Chapter 178: Chapter 176: Zhao Qianqian’s Resistance

Zhao Qianqian sat dazedly in the lavishly decorated, grand room. No matter how the gentle palace maid before her tried to console her, she wouldn’t say a word or take a single bite. She sat there, expressionless, as poised as a figure in a painting.

Just then, a sharp voice came from outside. "That little girl, still refusing to eat or speak?"

A palace maid answered in a low voice, "Yes, Matron. Princess Qianqian... she hasn’t eaten or drunk anything for days. If this goes on..."

"Hmph, you people from the Cyan Dragon Kingdom are all so lowly! What damn princess? She’s nothing to me! Does she really think her body is made of gold? What a joke!"

"Matron, how can you say that?"

SLAP!

A crisp smacking sound rang out.

"You bitch! Since when do you get to tell me what to say? You have no manners! Are all you people from the Cyan Dragon Kingdom like this?" the sharp voice said, arrogant and overbearing.

From outside the door came the sound of soft sobbing.

Zhao Qianqian’s face remained wooden, without any expression, but her once-lively eyes were now filled with a furious gaze.

The door was pushed open, and a woman in her fifties walked in. She had a face full of fleshy jowls, and her vicious, cunning eyes swept a cold glance over the palace maid who had been comforting Zhao Qianqian. "You, get out!"

"Matron, His Majesty said..." The palace maid stood up, looking troubled. She seemed to be afraid of the woman.

"Don’t you dare use His Majesty to pressure me. Who the hell do you think you are? Have you forgotten which kingdom you’re from? Why be polite to a little wench from a foreign land? Hmph, if you don’t show her her place, do you think she’ll submit? Get out!"

The shrewish woman cut off the gentle palace maid and drove her out.

The Matron, with her barrel-like waist, sat down opposite Zhao Qianqian and said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, "Eat. What, do you need me to feed you?"

Zhao Qianqian lifted her head. Her strength had already reached Profound Level, Tier Five. After her Marrow Cleansing by Qin Li, her cultivation speed had become incredibly fast.

But back then, to force his sister to submit, Zhao Xinghe had given her a type of drug. After taking it, her entire body became weak, and she couldn’t muster any Primordial Power at all.

This drugging had not stopped since she arrived in the New Qin Kingdom; every time, this Matron had forced it down her throat. Thus, her hatred for this sharp-tongued, vicious old woman was absolute.

Zhao Qianqian looked coldly at the old woman and said faintly, "Aren’t you afraid? If I really have a change of heart and wholeheartedly become His Majesty’s Consort, I’ll retaliate against you. By what right do you dare to strike my people?"

"Haha, afraid? I’m scared to death!" The old woman sneered, her face full of disdain. "Little girl, I’m not afraid to tell you the truth. Retaliate against me? In your dreams! Do you know who I really am? Hmph, I am the current empress’s wet nurse! I belong to the empress! Who the hell do you think you are? Just a pitiful wretch being used as a bargaining chip!"

As the old woman spoke, another sneer appeared on her lips. She stood up with a venomous expression, leaned over Zhao Qianqian, and stared coldly into her eyes. "You’re destined for a bad end! Did you know? Something big has happened in your Cyan Dragon Kingdom. Hehe, want to know what it is?"

The old woman laughed smugly and continued, "If you want to know, then eat your food. Stop acting half-dead, and I’ll tell you!"

Zhao Qianqian gave a faint smile, her eyes holding the same disdain as she looked at the jowly old woman. "I’m not interested!"

SLAP!

The old woman raised her hand and slapped Zhao Qianqian across the face, cursing, "You bitch! Even if you don’t want to know, I’m going to tell you. Your emperor brother was killed by that man you’re rumored to be so fond of! Hehehe, how about that? Do you like hearing this news? Your second brother has taken the throne, and that little bastard who doesn’t know what’s good for him has adopted a hostile stance toward the New Qin Kingdom again. Your kingdom’s destruction is imminent! Did you really think a princess of a doomed nation has anything to be proud of?"

Zhao Qianqian’s expression finally changed. She shot to her feet, her eyes flashing with a cold, harsh light as she demanded, "Is that true?"

"Hmph, scared now, are you? Let me tell you, if you obediently listen to me, you’ll suffer less. Otherwise... I’ll make you suffer all kinds of torment in the future!" the old woman sneered venomously.

Zhao Qianqian suddenly seemed to lose all her strength and collapsed back into her chair. A deep, mocking smile slowly spread across her lips as she murmured, "Good riddance. Good riddance!"

Two streams of crystal-clear tears flowed down Zhao Qianqian’s cheeks. She still clearly remembered that night. She had been talking with her father, the emperor, about Qin Li when her brother, the Crown Prince, had burst in with a stoic-faced old man. He then pointed at their father and began to scream at him.

He demanded to know why their father was deposing him. Her father argued back, but unexpectedly, the old man suddenly struck, killing the emperor with a single, concussive palm strike. Then, her brother, the Crown Prince, had cradled their father’s body and wept, not saying a word, not even a single rebuke for the old man who had struck the blow!

’I’m not a child anymore,’ she thought. ’How could I not understand why Father died? But what can I say? And who can I tell?’

’It’s said the Zhao Family has incredibly powerful ancestors in the Mysterious Land, but how would I know how to contact them? These secrets are only known to the successive emperors.’

The moment her father died, a large part of Zhao Qianqian’s heart had died with him. She didn’t understand. ’Why would my brother have Father killed? Is power really that alluring? So alluring that it makes people disregard even familial bonds?’

She hated this older brother. She hated him for being so heartless and disloyal, hated him for having their father killed. And yet, he was still her own flesh and blood. Now, suddenly hearing of his death, Zhao Qianqian’s mind was a complete blank. She didn’t know if she should be glad that her father’s death was avenged, or sad that her family was shattered.

Looking at the pitifully beautiful Zhao Qianqian, sitting there silently weeping with a bright red handprint on her pale, delicate face, the old woman felt not a shred of sympathy. Instead, her heart was filled with the thrill of schadenfreude.

She continued to provoke her. "Well? Isn’t this news a pleasant surprise? I’ve heard that your little lover is planning to come to the New Qin Kingdom to rescue you. Tsk tsk, how touching! Too bad His Majesty has already laid an inescapable trap! If he dares to come, he’s guaranteed a death with no place for a burial! So... just give up that hope. Be a good little princess of a doomed nation!"

"Eat!" the old woman barked coldly.

Zhao Qianqian suddenly lifted her head. She raised a jade-like hand to gently rub her cheek and sneered at the old woman. "If he comes, you will die."

The old woman sneered, picked up a bowl of already-cold soup from the table, and threw it in Zhao Qianqian’s face.

Although Zhao Qianqian’s limbs were weak, her instincts as a Martial Artist were still there. She dodged, avoiding the assault, but a small amount of the soup still splashed onto her.

A fierce look came over Zhao Qianqian’s face. She grabbed a plate from the table and hurled it at the old woman. The matron was just an ordinary woman, and she never expected the little wench to dare fight back. She failed to dodge, and the plate smashed right into her face. She let out a piercing scream as various sauces dripped down her cheeks.

She roared maniacally, "You little bitch, I’m going to kill you!"

At that moment, the handmaiden Zhao Qianqian had brought with her and the gentle New Qin Kingdom maid who had been driven out quickly pushed the door open. They saw the old woman, her face and clothes covered in food and a bit of blood, charging at Zhao Qianqian with her arms flailing. The two of them rushed forward to restrain her.

The old woman struggled wildly, roaring, "You two little bitches, you dare to stop me? I’ll take care of you both today!"

Just then, Zhao Qianqian reached up and pulled a jade hairpin from her hair. Though her limbs were weak, she moved with all the speed she could muster, stepping in front of the vicious, cruel old woman. She raised her hand and viciously stabbed the jade hairpin toward the matron’s eye.

The other two never imagined Zhao Qianqian would react this way. They were too slow to stop her. All they heard was the old woman’s earth-shattering scream as one of her eyes was stabbed blind. A crazed light gleamed in Zhao Qianqian’s eyes as she yanked the hairpin out and stabbed it toward the matron’s throat!

The handmaiden Zhao Qianqian had brought with her and the other palace maid were both stunned into inaction by the scene, completely unable to react.

SHUK!

The palm-length jade hairpin sank completely into the matron’s throat. Immediately, Zhao Qianqian pulled it out and stabbed again... repeating the motion more than a dozen times.

She stabbed the venomous woman to death!

The matron’s sauce-covered face was twisted in a grotesque expression. Her wide-open eyes were filled with terror and disbelief. Blood gushed from her shredded throat.

The rage that had been building in Zhao Qianqian’s chest was finally, completely unleashed. Her once-pristine, jade-like hand was stained with blood. She collapsed to the floor, leaning against the corner of the table, her face covered in a smile of pure satisfaction.

Zhao Qianqian looked at the gentle palace maid and said, "I won’t implicate you. Go tell the empress. Tell her that her wet nurse, the noble matron of the New Qin Kingdom’s imperial harem, was killed by me."

Then, Zhao Qianqian looked apologetically at her own handmaiden and said, gasping for breath, "Min’Er, I’m sorry. I’ve gotten you involved in this."

Zhao Qianqian’s handmaiden shook her head desperately, tears streaming down her face. "Princess, I have no regrets! You’ve vented our anger, and I am grateful. I am willing to die with you!"

A faint smile hung on Zhao Qianqian’s lips. Her gaze was incomparably firm as she said, "We will not die. I believe in him. He will definitely come!"

Her handmaiden, Min’Er, asked through her tears, "The Marquis?"

"Yes!"

"But... didn’t that dead woman say the New Qin Kingdom has laid an inescapable trap?" Min’Er said, her face full of worry.

"Don’t be afraid. He will find a way!" A radiant, incomparably confident light shone on Zhao Qianqian’s face. Spattered with a few drops of blood, it gave her a strangely sacred look.

...

"I want that little bitch executed!"

From the most magnificent palace in the New Qin Kingdom’s imperial harem, a woman’s furious roar echoed.