At dawn, a blue shadow flashed across the vermillion palace walls of the Great Ming Palace.
A man in blue robes with disheveled hair carried his shoes in his hands, barefoot as he hurriedly climbed over the palace wall. After running barefoot across rooftops and walls for a while, he stopped on the roof of a secluded residence, sitting with his knees drawn up. Gazing at the countless rows of houses stretching across Chang’an City, he was lost in thought, his soul wandering.
All the unspeakable dreams of the past had come true. He had forgotten how he was captured last night and couldn’t understand why he was fleeing in panic today. Everything was caught in a magnificent and chaotic whirlpool.
He only remembered her moist, glistening eyes and burning skin, as well as the scars on her wrists hidden beneath the bracelets. Those marks were rough and uneven, left by wounds that had repeatedly broken open and healed. When his fingertips touched them and he asked about them, he suddenly realized his survival was neither luck nor accident.
Phoenix embryo—after he lost consciousness at Fenglong Temple, he had been nourished by her blood and tears. Once the poisoned blood dispersed and fresh medicinal catalyst was consumed, Zhou Qingyang’s pill formula truly took effect, granting him new life.
She had used her tears to retain his soul and her flesh and blood to reshape his body.
Just as Wei Xun sat dazedly on the rooftop, lost in passionate confusion, a tall, vigorous, and heroic-looking woman quietly followed him up.
Huo Qi Lang had been keeping watch nearby for many days and finally found her target. Standing on a nearby rooftop at a safe distance, she looked him up and down a couple times and guessed what had happened that night—it seemed the battle had been quite intense.
Suppressing her amusement, she cleared her throat and complimented: “Nice belt.”
Wei Xun looked down in confusion and saw a pomegranate-red silk cord studded with gold and jeweled flowers tied around his waist. When Bao Zhu had just fallen asleep, hearing vague voices outside the temple, he had hurried to slip away. His leather belt was pinned under her body, and he didn’t dare risk pulling it out, so he grabbed whatever he could find to tie around his waist before running off.
“Senior Brother, if you want to build a lasting relationship, you can’t just run off afterward. You should at least cuddle with her for a while,” Huo Qi couldn’t help but advise.
Wei Xun immediately flushed red with embarrassment and angrily scolded: “Mind your own business! Get lost!”
“Ahem, it’s like this… I have a sweetheart, and I occasionally want to sneak into the palace to see him. Unfortunately, his place is heavily guarded, and my martial arts are weak. I’ve tried several times but really can’t get in. Master is dead, so I want to ask Senior Brother for guidance to improve my Mirage Steps.”
Wei Xun was flustered and had no patience to deal with anyone. He put on his shoes and was about to leave.
Huo Qi knew he was like a tomcat coming of age, having just tasted meat and feeling embarrassed and awkward. If she let him go this time, it would be difficult to track down the Blue Robe Guest again. She quickly put on a fawning smile and said ingratiatingly:
“We’re fellow disciples—don’t be so distant. Learning from each other’s strengths, sharing knowledge, learning until old age. I won’t ask for Senior Brother’s guidance for free. I can also teach you some skills for pleasing the princess.”
“Get lost!!!” Wei Xun flew up and kicked at her.
Huo Qi Lang had thought the distance was safe enough, but his strike was lightning-fast and unavoidable. She only had time to cross her arms to protect her vital points before being kicked off the roof.
In that instant, a thought flashed through Huo Qi Lang’s mind: Chen Shigu said only virginity could unleash maximum martial power—that was indeed a lie. Xu Er would never have hope of reaching the chief position in his lifetime.
After landing, her forearms throbbed with pain—likely fractured. Huo Qi Lang was annoyed and thought sarcastically: This damn brat couldn’t have performed poorly and fled in embarrassed anger, could he? Panicking and running off—beginners are so troublesome.
However, having a favor to ask, she had to exhaust all pleasant words. Enduring the pain, she climbed back onto the roof, all smiles as she chased after Wei Xun, shouting: “Senior Brother… no, Master! I’ll join Senior Brother’s school right now. From now on, you’ll be Little Seven’s new master! Master, don’t run so fast!”
Bao Zhu wrapped herself in her large-sleeved robe and lay on a narrow couch, sleeping until the sun was high. Groggily glimpsing sunlight through the window lattice, she suddenly woke with a start: She was late for morning court!
After sitting up abruptly, she stared blankly for a while. Seeing no trace of Wei Xun’s clothes or shoes, she understood—that fellow had indeed fled again.
Finding no grooming tools in the temple, she hastily put on the complex palace attire and discovered her belt was missing. Left on the couch was Wei Xun’s leather belt—she didn’t know if the thief had taken the wrong one or deliberately stolen hers.
Thus, Bao Zhu emerged from the temple with disheveled hair and rumpled clothes. Outside the door, Madam Yu waited quietly with two eunuchs and a small palanquin. Seeing her appear, Yu Ninghua immediately held up a veil that covered from head to toe and walked over to help her put it on.
Bao Zhu boarded the small palanquin and asked her wet nurse through the gauze curtain: “How did you know I was staying at Dajiao Temple?”
Madam Yu took out a handkerchief containing four or five hairpins and ornaments: “When the princess departed on the wind last night, she dropped quite a few accessories along the way. I guessed you went northeast. Seeing you were sleeping soundly just now, I didn’t make a fuss.”
Bao Zhu’s face felt somewhat hot as she asked: “Court was canceled this morning—how was it explained to the ministers?”
Madam Yu said gently: “Please don’t worry, Princess. His Lordship went to court.”
Bao Zhu first felt relieved, then reacted angrily: “So he can get up after all?! Last time we met, he even discussed the location and budget for his imperial tomb after death, making me terribly sad. What a cunning fox full of schemes.”
Yu Ninghua could only smile helplessly. Though the siblings harbored resentment, blood was thicker than water—they still secretly cared for each other.
“Have the Ministry of Rites and Ministry of Works prepare three items: a purple-gold alms bowl, brocade-bordered kasaya robes, and a gold-and-silver double-ring nine-loop monk’s staff. Don’t make the kasaya too large—sized for someone about my height.”
The princess gave casual orders while Yu Ninghua memorized each one, thinking: It seems the little monk has been located.
Having despised the Taoist masters kept by the previous emperor, Bao Zhu hadn’t visited the northeast corner of the Great Ming Palace much in recent years. Observing the terrain after daybreak, she found the location quite good. Taoist temples clustered around, with the nearby Temple of Emperor Xuanyuan worshipping Laozi, ancestor of the Li Tang dynasty. Dajiao Temple was very close to the palace wall—even if all the trees were cut down, the little thief could easily find her when climbing over from outside.
Most importantly, this was closer to Xuanwu Gate, convenient for controlling the situation. The hundred-foot pavilion allowed her to observe Imperial Guard movements in both northeast directions when climbing high.
Bao Zhu felt she had found her perfect residence. How about renaming it “Temple of the Supreme Immortal”…
Let him roam free then—the house cat could already read. She would write a formal cat recruitment letter and send someone to post it on the corridor pillars of Cuiwei Temple, not fearing he wouldn’t see it. Even if he pretended not to see it, Shisan was active in nearby Wannian County. Having found the small one’s whereabouts, why worry about not catching the big one?
Bao Zhu played with the leather belt in her hands, winding it around her palm and giving it a sharp tug.
Shaking off the pursuing Huo Qi, Wei Xun stole a horse and fled Chang’an City in panic.
He didn’t know why he was fleeing or where to flee to. A small bloodstain had seeped through the fabric on his left shoulder—last night he had begged Bao Zhu to also leave an indelible mark on his body. After repeated pleading, she had only gently bitten his shoulder. The wound had already healed, and with the Prajna Confession’s blessing, the scar might not last even ten days.
Next time he’d ask her to bite harder…
Next time?! This thought scared Wei Xun.
Reining in his horse, he looked back toward Chang’an, seeing thousands of homes like a chess board and twelve streets like vegetable plots. The Great Ming Palace floated on the high ground north of the city, with lights lit by officials attending court resembling a galaxy leading to the celestial palace in the ninth heaven.
Somehow, he suddenly felt his neck tighten, as if an invisible rope had bound him from afar.
Author’s Note:
“Thousands of homes like a chess board, twelve streets like vegetable plots. Distantly recognizing the faint lights of morning court, one constellation of stars west of five gates” — Bai Juyi’s “Climbing Guanyin Terrace to View the City”
The positions of Madams Yu and Li have been promoted from Commandery Lady to National Lady (First Rank), but they are still addressed as “Madam” in speech.
After Wu Yuanheng’s assassination case, it became customary for subsequent prime ministers’ residences not to plant tall trees to prevent assassins from hiding, a practice that gradually influenced the imperial palace.
After repeatedly having his umbrella torn by Huo Qi in earlier encounters, Wei Xun suggested cutting down trees, making her palace infiltration more difficult—truly the sentiment of fellow Remnant Sun Academy disciples.
Incidentally thinking of a joke, the siblings really are a pair of “crouching dragon, young phoenix” (literal meaning).
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The main text structurally ends here, with one more Da Tang Pi Zhu Ji – Chapter providing final revelations about the two cases that run throughout the story.