Chapter 238: Clear Sky Day Chapter 215: What Was Discussed at Night

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Protagonist:

Shaowei

Liu Qi

Dark clouds gradually thinned and dispersed; the waning moon, pale and cold in color, lacked brightness, like a piece of raw iron gnawed on by a giant beast.

The moon, like raw iron, even though broken, clung stubbornly to the night curtain, suspended and shifting as it peered at the mountains that had just endured a commotion, and the mortal world still in ceaseless turmoil.

Many princes and officials were caught in shock and bewilderment; hushed conversations filled study after study in the roofed pavilions.

Rui Ze's death was too bizarre; if one said it was not the work of gods or ghosts, yet Rui Ze had over twenty fully equipped elite guards at his side, and to this day not a single one of their remaining limbs or corpses has been found — he died in utter silence, and not a trace of any assassin's presence has been uncovered……

Coupled with the strange spectacle of snakes, insects, and fierce tigers all crying out together in the mountain forest, and the ritual vessels that rang of their own accord and the sourceless strange fragrance that appeared when the deity descended……

If not gods or ghosts, what power could simultaneously fabricate so many inexplicable miracles, each beyond imagination? Put differently, if a human achieved this, manipulating all of it, how would such means differ from "divine power"?

"How is there no difference……"

A prince lowered his voice: "If manipulated by a human, killing Rui Ze without a sound and creating all these portents, would that not be even more terrifying than ghosts and gods?"

Ghosts and gods do not always manage mortal affairs; a person who possesses the power to manipulate ghosts and gods is far more dangerous than ghosts and gods themselves.

This is an utterly unfathomable coercion and deterrence, accompanied by the mountain forest's movement still before their eyes and the strange fragrance not yet faded from their clothes, clinging to many hearts; flashing before their eyes at the same time was that golden-eyed mask.

The profound truth of Heaven's Mechanism seems increasingly manifest; the influence she brings is so direct, this uncontrollable deterrence follows like a shadow — she truly ought to be eliminated for peace of mind, yet if one has the means to eliminate her, why not subjugate and possess her instead? Alas, under heaven there are ultimately few people who possess such audacity and confidence.

Pairs of eyes half-hidden in the gloom flickered with varied greed and fear; greed is base desire, fear is what transformed from the confession blood letter clenched in Rui Ze's mouth.

Rui Ze is dead, and bears the charge of divine execution; Crown Prince Cheng's fate is already bleak……

Hearts are restless; there are also those surnamed Liu pacing back and forth before their accompanying strategists, yet in the end no one dares act rashly, only fearing they might become the next existence offered up by a vicious tiger.

There are also a few who speculate that all of this is the Emperor's manipulation of countless talented persons — a plan to legitimately eradicate the Rui Family and, by this means, intimidate them, so as to replace the Crown Prince Position as smoothly as possible…… If so, whom has the Emperor already chosen?

Countless conjectures coalesce into a consensus among onlookers to wait and see, like the hundred beasts temporarily crouching low beneath a tiger's roar.

The insiders affected by Rui Ze's death, however, are shrouded in dark clouds that cannot be dispelled; Rui Ze's death severed the plan, yet the crimes were still exposed — an unreasonable, unfathomable opponent; the Emperor's order for a thorough investigation threw the plan participants into panic and the interest holders into hesitation.

The chief culprit who caused this entire situation is, at this moment, surrounded only by trivial, unimportant matters.

Because of the special nature of Heaven's Mechanism and her Master, the Emperor specially had a three-story palace pavilion set aside separately as lodging. The first floor houses the servants and guards; the second floor houses Marquis Lu and Madam Shentu; the third floor is where Shaowei and Mother Master reside.

At this moment, on the third floor of the pavilion, Shaowei's bedchamber is crowded with quite a few people; Feng Zhu examined her daughter's injuries and sent Pei to fetch injury medicine; it so happened that Qingwu was also carrying a medicine bottle just obtained from Jiang Fu, walking toward the bedside; additionally, A Ya, who had taken off her black clothes and resumed her maid disguise, entered carrying injury medicine, signing with her hands: "Sixth Prince gave prior instructions, so I prepared Sixth Prince's Common Injury Medicine in advance; this medicine has remarkable efficacy."

Shaowei momentarily found herself in a three-way dilemma between left, right, and center, only feeling her wound was far from enough — the mere trifling injury she had sustained could hardly satisfy everyone's concern.

In the end it was Mother who applied the medicine, and Mother who decided to use Jiang Fu's Injury Medicine; she could only let Liu Qi down.

Shaowei's injury was on her forearm, a blade slash; the wound was not deep. After medicine was applied and it was bandaged, Feng Zhu lowered the bed curtains, and had Pei wipe her daughter with hot water and change her into soft inner attire.

Fearing the freshly wiped body was cold, the killing and dancing must have caused sweating again; when Qingwu raised the curtains, Feng Zhu leaned over and wrapped the quilt around her daughter sitting cross-legged on the bed, tucked it in, then stuffed the two quilt corners into Shaowei's hands; Shaowei obeyed, gripping them tight, revealing only a single head.

Feng Zhu took one look and couldn't help pursing her lips in a smile, only feeling her own child resembled a well-raised, obedient house civet — not the slightest trace of the rampaging fierce tiger she was.

Feng Zhu, who gave birth to this tiger and raised her single-handedly, could not be called anything but calm and composed; she had experienced the world's greatest ugliness and hardships, killed wicked bandits together with her daughter; her courage and resolve were already extraordinary, and with Jiang Fu's medicine nursing and calming her spirit, her emotions grew increasingly steady — even if her daughter tore into prey before her eyes, she would only worry about her daughter catching cold from sweat or ruining her stomach eating raw meat.

The overly composed Mother finished settling her daughter, gave a few more instructions, then took Pei back to their room to rest — all to strictly follow Jiang Fu's Doctor's Order: absolutely no late nights, no insufficient sleep.

Confirming Shaowei was fine, Qingwu also had to return to the God Shrine Officials' Lodging; knowing A Jie was mostly afraid, Shaowei had Mo Li from downstairs secretly accompany and escort her.

Mo Li moved too lightly, as if no one were there; Qingwu carried a lamp walking alone, softly asking him to make some noise; Mo Li behind the grass bushes then brushed the grass bushes into a rustling sound.

Qingwu felt somewhat reassured, freeing up some attention, but then couldn't help thinking: Shaowei Younger Sister's sacrifices truly require blood every single session, destined to kill people.

But…… now that this one person who was plotting rebellion is dead, one would think there's no need for more people to die, right?

As Qingwu thought, that black-cloth-covered Divine Unknown Object flashed before her eyes again; at the time she subconsciously turned her head away; when she recovered slightly, she saw a person's back blocking her path; afterward that back's owner turned their head, quietly asking if she wanted to know what it was like; her face turned pale and she shook her head, still not speaking to him; unable to bear his insistence on telling her, he pointed to the offering table directly in front of the altar: 【It is no different from that pig head.】

She looked at that pig head; what she recalls now is also that pig head; the terrifying imagination was severed, and fear naturally diluted as well.

After Mo Li completed the task of escorting Qingwu, he returned to the pavilion, only to find Zhao Shu, who shared the room with him, gone without a trace.

Zhao Shu and his shadow had just stepped onto the third floor; in Shaowei's room, A Ya's signing shadow was jumping, striving to explain one thing: that tiger was not summoned by her; she can only summon some snakes and insects; before today she had never seen a tiger.

Zhao Qie'an has wandered the jianghu and spent several days with A Ya, so he understands quite a bit of sign language; at this moment he walked in and explained: "The tiger came of its own accord."

He walked to the tea table where Jiang Fu was, sat cross-legged, and recounted the general course of events.

According to the original plan, he would clean up the excess corpses, leaving only Rui Ze's head to take away; A Ya would lure out the mountain's snakes and insects after the grand sacrifice was halfway through, creating the spectacle of snakes and insects presenting Rui Ze's head——

However, after he transported all those corpses and dumped them into the dangerous gorge, on his final return to the crime scene watched by Mo Li, he saw that tiger still hadn't left, lying there licking its paws, washing its face, grooming itself.

Looking at the shattered, fragmented Rui Zes, the family slave's ears echoed with his own words from the day he learned his child had been wronged — "Didn't expect to mince such a large piece" — and he actually felt it fit the scene.

The characters on the blood letter were also from his hand; the child said his handwriting was ugly and lifeless, which was an advantage.

Even so, seeking perfection, when writing he deliberately pressed his right arm acupoint; the ugly characters written with his trembling right hand possessed another incomparable manic air.

Having stuffed the blood letter in place, he pinched up the skull, called Mo Li, and left — yet unexpectedly that tiger followed all the way, impossible to shake off.

As a cat slave in a certain sense, after observing along the way, he vaguely grasped this tiger's intent.

When A Ya summoned the snakes and insects, the tiger also grew somewhat vigilant and startled, letting out its first roar, drawing a chaotic response from the Imperial Guard.

So he improvised, crouching in a tree, trying two "sip-sip" sounds, making some hand gestures, then following a feint of tossing the skull — the tiger leapt after it, catching air; he feinted again, the tiger pounced empty again, baring its teeth at him with an impatient low growl——

This tiger has rich experience interacting with humans, understands many body movements; he saw this and understood — the third time he threw it, this time not a feint; the tiger caught it, pounced toward the mountain path, roaring at the Imperial Guards, and dropped that skull.

The Imperial Guards held crossbows and blades and spears; the mountain below had too many people and too much fire; otherwise, judging by this tiger, it might have directly presented the skull to the altar.

The tiger darted back into the forest, leapt onto a high rock, and saw the witch dance on the altar.

The witch dance is originally used to communicate with heaven, earth, and living beings; the Witch Dance Leader was branded by the tiger; she and the tiger burned with the same desire for revenge, stained with the same blood, even more like they had formed some blood contract resonance — the tiger harmonized with her, letting out a joyous, free tiger roar that shook the entire mountain forest.

Shaowei was somewhat dazed, then let out a breath of relief; this tiger possesses such spirituality, indirectly helping her succeed; the tiger has also become a God's Messenger — one thinks even if caught, it would not be easily killed; worldly affairs repay in kind — this counts as the protection and recompense the gods she impersonated granted this tiger.

"Those present today are so fortunate to have witnessed a true witch dance that communicated with all living beings." Jiang Fu propped her head with one hand, held a tea bowl with the other, smiling: "Rui Ze suffering divine execution may not convince everyone, but they know the person behind it can manipulate such witch power and miracles — they cannot help but be convinced in their hearts."

Even if someone doubts, no one will voice it, and there is no way to expose or refute it — this constitutes a successful political dance; the sacrificial purpose has been achieved.

Jiang Fu sighed contentedly: "Only today do I realize my disciple not only dances well with saber and staff, but now dances other things very well too; this journey to the capital to save this Master has truly taught her many great skills."

Shaowei pulled the quilt until she felt warm, suspecting Jiang Fu's words carried a hidden meaning that she was very good at deceiving people; her face flushed red in a moment, only to see Jiang Fu set down his teacup, stifle a yawn, and rise: "Today's matters are finished, tomorrow's matters remain to be done; we should each retire early."

"You don't need to hunt tomorrow," Shaowei said casually, then suddenly asked: "By the way, the incense you made—besides smelling good, does it have some other purpose?"

"How so? After smelling it for so long, did you think of something or see something?" Jiang Fu did not answer, but countered with a question.

Shaowei did not answer either; she stared at her and only said: "This incense of yours is indeed strange."

Jiang Fu smiled mysteriously: "I only know this incense has the wondrous effect of Ming Qiao Sol Source; as for whether it is strange, it depends on whether the smeller has strange obsessions to trace back, and even more on whether there is fate."

She finished speaking, turned and left gracefully, the house slaves followed, Shaowei watched her back disappear, suspecting this person's fragrance formula was mostly made for her, and was not the work of a single day.

When Shaowei danced while smelling incense on the altar, it was as if her seven orifices were wide open, her five senses became increasingly sharp, yet images from her previous life frequently flashed through her mind.

Just now Jiang Fu said something about "Ming Qiao Sol Source," especially these two words "trace back," inevitably making Shaowei suspect this incense was tailor-made for her, or that some strange inspiration had been gleaned from her, resulting in this fragrance formula that made her glimpse the unwillingness of her previous life.

Not long after Jiang Fu left, A Ya extinguished the extra lamps in the room, leaving only one candle flame, and lay down on another small bed in the room.

Inside the curtains, Shaowei lay with her eyes wide open, not knowing what she was thinking.

Until suddenly she heard a "pa da" sound, as if the window was being struck by a stone.

The one being struck was actually the back window of the neighboring room; when Shaowei sat up, she pricked up her ears and vaguely heard Jiang Fu complaining and sighing: "Even if Night Owl comes to peck at the windows on his own territory, he shouldn't peck so chaotically..."

Shaowei suddenly felt embarrassed for the visitor, and again felt it concerned her own face; she flew off the bed to put on her shoes, grabbed an outer robe and hastily slipped it onto her arm; during the process she heard another window-knocking sound from next door, felt her scalp go numb, gritted her teeth and ran to the window; on the way she casually felt a piece of cake on the tea table, pushed open the window with one hand, aimed at the person below with the other, and threw the cake out to stop him from continuing to hit the wrong place.

Every floor of the pavilion had eaves extending outward; the person below had to retreat a bit to throw stones at the window; the palace halls of Shanglin Park were mostly built against the mountain forest, and behind this pavilion was the forest; a figure stood before the dark forest, hurriedly reaching out to catch the cake thrown down from above.

Immediately after, he saw a shadow lean out from the window and climb out, lightly sliding onto the eaves of the second-floor pavilion, then immediately adjusting her posture to leap straight down.

Her series of movements was extremely fast; Liu Qi saw this and felt it was dangerous, not knowing whether she was seriously injured or not; at that moment, almost instinctively faster than reason, he stuffed the cake into his mouth, stepped sideways and extended his hand, preparing to catch her.

Lu Hou, who had not yet gone to bed in the second-floor bedroom, saw a shadow sliding down outside the window and guessed his granddaughter was going out at night—he was too curious about today's affairs, but his daughter found him annoying, forbade him to interfere, and only said she would tell him the details later, causing him to be anxious and unable to sleep.

At this moment, suspecting his granddaughter would take action at night, Lu Hou immediately put on his outer robe and came to the window, pushed it open a crack, poked his head out, wanting to call the child in a low voice and ask if she needed him to participate as well—

At this moment Shaowei had already leapt into midair; she moved too fast, and the distance was limited; she could not change direction in time, so she could only crash into the arms of the person who had extended his arms to catch her.

Shaowei's flesh was firm and quite heavy, knocking Liu Qi back a step; Liu Qi immediately extended his arms to hold and support her; Shaowei also immediately extended her hands to press against his shoulders, her waist and back tensed, and she tried hard to shrink her head back, so as not to smash his head open and make it bleed; even so, her nose still hit the cake in his mouth; the cake in Liu Qi's mouth was knocked apart, and Shaowei's face was covered with crumbs.

Lu Hou saw this scene, his eyes widened, his white beard trembled—he saw very clearly that his own child was strategizing; where did this cunning brat need to meddle and catch her!

He wanted to shout and scold, but knew it was not suitable to make a noise, and also thought that in this night excursion there was no room for him to participate; for a moment he could only close the window with heartfelt grief and indignation.

Below, Shaowei dropped down hard, and had already slid off Liu Qi's body; she asked in a low voice: "Why did you suddenly catch me? I had already checked before jumping!"

Liu Qi wanted to answer, but there was still half a piece of cake in his mouth; he raised a hand, but used his bent index finger to send the cake into his mouth once more, and chewed it; in the middle, not knowing what he thought of, his chewing paused, and he couldn't help but show a smile.

Shaowei, her face full of crumbs, glared for a moment, looked away, one hand brushing the somewhat itchy crumbs off her face, the other grabbing him, and she walked quickly into the forest.

When they reached a place where they would not be discovered, Shaowei was about to ask Liu Qi the reason, but heard him ask one of his reasons first: "Is the injury serious or not?"

"Not even enough medicine to apply." Shaowei found a large rock to sit down: "It's lightly serious to the point of death."

Having only heard of serious injuries being fatal, never of being lightly serious to the point of death, Liu Qi smiled and nodded: "Then that's good."

But he still asked in detail where the wound was, and asked her about the course of events.

The two sat together in the forest talking at night; Zhan Zhan, crouching in a tree keeping watch, also heard Shaowei King recount her mighty experiences once.

After speaking, Shaowei felt today was completely perfect; she had told Mother, told Jiang Fu, only lacked telling Liu Qi; today avenging this grudge and doing this thing, saying it to his face, seeing him, only then did it feel complete and satisfying.

Shaowei propped both hands on the rock, stretched her legs straight, her whole body relaxed; a fruit was handed to her eyes from beside her: "Come, I have three matters to find you; this is the second—taste it, quench your thirst."

"What fruit is this?"

Shaowei curiously took it; only to see the fruit skin yellow with red, the surface somewhat uneven, the navel round, the mouth blooming open.

?? Everyone good night, pay attention to flu protection~