Blocking Someone's Path

"Even at death's door, you still spout nonsense!" Henry Tuoba looked at her coldly.

You know what? Chloe Zhu loves you like crazy! When she saw you dead, she almost blew herself up just to follow you! She even kicked Evan Xiao out, swearing she'd never let him show his face again!

You two are head over heels, so why not just get together already? Emperor and Empress—what a match made in heaven! Why do you have to hog all the attention and block everyone else's way?

"Blocking other people's way?" Chloe Zhu looked at her. "No matter who I block, I surely haven't blocked your path, have I? I've never done anything to wrong you, so why betray me?"

"Betrayal?" Rona Zhu sneered. "Listen to yourself! Betrayal?

In your heart, you never saw me as your sister!

You only ever treated me like your servant, your subordinate!

You've always pitied me, thinking you were doing me a favor, so I should repay you and be loyal to you, right?

So you think, since I owe you, I should stab you in the back?

I can't stand that smug face of yours! We're supposed to be the same, but you had to go and change! You know what? Compared to Queenie Zhu, I hate you even more!

"I get it now!" Chloe Zhu said calmly. "You couldn't stand being ordinary, and you hated being looked after by someone who used to be worse off than you. So you latched onto someone stronger... Like... Sophie Shang?"

"How did you know it was her?"

"Anyone who could teach you that kind of magic can't be an ordinary person. She knows everything about me, too. Other than Sophie Shang, who used to follow Evan Xiao, there's no one else it could be."

"That's right, it's her!" Rona Zhu said. "You'll never measure up to her! Because she's not even human—she's a goddess!"

Chloe Zhu nodded, then out of nowhere grabbed Rona Zhu's jaw and shoved a red pill right in her mouth.

She still had some questions for her.

Rona Zhu was quickly overcome by the drug's effects, her eyes growing vacant.

"Rona Zhu, who do you obey?"

"Sophie Shang, the goddess."

"What did she tell you to do?"

"She helped me win Aunt Linda Yuan's trust (her birth mother, your third aunt), got me into Yan City, and used her position close to you to break you and Evan Xiao apart."

"What exactly did you do?"

"My left hand is a hundred times better at painting than my right, and nobody knows that secret. I painted pictures of you and Henry Tuoba at Spirit League Mountain and let Evan Xiao see them."

"What else?"

I paid off the palace maids to let loose a Winterbane Worm, so you'd have to run to Henry Tuoba for help. Then she dragged Evan Xiao over to stir up drama and make you two suspicious of each other.

"So that was you guys too?"

"Yes."

Chloe Zhu took a deep breath and asked the question she most wanted answered: "So, was the Immortal Love Hex Sophie Shang's doing?"

"What's the Immortal Love Hex?" Rona Zhu shook her head. "Never heard of it."

Chloe Zhu frowned.

She really wanted to know who put the Immortal Love Hex on Evan Xiao.

She thought she could get a clue from Rona Zhu, but it turned out she didn't know.

But that doesn't mean Sophie Shang wasn't involved.

Maybe Sophie Shang just didn't let her take part.

Chloe Zhu took a deep breath and asked, "What did Sophie Shang give you in return?"

She taught me dark magic, and now I'm super strong! Tomorrow, she's coming to send me to the Blighted Wilds, and I'll be unstoppable! No one will ever mess with me or look down on me again!