Chapter 519: Intimidation

Chapter 519: Intimidation

She felt that the position Empress Dowager Yuan had arranged for her was indeed a good one—not only were there few tasks, but there were also rewards to receive.

Most importantly, Miss Yun seemed to have a fairly good temperament, not like Empress Dowager Yuan, who was so unpredictable.

After seeing Xin Yue out, Ji Yuntang opened the link to the space.

Immediately, Hua Feixue's roar came from inside.

"Ji Yuntang, Little Bastard, you... how could you not..."

Ji Yuntang gave her a faint glance, raising an eyebrow. "How could I not what?"

"How could I not do what you said? Or how could I not use silver needles to kill Empress Dowager Yuan?"

"Hua Feixue, I'm just an ordinary person. I want to survive too."

Hua Feixue was at a loss for words for a moment.

Yes, they were all ordinary people, already walking on thin ice in front of Empress Dowager Yuan.

It was already a lot that Ji Yuntang had brought her into the palace.

After a moment of silence, Hua Feixue opened her mouth and said, "I'm sorry, this Crown Prince acted too impulsively."

The moment she saw Empress Dowager Yuan, she couldn't contain the hatred in her heart, wishing she could kill her on the spot.

Ji Yuntang didn't waste any words. She released Hua Feixue from the space directly.

"You wanted to confront Empress Dowager Yuan head-on, right? I'm giving you this chance."

With that, Ji Yuntang gave Hua Feixue a transformation.

Though it was called a transformation, in reality, it was just taking off her makeup, changing back into her original male attire, and turning her back into Chu Yi's appearance.

Ji Yuntang deliberately let Hua Feixue's hair down, paled her face and hands by a few shades, and put long fake nails on her fingers.

After all that, she dressed her in a loose red robe.

Ji Yuntang circled Hua Feixue and nodded in satisfaction.

"Perfect, this is exactly right."

Hua Feixue was a little confused. She looked down at herself, then over at Ji Yuntang.

"What are you doing?"

Ji Yuntang smiled. "Letting you play a ghost to scare people!"

"Tomorrow the False Crown Prince is being buried. If you show up in front of Empress Dowager Yuan tonight, what do you think she'll do?"

Hua Feixue: "..."

Hua Feixue: "!!!"

She had thought Ji Yuntang brought her into the palace to cause trouble.

But she never imagined the purpose was to have her dress up as a ghost to scare Empress Dowager Yuan.

This was way too damaging to her image!

Ji Yuntang explained, "People only show their weaknesses when they're in a panic. What we need to do now is grab that weakness to find something to hold over Empress Dowager Yuan."

"So, Your Highness the Crown Prince, for the sake of your revenge plan, you'll have to put up with it for now."

Hua Feixue looked at her long black nails, her expression hard to read.

She asked, "Can I just go ahead and kill the Old Witch outright?"

Ji Yuntang shook her head. "No, if you kill her outright, other noble families will still covet that position. Your enemy would just go from Empress Dowager Yuan to someone else."

"On the other hand, if we can turn Empress Dowager Yuan and the noble families against each other, letting them tear each other apart, wouldn't you be able to reap the rewards?"

Hua Feixue thought about it, and it did make sense.

The other side had strength in numbers; they could only outsmart them, not overpower them.

Ji Yuntang turned to look at the sky outside. The night was dark, with heavy clouds hanging low like endless ink spilled across the sky, not a single glimmer of light.

She looked at Hua Feixue, the teasing smile on her lips deepening.

"Tonight there's no wind or moon—perfect for going out to scare people."

"In a bit, I'll go out and stake out the area. You stay hidden inside the space. When you see Empress Dowager Yuan, come out and scare her—scare her as much as you want, just don't scare her to death."

Before Hua Feixue could react, Ji Yuntang pulled her back into the space.

Ji Yuntang opened the door and walked out. It was eerily quiet outside, and there was no sign of Xin Yue.

She knew then that the sleeping drug she had put on the hairpin had already taken effect!

Her residence wasn't far from Empress Dowager Yuan's bedchamber, but it was still five or six hundred meters away.

Ji Yuntang took up a position behind a rockery about two hundred meters from Cining Palace, waiting patiently.

The reason she was certain Empress Dowager Yuan would come out tonight was because when she had performed acupuncture on her earlier today, she had deliberately tampered with the needles.

It would make the other party restless and unable to fall asleep.

At such times, she would especially want to take a walk outside to relieve the agitation in her heart.

Sure enough, before long, two figures emerged from Cining Palace.

One of them held a lantern, walking cautiously behind—Ji Yuntang recognized her as Nanny An.

The other had a dignified bearing and graceful steps, clearly Empress Dowager Yuan.

They didn't bring any other servants with them, so Ji Yuntang guessed that Empress Dowager Yuan and Nanny An often came out in the middle of the night.

On one hand, she was familiar with this path and assumed she was safe.

On the other hand, the place Empress Dowager Yuan was heading to probably wasn't suitable for bringing others along.

As Empress Dowager Yuan approached, Ji Yuntang quickly held her breath and released Hua Feixue from the space.

She gave Hua Feixue an encouraging look. "Go on, it's your show now!"

Hua Feixue shot toward Empress Dowager Yuan with a whoosh.

Her murderous aura exploded, her pitch-black pupils like night stars reflected in a cold, deep pool, instantly turning terrifyingly cold.

As Empress Dowager Yuan walked, she felt a gust of eerie wind rush at her. She raised a hand to shield herself, but inwardly wondered.

"Where's this strange wind coming from all of a sudden?"

Suddenly, the lantern in Nanny An's hand fell to the ground, and she shrieked in terror.

"Ghost, a ghost!"

"Empress Dowager, there's a ghost..."

Empress Dowager Yuan was furious. She'd walked this path a thousand times if she'd walked it once—how could there be a ghost here?

Just as she was about to reprimand Nanny An, a red figure flashed past her side, leaving only a blurry trail.

A strand of cool hair brushed across Empress Dowager Yuan's cheek, making her hair stand on end and freezing her in place, petrified.

"Who's playing ghost tricks in the palace? Get out here now!"

In response, a sinister chuckle echoed from the darkness, "Hehehe~"

Empress Dowager Yuan's face went pale, her heart racing with even more terror. She wanted to flee, but her legs refused to obey.

Suddenly, a pale hand shot out from behind, viciously gripping her neck.

"Old Witch, long time no see. Do you still recognize me?"

The familiar voice rang in her ears, and Empress Dowager Yuan was stunned. Who else could it be but Chu Yi?

Her face turned ashen, and she stammered, "Chu... Chu Yi, are you a person or a ghost..."

The hand around her neck squeezed hard, but she felt none of the warmth a living person should have.

Only then did Empress Dowager Yuan recall that Chu Yi had always favored red, so his clothes were predominantly crimson, with no other colors.

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