The King is dead and the first move

"Young Hero, just like you said the King is dead."

Smiling meaningfully upon hearing those words, Yang Shen wasn't really taking pleasure in another person's death. But rather, the fact that the King was dead proved that his thoughts and the report Lunyi gave him regarding Tan Xue were both correct.

"Shall we make the details regarding Tan Xue public, Young Hero?"

Having dropped the prefix of 'lady' the moment she learned about who Tan Xue really was, there was no longer the same respect in Lunyi's voice when she talked about her.

"Why would we do that?"

"If we make it public, you'll be able to get rid of her and her son without even having to raise a finger by yourself, Young Hero."

"That's true, but who said anything about me wanting to get rid of her? Since I'm the only one who knows the truth about her, I should make good use of her first."

Speaking those words with a smile, Yang Shen didn't reveal how he wanted to find out who her 'son' really was, and how she managed to give 'birth' to someone while still remaining a virgin.

After all, all that was written in the report was the woman's past and not really much about her or what she did since entering the King's harem.

"In that case, are you going to continue remaining passive and see how the currents flow, Young Hero?"

"Hmmm… I'm not going to support any of the princes for now. But, that doesn't mean that I'm not going to do anything at all."

Standing up as he said those words, Yang Shen along with Lunyi disappeared from inside his courtyard as if they were never inside it in the first place.

…

"Sister Ai, we should leave as soon as possible."

"I know that as well, but with so many guards around and the spies of the others queens watching us closely, it's the same as trying to escape in daylight if we step out now."

"Those sluts are way too cruel, Sister Ai. Why can't they just let us leave in peace?"

Smiling wryly, the Second Queen's eyes unintentionally moved towards her daughter whom she had knocked out with her own hands.

"It isn't us that they want, but rather her. We are just the icing on the cake."

"Her? What did poor Yun do to them?"

"She did the same thing we did. She was born too beautiful for her own good."

"Those… Those bitches! They want to use her to obtain that devil's support?!"

Weakly nodding her head, Luo Ai herself wanted to curse the other queens for wanting to use her daughter to obtain one of the three Supreme Commanders' support. But, she knew deep down that if she was in any one of their shoes and had a son she wanted to see become the next King, she would have tried to do the same.

"What should we do now, Sister Ai? Can we only kill ourselves?"

"Du Ya, you don't have to stay with us. My daughter's fate has nothing to do with you. You can escape this place by yourself."

"What are you talking about Sister Ai? I consider Yun'er as my own daughter! I'd rather die before I let something happen to her!"

Feeling her heart turn warm at how there was someone like this in this place where she thought only greedy and ambitious demons existed, Luo Ai was once again reminded of her own situation as she saw the countless guards patrolling around her courtyard and felt her heart chill.

'It has been less than an hour since the news of His Majesty passing away has arrived and they're already getting ready to make a move?'

Clenching her fists hard at how all of her plans to escape this place turned for nothing because in the end she just didn't have enough strength to do so, Luo Ai was forced to start considering suicide.

After all, falling in that devil's hand was a fate not much different from dying due to how that man would kill the women while he was having sex with them to satisfy his own twisted desires.

'But…. But….'

Looking towards her daughter who had just entered her 20s and hadn't even experienced anything that life had to give to her, Luo Ai just couldn't bring herself to kill her.

She was fine with dying at any moment, but how could she kill her own daughter whose only fault was to be born as her daughter?

It was at this point that Luo Ai heard a pair of footsteps approaching her from the insides of her courtyard.

For someone to enter her courtyard without her entrance, it meant that they were at least in the Nascent Soul Realm.

Feeling despair clouding her as she got ready to commit what she considered was the worst thing any mother could do, Luo Ai saw two silhouettes walking out of the dark and stepping inside the room the three of them were in.

"Lunyi? And… Yang Shen?"

"Since the Second Queen knows who I am, my business here couldn't be any easier."

"What business?"

Glaring towards Yang Shen whom she only knew by the name until today, Luo Ai walked and stood in front of her unconscious daughter and got ready to kill her and die along with her.

"Calm down, Second Queen. I'm not here for your daughter. To be frank, you and the Ninth Queen are more to my liking than a growing girl like your daughter."

"What do you want?"

"Straight to the point? That's good. I hate beating around the bush myself. I want the three of you to come with me."