192: Chapter 192 Walking into a Trap! The Great Emperor is Tricked into the Empress's Harem!

Lu Chen was stunned. His hand holding the wine gourd froze in mid-air, and the corner of his mouth twitched twice.

What did she mean by "take you as well"? What did she mean by "going back to the Imperial Palace to catch up"?

When these words came with a mischievous smirk from the Peerless Empress—a Ninth-Turn Quasi-Emperor who ruled the Northern Border of the Central Continent—it didn't sound like a proper catching-up session at all.

Lu Chen looked down at Yue Shiyun in his arms.

The little girl clung to his neck, her silver hair cascading over his chest, her red eyes wide and round.

She looked at Yue Qingxuan, then at Lu Chen.

Then, with a serious expression, she buried her small face deeper into Lu Chen's chest.

"Revered Master-Brother is mine."

Yue Qingxuan's phoenix eyes narrowed instantly.

She glared at Yue Shiyun.

That look was like she was staring at a little thief who had stolen her treasure.

Lu Chen's scalp tingled. Good grief, even biological sisters could be this jealous? I don't understand!

"Yue Qingxuan."

Lu Chen raised his hand, attempting to be reasonable.

"This Emperor only saved her because she was on the way, and took her as a disciple for the same reason. Don't let your imagination run wild."

"On the way?"

Yue Qingxuan pursed her red lips.

She took a step forward, and the Flying Boat sank slightly under the pressure of the Imperial Dragon Qi beneath her feet.

"Back then, you were also just 'passing through' the Central Continent, 'happened' to save me, and 'incidentally' taught me Alchemy and how to fight."

"Then you 'happened' to return to the Eastern Domain, and you were gone for a hundred years."

Lu Chen: "..."

She remembered the details all too clearly. Indeed, a woman's memory cannot be measured by her cultivation Realm.

Seeing his indifferent, stubborn, and seemingly ascetic demeanor, Yue Qingxuan bit her lip lightly.

He was still the same. He was exactly like this back then.

Yue Qingxuan suppressed the fire in her chest, and her gaze suddenly fell upon Yue Shiyun in Lu Chen's arms.

Her expression changed.

"Don't keep holding her."

Yue Qingxuan's voice suddenly grew more urgent.

"Shiyun has been missing for so long this time; the Death Qi in her body is bound to surge back. We must return to the palace immediately to activate the Death-Draining Spirit-Trapping Formation and eliminate the Death Qi."

"Otherwise, she won't be able to hold on."

Lu Chen raised an eyebrow.

Yue Qingxuan ignored his reaction and reached out to take Yue Shiyun.

But as she approached, Yue Shiyun shrank back into Lu Chen's arms.

Her small hands gripped him even tighter.

"Don't drain the black mist."

She whispered.

"It hurts."

Yue Qingxuan's hand froze in mid-air.

In that moment, the majesty in her eyes cracked slightly.

"Be good, Shiyun."

Yue Qingxuan's voice softened.

"It won't hurt anymore once it's drained."

Yue Shiyun shook her head.

"When Revered Master-Brother holds me, it doesn't hurt."

Yue Qingxuan was stunned.

Lu Chen looked down and pinched Yue Shiyun's soft little cheek.

"Oh, she just fell into my arms on the way."

He spoke very casually.

"I saw she was frail and sickly, so I took her as my disciple."

He rubbed the little girl's silver hair again.

"She's doing fine now. With me around, the Death Qi is suppressed."

Yue Qingxuan looked up sharply.

"Suppressed?"

She grabbed Yue Shiyun's small wrist, and her Ninth-Turn Quasi-Emperor Divine Sense instantly probed inside.

In the next breath, her pupils constricted.

Inside Yue Shiyun, that Innate Death Qi that had tormented her for eighteen years was actually being pinned down deep within her body by a surge of green vitality.

The black mist that used to gnaw at her Meridians like poisonous snakes had all shrunk into a ball, not daring to move—and unable to.

Yue Shiyun's heartbeat and breathing were steady. Though her Meridians were fragile, for the first time, they weren't being torn apart by Death Qi.

Yue Qingxuan's fingers tightened bit by bit as she looked at Lu Chen in disbelief.

"How is this possible..."

The Wushuang Immortal Dynasty had exhausted its resources, inviting the Supreme Alchemist Han Songnian from the Alchemy Tower, seeking help from Xu Tinglan, a medical cultivator under the Old Sage of the Taiyin Academy, and even using the Imperial Dynasty's Dragon Vein for nourishment.

All they could do was keep Yue Shiyun alive; they couldn't make her live comfortably like a normal child.

Let alone allow her to sleep peacefully in someone else's arms like she was doing now.

"Do you know what her situation is?"

Lu Chen asked.

Yue Qingxuan looked down at Yue Shiyun, her voice dropping low.

"She was born to our Imperial Father and Mother in their later years."

"At that time, Father had suffered injuries from his wild youth and his Lifespan was nearing its end. Mother's Lifespan was also running out, and she had been eroded by Death Qi for many years."

"They originally didn't intend to keep her."

"But the Altar of Heaven detected her special Physique—the Same Origin of Life and Death. If she could grow up, she might be able to extend an Emperor's Path for the Wushuang Immortal Dynasty."

She paused.

The wind ruffled the golden hair on her forehead.

"To secure a glimmer of hope for the Imperial Dynasty, Father exhausted the last of his Lifespan, sacrificing himself to take down the old Emperor of the Dayin Immortal Dynasty, Ji Xuance, and a group of other experts with him."

"After giving birth to her, Mother also exhausted the last of her Origin."

"Shiyun never even saw what Father looked like."

Yue Shiyun seemed to hear the familiar story; her eyelashes fluttered, but she didn't seem to care much.

Yue Qingxuan's fingertips lightly brushed her silver hair.

"Her hair isn't naturally silver; it was turned white by the Death Qi. Her eyes aren't naturally red either."

"It's the blood-color forced out when Death Qi invaded her spiritual apertures. For now, she cannot Cultivate, cannot sleep for long, and cannot leave the Imperial Palace for too long."

"Every half-month, the Death Qi must be drained from her. Each time, she bites her lip raw from the pain."

Yue Qingxuan looked up at Lu Chen. The coldness of an Empress was gone from her phoenix eyes, replaced only by uncontrollable shock.

"Just by holding her, you made her better?"

Lu Chen felt a bit uncomfortable under her gaze and rubbed his nose.

"This Emperor is quite warm. You could say I'm a warm man!"

Yue Qingxuan: "..."

Those words were quite provocative, but she couldn't bring herself to strike him now.

Because Yue Shiyun, in Lu Chen's arms, was nuzzling against his chest in her sleep, her small mouth mumbling.

"Revered Master-Brother... warm..."

Yue Qingxuan fell silent. After a moment, the shock in her eyes slowly faded, replaced by a very dangerous glint.

She looked at Lu Chen, from his face to his hands, and then at Yue Shiyun in his arms.

The corner of her mouth suddenly curled up.

"Since you have saved We's sister..."

Yue Qingxuan's voice slowed down.

"We must certainly show you proper hospitality."

Lu Chen felt that something was wrong with that smile. It didn't look like gratitude; it looked like a trap.

Yue Qingxuan stepped onto the Flying Boat. The royal ambergris scent mingled with the heat from her body as she pressed closer.

She stood very close, close enough for Lu Chen to see the tiny beauty mark at the corner of her eye.

She leaned in slightly, the collar of her gold and purple dragon robe tightening into a curve with the movement.

"Brother Lu."

As soon as those three words came out, a chill ran down Lu Chen's spine.

"Let's go."

Yue Qingxuan reached out, her fingertips resting on the edge of his Flying Boat.

"Follow We back to the palace."

"You can take your time delivering the Ye family's invitations."

"But since you've come to We's Wushuang Immortal Dynasty, you won't be leaving without having a cup of tea in We's bedchamber."

Lu Chen immediately sat up straight.

"Wait, this Emperor never said anything about entering your bedchamber."

"It's enough that We said it."

Yue Qingxuan waved her jade-like hand.

Deep within the Imperial City, nine streaks of golden Dragon Qi soared into the sky.

A massive Imperial Dao Formation diagram appeared in the Void Realm.

The Formation diagram rotated, and golden light cascaded down, locking the entire Spirit Wood Boat in place.

Lu Chen glanced at the Formation patterns; it was a Quasi-Emperor Grade Imperial Dao Teleportation Formation.

It wasn't weak, but to him, it was about as sturdy as paper.

With just a flick of a finger, he could poke the Formation diagram full of holes.

But Yue Qingxuan had that look of not giving up until she successfully lured him into the palace.

Lu Chen sighed. Forget it.

Since I'm here, I might as well have some tea. A Great Emperor won't lose out anywhere, anyway. They can't kill me; at most, my virtue might be in a bit of danger.

The golden light fell.

The Spirit Wood Boat, along with its passengers, was pulled directly into the deepest part of the Imperial Palace by the Imperial Dao Formation.

Countless guards below looked up, only to see Her Majesty the Empress personally leading that Great Emperor toward the harem.

Wei Changgeng broke into a cold sweat.

It's over. The Wushuang Immortal Dynasty is about to have an Imperial Consort.

Boom! The golden light dissipated.

Lu Chen's Flying Boat landed on a plaza of warm jade, and he stowed it away.

The ground beneath his feet was paved entirely with ten-thousand-year-old warm jade. Palaces rose in layers all around, spiritual springs flowed over jade steps, and a faint fragrance of flowers drifted through the air.

Not far away was a bedchamber, with three golden characters hanging above the palace gate.

"Qingyue Palace," Lu Chen glanced at it.

"This harem of yours is quite luxurious."

Yue Qingxuan stood before him, her back to him.

"We live here alone."

Lu Chen raised an eyebrow.

"Then it's called a bedchamber, not a harem."

Yue Qingxuan turned her head, a smile in her phoenix eyes.

"Now that you've come, it can be called a harem."

Lu Chen: "..."

This woman is hopeless.

Yue Qingxuan raised her hand, her fingers clenching slightly.

"Activate the Formations."

Rumble.

All around Qingyue Palace, ancient Formation patterns lit up one by one.

The first layer isolated Divine Sense; the second layer locked down space; the third layer obscured heavenly secrets...

Golden light barriers rose from all sides, layer upon layer, finally closing together overhead.

Sounds from the outside world vanished instantly, and even the Imperial Dynasty's Dragon Qi was shut out.

The world became so quiet that only Yue Shiyun's shallow breathing could be heard.

Lu Chen looked at the five layers of Formations.

"Yue Qingxuan, do you really need to activate these kinds of Formations just to drink tea?"

Yue Qingxuan didn't answer; she slowly turned around.

Her gold and purple robe trailed across the warm jade floor, making a soft rustling sound.

The majesty of an Empress was no longer on her face, nor was the coldness she had shown the guards earlier.

Those phoenix eyes stared intently at Lu Chen, her gaze seemingly suppressing a fire that had been burning for thousands of years.

She approached step by step, her red lips parting slightly.

"Lu Chen."

"This time, you won't be able to run away, will you?"