And so, the entire imperial palace collapsed.
Seeing that the Emperor's sleeping quarters had also caved in, the palace attendants remembered their Emperor might still be inside. The head of the guards immediately led his men into the ruins to search for Nangong Jin.
Nangong Jin was the male protagonist of this world. With his powerful protagonist's halo, and considering that heavenly tribulation lightning was meant for Ming Li, Nangong Jin was naturally unharmed. He was only dug out of the rubble with minor injuries and had fainted.
Ming Li stood, no, sat on her sword, and watched this scene. She shook her head in disappointment, then flicked a small stone towards the young eunuch beside Nangong Jin. The eunuch, who was about to pick up a stone to throw, suddenly felt pain in his foot. The stone in his hand fell, landing right on Nangong Jin's foot.
This turned Nangong Jin, who was only lightly injured and unconscious, into a severely wounded individual.
Nangong Jin: ?! There's something I want to say but don't know if I should.
Seeing this, Ming Li immediately whisked herself away on her sword.
Ming Li returned to the Prime Minister's mansion and had a good night's sleep.
The next morning, as Ming Li walked down the street, she overheard many commoners discussing the collapsed imperial palace from the previous night.
"Did you see it? The imperial palace collapsed!"
"I did! They say it was burned down!"
"No, no, it was struck by lightning!"
"That's not right! When I got up for a night call yesterday, I saw the imperial palace in flames, and then a bolt of lightning struck down."
"This must be punishment from heaven."
Heavenly Dao: ?! Punishment my foot!!
Ming Li was currently standing at the entrance of a prince's mansion. The plaque on the mansion bore three grand, flowing characters: Prince Yi's Mansion.
Prince Yi, Nangong Yi, was merely an insignificant cannon fodder character in the original plot. He suffered from a serious illness, a frail and delicate young gentleman. The original plot described Prince Yi as having an ethereal beauty, with a face that could captivate countless maidens. He was even more handsome than the male protagonist. However, due to his severe illness, the male protagonist never noticed him.
Ming Li flashed into Prince Yi's mansion. As soon as she entered, Ming Li caught the strong scent of medicine. After a few steps, Ming Li heard a melodious zither melody. Ming Li glided towards the source of the music and stood on a thick tree branch. Her gaze fell upon the white-robed young man playing the zither below.
Ming Li, smelling the potent medicinal aroma in the air, narrowed her eyes slightly, her lips curving into a perfect arc. This little cannon fodder was truly interesting.
The system, confused, asked, "Host, what's wrong? Is there something wrong with this person?"
Ming Li: "Guess."
System: ?! It rapidly spun its little head made of data, but after a long while, the system was still completely clueless. Just as the system was about to say something more, the melodious zither music suddenly stopped. The white-robed young man below, who had been playing the zither, now had his hands on the strings, silencing the lingering notes.
Nangong Yi stopped playing and spoke calmly to the person standing in the tree: "Since you have come, why do you not show yourself?"
Ming Li raised her eyebrows and leaped down from the tree. Instantly, leaves fluttered and her red robes billowed. Nangong Yi then saw this scene: the wind rose, leaves fell like rain, and a woman with an extremely bright and captivating appearance, dressed in red, thus entered his sight.
His heart skipped a beat at that very moment.