultivator of the Venerable Realm would not be able to withstand it.

More importantly, she could not now gauge the depths of Cheng Shuang'er's strength.

Cheng Shuang'er had hidden herself so thoroughly—if the power she displayed on the surface were merely a disguise to deceive the eye, any rash move on her part might well land her in a pit of her own digging.

And standing before her, besides, was Wei Zhao, whose depths were unfathomable.

"Are you all dead?"

The Queen could not suppress her fury at the assembled palace maids. These were the ones in daily contact with her, the ones most deeply affected by her enchantment; under normal circumstances, it would have been utterly impossible for them to stand by and watch her be subdued like this.

Yet every palace maid present—including Zijuan, who had led Wei Zhao here—wore the same blank, wooden expression, utterly unmoved.

The Queen's heart sank at once, and when she looked again at Wei Zhao, her gaze could not help but carry a measure of dread.

She was no fool; she could see that everyone had been cowed by Wei Zhao.

The crux of it was that he had used no means at all—relying solely on an invisible aura to exert such intimidation. Even by the measure of her own experience, she could not help but be secretly alarmed.

The Inner Royal Court was not without such figures, but those capable of reaching this level were without exception mighty warlords of great renown.

How could a mere troublemaker stirring up waves in the Inner Royal Court possibly reach such heights?

The Queen's heart grew ever more unsettled with doubt and alarm.

But the next moment, she steadied herself again.

Impossible!

I must be overthinking it. No man under heaven can withstand my peerless charm—they are fit only to lie prostrate on the ground and lick my toes, and Wei Zhao is no different!

Just then, the panic-stricken voice of the Zhou Son of Heaven rang out from the doorway: "Release the Queen! Release Our Queen!"

Watching the Zhou Son of Heaven come stumbling in, the Queen let a flicker of disgust show at the corner of her eye, though her voice remained bewitchingly sweet.

"Your Majesty, they mean to kill your humble consort. Once I am gone, I shall never be able to keep you company again—whatever will become of you?"

"No, no! The Queen shall always be Our Queen—we shall never be parted!"

Like a lion goaded to madness, the Zhou Son of Heaven whipped his head around and roared at Cheng Shuang'er: "Drop the blade! I command you now, wretch—drop the blade!"

Even as he spoke, he reached heedlessly for the poisoned blade with his bare hand, utterly indifferent to his own life.

Cheng Shuang'er frowned and could only retreat instinctively.

After all, no matter what, the man was still the Zhou Son of Heaven.

If she died by the blade, it would inevitably stir up a huge storm throughout the Inner Royal Court. Cheng Shuang'er feared nothing else—only that it might ruin Wei Zhao's grand plan.

The Queen covered her mouth and laughed, saying in that tea-sipping, coquettish manner, "Your Majesty, you weren't hurt, were you? To make you take such a risk for my sake—truly, my sins are grave."

The Zhou Emperor was instantly bewitched again. After a moment of infatuation, he turned to look at Wei Zhao and the other, and his expression at once turned sinister and vicious.

"Queen, the one whose sins are grave is not you—it is them."

The Zhou Emperor stared coldly at Wei Zhao. "Wei Zhao, I have yielded to you again and again. Do you truly think I have no way to deal with you?"

Was this… throwing caution to the wind?

Wei Zhao raised an eyebrow. The Zhou Emperor in his present state was clearly not right in the head.

Given the spineless, cowardly nature of the Zhou Emperor—normally, never mind flying into a rage at him, the man probably wouldn't even dare meet his eyes—where would he get the courage to throw caution to the wind?

Could playing the bootlicker to someone really change a person's character?

But in this way, the matter really did become somewhat difficult to handle.

Just as Cheng Shuang'er had feared, the other party was, after all, the Zhou Emperor. As a puppet he might lack the ability to accomplish anything, but if he truly cast caution aside, he still possessed the ability to ruin things.

At the very least, he could drag others down into the mire with him.

Unless absolutely necessary, Wei Zhao truly did not wish to strike at him.

Seeing that Wei Zhao gave no response, the Queen murmured from the side, "Your Majesty, you are honored as the Son of Heaven, yet this person seems not to hold you in his eyes at all. Truly, I feel wronged on your behalf."

Such obvious fanning of the flames—any normal person would not fall for it.

Naturally, the Zhou Emperor was no fool either.

If such words had come from anyone else's mouth, he would have scoffed outright, but coming from the Queen's mouth, it was another matter entirely.

Sure enough, the Zhou Emperor immediately grew even more agitated and hot-headed.

Yet even having lost his reason, he still retained at least his most basic instincts, and did not charge straight at Wei Zhao to fight for his life.

Given the gap in strength between them, if he truly did so, it would be pure comedy.

Wei Zhao watched coldly from the sidelines. He too wanted to see what other tricks this Queen, with her beauty-filter switched on, could possibly pull.

The Queen urged him on, "Your Majesty, you are the Son of Heaven. If you wish to destroy a man, it is actually very simple—just kneel down and kowtow to him once. In the Inner Royal Court, no one can bear to receive your kowtow."

Wei Zhao and Cheng Shuang'er both felt their eyelids twitch in unison.

Though these words were meant to provoke, they were not entirely an exaggeration.

In the earlier Night央 Palace incident, the Zhou Emperor's flight from the battlefield was certainly contemptible, but from Wei Zhao's point of view, it was not necessarily a bad thing.

After all, once that head was lowered in a kowtow, it would truly be a defiance of all under heaven.

Yet for the Zhou Son of Heaven, this was also a double-edged sword.

The one he kowtowed to might not be able to bear it, but as for himself, once that head went down, he too would have to pay a tremendous price.

Once the Son of Heaven lost his decorum, the last shred of dignity left to this puppet sovereign might well be swept away with it.

By then, he would truly be nothing at all.

Normally the Zhou Son of Heaven would never commit such folly, but in his present state, it was hard to say.

In an instant, Wei Zhao distinctly felt the ancient, powerful presences hidden throughout the Son of Heaven's palace begin to stir one after another, restless and eager.

In a flash Wei Zhao understood: these old monsters were all waiting for the starting gun.

The opening of a new era required a clear signal.

The Night央 Palace incident could, in a sense, be regarded as an omen, but as a clear signal heralding the new era, it fell somewhat short.

Unless the Zhou Son of Heaven had not gone soft at the time and had knelt directly before Wei Zhao—then that would be another matter.

Still, it was not too late to push this step to the present.

Wei Zhao could foresee that if the Zhou Son of Heaven knelt and kowtowed to him today, the last remaining trace of the Heaven's Mandate on his person would inevitably collapse, and as one of the emblematic figures of the Inner Court, this would inevitably trigger a massive shock throughout the Inner Court.

These restless old monsters would, when the time came, certainly come swarming out of their lairs.

In an instant the world would be thrown into chaos—not merely a possibility, but in fact a very likely one.