Chapter 34

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Chapter 34:

Just as Li Chunzhou had sent away Xu Yanqu and before she could catch her breath, Li Li rushed up to her and eagerly showed her a semi-transparent floating screen:

[The second person in the palace’s Dungeon has died.]

Li Chunzhou’s first instinct was to look at Li Zhexuan, who met her gaze and silently left her side.

"The Dungeon in the palace, is that the one by the Empress?" Li Chunzhou leaned over the screen, glanced at it, then picked up Qileyuan and walked into the courtyard.

Outside, the Spring Flowers Tower was bustling with people, making it inconvenient to talk.

As Li Chunzhou walked, she asked Qi Leyuan about the situation, "How much do you all know about this Dungeon now?"

Qi Leyuan told Li Chunzhou briefly about the message he had just seen in the group, "Hongwu looked back at the palace records and found that the only connection to the triplets is the former dynasty’s Consort Shu. Consort Shu gave birth to a pair of twins, two boys. One died before the age of five, and the other died in a struggle for the throne. The current emperor and Prime Minister took advantage of the situation and seized the throne. Since then, Consort Shu has become a bit unstable."

Females in the palace without sons will be arranged to guard the emperor’s coffin after his death, some will choose to become nuns, and those of higher status will be arranged to live in remote palaces, such as the Peaceful Heart Courtyard. The Peaceful Heart Courtyard is not a place where concubines who have committed crimes are imprisoned but it is where the unfavored concubines of the late emperor live together. Only the consorts who have given birth to a prince have the chance to be taken out of the palace by their sons to live out their later years in comfort.

Li Chunzhou quickly read through it and nodded, "No problem, you are almost spot on with your investigation."

[There have been several experienced individuals in the palace who have been in the dungeons before, but according to them, they cannot get close to the evil aura now and cannot leave the Peaceful Heart Courtyard, as if trapped in a cage.]

"Actually, it’s quite simple. Consort Shu had a pair of twin sons," Li Chunzhou said waving her fan, "Just make her think you are the twins, and Consort Shu won’t refuse you to come near."

After hearing this, Qi Leyuan became even more worried and said anxiously, "But the players’ identities don’t include being twins!"

"Don’t worry, I haven’t finished yet," Li Chunzhou added calmly, "Or find a mirror the same height as the person, stand next to it at an angle, and from Consort Shu’s perspective, she will see two identical individuals."

"…Can that really work?" Qi Leyuan was astonished but still told the other players about Li Chunzhou’s method.

A moment later, Pebble sent a message saying, "It really works! What should we do next?"

"Consort Shu’s worry was that even though she had given birth to two sons, she still ended up in a helpless situation. There are two ways to pass this Dungeon: one is to break the ‘cage’, and the other is to kill the evil spirit. The simplest way is to find a prince to kneel down, call her ‘mom’, and promise to take care of her in her old age."

Qi Leyuan quickly shared Li Chunzhou’s words in the group chat. Liang Fengyu had already been killed, but fortunately, the other two players who had just been found in the palace were still alive. Linlang helped hold up the mirror on the side, while Liang Jiayou knelt down with a thud, hugged Consort Shu’s legs, and called her ‘mom’.

After a stick of incense time passed, a palace maid messaged that they had cleared the second Dungeon.

Liang Jiayou (Fourth Prince), "Um, does anyone know how to duplicate NPC data?"

Cheng Yingchu (prostitute), "Whose data are you looking to duplicate?"

Liang Jiayou (Fourth Prince), "I want to duplicate Consort Shu’s data, then bring it back to my system space to take care of her after clearing the Dungeon."

Liang Wenshi (Fifth Prince), "It’s just a Dungeon, don’t take it too seriously."

Linlang (palace maid), "How should we handle Liang Fengyu’s body?"

Cheng Yingchu (prostitute), "There should be an internal affairs office in the palace, they should take care of it. The question is how to explain it away."

Gu Cai, "Wait."

Gu Cai, "Open up Liang Fengyu’s body that has been cut in half, see if there is a brain inside."

When he said this, everyone was puzzled for a moment, then slowly understood.

Shortly after, Linlang sent a terrifying picture to the group.

No matter how you look at it, a cross-section of a human body split in half seems eerie. From the photo Linlang sent, the cut surface of the body was smooth and neat, with bright red flesh, yellow fat, and white bones forming a colorful and eerie scene.

Liang Fengyu’s brain was empty, just like the first player who died.

Gu Cai, "Was the player who died by the Empress yesterday the same? Is the brain missing?"

Ying Rui (a maid), "I was so scared yesterday, I didn’t look closely, but… if I remember correctly, it seems like his head was also empty."

Yan Qingze, "What do you mean?"

In the story, Miss Wang from the Wang family said, "So you mean two murders happened, even though the ways they were killed were different, but they both had empty heads, right?"

A palace maid named Linglang replied, "It’s also possible that the killer and the one who took the brains weren’t the same person at all."

Qi Leyuan looked at Li Chunzhou and asked, "Lady Chun… Do you know about this matter?"

Li Chunzhou turned to look at him, her clear eyes ready to speak, but at that moment, Li Zhexuan returned.

The moment Qi Leyuan saw Li Zhexuan in the distance, he suddenly realized what was going on, understanding that Li Zhexuan leaving couldn’t be a coincidence every time.

However, the next moment, Qi Leyuan accidentally locked eyes with Li Zhexuan for a moment, and then all his doubts and guesses vanished from his mind.

When he came back to his senses, he couldn’t remember what he was about to do.

Someone in the group asked how Qi Le knew the way to pass through the Dungeon, Qi Leyuan glanced at Li Chunzhou, she shook her fan and gently shook her head, so Qi Leyuan made up an excuse to get through it.

***

In the evening, before the sky turned completely dark, dark clouds filled the sky. The stone path was damp and mossy. As Li Chunzhou carried Li Li across the bridge, it was midsummer and the lotus flowers were in full bloom. The green lotus leaves covered the swimming koi fish in the small artificial lake at the back of the house.

Spring Flowers Tower was bustling throughout Pingkang Alley. Even before it got dark, the place was already brightly lit up with decorations. Passersby could tell that Spring Flowers Tower had started doing business.

Watching the slight ripples on the lake and feeling the heavy air around him, Qi Leyuan suddenly felt like he had forgotten something. But what could it be? He racked his brain, but his mind remained blank.

Li Zhexuan walked silently beside Li Chunzhou. The tilted lotus leaves, filled with dew, leaned over the flowers. A dreamy fragrance filled the air. The white walls and dark roof tiles were covered in a fine rain. In the misty air, Qi Leyuan felt like everything in front of him was like a dream.

The rain kept dripping from the eaves, never stopping.

The servants in wooden clogs hurried back and forth, like raindrops. They walked quickly, keeping their heads down and trying to hide their presence as much as possible.

At the end of the deep crimson corridor of Spring Flowers Tower, a bird gently flew past overhead.

Li Chunzhou smiled and nodded to people greeting her. Inside the building, the noise was loud, but Li Chunzhou walked straight to the Madame and asked softly, "Mother, has Master Qian come today?"

The Madame helped her tidy the strands of hair on her forehead and said, "Look at all this sweat. Lady Chun must have gone out to play again?"

Li Chunzhou heard the dissatisfaction in her words and gently touched Mama Li’s hand, pretending softly, "Mom, you always worry about me. I didn’t go out today, how could I leave behind so many sisters and you at Spring Flowers Tower?"

The two exchanged a glance, seeing fake smiles in each other’s eyes. Mama Li sighed in her heart, thinking that this girl was becoming more stubborn, but she didn’t show it on her face, just said, "Alright, alright, Mom has already rescheduled the meeting with Master Qian for tomorrow. Go and entertain the guests first."

The biggest news in the official gazette in recent days was the "serial murder case," and Li Chunzhou’s name kept appearing in it.

The murder case was linked to the brothel, adding a touch of scandal to this headless body case. Surprisingly, Li Chunzhou’s business was not affected. Instead, the number of guests who wanted to see Li Chunzhou increased significantly. If Li Chunzhou hadn’t informed the madam in advance, Master Qian would have to wait for a month to see her again.

Li Chunzhou listened to regular customers while gently caressing Li Li’s feathers.

The two young men across from her looked at her surprisingly. They had seen prostitutes who raised cats, dogs, and parrots, but it was their first time seeing one who raised chickens.

They both thought her hobbies were a bit strange, and they didn’t get angry at Li Chunzhou for holding a chicken at the table. Since Li Chunzhou hadn’t shown her face yet, the guests she received were all respectable. The two young men also considered their status and manners, treating Li Chunzhou politely.

Qi Leyuan pecked at Li Chunzhou’s hand lightly and typed:[We’ve already completed two sub-dungeons. When should we tackle the remaining two sub-dungeons?]

Li Chunzhou fanned herself lightly with a fan, a strand of loose hair swaying slightly at her temple. With guests present, she couldn’t say much, so she just shook her head gently at Qi Leyuan.

Qi Leyuan felt that this way of communicating was not very efficient, so he started searching in his space.

Even though he had heard other players in the group say that no skills could be used in this Dungeon, Qi Leyuan still didn’t want to believe it. He remembered using a life-saving skill when he was on the mountain, with the idea of trying everything possible. Qi Leyuan wanted to see if there were any skills that could make it easier to communicate with Li Chunzhou.

When Qi Leyuan wasn’t paying attention, Li Zhexuan suddenly looked in his direction, his curious and strange gaze fixed on the toolbar in front of Qi Leyuan.

Qi Leyuan was daydreaming when he felt a familiar sensation coming from his backside. If he were a real hen, Qi Leyuan would probably know this feeling as preparing to lay an egg.

However, he wasn’t a hen, yet this egg was much larger than the previous ones. The muscles in his cloaca were tense and relaxed, but this unusually large egg just couldn’t come out. Qi Leyuan’s cloaca had stretched into a nearly transparent membrane, the whole egg pushing out with difficulty, evoking some discomforting thoughts.

The guests across from him happened to witness this indescribable scene, regardless of their status as legitimate or illegitimate sons at home, they were all raised in a lap of luxury, rarely experiencing the real world. It was their first time witnessing a hen laying an egg.

The guest sitting across from Li Chunzhou smirked, nudging his friend with his elbow. They shared a glance, understanding each other’s thoughts as men, sharing a knowing smile.

Their intense gaze felt almost tangible, with too much warmth in their eyes. Qi Leyuan, in the process of laying the egg, felt their eyes on him, he turned his head and looked towards the source of their gaze.

The two men were not considered ugly, but the awkward smile they revealed in that moment made them appear sleazy and repulsive, causing disgust.

One of them said knowingly, "No wonder Miss Chunzhou wants to raise chickens…"

In an instant, Qi Leyuan felt a very complicated feeling in his heart.

His first reaction was anger, then he felt incredulous – these two people were actually mocking a chicken that was laying eggs.

Because Qi Leyuan is a person, and he is aware that he is an adult man, he immediately sensed that the two people staring at him were being disrespectful.

Unfortunately, in the eyes of those two men, the chicken laying eggs on the table was just a little hen named Li Li. They had eaten countless chickens and eggs since they were young, so they did not feel the need to respect a chicken, and the chicken itself would not feel offended.

They didn’t care if the chicken had the ability or had ever been free. They only cared about whether it could lay eggs and if its flesh could be eaten. Even if Qi Leyuan suddenly spoke and told them he was a living person, the men would just find it funny.

Anger and annoyance surged in Qi Leyuan’s heart, then he suddenly remembered that he might have unconsciously stared at others with a similar look. Qi Leyuan even dared not say he had purely good intentions when facing Li Chunzhou.

Thinking of this, the anger that had built up in Qi Leyuan’s heart seemed to deflate all at once. He felt like his heart was tightly wrapped in heavy mud, unable to breathe, and despite the anger, he couldn’t vent his frustration with righteousness.

The women of Spring Flowers Tower, the whole of Shengjing, and those struggling to survive in this feudal era… all these women actually lived like this chicken.

Li Chunzhou tapped the table with the fan handle, then opened the fan with a swoosh. She used the fan to shield Qi Leyuan’s embarrassment, holding Li Li close with a hint of displeasure as she glanced slyly at the guests across the table.

Even when Li Chunzhou, a beauty like her, was upset, she still looked vibrant and attractive. The two men opposite her quickly smiled and tried to cheer her up.

On the way back, Qi Leyuan was unusually quiet.

Li Chunzhou gently stroked Li Li’s feathers but did not try to comfort him.

Qi Leyuan’s pain was temporary, but for the girls in the Spring Flowers Tower, they might never be able to easily escape their struggles.

"I’m sorry," Qi Leyuan suddenly spoke in a muffled voice, lowering his head.

Qi Leyuan remembered the first time he saw Li Chunzhou a long time ago. He had thought about duplicating her and keeping her in a virtual space.

Remembering those moments, recalling his past with Li Chunzhou, and unintentionally criticizing others… The memories pierced Qi Leyuan’s heart like thorns, making him feel uncomfortable all over.