After finishing his speech, Lin Yue threw his sleeves angrily and made his way towards the door, stopping in front of Gu Ruoyun to stomp his feet. His lips turned upwards into a ghastly curve as he said, "My lady, sometimes when wrong decisions are made, your life could be entirely destroyed. Heed my words, my prophecy will soon come true! Your poor choice will result in a life miserable beyond compare! You will live a browbeaten life for the rest of your days! Hahaha!"

Gu Ruoyun had remained silent since she last spoke, only staring icily at Lin Yue.

"Do not worry, goddess," Pang Ran vowed solemnly, thumping his chest, completely ignoring Pang Zihuang. "I will never allow anyone to hurt you. When I become Emperor, my first order of business will be to send Lin Yue into the dungeon!"

Pang Zihuang was enraged. He swung his leg forward, giving Pang Ran a real good kick in the butt and bellowed, "You dirty little brat! Your Imperial Father is not yet dead and you are already dreaming of becoming Emperor? What? Plotting to seize the throne?"

Pang Ran jumped in pain as he hurriedly covered his rear end and cried, "Spare me, Imperial Father! Spare me! I was wrong! I admit my wrongs! Please stop kicking me, aiyo! If Your Imperial Majesty keeps on kicking me, I will no longer have an asshole! Then all the gossips will say that Your Imperial Majesty has an heir without an asshole!"

"You insolent halfwit, how dare you f*cking curse your Imperial Father! Fine! We will stop kicking you. We will beat you to death instead!"

Watching the scene unfold before her, Gu Ruoyun smiled gently. Although Pang Zihuang was currently beating Pang Ran up with a stick, she felt a sense of warmth, as if this was not the royal family but an ordinary household. This was the first time she had seen royalty display so much affection

Of course, what she did not know was that the royal family of Black Tortoise Country fell under the jurisdiction of the Xia family, and the head of the Xia family respected sincerity. This was why they had elected Pang Zihuang to become the Emperor.

"Foolish child, you better remember this!" said Pang Zihuang, gasping for breath while pointing his stick at Pang Ran. "If you ever dare to curse your Imperial Father again, We shall beat you until you are bedridden. And do not even think of crying about this to your Imperial Mother! She has gone to visit her mother for a few days, therefore no one can shield you now!"

Pang Ran tearfully massaged his swollen buttocks, deciding that once he became Emperor, he would give this b*stard a taste of his own bottom-whacking medicine instead. Furthermore, he would forbid him from eating meat for a whole month.

"You are certainly full of energy, Your Imperial Majesty."

In that instant came a soft giggle from a side of the room, abruptly bringing Pang Zihuang back to his senses. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking clearly distressed.

"Lady Gu, how ridiculous We must seem to you," he bemoaned. "This son is simply too disrespectful! Ah, right, the reason why We have invited you here is to ask you to examine Our health. Why is it that We have been experiencing such constant headaches. We have seen countless Imperial physicians, and none have been able to solve the problem."

After finishing his explanation, Pang Zihuang fixed his eyes on Gu Ruoyun, and noticed the frown between her eyebrows. His heart gave a loud thump.

Could it be that Our illness is incurable? he wondered.

After a while, the deep lines between the young girls eyebrows relaxed and a kind of clear brightness shone in her eyes. She asked, "Did Your Imperial Majesty recently touch a plant named trigonotis peduncularis?"