Who said the eldest daughter is crazy? She's clearly a woman of high rank and influence in the

Before the two sorcerers beside him could even react, the dark current of the array pattern, after losing the bone talisman, swirled back wildly like a snake with its head severed, flowing upwards along the caster's own meridians.

The light on the black jade platform turned blindingly pale in an instant, as if it had been torn apart from the inside by something, and then the entire array plate shattered. Fragments of black jade broke apart, one of which embedded itself in the temple of the left sorcerer. He knelt on the ground, his forehead touching the earth, and did not rise again.

The sorcerer on the right was thrown back by the force of the backlash, his back slamming into the stone wall, the sound of his neck breaking was particularly clear in the empty underground chamber.

Overnight, the last three surviving elders of the sorcerer family all perished.

The candlelight in the basement was extinguished by the backlash of the air currents, plunging the entire mansion into thick darkness, leaving only the shattered fragments of black jade gleaming with a faint, ember-like red glow on the ground.

The lamp in the Empress's palace suddenly flickered violently a moment after midnight.

The Empress awoke with a start from her bed, put on her outer robe, and went to the window. She looked out and saw a faint, dark red light flash across the night sky above the mansion in the south of the city, before it went out completely.

Her fingers gripped the window frame tightly; she could feel the shock of the broken connection, a sharp pain emanating from the depths of her soul. She swayed, raising her hand to brace herself against the window frame to avoid falling.

"How could this be..." Her voice was squeezed out from between her teeth, as thin as a thread stretched to its limit, "How could her soul possibly return to its original place..."

The lights in the main courtyard of Prince Chen's mansion were still on.

Xi Yueli sat under the lamp. The dark current that had been probing earlier had completely dissipated after hitting the barrier of the Nine Heavens Hairpin, like a drop of ink falling into boiling water, leaving no trace.

She lowered her head and glanced at her hand holding the case file. Her fingertips were steady and calm, without the slightest tremor.

She knew that the four fragments in her body had been completely nailed to the foundation of her main soul by the Nine Heavens Hairpin, and even the roots had grown into them. The tendrils left on her body by the sorcerer family's formation had been completely burned away in the backlash just now.

She stood up, walked to the window, and opened it. The late winter night wind blew in and blew on her face, carrying a damp feeling, like the moisture seeping into the air when the snow is about to melt.

She reached out and touched the Nine Heavens Hairpin in her hair. The hairpin was still warm, but at the end of the hairpin, there was a fine line that she had never noticed before, which was shining very faintly, like a mark that was slowly emerging.

She walked to the bronze mirror and turned her head to look. In the center of the person's brow, a very faint phoenix pattern was faintly emerging in the light of the interplay between sunlight and candlelight, like a birthmark that had been relit, slowly showing through the skin.

The courtyard gate was kicked open at that moment.

When Helian Jing rushed in, the corners of his robes were still covered in dust stirred up by the night wind, and the guards behind him were left outside the moon gate.

His gaze swept across the entire room, finally settling on the figure standing in front of the bronze mirror. He strode over and grabbed her wrist.

Then he touched her from head to toe, his hand finally stopping at the back of her neck, his palm covering that warm skin, as if making a final confirmation.

Xi Yueli froze for a moment when he touched her, and the case file in her hand slipped to her feet. After she came to her senses, she slapped his hand away, her voice filled with annoyance that welled up after being caught off guard and touched all over: "Dirty."

Helian Jing didn't let go. He grabbed her hand that was patting him, their fingers intertwined tightly, with more force than she had expected. His palm was burning hot, carrying the coolness of the night breeze and the panting from running all the way, but his breathing was slowly calming down.

He looked down at her, his gaze moving from the phoenix pattern between her brows to the Nine Heavens hairpin in her hair that was still faintly shining, then back to her eyes, his voice hoarse as if he had just surfaced from some deep water.

"You scared me to death!"

Helian Jing grabbed her hand and pulled her half a step closer to him, his forehead resting against her shoulder. The night breeze blowing in from the window stirred a few strands of his loose hair.

His palm was still holding her knuckles, dry and sweaty, then slowly cooled by the night breeze.

Xi Yueli looked down at the stray hairs falling over his shoulders. She tilted her head slightly, her lips almost touching the top of his head, "When did Your Highness become so timid? Isn't the Lord of Tian Shu decisive and ruthless—"

She paused, her gaze falling on his white knuckles. "A man who wouldn't even blink when a knife was held to his throat is now terrified by a mere array."

Helian Jing didn't look up; his voice came muffledly from under her shoulder, carrying a frankness that he had suppressed for a long time before finally letting out.

"I never knew how to write 'worry' before, nor did I know what fear felt like. You taught me these two things."

"Because I cherish it the most, I fear losing it the most. When that light just now appeared, my heart skipped a beat. I wondered if you had been caught in the backlash of the formation."

Helian Jing lifted his head from her shoulder and looked at her. Those eyes, which were always distant and indifferent, were so close, less than a hand's width apart. He looked at her, whether she mocked him or laughed at him, he had no intention of taking it back now that he had said it.

Xi Yueli looked at him and just felt like kissing him, so she kissed him.

She leaned forward half an inch, raised her hand and held the back of his neck, her five fingers threading through his hair to close around him. Her lips pressed against his, more firmly than at Zuixianlou, and deeper than in the carriage.

He kissed her back, and she felt his hand, which was holding her knuckles, tighten, his fingertips sinking into the gaps between her fingers, making their fingers interlock again.

He wanted more. His hand slid up half an inch from her waist, his palm pressing against her lower back through her clothes, pulling her into his arms.

Xi Yueli did not let him continue. She released her grip on the back of his neck and instead pressed against his chest, giving him a gentle push.

The push wasn't forceful, but her entire aura had changed. After her five souls returned to their places, the certainty emanating from her very bones carried an aura of dominance that looked down upon all living beings.

Helian Jing was pushed back half a step by her, his back pressed against the edge of the bed. Before he could regain his balance, she took half a step forward, placed one hand on his chest, and pressed him down into the bedding on the bed.

She leaned down, one hand supporting herself on his ear, the other hand resting on the edge of his shirt at his waist, slightly gathering it.

Xi Yueli looked down at him, the phoenix pattern between her brows glowing faintly in the candlelight, illuminating her entire face with the clarity and certainty that only a complete soul could possess.

"I have everything in this world under my control, and there is no challenge to me—" She tilted her head slightly, and the Nine Heavens Hairpin in her hair gleamed warmly in the candlelight, clearly illuminating the smile in her eyes.

"Only matters of love can still win my favor." She leaned down, her lips close to his ear, her voice low, the last syllable carrying a warmth soaked by candlelight and the night, "I'll allow you to stay on the bed for now."