Watching the Show, Happy to See Jason Lan Suffer

"Five days!"

The speaker was none other than Ninth Royal Uncle. "Five days. I’m only giving you five days. If you don’t bring me the antidote in five days, you can bring your head to court instead."

"This official… this official obeys your command." The Director of the Imperial Medical Directorate dropped to his knees with a thud, inwardly cursing his fate and praying that Serena Feng would hurry up—otherwise, he’d be losing his head for sure.

He’d claimed the credit, so now he had to shoulder the consequences. Serena Feng wasn’t the same as she used to be—anyone who thought they could shove her out as a scapegoat again was dreaming.

The Taishang Emperor’s faction of officials were all smiles, satisfied with their result. Felix Fuller lowered his gaze in secret: Fools. If Ninth Royal Uncle dares to make such a promise, it means he’s certain he can deliver. These people have the guts to scheme against him, but not the brains to ask themselves why he knows so much about corpse poison.

Felix wouldn’t say any of this aloud—even if he did, it wouldn’t matter. Ninth Royal Uncle wasn’t going to give them a chance to backtrack, and none of them believed he could really produce an antidote in five days.

Morning court ended with everyone feeling satisfied. Felix Fuller and William Wang Jinling exited side by side, their eyes meeting occasionally—William was as gentle as ever, while Felix was arrogant and brash. The officials trailing behind them had mixed reactions: some were secretly pleased, others just shook their heads…

Normally, after court, Ninth Royal Uncle would head to the Hall of Diligence to handle state business. Today, though, he went straight to the Taishang Emperor’s palace.

When Ninth Royal Uncle entered the hall, everyone except the Taishang Emperor’s personal eunuch withdrew tactfully.

The Taishang Emperor saw Ninth Royal Uncle and his eyes bulged. He raised a trembling hand, pointing at him and shouting "Ah! Ah!"—his usually blank face twisted in a grotesque rage.

Ninth Royal Uncle curled his lips in a cold smile, casting a pitying glance at the Taishang Emperor. He spoke slowly: "There are 7,963 people in the Capital infected with Ancient Corpse Poison, and the number is still rising. Are you satisfied, elder brother?"

The Taishang Emperor froze, his whole body going stiff. How could things have spread so fast?

Ninth Royal Uncle went on, "Rumors are raging in the city. All the officials accuse me of neglecting the realm for a beauty. Are you satisfied, elder brother?"

The Taishang Emperor snapped out of it, but didn’t get worked up like before. He just stared warily at Ninth Royal Uncle: Did he know I was behind this?

Ninth Royal Uncle continued, "Prince Jason and Prince Evan are stirring, and there are signs of troop movements in Chu City. A major war in Eastlyn is now unavoidable. Are you satisfied, elder brother?"

For the first time, the Taishang Emperor turned his face away, not daring to meet Ninth Royal Uncle’s gaze. Eastlyn is sending troops to Night City, and now Prince Jason is rebelling. Northlyn, Southlyn, and Westlyn are bound to get involved. When that happens, Ninth Royal Uncle will be attacked from all sides. Eastlyn’s empire… will be in peril.

"Heh…" Ninth Royal Uncle let out a cold laugh. "The realm and its people—tell me, elder brother, who’s really neglecting them?"

The Taishang Emperor’s muddy eyes grew even dimmer. Under Ninth Royal Uncle’s gaze, he slowly closed his eyes, his whole body deflating—gone was the earlier rage and ferocity.

Ninth Royal Uncle had never expected an answer. After saying his piece, he turned and left, leaving the Taishang Emperor alone to stare blankly at the empty grand hall.

Why had he done all this in the first place?

In this state, could he still sit on the dragon throne? Did he even deserve to be emperor anymore?

With Ninth Royal Uncle as regent, was it really any different from just replacing the emperor altogether?

The Taishang Emperor was lost in confusion…

Meanwhile, at the Capital Prefecture Court, Serena Feng was lost too. Staring at two completely different molecular structures on the paper, her mind was in chaos.

Did she really sleep through all her pharmacology electives back then? Otherwise, how could the same toxin show up as two totally different compositions?

"I’m going crazy." Serena had worked all night, running toxin analyses over and over, but every result was totally different.

"There’s clearly nothing wrong—so is my whole approach off?" Serena glanced at the test tube, then lowered her eyes, drumming her fingers on the table without realizing it.

She needed a new approach. There was no point banging her head against a wall and refusing to turn back.

The Snow Wolf was curled up in the corner, watching Serena fiddle endlessly with black and red tubes. Its wolfish face was full of grievance, and even its fierce eyes brimmed with tears.

It was starving. Where was its beef?

When Ninth Royal Uncle came in, he saw the Snow Wolf staring at Serena Feng, and Serena staring at her test tube. Both of them glanced at him, then went right back to what they were doing, completely ignoring his presence.

"Ahem." Ninth Royal Uncle coughed lightly, reminding Serena and the Snow Wolf that he was there.

The two—woman and wolf—were perfectly in sync, refusing to look at him directly. Serena kept dripping reagents into her test tube and said, "Sit wherever you like. I’m busy and don’t have time to entertain you."

Ninth Royal Uncle didn’t mind being ignored by the Snow Wolf, but being brushed off by Serena really got to him. "Take a break. I’m taking you out to watch a good show."

"A good show? What kind of show?" Serena put down her test tube without hesitation. Of course, she wasn’t actually curious—her mind was a tangled mess, and she couldn’t think of a solution anyway.

Better to get out for a walk than sit here stewing—maybe she’d come up with a new idea.

"You sent someone with a message for me—how could I just ignore it?" Ninth Royal Uncle said it lightly, but Serena knew how much weight those words carried.

"Are you going to make a move against Skyvault Fortress?" On the surface, they were allies—picking a fight with Skyvault now would be trouble for both of them.

"It’s not that I want to move against them—it’s that they don’t know what’s good for them." Ninth Royal Uncle straightened his sleeve, unwilling to say more. "It’s getting late. Let’s eat first, and after the meal I’ll take you to watch the show."

His tone was like coaxing a little girl. Serena just smiled, packed up her things, and called the Snow Wolf to head out with her.

The Snow Wolf let out a cheer, scampering to Serena Feng’s side and grinning at her ingratiatingly: Beef, please!

"Stay here and guard the place. Don’t let anyone in." With one sentence, Ninth Royal Uncle sent the Snow Wolf from heaven to hell. The wolf stared at him in disbelief, its eyes blazing with fury.

How could they treat a wolf like this? It was just too much!

Protest!

Ninth Royal Uncle turned away indifferently, ignoring it. The Snow Wolf looked to Serena Feng: They couldn’t do this to it—it was just cruel.

"It’s actually a good idea," Serena said. "We need someone watching this place, and I don’t trust anyone but you. Be good… When I get back, I’ll bring you something tasty." Serena ignored the wolf’s pleading, cruelly sealing its fate as the one left behind.

Awooo, you can’t do this to me!

The Snow Wolf rolled around on the floor, shamelessly playing up its misery. But the two cold-hearted humans just said, "Rolling won’t help. Guard the place."

No!

The Snow Wolf scrambled to its feet and glared fiercely at Ninth Royal Uncle: If you want a wolf to work, you’d better feed it first—otherwise it might just eat someone!

This wolf really was something else. Ninth Royal Uncle shook his head in amazement. Good thing he’d come prepared, or he’d never get away from it.

"You there!" Ninth Royal Uncle called out. Two guards quickly stepped to the doorway. "At your service."

"Open the barrel." At his command, knives pried open the barrel, and soon the rich aroma of meat wafted in…

Drip, drip—the Snow Wolf’s mouth watered. With a howl, it raced outside…

So hungry!

Serena Feng sniffed, then patted her own empty stomach. Thinking of the show she was about to watch, she couldn’t sit still—she grabbed Ninth Royal Uncle and headed out.

Maybe, if she saw Jason Lan get his comeuppance, her mood would improve—and she’d finally figure out the antidote…