Pushing open the window, the world outside was buried in ice and snow, the heavens dark and the earth white. Xuan Yi wearily rubbed her temples—she had once again been kept awake all night by the clamorous sound of the wind. Even within the Purple Palace, there was such a tremendous wind.
The female attendant immortals waiting outside seemed to sense that she had awakened and came in one after another, parting the gauze curtains to help her dress and wash.
“Princess, Divine Official Qi Nan instructed earlier that when you awoke, you should go find him at the Divine Will Tower.”
Xuan Yi rubbed her aching head. “Can’t he come here?”
The attendant immortals showed troubled expressions. “The Divine Official said to invite the Princess to come—he didn’t say he would come here.”
Xuan Yi nodded. Very well, even Qi Nan no longer wanted her. Ever since she had frozen the Purple Palace and refused to step outside, he too had not come for half a year, as if he was determined never to enter unless she went out.
Since he wouldn’t come, she could only go find him. There was no other way—who told him to be Qi Nan?
Xuan Yi broke through the cloud barrier and walked briskly toward the Divine Will Tower. Having not left the Purple Palace for half a year, she noticed that Zhongshan’s ice and snow had actually melted somewhat. Along the roadside, there were even traces of green appearing in the muddy earth—this was quite rare. Could it be that Father’s injuries had improved?
The guards before the Divine Will Tower saw her gracefully approaching and immediately announced loudly, “The Princess has arrived!”
As soon as the words fell, Qi Nan, whom she hadn’t seen in half a year, finally hurried out from inside. Upon seeing her, his eyes immediately reddened. “Princess… you look so haggard.”
Xuan Yi walked forward without looking back. “Not seeing Qi Nan for half a year, of course I’m haggard. Quickly wipe away those tears and come inside. What did you call me here for?”
Qi Nan was rendered speechless. His decision not to visit her for half a year did indeed contain an element of anger. The Princess’s treatment of Lord Fucang had truly been too terrible. He had originally wanted to give her a punishment, but seeing her complexion so poor, he immediately felt immense heartache. Yet seeing her always stubbornly maintaining that facade, he began to regret his actions.
He brought her a cup of sea sand tea. After deliberating for a long time, wanting to comfort her but unable to think of anything comforting to say, he finally could only manage, “Today I specifically asked the Princess to leave the Purple Palace to see the melted ice and snow along the roadside, so that the Princess would know that Lord Dijun’s injuries have improved somewhat. He can now leave Zhongshan and take walks in the surrounding areas.”
Xuan Yi said flatly, “So you’re saying Qing Yan and I will soon have a stepmother?”
Qi Nan was in the middle of drinking tea. Caught completely off guard, he sprayed out the entire mouthful, coughing heart-wrenchingly. It took him a long while before he could speak. “Princess… *cough cough*! You really know how to joke…”
She wasn’t joking at all. Xuan Yi lowered her head and blew on the misty vapor rising from the tea.
Qi Nan looked at her, then suddenly said, “There’s one more matter. Although the Princess may not be pleased to hear it, I still must tell you. Lord Fucang descended to the mortal realm four months ago to resolve his karmic ties, apparently because his spiritual essence was damaged and he couldn’t break through his cultivation boundary.”
Having said this, he carefully observed her expression, but the Princess showed no reaction at all. She merely took a sip of tea and said, “Oh, so he’s become a mortal.”
Qi Nan really couldn’t fathom her thoughts and couldn’t help but frown. “Lord Fucang has a fiery temperament. To be so toyed with and trampled by the Princess… in the end, isn’t it because of you? What kind of reaction is this from the Princess?”
How was this her fault? Why not say it was because he was so desperately anxious about breaking through his cultivation boundary that his spiritual essence was damaged? Why was it that whenever something happened to Fucang, it always had to be connected to her? If he later married an ugly woman as his wife, would that be blamed on her too?
Xuan Yi rubbed her increasingly painful head. “Are you finished? I’m going back to the Purple Palace.”
“Princess!” Qi Nan called out to her. Seeing that she was walking out with no room for reconciliation, he pulled a letter from his sleeve, caught up with her, and stuffed it into her hand. “This is a letter sent by Qing Di. Take a look.”
Xuan Yi casually placed it in her sleeve, but heard Qi Nan say in a low voice behind her, “Princess, do you think you’re similar to Lord Dijun?”
She immediately frowned. “What? How could that be possible?”
Qi Nan said solemnly, “I think you’re very similar. Trampling on genuine feelings like this, toying with emotions—the Princess is truly worthy of being Lord Dijun’s daughter.”
Having said this, he turned and walked away.
Xuan Yi momentarily didn’t know how to refute this. She stood stunned for a long while before slowly returning to the Purple Palace. She stared at the frozen landscape outside the window for a long time, until her eyes hurt so much she could no longer keep them open. Only then did she collapse onto the bed.
Her head hurt terribly, as if it were about to split open. Those clamorous wind sounds revolved in her ears every moment. Unable to sleep, she simply took out Qing Di’s letter and opened it.
Unexpectedly, it didn’t contain any words of reproach. It only stated where in the mortal realm Fucang had been reborn, and with gentle words earnestly requested that she intervene to help Fucang resolve this karmic entanglement.
Karmic entanglement… Xuan Yi’s fingertip tapped these two words, and a figure she had deliberately tried not to think about involuntarily surfaced in her mind. Not the image of him in snow-white robes, but rather that day in Qing Di’s palace—the Divine Lord wearing dark blue robes, reaching out to brush away the fallen petals from her forehead, his fingertips warm.
In a flash, that same hand had gripped the Chun Jun sword and pressed it against her neck. The desolation and hatred in his eyes made her heart tremble—and continued to make her heart tremble even today.
Actually, she was very clear that Fucang had truly descended to the mortal realm because of her.
Xuan Yi tossed aside the letter and used the quilt to cover her head forcefully, but it was useless. Those wind sounds still managed to penetrate, sometimes becoming Fucang’s heavy breathing as he was being tortured, sometimes transforming into Mother’s soft weeping.
She threw off the quilt in one motion, got up, and walked out briskly.
*
Thanks to Qing Di’s accompanying letter, the commander of the guards at the Southern Heavenly Gate didn’t make things difficult for her. He opened the restrictions readily and straightforwardly, while still reminding her, “Princess, although we have war generals descending to the mortal realm daily to eliminate those fallen demons, the calamity has ultimately not been completely eradicated. The Princess must please be careful and cautious, and not remain in the mortal realm for too long.”
She was only going to resolve a karmic tie—it wouldn’t take very long.
Xuan Yi rode the wind rapidly down toward the mortal realm, while recalling the situation when Shao Yi had helped resolve Yan Xia’s karmic ties last time.
Qing Di must have heard about Yan Xia’s matter from Chi Di, which is why he wrote this entreating letter. As Qing Di’s only son, Fucang had awakened to the sword path at a young age and was about to undergo the thousand-year dream to break through his cultivation boundary. He was truly an outstanding figure among the younger generation of divine beings, with an incomparably brilliant future ahead of him. Who could have known things would suddenly turn out like this, with his spiritual essence damaged? If she were Qing Di, that feeling would probably be quite unbearable too.
She understood Qing Di’s anxiety, and she understood Qi Nan’s reproach as well. That’s why she had descended—to sincerely help him resolve this karmic entanglement. From now on, they would be as strangers to each other. That would be for the best.
See, she could still do good deeds. So, let the clamorous wind sounds cease.
Xuan Yi descended from the clouds. Below was a town in the mortal realm, appearing quite substantial. In the southeastern corner, vermillion walls enclosed a large area of layered palace buildings—probably the legendary imperial palace.
Eastern Great Liang Kingdom of the mortal realm, Seventh Imperial Prince. Xuan Yi recalled the identity Qing Di’s letter had described for Fucang after his descent to the mortal realm. She transformed into a gust of fierce wind and plunged into the vermillion palace walls, howling toward the courtyard with the most vigorous pure energy. The moment she landed, the patrol spirit officials in the vicinity were immediately alerted. Seeing it was her, the spirit officials quickly bowed respectfully in surprise. “So it’s the Princess of the Zhuyin Clan. Why has the Princess descended to the mortal realm?”
Now that the restrictions on divine beings descending to the mortal realm were extremely strict, how exactly had such a young divine being like her managed to come down?
Xuan Yi was too lazy to explain and merely said, “I’ve come to find Lord Fucang. You all be quiet for a while.”
She leaped onto the magnificent high tower and entered through a moon-shaped window. Inside, she saw layers upon layers of gauze curtains concealing a large bed. Someone was lying on the bed, seemingly asleep, with pure energy emanating from his body and overflowing throughout the entire courtyard.
She had arrived—time to get up.
Xuan Yi exhaled forcefully in one breath, blowing open the overlapping gauze curtains. She drifted toward the bed and unceremoniously yanked away the quilt. The tiny figure lying beneath was so frightened he scrambled up in a tumble—his features were refined and handsome, identical to Fucang, yet he looked so small, still just a child. She couldn’t help but freeze in shock.
The spirit officials rushed up urgently, calling out repeatedly, “Lord Fucang is only five years old right now! Princess, what are you trying to do?”