FID – Chapter 1071

Chapter 1071: What Use Are You

Liu Yusheng thought she was going to be thrown into a dungeon.

Although she had dared to threaten the old emperor, making him wary, the imperial authority had been challenged: there was no way the old emperor could swallow that insult quietly.

Even if he didn’t kill her, he wouldn’t let her off easy.

Yet to her surprise, the place she was confined to was a small palace, right next to the Eternal Longevity Palace. It was the same Changshou Palace the old emperor had previously said he would grant her.

Liu Yusheng laughed bitterly.

The old man, even in this situation, still keeps her here… so he hasn’t given up on having his way with her?

Obsessed with longevity to the point of madness, no doubt!

Still, Liu Yusheng didn’t worry that he would truly dare to harm her.

Now she was rubble, and the old emperor was jade. Until he confirmed whether he had been poisoned, he would keep her alive and unharmed.

She glanced out the window. The late June sunlight was blazing, almost blinding.

That fierce heat, however, couldn’t chase away the chill in her heart.

Was Feng Qingbai or Xue Qinglian still in the Imperial Household Department? How were they faring?

She had no idea.

Even if they were safe outside, contact would be impossible for the time being. Feng Qingbai would certainly worry if he knew she was trapped here.

“Princess Consort of Nanling?” A pleasant, low male voice came from the doorway.

Liu Yusheng turned her head. Prince Shunyang was standing there, tilting his head slightly, appraising her with evident interest.

A crimson-purple brocade robe backlit by sunlight, the man seemed to be coated in a soft halo, looking graceful and refined, exuding effortless charm.

Yet he did not catch Liu Yusheng’s eye one bit.

She looked back out the window, as if the person at the door didn’t exist.

“No wonder I always felt your eyes didn’t match this appearance, there’s always been a sense of discord. So this isn’t really your true face.”

“It shows that my disguise skills are lacking, and my acting still needs practice,” Liu Yusheng commented, half mocking, half ironic, glancing at the sun-dulled green leaves of the garden outside.

Prince Shunyang paused, then laughed heartily. “You are really something.”

He strode into the hall, sat opposite her, and scrutinized her face from every angle. “You’re wearing a mask, aren’t you? How did I not notice the seams? Very meticulous work.”

Liu Yusheng turned to look at him, saying nothing.

Like an outsider watching a performance, observing how the actor on stage would continue.

His curiosity, undeterred by her gaze and unable to find a flaw in the mask, made him speak directly. “Now everyone in the palace knows you are the Princess of Nanling. This mask seems unnecessary. Take it off and breathe.”

The woman curled her lips and replied with a couple of words: “I don’t want to.”

“You are now my prisoner in Xiliang.” Best not to refuse.

The woman looked at him, silent and calm.

“Or should I help you take it off?”

As soon as he spoke, the back of his hand burned with stinging heat, mixed with an unbearable itching.

Looking down, he saw his hand completely red, covered with countless tiny transparent blisters.

Shaking his hand, he looked up, a helpless smile on his face. “I mean no harm. Princess, this joke of yours is really unreasonable.”

“Your Highness’s hand is itchy, I’m just helping you a bit,” the woman said, making a gesture inviting him. “Go ahead, scratch as you like.”

“…” She was warning him this way: just because she’s a prisoner now doesn’t mean he can bully her. She had plenty of ways to make him wary.

He laughed out loud, a bright, amused laugh. “Princess, you really are interesting. I concede. Don’t worry. Since you refuse, I won’t force you.”

After a pause, he looked into her deep eyes. “There will come a time when your true face will be seen.”

Liu Yusheng’s lips curved lightly. “Then, just wait until then, Your Highness.”

Gaining nothing, Prince Shunyang looked slightly disappointed. As he was leaving, he asked, “Princess, in greeting me this way, aren’t you afraid I’d harm the King of Nanling?”

“You overestimate yourself, Your Highness.”

“No, you’re afraid, so you only lightly punish me. Otherwise, what you gave would have been a poison to eat through my guts,” he said, laughing as he departed.

She fixed her gaze on his departing back, not releasing the hand clenched beneath her sleeve until a long moment later.

Prince Shunyang was no easier to handle than that old dog of an emperor. Even after being poisoned, he kept a straight face and could still chat and laugh with her as if nothing had happened.

He also had guessed her thoughts, so she didn’t dare go further.

Because she had no idea what had happened to Feng Qingbai and Xue Qinglian.

Her greatest fear was that they had fallen into Shan Lai’s trap as well and were now trapped somewhere.

So the situation between her and the Xiliang royal family was mutual restraint.

She feared Feng Qingbai and Xue Qinglian being in their hands without her knowing, and they feared the consequences of acting rashly with her poison in their bodies.

They were both holding the other’s lifeline—neither retreating, neither daring to act further.

Only when no one was around did Liu Yusheng allow the worry to surface in her eyes.

Feng Qingbai…

“How much longer? If you really can’t do it, let Xue Honglian out. Stop struggling.” In a hidden, dim corner of the palace, a man’s voice sounded faint and detached.

Xue Qinglian exploded, “What do you mean by that ‘you’re useless’ look? Damn it! We’ve been hunted across half the city and I still have to squeeze out time to make a mask in this crappy lighting. Try it yourself then! Keep nagging like a ghost and I’ll turn you mute, I swear!”

The man narrowed his eyes, driving Xue Qinglian to immediately turn around and diligently resume crafting his mask.

…Hiss—how was something as thin as a cicada’s wing even made?

…It was obviously the same pair of hands as Honglian that made the gaudy mask—so why were the eye holes always uneven for this one?!

Using his body to block the view, Xue Qinglian quickly crushed the failed piece into a ball, destroying the evidence, and started over again.

No way was he letting the Honglian persona come out.

Living under Feng Qingbai’s tyranny was already miserable. If Honglian came out on top of that, how was he supposed to survive even a single day of peace?

“There’s nothing here. Search over there.”

“Team Three, head south and check the library pavilion. The rest of you, with me.”

Footsteps approached rapidly from not far away. Hidden in the shadows, the two exchanged a glance and immediately concealed themselves, holding their breath.

Only when the searchers left empty‑handed did they finally pop their heads back out.

“I should’ve poisoned that bitch with something that kills instantly.”

“What good does hindsight do?”

“…What do you know? Cycles of long, endless pain—that’s real suffering.” He absolutely refused to admit he had messed up.

How was he supposed to know that their disguise would be exposed so fast?

After a moment of thought, Xue Qinglian suggested to Feng Qingbai, “How about we take her out now?”

“Can you leave the palace? With your level of skill?”

“I can’t. But you can. Otherwise what use are you? All you do is stand there nagging—”

Thud. The sound of something heavy hit the ground.

The man who only knew how to yap was also capable of hitting people, and the man getting hit didn’t even dare to shout as he fell.

Clutching his rear and gritting his teeth, he whispered, “If you hit me again, I’m going on strike! Don’t think you can flaunt your strength in front of me just because I can’t fight back! How about some poison, huh?”

If it weren’t for Lucky Nannan, would he even hold back? Did the other really think he was easy to bully?

The man narrowed his long eyes and shot a glance at the guy jumping around again, and immediately his ears were blessedly free of noise.

Xue Qinglian scowled and kept molding the mask. Thinking back, how carefree had he once been? Why did he get curious and run off to Xinghua Village that one time?

Ever since meeting Feng Qingbai, his manly dignity had never been picked up again.