Ivy Shen’s reaction was so intense that Luna, standing nearby, couldn’t help but take notice. She clearly saw the shock on Ivy’s face and started wondering—could it be that what the Saint said was true? Had she really been possessed by a ghost, and was now startled to hear a Saint had arrived?
Just then, Liam Willow and Official Gavin Gao slowly walked in. The moment Liam entered, his heart started pounding like crazy. Seeing Ivy’s pale, exhausted face made it hard for him to breathe—he rushed over, eyes full of worry, and stared at her anxiously.
Ivy, seeing Liam show up alone, was completely stunned. Since when did this bookworm get so gutsy?
“Vengeful ghost, how dare you—show your true form!” Liam blurted out, his voice shaky with excitement. Next second, he whipped out a little pouch, rummaged inside, and slapped a yellow talisman right onto Ivy’s forehead. Then, dramatically glancing back at everyone, he shouted, “Quick, out! Let me perform the ritual and talk to this ghost!”
“Huh? We can’t stay here?” Luna blinked, confused. But Official Gavin Gao didn’t waste a second—he backed out fast. He’d never believed in ghosts before, but the Saint’s predictions had matched exactly what the Empress said, so maybe ghosts were real after all. Better safe than sorry!
“Um… This Saint needs to communicate with the ghost. If you’re all here, how can she show herself?” Liam protested loudly, his face turning red.
Luna frowned, still not getting it, but the Empress had told her to respect whatever the Saint said, so whatever—she’d just wait outside. He wouldn’t dare pull anything funny, right? She waved to the others: “Let’s wait outside!” And with that, Luna led the way out.
Nina Xu glanced back, uneasy. What was up with this ghost stuff? What kind of drama was this supposed to be?
Even though she had tons of questions, seeing everyone else head out, Nina had no choice but to follow. Luna was the Empress’s favorite, so if she brought people, the order must’ve come straight from the Empress herself. Still, something felt off. Nina took a deep breath and told herself it was fine—they were just outside the door. With her skills, if a fight broke out, she’d hear it for sure. She quickly called to Ivy, "Sheng’er, if you feel bad, just shout!"
Ivy nodded in response. She knew exactly what Nina meant—she was just worried, that’s all.
"Spring Blossom, why are you still here?" Seeing his 'maid' just standing there spacing out, Xu Ning had to call out to her.
Seeing this, Nightfall glanced at Ivy Shen, noticed her worried gaze locked on him, then looked at the suddenly-appearing Liam Willow. He was totally confused—wasn’t this guy supposed to be stuck in Draken City? Why did he suddenly barge into the palace, and why was he tangled up with the Empress? And what’s with this ghost business?!
Right now, if it weren’t for all these people around, Nightfall would’ve grilled him for answers on the spot!
Once outside, Silver Consort’s heart was still tangled with worry. She turned her head and said to Luna, "I’m going to check on the Crown Prince. You all lost track of him—I’m really anxious."
Luna nodded, "Okay, be careful." From Silver Consort’s words, she could tell the woman was really worried about the Crown Prince. Instead of letting her space out here, it was better to let her check if he was safe. After all, they hadn’t seen him at all on the way over!
"Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon." As long as she confirmed the Crown Prince was safe, she’d return right away. Sure, she’d promised to look after Ivy, but that only worked if he was safe—otherwise, what’s the point?
So the group just waited outside. Right then, a guard in unusual clothes walked over, and Luna hurried up to meet him.
"General Du." Luna greeted him politely.
"Miss Luna, I just received a secret order from Her Majesty the Empress. I’ve mobilized three hundred thousand guards. How should we deploy them?"
Hearing this, Luna led General Du aside and carefully relayed all of Empress Cao Wan’er’s instructions, including the suspicion that there might be assassins lurking in the palace.
Meanwhile—
"Wifey..." As soon as everyone left, Liam Willow rushed to her bedside, whispering urgently. Thank goodness Butterfly Rogue had sketched her disguised face for him—he’d been dying to see her for ages!
"Liam?" Seeing his eyes rimmed red, Ivy Shen’s heart squeezed painfully. She had a million things to say, but where was she supposed to start?
"Wifey, wifey, I missed you so much..." Liam clung to her hand, sniffling quietly. How long had it been? He’d lost track. Every day without her felt like a whole year.
Seeing this, Ivy snapped herself out of it—now was NOT the time for a reunion. "Why are you here? And why are you with Luna?"
Liam quickly summarized everything, then added, "Don’t worry about me, wifey. I’ll protect myself. When the Empress asks me to pray for the Crown Prince, I’ll tell everyone at the Heavenly Altar what kind of monster Jude Song really is."
"Are you insane?!" Ivy was so shocked she nearly fell off the bed.
"No, wifey. Out of all your husbands, I’m the most useless. This is all I can do for you. The people trust me, so they’ll believe what I say. Besides, it’s the truth." Liam looked stubborn as heck.
"Nonsense! You’re the most talented one of them all—who said you’re useless?" Ivy snapped, then glared. "Liam Willow, I swear, if you go blabbing at the Heavenly Altar, I’ll hate you this life, next life, and every life after. And I’ll NEVER love you again!"
"Uh..." Liam was instantly speechless.
Seeing his face, Ivy reached out and grabbed his hand, giving him a soft smile. "We’re gonna be fine. We’ve still got a long, long road ahead—how could you ditch me halfway? Could you really bear to leave me behind?"
Hearing that, Liam’s tears started falling again, his heart filling up with warm fuzzies.
"You’ve seen me now, so promise me—you’ll get out of the palace safe and sound. I’ll join up with you guys soon. And as for the big reveal, you’ve gotta tell everyone, but NOT right now." She looked up, suddenly serious. "You’re super important. With all those followers, you’re the one who’ll tell the story later. So you can’t do anything reckless, got it?"
Liam nodded like mad. "Got it. I won’t die. We’ve still got tons of adventures ahead." He took a deep breath. "I’ll wait for you to get out so we can go to the Martial Conference together. The others already went ahead."
"Huh?" Ivy frowned, secretly thinking, Yup, called it. These idiots all snuck in here behind each other!
"Don’t worry about them, wifey. They’re all safe and already headed to the Martial Conference. Me... well, I wanted to—but now I’ve decided I want to stick with you. Even if I have to die, I wanna die together with you." Liam’s eyes sparkled with hope.
"Heck yeah, that’s the spirit!" Suddenly, a head popped out from under the quilt, nearly scaring Liam into a scream.
"E-Ethan Chu?!" Liam stared, eyes wide in disbelief at the man before him. Wasn’t he supposed to be back in the Chu Kingdom? How the heck did he end up under the covers?!
"Hey, Liam, who’d have thought you’d sneak in here just like me, huh?" Ethan said, face a little red.
Seeing this, Ivy reached out and pinched his handsome face hard. "Behave, or do you have a death wish?!"
Ethan pouted, looking totally wronged. Of course, Liam had no clue why his wifey was so mad!
"Shh, I hear something." Suddenly, Ivy sensed a faint movement at the window. She pressed Ethan’s head down, shoving him back under the covers, while Liam quickly furrowed his brow and started fake-chanting, "Namo Amitabha..."
Ivy’s brow stayed furrowed. She could clearly hear the window shifting—whoever was coming had serious skills, because the sound was barely audible. Then, a flash of gray guard’s uniform appeared. Ivy cursed inwardly: Crap, did Cao Wan’er send an assassin?!
But just as she tensed up to fight, the figure stopped moving. Then, a ridiculously handsome, devilish face slowly peeked in, looking super cautious—as if checking things out.
Ivy sucked in another breath. Oh hell no, why is THIS demon here too?!