Legend of Fu Yao - Chapter 324 - Untitled
Zhangsun Wuji had been exercising self-restraint and caution for his whole life, and he had never been drunk. However, any human would definitely be drunk at least once. It was the same as how it was impossible for a human to not make mistakes at all.
Furthermore, the wine entered his body like mercury, and it slowly devoured his organs.
The more he drank, the heavier his body felt. More wine spilled out as well, and in the end, he only drank half of the last jug. Suddenly, his sleeve jerked, and he clumsily threw the jug away. It crashed against a wall, and with a loud bang, the jug shattered into pieces.
Then, he leaned backward and fell from the tree.
He was drunk!
During the same night, someone was drunk for once, while someone else was exceptionally quiet and clear-headed.
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Meng Fuyao sat upright in the dark room. There were many things lying on the floor, but she did not clear them. She just sat silently in the cold surroundings.
Actually, she had never really wanted to depend on someone, or hope for warmth in this cold-hearted world. Having lived in two universes, she was clearer than anyone about the cold, hard truth of reality. She thought her defenses would have been very sturdy and would never break down, but when reality hit her, she still could not help but feel disappointed.
Humans may not believe in warmth, but they would still uncontrollably wish for it. It was a fatal attraction; moths were aware of their ending if they neared the fire, but they still could not resist their natural instinct to fly towards brightness.
Brightness… Meng Fuyao laughed mockingly. Unless one radiated brightness from within, no one would bring light to you.
She closed her eyes and silently adjusted her breath. Since she could not rely on anyone but herself, she had to be much, much stronger. This was the only way for her to leave this seemingly glamorous world, which was, in fact, an ice cellar, and find her simple and prudent small home in the previous universe, which was always warm and cozy.
As for the complicated past, and the mistakes that Zhangsun Wuji and Zong Yue had committed, she felt that she had no right to probe into them. Maybe they were indebted to her before, but after these few years of treating her wholeheartedly, it was more than enough for them to compensate her.
Though it was hard for her to forget grievances, she always remembered acts of kindness.
She would not be who she was, if not for Zhangsun Wuji and Zong Yue. Even if Zhangsun Wuji had saved her many years ago, who knew how her life would pave out to be in the future? Life may take one on many paths, but the barriers and obstacles would definitely still be there. She may take a different path, but she would still be hurt, just in a different way.
What was the worst ending? Since there was no source of comparison, who could make the judgment that she had gone through the worst ending? Although she always advocated determinism over fate, in reality, life was always controlled by the Heavens.
If so, why should she inflict pain on others?
With such a thought, the chilly feeling that surrounded her liver seemed to disperse a bit. Then, she perked her ears to pick up any sounds. Both were very silent, and one retreated back to his room, while the other’s whereabouts were unknown. She could vaguely smell alcohol, and she was slightly taken aback – Zhangsun Wuji was actively drinking?
After a while, there was a muffled crash in the front courtyard. When she heard that, her eyebrows moved.
In the meantime, Lord Yuan Bao stood on the table with one leg in front of the other, as he wanted to run out to console his master, and stay to console Meng Fuyao at the same time. While in a state of dilemma, he heard this sound, and his hair stood on its ends. “Ga!” His shaky split turned into a full split in an instant.
Meng Fuyao looked at Lord Yuan Bao, and Lord Yuan Bao looked back at her. When the four eyeballs met each other’s gaze, Lord Yuan Bao looked as if he was begging her. Previously, when the Zhangsun Wuji imposter had created trouble, Lord Yuan Bao had pleaded in the same way, and he had ended up becoming a hamburger.
As Meng Fuyao remained silent, she poked Lord Yuan Bao towards the door.
Making use of the chance, Lord Yuan Bao hugged her finger, because she didn’t allow him to touch her before. Then, she pulled her finger towards the door.
Naturally, he wouldn’t be able to move her, but he just wanted to express his desire. Meng Fuyao did not move and continued letting him tug. Suddenly, she said gently, “Sigh, your mind is not functioning well. If our relationship is not good, you can use this opportunity to come in between us.”
Immediately, Lord Yuan Bao looked back, and his eyes widened in anguish. ‘Even if I wanted to, this is not the way. Is my master this easily taken away? We advocate fair play and not dirty tricks!’ he thought.
Furthermore… he swept his short tail in sadness. Compared to his master’s feelings, his own love was insignificant.
With a sigh, Meng Fuyao gently pulled him away and signaled him to leave. Depressed, Lord Yuan Bao left with his head hung low.
He did not return after he left. After recuperating for a while, Meng Fuyao opened her eyes to look around. She was a bit confused, but she did not move. She recovered herself for a while more, and when she opened her eyes, she frowned. However, she still did not move. It was only after she completed one round of recuperation, and when she saw the empty table and heard no noise from the courtyard, that she stepped out of bed.
When she pushed opened the door, there was no noise in the surroundings. Not a single sound of breathing could be heard from Zong Yue’s room. After thinking for a while, she called Tie Cheng over and pointed towards Zong Yue’s door. Tie Cheng nodded and went over, while Meng Fuyao sighed and stepped into the front courtyard.
She was greeted by the sight of wine jugs lying all over in the front courtyard. Zhangsun Wuji sat cross-legged under the tree, while Lord Yuan Bao guarded by him quietly. When she walked over, Lord Yuan Bao looked joyous, and he came over to pull her. Quickly, Meng Fuyao walked away in large strides.
Lord Yuan Bao stood stiffly, and he looked dumbfoundedly at Meng Fuyao’s back as she left. He sucked his paw and looked back at Zhangsun Wuji, who slowly opened his eyes. Zhangsun Wuji calmly gazed at Meng Fuyao’s leaving figure before he hugged Lord Yuan Bao back.
Gently, he caressed Lord Yuan Bao, and he looked quietly at the passing clouds in the sky. Without making a noise, Lord Yuan Bao buried his head into Zhangsun Wuji’s arms.
Meng Fuyao secretly went to the Ninth Princess’s residence.
As the situation had progressed to such a stage, she could no longer ignore it. Even if she never acknowledged the Feng clan as her family, she must take revenge for herself.
The biggest obstacle in the Xuanji Palace was Epsilon. To remove Epsilon, she must first get rid of the Empress.
However, judging by how closely Epsilon protected the Empress unless the Empress left the palace on her own, she would have no chance to remove her.
How would the Empress leave the palace under such a chaotic period?
Opportunities were created – this was a move that Meng Fuyao was an expert in.
That day, she and the Ninth Princess discussed for a long while. When she returned, she received a message from Zhan Beiye which read, “Do you need me to send my army?”.
Meng Fuyao thought for a while, and she asked Ji Yu to reply, “Wait and see.”
She, Zhangsun Wuji and Zong Yue still continued to live under the same roof. Zong Yue seemed to be very busy, and even as he recovered from his injury, he still did not forget to meet his subordinates in Xuanji. Though the Virtuous Guild’s medicinal halls he had opened spanned the Five Regions Continent, Xuanji’s base was the largest and most powerful. After many years of developing this base, help could be summoned at any moment. When Meng Fuyao and Zhangsun Wuji had been traveling from the northern borders, they had received significant help from this force.
Zong Yue seemed to have gone out once during this period, even though he had not fully recovered. When he came back, he seemed even weaker, but he gave Meng Fuyao an envelope that night. After reading the letter, Meng Fuyao was silent for a long while. It made her very confused, as they used to be such close friends, but their relationship seemed to have returned to the starting point. Even if they were leaving beside each other, they still had to communicate through letters. She could not help but smile, but as the corners of her lips lifted, the smile turned into a bitter one.
Zhangsun Wuji didn’t leave the house at all. It seemed as though he and Zong Yue wanted to give Meng Fuyao some time to think through things carefully, or they were just holding back in. However, Meng Fuyao knew that they wouldn’t stay inactive for long. The three of them were not the type to lament their sufferings after a minor setback. They were trampolines that would eventually bounce back to life after being pressed down.
After a few days, both the Ninth Princess and the Tenth Princess suddenly fell ill.
One was the youngest daughter of Noble Consort Rong, while the other was the eldest daughter of the Empress, and both were royal princesses who enjoyed noble statuses in Xuanji’s court. However, they had never interacted with each other before, and it was purely coincidental that they fell sick at the same time. Because of the chaos in the city, the Ninth Princess had visited the temple to pray. When she had come back, she suddenly had a headache. Luckily, she had met the Tenth Princess on the way, and because they were siblings, the Tenth Princess had gone over to show her concern. However, she had only asked a few questions outside the curtain. She had been very careful and had not entered the carriage, but she had still fallen ill when she returned to her residence.
The symptoms they contracted were similar. They could not consume any food, and their faces became bright red. In the middle of the night, they would mumble outrageous remarks as though they had met with supernatural beings. The imperial doctors all gave up, and even after Noble Consort Rong and the Empress got civilian physicians to look at their illness, all of them said that the princesses were possessed.
The Empress immediately chided those sayings as nonsense. They were peerless beauties of the royal family, and they were supposedly the most resistant towards witchcraft. Why would they be possessed without any prior notice?
However, her tone was not very firm. The temple was located in the southwest corner of the palace. To return from the palace to the princesses’ residences, carriages had to pass by the southwest corner, which was a place that palace servants would be thrown into after they committed crimes. There was nothing much there except for dead people.
Which palace would not be haunted by the souls of the innocent? Furthermore, the Xuanji palace which was ruled by this particular Empress? Compared to other countries, Xuanji may not be considered a major power in terms of the size of their territory or national strength. On the other hand, if there was a ranking of the number of dead people in the harem, Xuanji would definitely take the throne.
People would have a guilty conscience after killing too many people. Moreover, this Empress was known to be the number one killer of all harems. As she grew older, karma affected her more and more. She would not bother about praying to buddha or eating vegetarian food before, but now, she would do it once in a while. When the conclusion of the civilian physicians was known to her, she also became more concerned.
Though she wanted to fetch her daughter into the palace, getting bewitched was a taboo in the palace. She was also scared of landing into that situation.
As she watched Noble Consort Rong run towards the Ninth Princess’ residence every day in sobs, exiting the palace in the morning with rare herbs and coming back at night with puffy and red eyes, she gradually became restless as well.
There were a few times that she wanted to leave the palace, but Epsilon disapproved. “If you go to her residence, it’s very hard for me to protect you because it won’t be convenient for me to enter the rooms of women. Tenth Princess’ residential location was chosen very carefully. It is a land of the ‘Hidden Phoenix’, which is very auspicious for females but slightly disadvantageous for people like me.”
As he was very adamant, the Empress gave up after trying to persuade him for a few times. Actually, she did not think much about the downsides. ‘Isn’t the Ninth Princess in a very bad state too? Isn’t Noble Consort Rong still safe after traveling in and out of such a chaotic city? It could not be so coincidental as to target me,’ she thought.
