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Chapter 23: Qin Ning Begs to Leave
“Empress, Ning guifei has packed some luggage and is currently waiting outside, requesting to meet Your Majesty, saying
..saying..” Alas, Ning guifei had returned after less than half an hour. Feng Ying had originally thought that he had thought things through and had come to ask the Empress for forgiveness. Who could have expected this

Guifei: Imperial Consort of the highest rank and is below the Empress (King Consort in this book)
“What did he say?” Qianhe Liyou had felt that the man’s expression had not been quite right when he had left so unscrupulously. She couldn’t believe that this arrogant man had come to admit his mistake!
“Ning guifei said
he is requesting for Your Majesty to send down a decree so that he may leave the palace!” Ah, just why couldn’t these Imperial palace matters pause for just a second. Everyone believed that Ning guifei was the most open-minded and reasonable member of the harem, but it was unexpected that he was actually the least open-minded, how unimaginable.
“Good, very good!” With these two phrases from Qianhe Liyou, the wooden chair under her exploded, instantly crumbling into ashes. She suddenly stood up and went out.
Outside the door, Qin Ning knelt on the ground. This familiar scene reminded Qianhe Liyou of the day when Situ Changqing had risen up in rebellion. The man in front of her, although he was kneeling, this posture still did not affect his arrogant demeanor.
“Empress, please send down a decree.” As soon as the Empress came out, Qin Ning did not dally, cutting straight to the chase.
Qianhe Liyou regarded the man in front of her, her previous anger disappearing without a trace. Her dark eyes had a deep look to them, and then she instructed to Feng Ying standing by her side: “Zhen approves of this matter, let Qin Ning leave the palace.”
After she finished sending down an Imperial decree, Qianhe Liyou reentered Qin palace, leaving Feng Ying who had a pitiful expression on and the pale-faced Qin Ning behind.
“Empress, this consort knows that there are some things that this consort should not say. But this consort will still venture to ask, Empress, do you really want Ning guifei to die?” Yun Tailing had heard the entire matter clearly from within the room. Although he knew that he shouldn’t say more. His principles meant that the only way and right way was to protect himself at all times. But he couldn’t help to ask. How could an arrogant person like Qin Ning endure such humiliation and leave
if he guessed correctly, the first thing Qin Ning would do after leaving the palace would be to commit suicide!
As a doctor, he couldn’t bear to watch disappear in front of him.
“What do you mean?” Qianhe Liyou became confused by Yun Tailing’s interjection.
“Does the Empress not know? For prideful people who have such high self-respect like Ning guifei, if they were to be divorced by the Empress, they would naturally not want to live on. This consort is afraid Ning guifei has already made the preparations to take his own life when he came to ask for such a decree!” He no longer cared whether the Empress really didn’t understand or was pretending not to care. He had already said what he said and hoped that the Empress could stop Ning guifei in time based on old sentiments. Even better, he wished that his guess was wrong and that Ning guifei would not be so determined to make such a fatal choice.
Hearing Yun Tailing’s elaboration, Qianhe Liyou’s expression shifted, and her eyes turned a few shades deeper, gold light flashing in the deep murkiness. There was a sudden silence, and her figure flashed, as she searched for Ning guifei’s scent.
From ancient times to the present, although she had never truly immersed herself and involved herself with the real world, she still had some understanding of it’s changes. She had temporarily forgotten that for some people of this time period, the word “divorce” was extremely heavy, especially for a prideful person.
When Qianhe Liyou finally saw a glimpse of Qin Ning’s figure, he had already stepped one foot outside the palace gate, closely followed by his maidservant, Fenghua, who had been serving him since he was a child. Qianhe Liyou did not immediately catch up, instead quickly hiding to one side, quietly observing.
“Fanghua..” Qin Ning had just walked out of the massive, thick and heavy palace gate. He turned around gently and called out to his maidservant in a very soft tone.
“Young Master, what do you want to say?” Fanghua was currently feeling so anxious that he didn’t dare to ask more. He had served after the Young Master since he was a child and knew that he was naturally aloof and cold. So how could he endure this humiliation? Especially when he looked closely at the Young Master’s face, his expression was off. The calm look Qin Ning had on gave him a deep sense of trepidation, like the calm before the storm, about to erupt at any time.
“
Take care of yourself and find a good person to marry
” Qin Ning’s bleak eyes gazed warmly at his attendant and he gently touched Fanghua’s head, this motion seeming to carry infinite nostalgia and longing

Fanghua first showed a look of shyness, but then his face quickly contorted into a doubtful expression and then seemed to suddenly think of something. Looking at his master in shock, he cautiously asked with a quavering voice: “Master, don’t scare this servant, this servant won’t marry, this servant still has to serve the Master
”
“No need, find someone to marry, and live an ordinary life. Don’t be like me
” Qin Ning’s words trailed off, and he turned to the imposing palace gate, but didn’t seem to be truly looking at the palace gate. His gaze seemed to penetrate through this layer, instead of looking at something unknown in the distance. His eyes drifted in thought, looking melancholy as his eyes were submerged by a fog. The most shocking thing was that there was a touch of determination in those melancholy eyes!
A dazzling light reflected from a long sword lacerated Qin Ning’s neck in an instant. One drop, two drops. The dazzling sight of blood dripping down the sword’s edge to the ground

Qin Ning opened his eyes abruptly, and Qianhe Liyou’s gloomy face loomed over him. Qianhe Liyou’s two fingers were currently pinching the tip of the sword and had easily stopped Qin Ning’s movements.
“Empress, you and I have nothing to do with each other, please let go of my sword!” Qin Ning wanted to pull the sword out from her grasp but found he could not make it budge. He was once again incensed after thinking of how the other party had deceived him about her martial art skills, his face becoming darker and darker. Naturally, his tone wasn’t very polite.
“Zhen did not divorce you. I just allowed you to leave the palace,  how could it have meant cutting off all association?” Qianhe Liyou was a person who upheld her promises without fail and definitely would not do anything contradictory or hypocritical. But sometimes, even zombies had to be flexible.
There was a trace of wickedness in the cold breath resonating from Qianhe Liyou’s body. Qin Ning, who was closest to her, naturally did not miss this subtle fluctuation. He was so dazed and surprised that he had to admit that the Empress in front of him was longer the Empress he once knew.  She was now a true Empress, no longer possessing that muddle headedness and tyrannical attitude that he despised the most. The person in front of him was like a thousand-year-old blood sword, fierce and wicked spiritual energy leaking from it as if it could destroy the world at any time.
“You
rogue!” Qin Ning didn’t know what he should say at this moment. The Empress hadn’t directly said to divorce him, nor had she sent him divorce papers, but she had agreed to let him leave the palace. Wasn’t the intention to divorce evident? But this Empress’ obvious scoundrel behavior at the moment made him speechless!
“Presumptuous, is this our attitude when speaking to zhen? Zhen is your wife, your Empress, and your sky. If you are smart enough, you should understand that there is a limit to how much pride one should have. Zhen doesn’t want to humiliate your pride, and you do not want to give zhen this opportunity. I have ways to make you not so proud anymore!”
“You!” Qin Ning was not willing. He was not afraid to die, how could he be afraid of these threats?
“Why are you dissatisfied? Do you want to try those methods right now? Then what method should I employ first? Is it better to cripple your martial prowess first? Or break the tendons and ligaments in your body? Or, zhen can use another method, to take off your clothes and give you to one of the guards.  Zhen could simply castrate you so that you will no longer be a man, or feed you some medicine that can make you aroused, and make it so that you have to beg me to take care of you. Qin Ning, you say, which one of these methods do you like? Let zhen think of some other interesting methods
”