Chapter 12: The Appearance of the Scapegoat

Above the General’s residence, dark clouds churned, and the air echoed with angry and defiant cries.

“Miss, hurry and run!”

“Miss, don’t come back!”

“The General was wronged!”

“The emperor is heartless! He will die sooner or later!”

Only then did Xie Zhizhi realize that they were reacting to the news from the Imperial Guards in the hall—announcing that the General and his son were dead and that the Miss was to be executed on the spot. That was why their emotions were so stirred up!

Wait, wasn’t she the Miss?

The dog emperor wanted to kill her directly?

Fortunately, she had run fast!

The revelation shocked everyone. They were pale and unable to accept the death of the General and his son. Even more so, they could not accept that the Miss was about to be killed.

“Preposterous!” The leader of the Imperial Guards’ face hardened, and his sharp ceremonial blade unsheathed.

A swift cut, and blood splattered.

The guard, who had dared to speak against the emperor, had his mouth wide open in agony, his pain unbearable. Yet, he still remained defiant, staring defiantly at the Imperial Guards, silently vowing to never yield.

The surrounding guards weren’t afraid either. They knew that death was inevitable, but they had all been personally trained by the General, had fought on the battlefield, and were willing to sacrifice everything to protect the General’s residence.

But now, with the Miss about to be killed, they were being exiled to survive. How could they face the General?

The sorrow and helplessness overwhelmed the courtyard.

“General, we couldn’t protect the Miss, we’re sorry.”

“Still so stubborn? Then watch your Miss die!” The leader of the Imperial Guards sneered coldly, moving forward swiftly.

Earlier, they had checked the Miss’s bedroom but had found no trace of her.

The emperor had given two orders.

The first: The Miss must die.

The second: A map of the kingdom on sheep’s parchment must be found in the General’s study.

“Bang!”

The leader of the Imperial Guards kicked open the door to the study, filled with pride, but when he saw the scene inside…

His pupils contracted in shock, his steps faltering, and his hand instinctively reached for his ceremonial blade.

“Damn it! How did this happen in the General’s residence? Where did all these snakes come from?”

The leader yelled in terror.

Behind him, the Imperial Guards rushed forward.

“Leader Liu! Those are silver-ringed snakes!” One of the guards shouted, recognizing the snakes in the study.

Everyone gasped in horror. The silver-ringed snakes were extremely venomous, and without an antidote, anyone bitten would die within two hours.

In the study, more than twenty black-and-white snakes were writhing in a tangled heap, their dark backs streaked with narrow white stripes, their long, thin tails twitching. Their heads, marked with dark-brown patches, rose slightly with every movement.

Upon seeing the door open, the silver-ringed snakes, disturbed by the unfamiliar environment, began to glare at the intruders.

The next moment, they surged forward in attack.

The scene descended into chaos. One bite from these snakes could mean death.

The thirty Imperial Guards at the door raised their knives to fend off the silver-ringed snakes that were charging at them.

“Quick! Kill them all!”

“Ah!”

“Leader, watch out on your left!”

“Ugh, help! I’ve been bitten!”

“Why are there so many of these snakes in the General’s study… Ah! It hurts!”

The servants and guards of the General’s residence quickly got up. On the surface, they were all running in fear, but in their hearts, they were relieved that the Miss was not in the residence. They hoped she had managed to avoid the disaster.

Within moments, several Imperial Guards had been bitten by the snakes, but the snakes couldn’t be killed.

That’s because…

Xie Zhizhi was watching everything from her space, controlling the movement of the snakes, pulling them back into the space whenever they were about to escape or be killed.

Only when the leader was finally bitten twice did she recall all the snakes.

The guards who hadn’t been bitten stood dumbfounded, shivering with fear, as ten of their comrades lay motionless on the ground, their faces turning blue.

“Leader! Leader, are you alright?”

“There are ghosts! The snakes… they disappeared!”

“Run!”

“The General’s residence is haunted!”

The unknown was the most terrifying. The sudden appearance and then disappearance of more than twenty snakes left them shaken, though the faint red marks on their arms and ankles were proof of what had just happened.

Xie Zhizhi didn’t care about their panic. She was silently using her space to float toward the storeroom.

The dog emperor truly was a dog!

Everyone else had been exiled!

And she was going to be executed on the spot!

It was a humiliation.

A complete humiliation!

How would the people who used to look down on the original owner laugh at her now?

Watch me empty your treasury!

She arrived at the storeroom, where the doors had been violently pried open. A dozen or so Imperial Guards were guarding the large storeroom, not allowing anyone to enter.

It looked like a fly couldn’t even sneak inside.

She loved inserting herself into others’ plans when they thought they had already won.

Two guards at the door were quietly chatting.

“Why is it so noisy outside?” one asked.

“Every time we raid the place, it’s always noisy,” the second replied, clearly used to it.

The first guard quietly inched closer, whispering, “Why hasn’t Deputy Leader Liu come out yet?”

The second guard, filled with envy, held up five fingers and muttered a few times, “At least five times this amount before he’ll come out!”

The first guard was also envious. The General had fought on the battlefield for fifteen years, collecting tribute from the three kingdoms. The General’s late wife also had a dowry, so there was bound to be a lot of good stuff.

The surrounding guards, envious of Deputy Leader Liu, could only quietly harbor their jealousy since he was the younger brother of the leader and a close confidant of the emperor. He often took a little something for himself, and the emperor usually turned a blind eye.

Whenever there was a raid, Deputy Leader Liu was always the first to enter the storeroom, and others could only envy his “privileges.”

However, when they discovered that the gold and treasures were missing inside, they would be in for an even greater shock.

Xie Zhizhi quietly passed by them, a mischievous smile playing on her lips.

The scapegoat had come to deliver himself!

These two brothers were definitely having a bad day.