Her Majesty Chose Violence, They Chose Her

"My Prince, he’s gone inside."

Under the cover of night, two figures hid in the shadow of a large tree next to a rooftop, watching a carriage enter a small, unremarkable-looking residence.

Still smarting from his last encounter with Meng Xuechen, Rong Yin was eager to even the score and had ordered an investigation into him.

To his surprise, they’d actually dug up some unexpected information.

According to Feng Xian, Meng Xuechen was a well-behaved and sensible junior martial brother, a well-read and modest gentleman who just happened to be good at making money—a small hobby of his, he claimed.

But in reality, this Meng Xuechen was clearly a venomous snake, adept at hiding his true nature!

He would stop at nothing to make money, employing insidious, cunning, and cruel methods.

What Qing Feng had uncovered was merely the tip of the iceberg, yet it was already shocking. Who knew what deeper schemes he was plotting.

’I can’t let a venomous snake like that remain by His Majesty’s side.’

Rong Yin stared at the residence, now faintly lit, then leaped lightly to investigate further.

The two-courtyard residence wasn’t large; its general layout could be seen at a glance.

But the carriage that had just entered was gone. There was no one else around, yet a single lantern was lit in the courtyard, which was decidedly strange.

"Is the Regent King looking for someone?" a ghostly voice abruptly called out.

"My Prince, be careful," Qing Feng warned.

On the rooftop next to them, a man in red had appeared at some unknown time. He wore a hollowed-out golden mask that only exposed the lower half of his face, from the nose down.

His lips curled into a malevolent smile, his eyes filled with intense killing intent.

Rong Yin sized up the man, trying to place him. "You’re the owner of the Golden Thread Pavilion?" he asked, uncertain.

The man in red merely smiled and said nothing.

Rong Yin continued, "Meng Xuechen is in league with you. You deliberately used Feng Xian to get close to me, all so that I would help Meng Xuechen secure a position at court. Your goal was to get him close to the Emperor and carry out your conspiracy."

The man in red slowly drew a gleaming longsword. "The Prince... knows far too much..."

As he spoke, he suddenly lunged forward. Qing Feng moved to intercept but was blocked by a woman in purple who appeared out of nowhere. In the end, it was Rong Yin who raised his own sword to parry the fatal blow.

The small, square courtyard instantly became a battlefield, filled with the flash of blades and merciless killing.

The man in red’s martial arts were on par with Rong Yin’s. They were locked in a fierce, inseparable struggle, neither able to gain the upper hand.

Fortunately, Qing Yu arrived in time, giving Rong Yin a chance to break away.

Only the man in red and the woman in purple had attacked, but at least ten black-clad figures were now gathering under the eaves.

If the fight continued, Rong Yin had no chance of winning.

"Go."

Rong Yin made a decisive retreat. The masked woman in purple frowned. "Master, why not take his life here?"

The man in red sheathed his sword. "Kill him? Do you want the Emperor’s grand army to stomp us into paste?"

That was the Regent King, and his relationship with the Emperor was anything but ordinary. He wasn’t some stray dog you could just get rid of. And no matter how powerful they were, they were no match for the Emperor—especially not the current one.

He turned to leave, but suddenly the fabric over his chest burst open, and streaks of blood seeped through.

’So he actually managed to return the blow.’

There was no morning court the next day, but Rong Yin went to the palace first thing in the morning anyway. He had to tell the Emperor about Meng Xuechen.

However, when he arrived at Zichen Palace, he found that someone had beaten him to it.

Meng Xuechen was sitting at a table with the Little Emperor, eating and chatting cheerfully.

The Little Emperor held a bowl of soup, sipping it unhurriedly, her gaze resting on Meng Xuechen as he spoke.

Those eyes, which seemed veiled by a frosty mist even when she laughed heartily, were now placid, yet held such a genuine look.

In that instant, Rong Yin realized that there must be something special about Meng Xuechen that he didn’t know. The Emperor’s attitude was truly unusual.

Rong Yin did not enter. Instead, he turned and left.

When he returned later, Meng Xuechen was gone. He held out the information he had collected on Meng Xuechen’s past over the last few days and, without a word, handed it to the Little Emperor for her to see for herself.

Xiao Yang read it, a little surprised, but only surprised. She lifted her eyes coolly. "Are you seeking justice for these people? Do you want to bring him to account?"

The documents detailed the tragic deaths and ruined families of Meng Xuechen’s rivals, as well as his own suddenly acquired wealth.

Case after case, even without ironclad proof, made it clear that his methods were not clean and his hands were stained with blood.

Rong Yin replied, "No. I only wish for Your Majesty to know that he is not as harmless as he appears."

Xiao Yang laughed at his words, her gaze turning cold and heavy, belying her age. "Rong Yin, between you and me, which one of us is harmless?"

"Did you not kill people when you fought the Empress Dowager for power? As for me, the list of people I’ve killed is long enough to stretch from here to the city gates."

Rong Yin argued, "That’s different. Your Majesty is the Emperor. It is your right and duty to execute corrupt officials and purge the court of its parasites."

"Then how do you know that the people he killed were all innocent?"

Xiao Yang stated it plainly, "If you want to deal with him, I will not interfere, so long as I don’t see it. But for me to act against him? That is absolutely impossible."

The shock in Rong Yin’s eyes was impossible to hide. "Your Majesty... to think you would protect him to this extent. If he were to endanger the throne and the nation, if he were to plot a rebellion to usurp the crown, would Your Majesty still let him be?"

Xiao Yang said, "I don’t answer hypothetical questions."

After a pause, Xiao Yang added, "I owe him my life."

That was the deepest explanation she was willing to give.

Rong Yin left with a complicated expression, not even taking back the letters that documented Meng Xuechen’s crimes.

Xiao Yang opened the lampshade and held the letters over the flame, setting them alight.

She watched as tongues of fire devoured all the cold words.

Twenty-four years. The twelve zodiac animals had already run through two full cycles.

’How could I have been so naive as to think my old schoolmate was still the same person he used to be?’

’Just as I’ve grown and changed over the past eleven years, Meng Xuechen has also gone through his own transformation.’

’I can’t even find the person I was at fifteen anymore, so how can I expect someone else to remain unchanged?’

’From a child with nothing, he survived to this day, now adorned with gold and jade, noble and poised. That was a path he carved out for himself.’

’Even if his hands are stained with blood, even if he’s killed countless people, I am not the one who should judge him.’

’I never lived his life. What right do I have to demand that he be pure, flawless, tolerant, and kind?’

’He is my dear friend. He once saved my life. Since we met again, he has only ever shown me the person I remember.’

’How could I use this so-called evidence to vivisect him?’

The same reasoning applied to Rong Yin.

Every person was an individual with their own thoughts and judgment. She had never believed that anyone truly belonged to anyone else.

Even in intimate relationships like those between a husband and wife, or parents and children, one could not completely control the other—let alone the relationships between a ruler and a subject, or between friends.

It was the same between her and Rong Yin.

She could not control Rong Yin’s thoughts, nor could she, for her own reasons, stop him from treating Meng Xuechen as an enemy.

That was their own affair. The strong would prevail, and each would rely on their own abilities. As long as they didn’t bring their fight before her, it had nothing to do with her.

Thinking of this, she suddenly laughed at herself. ’Truly me,’ she thought. ’Not a shred of sentimentality.’