Empress Xiao Yanran sat up, rubbed her eyes, and was filled with doubt.
How did I fall asleep at the writing desk?
And why am I covered in sweat?
The Imperial Palace is clearly cool at night, so why are my clothes soaked with sweat?
After standing up, Xiao Yanran discovered that her dress seemed not to be soaked with sweat.
There was also a strange sweet, fishy smell—not the scent of blood, nor the scent of sweet tea.
Xiao Yanran vaguely knew what had happened.
It was a dream.
She had been dreaming.
Xiao Yanran got up and returned to the room. Without alerting the palace maids, she changed her clothes herself.
Suddenly, Xiao Yanran felt that something seemed to be flowing over her hand.
Yet when she looked closely, there seemed to be nothing at all.
Could it have been an illusion?
The Empress angrily flung open the cabinet door and muttered inwardly, “What the hell was that?”
With a sound, the wardrobe door shattered with a crash, and splintered pieces of wood fell to the ground.
Hearing the commotion in the imperial bedchamber, two female guards rushed into the room like the wind. “Your Majesty, are you all right?”
The Empress stood beside the wardrobe, staring blankly at her hand. With an expressionless face, she said, “I’m fine.”
The female guards still wanted to speak, but Xiao Yanran impatiently said, “All of you, leave. Do not come in without my summons!”
The guards glanced at the wooden fragments on the ground, assumed the Empress was throwing things in anger, and hurriedly took their leave.
After the guards had left, Xiao Yanran clenched her delicate fist and stood still for a moment before punching the wardrobe!
“Crack!”
The sturdy wooden cabinet door was shattered by a single punch from the Empress!
Xiao Yanran’s face was filled with disbelief.
Why did she, who had not the slightest foundation in martial arts, possess enough power to shatter a wooden board with one punch?
Xiao Yanran remembered that dream from earlier.
In the dream, Liang Zhu was holding her and making all kinds of poses.
Those poses seemed like cultivation practice, but there was none of the pain of cultivation practice. Instead, they made one feel light, comfortable, and relaxed.
Could all of this be related to Liang Zhu?
Thinking of this, the Empress could not help but laugh in spite of herself.
He was only a little eunuch. How could he possibly help her through a dreamscape?
The Empress changed into clean clothes and lay on the bed, wanting to fall asleep, but she felt completely refreshed, with all her usual fatigue swept away.
Xiao Yanran was quite delighted. She got out of bed, went to the writing desk, and continued working.
To her surprise, even after working all night, she still did not feel tired.
When Xiao Meiyue came over at dawn to attend to her dressing, she kept praising Xiao Yanran for looking radiant.
The Empress looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her cheeks were tinged with two rosy blushes, and her eyes gleamed with captivating beauty.
Although she did not know why any of this had happened, the Empress was still extremely happy.
That happiness did not last long.
When the Empress walked out of the imperial bedchamber, she immediately saw Little Pillar in the crowd.
Little Pillar was exceptionally conspicuous: while the other palace maids and eunuchs all stooped and hunched over, ready to kneel at any moment, Little Pillar looked around in all directions, nimble and sly.
Remembering how powerful and imposing Little Pillar had been in the dream, a flush rose over the Empress’s cheeks.
Seeing the Empress blush, Liang Zhu instantly understood everything!
His dream and Xiao Yanran’s were connected and complemented each other!
In other words, when Liang Zhu cultivated in the dream, the Empress cultivated along with him.
Moreover, the power they cultivated was completely different from the power of this world.
If it needed a name, it could be called true essence.
Although the amount of true essence within Liang Zhu and the Empress was still small, its power level was far higher than that of the other martial artists in this world.
The difference in power level was like the gap between mud and a diamond.
As long as Liang Zhu kept cultivating, his strength would be limitless!
However, Liang Zhu yawned. “Cultivate my ass. Isn’t this exhausting?”
Working during the daytime and cultivating in dreams at night—this was damn tiring!
Morning court had already begun in the main hall of the Imperial Palace.
Liang Zhu’s hearing and eyesight were now exceptionally sharp, allowing him to hear some of the ministers’ words.
Long Baitian was arguing with several other ministers again.
After a while, several warriors escorted a minister out, then beheaded him directly in the square before the Imperial Palace.
The palace maids and eunuchs were all frightened into shivering.
Liang Zhu was also dumbfounded.
How vicious Long Baitian was!
If he had lived during the three Kingdoms period, this guy would at least have started out as Dong Zhuo.
With someone like this keeping an eye on him, Liang Zhu thought he would at least have to be a Lü Bu to possess the ability for self-preservation.
As Liang Zhu pondered this, a System Prompt suddenly appeared in his mind:
【System Prompt】Daily automatic sign-in successful!
【System Prompt】Received one random reward: Little Heavenly Cycle Pill!
【System Prompt】The sign-in reward has been automatically used, increasing true essence by three months.
Along with this prompt, Liang Zhu suddenly felt a powerful force surge out from his Qi Sea.
Whoosh! A gust of wind spread outward from Liang Zhu as its center, pushing the people around him into stumbling disarray.
Liang Zhu exclaimed, “Holy crap! This is powerful!”
The palace maids around him had no idea what had happened and assumed a fierce wind had blown up.
Just then, the end of morning court arrived. As Long Baitian walked out of the palace, he happened to see the scene of the gale raging.
Long Baitian’s strength was extraordinary. He immediately realized that a master was hiding among the palace maids!
Although that master had been at most at the level of a sword master, daring to increase their power at this time clearly meant they were preparing to attack him, Long Baitian!
Long Baitian gave a cold laugh and strode toward the palace maids.
The palace maids were frightened out of their wits. The blood of the minister from earlier had not even dried yet. Could he be about to kill someone again?
Liang Zhu took a deep breath and was just about to speak when another System Prompt appeared.
【System Prompt】Daily Random Mission. Target: Strike at Long Baitian’s confidence.
【Mission Prompt】The more fear Long Baitian feels, the better the Mission Reward.
【Mission Prompt】Long Baitian’s current Fear Value: 0. Host, please work harder!
【Mission Prompt】If Long Baitian cannot develop fear, the mission will be judged a failure, and the host will receive punishment.
Liang Zhu’s vision darkened. “This damn mission really is a matter of life and death!”
He felt like a level-sixteen little warrior holding a blade of Eight Desolations and acting arrogantly before the Rainbow Demon Sect Master. Tianlai Novel Network
At this point, being afraid was useless. He could only do his best.
As the palace maids and eunuchs all knelt, Liang Zhu instead wore a calm smile. “Greetings, Duke of Yan!”
Long Baitian had not expected this guy to greet him the moment they met. He nodded absentmindedly, his gaze searching through the crowd.
Although Liang Zhu stood at the very front of the palace maids and eunuchs, Long Baitian completely ignored him.
The reason was simple:
First, Liang Zhu did not possess the slightest trace of battle qi. In Long Baitian’s eyes, he was trash with no combat effectiveness whatsoever.
Second, ever since Liang Zhu had scolded Long Baitian, Long Baitian had investigated his records: Liang Zhu was merely a little eunuch in the palace, and the lowest-ranking menial eunuch at that.
It was said that this shameless person had pleased Xiao Meiyue, the chief female official in the palace, and had only been promoted slightly because of it.
Long Baitian’s gaze swept across the crowd like a cold bolt of lightning, then he suddenly roared, “Which bastard was circulating battle qi among the crowd just now?!”