ire capital city to suddenly fall silent.Immediately following this were house-to-house searches. No matter if you were a government official or a wealthy landowner, ten members of the Imperial Guard,...Chapter 6: Saying One Thing, Meaning Another

"That's true, but this palace said I wanted to hug you too. Since I'm hugging you, it feels strange wearing clothes."

Li Chen buried his head in Zhao Rui's soft and smooth neck, using the most innocent tone to say the most shameless words. Wherever his hands touched, it was all the woman's most tender and beautiful skin.

"Your Highness, you've had a long day. Perhaps you should rest early..."

“Indeed, this palace is just resting.”

In my arms, Zhao Rui was like a startled rabbit, her bright eyes and white teeth filled with panic and confusion.

Zhao Rui didn't know, the more she feared and wanted to escape, the more her innate charm intertwined with it, creating a dazzling contrast, and the more fatally attractive she became to Li Chen.

Embracing Zhao Ruirou's boneless waist, Li Chen whispered mischievously in her ear, "If you don't make it clear, this palace can't understand."

Zhao Rui was filled with shame and indignation.

She didn't understand why, in just one day, the situation had reversed. It was she who held the initiative at first, yet now the tables had turned.

Before today, she didn't need to do much. Just a smile or a frown was enough for the prince to obey her every command.

Now, this prince seemed to have turned into a demon, constantly greedily demanding more and more, without caring about his own willingness at all.

"Your Highness, please, I beg you, please do not treat me so poorly." Zhao Rui pleaded in a choked voice.

Her skin was as white as porcelain, with a blush like perfectly ripe peaches. Such breathtaking beauty belonged only to him.

"Well, since the beauty is in a hurry."

Li Chen said, he scooped Zhao Rui up in a princess carry.

In Zhao Rui's exclamation, Li Chen strode to the bedside and threw her onto the bed, smiling lightly: "This palace has always liked mature beauty."

Zhao Rui was extremely angry. She wanted to say that she didn't mean it and wasn't in a hurry, but Li Chen didn't give her a chance to speak. He pounced on her like a hungry wolf.

In the open space outside the palace gate of the sleeping hall.

Bang bang bang.

The sound of the lash striking accompanied Chen Zhi's increasingly weak cries in a rhythmic pattern.

The two executioners were clearly experts, wielding their batons with precise force. Each blow landed with enough impact to send excruciating pain deep into Chen Zhi's bones. Only such bone-chilling agony could prevent him from passing out.

Chen Zhi, with his lower body mangled and bloody, dug his fingernails into the ground. He raised his blood-soaked head, staring fixedly at the tightly shut palace gate. He felt nothing but pain.

After Li Chen went in, he never came out.

Chen Zhi seemed to hear Zhao Rui's soft, melodious voice from inside the palace doors, a voice he had longed for in his dreams.

This hallucination drove Chen Zhi to the brink of madness.

On the other side of a door, his beloved woman was being ravaged by her enemies, while he lay on the ground, beaten to death by poison.

"Even if I become a ghost, I won't let you two get away with this!!!"

Screams of agony from Chen Zhi echoed outside, sending shivers down Zhao Rui's spine.

"Your Highness, Chen Zhi he..."

"Well, are you feeling sorry for him" Li Chen asked.

Zhaoru subconsciously shook her head, explaining, "This servant... This servant is just afraid that he will disturb Your Highness's peace."

It's alright.

Li Chen leaned down, pressing against Zhao Ruixue's soft and smooth skin. He whispered softly: "This palace will make sure everyone knows what happens to those who offend this palace—it's worse than death."

Listening to Li Chen's words, Zhao Rui was terrified, feeling a complex mix of psychological fear and physiological stimulation.

She knew that Li Chen's words were most likely said for her own sake.

For a moment, she felt the pain of losing a friend like seeing a rabbit die and a fox grieve. She couldn't tell if her heart was filled with more fear or hatred for Li Chen.

Meanwhile, in the imperial court, a palace maid rushed before Zhao Qinglan in the empress's chambers.

"Your Majesty, the whereabouts of Captain Chen Zhi have been found."

A maid whispered cautiously, "He...he snuck to the East Palace and was caught by the Crown Prince. He was beaten one hundred times."

Zhao Qinglan's face turned cold.

That's it. You're dead.

A hundred lashes is something everyone knows the consequences of.

The image of Li Chen's face, which both angered and shamed her, flashed in Zhao Qinglan's mind. She gritted her teeth slightly and said, "It's fine, one Chen Huaizhi is dead, so what if there's another Chen Zhi Father said tonight the weather is changing and it's not suitable to act rashly. Go down."

After the maidservant left, Zhao Qinglan looked at the Ninth Prince who was reading intently in the side hall and said lightly, "Ninth Prince, have you finished reviewing your lessons"

The Ninth Prince came over obediently, knelt on the ground and said, "Reporting to Mother Empress, I have already reviewed it."

Zhao Qinglan's aura of a mother who rules the country with grace grew even stronger. As noble as a phoenix soaring in the sky, she said calmly: "Then rest early. Tonight, although your father has entrusted the regency to the crown prince, as long as the Qin Empire doesn't have a new emperor for a day, you still have a chance. Don't be discouraged, do you understand"

The Ninth Prince kowtowed heavily to Zhao Qinglan, knowing that his biological mother was of humble origins and his only reliance was Empress Dowager.

"Mother, my son understands. My son will obey you in everything."

......

The next day, Zhao Rui woke up from her sleep.

Last night, she didn't know how long she had been tossed and turned by Li Chen before she finally fell asleep from exhaustion. When she opened her eyes today, the first thing she saw was again Li Chen's twinkling eyes like stars.

"Your Majesty."

For over twenty years, this was Zhao Rui's first time opening her eyes on her own bed and seeing a second person, especially since that person was Li Chen, who had taken away all her firsts. So Zhao Rui was very uncomfortable.

"Woke up."

Li Chen was playing with Zhao Rui's beautiful hair and said.

Zhaoru seemed to have remembered something, gritting her teeth and pushing herself up. She said, "This servant will dress Your Highness."

Zhao Rui came over like this, the blanket slipped, and the infinitely beautiful scenery was exposed right before Li Chen's eyes.

The air was still a little cool in the morning, causing a slight prickling sensation on Zhao Rui's skin. But it didn't affect her fair complexion at all, which was as smooth and white as sheep fat.

"It's beautiful," Li Chen said sincerely.

Zhao Rui blushed deeply.

Even though everything that was supposed to happen, and things that shouldn't have happened, all happened, Zhao Rui still couldn't let herself be so 'shameless' as to be exposed in front of Li Chen.

She grabbed the blanket to cover herself, but Li Chen was mischievous and snatched it away first.

When Zhao Rui realized what Li Chen was about to do, she panicked and pushed against his chest with her hands, saying, “Your Highness, you have a lot of government affairs to attend to. It’s important to focus on your duties...”

"Isn't this the most important thing right now There's nothing more serious than this in the world," Li Chen said with a mischievous smile.

After speaking, Li Chen pulled the quilt and enveloped both of them in the warmth.

After a long time, Li Chen looked at Zhao Rui who had fallen asleep again with exhaustion. Li Chen called for a palace maid to serve him bathe and change his clothes, then walked out of the bedroom.

As Li Chen arrived outside the sleeping hall, he saw several maids on the open space clearing up a pool of bloodstains on the floor tiles.

Last night, the Jinyiwei (elite guards) from the Dongchang who carried out the execution came over and respectfully said, "Your Highness, Chen Zhi has been executed. He was beaten one hundred times with a stick until he died on the last blow."

"Good job, go to the warehouse to collect your reward." Li Chen nodded in satisfaction.

For leaders, using rewards and punishments strictly is paramount.

Those who mess things up must be punished, so they won't dare to shirk their orders.

Now that it's done, we should reward them. They'll be more dedicated next time if they know their efforts are appreciated.

Two guards from the Dongchang Imperial Guard, their faces brightening with joy, thanked him and then left respectfully.

Inside the hall, on the bed.

As soon as Li Chen left, Zhao Rui suddenly opened her eyes.

Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate!s area."Looking straight at Zhou Ping'an with burning eyes, Li Chen said: "Although the situation in Nanhe has improved a bit, it's not much better. It borders Dongshan Province, and no one knows what...