When Meier came in with the sobering soup, Aluo had already fallen asleep. Li Zhaoting stood by the bedside, gently kissing her forehead and covering her with blankets. Meier’s face reddened, and seeing her enter, he lowered his voice: “Take good care of your mistress. I’m leaving now. If she has anything, she can send me a message anytime, though I won’t be coming often in the near future.”
“Although she and I are fellow disciples, she is Lian Yu’s most beloved consort. If discovered to have frequent contact with a man, I’m afraid it would displease Lian Yu and bring punishment upon her.”
“Young Master Li,” Meier almost blurted out, wanting to tell him that Aluo had already been deposed, but Aluo had instructed that this must never be told to anyone. Lian Yu had also given orders that the palace would publicly announce that Consort Gu had previously suffered an accidental fright and left the palace to recuperate quietly. The matter of her removal from rank was not proclaimed to the world, preserving all of Consort Gu’s dignity and reputation, waiting for people to gradually forget in the passage of time. Humans are forgetful creatures, and when that time came, he would arrange a new identity for her, giving her supreme glory and wealth, whether to remarry or whatever else, all would be her choice.
She couldn’t damage Aluo’s reputation just because she hoped Li Zhaoting would come often to accompany Aluo!
She quickly nodded and bid him farewell.
Li Zhaoting’s figure also quietly disappeared into the dark backyard.
Returning to the Li residence, as he entered the room, a voice came faintly: “It seems your mood is quite good today – your footsteps are very steady.”
Li Zhaoting was silent for a moment. “Regarding Suzhen’s matter, the pain in my heart is no less than yours. I will avenge her.”
“I thought you would say she brought it upon herself.” The person in the room laughed self-mockingly, his voice rarely showing grief.
Li Zhaoting said nothing, and that person also said nothing.
“Shaoying, you are at a crucial juncture. Quan Feitong won’t remain dormant much longer – action is imminent. We must also deploy quickly. Things are almost ready on my end. On yours, I hope you grasp the opportunity well. We understand each other – your thoughts differ from your father’s, and you’ve always supported me. But after his death, you became disheartened and unwilling to participate in my affairs. I never forced you, but this time is your only chance to avenge the Feng family.” After a while, he groped in the dark to pour tea for the person in the room.
After a good while, that person took the tea. “Last time you came looking for me asking about the whereabouts of the Spring Return Hall people, this is probably also one of the crucial matters you mentioned. Tell me, what exactly do you want them for?”
Li Zhaoting shook his head. “Spring Return Hall is something I’m looking for on Quan Feitong’s behalf. The first time was for the Pei Fengji case, and this time, I also don’t understand what this person intends. He says there are two purposes, but he can’t reveal them yet. It seems to be truly extraordinary, possibly related to the succession struggle.”
“It seems the fox Quan has always valued you highly, yet always guarded against you.” Feng Shaoying laughed.
“Yes, though he doesn’t know my true identity, he’s cautious by nature and won’t trust me completely. Moreover…” Li Zhaoting stopped here, saying no more.
“Moreover what?”
“Nothing. Don’t tease me. If you were by his side, you’d receive the same treatment.” He also smiled rather unkindly. Moreover, he thought to himself, there’s also the matter of your precious sister – besides Lian Yu, Quan Feitong also considers me a potential rival.
Feng Shaoying was a clever person and very straightforward. He didn’t pursue the matter further. “Zhen’er was my last living relative in this world. Without her, I can give up my life if necessary. What is there that I cannot do? I understand what I should do, and I will accomplish it quickly.”
“Good. When the time comes, regardless of success or failure, we brothers will drink together again.”
“Yes.”
“Wait, Shaoying, from your observations, what exactly is the background of this mysterious Spring Return Hall? Are they righteous or evil?”
As the other was leaving, Li Zhaoting suddenly spoke. At crucial moments, every potential variable must be understood clearly, otherwise, one wrong step could lead to great mistakes.
“About this strange place, I know no more than you do. Originally, I wasn’t the one who found it. Several years ago, when my father spoke to me about some mysterious sects in the world, he mentioned that if one day while wandering the martial world I needed Spring Return Hall’s help, I should go to the busiest street in the capital and carve a snowflake symbol along with the address of the person needing help. He said he hoped I would never need to seek this place for aid, because it would require enduring the agony of a thousand cuts, but he still told me this story for emergencies.”
“I never expected I would actually use it. At that time, I was severely injured and struggled to reach the capital to carve the symbol, then fainted… Everything after that was unclear until one day I woke up in an inn.”
Outside the door, moonlight stretched Feng Shaoying’s shadow long and dark, his voice also shrouded in mystery.
“Mm.” Li Zhaoting nodded. He believed what Feng Shaoying said, because he had done as instructed – some days ago, he carved an incomplete snowflake symbol on the busiest street in the capital and wrote the words “Quan Residence.” Later, according to Quan Feitong, that very night a mysterious man wearing a gauze hat came to the door and took away the person who needed “help”…
Besides this, even someone with Quan Feitong’s vast influence couldn’t extract anything more from the other party. At the time, they only said one thing: if they discovered anyone following, they would withdraw from this job.
Regarding this mysterious place, at this moment of competing for the realm, Quan Feitong naturally wouldn’t offend them to satisfy his curiosity and add unnecessary trouble for himself.
“By the way,” Feng Shaoying suddenly turned around, “my father once said that there was a female disciple from Spring Return Hall who learned only superficial skills but stole away from the sect, later serving in the palace. The Gu Shuangcheng case shocked the court at the time. Gu Xiluo’s appearance was altered, turning her into Gu Shuangcheng. You know this too – the one who performed this surgery was probably the Spring Return Hall disciple in the palace. If you want to know about Spring Return Hall, you might ask her.”
By the end, his voice was cold as frost. Because of Suzhen, he hated Aluo to the bone. Li Zhaoting naturally didn’t respond much, only nodding. In fact, after Aluo’s identity was exposed, they had met privately once. She told him then that this was why she couldn’t accept him before. He also asked about the face-changing matter, and she told him it was done by Aunt Hong. He had asked about Spring Return Hall, but she said she didn’t know.
This Aunt Hong was a disciple of Spring Return Hall, but he had a feeling that this favorite of the Empress Dowager, having learned only fragments before leaving the sect and falling into this flowery world, probably knew little about Spring Return Hall either.
But now everything was like an arrow on the string, all ready to be released. Though they said nothing was too small to consider, there was no time to worry about many things. He had devoted his life’s patience and strength; what remained was fate and destiny.
The late emperor, Lian Yu, Lian Jie, Xiao An, Consort Ai, Yan Da, Quan Feitong…
He looked coldly at the distant lights, thinking of how, while both being women, Xiao An and Consort Ai enjoyed all the glory of the world, yet his birth mother, that kind and gentle woman, lived cramped in a remote mountain village, keeping company with endurance and loneliness.
She had no regrets, but he was unwilling! He swore a heavy oath that one day, he would trample them all underfoot, making them the most wretched slaves.
“Zhaoting, he… is still in mourning, and I remain pure. If there’s a day when you can marry me, I’ll give myself to you, not letting down your devotion.”
He lit a lamp, the candle flame crackling softly. He remembered what she whispered to him before falling asleep.
The fierce intent in his eyes was diluted somewhat by the candlelight and these words. He had thought she and Lian Yu must have already… The education he received from childhood made him despise women who gave themselves before marriage, but her situation was different, and he was mentally prepared.
If that day came, besides the kingdom, it would be heaven’s gift to him for over twenty years of suffering and restraint.
Only, the curve of his lips quickly hardened coldly. He understood well the principle that kings and losers have their places – before achieving victory, all words were false. History always belongs to the victor’s song of praise.
He lay back on the bed, casually picking up a book from beside it. A piece of paper fell onto his face.
The characters on the paper sprawled boldly before his eyes – the writing matched the person.
He frowned and picked it up, his previously calm mood stirring slightly.
“Feng Suzhen, if you’re not dead, if you knew that I once told your brother that if there came a day when I achieved success and fame, I would give you a proper title as thanks for all these years of companionship, what would you think?” he thought faintly.
After the carriage entered the capital, Lian Yu’s complexion became increasingly pale, but his responses and commands became more composed. He had them bring the good horses they carried with them to the carriage, replacing the two thousand-li horses that had already carried heavy loads and traveled long distances for a day and night.
Everyone watched with both alarm and heartache.
The events of these past days, Lian Yu’s situation then, were all vivid in memory – none could forget.
That day, no one expected that he would “break through” from the fighting. While battling, he maneuvered to one of the clan elders and whispered for him to go out for help.
He told this person that he had reported to the authorities beforehand, and government soldiers should have arrived near his courtyard.
Though this elder stood with Ying Yan, now that clansmen were severely injured in the fighting, who could still mine? When Ying Yan became ruthless, he couldn’t listen to calls to stop and plan long-term either.
The government usually wouldn’t interfere much in tribal affairs, and with some “drink money,” anything could be arranged. Having the authorities temporarily take military control to stop the killing wouldn’t be a bad thing.
As a result, when he went to the outsiders’ courtyard to call for help, what came was a large group of highly skilled black-clothed guards.
One can imagine that this tribal affair was later temporarily “taken over” by these outsiders.
Once the situation in the ancestral hall was controlled, Lian Yu immediately flew out of the hall, but everyone only found the severely injured and unconscious tall, thin servant not far outside the hall.
There were also the scattered corpses of tribesmen who had been killed.
But Suzhen was nowhere to be found.
Lian Yu frantically called out both “Li Huaisu” and “Feng Suzhen,” having everyone search, but to no avail. The tall, thin servant was severely injured and unconscious. Lian Yu himself ran into the pile of corpses, checking them one by one, his expression fierce and terrifying.
Finally, he actually dug out from the pile of corpses a severely wounded but living tribesman and learned from him that the woman had been taken away by a group of black-clothed people.
He exchanged a few words with Sang Zhan, leaving half his men to assist the young man in handling tribal affairs, then ordered their departure back to the capital.
“If she was taken by Quan Feitong, that would be good. If it was the Empress Dowager and Murong Ding, that’s the hatred of killing a father and losing a brother. If it was the Prince of Zhennan and his wife, she sentenced Pei Fengji to death, and I joined with Miaoxiang to make them lose favor before the Prince of Wei – that’s the disaster of lost power and the revenge of a lost son. There are also those people in court – to clear her name among the common people, I publicized her case-solving achievements. Later, Emperor Huang Zhongyue learned that she solved the Minzhou case – that’s the anger of abandoning a nephew. The Prince Jin’s party members who have been hiding in the shadows – they deliberately didn’t tell her that I was the one who gave the order, clearly having other intentions… All these people would want her life!”
On the road, besides Quan Feitong’s previous words, Lian Yu only spoke these few sentences. When he spoke and analyzed, his tone was much calmer than the day he personally ordered her beaten, but his expression was completely different.
It was a near-mad ferocity, yet he suppressed it deadly.
He usually loved cleanliness most, but during rest stops on the road, he never changed out of his blood-stained clothes. Except for eating two bites of dry rations midway, he sat upright, never taking a single nap. He kept the curtain pulled open, his eyes sharp and fierce as he stared at the scenery outside, checking how much of the journey remained.
If they hadn’t handed him food, he would have forgotten to ask for it, but when ordering horse changes midway and sending guards in different directions to various places for information, every command was perfectly orderly.
Lian Jie and Zhuque were terrified. No matter how young and strong this body was, continuing like this would break it down. As if he knew what they were thinking, he spoke faintly: “This great battle for the realm hasn’t begun yet, and she hasn’t forgiven me yet. I won’t die.”
Saying this, he suddenly stood up and leaped from the carriage.
Everyone in the carriage felt a shock of alarm. They had actually arrived at the Prime Minister’s residence, and they had been completely unaware – even Xuanwu, who usually prided himself on being the cleverest.
The person they thought had gone mad, however…
In the early dawn, they successively leaped from the carriage and saw him standing in the wind and snow, sternly addressing the gatekeeper: “Announce to the Prime Minister that Lian Yu requests an audience!”