Chapter 29: CH 29

Chapter Twenty-Nine

‘Your Highness, be careful.’

A pained shout reverberated from within Fengjiu Palace as a handful of eunuchs and servants stared wordlessly at their mistress.

Her brows knitted, the young woman continued helplessly, ‘Your Highness, why don’t we stop learning?’

As she said these words, she hurriedly took out a handkerchief to wipe away the beads of water on the hands of another woman who stood next to her, dressed in embroidered robes. The pale skin on the back of the woman’s hand had been scalded red.

Yet that woman shook her head and said, ‘I wish to learn. Ruyi, let us continue.’

Ruyi sighed quietly, her long lashes cast downwards, shielding the conflicted expression in her eyes. A third woman who stood by her suddenly sneered, turning to leave.

‘Jixiang –’ The first woman pulled Ruyi’s sleeves and asked in quietly, ‘What’s wrong with Jixiang?’

‘Concubine Nian, actually, this method of preparing tea was taught to me by Jixiang,’ Ruyi answered in a soft voice.

The woman dressed in embroidered robes looked pensively at Jixiang who stood alone in the courtyard.

That woman dressed in embroidered robes was Xuanji, and this was Fengjiu Palace.

Several days had passed since the Emperor and her had managed to escape unscathed from the Lin Gardens. As Xuanji knew that the Emperor loved to drink the tea prepared by Ruyi, she asked Diefeng to summon Ruyi over to teach her the way of preparing tea. As Jixiang happened to be with Ruyi at that time, the two of them had arrived together.

In the short span of the few days which had passed, many changes had already swept through the imperial palace.

An Jin did not move into Fengjiu Palace.

According to the rumours, the Emperor subsequently ordered for the female officials in the Ministry of Internal Affairs to make a thorough investigation of the events that had transpired. When it was finally revealed that An Jin’s servant was the culprit who had first created trouble, An Jin herself was demoted to a Concubine, her quarters remaining unchanged at Qiuying Pavilion.

Except, on that night, the Emperor had visited Qiuying Pavilion. But at the same time, on the his decree, the head of Internal Affairs, the eunuch Xu Xi, had bestowed many jewelleries to Concubine Nian of Fengjiu Palace.

As such, while everyone within the palace continued to hold Concubine Jin in awe and respect, they no longer dared to dismiss Concubine Nian. After all, not only was Concubine Nian’s father a powerful figure in the imperial court, now, even the Empress Dowager’s desire to make her life difficult seemed to have ebbed away.

Yet it was rumoured that Concubine Nian’s temper was vile. As a result, though she was favoured by the Emperor, she frequently angered him. With the heart of the Emperor being impossible to fathom, the attitudes of all within the palace mirrored the Emperor’s own attitude towards Concubine Nian: indistinct and unclear – afraid that if they were to misjudge the Emperor’s heart, they would risk the wrath of the Emperor.

That night, apart from the jewellery, Xu Xi also brought over a small pill.

Of course, Xuanji was the only person aware of the existence of that pill.

In the next morning, her shou gong sha mysteriously vanished.

With that disappeared another source of danger for Xuanji.

Only, what irritated her was that Prince Zining did not leave the capital as originally decreed by Long Fei-li. Instead, he was granted permission to remain a few more days in anticipation of the imminent return of Princess Yuzhi.

Princess Yuzhi was the only daughter of the late Emperor’s younger brother, and had been orphaned after her father passed away from sickness and her mother followed him in his death by slitting her throat. As the late Emperor was on extremely close relations with his younger brother, he was especially fond and sympathetic towards Yuzhi who was bereaved of both her parents at a young age.

As such, Princess Yuzhi had been raised under the care of the Empress Dowager. The late Emperor treated her as his own daughter, and doted upon her to an even greater extent than his blood daughters. Within the palace, it was commonplace knowledge that Princess Yuzhi was the most precious Princess in Xi Liang.

Alas, this young Princess’s disposition was just like her unfortunate father’s, for she was born a frail and sickly child. From a young age, she had been sent to become a disciple at a martial arts sect in order to practice martial arts and strengthen her body.

In the blink of an eye, three years had already passed since her departure from the capital. And now, with her imminent return, the Empress Dowager had personally entreated the Emperor in allowing Prince Zining to remain in the capital for a few more days, on the pretext that Prince Zining and Princess Yuzhi had always been on close terms.

With a faint sigh, the Emperor had acquiesced, granting Prince Zining the permission to depart only after he met the Princess.

During this time, an urgent message had also been delivered to the palace from the borders of Xi Liang. The content of the message was alarming: the Xiongnu were beginning to stir. Of the three generals tasked to guard the frontier, other than General Rong, Consort Hui’s father, the other two generals, Wen Rukai – the Empress Dowager’s blood brother –  as well as Nian Songting – Minister Nian’s foster son – were both summoned back to the capital.

***

The steam rising from the boiling tea was an swirling cloud of mist, causing Xuanji to recall the events which had occurred that day in the Lin Gardens –

The words which she had whispered into Long Fei-li’s ears seemed to have been washed away by the rainwater, leaving no trace of their existence.

Long Fei-li did not respond; the band around her waist was prised open by his nimble fingers. Even as she trembled, about to faint, his hands stilled.

What she saw from the small gaps of vision beyond his embrace was something she swore she never wanted to witness a second time in her life: under the large tree blooming with deep blue petals which they were perched on, countless wolves gathered, surging forth like a wave. Thousands of wolves, with their sharp teeth and gleaming claws, howled as they stared viciously at the tree that they were perched upon.

‘What are they trying to do?’ In a shaky voice, Xuanji asked the man who held her within his arms.

He said, ‘Worship.’

His tone caused her to relax a fraction, as though his anger a moment ago was a mere hallucination on her part.

‘Worshipping you?’

She realised that though he often treated her with indifference, her words seemed to frequently amuse him.

Long Fei-li raised a brow and laughed. A long moment later, he finally said, ‘This is the tree of Zisu.’

‘Zisu?’ Xuanji was curious. Was he referring to these blue flowers? So these flowers were called Zisu?

‘But Zisu isn’t like that!’ she blurted.

This was definitely not the Zisu she knew in the modern world – a perilla which was often cooked together with river snails.

‘Have you seen other kinds of Zisu?’ Long Fei-li asked with a faint smile.

‘The ones which are cooked together with river snails,’ she said weakly.

‘What river snails?’

‘…Your Majesty, pretend I didn’t say anything.’

‘You seem to know a great number of strange things.’

‘My tutor… taught me those.’

‘One day, I should really have Minister Nian invite your tutor over.’ Long Fei-li seemed vaguely amused.

Xuanji froze – where could she find a non-existent tutor for Long Fei-li?

It seemed like when she finally met her father – a man rumoured to be immensely powerful in the court, but who had also for reasons unknown left his daughter uncared for in the imperial harem – they would need to have a long discussion on this matter regarding her ‘tutor’.

‘Your Majesty, I think it’s preferable if you don’t. My tutor may be insane.’

‘…’

‘Didn’t you say that the wolves were worshipping this tree?’ Xuanji said puzzledly.

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Long Fei-li said, ‘Do you still remember this place?’

This formidable-looking tree… Xuanji stilled, then exclaimed, ‘This tree – this was where we saved the little wolf.’

‘This is the oldest tree of Zisu.’ Long Fei-li stared into the distance, his gaze faraway, as though travelling back into history by the crossing of hundreds of years. ‘Has your tutor ever told you about this legend – the wolf loves Zisu?’

‘The wolf loves Zisu?’ she repeated.

‘Thousands of years ago, Yuncang was a land shared by men and all kinds of beasts. Of the beasts, the mightiest of them all were the wolves.’

Xuanji squinted. ‘Wolves?’

‘Back then, a small number of wolves possessed great spiritual powers and were able to transform into human form. Do you still remember what Xia Sang said? Wolves are born with ash-grey fur. Yet there came a day when a cub was born within the Wolf Tribe, its fur as white as snow, an entirely different species –’

Xuanji said, ‘That wolf was not revered, but treated as alien instead.’

‘En,’ Long Fei-li said, then paused. ‘The Wolf King and the other Elders eventually decided to kill this little beast.’

Without reason, a wave of sadness bubbled within Xuanji’s heart. As she stared at the innumerable wolves encircling their tree, the image of a stake, alight with blazing fire, flashed across her eyes.

‘They burned it to death?’

Long Fei-li looked at her. ‘How did you know it was an execution by fire?’

‘Oh –?’ Xuanji was baffled. ‘I only guessed.’

Long Fei-li said in a lukewarm voice, ‘It did not die.’

‘It did not die?’

‘Back then, in the Heavenly Realm, there was an immortal named Zisu, and she was the Heavenly Emperor’s youngest daughter. When Zisu snuck into the mortal world, she happened to chance upon this memorial sacrificing the snow wolf. Out of sympathy, she saved the little beast’s life, then secretly brought it back with her to the Heavenly Realm.

‘In the past, Zisu was a careless and lazy God, and did not put much thought into cultivating her powers. Yet after she saved the snow wolf, every day, she secretly brought it to see the military drills the God of War was practicing with the Heavenly troops. When the different High Gods were imparting their knowledge to their disciples, she also snuck the snow wolf there to listen to their teachings.

‘In the first place, this little beast had been born extraordinarily gifted. Eventually, it managed to cultivate to achieve a human form. When that happened, Zisu simply brought him to the Depository of Buddhist Scriptures, allowing him to further cultivate all sorts of powers.

‘Yet they were eventually discovered, and the Heavenly Emperor was alerted. Before Zisu was captured, she exhausted all her powers to forcefully sent the snow wolf back to the mortal world.

‘The Heavenly Emperor was greatly angered. Based on the natural order of life and death, the snow wolf had long been destined to die, yet Zisu had deliberately and forcefully interfered with its fate.  According to the heavenly laws, Zisu was to be sentenced to punishment at Zhuxian Terrace, a place where immortals were killed, to suffer a thousand years of burning by the stake.

‘Yet, at that time, in the Yellow Seas, the power of the Western Sea’s Dragon Tribe had grown exponentially, to the extent that they now had the ability to stand their ground against the Heavenly Court.

‘Though the Heavenly Emperor doted on Zisu and could not bear for her to suffer, he was unable to defend her actions against the outcries of those within the Heavenly Realm. In the end, he chose to wed Zisu to the new Emperor of the Dragon Tribe, allowing her to evade her punishment.

‘Yet Zisu did not lead a happy life after her marriage. From the very beginning, this had been a political marriage, and the Dragon Emperor already had another in his heart. Moreover, Zisu was stubborn and did not understand the ways in fawning over others, and as she was devoid of powers having exhausted all her cultivation in saving the snow wolf, she suffered the ridicule of the Dragon Emperor’s concubines in the Western Seas.’

Xuanji’s heart sunk. Softly, she said, ‘Did Zisu love the Dragon Emperor?’

In a mild voice, Long Fei-li asked, ‘Is this important?’

‘If she did not, then the Heavenly Emperor made the right decision. Though Zisu would have been disgraced living in the Dragon Palace of the Western Seas, it would at least be preferable to a thousand years of burning. But if she loved the Dragon Emperor… how could the burning of a thousand years compare? At least, it would mean a swift end to her sufferings.’

Long Fei-li did not respond. After a long moment, he finally said, ‘It was a trade. If she wanted something, she needed to exchange another for it.’

Absentmindedly, Xuanji turned to looked at him.

Forget it – casting aside the fact that she was unable to understand his thoughts, she was not even perceptive to the changes in his moods.

Long Fei-li suddenly stilled, his gaze landing on the hand on his knees. At some point in time, she had placed her hand gently atop his.

‘The Heavenly Emperor did not actually dote on Zisu,’ Xuanji said with a smile which did not reach her eyes. ‘Didn’t you say that the forces of the Dragon Tribe were beginning to threaten the authority of the Heavenly Realm? With Zisu’s humiliation in the hands of the Dragon Tribe, now, wouldn’t the Heavenly Emperor have a justification in attacking the Dragon Tribe? This was truly the wish of the Heavenly Emperor – to swiftly deal with the Dragon Tribe before their forces eclipsed the Heavenly Tribe’s power, and they became impossible to handle in the future.’

For a long moment, she did not hear his voice, and surreptitiously glanced at their hands, intertwined, then secretly raised her head to look at him.

But he was already staring at her, the corners of his mouth upturned. Xuanji could not say if it were in praise or ridicule.

‘Why do you think so?’ He asked.

Xuanji shook her head. ‘I don’t know.’

‘Perhaps, this was only a scheme hatched by Zisu and the Heavenly Emperor. Just as you said, to engineer a reason in allowing the Heavenly Realm to wage war against the Dragon Tribe,’ Long Fei-li said with a cold sneer.

‘Zisu was willing to sacrifice all her cultivation to save the snow wolf – Your Majesty, do you really believe her to be such a person?’

‘There are many faces to each person. The majority of the times, it is a mask we are interacting with.’

Hearing his words, Xuanji’s heart curled with sadness. Tightly, she squeezed the man’s hand, before saying lightly, ‘Some things are real, just like how I’m holding onto your hand now.’

***

Long Fei-li raised his brows, his gaze falling upon Xuanji’s hand. She was slender, her skin fair and delicate. He could see the veins on her arm.

It was early Spring and the rain was cold. With his years spent practicing martial arts, he had cultivated the inner energy required to withstand against the bitter cold, and was unaffected by the chilly air. Yet she did not have such strength, and her robes had already been torn by him. Even within his embrace, she continued to shiver from the cold.

–  Just like how I’m holding onto your hand now.

In the instant he heard these ridiculous words, a sudden desire to help her expel the cold actually rose within him.

An frozen smile crossed his lips and he removed his hand from hers.

With an unconcerned smile, Xuanji said, ‘The Dragon Emperor did not love Zisu, am I right?’

‘En.’ Long Fei-li’s gaze was faraway. ‘You seem to have a good understanding of this story.’

‘Didn’t you say that the Dragon Emperor already had another in his heart? And if he had truly loved Zisu, he would never have allowed her to be humiliated,’ Xuanji said, her eyes downcast, then continued in a quiet voice, ‘What happened in the end?’

Staring at the steadily-increasing crowd of wolves gathered beneath their tree, Long Fei-li seemed to return into the mood of story-telling once more. He said, ‘The war between the Heavenly Realm and the Dragon Tribe was inevitable. Hundreds of years later, the two fought a bitter war, ending with the defeat of the Heavenly Realm.

‘Although the Dragon Emperor had been gravely injured in the battle, his life was originally in no danger due to his extraordinary level of cultivation. Only, the woman he loved had also been injured in the war, and he exhausted a significant portion of his powers in saving her.

‘At the same time, the snow-wolf which Zisu had saved years ago had cultivated to achieve great powers in recent years, and was now the Emperor of the mortal world. Leading his troops, he attacked Western Seas in a bid to save Zisu from the Dragon Palace.

‘When he left, he did not manage to bring Zisu away with him. All he managed to bring with him was a silver of her soul.’

In a trembling voice, Xuanji asked, ‘Why?’

‘Zisu was dead. According to legend, she died in saving the Dragon Emperor and his most-loved woman.’

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