Mildly, he would be bedridden for life; severely, he would die immediately.

  "What?!" Tang Lin and Mei Chun'er exclaimed in unison, because what they saw was not the emperor's face, but the emperor's mask.

  "What's the point?" Tang Lin muttered in a low voice, very unhappy that the emperor was wearing a mask. Originally she wanted to see the true face of the so-called "twenty-three or four-year-old" emperor who was said to be like a phoenix and butterfly emerging from his mouth, but it seemed there was no chance now.

  Tang Lin was separated from the Holy Lord above by a distance of over twenty flights of stone stairs. Although it wasn't very far, it also wasn't very close.

  Tang Lin's line of sight returned from above, her front facing the Imperial Guards standing at the other end of the stone steps, rather than upwards or downwards towards the square below. The few of them snatched the next batch of Imperial Guards, occupying the advantageous terrain, with one person standing on each level of the stone steps, and she stood at the very bottom, the one above her was Mei Chun'er, and the one standing at the very top was Du Yuanyuan.

  Du Yuanyuan was facing downwards, with her back to the palace above, while everyone else, including Tang Lin, were facing forward in unison with the Imperial Guards opposite them.

  It's not that she doesn't know how to stand up for herself, but her flustered expression reveals her concerns. She is afraid, afraid of facing someone, the person behind her back.

  His Majesty's hands were clasped behind his back, while he rotated the ring on his right index finger, a gold eagle-shaped ring. Meanwhile, his profound and severe gaze swept over the vast crowd below.

  Just as the Holy Emperor was about to speak

  "Ah——" Didn't sleep well last night, Tang Lin slightly raised her hand to cover her mouth and let out a yawn, suddenly feeling that standing here was really boring.

  His Majesty's eyes were as sharp as electricity, and every single movement of the Imperial Guards within his sight could not escape his gaze. Tang Lin, who was ten meters away from him and yawning, was caught in his eyes at the first moment.

  When Tang Lin put down her hand, her profile was completely reflected in Yu Sheng Jun's eyes.

  His Majesty was taken aback, his eyebrows raised slightly, and he thought to himself: "This little woman, how did she end up here?" If he wasn't mistaken, all contestants with invitations were not allowed to leave the palace grounds. What was she doing here? And how did she manage to get out? The Southern Palace was full of hidden mechanisms, and anyone who wandered around without authorization would be killed by those mechanisms. How did she have the skills to make it here?

  He glanced at Tang Lin's clothes a few times, and when he finally saw the token on her waist, Yu Sheng Jun hooked his lips and raised a smile that was slightly helpless but full of pampering. It seemed that his Linlin wasn't stupid at all, knowing to use the token to get things done.

  After a moment, Emperor Sheng's gaze returned from Tang Lin and he slightly beckoned with his hand towards the back.

  An Lin hastened his pace and ran a few steps forward, bowing his head and asking: "Your Majesty."

  His Majesty whispered: "Inform Imperial Physician Li to prepare a Voice-Changing Pill for Me. Also, tell General Zhang and the two Taoists, Yidong and Yishuang, not to come here for now. I will summon them when necessary."

  "Yes!" After saying that, Anlin retreated and soon disappeared from the corner of the palace.

  Considering that Li Taoyi won't arrive so soon, the Holy Emperor walked down the stone steps and thought of taking a closer look at the contestants on the square below. However, he didn't walk in the middle, but instead chose to walk along the edge, and when passing by Du Yuan's side, he didn't notice Du Yuan, who lowered his head very low, holding his breath as much as possible, not letting the Holy Emperor detect any changes in him.

  Because he was completely focused on Tang Lin, Yu Sheng Jun didn't pay much attention to Du Yuan Yuan, Dong Chen Chen, Yun Xiang and others along the way.

  Afraid of the emperor. Mei Chun'er was afraid of getting close to the emperor, although she wanted to see the emperor's face, but she was afraid of getting close to the emperor. The villagers all said that the emperor and Yan Luo Wang were not much different, she couldn't offend the emperor.

  When the Emperor stood less than half a meter away from Meichun, she and Duyuanyuan were equally tense, lowering their heads and not daring to look directly at the Emperor's face. She was truly afraid that if the Emperor became displeased, he would behead her.

  Tang Lin was staring at the ground with her head down, feeling bored and didn't even know that Yu Sheng Jun had walked down from above and was now standing beside her. At this moment, she was still hoping that the emperor would finish speaking soon so she could return to Lan Garden to sleep. Standing here was really boring, and if she stood for a while longer, she estimated that she would be sleepy enough to fall over.

  The noble gentleman took a light step down the stone stairs and finally stood beside Tang Lin. Originally, they were half a meter apart, but with this one step closer, the distance between them was now only one step away. He unceremoniously blocked her line of sight.

  The ground was originally brightened by the sun, but now it was blocked by a black shadow. Tang Lin realized that someone had blocked her line of sight and suddenly raised her head to meet a black, cold, mysterious eagle mask.

  Everyone in the court who didn't dare to look at the emperor all slightly lifted their heads, as they were all very curious about what the emperor was doing now and why he still hadn't spoken. But no one had expected that the emperor was standing right next to a member of the Imperial Guard, and the distance between them was so close.

  In the crowd on the square, several pairs of eyes saw Tang Lin and revealed an incredible look.

  "Sister Tang?!" Cao Dan finally saw Tang Lin in the crowd.

  Just then, someone patted Cao Dan's shoulder from behind, "Little Cao!"

  At the sound, Cao Dan's eyes widened in surprise, what a familiar voice! He immediately turned his head to look over, and this time, he was stunned. "Brother Fu, how did you get here?"

  Fu Yushu smiled elegantly and said with a hint of sarcasm: "If you can come, why can't I, Fu Tianze?"

  "Ah!" Cao Dan suddenly realized, "You left Jun Die Xuan so quickly, just to participate in the Imperial Guard selection contest, right? Fu brother, why didn't you say it earlier? If you had said it earlier, we could have come together!"

  Fu Yushu replied somewhat weakly, "You didn't ask!"

  "Ah, Brother Fu," Cao Dan pushed aside a few people and brought Fu Yushu to the front, then pointed at Tang Lin standing on the over twenty stone steps above and asked: "Isn't that our person in charge?"

  Fu Yushu took a closer look and confirmed, "It's her, no mistake!"

  Looking at Tang Lin again, Fu Yushu's eyes were somewhat complicated. At this moment, she should be in the imperial palace, but not in the South Palace, but in the Rear Palace, shouldn't she? She had promised Shi He to replace Lian Xin and Yueyue to enter the palace, but she didn't...

  If she wasn't recognized as the Empress by the Emperor and the Dowager Empress, then the Emperor would not have recalled the Imperial Guards from the folk. So, Shihui... is getting more and more dangerous. He can erase the traces of Shihui's past, making it impossible for the Imperial Guards to find any evidence of her existence, but the Imperial Guards are not easy to fool, they will soon discover those who have connections with Shihui...

  He planned well, Tang Lin replaced Shi He to enter the palace, and nothing would happen at all, because Tang Lin was not pregnant at all, and did not need to be punished with extreme penalty, but only according to the crime of escaping from the palace, as the empress, she would definitely not be punished too much.

  But he didn't expect that Tang Lin would come to participate in the Imperial Guard selection contest and not become the Empress. Had she forgotten about replacing Lian Xin? Had she forgotten about the written evidence with black ink on white paper and red handprint?

  "Fu Da Ge?" Cao Dan noticed that Fu Yu Shu's face was somewhat pale, and his forehead was mixed with a slight cold sweat, showing some concern. "Are you okay?"

  Fu Yushu responded faintly, "Nothing." Then he looked up again, his gaze slowly shifting from Tang Lin's face to the body of Yu Shengjun beside him.

  When Fu Yushu saw the Emperor wearing an eagle mask for the first time, he had a strange sense of familiarity, instinctively feeling that he knew this person, but couldn't recall how they met. However, thinking back, the other party was an emperor, someone he had never seen before, so how could he have known him?

  Staring at Yusheng Jun for a long time, some unreadable emotions grew in Fu Yushu's eyes.

  "Tang sister has an invitation letter, shouldn't be here ah." Cao Dannao said with a puzzled expression.

  "Hmm?" Fu Yushu furrowed his brow, "Does the person in charge of Xiaotang have an invitation?" It seems that Tang Lin has a business mind, but she also possesses martial arts skills. This little woman, her body is full of mysteries.

  Fu Yushu looked at Tang Lin again, but inadvertently glanced at Du Yuanyuan standing on the top. When he saw Du Yuanyuan, a hint of confusion flashed in his eyes.

  Cao Dan said: "Tang Jie, she has an invitation card, and the two of us entered the palace together in the morning. Because those with invitation cards don't need to participate in the first three rounds, they can directly pass through to the fourth round. She shouldn't be here now, but why is she standing here wearing the uniform of the Imperial Guard? Is this her duty?"

  Fu Yu Shu said: "She must have been worried about you and came up with a plan to disguise herself as an Imperial Guard to sneak in here!"

  "Ah, Sister Tang..." Cao Dan immediately looked at Tang Lin with a face full of horror and worry, also with shame, "She's now being targeted by the Emperor, could it be that he discovered she was impersonating an Imperial Guard? Sister Tang is in danger, all because of me!"

  This time, when the Holy Emperor stood in front of her, Tang Lin seemed to have lost her soul, staring blankly at the Holy Emperor like a wooden chicken. Normally, she wouldn't react this way no matter who she saw, but now she was afraid that her "Yu Lin Army" identity would be exposed. Once exposed, the emperor would definitely be furious, and it wouldn't be as simple as throwing her out of the palace. He might immediately send her to the executioner's platform or execute her in public as a warning to others. Not only would she get into trouble, but also her sisters.

  To know, the one staring at her now is not her superior, but an ancient emperor, a legendary emperor who kills without joking, an emperor who kills as easily as pinching an ant to death and doesn't need to pay with his life.

  She wasn't afraid of anyone, let alone the emperor. But now she's really afraid of this emperor... Afraid for no reason, and even she finds it puzzling.

  She's a modern person, what is she afraid of the ancient people? Yeah, what's to fear? But still inexplicably fearful, feeling guilty and trembling with fear. Yet at the same time, there's also that bit... of being ignorant of the heavens and earth and playing with the world?!

  It seems like she's afraid, but her intuition tells herself that she's pretending to be innocent in front of the emperor, and actually, the emperor won't make things difficult for her, instead, he has a kind of... doting feeling towards her?!

  If it's an illusion, then she must be dead!

  Mom, this time she won't really die here, will she? She hasn't become the leader of the Imperial Guard to fulfill her grandfather's wish, she hasn't stolen the list of palace girls and crossed out Lian Xin and Yueyue's names, she hasn't found the Time Tunnel, she hasn't spent a lifetime with Yu Sheng, she hasn't seen Cao Dan rise to prominence, she hasn't drunk the wedding wine of Gao Ge, she hasn't met Boss's number one son, she hasn't gone to Feng Die Wu Jia as a guest... there are too many small wishes that haven't been fulfilled, how can she just die like this?

  Absolutely not!

  The emperor was about to stretch out his hand and pinch Tang Lin's cheek, but Tang Lin thought he was going to slap her in the face, just like the imperial concubines used to do when they fought with each other. She immediately became terrified, hung her head down, and repeatedly begged for mercy: "Your Majesty, I didn't do anything wrong, please spare my life, Your Majesty!"

  "Hmph, this woman still knows how to beg for mercy? Where has her former stubbornness gone? Yu Sheng Jun suppressed his smile and looked at Tang Lin seriously, once again realizing that playing with this woman was not an ordinary thrill. It just so happened that during this period of time, he could play with her a bit. On the bed, it wasn't possible yet, but in the competition...it's hard to say. Since she dared to intrude on his turf, for the next half month, she would experience his "methods". After all, wanting to be his guard was not an easy thing!"

  "Little brother, do you know that girl?" Just then, a man's voice came from beside him.

  Fu Yushu and Cao Dan looked back together, a handsome and rugged face appeared in their eyes.

  Shaoyi sized up the two men, one young and spirited, the other elegant and refined. He laughed loudly and said to them: "Hello, brothers!"

  Fu Yushu secretly sized up Shao Qi, he had a hunch that Shao Qi was no ordinary person.

  Shaohu's body had a strong heroic aura, only it hadn't been released yet. A pair of eyes etched with the marks of time and full of vicissitudes were actually hidden by an optimistic gaze. Not to mention his handsome face, but also his speech and temperament all had the demeanor of a high-ranking military officer, it wasn't hard to see that he had received military training.

  "This big brother, you, you're also good!" Standing between the two people who were older than him, Cao Dan felt a bit like a "little brother". "My name is Cao Dan, from now on just call me Little Cao, how should I address you, big brother?"

  Shao Qishuang quickly said: "Qilin!" Then, he looked at Fu Yushu and asked loudly: "I don't know what this brother's great name is?"

  Fu Yushu smiled faintly and humbly said: "I dare not be called a great name, my surname is Fu, Fu Tianze, Brother Qilin can call me Tianze from now on!"

  Shao Qi chuckled and gave Fu Yushu a hearty pat on the shoulder, "Brother, great to meet you!" After withdrawing his hand, he turned to Cao Dan and pointed at Tang Lin, who was still waiting with her head bowed for the Emperor's punishment, and asked: "Little Cao brother, do you know that girl who impersonated an Imperial Guard?"

  "Strange," Cao Dan said in surprise, "can Big Brother Qilin tell which one is the girl?"

  Shao Qiuru said, "Little Cao brother, to be honest with you, I passed by the Jun Die Xuan wine house in the folk yesterday and went in for a meal. It was that girl who personally helped me order. At that time, I remembered the face of that girl!"

  Cao Dan and Fu Yushu said in unison: "Jun Die Xuan..."

  The expressions of these two people made Shao Qi feel depressed. "Yes, Jun Die Xuan, why are you two brothers reacting like this?"

  Cao Dan said, "Qilin big brother, to be honest with you, Fu big brother and I used to work at Jun Die Xuan," pointing to Tang Lin, "That's the person in charge of our Jun Die Xuan wine house. Who would have thought that Qilin big brother had come to our wine house for dinner!"

  "It's really unexpected," Shao Qi looked at the two of them and sighed, "I didn't know we had such a connection!" He glanced at Tang Lin and Yu Sheng Jun in the distance, his brow furrowed, "What are your superiors doing with the Emperor?"

  Cao Dan and Fu Yushu followed Shao Qi's gaze to look at Tang Lin and Yu Shengjun, who were not far away.

  The holy lord cleared his throat, looking very serious, but he didn't say a word. He was afraid that Tang Lin would recognize his voice. When Tang Lin heard the coughing sound, her heart skipped a beat and she lowered her head even further, burying it in her chest.

  Just then, Li Taizhen hastily walked down the stone steps, looking flustered.

  The Holy Lord heard the footsteps and turned his head to glance upwards.

  When Li Taizhen passed by Du Yuanyuan's side, Du Yuanyuan's eyes were particularly deep and he secretly sent off Li Taizhen as he walked to the side of the Emperor.

  "Huang..." Imperial Physician Li was about to speak when he was stopped by the Emperor's raised hand.

  Li Taizhen immediately shut his mouth and raised his hand, replacing the small box in his hand with the Imperial Sacred Lord.

  The Holy Lord took the box, waved his hand again, and after Li Taizhen retreated with a nod, he opened the box, took out one of the pills inside and swallowed it. Then, he put his hands behind his back, crossed them, and still held the box in his hand. After several twists and turns, the box quickly turned into a puff of powder, which was blown away by the wind as soon as his hand relaxed, leaving no trace on the ground.

  Tang Lin had been keeping her head down and didn't see Yu Sheng Jun swallow a pill.

  After swallowing the pill, Yu Sheng Jun used his hand to explore his own throat before speaking to Tang Lin in a low and stern voice, "Lift your head up!" The tone was very serious and authoritative, with no room for joking. It was quite different from his original voice.

  Tang Lin did not expect the emperor's voice to be so "beautiful", she obeyed, lifted her head up, but she dared not look into the eyes of the Holy Emperor, instead looking elsewhere.

  "In the future, in such a situation, you must not yawn again. As the majestic Guardian of the Imperial Forest, what kind of dignity is this!" The Holy Lord's words were those of rebuke and instruction, but there was no anger in his tone. After speaking, he crossed his hands behind his back and walked away.

  Until he had walked down several stone steps, Tang Lin still hadn't reacted, muttering to herself in her heart, "Is that it?" She was afraid for half a day, begging and flattering, but the Emperor just ended things with two simple sentences? She hadn't even had a chance to use her own abilities to save herself yet, couldn't she at least show off her self-rescue skills a bit? Did he treasure his Imperial Guards so much? If it were an eunuch, wouldn't they have already beheaded the eunuch in public as a warning to others?

  Tang Lin was speechless.

  The twenty-odd stone steps, neither long nor short, the Holy Lord walked down. He walked around this group of contestants, looking at these faces that were not alike, ages that were not alike, and reactions to him that were not alike.

  Heaven is indeed unfair, he was born into the imperial family, while these people in front of him can only envy. In the end, they even have to fight with thousands of people to be his guard just to stay by his side.

  When the Emperor passed by Cao Dan and a few others, Fu Yu Shu seemed to not want to make eye contact with the Emperor. When the Emperor looked at him, he slightly lowered his head.

  Cao Dan also lowered his head, and due to their vastly different social status, he didn't have the courage to exchange a glance with the Emperor.

  When the Holy King looked at Shao Qi, Shao Qi not only didn't lower his head but instead exchanged a silent understanding with the Holy King through their eyes. Then, the Holy King had a faint smile on the corner of his mouth as he walked around the other contestants to take a look at the people in the back.

  Tang Lin looked down and continued to search for Cao Dan's trail. She looked ahead, scanning the area with her eyes, and finally found Cao Dan's trail. But she didn't expect to see Fu Yu Shu as well.

  Tang Lin was shocked and whispered, "This Fu Tianze, it turns out that he resigned to participate in the competition." When her gaze fell on Shao Qi's face, she was surprised. Wasn't that the person she had entertained at Jun Die Xuan yesterday?

  She stared at the three of them for a while, then Tang Lin looked at the other contestants again. After a while, just as she was about to withdraw her gaze, she discovered a delicate and beautiful face in the center of the crowd.

  Tang Lin's eyes widened as she took a closer look at the delicate and beautiful face, and was shocked in her heart: "Han Xueyan?! It's really her..."

  Han Xueyan felt extremely uneasy in the crowd, as there were many unfamiliar faces around her and especially a lot of rough-looking men. Women were scarce, with only a few present. She was afraid that these people would discover she was a woman, so she tightly covered her chest and remained constantly on guard against anyone approaching her.

  She gave off an aura of coldness, a chilling air that made people afraid to get close to her.

  Standing next to her was a man in his thirties, with an ordinary appearance, wearing black clothes and holding a treasured sword, dressed as a knight-errant. His name was Yun Lei, Cloud Thunder, the senior fellow-disciple of Cloud Fragrance. Both Yun Lei and Yun Xiang were orphans, so their names were given by their master who had adopted them.

  Yun Lei felt the chill emanating from Han Xueyan's body and was slightly worried. "Little brother, are you alright?"

  Han Xueyan glanced at him, swallowed her throat, and slowly calmed herself down, telling herself not to be so tense. "It's nothing!"

  Yun Lei smiled faintly at her and didn't ask again.

  At this time, the Holy Lord had already observed many people at close range on the scene, and then walked up more than 40 stone steps again to return to the highest point, standing there, facing the crowd below, beckoning with his hand.

  A young guard wearing a black and gold brocade uniform walked over, bowed his head to the Holy Emperor, and said, "Understood!" Without needing the Holy Emperor to specify, he knew what he was being ordered to do. He took two steps forward, faced the thousands of contestants below, and in a severe and solemn tone, loudly declared: "Everyone listen up! This year's Imperial Guard selection competition is different from previous years. The number of rounds has increased by five compared to last year, meaning that those who made it to the tenth round last year completed all the projects and were successfully selected as Imperial Guards. However, this year you must make it to the fifteenth round to be eligible for selection! But these new five rounds... are extremely cruel. Once you enter the eleventh to fifteenth rounds, if you're not careful during the competition, at best you'll end up bedridden for life, and at worst... you'll die on the spot!"