Fairy, please don't do this!

Why was it changed to dark red?

'Was this a deliberate change to prevent me from discovering that it was a demon within my own mind?'

As Gu Jinzhao thought about it, he raised his hand and grasped that jade foot.

The soles of my feet felt slightly warm, my skin was smooth, and it exuded a faint fragrance.

When his thumb landed on the soft sole of her foot and pressed down lightly, Xiao Qingyi's delicate body trembled slightly.

"Hmm~"

A blush spread across her flawless cheeks, and she couldn't help but let out a soft hum.

Was the force too great?

Gu Jinchao paused, then asked with feigned concern.

Noticing his strange gaze, Xiao Qingyi felt so ashamed she wanted to disappear, and could only feign indifference: "It's acceptable!"

"That's good!"

Gu Jinchao lowered his eyelids, slightly raised the corners of his lips, and began to slowly push and press upwards along the inside of his foot with his thumb.

When it comes to foot massage techniques, he is quite an expert.

After all, he had often massaged Aunt Ruo before.

I never expected that I would become the Empress Dowager's personal technician.

Xiao Qingyi's breathing became visibly rapid under his continued massage.

The already heavy and chaotic breaths lost all rhythm and became short and abrupt.

Her graceful body, wrapped in a phoenix skirt, was taut, especially her delicate toes, which were being kneaded by Gu Jinzhao.

Xiao Qingyi changed the subject, hoping to suppress her shame: "Let's talk about the mummified corpse case in Baihua County!"

"Actually, there's not much to say."

"It's just the Underworld Cult causing trouble."

Gu Jinzhao naturally saw through her thoughts and deliberately said that.

As she spoke, she vigorously scraped the smooth indentation between her toes!

Xiao Qingyi's eyes flickered, and she almost let out a soft groan, but fortunately she pursed her red lips in time.

That bastard, he definitely did it on purpose.

Xiao Qingyi forcibly suppressed the urge to kick him away, and coldly squeezed out a single word: "Speak!"

"It's a long story."

"How about... I get to the point?"

Gu Jinchao asked tentatively.

A gentleman doesn't leave a grudge unavenged!

This woman almost strangled him to death just now, so it's only reasonable for him to ask for some interest back.

Enraged, Xiao Qingyi's body radiated murderous intent. Her slender hand, hidden beneath her wide sleeves, clenched quietly as she said, word by word, "I want to know the specific plans of the Underworld God Sect this time, so that I can take precautions if similar situations arise in the future."

"Your Majesty is wise and far-sighted."

Gu Jinzhao knew when to stop, lest he really provoke people.

He cleared his throat, straightened his expression, and began to recount the story: "This matter must begin when I first arrived in Baihua County and took over the case of the mummified corpse..."

From the moment he stepped into the Dugu residence and noticed Madam Dugu's unusual behavior and her secret seduction, to the discovery that Dugu Wang was actually a cuckold, he recounted every detail clearly and without omission.

Xiao Qingyi glanced at him and suddenly interrupted, "Since Madam Dugu has offered herself up, why don't you eat her?"

Gu Jinzhao was slightly taken aback, and asked in return, "Why do you want to eat?"

Xiao Qingyi's lips curled into a mocking smile: "Aren't all men lustful?"

This statement is a sweeping generalization about all men.

He is Gu Jinchao, of course... too!

But his immediate superior, Chen Qingfeng, was not.

Because he was not interested in women, but rather in men...

Chapter 126, The Empress Dowager Can't Hold Back Anymore (3K)

Gu Jinzhao understood why Xiao Qingyi held such prejudice against all men.

It was only because the late Emperor Ji Huancang was licentious and tyrannical during his reign, neglecting state affairs, and even set up a special "Flower Selection Office" to select beauties from five provinces to fill the harem.

At that time, the Cangyue Dynasty was at war with the Northern Desert Demon Court. The demons learned of this and secretly sent someone to infiltrate the Detective Academy and plant the [Ten Thousand Demon Blood Poison] in the body of one of the selected beauties using a secret method.

This poison is forged from the essence and blood of ten thousand poisonous demons, making it insidious and domineering.

Even a second-grade cultivator at the Dao-seeking realm would find it difficult to escape death if poisoned by this poison.

Whenever the bomb is planted at point B, it almost always hits its target, and Ji Huancang is no exception.

Fortunately, although he was only a third-rank cultivator, he was protected by the imperial dynasty's fortune, which allowed him to barely suppress the poison.

After trying countless elixirs and secret methods to no avail, he had no choice but to seek help from the Imperial Censor Xuan Ye.

Xuan Ye's answer was: blood transfusion!

However, the Ji royal family has a special bloodline, and all of their cultivation is tied to it.

If one were to exchange blood with an ordinary person, not only would one lose all cultivation, but one would also suffer a backlash from the dynasty's fortune.

Therefore, his gaze fell on Xiao Qingyi, the legitimate daughter of the Xiao family who had revived the bloodline of the Human Emperor.

As descendants of the emperor, their bloodline is noble enough to bear the dynasty's fortune.

Ji Huancang knew that if he directly asked the Xiao family for a blood transfusion, he would be refused.

Because the Xiao family are descendants of the Empress, they value bloodline inheritance above all else, regarding it as their lifeblood.

Therefore, he came up with a plan that would satisfy both sides.

Xiao Qingyi was welcomed into the palace and made empress.

Although the Xiao family was the most prominent family in Jiangnan, they dared not defy the imperial authority and could only agree.

After Xiao Qingyi entered the palace, Ji Huancang's body was already too poisonous to be suppressed. He then dismissed the court that day on the grounds of serious illness, and the Crown Prince took over the reins of government. Xuan Ye, the supervisor of the palace, presided over the blood exchange ceremony.

However, the ending was already predetermined.

Xiao Qingyi displayed her terrifying martial arts prowess at the peak of the first rank, leaving Ji Huancang with barely any health. Then she waited for the demonic poison to fully take effect, sending this debauched emperor to his death.

With that, the Emperor died!

Subsequently, the Second Prince colluded with the Underworld Cult, and the Third Prince joined forces with the Prince of Zhenbei to kill the Crown Prince, thus igniting a full-blown battle for the throne.

Unexpectedly, in the end, Xiao Qingyi, the "fisherman," reaped the benefits and seized power.

Gu Jinchao even suspected that all of this was a scheme set up by Xuan Ye, with the aim of replacing Ji Huancang, this incompetent ruler.

Otherwise, with their unfathomable and mysterious causal techniques, how could they not have detected the demon race's conspiracy at all?

That so-called blood transfusion method is probably just going with the flow.

As for why Xiao Qingyi was chosen in particular, perhaps Xuan Ye deduced something through the art of cause and effect.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Gu Jinchao composed himself and replied seriously, "Many men may be lustful, but they should always have some bottom line and not be indiscriminate in their pursuit of women."

Xiao Qingyi raised her eyebrows slightly: "Is Madam Dugu ugly?"

"To the average person, she could be considered stunningly beautiful." Gu Jinzhao carefully chose his words: "But to this humble servant, she is merely average and has no particular appeal."

"Oh?" Xiao Qingyi's eyes flickered, her tone revealing no emotion: "You mean, you've seen even more stunning beauties, so you look down on her?"

As she spoke, she lifted her other jade-like foot and placed it on Gu Jinzhao's leg.

The meaning couldn't be clearer: this one also needs to be served.

"I have indeed seen more stunning ones."

Gu Jinzhao held her slender calf with one hand and took her soft and smooth jade foot into his palm, kneading it gently.

The warm touch from the soles of her feet made Xiao Qingyi's cheeks flush slightly. She casually asked, "Who is it?"

Gu Jinzhao did not want to mention the woman beside him, and only vaguely replied, "This humble servant does not know the name of that fairy. It was just a chance encounter, a fleeting glimpse."

Xiao Qingyi was slightly taken aback upon hearing this.

For some reason, she had a vague feeling that the stunningly beautiful woman Gu Jinzhao had mentioned might be her.

After all, she still clearly remembered the stunned and bewildered look on the man's face when he first glimpsed her true appearance in the realm of her mind.

Suddenly, Xiao Qingyi noticed that Gu Jinzhao's kneading movements had stopped. The lust that had not been completely suppressed was beginning to spread again, so she couldn't help but snort coldly: "Why did you stop?"

"I was just wondering if I should use my spiritual power to make it more comfortable."

Gu Jinzhao coughed lightly and quickly explained.

He had realized that the madness and lust within Xiao Qingyi had probably reached an extremely dangerous level, like a volcano about to erupt, which could get out of control at any moment.

If my previous guess was correct, this demonic quality is indeed related to one's cultivation level.

The higher the realm, the harder it is to suppress, and the more terrifying the backlash.

"Then let's use spiritual power."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Qingyi glanced at him with her pale golden eyes but did not object.

"Yes."

Gu Jinzhao responded and gripped those flawless white jade feet again.

Fingertips gently massaged her smooth, creamy skin, gliding over her delicate, jade-like toes.

Then, he placed his thumb and forefinger on the sole of his foot, pressed it against the Yongquan acupoint, gathered spiritual energy in his fingertips, and pressed down with a little force.

"Um……"

The jade foot in his palm trembled suddenly, and the pair of slender jade legs resting on his knees tensed up instantly, with the ten pearl-like jade toes curling up tightly.

"My lady..."

Gu Jinzhao looked up in confusion and happened to catch a glimpse of a blush rising on the fair cheek that was half covered by a mask. The blush was as bright as rouge, and the pale golden phoenix eyes were covered with a layer of shimmering mist.

Before he could say anything more, a fair and delicate foot kicked him in the chest!

boom--

With a muffled thud, he was sent flying backward as if struck by a battering sledgehammer, crashing through the gates of the Jinglan Palace.

Then it traced a graceful arc in the air and crashed into the garden.

At this moment, Jing Shu was holding a jade pot and carefully watering several precious orchids.

The flowers, in all their vibrant colors, were in full bloom under the morning light, and the air was filled with a sweet and delicate fragrance.

Suddenly, a figure flew out headfirst, landing squarely in the soft soil with a soft thud.

Most of its body was buried inside, with only its two legs hanging outside, resembling a newly planted "human-shaped flower".

Jing Shu: "???"

She paused, stopped what she was doing, and carefully examined the familiar white tiger-striped official uniform before asking uncertainly, "Commander Gu?"

"it's me!"

Upon hearing this, a muffled voice came from beneath the "flower": "Aunt Jing Shu... please lend a hand... pull me out..."

Despite her surprise, Jing Shu still gently raised her hand, and her spiritual power transformed into a long rope, which she used to lasso Gu Jinzhao and pull him out.

"Cough cough... Ptooey! Ptooey!"

Gu Jinchao steadied himself and hurriedly spat out the mud and grass roots that had gotten into his mouth.

His face turned slightly pale, and he felt a churning, throbbing pain in his chest, making it difficult to breathe.

That powerful kick from the God of War was truly terrifying.

Fortunately, Xiao Qingyi stopped at the last moment, otherwise she would have died on the spot.