Chapter 11633 — Where Is Cheng Shuang'er

Wei Zhao came straight to the point: "Where is Cheng Shuang'er?"

The Queen was taken aback.

She had always been irresistible to men and women alike—men especially. On seeing her they could barely walk a straight line; they wanted nothing more than to kneel and lick her toes. So why was this Wei Zhao utterly unmoved?

"Could it be…"

The Queen thought it over, and at last arrived at a conclusion: "Is this man naturally slow-witted?"

Any normal man, she was utterly certain, could never withstand her beauty.

She had encountered a few specimens like Wei Zhao before, and the outcome always proved that her charms had not failed—rather, the man was simply born dull of reflex, and in the matter of a woman's seduction far slower than ordinary people.

Even so, the Queen remained absolutely confident in herself.

Even a block of wood, she was sure, could be made to fall at her feet—let alone a hot-blooded young man.

"You wish to see Our maid?"

The Queen smiled a bewitching smile and clapped her hands softly.

Cheng Shuang'er appeared at once before Wei Zhao.

Wei Zhao's brows drew slightly together.

Cheng Shuang'er looked unharmed at this moment, but between her brows her eyes were dull and wooden—plainly the state of one whose mind had been bewitched.

The Queen laughed softly. "You may not know this yet, but she has already agreed to re-enter the palace and serve from now on as Our personal maid."

Wei Zhao regarded her coolly. "You think you're funny?"

"Ah?"

The Queen was once again choked speechless.

By her understanding, her peerless allure had always been invincible; even the dullest of men, at worst, merely licked her boots less thoroughly than the others—in essence, still a bootlicker. So how dare he speak to her in such a tone?

Wei Zhao said calmly, "Who you are and what you mean to do—I could not care less. But you had better not cross me, or I promise you will regret it."

The Queen's face darkened. "It seems you really are rather different from those other foul men."

Wei Zhao was unperturbed. "Release your hold on Cheng Shuang'er, and we need not trouble each other."

"Hold? You think it is Us who is controlling her?"

The Queen giggled coquettishly. "Though I cannot say what is the matter with you, We can tell you this: they all serve Us of their own free will. So long as it pleases Us, they will do anything—including give their lives."

Wei Zhao looked at her with amusement. "You're plain enough to look at, but your imagination is certainly something."

A single sentence, and he had guessed right at the Queen's sore spot.

"What did you say?"

What she could least endure was her true self beneath the beauty filter, and Wei Zhao's words had, in effect, stripped her bare.

Still, she refused to believe Wei Zhao could see through her. After all, even the old monsters of the Inner Royal Court, including the legendary god-tier powerhouses, had never managed such a feat.

It had to be a lucky guess!

Yes, that was it. He must have been babbling at random, deliberately trying to provoke her. It had to be so!

The Queen steadied herself and once more revealed her devastating smile. "It seems Cheng Shuang'er does hold no small place in your heart. To withstand this Queen's charms for her sake is truly a rare thing."

"Huh?"

This time it was Wei Zhao's turn to be speechless.

Surely there was a limit to self-obsession?

Had the beauty filters been turned up so high that she had fooled even herself?

The Queen remained steeped in her own invincible allure. She crooked a finger at Cheng Shuang'er. "Come here."

A look of delight at once surfaced on Cheng Shuang'er's somewhat vacant face. Like a lapdog summoned by its master, she hurried to the Queen's side.

"Good girl. Kill him for this Queen."

A long blade shimmering with a green ghostlight, plainly coated in virulent poison, appeared in the Queen's hand. She handed it to Cheng Shuang'er.

Cheng Shuang'er took the blade, a fevered gleam kindling in her eyes, and turned to look at Wei Zhao.

The Queen gave a triumphant little laugh. "She's coming to kill you now. What do you plan to do, Wei Zhao?"

Her original plan had been to seize this chance to subdue Wei Zhao, to make him as devoted a lapdog as all the others.

After all, by any measure of what Wei Zhao now displayed, his strength and influence in the Inner Royal Court of today truly could not be ignored.

If she could hold him in her grasp, she would gain no small initiative in shaping the Inner Royal Court's order to come.

Though an unexpected wrinkle had arisen, she was in no hurry. Whatever means Wei Zhao had used, it was only a matter of time before he fell under her charms.

With victory all but assured, she could afford to play the long game.

"Is that so?"

Wei Zhao, however, was in no hurry.

Even as his words hung in the air, Cheng Shuang'er suddenly turned the long blade and laid it against the Queen's throat.

The Queen's eyelids twitched violently. "How is that possible?"

By now, not a trace of the dazed intoxication remained on Cheng Shuang'er's face; she was cool and calm.

Wei Zhao folded his arms and smiled. "Seems I misjudged you. You really weren't controlling her."

The Queen's expression changed abruptly. She stared at Cheng Shuang'er. "You were faking all of it?"

Cheng Shuang'er nodded frankly. "If I hadn't faked it, I'm afraid I wouldn't have lived this long."

"..."

The Queen could not help but fall into self-doubt.

One Wei Zhao she could write off as naturally insensitive, but now Cheng Shuang'er was the same. How was she to explain that?

Highly as she thought of herself, she had not yet sunk to the point of willful self-deception.

Truth be told, even Wei Zhao was somewhat surprised that Cheng Shuang'er had kept her head clear.

Without the cheat-like perspective of the World Will, beneath that peerless-beauty filter, this Queen's charm really did slay men and women alike, utterly irresistible.

By any normal reckoning, Cheng Shuang'er should never have been immune.

The only explanation was that this girl's destiny was truly beyond price—her very fate alone was enough to withstand the other's beauty and enchantment.

The Queen had run into a brick wall.

Cheng Shuang'er turned to Wei Zhao, her face apologetic. "Young Master, Shuang'er has troubled you again."

Wei Zhao smiled. "It's nothing. You did well."

Given Cheng Shuang'er's level of strength, to have come this far amid a sudden turn of events already deserved full marks—enough to leave even Wei Zhao impressed.

At this the Queen gave a cold snort. "Starting the celebration already? Don't you think it's a bit early?"

Wei Zhao nodded. "A bit early, yes, but no great problem."

At this moment, in the perspective of his World Will, the old monsters hidden throughout the Son of Heaven's palace had all begun to stir, moving with the wind.

Stirring this Queen before him felt, faintly, like poking a hornet's nest.

Things were indeed not so simple.

But this was entirely within his expectations. On this visit to the Son of Heaven's palace, demanding the person from the Queen was only one matter; the other, more important aim was that Wei Zhao meant to use this chance to test just how deep the waters of the Son of Heaven's palace now ran.

And for now, this was only the beginning.