231: Heart-wrenching! Liu Ruyan has gone mad with killing! The whole city is singing "The Empress's Sorrow"!

At the same moment Su Chen was "invited" into the Fengming Hall.

Great Xia Imperial City, Vermilion Bird Street.

A giant flying ship cast from dark gold magic stone, its hull engraved with struggling skeletons and wailing resentful souls, actually directly ignored the Imperial City's flight restriction formation.

It arrogantly and overbearingly hovered directly above the capital's largest theater—the "Wen Tianlai Theater."

Atop the flying ship, Devilish Qi rolled like ink, and the black dragon flags of the Nine Nether Demonic Cult fluttered in the wind, the dragon eyes on the flags appearing to come alive as they looked down coldly at the ants below.

Just that baleful aura alone pressed down on the entire Vermilion Bird Street until it was dead silent.

"Bang!"

A loud crash.

An incredibly huge box with its lid wide open fell from the sky, smashing heavily next to the stone lion at the theater's entrance.

The mountain of Top-Grade Spirit Stones inside reflected a dazzling light under the sun, instantly stinging everyone's eyes.

The theater manager scrambled out, his legs going weak, nearly fainting on the spot.

Liu Ruyan, dressed in a black dress with her jade-like feet crossed, leaned lazily against the black-gold railing at the ship's bow.

Her voice wasn't loud, but it was carried by Devilish Qi, clearly reaching the ears of everyone on Vermilion Bird Street.

"I am the Saintess of the Nine Nether Demonic Cult, Liu Ruyan."

"I'm booking this entire theater."

"To those inside, I'll give you ten breaths to get out."

She flicked a jade finger, pointing at the box of Spirit Stones.

In her enchanting phoenix eyes, there was nothing but the mockery of one looking down upon all living beings.

"That box of Spirit Stones is your reward."

"I am not short of money."

Domineering!

Overbearing!

Yet so generous it made people yearn for it!

This was the Nine Nether Demonic Cult!

How could the manager dare to hesitate for even a second? Looking at that box of Spirit Stones that could buy ten theaters, and then at the demonic ship in the sky that could crush them into ashes at any moment, he immediately prostrated himself.

"Saintess Highness! My Great Aunt! Never mind booking it, even if you were to dismantle this small shop and refine it into a Magic Treasure, I would still hand you the hammer!"

Liu Ruyan didn't bother with such a small character and waved her jade hand lightly.

Several cult Protectors flew down like ghosts, crudely and efficiently clearing out the entire theater.

Immediately after, the best theatrical troupe in the entire Imperial City and the loudest storytellers were all "invited" into the Wen Tianlai Theater.

The pay: tenfold!

The requirement: only one.

Rehearse a new play.

A new play with a script personally narrated by Liu Ruyan, concerning the "Divine Son of the Longevity Su Family" and the "Iron-Blooded Empress of Great Xia"...

"Remember."

Liu Ruyan sat in the best private booth of the theater, the "Heavenly Number One," lazily speaking to the chief playwright who was shaking like a sieve before her, while using her crimson-dyed nails to pick at her other hand.

"The play's name shall be 'the empresss sorrows'."

"The Empress's image must be majestic and domineering, always talking about the state and the people, but in private, she must be a resentful woman who loves but cannot have, who seeks but cannot find, and can only weep alone at night while holding a portrait of Divine Son Su."

The runic pen in the chief playwright's hand fell to the ground with a "clack," and cold sweat instantly soaked his robes.

This was exposing Her Majesty the Empress's scars in front of the whole world!

"As for that Ice Block Face from Yaochi," Liu Ruyan giggled, "let her be the White Moonlight who was let down by the Divine Son, looking out from Yaochi Holy Land every day in anticipation, adding some tragic elements to make the audience sympathize."

"Then... then what about you, Saintess Highness..." The playwright picked up his pen, his voice trembling.

"Me?"

Liu Ruyan laughed, her laughter making her whole body tremble like flowers in the wind, her eyes seductive as silk; the air in the booth became sweet and dangerous.

"I, of course, am the only one who can see through the Divine Son's loneliness, the only one who can keep up with his footsteps, accompanying him as he plays in the Mortal World and laughs at the changing winds... a match made in heaven!"

"Remember, my story must be a comedy!"

...Three days later.

"the empresss sorrows" officially premiered at the Wen Tianlai Theater.

Tickets were impossible to get!

The entire Imperial City went completely crazy!

Countless Cultivators squeezed in, even resorting to fighting, just to get a glimpse of this "death-seeking play" destined to go down in history.

On stage, the actress playing the Empress was dressed in a phoenix robe, looking majestic, yet she would always sigh at a painting showing the back of the "Divine Master" when alone. That resentful woman vibe of loving but not being able to have him was portrayed vividly.

The actor playing Su Chen had a melancholic expression throughout, as if to say, "I have unparalleled talent, but alas, I am too charming; having too many female confidants is also a kind of trouble."

Meanwhile, the actress playing the Demonic Cult Saintess appeared with flower petals raining down every time, reciting poetry and playing music in perfect harmony with the Divine Master, making the Empress on the side shake with rage until her phoenix crown was crooked.

The lines were even more heart-wrenching and sharp!

"Your Majesty, the land is cold, and imperial power is lonely. You have obtained his body, but have you obtained his heart?"

"Power cannot buy true love. Your Majesty, this melon you've plucked is about to be crushed by your own hands!"

"The Divine Son's heart is like the clouds in the sky, like the wind of the Nine Nether. He belongs to the world and to freedom, but he does not belong to your square Imperial City!"

The audience below was mesmerized; sounds of praise and unbridled laughter rose one after another, making the theater's beams hum.

These shocking lines also seemed to grow wings, spreading to every corner of the Imperial City faster than a plague.

Imperial Palace, Imperial Study.

"Crack!"

A white jade paperweight Ji Hongxue was playing with silently turned into the finest powder in her palm, trickling down between her fingers.

The Shadow Guard Commander before her was prostrated on the ground, every muscle in his body trembling violently as he finished reporting everything that happened at the theater word for word.

"Good..."

"What a 'the empresss sorrows'!"

In Ji Hongxue's phoenix eyes, golden imperial Dragon Qi surged wildly. Deep in her pupils, it was as if two suns were burning, almost ready to burst forth.

She sat motionless, but the temperature in the entire Imperial Study suddenly dropped to the freezing point, the air becoming as heavy as mercury.

Rage and humiliation, like two invisible hands, tightly gripped her heart.

She almost ordered on the spot to mobilize the National Protection Imperial Array to crush that damned theater, along with that demoness who twisted the truth, into flying ash!

"Liu! Ru! Yan!"

She squeezed these three words through her teeth, her voice calm yet carrying a terrifying killing intent that made space itself distort.

This demoness was too ruthless!

Killing the heart!

She was using the most malicious, most base, yet most effective way to shake her imperial majesty from its Foundation and challenge the bottom line of her imperial power!

"Your Majesty, should we... immediately shut down Wen Tianlai?" the Shadow Guard Commander asked tremblingly, feeling as though his Divine Soul was about to be frozen.

"Shut it down?"

Ji Hongxue laughed, a cold sneer appearing on her beautiful face.

"Wouldn't that be playing right into that demoness's hands?"

"Should I personally step down to bicker with a mere performer?"

"Wouldn't that be announcing to the whole world that I... have been accurately described? That I... have a guilty conscience?"

At this moment, Ji Hongxue finally personally experienced the suffocating feeling Su Chen described in his diary—the frustration of being so angered by this crazy woman Liu Ruyan that one would cough up blood, yet being unable to do anything about it.

She was like a piece of poisonous sticky candy; you couldn't hit her or scold her. The more you struggled, the tighter she stuck, disgusting you all over!

Ji Hongxue slowly closed her eyes.

The terrifying pressure in the Imperial Study, enough to crush mountains, also receded.

When she opened her eyes again, the heaven-shaking rage in her eyes had sunk into the abyss, replaced by the absolute calm belonging to an emperor.

She could not lose her composure.

At least, not on the surface.

Liu Ruyan, you like performing plays, don't you?

Very well.

I will accompany you and make this play even bigger!