Volume 1, Chapter 61: Voodoo Doll

After a long while, she slowly rose to her feet and, at a most leisurely pace, made her way toward her own rear courtyard, leaving behind only a faint, lingering sigh.

"Indeed, it is just so!" Leng Yue said, a look of worry and sorrow resting upon her features as she paced back and forth. "Nanny Liu is the steward of the inner courtyard, so I might as well speak quite frankly. At noon today, the Concubine suddenly arrived, and for reasons unknown, she came to harbor a misunderstanding against me, which in the end was even brought before the Prince."

Hearing this, Leng Yue offered a soft smile and remarked, "All these fabrics are readily available within the Prince's estate, are they not?" As she analyzed the situation step by step, she gazed at Long Qing with a look of absolute confidence, clearly having already arrived at a certainty.

Zhao Fuxin clutched Shen Binglian's hands, tears welling in his eyes; he could not take Liu Qiongqiong as his wife, for he simply could not bring himself to do so.

"Furthermore, many parents hope that their children can learn classical poetry, and we can easily download such a feature right into this software," Murong Xue continued with a smile.

Last night's events were scarcely known to anyone within the Marquis of Taiping's residence, and Song Yiyi, fearing her family would worry, had chosen not to inform them.

"Such a glib tongue! However, I do love to hear it." Lin Wushuang smiled happily. She was truly glad; during these days in the capital, her work had been easy enough, but she had been utterly plagued by the tiresome harassment of certain individuals.

To forcibly shatter the seal of time and space, one required an existence far more formidable than a super beast to enter the absolute core of the primary seal and leverage its own might to violently destroy the energy source of the seal. Only by opening the exit and escaping through it before the seal of space and time collapsed utterly could one survive.

"I am starting to grow quite fond of these butterflies," Yin Ling murmured, gazing blankly at the butterfly imprint on her wrist as she lapsed into deep thought.

Zhou Meng immediately raised his voice in agreement and clamor, rolling up his sleeves mid-sentence as if he could hardly wait a moment longer.

Madam Zhou the Third had wet nurses brought up for inspection, and with a smiling instruction to Mother Huang, she bade her keep the matter of the wet nurses quiet. Feng'er had only just returned home, and this initial feeding was merely to soothe him should he fuss, nothing more.

At these words, Liu Xuan nearly slipped and fell flat on his face, thinking to himself: *What the hell? You don't know what a snake is? Are you pulling my leg?* A tempest of chaotic thoughts swirling in his mind, Liu Xuan glanced at 'Chen Yan', his eyes conveying a clear message: *This is hardly the time for joking, cut it out.*

"I can agree to that, but you must grant your father one condition in return!" Wang Zhengyuan said calmly. Wang Wang nodded, signaling for her father to proceed.

Without even thinking, one knew these rumors must have been spread by Tang Yongyi's own brothers. Exactly which of them was responsible mattered little; what mattered was that Tang the Second, Tang the Third, and Tang the Fourth were all green with envy over Tang Yongyi's prosperous days, and any one of them was entirely capable of it.

She leaned in close against his cheek, inhaling his scent with a desperate greed, until she could no longer resist and finally reached out to brush her tongue across his lips.

Without a word, Liu Xuan dragged himself up in a wretched state from the pile of rubble, clutched his chest, and drew forth the Nine-Toothed Soul-Sinking Axe.

Unlike her usual haughty and self-important demeanor, Su Chenghuan had today taken the initiative to approach him and offer a greeting.

The others fell silent at these words. The ones who had ordered the eradication of their soaring heavens sect were members of the Myriad Phenomena Sect—one of the supreme hegemonic powers of this world, an existence they could only gaze upon from afar.

For now, they could only wait for Yuan Chang's arrival and question him, to see... if antiquity possessed any truly effective remedies.

"Is it true? You came looking for me?" Lan Qi'er looked at Lin Xiao in disbelief. Seeing him nod, she finally set her mind at ease, climbed into the carriage, and departed in the company of Qi Furen.

Footsteps drifted slowly closer. Duan Ruxia tightened her grip on her dagger and the sachet of powder at her waist; this was her sole chance. As those footsteps drew fractionally nearer, Duan Ruxia suddenly lunged outward, her dagger carving a chilling arc through the air. The masked man in the lead collapsed with a cry and never rose again.

When I heard those words—*to go wild just once more*—an inexplicable wave of emotion churned within my heart, as though for a fleeting second I had truly been transported back to the days of my youth.

"The hunting assembly has only just begun, and most people remain highly vigilant." Jiang Yi rubbed his chin. He had anticipated drawing a few over, but they were proving each to be more cautious than the last.

In his panic, Mu Feng hurriedly channeled his divine power to effect repairs, and fortunately, his mending was swift enough to avert the complete bursting of his physical body.

Originally, Mu Feng had intended to handle the opponent single-handedly, but realizing this also presented an excellent opportunity for trial and tempering, he abandoned the thought and allowed the disciples of the East Tang Sect to charge ahead.

It was only upon hearing Fatty Wang's shouts that I heavily shook my head, turned on the tap to splash my face with cold water, and finally managed to collect my wits.

This shameless scoundrel, who had spent many years mingling within the ranks of cadres, was now facing imminent and utter ruin.

To strip a man of his official post over a mere memorial? And to elevate the matter to a question of whether his loyalty to his sovereign was absolute?

Hearing Ye Qian's words, Ouyang Cheng showed little surprise. Yet since the other party was well aware of his background and dared to break in in the middle of the night, they were clearly not the sort who could be frightened away merely by him putting on official airs. "How could I possibly know you? You break into my home in the dead of night—what on earth is your purpose?" Ouyang Cheng demanded.

"Director Niu's remarks were quite sound. Does anyone else have questions they wish to raise?" Qian Fangzhao inquired.

During a video call with Sister Ya Ya, I truly never imagined that she would propose such an idea.

At this thought, Le Jingyu mentally ticked off his fingers and began to calculate roughly how many silver dollars it would take to buy back the one and a half shares currently held by the master of the third branch.

"He has mentioned certain fragments here and there, but nothing nearly as specific and systematic as your account," Fang Shengxue said.

This was also his favorite pastime of the day, for only in this manner could he convince himself: just what was so extraordinary about those great and powerful figures, anyway?

Jian Yan asked softly, her tone devoid of hesitation, brimming instead with absolute certainty. She gathered her long hair, disordered by the wind, and gazed at the weathered expression etched upon her own face.