After sneaking out, Lily Bai didn’t dash off—nope, she stuck around.
Instead, she zoomed straight for Tianque Palace, hollering at the top of her lungs, "Help! Murder! The Azure Dragon Lord's killing people!"
Naturally, the palace guards tried to block her way. (Wouldn't you?)
When they asked what she was up to, Lily Bai went full drama queen—tears, snot, the works: "The Azure Dragon Lord wants to feed me to Young Lord Li Ao! I demand to see the Celestial Empress! Please, let me through!"
The two guards exchanged a look, whipped out a Messenger Charm to double-check, then waved her right in.
The second Lily Bai spotted the Celestial Empress, she cranked up the waterworks: "Empress, save me!"
The Empress arched a brow. "Lily Bai, what on earth are you doing, bawling like a banshee in my palace?"
"Empress, the Azure Dragon Lord said you wanted to give me a reward, but he tricked me here just to toss me to Young Lord Li Ao for lunch!"
The Empress lifted a brow. "A reward?"
"Totally!" Lily Bai put on her best grateful face. "Empress, honestly, keeping Ten Wilds Continent safe is everyone’s job! I’m not even close to doing enough! You really don’t have to give me anything fancy—I’m not worthy!"
The Empress’s cheek twitched. "Lily Bai, if Leo Li really ate you, you’d totally have it coming!"
"Huh?" Lily Bai blinked like a stunned goldfish. "Empress, how is that supposed to be a good thing?"
The Empress eyed her blank stare and thought, Maybe she really isn’t Lucia Lu after all?
No way Lucia Lu would ever pull such a dopey face!
"You know that big bad Bianca Whitefan? Yeah, she’s not dead," the Empress said, deadpan.
"Not dead? No way! I saw her croak with my own eyes! Then two Palace Guard commanders and Young Lord Li Ao went in to check!" Lily Bai declared, full of righteous indignation. "She’s super dead! If you don’t believe me, call—call the commanders to ask!"
"They’ve already been executed," the Empress replied, cool as ice.
Lily Bai froze for a second. "Why?"
"The Qilin Divine Clan’s soul-searching art? Nothing alive can fool their eyes," the Empress said. "Bianca Whitefan’s still kicking—she’s not dead! Those two messed up, so of course they got the boot."
"But I swear I saw her die!" Lily Bai protested, voice climbing an octave. "Seriously, what is going on here?"
"You tell me!" The Empress strode up, looming over her. "You went in there, didn’t kill Bianca Whitefan, and somehow Leo Li ended up poisoned! And now you whine that it’s unfair if I feed you to him?"
Lily Bai puffed up, righteous as ever: "First off, why blame me for his poisoning? I didn’t give him the stuff! Second, even if he eats me, it won’t fix him! So yes, I’m totally innocent—like, super wronged!"
The Empress locked eyes with her for a long moment. "Doesn’t matter. The White Clan didn’t finish what I told you to do. That’s a crime worth dying for!"
Right then, a Palace Guard burst in, announcing: "Lord Wynn Drake, his secondary consort, High God Felicity Quinn, and her mortal husband request an audience."
The Empress frowned, shot Lily Bai a look, and waved her hand. "Let them in."
But it wasn’t just those VIPs who came striding in.
Mia Quinn showed up too, looking way too excited for a crisis.
And trailing at the rear was Clarissa Summers, absolutely fuming.
"Empress!" Clarissa Summers burst in, catching the tail end of the Empress’s speech, instantly panicking. "What crime did Lily Bai even commit? First you made her kill her own Clan Ancestor, and now you’re saying my Little Fish deserves to die?"
The Empress shot her a frosty glare. "Insolence! Guards, toss this woman out!"
Two Palace Guards stepped up, ready to drag Clarissa away by the elbows.
But High God Felicity Quinn swept her sleeve, shoving the guards back, and snickered, "Wow, Empress, you sure know how to throw your weight around!"