The Empress’ Livestream

“My lord, the snow is very heavy. I’m afraid we cannot take the nearby path. To ensure our safety, it would be better to take the main road.”

Observing the condition of the snow, Wei Ci thought the flakes were like feathers. They floated down onto the faces of the men, then melted into ice water.

She could only nod helplessly. The wind and snow were too strong, and both were getting worse. It made the journey harder and delayed their progress.

The build-up of snow already reached the middle of one’s calf. The horses and the horse carriages were not spared. All the roads they took had to be carefully assessed beforehand to prevent them from falling into any ditches. There were no villages ahead or any houses to be seen. If an accident happened, it would be disastrous.

She looked at the bleak skies outside, nodding in agreement.

They’d been on the road for so many days that the viewers were getting rather bored. They carried on with their daily conversations and banter or played games to pass the time.

Jiang Pengji was also bored. Feng Zhen huddled in the carriage, fearing the cold. Wei Ci wanted to go outside, but he was always chased in back by her.

Luckily she always had the live-streaming room by her side. There were 150,000 idle audience members with her whom she could talk to and banter with.

Afraid of Eating Dinner: “Although the technology was less advanced in the past, the environment was very clean. In our time, we cannot differentiate if those that float from above are “white snow” or “black snow.” In our youths, we played in the snow with our little friends, but now it is impossible.”

Sleep after Eating: “I am envious of the above viewer who had the chance to play in the snow. My old hometown was in the south amidst the patchwork of waterways. Even when I was young, I never saw much of the snow, only through watching cartoons or dramas. The leads were often in the snow playing snow-fighting or making a snowman, and I was extremely envious of them.”

Junk Food is the Best: “What is there to envy? Those shown in cartoons are all lies. Which drama doesn’t use filters or use artificial lighting? The main actor and actress laughing in the snow, amusing and romancing each other, only happens in the drama. Realistically, the cleaner lady swept away the snow early on.”

Meitian Xiuxian: “The aunty responsible for cleaning doesn’t have an easy job either. After the snow is swept away, she can only judge those inconsiderate people who build snowmen and engage in snow wars internally. If she refuses to sweep up, do you know how dirty the ground will be once the snow melts? It will be stepped on till it’s black throughout and it’s utterly dirty.”

Riri Feisheng: “However, there is no lady who helps with cleaning within the live-streaming room. Get into a snow fight, make snowmen, why not have a taste of it?”

Concerning this suggestion, let her give you some words of advice.

Streamer V: “This is utterly ugly!”

With Jiang Pengji being so direct, the viewers in the live-streaming room had another wave of heartbreak.

Amid the heavy snow, one could only hear the wind as the horse carriage and horses’ hooves moved through the accumulating snow.

Occasionally, she lifted her hand to remove the snow that amassed on her cloak. This prevented the melting snow from getting the cloak wet.

“My lord! My lord! There’s someone ahead who collapsed on the main road. They’re still breathing…”

She was not in a hurry to reach their destination. If they’d found someone who had collapsed on the ground and was still alive, she would surely find some way to save him.

There were soldiers up ahead who were paving the way forward. Their primary task was to ensure that the horse carriage and horse could pass safely. Secondly, their job was to spot people who were still alive.

Raising her brows, she ordered, “Help him up and put him in the other horse carriage.”

The soldier she’d given the order to appeared perplexed. He said, “My lord, this person seems to be a follower of the Red Lotus group…”

Red Lotus group?

She raised her brows.

The Tsing Yi army was wreaking havoc in Fengyi county and Shangyang county. The Red Lotus group’s power was concentrated in Chengde county and elsewhere.

She had only fought against the Tsing Yi army before. There’d been no crossfire with the Red Lotus group yet.

“Are you certain?” she asked.

The soldier answered, “The man has a tattoo on his forearm in the form of a flame. This is a symbol representative of the Red Lotus group.”

A flame-like tattoo?

She recalled all the information she knew about the Red Lotus group.

In a cult like the Red Lotus group, an average member was someone who occupied land and offered sacrifices and prayers to the deities of the Red Lotus group daily. Although the tax was quite heavy, their days still passed as usual. Compared to the violent Tsing Yi army, the Red Lotus group softly enforced violence by brainwashing.

To put it more elegantly, they were a small cult and bore the symbol of a flame to prove their identity. Disciples of the cult had a flame symbol tattooed on their arms.

Although the follower wasn’t an important person, there were still a few hundreds of people under him.

“My lord, should we save him?”

Jiang Pengji answered, “Save him and interrogate him in detail. Isn’t it suspicious for a disciple of the Red Lotus group to faint amid the heavy snow in the middle of nowhere? Report back to me after you’ve gathered information. Remember to keep guard and prevent him from escaping. Send men to watch him closely.”

He subserviently agreed.

After a series of questions, the man with the symbol of the Red Lotus Group on his arm fainted from hunger.

If they hadn’t passed by him, he’d probably have been covered by the snow and be frozen to death without anyone noticing within a few hours.

Wei Ci heard the commotion outside and asked about it.

Jiang Pengji turned and said, “It isn’t important. We found someone from the Red Lotus Group who fainted from hunger in the heavy snow, so we rescued him.”

He wouldn’t have thought so much about it if he wasn’t an assassin against her.

Ever since the previous night when she’d acted pathetic, he’d analyzed everything he knew and had grown increasingly suspicious in his heart.

He thought Jiang Pengji’s starting point was good. Things were in her favor. Now that he heard her heartfelt words, he was afraid that things weren’t that simple. All these changes were not necessarily good. Perhaps they had to do with the devil that Master Liaochen had spoken of.

Since when did historical facts deviate from the past he knew?

He thought it was Liu She, but his hypothesis had been proven wrong.

It was so hateful that he’d left Dongqing too early in his previous life. He only had a limited idea about Dongqing’s situation.

Having heard that the soldier had saved another man, Wei Ci took notice.

As the sky slowly darkened, Jiang Pengji and her men had no choice but to find shelter for the night.

The man they’d saved had already regained consciousness. The soldiers obeyed the orders given and cooked him very fine porridge. After almost starving, it was not a good idea for him to eat anything too oily. Also, he should not get too full. Ideally, the porridge would warm his stomach.

The soldier discreetly tried to sieve out some information from this person. Unexpectedly, the person was very guarded. He didn’t once waver or reveal anything.

Helplessly, the soldier could only return to report to Jiang Pengji. “My lord, your humble servant is afraid that person isn’t an average citizen.”

“Oh? Why do you say so?”

She skewered the ice-cold bun onto a stick, then placed it over the fire to roast it. She ensured that the exterior was burnt before placing it into her mouth carefully to take a bite.

The soldier said, “After a few rounds of interrogation, I discovered this person guards his heart really well. After two consecutive rounds of porridge, he was obviously famished, but his eating posture was still rather well-mannered as observed by his style of conversation… He doesn’t appear to come from an average family, but rather seems to be one of the cultured literates.”

She lifted her brows; her interest was heightened.

“Summon the person. I will interrogate him personally.”

There wasn’t a need for her to intentionally sieve information from him. Few could keep a secret from Jiang Pengji.

The man they’d saved was close to thirty years old. His long hair was tied using a hemp rope. It was hard to guess how many days it’d been since he’d last washed up, but even in the cold winter, there was still an unspeakable stench emanating from his body. His hair was tangled and coated in dust.

It had been at least a month since he’d cut his nails. They’d accumulated a layer of black dirt under them. There was also a thick layer of dirt on his skin.

His mannerisms were no different from a gangster’s, and Jiang Pengji became cautious of him as soon as she saw him.

There was more to this person than what met the eye.