238: Crystal Wonderland

"The winner takes all? Ahahaha..."

Hearing this, Nalan Mingyue suddenly burst into laughter.

"What a perfect 'winner takes all.' Yu Xiyan, do you really think you've won now? I admit I am currently no match for you, and there's nothing to say about losing to you, but are you using your own abilities?"

"What do you mean?"

Yu Xiyan's expression turned utterly cold.

"Hahaha, Yu Xiyan, do you think I don't know your past? The power you currently possess was gained by relying on a man. Aside from that man, you are just a useless, incompetent ruler."

As soon as the words fell, Nalan Mingyue felt her throat being tightly clamped by an invisible iron hand.

"Nalan Mingyue, I believe I have been tolerant enough towards you. If this were before, anyone who dared speak to Your Majesty like this would have long since been decapitated."

"If Your Majesty guesses correctly, you must have learned about this past from Song Yanran, right?"

"But what if Your Majesty told you that it was actually Song Yanran and the others who intervened in my peaceful life? Would you believe me?"

Nalan Mingyue was filled with intense hatred, her eyes fixed firmly on Yu Xiyan.

Yu Xiyan said, "Now, calm down and listen to my story.

I was once the Emperor of a region, and I had a husband who loved me very much.

Under the joint management of my husband and me, our marriage was harmonious and beautiful, and we governed the Empire in perfect order.

I had thought I could live with my husband forever, spending our lives together peacefully, supporting each other until eternity."

As she spoke, a rare trace of tenderness and nostalgia appeared on Yu Xiyan's face.

"Did you know that when we got married, our feelings weren't harmonious, but on the day of the wedding, my husband personally planted a Begonia Glazed Tree for me?

When the wind rose, begonia petals scattered throughout the courtyard, emitting gentle, pleasant sounds in the air, filled with poetic sentiment."

"Perhaps it was then that I fell in love with my husband and began trying to accept him."

"Unexpectedly, my husband's gentleness and capability made my imperial throne incredibly secure. We lived together sweetly and happily, becoming a couple envied by everyone."

Speaking up to this point, Yu Xiyan's eyes grew increasingly fervent and sweet.

It seemed as if that beautiful memory had occurred just yesterday, so vivid and clear.

But the next second, her expression changed: "But I never expected that our beautiful life would be ruined by a group of bitches!"

"My husband was simply too outstanding, which inevitably aroused the jealousy of other women. They began using every method possible to drive a wedge between my husband and me.

They tried every means to take him away from me, especially Song Yanran, Mu Qiuyuan, and that bitch Su Yunying.

One by one, they exhausted all their tricks, finally deepening my husband's misunderstanding of me to an irreparable extent, and ultimately turning us, husband and wife, into bitter enemies.

Tell me, was I wrong to only want to win back my husband and stand against them?!"

Nalan Mingyue's body trembled slightly, and finally, she couldn't help but curl her lips in mockery: "Even if what you say is true, turning yourself into a shrew for a man, don't you find it ridiculous?

As an Empress, the Dominator of a region, what kind of man can't you find? Why waste time on that wretched man..."

*Slap—*

Before she could finish speaking, a cold slap had landed heavily on Nalan Mingyue's face.

Feeling the assault of ice and fire on her cheek, Nalan Mingyue instantly flew into a rage: "You dare strike Your Majesty?"

"You are forbidden to speak a single derogatory word about my husband! He is the most perfect man in the world! I forbid anyone from slandering him, forbidden!"

Yu Xiyan fiercely grabbed Nalan Mingyue's neck and threatened her sternly.

But Nalan Mingyue was unusually stubborn: "Was I wrong? No matter what, that man has already changed his heart and stopped loving you. Why are you clinging to him!"

"That's because you haven't seen him!" Yu Xiyan grabbed a handful of Nalan Mingyue's beautiful hair, "He is so exceptional, so exceptional that one cannot help but be drawn to him. If you saw him, you would be equally captivated."

"Hahaha..."

Suddenly, Nalan Mingyue laughed, her laughter full of sarcasm.

"What are you laughing at?"

"I'm laughing at whether you've gone mad."

"Explain yourself clearly!"

Nalan Mingyue glanced at Yu Xiyan and then asked, "You said you and your husband were perfectly harmonious, blending like fire and water, incredibly happy.

But can you tell me why your Primal Yin is so full? You are clearly still a maiden; you have never engaged in marital relations. How could you possibly have experienced that blending of fire and water?"

Yu Xiyan immediately froze, involuntarily raising her hand to cover her head, her brows tightly furrowed with a hint of pain.

Nalan Mingyue continued: "Stop deceiving yourself. You must have developed delusions. Your man never loved you.

Because you never treated him like your husband; instead, you treated him like a dog to be ordered around, and you even went so far as to find a man who was inferior to him in every way just to provoke him."

"Shut up, stop talking! That's not true..."

"Married for twenty years, and you never fulfilled your marital duties. How can you claim you love your man?"

"Will you please shut up?"

"Don't blame your man for leaving you or being easily seduced by others. Isn't it your own doing? Any man would be unable to endure that kind of humiliation.

However, I admire him somewhat. He actually endured twenty years of torment from you before running away. Hahaha, it's truly pathetic when you think about it."

"I said, shut up!"

Yu Xiyan reached the limit of her patience, lunging forward and seizing Nalan Mingyue's neck.

"My husband didn't touch me because he was afraid I would be hurt! Do you think all men are as filthy and despicable as you imagine?"

"Hahaha, that excuse... do you even believe it yourself? ...Hurt... The most painful thing in life is unrequited love... It was clearly you who refused to let him touch you..."

"No, that's not it! What do you know! As long as he wanted it, I was willing to give it to him, so..."

"So he didn't want you later, right?"

That single sentence instantly shattered Yu Xiyan's psychological defenses.

"Nalan Mingyue, you deserve to die!"

With that, Yu Xiyan directly raised her palm and struck towards Nalan Mingyue's cheek.

Nalan Mingyue faced death calmly, without a trace of fear on her face, only endless unwillingness.

"Your Majesty, please stop!"

Just then, Nalan Shu arrived in time.

The palm stopped barely half an inch from Nalan Mingyue's nose tip.

Nalan Mingyue could even feel the whistling of the palm wind tearing through the air.

"What is it?"

Yu Xiyan withdrew her hand, and her expression immediately returned to its cold and aloof state.

"Your Majesty, I have something to report to you. Meng Xingchen, the Master of the Glazed Immortal Realm, will be convening the Jade Study Dharma Assembly ten days from now. I wonder if Your Majesty is interested."

Yu Xiyan: "The Jade Study Dharma Assembly?"

Nalan Shu explained: "Five hundred years ago, Meng Xingchen obtained a piece of Uncarved Jade from Beyond the Heavens, which contained an unrivaled power.

However, he has never been able to decipher it for his own use. Therefore, he convenes a Jade Research Assembly every hundred years to jointly research how to unlock this piece of uncarved jade.

He also publicly stated that once it is deciphered, the power gained will be equally divided among all participants."

Yu Xiyan: "Interesting. Then we shall go and take a look."

Having finished speaking, she left the prison without looking back.