Chapter 626: Chisel Ice to Seek Light (End)

When Pei Ye arrived at Jingchi, his footsteps faltered involuntarily.

This lake lay behind the Bright Moon Palace. When viewed from afar within the courtyard walls, one could see a corner of the lake surface framed by untrimmed, pale branches. Now that he had truly walked inside, he saw only a flat lake of quiet snow, tall and sturdy trees standing, and snow on the ground that had never been trodden upon.

Despite being in the Imperial Palace, it was one of the eight forgotten lakes. Even in winter, it still froze into a large, beautiful sheet of ice. As Pei Ye climbed up and suddenly saw this vast scene appear before his eyes, he felt for a moment as if he had stepped back into Mount Kongdong within 【Zhaoyou】.

A slender figure was half-squatting, half-kneeling on the ice, head bowed, digging vigorously. From afar, she looked like a pale gray water bird. When Pei Ye walked to her side, the maid was sucking on her red, trembling fingers, and only after tucking them into her bosom to wipe away the saliva did she dare to take them out again.

"What are you doing?" Pei Ye looked at the small iron chisel on the ice; the palm-sized pit and ice shards beside it were likely the results of her efforts during this time.

Meng'er gripped it again, aimed at the center, and chiseled down with force. Ice shards splashed. Pei Ye saw that he couldn't dodge just by tilting his head, so he simply let them strike his face.

"..."

Meng'er quickly raised her hands, her brows lowering toward the center, revealing an apologetic smile: "Did it hurt you..."

She squinted and leaned in to look for a while. Seeing that the young man's iron-like skin had not a single red mark, she clicked her tongue in secret, pulled back her neck, and said: "I have to chisel the ice open."

"You think that down here..." Pei Ye was speechless. He raised his sword and said, "I'll smash it open for you."

"No, no!" Meng'er waved her hands to stop him, her expression very serious, "That won't do. It must be done with sincerity."

"To whom are you being sincere?" Pei Ye looked around, "Did you set up a Bodhisattva somewhere?"

"Sincere to Ming Ming Niangniang Wei, of course." Meng'er ignored his teasing and said earnestly, "Do you know? The former Ming Ming Niangniang was a very gentle person. When she was here, the palace was as if there were no rules."

The young girl continued: "I heard that when she left, she sent letters and left things for every friend. Could she, in her old age, have forgotten us servants in the palace? I heard from several elderly nannies that she would often chat with the palace maids she met."

"..." Pei Ye was momentarily speechless. This was truly a young girl's naive fantasy. Wei Qingju's situation before her death was already seen to be dire from the side; a large number of people who followed her were exiled or killed. The letters she sent were either farewells or entrustments to people like Xu Ji who could still stand for another thirteen years. In such a predicament, how could one hope she would consider a crippled palace maid twenty-three years later?

A person's life energy is limited.

Pei Ye skipped this topic and looked at what was before him: "So you just dig like this—can you swim?"

Meng'er stared: "How could I possibly swim? The pools in the palace aren't for swimming."

"Then even if you chisel it open... don't fall in yourself."

"I'm not that stupid." Meng'er pursed her lips and smashed down vigorously again, panting twice, "It's fine. You can go back when you're done. I'll just look slowly here..."

She peeked toward where the young man had come from, lowered her head, and whispered: "It just so happens you can take Princess Jinyang away too... I'm a little afraid of her."

"She is Wei Qingju's only heir."

Meng'er hesitated for a while but said nothing more.

"... Fine."

Pei Ye could actually understand; it was indeed different. Wei Qingju was once the master of this palace city and could freely scatter kindness, while Li Xizhou was its abandoned child, growing up from childhood in hostility and cold isolation. This was her cage.

Unable to pass Qi, Pei Ye left her a small flame that could burn for a while, then rose to bid farewell.

When he walked down, Li Xizhou was already waiting for him at the intersection.

At this time, the horizon began to turn dim yellow. The two walked one after the other back toward Zhu Jingdian. The return was not as hurried as the arrival, and both slowed their pace.

"How do you know that maid?" Li Xizhou asked.

"Met her at Bright Moon Palace last time. She dreams that Wei Qingju left a secret path in the palace to leave this place."

"She is one of Li Youlong's people." Li Xizhou looked back, "In this palace, apart from Zhu Jingdian, her place is the coldest and most desolate. In the entire Qing Si Palace, there are only the two of them. It's hard to say who takes care of whom more."

"I ran into the Sixth Princess on the morning I entered the palace. She seemed to be reading poetry and playing the flute with Meng'er in the garden."

"Mm, Meng'er can play the flute. Actually, it was taught by Consort Mei."

"Hm?"

"Li Youlong's biological mother." The two walked onto the bank of Taiye Pond, the golden sunset light spreading warmly and melting over the ice after the snow had thawed. Li Xizhou said, "I still remember what she looked like; she was a very quiet, very clean person, the daughter of a disgraced official, brought up from the Ye Ting music workshop."

Pei Ye was slightly surprised. He had thought such things only existed in storybooks. He said, "But I remember Meng'er saying that the Sixth Princess's birth mother passed away very early."

"That is so." Li Xizhou said, "After Li Congfeng ascended to the Ming Ming Niangniang's position, she introduced concubines regularly every year and promoted consorts. The ranks of the inner palace were orderly, and the Emperor never asked about it. Only Consort Mei was personally accepted by the Emperor after he saw her at a music ceremony once, and he gave her the title 'Mei'."

Pei Ye tilted his head slightly.

"He never stayed overnight in the inner palace, and probably didn't recognize the faces of the concubines much. However, in the two months after Consort Mei was newly titled, he would take the initiative to go to her courtyard after finishing the morning court early. Sometimes he even ordered Yu Sicheng to go outside and find the music scores Consort Mei wanted." Li Xizhou said calmly, "Actually, it was only for two months. Later, he seemed to have forgotten and never went again... However, precisely because he had been so indifferent and heartless for more than twenty years, those seemingly ordinary two months appeared even more special."

"So Li Congfeng always remembered."

"The cold treatment, whether real or imagined, from the Li-surnamed Ming Ming Niangniang was enough for a weak consort with no foundation to endure. Before Li Youlong was six, the mother and daughter were treated coldly everywhere in the palace and suffered much harsh treatment. Consort Mei was a true mortal woman without cultivation. After she gave birth to Li Youlong, the imperial physician's treatment was improper, which caused her to catch a chill in winter, and her health was never good."

"Even after giving birth to a Qilin-blooded heir, her situation never improved?"

"The palace servants didn't necessarily have a choice." Li Xizhou said, "Moreover, the Qilin blood inherited by a Qilin child is related to the mother's bloodline. Even carefully selected concubines might not be able to give birth to a true-blooded one, so this weak woman who was titled casually naturally wasn't expected."

"Mm."

"I saw Li Youlong once when I was over ten. At that time, she was four and a half. She circled around and secretly ran over to ask me how I awakened the Qilin true blood." Li Xizhou recounted, "I said this is innate. She didn't believe it and kept chasing me all the way, asking persistently. She even told me about many childish methods she had pondered and tried herself."

She looked at the graying horizon: "But later, when she was six, she unexpectedly tested for the posture of true blood. She truly became a Qilin-blooded heir and was granted the Qing Si Palace along with sixty-four eunuchs and palace maids."

"Then life should have been better." Pei Ye said, "It's a pity that according to what you said before, Consort Mei didn't enjoy many years of blessings."

"What years were there?" Li Xizhou said, "The little girl couldn't control the newly activated Qilin blood, and the instructors probably didn't teach her seriously either. She went back and slept against her mother for a night. Consort Mei's sickly body couldn't withstand the stimulation and passed away in her sleep."

"..."

The sunset light on the lake gradually dimmed. The two walked past Taiye Pool and didn't speak for a while.

When they walked past the pavilion where they first met, Pei Ye raised the fragment: "Princess, what do you think Yu Sicheng is doing now?"

"He wants to enter the Luo Shen Palace, but according to your account, since he was blocked by the water boundary, he is naturally thinking of ways."

"I think the real key is that he might have arrived there many years ago and was blocked once." Pei Ye said, "All these years, he has been thinking of ways."

He looked at the woman: "But we don't know his steps, nor do we know his progress."

Li Xizhou admitted it quite readily: "Yes, it was you who discovered there were merfolk in the capital."

Pei Ye sighed lightly and said nothing more.

"All changes stem from the same source. Defeat Yu Sicheng, and the answer will naturally be there." Li Xizhou said, "It just so happens that you might be able to ask Guo You about this fragment of yours."

"Hm?"

"If you can know which part it fell off from, perhaps you will have a target when you face the enemy."

"That's true." Pei Ye muttered to himself, "However, the most important thing is still the Qilin fire. You said we are going to borrow it from Li Zhi. When will that be?"

"Four days later." Li Xizhou said, "Yongji is entering the palace these two days. At that time, there will be a private banquet in the Qiongju Garden. You know that all these Imperial Princes will be at the banquet."

"A banquet? What is the occasion?"

"No occasion. Just meeting and chatting. After this banquet, a Princess will be decided to marry him this spring."

Pei Ye was slightly startled: "So the candidate hasn't been decided yet... Which Princess will it be?"

Li Xizhou was silent for a while and said nothing more.

After a long while, she said: "Li Congfeng favors Li Cannan, but how many people are willing?"

The sky turned completely dark. Tonight, there were no stars again. The flame left by Master Pei beside her gradually weakened. Meng'er chiseled vigorously one last time, sat down on the removed wooden limbs panting, and after a long while, moved again.

She lowered her head and checked by the last trace of firelight. Today, she had chiseled a depth of more than half a foot in total.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on the young girl's forehead, but her eyes were bright. Now that the fire was gone, putting on the wooden limbs was a bit laborious. She groped to fasten the buckles on the fine parts, stood up supporting the ground with light gasps.

She calculated that according to her experience on night roads before, it would take at least half an hour to get back to the palace from here. It would probably be just right to return before the Princess.

However, if she fell and threw the wooden limbs into a ditch like last time, things would be uncertain.

Of course, the Princess didn't allow her to come. If she got dirt on her, the Princess would definitely be angry with her again.

Meng'er carefully identified the shadows and residual ice on the ground, walked down the mountain road carefully, limping, and occasionally hissed softly to soothe the pain in her leg roots.

Of course, the crippled limbs couldn't walk such a long road. They had already rubbed her raw on the way up, so she had taken off the wooden limbs today. Putting them back on now was truly close to torture.

"Too much..." The young girl frowned and muttered, "After finding what the Ming Ming Niangniang left... I must change them." "... I don't know if the Yan Prince's Mansion recognizes people from the Yangyi Tower."

Slowly walking down the mountain and passing through the Yu San Garden, she raised her head and took a breath. There were still no stars in the night sky, but the young girl inexplicably thought of the Princess's smiling face later, and the corners of her own mouth curved up first, letting out two "hehe" sounds.

She hoped the Princess could stay with Young Master Yongji a little longer today.

When the Princess returned the night before last and sat on the bed washing her feet, she would always tell her what they chatted about that day. The Princess said Young Master Yongji didn't talk much and didn't like to laugh much, but he was a very magnanimous and gentle person.

She said there were no rules in the mansion in the Northern Frontier, and the Yan Prince didn't like to show his face the most. They could live wherever they wanted. She heard that every winter there was boundless snow, connecting twenty or thirty miles of plum forests, where one could ride the tall horses of the North and gallop wantonly in the heavy snow.

It was completely different from the winter here that was cold to the bone.

Meng'er's eyes shone with a faint light, looking at the starless night sky and imagining. After a while, she lowered her head and pursed her lips lightly.

... So of course, she must find it.

The young girl suddenly let out a muffled groan and staggered slightly. The drop of more than a foot at this last step always pressed the pain into her leg. She looked back and glared at it, then was laughed at by her own childishness, rubbed her leg, and continued walking forward.

But at this moment, a cold voice suddenly came from ahead, causing her to stop her footsteps suddenly.

"Are there no rules for the servants of Qing Si Palace? Don't you know the kneeling ritual when you see your superior?"

Meng'er raised her head. It was a noble young girl with a green collar and green silk, standing in front with her head slightly raised, yellow jade inlaid on her boots, and a gold hairpin on her head, looking down at her.

Meng'er was startled for a moment and knelt down respectfully: "Servant Meng'er of Qing Si Palace, greets the Eighth Princess."

"Why are the lights in Qing Si Palace black? Where did your master go?" The young girl's words were mixed with anger.

"..." Meng'er buried her head on the ground, silent.

"I'm asking you a question!" The young girl stepped forward and kicked her over, "Speak!"

Meng'er lowered her head and whispered: "Replying to the Eighth Princess, this servant does not know."

The young girl suddenly pulled her hair and paused before her broken limb when she raised her foot to kick, then kicked her on the lower back instead: "Your vixen master doesn't say a word on weekdays, and people can't see her, but now she's throwing away the face of the Imperial family! The private banquet hasn't even been held yet, and she's shamelessly running to someone else's residence... Did you teach her that?"

Meng'er just curled up on the ground holding her head, as if she had become a mute.

The young girl kicked her a few more times hatefully and said coldly: "Go back and tell your vixen master, the Ming Ming Niangniang said, I am the future Yan Princess! A woman from the music registry... daydreaming!"

She left stepping in her jade boots. After the footsteps were far away, Meng'er climbed up from the ground with her head lowered. She first tried to look at her face by the ice surface, but a blur made her frown.

She first checked the wooden limbs. Fortunately, they hadn't fallen off. She stood up while tidying her clothes and looked up at the starless night sky.

With such a delay of half a quarter of an hour, there could be no more accidents in the second half of the journey.

She pursed her lips and walked quickly toward Qing Si Palace with added strength, her swaying appearance looking like a penguin. ===== CHAPTER 627 =====