Chapter 693

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Protagonist:

Shen Yao

One batch of newcomers replaces the old, yet Qingping City is still that same Qingping City!

The faces of the relevant officials have become unfamiliar; for the commoners in the city this matters little — after all, they never rub shoulders with such bigwigs in daily life — but the great households in the city are quite panicked, because those who can mingle with officials are either rich or powerful.

In their hearts they grumble that this Prince Jing does not keep his word; he clearly spoke so well, saying he would not trouble them, yet the moment he turned around he cleaned out those corrupt officials from top to bottom.

The key point is that these people have been replaced with clean ones — does that not mean their earlier investments were all wasted? They still have to re-consolidate this official-civilian relationship.

"Quick, quick, quick — while Prince Jing still shows some mercy, let us hurry and make up the account books and send them over; only by sending the people away can we ensure their safety."

We cannot let the officials of Qingping City gg and have ourselves buried along with them.

These great households began quietly sending crates stuffed with gold, silver, pearls, and jewels to the relay station — some to make up the accounts, some as tribute, and some purely to curry favor.

Lin Xingzhi: …

"Who knows what they're saying in their hearts?" Does he not know these people? They would scrape every single grain of rice that shows into their own bowls; missing that bit would make them unbearably uncomfortable.

Shen Yao couldn't help but burst out laughing; she thought: how do corrupt officials come about? Isn't it just because they cannot control their inner desires — whether passively swept along or actively following suit, they plunge into depravity without the slightest hesitation.

Casually flipping through these crates that had been sent over, which stuffed the relay station's small courtyard until there was no room left, the crates were packed full of gold, silver, pearls, and jewels — one truly didn't know whether to say they were tactful or excessively sincere.

"Register them in the ledger and send them back to the capital with the convoy; how to handle them is for His Majesty to decide."

She waved her hand, letting the servants waiting to one side step forward and carry away all the crates; Lin Xingzhi dusted off his palms, then supported Shen Yao to the pavilion to sit and rest.

They planned to set off for the capital in a few more days; in a flash it had been over two years — they had been away this long, it was time to go see the capital.

"The capital"

Shen Yao thought of the Five-Colored Stone; Lin Chengyan and Lin Chengjue really did fall a bit short in significance.

"A letter from the capital says the Crown Prince born to the Empress is in poor health; it's unknown whether he can be nursed back."

In just this short time the Crown Prince's health has rapidly collapsed and been exposed — it seems there is still plenty of turmoil between Emperor and Empress!

"His Majesty is in the prime of life; even if strife erupts anew in the capital he can suppress it."

This isn't an aging emperor with princes vying for succession; given His Majesty's current health, there would even be time to cultivate a new heir from scratch.

But there are too many noblewomen in His Majesty's harem; the princes born all have the problem of over-powerful maternal relatives, and His Majesty himself has never been very satisfied — now who knows, he might just seize the chance of the Crown Prince's illness blowing up to stage a purge, at least giving those not-yet-grown offspring an environment where they can live in peace; otherwise people keep gg-ing at the drop of a hat, and no one, whoever they are, would have any sense of security.

"His Majesty originally intended to cultivate those princes without powerful maternal backing, but was checked by the former court and the harem, forcing that idea to a halt; now —" Lin Xingzhi narrowed his eyes, feeling this was an opportunity.

Shen Yao raised her hand and touched Lin Xingzhi's elbow, signaling that this return to the capital might let them witness the tail end of the typhoon sweeping through the former court and the harem.

Even Lin Xingzhi, inspecting far away outside, could receive news of the Crown Prince's condition — one can see the Crown Prince's true situation can only be worse.

As a Senior Tasker who has stayed in different imperial palaces across different worlds and won, Shen Yao knows all too well what lies behind such news.

The Empress was previously unrivaled; even suppressed by His Majesty she could not change her behavior style — now that her reliance, the Crown Prince, may vanish, who knows what further wrongs she might commit.

'Will the Empress be deposed?' the System asked curiously.

Shen Yao shook her head, indicating she didn't know, but given His Majesty's character and the Empress's clan outside the palace, the greatest likelihood was still lifelong imprisonment.

'That is a hundred times more unbearable than deposition; the Empress's pride would not allow her to end up so — once mishandled, not to mention the whole harem, at least half would be buried with her.'

When a person like the Empress goes mad she doesn't care about rational trade-offs; it's basically charge in first, think later — save whoever can be saved, abandon whoever can't.

System: …

'Th-th-that's way too crude.'

It feels like the Empress is just an object — use her if she works, discard her if she doesn't.

'What did you expect? How many people who enter the palace can keep their original heart? Besides, the Empress's evil deeds back then are countless.'

'Fortune turns; either you stay strong forever, or you go early — fall behind, and sooner or later comes the day of reckoning.'

Otherwise why do they all say the palace is hard to navigate? It's a beast arena draped in exquisite skin — only the single most capable beast survives; everyone else is mere backdrop.

The System smacked its lips at this; looked at this way, its own Host is still very strong — no matter which Mission World, as long as she enters the palace she laughs last and becomes the winner.

Shen Yao: … Am I some terrible person? With this many verified accomplishments accumulated, this many Cheats stacked on me, not winning would be the real ghost story.

The topic of the capital came to a pause here, because they were currently still in the south; to return to the capital they first had to reach the east side and then go back.

Such a round trip would take nearly half a year or even a full year.

The typhoon tail Shen Yao spoke of might not be encountered after all.

"Better not to encounter it — go to the capital on your own, can you really protect me?"

The Five-Colored Stone was a bit anxious; inside its body it felt like a rabbit jumping around in chaos — it had finally managed to take form, and it didn't want to go back to that pitch-black space.

In reality it was merely the restraint of its spiritual wisdom not yet fully awakened; what magic artifact in this world could confine the Five-Colored Stone? A spiritual object of heaven and earth that can even mend the sky can also bore a hole through any thing.

"You're a stone born of heaven and earth, yet you worry about running into trouble?" How rare — she had thought the Five-Colored Stone's bottom color was fearing neither heaven nor earth.

The Five-Colored Stone nodded, "If not for your formidable strength, I wouldn't have jumped out."

This is just me knowing the times — so what's wrong with seeking a backer when danger appears?

"Rest assured, no one will trouble you, and no one will force you back to your original form," Shen Yao pointed at the jade tablet the Five-Colored Stone wore hanging on its body — a magic artifact she had further processed later, able to conceal the Five-Colored Stone's true form; even a cultivator with high attainment in arts would not detect much.

Just like Master Yuan Kong, who was still instructing Lin Chengyan and Lin Chengjue — he took the Five-Colored Stone for a little fairy, and a plant-turned-spirit of the lowest danger at that; aside from once opening his mouth to tactfully remind Lin Xingzhi, he never reached out to interfere again.

This wasn't because Master Yuan Kong didn't want to interfere, but because with Shen Yao, a High Person, present, and a plant demon that could be called utterly non-threatening by her side, Master Yuan Kong had no need to worry about Lin Xingzhi's safety — why would he risk offending someone by meddling?

Even a high monk, spending years in a Buddhist temple practicing the Dharma, wouldn't be completely ignorant of worldly affairs; Master Yuan Kong is a monk, not a fool.

Hearing Shen Yao say this, the Five-Colored Stone immediately became happy; during this period, besides staying by the two little ones' side, it just went out strolling.

The Five-Colored Stone had no wealth on it, but Shen Yao would not shortchange this little brother; wherever they went there were servants attending — the Five-Colored Stone could be said to have experienced what it means to be a Rich Person: eat whatever it wanted, drink whatever it wanted, simply delightful!

"The capital is many times larger than Qingping City; who knows how lively it will be there."

These days in Qingping City had made the Five-Colored Stone reluctant to leave. Now it wasn't afraid to go to the capital at all — even knowing the capital was more prosperous and lively than Qingping City, it wished it could sprout wings and fly back immediately.

Shen Yao couldn't help raising her hand to rub the Five-Colored Stone's furry little head, muttering that this little stone really was something — clearly bald by nature, yet it insisted on manifesting hair for itself.

"Go on and seize the time to play some more; in a few days we'll have to leave, and once we're on the road nonstop, stopping will be hard."

At least in Shen Yao's view, the places they passed through again truly counted as simple rest stops — even on official business, they would only stay at the relay station.

Completely unlike Qingping City, where they could go out whenever they wanted, relaxed and carefree and leisurely comfortable.

…………

Amidst encircling mountains, a line of carriages and horses was plodding forward on the road.

Lifting the curtains blown up by the wind on both sides, Shen Yao gazed out; recently they had been traveling through woods all along, and the air here was refreshingly fresh.

"Imperial Consort, in an hour we'll reach the next stopping place; I wonder if—"

"Stop the carriage when we arrive; no need to rush the journey."

It's not as if there's any urgent matter waiting back there; Shen Yao simply wasn't willing to exhaust herself day and night — even a demon couldn't endure that.

By now the Five-Colored Stone had long since run off to the front carriage, whining and playing with Lin Chengyan and Lin Chengjue, its disposition becoming more and more like that of a few-years-old child.

"Host, there is demonic qi here," the System said the words 'demonic qi' rather powerlessly, because during this period of travel they had encountered demonic qi simply too many to count.

"Yes, and it's the fresh, pure plant-and-tree demonic qi — most peaceful of all," no danger at all, the rarest kind of demon in the mountains and forests.

Finished speaking, Shen Yao let down the raised curtain, leaned back against the soft cushion with her arm propping her up, and her half-open eyes closed along with the jolting carriage.

When she opened her eyes again, the carriages had already stopped at a place of clear mountains and beautiful waters.

Naturally there was no human habitation around; not far off the servants were busy making fire and cooking, and Shen Yao herself stepped out of the carriage compartment to see Lin Xingzhi standing with hands behind his back not far ahead by a mountain stream.

Clip-clop—

"Yao Niang"

Lin Xingzhi turned his head and called once, then spoke of their journey schedule being relatively relaxed — not far ahead there was a small mountain town to lodge in.

"This matter Xingzhi decides," the earlier patrol arrangements were mostly complete, and even if what followed was purely sightseeing, the Emperor and the Imperial Court would not say much more.

Lin Xingzhi smiled and patted Shen Yao's fingers; the two clasped hands tightly, gazing ahead.

Footsteps of servants sounded from behind — they had come to summon them for the meal.

The meal was simple and convenient, nothing but ordinary daily food cooked into dishes, only the natural surroundings lent it extra flavor.

Lin Chengyan and the others had already started eating early; the little stone and the two children got along quite familiarly, and it could even open its mouth to instruct them in martial arts.

According to the Five-Colored Stone's meaning, what Yuan Kong Master taught was not bad, but it wasn't completely suited to Lin Chengyan and Lin Chengjue — they must learn to adapt in order to progress.

The two children, simple and unaware of the Five-Colored Stone's true identity, only thought he was a distant relative of the family; plus Mother Consort had instructed them to get along well, so naturally whatever the Five-Colored Stone said, the two of them listened (because it wasn't wrong).

Mouths going "wah wah wah" in admiration that Stone Brother was truly erudite and talented, the two little ones put down their bowls and chopsticks and proceeded to huff and puff demonstrating the new fist and foot techniques they had learned, asking Stone Brother to critique.

The Five-Colored Stone patted its chest, "Rest assured, this kind of thing I'm best at — guaranteed to make your mastered skills far stronger than that big monk's."

Demons have never much liked people from Daoist temples or Buddhist monasteries; no reason, just a loathing rooted in their bones.

In Shen Yao's words, it's that the accumulated problems between the two sides are too many and fundamentally cannot be effectively resolved; this kind of mere inner loathing without outward expression still counts as pretty good — those impulsive types who fight on sight not only fail to reduce problems but actually increase the contradictory variables between the two sides.

Lin Chengyan and Lin Chengjue had to correct the Five-Colored Stone not to address Yuan Kong Master that way, and to show respect.

Five-Colored Stone: … It just won't~

Verbally it agreed to the two children very nicely, but in private the Five-Colored Stone still did as it pleased, calling Yuan Kong Master 'big monk' all the same.

Yuan Kong Master: … Amitabha

Yuan Kong Master didn't care about this title at all; after all, having lived to today, what title hadn't he heard — there were even excessive ones who called him 'bald donkey' directly.

But those who had called him 'bald donkey' basically all have grass several meters high on their graves, after all only incompatible people would be so utterly ruthless.

And toward enemies, one must be ruthless like the autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves; Yuan Kong Master had no thought of leaving future troubles for himself.

Eating and drinking, walking and stopping

During this journey they basically seized time when the weather was cool; other periods were either rest or breaks — they stretched what should have been a three-month route into a full half year.

Fortunately they smoothly reached Jin Dun Town, where they spent a lively New Year.

Jin Dun Town is a small non-coastal town located east-by-south; after everyone arrived here, they had to prepare for the return to the capital.

The final departure was set for when spring warmth brought blooming flowers; the return to the capital would be late spring early summer, so they wouldn't have to endure the blazing sun.

"Do we still need to stop at these places?" Shen Yao dotted the names of towns they had passed before, where they had left quite a formidable reputation.

"No need; straight to the capital — the Imperial Court sent an urgent letter, fearing a change of circumstances."

As for what change, the letter didn't say, but Lin Xingzhi guessed it certainly wasn't good news, and most likely still related to the palace.

Hope it's not that cheap nephew of his who is helpless and pitiable and lamentable; otherwise it would stir up storms of blood and rain, who knows how many innocent people would be dragged in.