This scoundrel is a bit of a swordsman.

In the empty, dark palace, a figure in red robes sat firmly at the top, while a frail figure below swayed as if in a storm.

Xiao Xingchen's eyes shimmered with starlight, and his divine essence surged, as if he were about to draw his sword at any moment. The Consort Xian merely glanced sideways at the leaking sword energy surrounding him, continuing to drink from her wine jug, completely unconcerned.

"A mere sword immortal who has just entered the first level of the Heavenly Realm can be suppressed with a flick of a finger. I advise you not to draw your sword against me."

The Empress's words rang out again, causing Xiao Xingchen to deflate like a punctured balloon, instantly dissipating all his accumulated sword energy. He couldn't help but ask,

"Your Highness, with your abilities, why do you imprison yourself in the deep palace? To be honest, you are the most powerful person I have ever met in this world. Even Emperor Wu is not as capable as you. Before meeting you today, I thought you were just a concubine in the harem who only knew how to scheme and plot, but now I realize I was completely wrong. You are the most unfathomable person in Yong'an City."

"Compared to Murong Fenghua?"

Xiao Xingchen paused, then shook her head.

"I don't know much about the late Empress's strength, but she seemed weaker than you,"

"Hehe, you have quite the nerve. What, you've met Emperor Wu?"

If there were others present, they would surely assume their relationship was intimate, given how natural their conversation seemed. But only Xiao Xingchen knew that every word contained deadly intent and a threat to his life; he was gambling with his life.

He wanted to use these topics to find out who and what the Consort Xian was interested in; only in this way would he have a chance to get out alive.

Now, he no longer dares to hope that he can cooperate with this female demon; he just wants to survive. Even if he were given a chance, he wouldn't dare—to risk his life by negotiating with a tiger.

If he had known earlier that this was a giant crocodile, he would never have entered the Flower Language Building, even if it meant being beaten to death. He has walked right into the trap, and now he is stuck in an awkward situation, unable to go up or down.

He stole a glance at Consort Xian, his mind racing. Since none of these things could fool her, he would have to resort to bluffing.

After all, I was reborn. If I couldn't even scare a normal person, it would be a disgrace to a transmigrator like myself.

"You certainly wouldn't believe me if I said I'd seen you,"

"No, you say it first. Whether I believe you or not is my business," Consort Xian surprisingly didn't deny it this time, which emboldened Xiao Xingchen.

"I come from fifteen years in the future. As the eldest son of the Xiao family, I entered the capital as a hostage and was granted the title of Prince Kao Shan. I enjoyed all the riches and honors of the world and was bestowed the title of the eldest princess's consort. In the end, I became Emperor Wu's sword, having my bones cut more than a thousand times, and died in agony. Then I was reborn this year, just a few days ago."

The sound of clapping rang out, and the echoing applause from Consort Xian caused Xiao Xingchen to frown again.

"You really know how to make up stories just to survive. You claim to be backed by the Mountain King? You're hilarious! Anyway, meeting you today wasn't a loss. It's been a long time since anyone told me a joke like this. Later, I can grant you a complete corpse."

"This won't work either?" Xiao Xingchen's words revealed a lot of information, but it seems that these things haven't happened yet, and even Consort Xian doesn't know. As Emperor Wu's bedmate, she was unaware of his plan to send him to the capital. This shows how tight Emperor Wu's secrecy is.

"There's one more thing, about the upcoming Poetry Festival,"

"Anything else? Then go on, I want to see what kind of stories this young sword immortal can come up with."

"At the Poetry Assembly, the Eldest Princess was conferred the title of King,"

Xiao Xingchen paused, then, seeing the Consort Xian's body stiffen, he breathed a sigh of relief, finally finding a faint pulse within her.

"To be made a princess? What a joke! There has never been a princess to be made a princess,"

"Your Highness, how about we take a gamble? If the Eldest Princess is granted the title of Prince after this Poetry Gathering, could we perhaps cooperate?"

"A delaying tactic?" Consort Xian said disdainfully.

"Yes,"

Unexpectedly, Xiao Xingchen directly admitted her words. This was just a delaying tactic; there was no need to hide it, because he genuinely had no other options at the moment.

"But how can you guarantee that what you said to the Crown Prince won't get out?"

"Guaranteed by my character."

Consort Xian glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, and the wine pot in her hand was tossed over without any wind, which Xiao Xingchen caught in his hand.

"Drink this pot of wine, and I'll spare your life for now."

"it is good."

It's just drinking, what's the big deal? If I can get away from this terrifying woman by drinking, even if there's something in the alcohol, it's worth it.

Let's get out of here first, we'll figure out the rest later.

"Glug glug," he gulped down two large mouthfuls, even letting out a satisfied burp. Upon closer inspection, he could even detect a hint of sweetness in the wine.

"This wine has no flavor, it's just like a soft drink. I'll get you some better wine when I have time."

He was carrying a wine jug without even realizing it. As he drank the entire jug, his cheeks began to flush, and his vision blurred.

He shook his head vigorously and suddenly felt his body was so light, as if he were flying in the sky. He thought to himself that something was wrong. This wine tasted no different from a beverage, so why was he having such a strong reaction?

Then I realized why the ground was getting closer and closer to me.

With a loud "thud," I immediately felt myself making intimate contact with the ground.

"You're really not afraid of death,"

In a blur, I saw a figure in red flying towards me, then my eyes closed and I lost all consciousness.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but when he woke up again, a delicate fragrance from a young girl wafted into his nose.

"woke up?"

Xiao Xingchen shook his head vigorously. He disliked this feeling of losing consciousness. What exactly was that pot of wine? Consort Xian had clearly drunk so much, so why was he completely confused after drinking it?

"you are?"

Only then did he have a chance to look around. He was in a woman's boudoir, and outside the pink curtains, a scantily clad woman was gracefully approaching.

"Young man, you're not bad, are you? Looks like I'm in luck today. Come, let me help you sober up."

Although Xiao Xingchen opened her eyes, for some reason, her limbs felt paralyzed and numb, while the woman in front of her had already begun to undress.

"What...what are you doing?"

"Young man, look at what you're saying. It's the night of passion, of course I'm going to sleep with you, what else would I do?"

"What is this place?"

"Pfft, of course this is the Flower Language Pavilion. Do you think it's your own home?" The woman lifted the curtain, revealing a captivating woman. Though she wore no makeup, her allure was undeniable.

Her snow-white shoulders were already exposed, and she was only wearing a small red bodice. Her graceful figure made Xiao Xingchen's blood boil.

But he had no such thoughts at the moment. He wasn't a pedantic person, and sleeping with a woman wasn't a big deal. If it were any other day, he would have done whatever he wanted. But now that he had lost feeling in his limbs, he couldn't do that even if he wanted to.

His third leg was completely numb. Facing such a beauty, he felt he deserved to be struck by lightning. If word got out that he was impotent, he'd be utterly ashamed.

"Sister, stop, stop, don't move."

He quickly spoke up to stop her, because the young woman's hand was already on his waist.