This immortal was clearly ordinary, yet he was unusually confident.

At this moment, Liu Liangcai, the city lord of Quliang City, was sitting anxiously in the carriage. The carriage was moving very fast and was crashing and jostling all the way, but the passers-by knew that it was the city lord's carriage, so they could only dare to be angry but not say anything.

It wasn't that Liu Liangcai was used to being domineering; on the contrary, he was humble and never abused his position as city lord, which earned him the love and respect of the people.

"Hurry up, hurry up!"

"Lord City Lord, this is already the fastest we can go!"

Liu Liangcai wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking like an ant on a hot pan.

How could he not be anxious when Her Majesty the Queen was about to arrive?

He carefully recalled his actions in recent years, and apart from taking a new concubine last year, he seemed to have done nothing out of line.

That makes sense when you think about it. If Her Majesty the Empress wanted to punish me, she wouldn't need to make the trip herself.

However, Liu Liangcai felt a chill run down his spine whenever he thought of the Empress's past methods.

Back then, no one would have imagined that the one who would ultimately inherit the throne would not be the Crown Prince, nor the Third Prince who was both scholarly and martial, nor even the ambitious Fourth Princess, but the seemingly harmless Ninth Princess, Ye Chuxue!

There was no precedent for a woman to succeed to the throne in the Cangyue Kingdom, but ironically, the two princesses ended up vying for the throne, and the competition was exceptionally fierce.

Liu Liangcai knew very well that Ye Chuxue's path to becoming empress was built on countless drops of blood, because he was one of the witnesses.

At the same time, he secretly rejoiced that he hadn't chosen the wrong side back then, otherwise, let alone his current status, he would probably be overgrown with weeds by now.

But there was one thing he couldn't understand: why did the Kingdom of Rising Sun choose the Fourth Princess when they took advantage of the situation to propose a marriage alliance?

Although the Fourth Princess was beautiful, she was far inferior to the Empress. Otherwise, how could the Crown Prince have disregarded human ethics and harbored evil thoughts back then?

"Even immortals would be moved by a woman like that, wouldn't they?"

Liu Liangcai slapped himself, promptly suppressing the evil thought in his mind.

On the other side, in a villa on the outskirts of the city.

Empress Ye Chuxue sat upright in a chair, her gaze wandering as she looked at a painting in her hands, her thoughts drifting elsewhere.

The elderly imperial advisor and the middle-aged guard exchanged a glance. The middle-aged guard gestured with his lip, while the imperial advisor shook his head slightly.

When the Queen returned, she didn't say a word, just stared at a painting. Both of them could tell that she was in a bad mood, but they didn't dare to ask any questions.

The middle-aged guard finally couldn't hold back any longer and respectfully bowed to Ye Chuxue, asking:

"Your Majesty, Lord Lin, he..."

Ye Chuxue snapped out of her reverie, but instead of answering, she handed over the painting and asked abruptly:

"Ding Wu, do you think the person in this painting is beautiful?"

Ding Wu took the painting without understanding why, opened it and was immediately shocked. Wasn't that Her Majesty the Empress in the painting?

However, he soon realized something was wrong. The person in the painting had the same facial features as the empress, but there was nothing amazing about him. In fact, one could say that he looked very ordinary.

"This……"

Ding Wu didn't know how to answer. The woman in the painting was indeed not beautiful, but if he answered "beautiful," it would be deceiving the emperor.

But if the answer is "not beautiful," and her appearance is exactly the same as the Empress's, it's obvious that she won't have a good outcome.

This is a life-or-death question!

This put Ding Wu in a dilemma, but the Empress just watched him quietly, patiently waiting for his answer.

Ding Wu glanced pleadingly at the Imperial Advisor beside him, but the advisor pretended not to see him, only a barely concealed smile playing on his lips, as if mocking Ding Wu for not heeding his advice.

Ding Wu cursed inwardly, but suddenly, a brilliant idea struck him, and he spoke up:

"Your Majesty, since I was castrated, I have long abstained from women, so... I cannot distinguish between beauty and ugliness."

Speaking of Ding Wu, he was a devoted lover. The Ding family had a deep-rooted foundation in the Cangyue Kingdom, and as the eldest son of the Ding family, countless women from official families were attracted to him.

But after seeing Ye Chuxue, he was completely captivated and determined to marry her.

He abandoned wealth and honor for this cause, resolutely joined the army, and made outstanding military achievements, hoping that the emperor would grant him and Ye Chuxue a marriage.

But Ye Chuxue sought imperial power, not romantic love, and thus resolutely refused the arranged marriage.

Everyone thought he would give up and settle down to be a general.

But what no one expected was that when Ye Chuxue was all alone and surrounded by wolves in the palace, he actually castrated himself to become a eunuch and helped Ye Chuxue through the most dangerous moment.

Ding Wu, Ding Wu!

From then on, he became the person Ye Chuxue trusted most.

If we love each other, let's grow old together; if we miss each other, let's wish her well.

Sometimes, love can be just that obsessive!

Ye Chuxue rolled her eyes at Ding Wu's answer, offered no comment, and instead turned to ask the Imperial Advisor:

What does Uncle Chen think?

Ding Wu chuckled to himself, thinking to himself that the old man had just been laughing at him, and now he was going to see how he would get out of this mess.

The Imperial Advisor, though called upon by the Empress, smiled confidently.

He had already caught a glimpse of the person in the painting, and after a pause, he said:

"I believe that everyone has a different definition of beauty, so it cannot be generalized."

"If the woman in the painting is not His Majesty, then she is not beautiful; if the person in the painting is His Majesty, then she is beautiful, as beautiful as a celestial being!"

After the Imperial Advisor finished speaking, he glanced at Ding Wu triumphantly. This was an easy question.

Ding Wu was stunned for a moment, then cursed the old man inwardly for being shameless. At the same time, he felt a strange sense of admiration. How come he hadn't thought of that? Old foxes are indeed shrewd!

Ye Chuxue reluctantly put away the painting, pointing at Ding Wu and the Imperial Preceptor:

"You guys..."

She carefully rolled up the painting, sighed, and said:

"It was because of this painting by the teacher that I didn't marry into the Kingdom of Rising Sun. Otherwise, I might be the one leading troops to invade the Kingdom of Azure Moon now!"

The Imperial Advisor seemed to realize something: "Lord Lin, he..."

Ye Chuxue nodded: "My teacher also lost all his cultivation because of this. It was I who caused his death!"

Ding Wu opened his mouth, but said nothing, and the three of them fell into silence.

Just then, a guard came to report that the city lord, Liu Liangcai, was requesting an audience. Ye Chuxue nodded slightly, and the guard obeyed and left.

Before long, Liu Liangcai came running up, panting heavily. His fat body looked like a rolling ball when he jogged.

"Your humble servant Liu Liangcai greets Your Majesty, the Imperial Preceptor, and Commander Ding. I was unaware of Your Majesty's arrival and have failed to greet you properly. I beg Your Majesty's forgiveness!"

Ye Chuxue slightly raised her hand:

"No need for formalities, please take a seat! My arrival here was entirely secret, and you were unaware of it beforehand, so why blame me? I have summoned you here for only one matter: I require you to eliminate all enemy spies in Quliang City within three days!"

Liu Liangcai was taken aback: "Not a single one left?"

Ye Chuxue said in a chilling voice:

"With the Battle of Yongning City imminent, I will personally go to oversee the battle. These spies must be completely eradicated!"

"Your humble servant obeys!" Liu Liangcai hesitated for a moment, "The people of Xu Ri are known for their fierce and unyielding nature. Why must Your Majesty risk your life? What if..."

Ye Chuxue's gaze sharpened, and she said coldly:

"I and Ye Ningshuang will have to settle things sooner or later!"

"Rest assured, Lord Liu, with me here, I will surely protect His Majesty's safety!" the Imperial Preceptor said, flicking his whisk.

"With the Imperial Advisor on my side, I am naturally at ease." Liu Liangcai nodded, then suddenly had an idea. "Your Majesty, a remarkable person came to Quliang City a few days ago. If we can ask him for help, we will be absolutely certain of success!"