I became the tyrant's only belief.

Chapter 438 When Something Happens, We'll Really Go For It

Chu Liuzheng curiously flipped through the pages.

[Funny! It turns out that Brother Qi is actually the young master of the General's Mansion who was kidnapped by human traffickers. The day after Miss Yingying was taken away, a loyal servant from the General's Mansion came to the door and confirmed Brother Qi's identity through his birthmark, bringing him back to the capital to be recognized by his ancestors.]

[Tsk, if this had happened a few days earlier, Yingying might not have had to enter the palace. Emperor Shouchang would have at least given the General's Mansion some face. What a twist of fate!]

[Young Master Qi harbored a deep grudge against the one who stole his wife. After being recognized by his ancestors, he worked tirelessly to learn martial arts while using the General's Mansion's influence to investigate Yingying's whereabouts. Unfortunately, his investigation led him to Emperor Shouchang, where he overheard the news of Yingying's miscarriage.]

Good heavens, Brother Qi was so angry he almost went crazy. The girl he cherished, who was also his savior, was treated so coldly and even caused him to miscarry. Who could bear that?

The seeds of hatred began to take root and sprout, which led to the birth of Yiyi.

【Miss Yiyi is quite the troublemaker. Under Qi Xiaoge's instigation, she relentlessly targets Miss Yingying. After several false accusations, Emperor Shouchang is extremely disappointed in Miss Yingying, feeling that she is no longer the simple and kind woman he once loved. He ruthlessly banishes her to the Cold Palace.】

[Oh my god, is the next scene going to be Qi Xiaoge rescuing Yingying from the cold palace?]

Chu Liuzheng flipped through the pages as he guessed.

Wow! Just as I thought! Brother Qi is something else! He really managed to rescue her, and even set up a secret stash, planning to change her identity and marry her properly once things calm down.

[It's a pity that Yingying was hurt too deeply by the dog emperor. Although she is grateful for everything Qi Xiaoge did for her, she cannot accept other feelings for the time being, and she also feels that she is not a virgin and is not good enough for Qi Xiaoge. She tried to commit suicide several times but was saved each time. Under Qi Xiaoge's care, she slowly regained her hope for life.]

[Next is... well, at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, Emperor Shouchang drank too much and suddenly remembered Yingying's good qualities. He went to the Cold Palace to see her, only to receive news of her death. Emperor Shouchang was furious and couldn't accept this fact... Bah! Why didn't you cherish her when she was alive? What's with the anger!]

Chu Liuzheng rolled her eyes inwardly and quickly flipped through the pages.

[Frog Fun! Does this have to be so melodramatic? Emperor Shouchang, don't you have any sense of responsibility as an emperor? Instead of staying in the palace with your harem during the New Year, what are you doing wandering the streets? Now look what's happened! You bump into Brother Qi and Miss Yingying together, and you immediately think you've seen a ghost, but you still can't resist being jealous, so you give an order and snatch them away.]

[Well, Qi Xiaoge really lost it this time. He got into a fight with Emperor Shouchang's bodyguards right there in the street, and then... uh, he got beaten up like a pig's head???]

Chu Liuzheng, who was looking forward to seeing Qi Xiaoge dominate the battlefield, was speechless.

She blinked, choosing to skip over this tragic past and continue reading.

[The clever girl, Yingying, kept insisting that Emperor Shouchang had mistaken her for someone else, pretending not to know him, and begged him to let her go back. Emperor Shouchang, overjoyed to have her back, naturally refused and took her straight back to the palace.]

[Brother Qi was kept at home by his family for almost half a year. When he was finally released, he heard the news that Yingying was pregnant again. Oh my god, if I were Brother Qi, my heart would break! I'd roll up my sleeves and give them a piece of my mind!]

Xiao Jingfan glanced at Chu Liuzheng secretly. If this woman had been born a boy, she would definitely have been a passionate lover.

Chu Liuzheng inwardly cursed Emperor Shouchang on behalf of the lovers, Qi Xiaoge and Yingying, when she suddenly realized that after watching for so long, she had only seen the melodramatic romance and hadn't seen how Guiyun City had become independent.

Lunch was coming up soon, followed by a nap, so there wasn't much time to waste. She quickly started searching, skimming through the pages and focusing on keywords, finally figuring out the whole story.

So all I got after all that time was the rind? Guiyun City has absolutely nothing to do with Brother Qi and Miss Yingying; it was Miss Yiyi who created it.

[This girl is something else! She's quick to take advantage of any benefits and incredibly proactive when it comes to trouble. While those three were agonizing over their love triangle, she quietly adopted a hostage prince who was being bullied in the palace as her younger brother.]

After the hostage returned home and became emperor, he turned against Da Sheng. Without a word, Yi Yi packed her bags and personally went to deal with her brother. When Emperor Shouchang personally led the campaign, Yi Yi dragged her adopted brother by the ear before him to apologize, and miraculously won the battle without losing a single soldier.

Emperor Shouchang was deeply moved. When he heard that the hostage wanted to cede a city to Miss Yiyi, he not only generously promised that the Great Sheng would protect Guiyun City in times of trouble, but also issued an imperial edict that his descendants must not interfere in any affairs within Guiyun City for any reason, otherwise they would be disrespecting their ancestors.

[Miss Yiyi never had children of her own, only adopting a daughter. She passed the city of Guiyun to her adopted daughter, establishing an ironclad rule: every lord of Guiyun City must be a woman; otherwise, the Great Sheng Dynasty has the right to reclaim Guiyun City. This rule, stamped with the national seal, still hangs in the ancestral hall of the city lord's mansion, serving as a reminder to every successor.]

Upon seeing this, Chu Liuzheng couldn't help but smack his lips, feeling a deep sense of admiration for Miss Yiyi.

How difficult it must be for an emperor to recognize the independent regime of a city! She believed there must be many details she hadn't found, but compared to the result, the process didn't seem so important.

If she had the chance, she would definitely go to Guiyun City to pay her respects to the portrait of Miss Yiyi hanging in the ancestral hall.

*
The message arrived in the afternoon via carrier pigeon.

The words on the scroll were brief, yet they revealed a great deal of information.

The current city lord of Guiyun City is surnamed Zhuang, named Linghan. She is twenty-five years old this year, extremely talented, and rose to power through her own strength.

She was approachable and would personally inspect the city every month, showing concern for the people and earning their deep affection.

Under her rule, Guiyun City, while not exactly a place where people would pick up lost items on the road or leave their doors unlocked at night, still had surplus grain in every household, and the people lived happy and peaceful lives.

The only drawback is that this Lady Zhuang is somewhat lecherous, as can be seen from her eleven male concubines.

There is even a rumor that four years ago, when Prince Li went to Mengzhou to take up his fief, he passed through Guiyun City. The city lord Zhuang fell in love with him at first sight and wrote eighteen love poems for him on the spot. These poems are still widely circulated in Guiyun City and are one of the ten most beautiful stories in Guiyun City.

When King Xiao and his entourage passed through Guiyun City, they did not intend to enter the city. However, the city lord Zhuang personally came out of the city to invite them, and they could not refuse his hospitality, so they entered the city.

Unexpectedly, halfway through the banquet, Lord Zhuang suddenly made a high-profile declaration of love to King Xiao, writing eighteen love poems on the spot and stacking them one by one in front of King Xiao.

It is said that King Xiao's face darkened immediately, while King Li seemed to be gloating and even egging him on.

(End of this chapter)