Rong Huanxuan had already settled on a wedding date with Tantai Cong, and had been placed under house arrest by the Rong family head — she had been in the midst of preparing for the wedding herself, and would not normally have come at all. But when trouble erupted within the imperial family, the Emperor issued a decree that each clan must send a representative. If she did not come, the Rong family head would have to come in her place.
The Rong family head had suffered a backlash to his cultivation and was in urgent need of seclusion to recuperate. He could not possibly come. The only option was to lift Rong Huanxuan’s house arrest and send her here — partly also as a way of demonstrating to the Emperor that Rong Huanxuan had nothing wrong with her Dao root, that her cultivation had not been damaged or tainted. If she hid away and refused to appear, the Emperor would learn the truth of her condition, and this alliance through marriage would likely be annulled.
People follow their interests. If a person had no value, why would anyone want them?
Rong Huanxuan was no different. If her Dao root was genuinely destroyed, her value was no longer what it once was. Marrying her with great effort, and then finding she could not produce capable heirs, would make her no better than an ordinary concubine. The Emperor would not care whether she was some Young Mistress or not — a person of no value was just an ordinary woman.
The Rong family head would not let that happen. He had no choice but to send Rong Huanxuan out, and Elder Liu was assigned to keep a close watch on her, to ensure she caused no trouble and did not go near Lang Jiuchuan again before the wedding.
He was also, of course, gambling on a slim hope — gambling that Lang Jiuchuan would not be so unhinged as to move openly against Rong Huanxuan while simultaneously making an enemy of both the imperial family and the Rong family.
What the Rong family head did not know was that Rong Huanxuan had agreed readily enough — but the moment she arrived and laid eyes on Gong Tinglan, her temper flared up at once. Especially when she thought about how he had rejected the marriage proposal — and word had it he had given some kind of personal token to that little vixen. She was consumed with jealousy to the point of near madness. Had he actually developed feelings for that woman?
It wasn’t that Rong Huanxuan had any particularly deep affection for the Young Master Gong. It was simply that generations of mystical clan intermarriage was the natural order of things, and she had always assumed she would be no different from her ancestors. But when it came to her, she was the one rejected.
She prided herself as a Young Mistress of a mystical clan — the next in line to inherit — with a pure Dao root and considerable innate talent. She had always held herself with great arrogance. To have been rejected by Gong Tinglan was a humiliation she had never been made to swallow before, and the bitterness of it refused to go down.
Now, watching Gong Tinglan declare that Jing Wang could not be saved, the malice in her surged and boiled like scalding water.
Find Lang Jiuchuan, naturally. She had the purest righteous energy, the Golden Lotus to certify her path — in that case, how much trouble could it be to save her betrothed husband?
If she refused to save him — she was a heartless, conscienceless woman.
Gong Tinglan’s gaze turned to Rong Huanxuan. The malice in her was completely unmasked, and a coldness rose in his eyes in response — his pupils became clear as bright blades, sharp and commanding, and his entire manner shifted. He became cold and remote as a glacier atop a distant mountain.
Rong Huanxuan’s heart tightened. She was a little frightened, yet could not quite surrender her resentment. She was supposed to be matched with someone like this — not a useless thing like Tantai Cong.
“Did Young Master Rong not hear what I just said?” Gong Tinglan’s voice was hard and cold. “I said Jing Wang has been marked with the Underworld King’s Mark. That means he is someone the King of the Underworld will personally collect. To compete with the King of the Underworld for a person is to challenge and provoke the Panguan of the underworld. Does Young Master Rong dare to provoke the Panguan of the underworld?”
“I…”
“If you do not dare, then why call upon someone else to throw their life away? Is Young Master Rong’s life a life while an ordinary practitioner’s is not?” Gong Tinglan narrowed his eyes. “Not long ago I heard a rumor that fellow practitioner Lang said she encountered you in a state of demonic corruption, and that you developed a jealous hatred for her as a result, first branding her as a demon and then attempting to have her assassinated — it seems the rumor was not false after all. Young Master Rong, no wonder I see such a marked change in you from before.”
He let the words land with deliberate implication.
The crowd turned to look at Rong Huanxuan. Now that Gong Tinglan had pointed it out, they found they could not help noticing it themselves: the energy around Rong Huanxuan was considerably more overcast and gloomy than it used to be. Was it because her Dao root had been damaged — or something else entirely?
Rong Huanxuan’s expression shifted slightly. She gritted her teeth and said: “I do not know how I have given offense to Young Master Gong, to warrant this degree of contempt from you. Are we not of the mystical clans — should we not be united as one?”
“The clan rules of the Gong family hold the righteous path as supreme,” Gong Tinglan said coldly. “Our mission is to purge evil and uphold the Dao, to protect the people of this world. We never associate with those who walk the path of evil and corruption.”
Rong Huanxuan’s expression shifted yet again. That was a roundabout way of calling her evil and corrupt.
Elder Liu’s face had also gone an infuriated shade of purple. He was furious that Rong Huanxuan had refused to listen to reason and had invited even more biting remarks upon herself. Fearing that she would open her mouth again and bring down something even sharper, he quickly stepped forward to stand in front of her, cupped his hands, and said: “Young Master Gong, our Young Mistress was only thinking of Jing Wang’s well-being when she made that suggestion. As you yourself say, purging evil and upholding the Dao is the duty of those who walk the righteous path — and in that case, should the dark poison and cursed arts afflicting him not be removed as well?”
“Elder Liu is a cultivator of high standing. Do step forward and try it yourself?” Gong Tinglan said with a mild smile. “Moreover — who says he contracted this yin poison through cursed arts? This is clearly the backlash of his own accumulated karmic debt.”
The room went quiet. They had caught a hint of this themselves but had not dared to confirm it. Now that Gong Tinglan had stated it plainly, more than a few of them found themselves at a loss for words.
Karmic debt backlash. That meant the retribution of cause and effect. Whoever went against the grain of heaven and tried to save him was wasting their own merit and virtue — and would invite heavenly punishment upon themselves.
But Gong Tinglan felt this was not quite enough. He looked at Rong Huanxuan, who had retreated behind Elder Liu, and said: “Ah, that reminds me — if Young Master Rong feels aggrieved, why not demonstrate something right now to prove that your Dao root has never been damaged? You carry natural talent, a pure Dao root, extraordinary gifts from childhood — you are the finest of our generation. Why not use your arts to help purge this evil and draw out the yin? Jing Wang is also your future uncle-in-law. If you save him, it would be a great merit indeed.”
Guilt-tripping — who didn’t know how to do it? He could do it too. He simply had to decide whether he was willing to bother.
His nature was in truth not the sort to do anything to a woman. But he had already stated Jing Wang’s condition clearly enough, and Rong Huanxuan still insisted on dragging an innocent person into it. She could not blame him for being impolite.
A flash of bitter, venomous emotion crossed Rong Huanxuan’s eyes. When she raised her face again, it was a picture of wounded grievance.
Gong Tinglan paid no attention to her wounded expression. “When fellow practitioner Lang was being branded as a demon and a monster not long ago, the Golden Lotus descended to certify her righteousness. Now there is word outside that Young Master Rong’s Dao root has been ruined, that your heart has changed and you have turned to the demonic path. This would be a fine opportunity to prove otherwise.”
Rong Huanxuan’s back went rigid. A panicked expression broke through her composure, and her hands clenched tightly together.
Elder Liu had not expected Gong Tinglan to be this difficult to deal with. Had he not always been the warm, otherworldly, easy-to-approach type — the sort that young ladies from every clan could not help but admire? Yet the relentlessly pressing manner he showed now bore not a trace of warmth. Here he had propped Rong Huanxuan up on a high pedestal, and the look on his face was that of someone who refused to let go of an advantage once seized.
Everyone could see that Rong Huanxuan was caught in an impossible position — but all of them, wisely, held their tongues.
Rong Huanxuan, though she forced herself to appear composed, had her lips pressed tight together and her expression strained with suppressed effort, as though she were holding something back by force. Her energy grew increasingly dim and overcast.
Gong Tinglan’s eyes narrowed, and the cold light in them sharpened further.
Something was wrong with her.
He was about to speak when Tantai Cong walked in, and said: “Young Master Gong worries too much. Young Master Rong will soon be a member of our Tantai imperial house. How could she possibly be of the demonic path? Would our Tantai imperial house take a demon as a primary consort? Young Master Gong, pressing a young lady so forcefully — this is really beneath a man of your standing.”
Oh — playing the hero to rescue the beauty.
Gong Tinglan said blandly: “How is this pressing? Young Master Rong may prove herself or not as she pleases. I believe the innocent have nothing to fear.”
Was there really any difference between saying that and saying nothing?
Tantai Cong ground his teeth. “Young Master Gong is not fellow practitioner Lang Jiuchuan herself — how could you know that she would be unwilling to save someone? Why not simply invite her here? Since she has the Golden Lotus to certify her path, perhaps even the King of the Underworld is afraid of her!”
The crowd: “?”
Was this not the third imperial prince, the one said to be full of spiritual wisdom and enlightenment — how was it that he seemed, upon closer inspection, a little short on sense?