Chapter 355

Qiao Jiaojiao was secretly alarmed.

When Yuliu came to Yong Dynasty for the marriage alliance, she was already no longer a virgin?

This Soul-Binding Gu was indeed a buggy existence, but it couldn’t be denied that Yuliu did have the courage and strategy to match it.

And the Emperor Yong…

Just as Chu Rou said, the Soul-Binding Gu attached to the portrait and surrender letter wasn’t actually very potent; the Emperor Yong could have resisted it with his willpower.

If he had been cautious enough, if he had loved the people like his own children, if he had felt sorry for the soldiers who lost their lives on the battlefield defending their homeland, he shouldn’t have accepted Yuliu’s surrender letter at all!

Seeing Qiao Tianjing’s less-than-pleased expression, Chu Rou felt a strange sense of satisfaction.

But that’s not all!

“Soul-Binding and Spirit-Tethering complement each other. The princess had the Emperor Yong hang that portrait in his study, and the Emperor Yong… he naturally did so happily.”

“With the Spirit-Tethering inside him and daily companionship with the Soul-Binding, his infatuation with the princess gradually became uncontrollable.”

“It was at this time that the princess discovered she was pregnant with the Emperor Yong’s child.”

“The princess’s original plan was to completely ruin Yong Dynasty, but the arrival of this child changed her mind.”

“The princess realized that even if she brought down Yong Dynasty, a centipede might still not die even if it’s dead; for the Northern Kingdom to completely devour it, it would also pay a great price.”

“But if she let the child in her belly become the emperor of Yong Dynasty, it would be easy to steal the country!”

“The princess had enough of being neglected politically in the Northern Kingdom, so she hoped even more that this child would be a prince. In this way, the path would be much easier.”

“But if it turned out to be a princess, it didn’t matter. Although difficult, once successful, it would be a historic achievement!”

“Of course, another reason was that the princess’s body could no longer bear another child.”

“This would be the princess’s final gamble; she wanted to leave the governance of the two countries, or even the unification of the world, to that child. The only requirement was that this world would finally be surnamed Jin and respected with ‘North’!”

Listening to this, Qiao Jiaojiao suddenly felt a movement in her heart.

She remembered very clearly that the Second Prince did indeed become the co-ruler of the two countries, but he did not change the country’s surname to “Jin” and continued to respect Yong Dynasty.

In the end, it seemed more like Yong Dynasty absorbed the Northern Kingdom.

Thinking of this, Qiao Jiaojiao couldn’t help but have a slightly bizarre speculation.

Could it be that in the original text, the Second Prince also realized that he had been manipulated by Yuliu all his life, so he chose this way to express his resistance to Yuliu?

Of course, this was just Jiaojiao’s guess, and there was no way to verify it.

At this moment, Chu Rou returned to reality, and the heroic spirit on her face turned into a bitter smile.

She muttered somewhat lost: “Clearly it was almost done… where did it go wrong? The princess had done her best to clear all obstacles for His Highness.”

“The Crown Prince was the biggest obstacle. The princess tried to deal with the Crown Prince, but the Empress protected him very well, so the princess used indirect tactics and alienated the Emperor and Empress.”

“Before the princess decided to end her own life, she deliberately went to Yikun Palace to make the Emperor think it was the Empress who forced her to death. This trick worked very well, and indeed caused a complete rift between the Emperor and Empress.”

“But men, after all, cannot forget the love of their youth. So before the princess decided to end her life, she specifically instructed me that after she passed away in a few years, I should use the Red Thread Reincarnation method from her homeland to further alienate the Empress.”

“I personally saw the Emperor go mad, practicing forbidden arts in Guiqulaixi Courtyard. Heh, that dog Emperor had no right to receive the princess’s reincarnation, so I secretly added the character ‘no’ in that palace sculpture!”

“I just want to see him suffer without getting what he wants, see him and his wife drift apart, and see rebellion and estrangement among his subjects!”

“And the Third Prince… that brainless fool Concubine Jing, dared to flaunt her pregnancy in Jinyu Palace. Even without the princess’s orders, I took the opportunity to give her medicine!”

“When the Third Prince was born, I secretly took a glance at him—a tiny, frail bundle. It seemed destined for an early death, yet I never expected him to survive to this day!”

“Hmph, he’s just a waste, no threat to His Highness at all!”

Qiao Jiaojiao’s eyes narrowed slightly at the words.

They even manipulated the Third Prince’s weak constitution!

Yuliu, in paving the way for her son, truly created countless tragedies in her lifetime!

Chu Rou was still immersed in Yuliu’s great dedication.

“The princess was afraid she hadn’t done enough, so she had me and Jinzhu leave the palace, training dead soldiers for His Highness at Huguo Temple, and sent Yin Zhu to the Nanli Kingdom to pave the way for His Highness.”

“Before her strength waned, the princess transferred the ‘well-fed’ mother Gu to His Highness, causing the Yong Emperor to instinctively ‘favor’ His Highness, giving His Highness the trump card to control the Yong Emperor.”

“Even in the end, she painstakingly left behind two ingenious plans to help His Highness through the difficult trials he might face in the future.”

“The princess did so much… so much, why did she still fail in the end?”

Chu Rou looked around in confusion, her eyes filled with despair, seemingly resolved to death.

“The princess sacrificed herself, but even so, she couldn’t gain the favor of heaven. Heaven—truly blind!”

Qiao Tianjing listened with a cold expression, not sensing any empathy in Chu Rou’s words, only feeling a chill down his spine.

In Chu Rou’s eyes, Yuliu had been glorified as someone who sacrificed everything for the sake of her country and family, unafraid to make sacrifices or to manipulate people.

But observing Yuliu’s actions, she followed the principle of using any means necessary.

Whether they were children, teenagers, pregnant women, or even those close to her, she could manipulate them without hesitation.

Qiao Tianjing even doubted that if it weren’t for the Gu worms depleting Yuliu’s body, this co-ruler of two countries wouldn’t have been controlled by Shen Yuanbai!

“Chu Rou, do you really understand Yuliu’s entire plan? Then let me ask you, the matter of King Jinyu being childless, was it Yuliu’s doing?”

Chu Rou’s expression twisted slightly at Qiao Tianjing’s words, she pursed her lips, and after a while, she stuttered out a few words:

“It has nothing to do with the princess!”

Qiao Tianjing raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Really? Earlier you said Yuliu repeatedly persuaded the late king and courtiers to slander her for betraying the country. Does Yuliu truly bear no blame for them?”

“You say she fed herself to the Gu, but did she actively raise the Gu, or was she forced? If she was so fearless, why, when she was in excruciating pain, did she cry out for you to save her?”

“And also, you said when Yuliu came for the marriage alliance, she was no longer a virgin. Then who did she give her chastity to? Di Zaiying? Or was it someone else?”

“And furthermore—”

“Stop it! Stop it!”

Chu Rou suddenly widened her eyes as if struck, her face contorted with rage as she screamed at Qiao Tianjing, blood vessels on her face seeming ready to burst!

“Stop talking!!!”

Thud—

At that moment, a glossy black pill suddenly flew out of Chu Rou’s mouth, rolling to Qiao Jiaojiao’s feet.

Qiao Jiaojiao looked puzzled, bending down to take a closer look, her eyes suddenly widening.

Th-this… this was the Truth-telling Pill she had just given to her elder brother—Chu Rou hadn’t swallowed it at all!