Chapter 674

Chapter 674: The Dream Figure

“What nonsense are you speaking!” Xuan Ji Chuan’s voice was as cold as ice as he glared at her.

Under his chilling gaze, the Empress Dowager felt as if she had been stared down by a venomous serpent. A deep cold seeped into her bones.

“What am I saying? I am merely stating the truth!”

“Do you think you have hidden it well?”

“You keep a portrait hidden away in your study. That woman is the one from your dreams—a figure you have never met in reality. If this isn’t witchcraft, then what is it?”

“Xuan Ji Chuan, how much longer will you deceive yourself? You are the emperor of a nation—can’t you see clearly?”

Her eyes burned red with rage as she scolded him in a heavy voice.

Xuan Ji Chuan’s expression darkened ominously. He had not spoken a single word, yet his barely restrained fury was palpable to all.

“You entered my study?” His gaze flicked to the grand eunuch. The eunuch turned and swiftly exited the hall, heading toward the study at once.

Lu Chao Chao instinctively shrank into the corner. A portrait?

A dream figure?

What in the world were they talking about?

“What right do you have to bar me? You turned eighteen, yet you refuse the selection of concubines, refuse to touch any woman! I am only thinking of the Xuan bloodline!”

“Years ago, you were always shouting about marrying the woman in your dreams. And after all these years, you still haven’t changed!” The Empress Dowager glared at him coldly.

Back then, Lin Pin had just fallen from favor, but she had once brought the emperor much joy.

The emperor still had lingering sympathy for her—after all, she had given birth to his son and daughter.

But at that time, the young Xuan Ji Chuan had seemed possessed. One day, he suddenly declared he wanted to marry the woman from his dreams, even drawing her portrait during lessons.

It was said that Lin Pin, upon learning of this, had ordered him to burn the painting with his own hands.

She even made him kneel in the grand hall to repent.

Yet when word of this reached the emperor’s ears, he pondered for a long time before ultimately deciding to send the youngest prince, Xuan Ji Chuan, to Northern Zhao.

The grand eunuch returned, drenched in sweat. He didn’t even have time to bow before blurting out, “Your Majesty, the portrait is gone!”

Xuan Ji Chuan’s face turned even darker. “Return the portrait to me!”

“Where is it?!”

His last thread of restraint snapped. His eyes turned red with fury.

“The portrait, the portrait! Back then, you were deemed mad and exiled to Northern Zhao all because of that dream woman! And now, you still refuse to learn your lesson?”

Xuan Ji Chuan let out a furious, mocking laugh. “Lesson? Was it not you who spread the rumors?”

The Empress Dowager froze.

“Return the portrait to me!” His voice was deadly calm, pressing down his seething rage.

A young woman with a flushed face bit her lip and stood in front of the Empress Dowager. “Your Majesty, is Yu’er still not worth more than a lifeless painting?”

“That portrait—Yu’er has seen it too!”

“Some wild mountain demon dares to enchant Your Majesty? It should be burned at once! Otherwise… it will bring disaster upon you.” Chen Ling Yu bit her lip, her gaze filled with sorrow as she looked at him.

“Wild mountain demon?” Xuan Ji Chuan took a step forward, reaching out to lift her chin.

Chen Ling Yu’s cheeks burned red with shyness. “Yu’er… Yu’er admires Your Majesty. I wish to become the woman of your dreams…” Her voice trembled under the pressure of his presence.

Xuan Ji Chuan was strikingly handsome, tall, and held absolute power over life and death.

Who wouldn’t want to be the sole beloved of such a man?

Not just Chen Ling Yu, but countless young women in the capital yearned for the affection of the young emperor.

“The woman of my dreams?” Xuan Ji Chuan chuckled darkly.

He raised his hand, his fingers closing around Chen Ling Yu’s delicate throat, tightening bit by bit.

Her feet slowly lifted off the ground…

“Aunt… Aunt… cough…” Chen Ling Yu struggled desperately, her hands clawing at Xuan Ji Chuan’s immovable grip in sheer terror.

“Let go! Release her! Yu’er!” The Empress Dowager turned pale, crying out as she ordered the palace servants to intervene.

But under Xuan Ji Chuan’s bloodthirsty gaze, who dared to step forward?

Chen Ling Yu’s eyes rolled back, her tongue lolling out, her face turning purple. The Empress Dowager sobbed uncontrollably.

“Yu’er is about to die! You wretched child, release her!”

“Fine! Fine! Take it! I’ll give it back! Just let her go!” The Empress Dowager, overcome with fear, nearly collapsed.

Xuan Ji Chuan flung Chen Ling Yu away as if discarding a rag doll. The grand eunuch stepped forward, handing him a silk handkerchief. Xuan Ji Chuan wiped his fingers slowly, his apathy bone-chilling.

Chen Ling Yu lay crumpled on the ground, her throat too raw to cry. Trembling, she curled into a ball, covering her head in terror.

“I was wrong, I won’t do it again… Yu’er was wrong… I shouldn’t have given Your Majesty that drug…”

She deeply regretted her folly.

How could she have dared to provoke this god of death?

She had lost her mind.

Chen Ling Yu sobbed wretchedly.

The Empress Dowager, weak and shaken, had to be supported by her maids as she retrieved the portrait from her chambers.

Xuan Ji Chuan’s eyes burned with intensity as he gazed upon it.

The girl in the painting had a red mark at her brow, her arrogant gaze brimming with unrestrained defiance.

The Empress Dowager held the portrait over the candle flame.

Xuan Ji Chuan’s pupils contracted sharply.

“If you won’t take Yu’er, I won’t force you.”

“But as the emperor of Eastern Ling, you must shoulder your responsibilities. You can dream of your demon woman, but the imperial harem must be filled!” Only with a stable royal lineage could she secure her place on the throne.

Xuan Ji Chuan took a deep breath and locked eyes with her.

“Fine! I promise you.”

The Empress Dowager flung the portrait to the ground.

Xuan Ji Chuan, rarely flustered, lunged forward to catch it, holding it as if it were a priceless treasure.

Lu Chao Chao narrowed her eyes. Something about that portrait seemed oddly familiar…

Before she could get a better look, Xuan Ji Chuan had already rolled it up and held it tightly against his chest.

“You have given your word. Do not go back on it!” The Empress Dowager closed her eyes, massaging her temples.

“Leave now. I need to rest.” She turned away, unwilling to see him any longer.

Xuan Ji Chuan strode away, his face dark and stormy.

Lu Chao Chao, hidden in the shadows, tiptoed out of the corner.

She wandered the palace absentmindedly, lost in thought.

Xuan Ji Chuan had a dream figure since childhood? Was it due to a heart demon?

The palace servants trailed behind her from a distance, not daring to approach.

Northern Zhao’s imperial palace was magnificent, adorned with dragons and phoenixes, exuding an ancient grandeur.

But Lu Chao Chao had no interest in admiring it.

She strayed further and further from the main paths until she heard a young eunuch whisper, “Ahead lies the Forbidden Hall.”

“What is the Forbidden Hall?” she asked casually.

“It is not exactly forbidden, but His Majesty lived there as a child. Lin Pin also passed away in that hall. Since His Majesty ascended the throne, it has been sealed. No one is allowed to enter.”

“If Princess is curious, you may enter and see for yourself,” the eunuch said warmly.

His Majesty had decreed that she could roam freely in the palace without obstruction.

This area was secluded, far from where the emperor resided.

Lin Pin must have been exiled here after her fall from grace.

Lu Chao Chao pushed open the hall doors.

Inside, it was deserted, carrying an air of neglect.

“Wait outside,” she instructed.

The hall lacked the grandeur of the main palace, its atmosphere bleak.

Only a small wooden horse in the courtyard hinted at a lingering warmth.

After being sent away, Lin Pin must have missed her children dearly.