Chapter 143

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Protagonist:

Shaowei

Liu Qi

Incense burned in the palace chambers; Chi Yang's preaching voice was not heavy, yet it seemed able to seep into hair and skin along with the wisps of incense mist, permeating the Spirit Platform.

Everyone listened with utmost seriousness.

"The Way of Heaven cannot be defied; who can have surplus to serve All Under Heaven? Only the Daoist."

"And the cultivator of the Dao lies in observing the Way of Heaven, executing the movement of Heaven, diminishing the surplus and supplementing the insufficient — that is all."

"To undertake affairs without following Heaven is to go against life itself…… This means: those who act against the movement of Heaven will inevitably incur endless calamities."

That ethereal sound, as if transmitted from a distant land, was like smoke and clouds; yet within the smoke and clouds lurked formless Heavenly Thunder, striking down one bolt after another, following the recitation of the person above, toward the sole anomaly in the hall who was born against Heaven.

"To know and avoid it brings auspiciousness; to defy and act brings misfortune; those who desire peace ought to follow Heaven and Earth……"

"Is this not teaching people to sit and await death? Faced with misfortune and calamity, one cannot even have a heart of resistance?" A girl's uncomprehending voice rang out: "This is far too passive."

The girl who spoke wore bright, fresh attire, with a face like a moon disc; she was the daughter of the Prince of Zhao, the Commandery Princess of Zhao Guo, Liu Ming, who had only arrived in Chang'an the day before yesterday.

During the sermon, as long as one did not interrupt the preacher, raising doubts was not considered discourteous; at major Dharma assemblies, there were often those who voiced rebuttals, and if the rebutter possessed sufficient talent and comprehension, they could debate on equal footing with the preacher, which would instead add luster to the assembly.

At this moment, many years in the hall — no, at this moment in the hall, Commandery Princess Liu Ming's question was also the thought of many; amid a burst of low-voiced discussion, Chi Yang slowly shook his head: "Not so. True comprehenders of the Dao have never merely passively obeyed; rather, they should capture and perceive Heaven's hints amid the withering and flourishing of plants and the revolution of stars, and then comply with Heaven's will — precisely what was just said: 'To know and avoid it brings auspiciousness'——"

The people below began to discuss: "The meaning of these words…… is that one may only avoid misfortune, not defy Heaven?"

"To gauge the fullness and emptiness of the Way of Heaven, what star-observers observe is precisely Heaven's hints……"

"The Way of Heaven has its own laws; how can human power defy it?"

"……"

Chi Yang listened quietly to the crowd's voices, occasionally nodding slightly in acknowledgment, but the voice he most anticipated did not appear.

Shixiong's disciple could not possibly be a tongue-tied person; this child acts boldly, not lacking in youthful spirit, and should have the courage and obsession to refute him.

She should speak; within this hall chamber, she alone should speak the most, because she ought not to be allowed to exist.

Chi Yang's gaze slowly moved, settling upon that figure below who had remained quiet all along; his features held a few parts of compassion, yet his slow words, condensed into formless Heavenly Thunder, already carried killing intent:

"And the Way of Heaven also has times of oversight; at such times the comprehender must actively harmonize, correct it, clear the turbid on behalf of Heaven — only this is the ultimate realm of the True Way."

Shaowei, under his gaze, slowly looked up.

Correct her? Eliminate this turbid thing that is her? Execute her on behalf of the Way of Heaven?

Two gazes touched within the incense mist.

Shaowei still did not speak.

Why should she speak? Knowing what his Dao is was enough; she simply did not care whether his words were right or wrong, and even more disdained proving to him whether her existence was reasonable.

She only argued and quarreled with Jiang Fu because she wanted Jiang Fu's acknowledgment; but this person before her, what does he count as? On what grounds should she prove herself to him?

She not only does not need to prove herself to him, nor does she need to defend herself before the so-called Way of Heaven; she has no Dao to defend — she is simply herself; she does not want to be preached to by him, nor does she want to preach to him; she couldn't care less whether she is upright and aboveboard; let him use clever rhetoric until his mouth splits, regardless of whether it is sincere or hypocritical — anyway she has only one thought: she wants to live, wants Jiang Fu to live, wants him to die.

The girl's eyes were like a deep forest, concealing who knows what monster; Chi Yang spoke again: "Follow the Four Seasons of Heaven and Earth to harmonize Yin and Yang, do not violate the pivot of Heaven and Earth — this is also the Supreme Ritual Edict of the Shrine's Four Seasons Sacrifice; dare I ask, does Tai Puzhe Jiang acknowledge it?"

Shaowei tilted her face up slightly, assuming a pensive expression.

Provoke her, force her to speak, intending to find her weakness and heart-knot from her words, then strike her down in the name of the so-called Way of Heaven, intimidate her, make her doubt herself and fall into chaos?

She has also read many books; she will not fall into his verbal traps, nor will she be bullied by his reasoning.

Four eyes met; Chi Yang only saw the girl reveal an ambiguous expression, and she even smiled faintly at him.

That smile concealed a perverse stubbornness, just like her demeanor when she left the Night Sacrifice Altar…… a little ghost manifesting, good and evil indistinguishable, rebellious and provocative, utterly disorderly.

Chi Yang sat high on the dais, black robe spread out, making him appear even taller; the girl under his gaze appeared tiny and silent, yet the tiny one was wildly perverse, and in her silence her soul's sound shook and halted the moving clouds.

A touch of amusement also appeared in Chi Yang's eyes; so the one Shixiong chose is actually a Formless and Supreme Stubborn Stone.

A piece of incense ash fell from the burning Heaven and Earth incense.

After one incense stick had completely burned, when the last flake of incense ash peeled off, Chi Yang's preaching voice fell silent along with it.

The jade chime sounded; everyone rose and saluted the person on the dais.

Chi Yang nodded to them.

"The Immortal Master truly held nothing back in teaching…… we have benefited immensely."

"Wonder when the Immortal Master will enter the palace to preach again?"

"Right now I only feel my heart peaceful and breath calm……"

Listening to everyone's words, Liu Cheng was absent-minded; his heart had never been able to settle.

Someone asked Chi Yang for guidance on doubts, and some curiously gathered around that Tai Puzhe Jiang; Ming Dan, who was about to faint, was just about to seize a pretext to leave, when she suddenly heard a companion exclaim in surprise: "Looking closely, Feng Niangzi and Tai Puzhe Jiang's brows and eyes actually have a few points of resemblance!"

"Yeah yeah, it really is true!"

The two originally sat and rose together; now standing in one place, this remark drew many to scrutinize carefully; even Tai Puzhe Jiang herself looked toward the other, asking as if also curious: "Is that so?"

Ming Dan was struck as if by thunder and lightning, only fearing to awaken the other's memory; she forced a smile, turned her face away and lowered her eyelids: "How could it be? Tai Puzhe Jiang and I have never……"

"How could it not be!" A girl interrupted her words.

Ming Dan clenched her fingers inside her wide sleeves; that girl giggled and said: "The world is so vast, what does it not have? Even if they are complete strangers, it is possible they look exactly alike."

"This is a good thing, it's fate."

She doesn't want this fate at all!

Ming Dan screamed in her heart, while her face wore a fake smile.

"Feng Niangzi, your complexion looks very bad." Qiu Wen's voice carried some worry: "Is your illness still not recovered?"

The laughing companion girl looked over, and only then hurriedly said: "It must be that you're tired again today…… why not go out first for a breath of fresh air?"

Ming Dan forced a smile and nodded, supported by her companions as she turned and fled this suffocating place.

As she stepped over the door threshold, a boy's shadow rushed in: "A Jie, is it over?"

The boy was about seven or eight years old, the Heir of the Prince of Zhao. He pushed through the crowd searching for Liu Ming, but saw the Red Yang Immortal Master who had just risen, and immediately shouted in terror: "Monster! There's a monster!"

"Chuntian!" Commandery Princess Liu Ming grabbed her young brother in one motion, pulling him into her arms, not forgetting to scold: "This is the Red Yang Immortal Master, no rudeness allowed!"

Other youths also apologized to the Immortal Master, but saw he did not mind at all, instead reaching out to pat the child's head: "Children speak without restraint."

Liu Chun clung tightly to A Jie, still trembling with fear. Liu Ming dragged him back two steps while scolding: "Look at your spineless, useless appearance. The Immortal Master patting your head is a blessing for your wisdom and health!"

Liu Cheng belatedly recovered, turned to look, but that figure was already gone. A group of royal clan scions surrounded him to speak, but before they could say more than a few sentences, an inner attendant came to whisper a message in Liu Cheng's ear, and Liu Cheng hurriedly left.

The Crown Prince left, and the others no longer lingered.

On the road leaving, someone walked and said: "Don't know?"

"When I came I still saw a group of inner attendants being searched and interrogated..."

It was said inner attendants poisoned for revenge, but these Liu family sons and daughters each had their own guesses, only no one would speak of it in detail here, the talk only circling around Liu Qi's physical condition.

Eighteen-year-old Commandery Princess Liu Ming simply proposed going to the Sixth Prince's Mansion for a visit.

The Prince of Zhao is the current Emperor's younger brother. This time due to illness he could not personally enter the capital, but sending his only pair of children over also counted as expressing loyalty.

"You really dare go?" A Feudal Lord Heir said quietly: "He now... now has a very strange temper."

"Why speak with such reservation? Isn't it just wanting to avoid suspicion? What strange temper or not?" Liu Ming, leading her young brother, looked calm: "We are all Liu family children. Sixth Brother was harmed to the point of nearly losing his life. If we cold-bloodedly avoid him across the board, that would be the strange thing."

"Moreover the Emperor is still investigating the truth for Sixth Brother, showing it's not a matter of ignoring it. What reason do we have not to visit?"

"Back in the capital years ago, Sixth Brother even helped me and the Fourth Prince fight. Whether you go or not, I'm taking Chuntian!"

With Liu Ming taking the lead like this, another five or six youths followed, some genuinely visiting, some wanting to watch the liveliness and gather news.

"I'm going too!" Another followed along, saying as they walked: "But right now I'm dying of hunger and thirst. How about we eat some tea and water first before going!"

Liu Ming: "We'll eat when we reach Sixth Brother's residence!"

The result was they didn't get a sip of tea, but ate their fill of closed-door soup.

."

Someone said quietly: "Just said his temper is strange now, right?"

Liu Ming glared at him: "Just returned to the capital, both punished and poisoned. If it were you, would you be smiling?"

That youth wanted to say the punishment was because he slaughtered everyone in Zhu Zhi's entire Zhuangzi, but still shut his mouth.

Liu Ming had prepared to visit when she left this morning. The carriage had gifts. Now she had them stuffed to the gatekeeper, only saying: "Remember to tell Sixth Brother we came."

The gatekeeper received that large stack of tonic supplements, holding them against his chest, agreeing repeatedly.

Mo Li hugged a large stack of tonic supplements taken from the warehouse and ran into the hall. Xiao Yu was lighting lamps.

The hall already held many medicinal herbs. Shaowei, changed back into ordinary skirt and jacket, sniffed them one by one.

When the house slave returned, he saw her sitting cross-legged in the middle of a pile of opened medicinal herbs and tonic supplements — truly a picture of a divine fox tasting a hundred herbs.

Shaowei waved her hand to drive off Mo Li and Xiao Yu, speaking alone with the house slave: "Today I smelled a strange scent on Red Yang, a medicinal scent carrying some blood qi."

In her memory some medicinal herbs also carry a similar blood qi scent, but after sniffing a full circle and pondering repeatedly, it wasn't right.

"Or perhaps besides taking medicine, he has some injuries bleeding on his body, mixing into the scent you describe." The house slave sat, poured water, drank, his answer still plain.

"But that blood qi is quite old." Shaowei said seriously: "I've smelled fresh blood and old blood since childhood. I absolutely would not mistake it."

House slave: "Then perhaps it's old injuries, old blood."

But Shaowei shook her head: "Should not be. His skin is sensitive. He certainly would not neglect cleaning and care."

"Precisely because his skin is sensitive, it should bleed easily from chafing." Zhao Qie'an finished, then rebutted himself: "If it were freshly chafed, it should be fresh blood qi."

"In any case it's somewhat strange." Shaowei had no many leads for now. She knew she was being somewhat paranoid, but still said: "This matter needs extra attention."

Zhao Qie'an nodded, then asked her: "You saw Red Yang today?"

"Saw him. He also muttered a pile of words about correcting me, eliminating me, probing me, threatening me." Shaowei sneered, both hands resting on her crossed legs, looking toward the hall entrance, just seeing Xiao Yu practicing staff again.

Not knowing what she thought of, Shaowei suddenly became somewhat absent-minded.

Zhao Qie'an said: "The people sent to Ba Commandery to investigate, these few days should be able to send back the first batch of news."

Jiang Fu and Red Yang's master sect are in the Ba Commandery area, eight or nine hundred li from the capital.

"That one-eyed blade wielder I told you about last time, remember? He was previously bought to be killed, pursued by a killer organization. He counter-killed that killer organization's Tower Master. Inside that killer tower, internal strife over power broke out, many died. Yesterday that blade wielder took me to see those killers' current leader — turns out to be a Scholar, said to be the former Tower Master's Military Advisor. This person is very smart. Knowing I now have a mysterious backer, lack neither money nor weapons nor methods nor protection, after two days of talks, he has agreed to work for us."

"Now everyone can smell the world is unstable. It's a good time to win hearts."

"Manpower in the city has also increased some. I had them mix in the beggar piles to tail. Yesterday a child even begged a string of coins."

"The ground chamber these two days forged many good blades. Tomorrow I'll take one back for you to see."

Shaowei listened to the house slave speak of progress everywhere. The anxiety never lifted from her heart was slightly soothed.

Ming Dan's anxiety, however, grew moment by moment. This night she never dared close her eyes.

When the sky outside brightened, she made a certain resolve. Suddenly she climbed up from the bed, threw herself at the dressing table, and gathered all her jewelry.

Too many clothes. She could only bear to abandon them. The jewelry alone filled two bundles.

Her body was unwell. Today she didn't have to do homework. But she couldn't leave in daytime. Had to wait until night no matter what.

Holding two heavy bundles in her arms, Ming Dan scanned the room, bit her lower lip hard, suppressing her inner struggle.

She couldn't bear to leave all this. And her fantasies of life after leaving Xian Tai Gong. But she was truly afraid. She feared Feng Zhu's condition would continue improving. She feared that person who would demand repayment at any moment. She feared being exposed and then not even keeping her life. At that time no one would pity this liar. Better to take these things and leave early.

But where could she go?

Ming Dan sat blankly back by the bed. A voice suddenly appeared in her mind: If Zhu Niang were still alive, that would be good. Then she could go find Zhu Niang. Zhu Niang would surely protect her. There would always be a place to stay.

This thought had just appeared when she herself spat on it and overturned it — Zhu Niang never had true feelings for her. It was all fake! All for that dog-pig called Jingyi!

Regardless, in short she must leave first. Cannot wait for great disaster to strike!

"Bang, bang!"

Knocking sounded suddenly. Ming Dan, in the midst of plotting, startled with a shudder, staring fixedly at the bolted door: "Who?"

?? (Originally, when setting things up, I thought about letting Shaowei discuss the Dao with Chiyang, but while writing the detailed outline I discovered it didn't fit Shaowei's personality. In stories I wrote before, there were plots involving discussing the Dao and debating, but this time Shaowei roared at me: I! Don't! Want!)

? Then let's listen to her, after all she indeed isn't orderly and doesn't like reasoning or shouting slogans, her motto: Kill and be done with it.)

? Good Night Everyone~ By the way, asking for a monthly ticket!