Chapter 469: Chapter 54: You Two Should Get Married

Zhao Lingbo’s smiling face, coupled with the phrase "guess what," seemed like a malicious mockery.

In the face of such mockery, Zhao Chenlu restrained her smile and spoke words as sharp as a knife.

"Who are you to make me guess?"

Having said that, she turned around and waved to the Celestial Divine Sword: "Let’s go."

Then, she was about to step into the mirror and return to Golden Jade City.

But in reality, the woman’s attention was entirely focused on Zhao Lingbo.

She certainly wasn’t really going to leave.

Although, as she said, a mere maid like Zhao Lingbo was in no position to make her guess, on the other hand, there was nothing more important to Zhao Chenlu than Zhao Lingbo’s betrayal.

Because this was the only thing in the entire incident that caught her off guard.

She had long known that the people of Golden Jade City were dissatisfied with her, and she even more so knew that Zhao Hongwu, Zhao Hongwen, and others were constantly plotting rebellion, so when she was trapped by the Seventeen Linked Rings, she didn’t care much about these conspirators.

For someone who had always been above all on heaven and earth, even enemies were not worth her attention.

Zhao Chenlu cared about only two things. First, having made such a big blunder, would the Celestial Divine Sword look down on her? How many more obstacles would there be on her path as a Sword Scabbard? Second, why did Zhao Lingbo betray her?

Being chosen as her personal maid actually already meant that Zhao Chenlu had a considerable degree of recognition for her; among the ignorant masses, Zhao Lingbo was relatively not so stupid and was someone with whom she got along quite harmoniously and pleasantly.

Yet the personal maid she had carefully selected launched the most threatening rebellion in the past 20 years against her, putting her in a desperate situation.

If not for the intervention of the Celestial Divine Sword, Zhao Chenlu would have been suppressed in the Seventeen Linked Rings for at least ten more days before escaping, and after ten days, the Broken Moon Sword Array would have been a catastrophic disaster for her, unless she opened the Celestial Eye, she wouldn’t be able to find the Easter egg designed by Wang Jiu among the billions of stars.

This kind of desperate situation was something Zhao Chenlu never thought would happen to her; she roamed Xiangzhou with the prowess of a reincarnated powerful being, akin to an adult rampaging through a kindergarten, never expecting to stumble in this kindergarten.

Therefore, from any perspective, Zhao Chenlu couldn’t help but care about Zhao Lingbo, even more than revenge or punishment. She was actually more curious about why Zhao Lingbo did this, and how she did it—Zhao Chenlu didn’t have 100% trust in those around her, there were 2 layers of restrictions on Zhao Lingbo, each supposed to prevent betrayal, yet Zhao Lingbo easily broke free and initiated a rebellion.

However, it was absolutely impossible for Zhao Chenlu to sincerely ask Zhao Lingbo, so she played it cool, pretending to be nonchalant.

She believed Zhao Lingbo couldn’t possibly remain indifferent to her indifference.

"Wait!"

Sure enough, just as Zhao Chenlu was stepping forward, Zhao Lingbo couldn’t help but call out to her.

"You’re going to just let me go like this?!"

Zhao Chenlu turned back: "Let you go? After I leave, this space will immediately shatter. And you will vanish along with it."

Zhao Lingbo said, "Of course, I know I’m bound to die, but... just dying is a little too easy, isn’t it?"

Zhao Chenlu was somewhat surprised at the question, saying, "Indeed, those daring to raise a rebellion against me deserve to be flayed a thousand times, but... I forgive you, granting you a swift death will suffice."

"Forgive me? Impossible!" Zhao Lingbo suddenly stood up—though she ran out of strength halfway and fell back down, the fierce momentum in her eyes was unmistakable, "You would never be so soft-hearted! You’ve always been ruthless to rebels!"

Zhao Chenlu found it amusing: "It’s funny that after serving me for so many years, you would say something so absurd. Am I ruthless to rebels? Zhao Hongwu’s pathetic gathering, if I wanted to, I could have wiped them out ten times over..."

"That’s because you’ve never considered him worth your notice! He doesn’t even qualify as a rebel, but I’m different. I’ve served you for over a decade, understand too many of your secrets, and control too much of your resources... Only I can truly hurt you, threaten you, trap you in a predicament, and bring you utter humiliation!"

Zhao Chenlu nodded, "You’re right. Only someone whom I personally trained could affect me so deeply, so it’s my own fault. It has nothing to do with you and isn’t worth taking it out on you... Without me, you would most likely have married an honest cultivator from some small or medium sect by now, then settled down to a life of tending the household and raising kids. Such a person wouldn’t be worth my trouble to completely eliminate, would they?"

After speaking, Zhao Chenlu was already holding back laughter.

Of course, these were not sincere words; it was pure provocation to agitate the other’s sensitive nerves. Indeed, Zhao Lingbo took the bait, retorting furiously and indignantly, "If I were just an ordinary woman fit only to tend the household and raise kids, why did you choose me as your personal maid?"

"I just picked you at random, nothing special about it," Zhao Chenlu said. "You haven’t actually thought all these years that you were special to me, have you?"

"Impossible! You’re lying!" Zhao Lingbo, being of exceptionally strong will, refused to accept the reality, "I am indeed special to you!"

Zhao Chenlu chuckled, "In what way? Tell me."

"Ten years ago, you had me co-invest with the Yuebao Trading House in the Silver River Aquatic Products in the west of the city. We didn’t do thorough research and lost everything within half a year. When reporting it to you, you said, ’A bunch of useless people, especially you, Zhao Lingbo, particularly useless.’"

Zhao Chenlu was thoroughly flummoxed, "That counts as special!?"

"And three years ago, when I attempted to forcibly reach the Mountain-Overturning Realm during retreat and practice, I failed and ended up with an inner demon. You told me that if I wanted to die beyond my means, it was my freedom, but please stay away from the City Lord’s Mansion, so as not to pollute the environment with my corpse."

Originally, Zhao Chenlu was smiling, but seeing the Celestial Divine Sword beside her, she hurriedly explained, "I admit that it was rather cold-blooded and insensitive to say at the time..."

She didn’t finish before being interrupted by Zhao Lingbo, "And three years ago, when you said you wanted to eat truffles from Feiyan Mountain, I canceled my leave immediately and made a special trip to Luohui Valley at Feiyan Mountain to pick the finest Dragon Saliva Black Truffle for you, made truffle risotto, and then..."

Zhao Chenlu said, "And then I disliked the taste and threw the bowl at your head..."

Zhao Lingbo laughed, "And then you told me to use my brain to taste the flavors of risotto, and to remember to use my brain when cooking in the future."

Zhao Chenlu said, "I was in a bad mood at the time, indeed a bit harsh towards others..."

Zhao Lingbo said, "Yes, until a few months ago, your mood continued to worsen, and your treatment of the servants became increasingly strict. Serving by your side for over ten years felt like walking on thin ice."

Zhao Chenlu said, "So you’re blaming me for being too harsh on you, and that’s why you staged a rebellion? But I remember from a year ago, I began to restrain my attitude, became much more tolerant towards you, and hadn’t scolded you for a long time."

The bad mood that Zhao Lingbo referred to was indeed Zhao Chenlu growing increasingly restless and anxious as she searched for Wang Jiu across Xiangzhou for decades without success. As Zhao Lingbo was her personal maid, she naturally bore the brunt of much of her anger.

Objectively speaking, Zhao Chenlu wasn’t of a narrow-minded or bitter temperament. Although she often made sarcastic remarks directed at Zhao Lingbo, it wasn’t intended to deliberately humiliate her, purely casual grumbling. As for throwing the bowl, that was extremely rare—the truffle risotto Zhao Lingbo made was so intensely flavored that it turned Zhao Chenlu’s bedroom into an absolute disaster scene!

But since May 2017, after Wang Jiu awoke, Zhao Chenlu’s inexplicably irritated mood began to calm. She naturally became more lenient towards those around her, especially Zhao Lingbo, who was loyal despite years of toxic treatment, Zhao Chenlu was more or less making amends.

Yet, it was precisely at this time that Zhao Lingbo chose to launch her rebellion, a decision truly inexplicable.

After a brief silence, Zhao Lingbo said, "Yes, it’s indeed been a long time since Miss has made any sarcastic remarks at me... However, I’ve never been repulsed by Miss’s harshness, because, only when you are with me do you reveal your true nature. But later, Miss became equally kind and friendly to me and to others. Even if I made mistakes or misspoke, you just laughed it off. Especially after being injured, Miss became so kindly that it scared me."

"You’re afraid because I was a little kinder to you?"

"The old Miss, though sometimes sharp-tongued, was because I did things that made you unhappy; it was because of me that Miss became sharp... But now, no matter what I do, Miss you react the same way as if you no longer care about anyone or anything around you."

Hearing this, Zhao Chenlu couldn’t help but smile bitterly, "So you simply launched a rebellion?"

"Yes, by doing something as heinous as this, surely Miss you won’t forgive me, right?" Zhao Lingbo said, "This way, I could once again become someone unique to you."

At this point, Zhao Lingbo finally couldn’t hold back her tears.

"However, even after committing such treasonous acts, Miss you still refuse... still refuse to even look at me, or even bother punishing me much less. I ultimately have no right to stay by your side anymore."