162: Chapter 162 For whom does hatred arise, and why do tears flow?

"It is said to have the miraculous effects of calming the mind and nourishing one's appearance."

"I see that my Beloved Consort's spirit is exhausted; this mirror may be of some help."

"I bestow it upon you, my Beloved Consort. Play with it in your leisure time; perhaps it can dispel your worries."

Su Daji was startled, looking at the ice soul mirror held out before her.

The mirror's surface clearly reflected her current face—one capable of toppling kingdoms, yet slightly haggard due to excessive brooding.

She hesitated for a moment before taking it with both hands.

As her fingertips touched the mirror's body, a clear and gentle coolness actually spread up her arm, bringing a sudden stillness to her agitated mind. "Thank you for the reward, Great King."

She lowered her eyelids to hide the complexity in her eyes and carefully tucked the mirror into her sleeve.

The banquet continued. Su Chen seemed to be in even higher spirits, frequently urging her to drink, whispering rambling words of affection, and his movements became increasingly intimate.

Su Daji forced a smile, playing along.

As the night grew deeper, Su Chen's 'drunkenness' intensified, and he was supported by attendants as he went to rest.

Su Daji returned to her own sleeping quarters alone.

After dismissing the palace maids, she was the only one left in the hall.

The red candles flickered, casting her lonely shadow onto the wall.

She sat quietly for a moment, then suddenly remembered the mirror and took it out from her sleeve.

The woman in the mirror had features like a painting; she was indeed a peerless beauty who would inspire pity in anyone who saw her.

But as she looked, Su Daji suddenly felt a sense of strangeness.

These meticulously painted brows, these lips touched with vermilion, these eyes trained to steal souls...

Was this still her?

Or rather, was this the appearance the Saintess of the Hehuan Sect, 'Su Daji', was supposed to have?

It had been a long time since she had looked in a mirror.

The last time she looked in a mirror, what was reflected...

Was still a grimy little girl who had sworn to avenge her parents.

Master said that the Yin Shang Dynasty was unprincipled and King Zhou was tyrannical.

A casual order from Su Chen back then had caused the death of her entire family; he was her irreconcilable enemy.

She believed this without a doubt, carving this hatred into her very marrow as the motivation for her cultivation and for staying alive.

Until she came to Su Chen's side.

Every time she drew close to Su Chen, even every time she approached to seduce him...

Su Daji held the intent to kill him with a single blow.

However, she had never succeeded.

Sometimes, it was because Su Chen's complex gaze—whether intentional or not—made her feel she might have been discovered, making it inconvenient to strike.

Sometimes, it was because she was conflicted about whether to return to the Hehuan Sect if the assassination actually succeeded.

Although she also practiced the Hehuan Sect's techniques, that demonic den filled with debauchery made her feel disgusted.

But more often than not...

It was because she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Su Chen's act of being a tyrannical playboy was too clumsy.

It even made her, with her sharp intuition, suspect...

Whether Su Chen had been acting all along.

Moreover, the way he treated her well didn't seem fake at all...

It wasn't a feigned kind of goodness; it was that he could always precisely discover what she needed.

Like this mirror.

The moment she first saw it...

She felt the Hehuan Sect Technique within her—which was almost uncontrollable and even threatening to cause her cultivation to flow backward—gradually calm down.

This was exactly what she needed.

That tyrant actually didn't choose to directly consume her by force, but instead...

Could such a person really be the murderer who wiped out her entire family?

Just as her mind was in a trance...

Upon the mirror's surface, that radiance as clear as water suddenly rippled slightly.

Immediately after, a line of incredibly clear silver characters, like reflections in water, quietly emerged on the mirror's surface.

For whom do tears flow?

For whom is hate born?

Eight words.

Clang—!

Su Daji felt as if she had been struck by lightning, her whole body trembling violently.

Her hand loosened, and the ice soul mirror slipped out, smashing onto the polished floor with a crisp shattering sound.

The mirror surface didn't break, but that line of characters vanished instantly, as if it had never appeared.

Her face was deathly pale, her breathing ragged; she stumbled back two steps, only managing to steady herself by leaning against the dressing table.

Her heart hammered wildly in her chest, and a chill rushed from the soles of her feet straight to the crown of her head.

Who left those words?

The Great King?

What did he know?

Or was it someone else?

"For whom do tears flow? For whom is hate born?"

This was the question she had been pondering.

Master said her tears should flow for her unjustly killed parents and kin.

Her hate should be born toward the tyrant sitting high upon the throne.

But why...

The moment those words entered her sight...

What flashed through her mind were not the blurred faces of her parents, nor the tragedy of her blood feud.

It was actually...

The warmth and heartbeat that came when that tyrant pressed her hand against his chest.

It was that sigh from his hazy, drunken eyes: "Why are your hands so cold?"...

Thinking of this, Su Daji suddenly slapped her own beautiful face twice.

Under the dim palace lamps, the faint red handprints were clearly visible.

"Su Daji, how can you think like this?"

"Killing him is your only goal."

"That tyrant is the murderous demon who killed your entire family! He is the culprit who caused you to wander to this place!"

She didn't even notice it herself.

At the moment she slapped herself...

A faint purple light flashed in her fox-like eyes.

The Hehuan Sect was an all-female sect.

That light only appeared in the eyes of female cultivators from the Hehuan Sect.

She slowly crouched down and picked up the unharmed ice soul mirror.

The mirror surface was still clear.

It reflected her current pale, distracted, and terrified face.

This time, there were no more words in the mirror.

There was only herself, and those eyes that were gradually misting over with a lost, watery haze, no longer alluring.

The night wind entered through the window, and the candle flame swayed leisurely.

It stretched and distorted her lonely, beautiful figure.

Casting it onto the empty palace walls.

...

The next day, the Grand Court Session.

Atop the Nine-layered Cinnabar Steps, Su Chen leaned back in his throne, the tassels of his crown hanging low, obscuring half of his face.

He rested his head on one hand, while the other hand lay casually on the armrest, his fingertips tapping rhythmically.

Su Daji wore a set of Noble Consort Court Robes that were solemn yet didn't lose their enchantment, standing quietly by the side of his throne.

She kept her head down and eyes lowered, hands folded in front of her abdomen in a respectful posture.

The atmosphere in the hall was chillingly solemn; one could hear a pin drop.

Only the shrill voice of the Official in Charge of Ceremonies echoed in the vast hall, reporting on disasters from various regions and military reports from the borders.

It was tedious and dull.

Not only did the ministers not dare to speak...

Even the Official in Charge of Ceremonies, whose job was to report, would look up to steal a glance at Su Chen after finishing a section.

He had to make sure that nothing he said had displeased this tyrant before continuing.

One must know...

For officials of other dynasties, attending court was a daily routine.

But in the Yin Dynasty under Su Chen's rule...

Attending court was essentially playing a game of 'Nine Generations Elimination' in the form of a gacha pull.

And it was the kind with random drops.

Absolutely fair, no deception for young or old.

Most of the lengthy reports consisted of insignificant matters.

There were many things the Official in Charge of Ceremonies didn't have the courage to say to Su Chen's face.

Seeing that Su Chen had remained unresponsive, the report drew near its end.