I am the villain in the book

The suddenly opened prison door, the long saber hanging outside, the bloodstains flowing on the ground, and the sounds of fighting coming from further away... Everything happened so suddenly, yet it clearly pointed to one thing: Someone wanted to take Yu Pingjun's life.

“Clang!”

“Who?!”

Turning his head abruptly, Li Qi unhesitatingly drew the Son of Heaven Sword from his waist.

As the prison door swung fully open, several figures flashed inside, only to be startled by the question.

“Your… Your Majesty?!”

There were five of them, all wearing the official uniforms of prison guards from the Ministry of Justice, their long sabers stained with blood.

At that moment, their faces were filled with shock, and they even took a step back subconsciously.

Clearly, whoever had ordered them to kill Yu Pingjun had not anticipated seeing Li Qi here.

In contrast to their panic, the latter quickly regained his composure and immediately shouted sternly:

“Daring to break into the Heavenly Prison! What audacity!”

“Get out of here!”

“...”

“This…”

The five men retreated again, startled by the loud shout, but when the sounds of fighting in the distance reached their ears, they immediately snapped back to their senses.

“Your Majesty! Forgive us!”

“The Empress must die today!!”

Now there was no turning back. The person behind them had threatened their families, forcing them to kill Yu Pingjun no matter what.

As for Li Qi, although the five men had already rebelled, they knew the consequences of assassinating the emperor of a nation, so they had no intention of killing him at this moment.

“Swish!!!”

Five figures flashed past, heading straight for Yu Pingjun, who was wide-eyed and huddled on the stone bed, preparing to kill her quickly and then commit suicide on the spot.

A prison cell, no matter how large, was only a few zhang in length and width, so in the blink of an eye, the five men had already rushed close to the stone bed.

However, at this moment, the man holding the Son of Heaven Sword stepped forward and shielded Yu Pingjun behind him.

“Insolent!!”

“I'd like to see who dares?!”

Although he knew that these five men were spies, Li Qi could see that they were still quite wary of him, so he revealed his imperial aura in an attempt to scare them away.

However, this kind of trick depends on the situation. Now that the assassins were determined to die, this move would have no effect.

“Your Majesty, step aside.”

Stopping abruptly, the tip of the saber pointed forward.

The face of the leader no longer had the initial panic, but uttered a sentence with incomparable gloom.

“If we are pushed too hard, we will even kill you.”

“...”

For a moment, the prison cell fell into silence.

Li Qi's expression suddenly became gloomy, but he knew in his heart that the other party was not exaggerating, and would not give himself too much time to think.

Therefore, he had to make a decision immediately.

Yield, or not yield?

The five men were all of the middle third rank, the same as himself.

But if they really fought, he would probably be defeated within a few breaths.

As the ruler of a nation, Li Qi naturally had treasures to protect his life.

But now the strength of the two sides was too disparate. If the other party really intended to kill him, it was unknown how long these items could protect him...

Yu Pingjun grabbed Li Qi's lapel tightly, shouting with all her strength, trying to push the former aside.

However, the owner of the white dragon robe remained motionless.

At this moment, Li Qi seemed to have some kind of realization, and suddenly understood how to be an emperor.

Having been on the throne for more than twenty years, this was the first time he understood this matter.

For a ruler, there is no retreat!

Slowly prying open the pale fingers on his chest, he turned back to look at the five assassins with nervous expressions.

All worries and hesitations had long since disappeared, only the slowly raised Son of Heaven Sword, and the choice that a true emperor should make.

“Remember.”

“Only if I allow you to die, can you die.”

“If I don't allow you to die, no one in this world can kill you!”

“So it is today!”

“And so it will be in the future!”

“Don't you want to kill me?!”

“Come on!!!”

“Bang!!”

In the next moment, the Son of Heaven Sword, wrapped in the滔天 imperial power,激鸣ed with a thick dragon's roar, sweeping towards the five assassins who were looking horrified.

“Ding ding dong dong!”

“Chila!!”

“Zheng!!”

Amidst the clashing of metal, Yu Pingjun stared blankly at Li Qi, who had not retreated a step in front of her, watching the blood splattering on the latter's body...

She suddenly felt that this man she had hated for twenty years was very unfamiliar.

So unfamiliar that she no longer hated him...

“Your… Your Majesty.”

“So it was this concubine who was… sorry to you…”

An hour later.

When Wei Changtian and Li Wutong arrived at the palace at the fastest speed, everything that had happened in the Heavenly Prison had already come to an end.

Wei Changtian never expected that someone would assassinate Yu Pingjun, and he never expected that the Dafeng Imperial Palace would be so riddled with holes that the assassins actually succeeded.

But what he least expected was that these assassins actually ran into Li Qi, and Li Qi even risked his own injuries to save Yu Pingjun!

This is just outrageous!!

“Your Majesty!”

“Father!”

Shaking off the old eunuch, Wei Changtian rushed into the hall in one step, and Li Wutong saw Li Qi, who was surrounded by a group of imperial physicians at a glance.

The latter's face was a little pale, but he seemed to be fine.

After all, as the ruler of a nation, as long as he had a breath left, he could probably be saved, and besides, the reinforcements arrived in time, so Li Qi's injuries were not that serious.

Of course, even if it was just the way he looked now, it was enough to make his daughter feel distressed.

“Father!!”

Crying and running to Li Qi, Li Wutong's tears poured out of her eyes as if they were free.

In contrast, Wei Changtian was much calmer. After a few simple words of concern, he directly asked the most crucial question.

“Your Majesty, how is the Empress now?”

“...”

Waving his hand to signal the imperial physicians and eunuchs to leave, Li Qi's expression was very calm.

“Her life is not in danger, but perhaps due to her serious injuries, she is still in a deep sleep.”

“Deep sleep?”

Wei Changtian frowned and asked, “Can't the imperial physicians do anything?”

“Yes, they haven't found a way yet, but I don't think it will be too long.”

“That's good.”

Nodding, Wei Changtian glanced at Li Wutong, who was still wiping away tears, and asked in a sound transmission again.

“Your Majesty, did the Empress mention Ning Yongnian and Bai Youheng's conspiracy?”

“...”

“No.”

Shaking his head, Li Qi also replied with internal force: “But she will definitely tell me after she wakes up.”

“Is that so?”

Looking at Li Qi's calm expression, a somewhat inexplicable idea suddenly flashed through Wei Changtian's mind.

“Your Majesty, let me ask one more question.”

“Could it be that you had something to do with tonight's events…”

“No.”

Li Qi's answer was very straightforward, and very cold.

“I was just going with the flow.”

“That's all.”