The Empress's eyes burned with a blue flame.
She locked her gaze on Qin Ming.
A full ten breaths passed.
Her expression finally softened, and she gently raised her hand.
"You may rise."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Just then, two female royal guards rushed in and knelt.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Eldest Princess has arrived."
"What is she doing here?"
The Empress's expression darkened with fury.
"Stop her! Tell her, if she dares to break in, I'll kill this little Qin!"
Outside the hall, the Eldest Princess was already shouting furiously:
"Han Yueli! If you dare lay a finger on someone from my Taiyin Palace, I'll fight you to the death!"
"Han Yueli, you shameless hag!"
Qin Ming's eyes lit up—damn, the Eldest Princess is badass!
"What, is no one in my Taiyin Palace allowed to be talented?
Must you crush every spark of life? Then fine, we'll all go down together!"
The Empress seethed with rage, her chest rising and falling violently.
"Qing'er!"
"At your command!"
"Tell her to stop yelling and wait outside quietly. I won't harm little Qin.
But if she insults me again, I'll turn every last person in Taiyin Palace into mincemeat and ash!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
As Shangguan Qing'er exited, the Empress flicked her finger—
BOOM! The red palace doors slammed shut.
Now only Qin Ming and the Empress Han Yueli remained.
"Little Qin, you're from Hanye City?"
"Yes."
"Then you must be familiar with that cold, snowy wasteland?"
"I am."
"Hanye City is plagued by snow beasts. The people suffer.
Lately, a large number of transmigrators from the Azure Dragon Guild, the Heaven's Will Sect, and the Five Elements Alliance have entered the city.
City Lord Lan Jianxin is under immense pressure."
Qin Ming slightly bowed his head, thoughts racing.
Why was the Empress telling him this?
"As you're a captain of the Demon Suppression Guard, I'm considering sending you to escort a shipment of supplies and glowstones to Hanye City. What do you say?"
His mind kicked into high gear. Why him?
There were two possibilities:
She wanted to weaken the Eldest Princess. Since he was her man now, she couldn't kill him outright—so she was sending him on a deadly mission instead.
Not many in the White Feather Guard knew Hanye City well.
Could he refuse?
Of course not. Not in front of this Empress. Say "no," and your life's over.
Also, she mentioned the transmigrator factions being there.
Who knows, maybe something valuable was going on.
And compared to the dangers of the palace, leaving might actually be safer.
"As a captain of Dayan, I shall obey Your Majesty's command."
"Good! Talented and loyal—I'm pleased."
The Empress rose from her golden dragon throne.
Several golden phoenixes fluttered into the air beside her.
"Dayan faces threats both inside and out. Snow beasts terrorize our borders. Transmigrators sow chaos within. The people are in agony, and I am deeply concerned.
If you can complete this mission and deliver the goods to Lan Jianxin, I shall reward you handsomely."
"Understood!"
"Any other requests?"
"Your Majesty, I have one humble plea. The Demon Suppression Guard hasn't received pay for two months.
They've risked their lives to catch transmigrators and keep the capital safe. Please…"
The Empress took two steps forward, a trace of cold fury in her gaze.
"You're good at speaking on my sister's behalf, aren't you?
But fine. You're not wrong—the guards have worked hard.
I'll send the wages, but only once you depart."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"There's two thousand taels on that table. Take them. Consider it your pay for this errand."
"Many thanks, Your Majesty!"
"Prepare yourself. You depart in two days."
Qin Ming took a deep breath and nodded.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
As Qin Ming stepped out of the Palace of Blazing Fire,
he saw the Eldest Princess standing silently in the swirling snow.
Her long black cloak billowed in the wind.
Her black hair was dusted with white snowflakes.
Seeing Qin Ming, she turned, hands clasped behind her back, and began walking into the distance.
Qin Ming hurried after her.
As they reached a quiet, snow-covered path of stone tiles,
the Princess suddenly stopped and turned to him, voice cold.
"What did she say?"
"Your Highness, the Empress ordered me to escort a shipment to Hanye City."
"What did you say?"
Her face turned furious.
"The Empress assigned me to deliver supplies to Hanye City."
"And you refused?"
"I... accepted."
She stormed forward, enraged.
"Are you stupid? Who told you to go?"
"Your Highness, in that situation, I couldn't say no."
Han Yuexi stomped the ground in fury—BOOM!
Snow flew up in all directions.
"That Han Yueli is pushing too far. I'm going to settle this with her!"
She was about to step forward—
Qin Ming quickly moved in front of her with arms spread wide.
"Don't go, Your Highness. The Empress is too powerful."
"What, you think I can't beat her?"
"No! I just... you're still injured. It's not wise to fight now."
"Move."
"No."
"Move!"
She shoved Qin Ming aside and marched toward the palace in a fury.
Qin Ming racked his brain for a way to stop her.
The ground was covered in thick snow...
Suddenly—an idea!
He grabbed a handful of snow and packed a small snowball.
As the Princess walked forward in a storm of rage—
WHACK! A snowball hit her right on the head.
Snow burst across her jade-like face.
She froze.
Her eyes stared sharply at Qin Ming.
"You dare throw a snowball at me? Do it again if you dare!"
Qin Ming made another snowball and lobbed it.
This time, she didn't dodge. Snowflakes landed on her hair.
That was it—she snapped.
She raised her hand, summoning a massive cluster of snow.
"Little Qin, I'm going to beat you to death!"
WHOOSH!
A huge snowball slammed into Qin Ming's back.
Cold snow trickled into his robes.
He quickly packed another and launched it—
WHAP! This time it hit her chest.
The snow slipped down into her undergarments.
Oh no! That's it! RUN!
She chased him, furious, with two snowballs in hand.
"Stop! Stop right there, little Qin!"
Qin Ming didn't dare activate his stealth skill—he just ran like mad.
Half a quarter-hour passed.
No more sounds behind him.
He turned cautiously—
The Princess stood right in front of him.
In both hands, she held giant snowballs, each over a meter wide.
She hurled them toward his face—
BOOM!
Qin Ming fell flat into the snow, even his head buried.
The Princess stood hands on hips, laughing uncontrollably.
Qin Ming sneakily scooped up a snowball and—THWACK!—
It hit her right on the mouth.
She froze again.
"Xiao Qinzi, I'm going to kill you!"
Qin Ming leapt to his feet and ran like mad.
Behind him, she chased with snow in both hands.
"STOP! You little rascal, stop!!"
Snow flew.
Red maple leaves danced in the wind.
Down that peaceful snow-covered path,
two sets of crooked footprints led far, far into the distance.