On Haoyun Mountain.
A swift horse galloped in. The guards at the main gate of Nanshan Gate were on watch when they suddenly saw the horse approaching. Song Lin shouted, “Who goes there?” The rider gave a great shout and spurred the horse even faster. The horse neighed long and reared up on its hind legs at the gate. The rider leaped from the horse, using the momentum to vault over the high wall into Shanfeng Hall.
Song Lin was dumbstruck. Everyone failed to intercept in time. After standing stunned for a long while, someone muttered, “I think we should set horse-tripping ropes before the main gate, otherwise if everyone barges in like this, how can we possibly stop them…”
Inside Shanfeng Hall, Gu Xitan was patrolling with his hand on his sword when he suddenly saw someone leap in. He shouted, “Who?” Yu Tuan’er landed and charged forward, also glaring and shouting, “Get out of the way!” Gu Xitan didn’t recognize Yu Tuan’er and drew his sword with a swish. “Which family’s daughter are you? State your name!” Yu Tuan’er looked left and right but saw no familiar faces. “Who are you? State your name!” Gu Xitan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Miss, if you don’t give your name, don’t blame Gu for being impolite.”
“Wait!” Cheng Yunpao heard the commotion and hurried over. “This is Miss Yu.” Gu Xitan was surprised. “Miss Yu?” Yu Tuan’er ignored him and shouted at Cheng Yunpao, “Where’s Tang Lici? I want to see Tang Lici!” Cheng Yunpao said blandly, “Young Master Tang went out and hasn’t returned. If the miss has something to say, telling me would be the same.” Yu Tuan’er glared at him angrily. “I don’t want to tell you!” Cheng Yunpao was taken aback. Gu Xitan said, “Miss, speak reasonably. What urgent matter is this?” Yu Tuan’er stamped her foot. “I don’t care, I want to see Tang Lici, right now!” Gu Xitan became angry. “You’re being completely unreasonable, miss. Young Master Tang isn’t on the mountain—how can you see him?” Yu Tuan’er said furiously, “Then hurry up and find him! I have important things to tell him, right now! Right now, right now!” Gu Xitan was speechless and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Cheng Yunpao flicked his sleeve and pressed Yu Tuan’er’s pressure points. “Take her back to a room to rest. Everything can wait until Young Master Tang returns.”
Just as Yu Tuan’er’s pressure points were sealed, Song Lin rushed over urgently, saying that people from Biluo Palace had arrived at the gate. Cheng Yunpao went out to receive them. Bi Lianyi wore azure robes and stood upright. Tie Jing bowed with cupped hands to Cheng Yunpao, and Bi Lianyi also nodded in acknowledgment. Though they were subordinates of Biluo Palace, they never acted subservient when dealing with outsiders. None of them were good at small talk. After nodding to each other, Bi Lianyi asked, “Who is this young lady?”
Yu Tuan’er was still in Gu Xitan’s hands. Cheng Yunpao said blandly, “A little girl who doesn’t know her place.” He glanced at Miss Hong standing behind Bi Lianyi. “This must be Miss Hong? Miss has been strategizing at Fengliu Store and caused quite a few deaths.” Miss Hong looked at him coldly without acknowledging him, her gaze only on Yu Tuan’er. Bi Lianyi said, “We came by invitation. Where might Young Master Tang be?”
“Young Master Tang went out and hasn’t returned. He should be back around this time tomorrow. Please come inside and rest for a while.” Cheng Yunpao invited the Biluo Palace group inside to rest. Bi Lianyi walked ahead, but Miss Hong stood still, staring fixedly at Yu Tuan’er. “Hero Cheng,” she said in a low voice, “I want to stay in the same room as this young lady.” Cheng Yunpao was startled. Miss Hong looked at Yu Tuan’er and added, “Don’t worry, I absolutely won’t harm her.” Cheng Yunpao pondered for a moment. “That’s acceptable.”
After a while, Bi Lianyi, Tie Jing and the others went with Cheng Yunpao and others to discuss important matters. Miss Hong slowly entered Yu Tuan’er’s room, sat by the bed, and looked at her face. This little girl was far less beautiful than herself—why could she stay by his side? Wouldn’t he get tired of her? Wouldn’t he drive her away? Why didn’t he kill her?
Yu Tuan’er’s pressure points were sealed. After a long while, Miss Hong slowly drew a golden needle from her bosom and pricked three of Yu Tuan’er’s pressure points. Yu Tuan’er opened her eyes and looked in amazement at the beautiful woman who had appeared before her. “Who are you?” Miss Hong looked at her coldly. With her delicate eyebrows and beautiful eyes, even when putting on an icy expression, she emanated a melancholic air. Yu Tuan’er was naturally fond of beauty. Seeing her different kind of loveliness, she immediately smiled. “Who are you? You’re so pretty.” Miss Hong didn’t answer. After a while, Yu Tuan’er looked at her curiously and asked again, “Who bullied you?”
“No one bullied me.” She said in a low voice. Looking at this girl before her, she really wanted to stab the needle down and blind her eyes, but if she blinded Yu Tuan’er, Bi Lianyi would surely be very angry. Yu Tuan’er said, “If no one bullied you, why are you crying?” Miss Hong was startled. “I’m not crying.” Yu Tuan’er laughed again. She could only speak—Miss Hong didn’t know martial arts, and the needle’s power couldn’t let her get up and move, otherwise she would clap and laugh. “You have that expression of someone who’s in such a bad mood that you’re resentful why a big rock doesn’t fall from the sky and crush you to death. Don’t cry. Do you know me? Why did you save me?”
Save you? Miss Hong gripped the long golden needle in her hand—I could kill you at any time. Her eyelashes trembled slightly. “You know Liu Yan?” Yu Tuan’er nodded. Miss Hong asked in a low voice, “Are you two… close?” Yu Tuan’er’s eyes widened and she said “Ah!” “I understand—you like him too!” Miss Hong’s face flushed red. “Nonsense! I was just… asking casually.” Yu Tuan’er rolled her eyes at her. “If you like him, you like him. If you don’t tell him, how will he know? I tell him every day that I want to be with him and he still ignores me. If you like him but don’t say so, he’ll ignore you even more!”
Miss Hong bit her lip. “You… you… tell him every day that you want to be with him? Then why… why doesn’t he respond to you?” Yu Tuan’er puffed out her cheeks and pouted for a while. “I don’t know. I used to think he wanted to be with Sister A’Shui, but later it seemed that wasn’t quite the case.” Miss Hong asked in a low voice, “He… he was very infatuated with A’Shui.” Yu Tuan’er said, “I don’t know.” She thought for a moment. “I think he doesn’t dare ask to be with Sister A’Shui forever, just like you—if he says it out loud he’ll blush and feel like he’s done something wrong.” Miss Hong’s bitten lip trembled. “I can’t say it because… because I know he doesn’t like me. When you love someone, you shouldn’t force them. You should make them happy, shouldn’t you?” Yu Tuan’er said matter-of-factly, “He thinks the same way, so he won’t say he wants to be with Sister A’Shui, because Sister A’Shui doesn’t like him.”
“Would he give up on A’Shui because she doesn’t love him?” Miss Hong said sadly. “Is he such a considerate person?” Yu Tuan’er said, “Of course! He doesn’t even dare kill a little fox. I caught one for him to test medicine on, but he let it go and made me furious. Sometimes I act spoiled and say I want to stay in his medicine room because it’s warmer—actually I’m not afraid of the cold. Though he ignores me, he’s afraid I’m really cold so he doesn’t dare drive me out. Little Fang is the most unreasonable—he always bullies him, making him go fishing. He catches fish then releases them, catches them then releases them, never bringing any back. When told to catch grouse, he just sits there watching the male and female grouse fly around. When foxes come to eat them, he even beats the foxes away!” Miss Hong released her lower lip, which was already bleeding. “Is… is that so… he… he…” Yu Tuan’er burst out laughing. “Isn’t he funny?” Miss Hong looked at her laughter, and her whole heart began to waver. “If he doesn’t kill foxes, why does he kill people? If he’s really so good, why does he kill people?”
“You mean when he made that medicine and caused countless deaths?” Yu Tuan’er said, “He regrets it too, but won’t admit it. Do you also blame him for causing so many deaths? Actually, I think all he did wrong was listen to bad people and make harmful medicine. He’s just stupid, but not bad.” Miss Hong looked at her incredulously. She called Liu Yan “stupid”—that was too different from the Liu Yan in her heart. Were they really talking about the same person? “Stupid?” she asked softly.
“Of course he’s stupid! Who believes whatever others say? Who does whatever others tell him to do? He’s still like that now. If you say the same thing to him ten times, he’ll definitely listen to you. No matter how unhappy he looks or how bad his temper is, he’ll definitely believe you.” Yu Tuan’er said, “Were you very afraid of him before, so you didn’t dare pester him?”
“I… I…” Miss Hong said in a low voice, “I thought he wanted the world, so I wanted to help him conquer it. I didn’t care about killing people because he didn’t care about killing people. Since he could bear the heaviest and deepest sins in this world, then I could too.” She touched her injured lip and said softly, “I always… believed this. Whatever was beneficial to him, I would do. I didn’t care about killing or arson, didn’t care who died, as long as it benefited him. I could be a servant or slave, could do anything, could not let him know I loved him, as long as he could succeed.”
“The world? What world?” Yu Tuan’er looked at her in surprise. “He just dislikes Tang Lici.”
“Is that so? He just… just dislikes Tang Lici.” Miss Hong murmured, “Then everything I did—what was it all for?”
“Are you very sad?” Yu Tuan’er asked. “Don’t be sad. You just got it wrong. It’s his fault—he didn’t properly tell people what he was really thinking, so you misunderstood.”
“Just got it wrong?” Tears burst from her eyes. “He just listened to others’ words, just dislikes Tang Lici. He didn’t want the world, then… then all the people he killed, all the people I killed, those thousands and thousands of countless wronged souls—what was it all for? He bears unforgivable sins, I became a vicious and venomous person, and all that so-called sacrifice was actually… completely meaningless?”
“Meaning?” Yu Tuan’er blinked. “What meaning?”
Miss Hong shook her head and stared blankly at Yu Tuan’er. “These days, you’ve been with him all along?”
“Mm.”
“Now I understand why he didn’t drive you away.” She said in a low voice, “Only you… you truly like him. I… was just dreaming, always dreaming.”
“Ah!” Yu Tuan’er suddenly shouted, “Where’s Tang Lici? I have something to tell him! Something very important!” Miss Hong was startled and looked up. “Don’t worry, I know what it is. I’ll go find him right away.” She hurriedly stood up, wiped away her tears, pushed open the door and rushed out.
Not far outside the door, Bi Lianyi stood in the garden. She was stunned for a moment, then ran two steps toward him. Bi Lianyi was standing at a distance and couldn’t hear their conversation, but after she ran two steps, he opened his arms. So without thinking, she ran straight into his embrace. At first she just gripped his sleeves tightly. He gently stroked her head, and she could no longer hold back—she burst into loud sobs.
Bi Lianyi asked nothing and said nothing, just kept gently stroking her head and wiping away her tears.
After a good cry that completely soaked half of Bi Lianyi’s front, Miss Hong looked up and tightly embraced his waist. “Why are you so good to me? I’m actually not good at all. I’m a vicious woman. I’ve never had any sense of justice or righteousness in my heart, truly never.”
“I don’t know whether you’re good or bad,” Bi Lianyi held her head and embraced her. “Whether you’re good or bad, it’s all the same to me.”
Miss Hong firmly grasped his hand, intertwining their ten fingers, as if she didn’t hold tight enough, didn’t use enough force, she would shatter, would die.
“Don’t cry.” After holding her for a while, Bi Lianyi released her. “When you came out of the room just now, was there urgent business?” Miss Hong was suddenly alarmed. “Yes, that young lady has important matters to discuss with Tang Lici. I suspect—” She lowered her voice extremely low, “it’s about the antidote for the Xinggui Nine Heart Pills.” Bi Lianyi trembled slightly and grabbed her hand. “Tang Lici should have returned.”
“Wait!” Miss Hong’s thoughts turned quickly. “Take that young lady with us. Leaving her alone in the room might lead to accidents.” Bi Lianyi nodded, holding Miss Hong’s hand without letting go. They returned to the room where he released Yu Tuan’er’s pressure points. Yu Tuan’er leaped up, and the three quickly headed toward the main hall.
Not far behind the building, a figure emerged—wearing a peach-colored dress, it was Yu Konghou. Seeing Yu Tuan’er being taken away by Bi Lianyi, his gaze fell on Miss Hong with a flash of killing intent. He wanted to kill Yu Tuan’er. At this delicate moment, Yu Tuan’er’s hurried arrival on horseback—any intelligent person could guess her purpose. When Gu Xitan placed Yu Tuan’er in the side room, he had already followed. But Miss Hong immediately entered, and once she entered, Bi Lianyi stood outside, making him lose his chance to strike. Though with Yu Konghou’s abilities, killing Yu Tuan’er, Miss Hong, and Bi Lianyi wouldn’t be difficult, once he alerted others, the gains wouldn’t be worth the losses. And Miss Hong telling Bi Lianyi to take Yu Tuan’er away made him lose his second chance to strike. This girl had transferred her affections to Bi Lianyi and was shrewd and careful—she must be eliminated.