219: Jealous at the same time! Copying homework to save the country!

Outside the Celestial Capital of the Great Xia Divine Dynasty.

The Nine-Dragon Imperial Carriage moved forward. Ji Hongxue, dressed in plain everyday attire, closed her eyes.

The carriage wheels rumbled over the official road. The agitation in her heart had not yet dissipated.

The Everlasting Su Family had become a source of entanglement. She wanted to see for herself.

What charm did those two women he had 'hidden away in a golden house' possess? To make Su Chen treat them so.

The pride of being an Empress, the stifling frustration of being compared and outshone. At this moment, the two emotions intertwined, leaving her heart in turmoil.

A faint glimmer flashed. The beast-skin diary materialized out of thin air on her lap.

A faint, elegant scent of sandalwood wafted out.

Ji Hongxue's breath caught. Her heart was filled with both shame and annoyance, tinged with a trace of nervousness.

What had he written this time?

Suppressing her complex emotions, her fingertips lightly touched the diary's coarse cover. A new page opened.

[Year X, Month X, Day Y, Cloudless.]

[But my, Su Chen's, mood is the overcast sky before a volcanic eruption, the kind of oppressive, dormant volcano that's been brewing for ten thousand years and is about to blow!]

Ji Hongxue's delicate brows furrowed slightly, her confusion deepening.

What matter could make such an aloof 'Incarnation of the Heavenly Dao' this furious? For him to show his emotions so openly was truly rare.

[The most terrifying thing in this world isn't the Outer-Domain Heavenly Demons, nor those great powers who devour people without spitting out the bones.]

[It's women!]

Ji Hongxue's heart skipped a beat. Ling Qingzhu's cool, aloof face and Liu Ruyan's alluring figure surfaced in her mind.

She recalled the bizarre rumors from the morning court today.

"Demon Lord Reserve Candidate," "secretly pledged for life"... She guessed something, her lips twitching involuntarily.

[I just want to quietly be a salted fish, is that so damn difficult?!]

[This life is impossible to live!]

She continued reading.

Su Chen's words towards Liu Ruyan were scathing. He seemed to wish he could skin her alive. Ji Hongxue couldn't help but feel a chill for Liu Ruyan.

When this man got angry, his tongue was venomous to the bone.

[She wants to put me on a spit over the fire, then pour a bucket of oil over me, to socially kill me!]

[Great, now the entire Xuan Yuan Continent knows I, Su Chen, am a 'Demon Lord Reserve Candidate'.]

[How can I pretend to be an innocent young gentleman when I go out now?]

[How can I continue slacking off in the Family? On my Divine Son Peak, the old men of the Su Family look at me as if they want to wring me dry and immediately arrange for me to father eighty or a hundred little radishes carrying the Su Family Bloodline!]

[Next time I see her, I'll have to properly 'judge' her, let her know the height of the heavens and the depth of the earth, what it means when 'the Divine Heir's wrath leaves corpses strewn for ten thousand miles'!]

Su Chen's words about the 'Divine Heir's wrath' were emphatic.

The corner of Ji Hongxue's mouth twitched again. A trace of helplessness flashed in her phoenix eyes.

He was angry, yes. But that deep-seated, bone-deep salted fish obsession of his still left her feeling powerless.

This man, even while uttering 'Divine Heir's wrath,' still fundamentally only wanted to lie flat and slack off.

[And that woman Ji Hongxue!]

[She drags me out as a shield, and even spreads that fake news about 'ambushing and killing a Heavenly Demon Clone.']

[I haven't even seen what a Heavenly Demon looks like. She's clearly trying to make me take the fall for her!]

[Doesn't she know lying comes with a price?]

Ji Hongxue's jade-like hand suddenly clenched the edge of the diary. Her knuckles turned white from the excessive force.

It wasn't anger, but shame and annoyance.

The shame and annoyance of being seen through completely, of having even her 'lies' mercilessly exposed, made her fair cheeks flush slightly.

What she saw as a brilliant move of leveraging the situation, he saw as 'perfunctory' and 'lacking in cunning.'

She imagined the lazy, somewhat disdainful expression on his face as he wrote these words.

He hadn't even seen a Heavenly Demon's appearance. Yet he understood the entire scheme and her countermeasures perfectly.

He wasn't just venting. He was reminding her. Guiding her next move.

This feeling of being personally tutored by the 'Heavenly Dao.' It made this Empress, accustomed to controlling everything, feel an indescribable complexity.

She forced herself to calm down. Took a deep breath.

Her gaze moved down the page, like a student thirsting for knowledge.

[But speaking of which, that Netherworld Heavenly Demon, just released from prison, must be extremely weak.]

[His launching a full-scale war so rashly now is both testing the Great Xia's defenses and trying to replenish his energy quickly.]

[What an appetite!]

Ji Hongxue's heart shook violently. He truly knew everything about the Netherworld Heavenly Demon!

The cold analysis made the air inside the imperial carriage freeze for a moment.

[He will concentrate his forces to attack places in the Great Xia Divine Dynasty with weak defenses and dense populations, like Tianfeng City on the southwestern border.]

[It's a plain, easy to attack and hard to defend, with a large population. It's the perfect place for him to perform a bloody sacrifice to restore his demonic power.]

[So, if that woman Ji Hongxue really wants to win this war, she can't just stubbornly defend the border.]

[She should secretly mobilize heavy troops, lay a heaven-and-earth net trap in Tianfeng City.]

[Then use the Great Xia Divine Dynasty's unique imperial formation, the 'Ten Directions Annihilation Formation,' to set up an ambush and wait for the Heavenly Demon to walk right into it.]

Ji Hongxue closed the diary. Her hands clutched it tightly.

Her knuckles were white from excessive force. Her lips trembled slightly.

A storm of shock raged in her heart, unable to subside for a long time.

Tianfeng City!

Ten Directions Annihilation Formation!

He had written everything clearly. Detailed down to the specifics of strategic deployment.

At this moment, she no longer had the heart to investigate the Su Family.

With an apocalyptic crisis looming, those girlish feelings of jealousy and curiosity were utterly insignificant.

In this moment, all distracting thoughts were cleared. Only a clear strategic map remained in her mind.

"Turn around!"

A voice imbued with imperial authority rang out, echoing within the carriage like thunderclaps shaking the soul.

The imperial guard commander outside was stunned. His hand holding the reins tightened abruptly.

The carriage stopped: "Your Majesty, are we returning to the palace?"

"Return to the palace?" Ji Hongxue snorted coldly.

An unprecedented, blazing Battle Intent burned in her eyes. The confidence and arrogance of seeing through everything, of controlling the future.

Her gaze pierced through the carriage walls. Looking towards the southwest.

She seemed to already see Tianfeng City. The battlefield that was about to become a meat grinder.

"To the Imperial City, summon Han Qingtian!"

"Order the Grand Marshal of the Divine Martial Army, Han Qingtian, to lead three hundred thousand troops to swiftly infiltrate Tianfeng City. They must not be exposed along the way! March in secret, be as silent as ghosts!"

"Mobilize all the Formation Masters in the Imperial City to deploy the Great Xia's imperial formation, the 'Ten Directions Annihilation,' around and within Tianfeng City at the fastest possible speed! Work day and night, spare no cost!"

"I will turn Tianfeng City into the Heavenly Demon's... steel tomb!"

A sharp light danced in Ji Hongxue's phoenix eyes. Her voice was cold as a blade's edge.

Each word carried an indisputable, murderous intent, "Han Qingtian!"

"Tell him, I want him to spare no cost, to bury the entire Nine Li Demon Army in Tianfeng City, leaving not a single one behind!"

"Your Majesty... this..." The imperial guard commander was stunned by the military order, speechless.

Three hundred thousand troops!

The imperial formation guarding the nation!

All for a single Tianfeng City? Unheard of.

"I will personally oversee the Imperial City, coordinating the overall situation." Ji Hongxue's voice was measured, filled with iron-willed confidence.

The innate imperial aura made the imperial guard commander submit.

"This battle allows only victory, no defeat!"

"As for the Su Family, after I slay the Heavenly Demon and quell this turmoil, I will personally pay them a visit!"

The corner of her mouth lifted. A hint of playful amusement arose in her heart.