CHAPTER 123: THREE-WAY WAR

Six eyes watched as Xu Tao’s hand reached for Wu Zetian.

Jehanne, seeing this, couldn’t help but feel discontent. ’My husband should look at me... only me...!’ she thought. And that thought led to an unconscious action.

From her ring, she took out the last piece of her bunny girl set—the cuffs around her wrists! As soon as she wore the item, the air changed.

"..."

Xu Tao’s eyes slowly but deliberately turned to the seated Jehanne. A blank gaze, void of emotion, as if in a trance.

"My husband..." Jehanne whispered through heated breaths, raising both arms in welcome. "Come... Hold me tight...!"

Like a zombie, or a brainwashed puppet, Xu Tao turned, moving from Zetian toward Jehanne on the other side.

"No...!"

But of course, the prideful Empress wouldn’t just let that happen. This was her plan. She wouldn’t let anyone else hitch a ride and take the fruits of her labor for free!

Despite the weakness of her limbs, she carefully waved her arm, throwing what looked like pink powder toward Xu Tao. "My Emperor, I’m right here. Embrace me, to your heart’s content...!"

"..."

Xu Tao stopped once more, affected by whatever Zetian had thrown.

His eyes flickered with intent, before turning back to Zetian and taking a step in her direction. It was as if Zetian and Jehanne were playing tug-of-war, with the rope being Xu Tao himself!

"So that’s... how you play!" Yifa, watching the two use underhanded means to make Xu Tao turn, got an idea of her own.

She moved her finger, called up her System Panel, and added points to her VIT. Right—she hadn’t allocated all her points yet, leaving a few for times like this!

With extra Vitality, she regained a certain level of freedom. Using it, she didn’t hesitate to copy the two and play dirty—she equipped the item she had just gotten from Xu Tao!

It was similar to the UR Bunny Girl suit in that it enhanced the user’s stats. However, this one focused on VIT and DEX. As soon as she wore the item, the boosted VIT stat allowed her to finally breathe freely.

"This is nice..." she whispered, checking her own body.

Over her head, a pair of fake, curved horns like a demon’s could be seen. On her back, bat-like wings were attached, with a long, reverse-heart-tipped tail leading from her tailbone. Her body was only covered by what looked like X-shaped stamps over her modest peaks and a high-waist, stretchy G-string that barely covered anything at all.

It was an outfit that was definitely not for children—the UR Succubus Seductress Costume!

"Master~?" Yifa called, climbing on top of the table and crawling forward, slow and deliberate. "Why don’t you leave those two and play with me instead? I’m sure I can satisfy you more than they ever could~!"

Each word she said was like a hammer breaking Xu Tao’s last thread of reason. And of course, it was all thanks to the effect of the full-set bonus that the costume provided: Hypnotic Voice!

Of course, Yifa felt bad for Jehanne, who was Xu Tao’s "wife" as far as she knew... But this was a rare opportunity that might never come again. She definitely wouldn’t let it slip by!

"Yifa..."

Xu Tao whispered quietly as Yifa approached, leaning closer and closer, pulling his face toward hers. But just as her lips were about to touch—

"Stop."

A single word came out of Xu Tao’s lips. A word containing such astounding density of Qi, it became a command the world itself abided. Even their "intoxicated" state was cleared with that single word.

Xu Tao had used his Spirit Word—Yan Ling!

"...!"

All three girls stopped in place, as if a pause button had been pressed.

Even Zetian, who should have had high resistance against Law-Bending techniques, couldn’t resist it!

"The three of you..." His words echoed, seething with a rare emotion—anger. "Is it fun playing with someone’s psyche?"

"SIT!"

He used another word, forcing all three to return to their seats and sit properly.

Xu Tao himself also sat back down, before cupping both hands and resting his chin on them.

’Did the Charm Dust not work?’ Zetian wondered as she assessed the situation.

’Ah... I angered my husband...’ Jehanne was worried in her own way.

’I screwed up...’ Yifa was sweating bullets.

She was the most scared of the current situation, being the weakest in the group.

Of course, all three were missing the critical question: "How did Xu Tao snap back to his senses?"

The answer was simple: his senses had been overloaded!

Jehanne’s logic-breaking charm and Zetian’s Charm Powder had struck a delicate balance at the start, making Xu Tao unable to resist either influence.

But when Yifa used Hypnotic Voice, the balance shattered—and on top of that, Xu Tao’s mental strength was so high that hypnosis simply didn’t work on him. In short, it was thanks to Yifa that things didn’t get worse!

’If they learn about this, they might try pulling the same stunt again, so I should keep quiet about it.’ Xu Tao thought.

He was confused as to why they were all fighting for his attention, but decided to postpone thinking about it. First, he needed to address the immediate trouble.

"Zetian," he called.

"I might be that Emperor Tang Taizong from your past, but I’m not him right now. As such, I can’t fulfill that promise." He explained as logically as he could. "If you really want to, then earn my trust and my heart. That way, I can grant your request—as Xu Tao."

Zetian’s eyes flickered with sadness, but she nodded her head in acceptance.

Seeing her agreement, Xu Tao then turned to Yifa. His gaze was casual at first, but to her, it felt like a giant serpent was observing her—a predator eyeing its prey.

"Yifa... You shouldn’t test out the item you just received in such a chaotic situation," he reprimanded. "If things had gone south, we all would’ve been dragged into it."

He didn’t really want to scold her—the one who technically saved him from this situation—but giving her a warning was necessary. Otherwise, she might not learn what is and isn’t appropriate in certain scenarios.

Hearing his words, Yifa nodded repeatedly, like a child promising never to play with fire again.

Although Xu Tao wasn’t sure if she was actually remorseful, he moved to the final figure—Jehanne.

"As for you, Jehanne..." Xu Tao paused, unsure if he should breach the topic or not.

However, he had let it slide dozens of times. Asking about it now seemed appropriate. "I just want to ask... When and how did I become your husband?"

"...Huh?"

All three girls gasped, completely confused.