Chapter 117 - 3.13

Xu Jiaqi flashed a crafty smile. Things were going the way she planned it to be. If she just played this perfectly.. then her chances of fulfilling her mission would be lifted up by a mile.

She placed her thin and small hand over her chest, appearing as solemn as possible.

"I am honored that my lord thinks of me that way. I am just someone who has a crooked view on the world. I don't know what about me caught my lord's attention, but if you wish for it.. I could become your weapon."

A dangerous glint passed through both of their eyes.

"How should I trust you? I intended to take you in as a little kitten.. I never considered your power in the slightest, nor do I intend on granting you any sort of impact. You just have to be here next to me. That's your position.. In the beginning, that is." Xie Yongrui smirked. "Now that you've said these things, I'm interested as to what you can offer me. Even more.. on why you are able to yield these kinds of opinions, voice them out in bravery, and even claim to have the ability to help me." Xie Yongrui spoke.

"However.. If I find your proposal unsatisfying, then I reckon you must already be prepared for the consequences, right? Little kitten, I am not a very patient person. Ever since I rose into power, all of my subordinates are crawling as desperate as they could to not make any mistake.. Do you know what pushes them to those heights?" A dark chuckle elapsed. "It's because I hate mistakes. I loathe those who can't even do their job properly. Little kitten, if you just silently fulfilled your purpose, then no harm would've come to strike you. But now that you are opening up a challenge.. Be prepared." Xie Yongrui warned.

"..That should be obvious." Xu Jiaqi felt like there was an immense pressure haunting her from the back. It was clearly seeping out from the man before her. "I shall do my best to not disappoint you in the slightest."

Xu Jiaqi was confident, but not as confident as her previous starting points. She was just a powerless girl. Although she had a cheat, namely the weapons she received from the System, there was a limit to how much she could soar by herself. Even in the previous world, she had to rely on the fact that she was a Duke's daughter to meet Zenith and be a Saintess candidate in the first place.

But this world? She was a homeless child who was taken in by this person in front of her, who placed his curiosity on her. She had an inkling as to what caused Xie Yongrui's turmoil, but she didn't say anything.

It was an advantage to her in any case.

"The matter of trusting me or not.. I will leave that to your sense of judgement. I am not saying that.. You have to believe me. I am merely proposing an enticing idea.. Whether the lord wants to take part in it is not within my consideration. Being a little kitten also doesn't sound too bad.. But sometimes, when handling stray animals, you have to be careful that they won't bite you. It could be poisonous if you don't have the wisdom to contain said stray." Xu Jiaqi laced her words with implications.

Xie Yongrui's expression grew uglier as he listened. "How great! I have truly picked up something great. Good... Xu Jiaqi, was it? I shall see just how amazing of a proposal you have in your stash, for you to say such daring words." He emitted a larger amount of pressure, making it hard for Xu Jiaqi to even breathe properly.

Keeping her posture straight was a taxing chore, but she upheld her confident aura as she took a deep breath and  began to spill her plans.

"My lord, what do you think of the current Empire? Is it desirable to your liking? I find it loathsome. Suffocating. If I had to go farther, I would even say that it is beyond salvation. This Empire is bound to collapse one day under the rule of that person.  Just by looking at the conditions from the surface area, you can already tell that there are many problems, not only in the social structures.. but also the conflict of authority. And yet, the Emperor isn't doing anything about it. Isn't it very funny? He's trying to plunge not only himself, but everyone around him into certain failure."

Right off the bat, she voiced out a controversial topic.

The current Empire's state, to be described into words, was a large wound that got an infection. And yet, instead of trying to cure it, the Emperor decided to take measures that would only ensure stability for a temporary schedule. He covered the wound with bandages and did not dare do anything more than that. No medicine, no soothing agent, no nothing. He left it as is.

Why?

Because he feared changes.

Although he had usurped the throne from the previous Emperor after allying with the other sections of power, he actually did not bind them under him. They helped him simply because the previous Emperor, although he was not the most diligent Ruler in history, was a man that knew to put leashes on his vassals.

When he was sitting on the throne, no one wanted to bite him in the back. Why was that? It was because the Emperor created a web of power where he could sit in the center without doing much. The ones that were stuck in this web were left with no choices but to serve under him if they didn't want to suffer.

Countless schemes, dirty work, and black material got him to that point. Like a proficient spider, he sat on top of the web and watched as people did his work for him, but were not able to do much against him.

This was the kind of man that sat on the throne previously.