Both of them stared dumbfounded at Rong Pu, who wore an expression of complete righteousness.

Miss Wei looked as though she was about to be hurt.

Tie Ci, however, wanted to spit a mouthful of blood in Rong Pu’s face.

He looked like a proper person, but his mouth was full of nonsense.

Miss Wei was stunned for quite a while before saying, “Young Master Rong, are you… are you really…”

She didn’t finish her words because Young Master Qi returned. Tie Ci watched as Young Master Qi sat down, and Miss Wei stopped talking about breaking off the engagement. Only then did she belatedly realize—

Could this be Qi Yuansi?

Really, with so many engagement cancellation targets, she kept running into love at every corner.

Miss Wei lowered her head. Tie Ci saw her eyes redden and felt both amused and exasperated. She couldn’t very well comfort her by saying that Rong Pu wasn’t a good person either, full of bullshit, so she could only stand up and leave, out of sight, out of mind.

She walked to a secluded spot, closed her eyes to regulate her breathing, tried hard to circulate her qi, desperately attempting to recall the sensation of that sudden teleportation in the fire that day. But after trying for a long time without success, she could only open her eyes.

Upon opening her eyes, she saw a pair of large black pupils. Tie Ci was startled—it turned out to be that child who watched ants. This child had been maintaining the same posture, not speaking or acknowledging people, but somehow had taken an interest in her and was crouching in front of her, staring.

This child’s gaze was straight and piercing. Anyone meeting such a direct stare would inevitably feel uncomfortable all over.

Tie Ci stared back at his gaze for a while, then smiled slightly.

As soon as her gaze met his, the child looked away. But Tie Ci kept staring at him. The child felt it, endured for a while, then turned his gaze back. Tie Ci smiled at him, and the two stared at each other for quite a while. Tie Ci’s encouraging smile grew even brighter.

Gradually, a hint of emotion appeared in the child’s eyes—a touch of wonder.

In the past, when he stared at people like this, he always encountered reactions of disgust and fear. Even his sister, when he looked at her this way, would quickly turn her gaze away and tell him not to look at people like that. Never before had anyone responded to him with such warmth and encouragement.

When his gaze turned over, Tie Ci began speaking to him, each word very clear and slow: “What is your name?”

The child suddenly whipped his eyes away.

Tie Ci wasn’t in a hurry. She casually plucked a string of dried vegetables from the wall and rubbed it in her hands, the broken bits falling with a rustling sound. The child’s gaze turned back over. Tie Ci smiled and asked again. After quite a while, the child slowly, with very unclear articulation, said, “Wei Xing.”

He spoke very mumbledly. Tie Ci didn’t understand, so she wrote for him to see: “This Wei? This Xing?”

The child suddenly became agitated, jumped up and stretched out his foot to trample the characters in a frenzy, his boot nearly kicking Tie Ci in the face.

Miss Wei saw from the boat and called out from afar: “My younger brother has a mental deficiency. Why do you keep provoking him! Stop disturbing him! Be careful he hits you!”

But Tie Ci didn’t leave. She extended her hand, and her palm held a handful of candy. The child was still frantic. Tie Ci extended her hand again, this time with a handful of plum strips. The child stopped and reached out to grab them.

Tie Ci dodged, giving him only a small strip. She pulled over a cushion and a small table, saying, “Come, sit down.”

The child stared at her plum strips and slowly sat down. Tie Ci used a stone to write on the table: “Wei?”

Miss Wei’s face reddened with anger, and she called out again: “What are you doing? He doesn’t recognize characters! Making him recognize characters will make him hit people! You sir, yesterday you used this trick to make me leave the table, and today you’re at it again. Aren’t you disgusting!”

Rong Pu didn’t look up, only said in surprise: “Miss Wei, your tone…”

Miss Wei immediately lowered her voice, straightened her back, blushed, and continued playing cards in a soft, delicate voice.

Tie Ci ignored that side. The child looked at that character for a while, then stiffly nodded up and down. Tie Ci knew it was this Wei character. She wrote the character for “star,” and the child shook his shoulders vigorously. Tie Ci knew this was shaking his head. She wrote several characters with the pronunciation “xing” in succession. Finally, when she wrote the one with the jade radical, the child nodded.

For each character he recognized, Tie Ci gave him a small snack. With both characters out, Tie Ci smiled and said, “Who said you don’t recognize characters? You’re obviously very smart—you learned just by looking!”

Seeing her smile, the child also grinned. Only then did Tie Ci realize this child had red lips, white teeth, and bright eyes—he was a very beautiful child.

After that, Tie Ci played games with him, all the simplest kinds that children liked. No matter what they played, she first called his name, required him to look at her and learn her movements. Only after the child’s wandering gaze gradually focused on her did she give him instructions.

Wei Xing could only sit still when watching ants; for everything else, he mostly couldn’t sit still. Tie Ci used small snacks to train him, gradually extending the time he could sit down. She also had him say his name loudly.

When the child accidentally fell, he just sat there motionless. Tie Ci reached out and touched his wound, and he cried out “Ah!” Tie Ci said, “Pain, this is pain!” She also wrote that character for him to see.

The child looked, touched his own wound, then looked at her.

Miss Wei called out from over there again: “What are you doing…”

Rong Pu looked over in surprise just in time, and Miss Wei instantly sat back down on her bottom.

She seemed to have an extraordinary concern and patience for Rong Pu.

Tie Ci ignored that side, concentrated on playing with the child for half the day, and took him to eat, remembering his unclear speech from before. She deliberately selected some hard foods for him to chew to exercise his oral muscles.

She led the child away from Miss Wei. Miss Wei inevitably felt restless, but getting a seat at the card table wasn’t easy, so she still didn’t dare leave easily. She just inevitably resented Tie Ci for repeatedly disrupting things on purpose.

With great difficulty, she endured until the card game ended. Not bothering to curry favor with He Zi, she rushed to the back courtyard, calling out as she rushed: “What do you want to do! You don’t understand propriety at all. My younger brother is in such a condition—is it fun for you to tease him…”

Her words broke off abruptly as she suddenly froze at the courtyard gate.

In the center of the courtyard, at the stone table, sitting with his back to her and quietly playing chess—wasn’t that her Xing’er?

Wei Xuan stood there stunned. In her daze, she remembered that since she could recall, except for watching ants, she had never seen her younger brother this quiet.

He was always tirelessly doing the same thing. If anyone disturbed that one thing, he would become hysterical, screaming and smashing wildly. Although he was extremely gifted in martial arts, it seemed his human wisdom was only given to martial arts—everything else remained stagnant. He couldn’t speak, couldn’t take care of himself, forever like a one-year-old child.

And such a child, mentally deficient but incredibly strong—that was a disaster.

Later, the family didn’t dare let him practice martial arts. He became even more numb, as if he only existed to watch ants.

Tears suddenly welled up in her eyes.

If father could still see this scene, even just for a moment, how overjoyed he would be…

If he could be self-reliant, even if there was just hope for self-reliance, the family wouldn’t have fallen into the greatest crisis in a hundred years, wouldn’t be as precarious and shaky as at this moment. She also wouldn’t have to take her younger brother over mountains and through waters, risking danger to hide their identities and come here, just seeking a thread of hope for survival…

Wei Xuan stood at the threshold, her limbs rigid, not daring to move. Like encountering an extremely beautiful, illusory dream, afraid that one step forward would shatter it.

But the dream was clearly still continuing.

Tie Ci said something loudly, repeated it twice. Wei Xing finally turned around slowly, his eyes wandering for a while. Tie Ci walked in front of him, pointed at Wei Xuan, and clearly mouthed: “Sister—sis—ter—”

Wei Xing tried hard to focus on her mouth movements, then followed her indication to look at Wei Xuan. His lips moved several times without making a sound.

Wei Xuan stared intently at his lips, her expression completely bewildered. She seemed to be anticipating the most important thing in her life, yet didn’t dare anticipate it. When dreams became too good, even she herself didn’t dare believe them.

So when Wei Xing didn’t call out, she actually felt relieved.

Being human, don’t give yourself too much hope—that way you can live more practically.

Just as she relaxed and showed Tie Ci a polite smile, a somewhat unclear but clear-toned child’s call suddenly rushed into her eardrums.

“Sis—ter—”

Tie Ci clearly saw Wei Xuan’s whole body tremble heavily, her entire person freezing like she’d been struck at a pressure point.

A moment later, she suddenly jumped up. That soft, delicate woman who liked to lean against something wherever she went, suddenly like a madwoman, jumped three feet high. The next moment, a whirlwind swept over as she hugged Wei Xing. Before she could speak, tears were already falling on the child’s shoulders.

The child was obviously somewhat stimulated, his eyes about to become frantic. Tie Ci stood opposite him, whistling in time to attract his attention, simultaneously giving him a thumbs up in praise while handing him a piece of freshly fried, fragrant rice crust.

The child was thus calmed down. When Wei Xuan calmed down a bit and realized the consequences her actions might trigger, her face paled. But turning around, she saw her younger brother quietly eating rice crust, and tears fell again.

She murmured, “If only father could see this scene—he waited until death for you to call him ‘father’…”

But she only said this one sentence before wiping away her tears, turning to thank and apologize to Tie Ci: “Young master, I was rude earlier. This young lady apologizes to you here. Thanks to your guidance of my younger brother, I will present a small gift later. Please don’t disdain its simplicity…”

Tie Ci smiled and said there was no need to be polite, but thought to herself that this girl clearly saw her effective training methods yet didn’t ask her to continue teaching. Such wariness was extraordinarily heavy…

Since the other party had reservations, she didn’t mind. She sincerely said: “When you return, give the child more hard foods to eat to exercise his speech. How to train him daily, what taboos to observe—I’ll write them down for you later. You can follow them when you return. Your younger brother isn’t stupid; on the contrary, he’s very smart. Don’t assume he’s sick from the start, and don’t let that delay him because of it.”

Wei Xuan looked at Tie Ci with some surprise.

She and her younger brother were of extraordinary status, with too much at stake. Therefore, after her wild joy, although her first reaction was to ask this young master to help teach her younger brother, after consideration, she still felt she must be cautious. What if this was a spy sent by some faction, setting a trap that would harm her younger brother?

But she hadn’t expected Tie Ci to be so magnanimous and clear-minded, seeing through her thoughts at a glance yet not minding at all, openly providing good methods for raising and teaching. For a moment, Wei Xuan couldn’t help feeling somewhat ashamed. Hearing the last two sentences, she was even more touched. This time her thanks was much more sincere: “I’ve noted it down. Only now do I understand that we’ve been the ones delaying him all along… Thank you, young master.”

But she still didn’t reveal her identity. Tie Ci just smiled.

The others all stood to one side. Young Master Qi scrutinized Tie Ci appraisingly.

The smile that usually seemed carved onto He Zi’s face had diminished somewhat. He silently watched Tie Ci, with slight surprise in his eyes.

Rong Pu only smiled slightly.

The Crown Princess had always been like this—understanding the demons and monsters of this world, yet staying far from the dark and sordid, bright as sunlight, clean as moonlight, clear as mirror and snow, visible to heaven and earth.

Worldly people were vulgar and crude, ashamed and invisible before her clear eyes.

Wei Xuan joyfully took her younger brother back. Young Master Qi also took his leave. Rong Pu kept making excuses, seeming to want to stay, but He Zi unceremoniously issued an eviction order, so he could only bid farewell and return to the academy.

Tie Ci vaguely felt that Yue Li Academy’s reputation seemed to be rising lately, but she had been going into the mountains alone recently, cutting off from news, and didn’t know what was happening.

After finishing dinner and about to wash dishes, He Zi said: “Come to my study.”

Tie Ci followed into the study, not knowing this was also exceptional treatment.

He Zi sat behind the desk, playing with that unremarkable blue porcelain brush holder, saying: “I never displayed the brush holder in front of you. How did you know it didn’t contain brushes?”

Tie Ci didn’t speak. Supernatural abilities represented too rich a meaning—she couldn’t say, but she also couldn’t lie openly in front of He Zi.

He Zi didn’t pursue it either, saying instead: “That child Wei Xing was quite clever and sharp when he was young. After being attacked once, he suddenly regressed to being like a child. The Wei family searched everywhere for famous doctors for his condition. Wei Xuan was even more courageous, risking danger to bring him all this way to Qing Yang Mountain. Both old me and the Rong family’s son looked at him—that child didn’t seem to have any illness, as if he was born that way, leaving us at a loss. I never expected that in just one day today, you would unlock a corner of that child’s intelligence like picking a lock. From whom did you learn this? Have you trained such children before?”

Tie Ci smiled.

He Zi, called the All-Talent Elder, truly lived up to his reputation of being proficient in all fields.

He saw the real problem with Wei Xing’s condition, and saw that her seemingly casual methods were actually a training approach. He even suspected her sect background.

Indeed, she had no reason to understand this. This was something Master had mentioned to her in casual conversation, also one of Master’s experiences elsewhere.

“Elder He thinks too much. I was just playing with the child. I didn’t think he was a foolish child—I treated him as my companion, wholeheartedly accompanying him, treating him as an equal. The child could naturally feel my sincerity. After all, emotions between people are always mutual.”

He Zi nodded, then shook his head, saying: “For ordinary people, such kindness of heart is naturally excellent. But for your circumstances, such softness is not fortunate.”

“Elder He’s words are wrong,” Tie Ci said. “I believe in exchanging sincerity for sincerity—that’s my principle for dealing with sincere people. But I also believe in an eye for an eye. As for jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards, I wouldn’t treat them as human.”

He Zi squinted as he examined her, then nodded and shook his head again after a while.

Tie Ci remained composed. She had always been resolute in will and would never doubt herself because of a big shot’s mysterious attitude.

“Since you’ve given sincerity, continue giving it. At least this time, you should be able to see returns.” He Zi waved his hand, indicating for Tie Ci to leave. As she reached the door, he said again: “The first day has passed.”

Tie Ci widened her starry eyes: “I did such a good deed today—weren’t you moved, Elder? Your mighty body shook, tears streaming down, giving me a few more days’ extension?”

“You’re already dreaming before it’s even dark!” He Zi said ominously, “Twenty-five hours and three quarters remain. Count the time yourself! When time’s up, get lost yourself!”

“Bah! What ‘get lost’—I’ll make you cry and beg me to stay!”

“This old man’s mighty body shook—there’s actually such a shameless person in this world!”

…

That night Tie Ci struggled all night, but still didn’t succeed. When she got up in the morning, there were faint dark circles under her eyes. He Zi hypocritically asked why her complexion was poor and whether she needed powder to cover it up.

Not wanting to lose face, Tie Ci said she needed it and asked Elder He to lend her a box of tribute-grade Zhu Tan flower pearl powder from Xi Zhou.

Old He naturally didn’t have such a thing, so he borrowed from today’s card partners. But today’s visitor happened to be that cold, colorfully-robed woman. She looked like she’d been in a fight, with a scrape on her face. When He Zi asked to borrow cosmetics, she thought the old man was mocking her disfigurement. After understanding the situation, she looked disdainfully at the “little pretty boy who loves powder” with every glance.

The Wei siblings didn’t come today. Tie Ci had wanted to consolidate yesterday’s training results and couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

This time Young Master Qi didn’t come either, replaced by two scholars. Those two seemed refined and cultured, giving He Zi the utmost literary flattery that left no traces, and often talked with the colorfully-robed woman. But Tie Ci could see those two had ill intentions—when the colorfully-robed woman spoke haltingly, they kept asking questions, forcing her to show her inadequacies.

What kind of old green tea bitches!

But the colorfully-robed woman wasn’t easy to deal with either. After being forced to say a few sentences, she suddenly slammed down her cards, saying: “Play. What, tricks! Play again, beat again!”

Those two changed color, angrily saying: “Hu Yin, are you being reasonable? We were talking about others, not you. Why do you want to hit people? Do you think Yue Li is like your great desert, an uncivilized place!”

“Behind back, gossip, women, use people’s, broken engagement, mock… Great desert, no such, cowards.”

Tie Ci understood—this was apparently the follow-up to the group fight Wei Xuan had mentioned.

It seemed her popularity at Yue Li Academy was quite high!

The Crown Princess trembled in fear.

The trembling Crown Princess that night, after those two finished playing cards and returned to the academy, masked herself for robbery, crossed mountains overnight, and delivered those two to A Hei’s bridal chamber, taking them as male concubines for her.

…

When Tie Ci returned at dawn, soaking wet, He Zi was already practicing boxing in the courtyard. Seeing Tie Ci, he looked her up and down and sneered: “Gone all night—did you go find a solution?”

“Gone all night, naturally for pleasure!” Tie Ci said righteously, “I listened at walls all night!”

“This old man must regrettably remind you that the second day has passed. By tonight at the hour of hai, our wager will expire!”

“Don’t worry—I said I’d make you cry and keep me, not cry and leave!”

…

Today’s card partners were all unfamiliar males, not a single woman. Tie Ci didn’t know what kind of change this portended.

Yue Li Academy originally had a famous characteristic—it recruited female students, with separate courtyards and teachers for men and women, but also joint classes. Yue Li Academy even had elementary classes, allowing young children to enroll. The courses taught were also diverse, not just classics, history, philosophy, and literature, or the six arts of a gentleman, but also practical subjects like astronomy, geography, law, and mathematics. It was an academy with open customs that embraced all learning.

Later it stopped recruiting female students for a time, then after Tie Ci was established as Crown Prince, it began recruiting female students again. But because of the gap of several years, female students were inevitably fewer.

Today’s four at the table were well-behaved. Regardless of winning or losing, they all used every means to curry favor with He Zi. These few wanted to approach through literature—almost every card they played was accompanied by poetry and couplets, making Tie Ci feel sour all over, with goosebumps that never subsided.

It was hard on He Zi, who was sharp and acerbic in front of her but like a bodhisattva in front of these students. Whatever they said, he maintained a perfect smile, only showing genuine pleasure when counting money at the end.

But such card playing was ultimately tiring for both speakers and listeners. They took an exceptional break at noon. Those few brought their own dry rations to eat and drink. As Tie Ci passed by, she inadvertently heard those few still discussing the incident of fighting because of the Crown Princess. It seemed the series had updated again—this time the protagonist was no longer Hu Yin and her nephew, but Rong Pu publicly expressing his admiration for the Crown Princess in front of all the academy’s scholars, resulting in another fight.

Crown Princess: …I’m a top celebrity!

As for the reason for the fight, Tie Ci didn’t hear them explain. However, these people’s words about the Crown Princess were quite disrespectful. Tie Ci listened with a smile, and when one of them turned around, she crouched on a tree and sprinkled a handful of dried earthworms into their flatbread.

Helping you with extra food—no thanks needed.

The afternoon card game didn’t happen—these people rushed outside the valley and vomited half to death.

He Zi acted as if he didn’t know about this. Without cards to play, he went to take an afternoon nap, sleeping until the moon was high in the sky. Only when the appointed time was almost up did he get up. Upon rising, he went to look for Tie Ci, who was sitting opposite the cemetery, staring blankly at the Nai He Bridge.

He Zi said: “I’m giving you face by sleeping until now. Aren’t you leaving yet?”

“Why should I leave?”

He Zi waved the Western watch in his hand: “One quarter-hour remaining.”

“But it’s not time yet, is it?” Tie Ci turned her head, stuffing a bundle of snow-white tuberose into He Zi’s hands. “Since we’re making offerings, how can we not have flowers?”

He Zi held the flowers and sat down beside her. Before them was the river water like beautiful jade, flowing in leisurely curves like a ruyi scepter, surrounding that small cemetery.

The sound of water was leisurely, as if a woman were softly humming a little tune.

Before his eyes seemed to pass a figure in white clothes and black hair, flowing by. For the sake of those eyes drunk like flowing water, he was willing to wait another quarter-hour.

After losing her, time passed swiftly—one day was like a year, one year was like a day. The length of life had no meaning from that moment; there was only this moment, white stone and black characters, flowing water and lotus flowers, bright moon at the world’s end.

Life and death are like the constellations Shen and Shang, never again to see yin and yang.

He Zi turned his head to look. The young girl had her back to him, her shoulders delicate in the moonlight, waist slender as if bound, small earlobes like jade pearls flashing a dim white light.

A good child, but without good fortune.

The Western watch ticked away.

Tie Ci glanced at it.

Three minutes left.

He Zi stood up. Before the smile at the corner of his lips could fully appear, Tie Ci also suddenly stood and said: “Whatever happens next, I have one request for you, Elder.”

“Hmm? Asking me not to drive you away? That’s not…”

“I ask you not to interfere with me. Whatever happens, as long as it doesn’t harm you, you must not make any move whatsoever.”

“…Alright.”

Tie Ci smiled, nodded, and suddenly leaned forward with her upper body, plunging her entire head into the river water!

Water splashed up, soaking He Zi’s face.

He stood there stunned, not understanding what Tie Ci was doing.

He watched Tie Ci kneeling by the riverside, her head buried in the water, motionless, with tiny bubbles floating up from the bottom.

Time passed minute by minute, and He Zi’s expression gradually changed.

This wasn’t holding her breath—she was drowning. The time was already approaching the human limit!

If she waited a bit longer and still didn’t rise, she would drown herself!

“What are you doing! Are you trying to threaten me with death before my very eyes! Stop playing these tricks…” He Zi was about to step forward and pull her up when he suddenly remembered his promise to Tie Ci. He couldn’t help but stop, then immediately became anxious, his face angry as he stepped forward to pull her up.

What did this mean—you can’t threaten with death like this! Did she think he would obediently be coerced?

But before he could take a step, Tie Ci, kneeling by the river with her head in the water, suddenly reached back with her hand, palm open, facing He Zi.

Written in her palm were the words: Not threatening with death, remember your promise!

He Zi stopped, looking at Tie Ci in shock.

What kind of person was this!

Was she going to suffocate herself to death!

He could completely imagine what she was feeling now, yet couldn’t understand how she could, in such pain, when she could easily rise, knowing that continuing to hold her breath meant death, still persist in not rising?

But Tie Ci felt everything before her eyes was dark blue, and all the air around her had been sucked out. Her consciousness was already drifting, not knowing what day or night it was. The only sensation was probably the intense pain in her chest from holding her breath, like little star-flowers exploding in her body, about to blast both consciousness and flesh into flying ash.

The body had instincts, unconsciously telling her to lift her body up—lift up and she wouldn’t have to endure such pain… Lift up!

No!

Her hands in the river water desperately gripped the water grass by the bank, using willpower to force herself not to rise, also using willpower to hold on, to feel this moment of near-death sensation, to wait for an opportunity.

However, the subtle change she wanted still hadn’t appeared.

She clearly knew that if she waited another moment, the dark blue would turn to complete white, and even if she didn’t suffocate to death, prolonged oxygen deprivation would damage her brain.

Could it be… that she would fail like this?

Suddenly, extreme indignation rose from her heart. In her trance, she returned to the deep water of the moat from years ago, struggling in cold despair. Looking up, she saw the palace towers on the shore, the Empress Dowager coldly looking down from below the jade steps, holding a whip thick as a child’s arm that gleamed like black snake scales. Countless people rode horses toward her, hoofbeats unable to drown out wild laughter and mockery: “Woman… waste… incompetent… puppet…” The old witch’s voice was sharp and piercing, “Requesting the whip” thundered like lightning, black ghostly light carrying the cold of thousand-year glaciers struck down from above…

Something inside her body seemed to crack with a crash. She didn’t know where, as if lashed by a whip, extreme cold and extreme heat instantly swept through, becoming surging waves that thundered past. Stone gates opened wide, revealing red for thousands of miles… Her body lost weight in this sweeping force, floating up ethereally…

“Splash!”

The kneeling figure suddenly raised her head, bringing up brilliant water waves in a rainbow arch!

The instant she raised her head, she grabbed He Zi with one hand. The next instant, she and He Zi vanished from the spot!

The next instant, she and He Zi stopped at the end of the cemetery. At the end of the white stone path was still a spread of flat white stone, edges inlaid with black agate stone, plain without decoration—the woman slept beneath the white stone.

He Zi looked down at that flat white stone, his hand loosened, and the bundle of tuberose, accompanied by a teardrop, fell on the central stone.

The next instant, light and shadow flashed before their eyes, and he and Tie Ci returned to the riverside, before the Nai He Bridge.

The moment they landed, Tie Ci’s hand went soft, and she and He Zi both tumbled to the ground.

He Zi seemed dazed from the fall, or perhaps hadn’t recovered from that instant of paying respects. After a long while, he slowly propped himself up with both hands and turned his head.

“This is… supernatural ability?”

“I haven’t mastered it yet…” Tie Ci coughed, her voice hoarse, even her eyes bloodshot. “…I can only choose this method. I can only maintain it for an instant…”

“You… your supernatural ability needs to be used in desperate situations, so you made yourself drown…”

“The previous times were all like this… In desperate situations, extremely urgent and harsh environments, on the verge of death, I would suddenly break through and use it… I tried for three days without successfully teleporting. Only drowning could force myself.” Tie Ci pressed acupoints with both hands, vomiting water with “wa wa” sounds. “…Fortunately, I didn’t fail the mission.”

He Zi fell silent.

A person who was this ruthless to herself, a person who could threaten herself with death.

He stared at the young girl before him. Her soaked clothes revealed her thin shoulders. He knew those shoulders bore the future of Da Qian. Once upon a time, he had dismissed this—these magnificent rivers and mountains, this brilliant realm, these crying people, the full court of ambitions—how could they be shouldered by a puppet woman’s shoulders?

Rivers and mountains like paintings were also painted with blood as ink, spears as brushes, white bones as scrolls, creating vast scrolls of treacherous winds and clouds, golden spears and iron horses. How dare an ignorant weak woman wield the brush!

Yet at this moment, the person before him was disheveled, weak, her entire body soaked, but smiled triumphantly, her face glowing even with water.

He seemed to see that vast scroll being lifted by delicate hands, fluttering and swaying, falling over his head.

“…Old sir, can I stay now?” Casually wiping her dripping face, Tie Ci asked easily.

He Zi stared at her for a long while, then suddenly turned around.

“Follow me.”

“Next, I want you to do something. As long as you accomplish it, let alone staying, I can even return to court with you. I and all my followers will forever be loyal dogs before your Rui Xiang Palace!”