The Empress, once the absolute sovereign whose word was law across the Nine Provinces, now found herself stripped of h

Therefore, Qianyi’s departure from the palace must remain a secret to everyone. The morning court session could not be delayed; that task had already been delegated to her body double and the male concubine. She trusted they would manage everything seamlessly. Speaking of that double—she was truly a treasure. Not only did she look exactly like Qianyi, but whenever Qianyi felt like skipping court, she would send the double in her stead. Over time, the aura of royalty radiating from the double had become indistinguishable from Qianyi’s own; no one could tell the difference. Truth be told, if the double ever desired to revolt, she could seize the empire Qianyi had painstakingly built in a heartbeat. But that was virtually impossible, as the double’s parents were held firmly in Qianyi’s grasp. Unless she had a death wish, betrayal was off the table. Back to the present. Since her departure had to remain undetected, she would naturally be traveling incognito. Moreover, even if a catastrophe occurred, she could never reveal her true identity—doing so would be tantamount to admitting she had cultivated a puppet to rule in her place. Finally, Qianyi decided to seal her internal energy. Why? Well… it was nothing significant, really. It had simply become a habit. Every time she left the palace, she would seal her cultivation, all for the sake of letting certain villains "succeed." Once they had their way, they could do whatever they pleased to her—provided they were prepared to pay the price afterward. To be honest, Qianyi had a bit of a masochistic streak. She had tried this once before, getting kidnapped by a gang of human traffickers who tortured her for days on end. Once her internal energy returned, she had personally slaughtered every last one of them in their mountain stronghold. She hoped for similar luck this time—to stumble upon a group of traffickers who would torment her, ravage her, and push her to the absolute brink. With everything prepared, Qianyi set off. She hadn't sealed her energy yet, of course; she needed it to slip out of the palace unnoticed. How else could she leave? Utilizing her peerless lightness skill, Qianyi soared through the imperial city, her movements invisible to any observer. Once she was well clear of the palace walls, she ducked into a secluded, unseen corner. She extended her fingers and struck several points around her dantian. Just like that, her internal power was locked away, rendered completely inaccessible. As she stood now, she was barely a match for a common courtesan… or perhaps that was an exaggeration. With a foundation as profound as hers, her physical constitution remained formidable; surely she could handle a mere courtesan. She could still win a fight, but if the numbers turned against her, things would become unpredictable. Feeling her strength ebb away, a thrill of excitement shivered through Qianyi. If a band of traffickers were to appear now, she would be utterly defenseless. Though she called it an "incognito inspection," she was entirely alone. With her double holding court and no way to reveal her status, if she were to fall into a den of depravity, it would be… The thought alone was intoxicating. *Heh.* But enough of that for now. There was something far more important to attend to: she was going to see her brother. I had indeed toyed with the idea of being tormented, but certainly not now—and absolutely not by *her*! She was my sister-in-law, for God’s sake! How was I supposed to exact my revenge after this? Driven by sheer desperation, I fought back with everything I had. As they hoisted me up, I thrashed violently, breaking free from their grip in a heartbeat. I lunged toward Xia Yuting, wailing and sputtering, trying to explain myself, but she recoiled in terror, convinced I was about to strike. "Tie her up! Right now!" she shrieked, scrambling away. It took little effort for the group to subdue me again, and soon, I was bound tight. Still visibly shaken, Xia Yuting approached me, her hand swinging through the air with a sharp *crack*—a stinging slap across my face. Truth be told, in all my years, I had never suffered such an indignity. Even back in the days before the dynasty fell, when I was a concubine to the former Emperor, no one in the imperial harem had ever dared to lay a finger on me! Sister-in-law or not, if anyone dared to treat me this way—even my own brother—I would have had them executed without a second thought. My fury ignited, burning white-hot. I stopped trying to explain and instead focused every ounce of my will on channeling my internal energy. The seal on my *qi* was formidable, yes, but it was something I could shatter from within. I had only been playing along to satisfy a twisted curiosity, but my patience had reached its breaking point. However... The men pinning me down were masters of their craft. One of them sensed the sudden surge of energy within me, his expression shifting instantly as he leaned in to whisper something to Xia Yuting. Xia Yuting frowned, her brow furrowing. "She has internal energy?" "Yes. It seems someone has temporarily sealed it." "Are you a match for her?" "I fear not." "Then what are we to do?" "I can place an additional seal over the existing one. I guarantee she won't be able to break through it for quite some time." "Then why are you still asking me? Get on with it!" "Understood." The man released his hold on me for a split second, only to strike several points around my *dantian*. The agony was so sharp I nearly collapsed. Before I could recover, he blurred into motion, appearing behind me to jab his fingers into the pressure points along my spine, followed by a swift sealing of my limbs. I was in the middle of forcing my way through the initial barrier when, suddenly, it was gone. Everything was gone. I couldn't feel a single trace of my internal energy. It was impossible—no one could truly strip a person of their *qi* so easily. Then it hit me: he hadn't destroyed it; he had struck my numbing points. In layman’s terms, he had paralyzed my nerves, severing my connection to my own energy. If I couldn't feel it, I couldn't command it, and if I couldn't command it, I couldn't break the seal. *Damn it all to hell!* I was absolutely livid. I never imagined my sister-in-law would have such experts at her beck and call. Wasn't she supposed to be from an ordinary family?! Next, he charged straight at Song Linya. Song Linya followed suit and charged after him. The two quickly closed the distance between them. Song Linya launched a flying kick, but it felt as if she’d kicked a sheet of iron—the hulking man wasn’t even fazed, and Song Linya was instead sent flying several meters away. The big guy pressed his advantage, rushing forward to grab Song Linya by the neck and rain punch after punch into her stomach, nearly making her throw up. A moment later, Song Linya was lying face-down on the ground, clutching her stomach in agony. “Tie her up,” the burly man said. The two men behind him immediately grabbed some rope and began tying Song Linya up. The director had instructed them earlier to make her struggle look realistic, so Song Linya naturally fought back with all her might, even kicking one of them. She was wearing black high heels, so even with her strength held back, the kick still hurt quite a bit. In short, Song Linya struggled a bit too fiercely, and the two men couldn’t tie her up for quite some time. About five minutes later, they finally subdued Song Linya and tied her up tight. Song Linya had had her fill of the excitement, but the two burly henchmen were nearly exhausted. Song Linya felt a bit pleased, because this burly man was no match for her— it was all an act. In Song Linya’s eyes, he was very, very weak. As a professional assassin, Song Linya could have killed him with a single move, but as mentioned earlier, she really enjoyed being pinned down and tormented by someone weaker than herself—which is why she felt so pleased. Next, it was time to switch scenes. The usual routine: Song Linya, fully clothed, was tied to a platform and tortured with various props; then her clothes were slowly stripped off, her underwear cut away, and, completely naked, she reached her final climax. Zhao Ze was on the verge of a breakdown; this was his first time, and he had no experience. He’d placed the rope in the pile of props to be used only at the very end—which meant that an hour and a half had already passed, and the rope he needed still hadn’t been brought up. During that hour and a half, Song Linya had climaxed countless times. By now, she was completely drained and couldn’t take it anymore. She’d made up her mind: for the final segment, she’d play along with them for ten minutes. If they dared to continue, she’d kill them. Finally, the final round arrived, and the rope Zhao Ze had been longing for finally arrived. For this round, they needed to switch Song Linya’s position to continue her torment. So, after untying the ropes binding Song Linya, Zhao Ze took the opportunity to replace them with his own. He still didn’t feel anything special—was she really unable to break free? She couldn’t completely trust that mysterious person, could she? What if Song Linya wanted to stop but she didn’t? Wouldn’t Song Linya beat her to death? But it had come to this—there was no turning back. Giving up now would be such a waste; she was already exhausted. When he first tied up Song Linya, the henchman behind the big guy was Zhao Ze; later, when he tied her to the platform, Zhao Ze did it all by himself. Song Linya was happy, but Zhao Ze was nearly exhausted. Fortunately, he’d finally reached the finish line. Time to push through. He untied the ropes binding Song Linya, and only then did he take a good, close look at her figure. But she would soon come to regret it. After the traffickers decapitated the man in black, they left the corpse behind but took the head, fearing that he was someone of significance—perhaps from the Imperial Palace—and terrified that his identity might be exposed. Then, they seized Qianyi and dragged her back to their lair. The perverse binding technique used previously was bizarre; Qianyi had never seen anything like it. In this era, such a method was unheard of. Her arms were pinned behind her back, twisted into a rigid "W" shape. Her wrists were lashed tightly against her armpits, rendering them completely immobile, while the knots were cinched at her elbows, making it impossible for her to reach the ties with her fingers. Furthermore, the ropes binding her arms were extended across her chest, cinched into a figure-eight that pressed cruelly against her breasts. Any attempt to struggle, even the slightest movement, sent agonizing jolts of pain through her chest. Her legs were folded and bound tightly together, impossible to pry apart. At the very top of her thighs, a seamless loop of hemp rope—a custom-fitted noose—was cinched so tightly it felt as though it had been measured specifically for her. Fixed to this rope, pressing against the sensitive skin of her inner thighs, were several "small nails"—resembling the thin, sharp hairpins used by women in the modern world. These clips bit into the tender flesh of her most intimate parts, forcing her entrance to remain wide open. Because the clips were made of cold, unyielding metal, she could not close her legs; any attempt to do so caused the clips to dig deeper, subjecting her delicate flesh to exquisite torment. This was why Qianyi had been so furious when her "rescuer" had failed to untie her, ignoring her plight and tossing her over his shoulder, the constant jolting causing her unbearable agony. To make matters worse, a chopstick had been inserted deep into her core. The combination of these restraints left Qianyi in a state of living hell. Once they reached their lair, the traffickers finally took a moment to inspect her. It was fascinating—truly, a masterpiece of cruelty. Who had possessed the skill to bind her in such a way? It was a technique none of them had ever witnessed. But their curiosity was brief; there was work to be done. They fastened ropes to iron rings fixed to the ceiling, threading them through her restraints to hoist Qianyi up, face-down. Her legs were splayed, leaving her most vulnerable parts exposed and wide open for their pleasure. Qianyi was already at her breaking point; she had been subjected to the pervert’s abuse for nearly twenty-four hours—forty-eight hours in total—and her body could no longer endure the slightest stimulation. They, however, cared nothing for her suffering. One man positioned himself behind her, another in front, while two others gripped her waist. With a clear division of labor, they began. They removed the gag from her mouth, only to immediately replace it with something else, leaving her no time to even catch her breath. Below, they began their assault, teasing her entrance and her anus, even taking turns flicking the protruding end of the chopstick, sending waves of raw, stinging sensation through all three of her orifices. The other two men treated her breasts like playthings, kneading them ruthlessly while taking turns tickling her armpits. In short, their collective assault was even more agonizing than what the pervert had inflicted. Qianyi felt as though she might bite her tongue and end it all. Wait—biting her tongue! Qianyi wouldn't actually bite her tongue, but there was something in her mouth now that she could sink her teeth into. With a surge of desperation, she clamped her jaws down with all her might.