“Doctor, my mistress requests that you pay her a visit.” Qing Ye had been waiting outside the manor for more than two hours.
Feng Jiu’er tightened her grip on the reins, sizing her up. “Is it that Her Ladyship’s leg is giving her some trouble?”
“The Doctor will understand once she makes the visit, will she not?” Qing Ye gave a dismissive wave, her expression as blank as ever. “Please.”
Feng Jiu had no choice but to nudge her horse’s flanks and follow behind Qing Ye, who had broken into a light-body technique, heading in the direction of the rear gate of the imperial palace.
Long Feiyan still resided within the depths of the palace, in the Lí Courtyard. Feng Jiu’er had originally thought that this veiled Ladyship, once her legs had recovered, would leave this place.
As things stood now, it seemed she and Emperor Qiwen still had a lingering, entangled tie between them.
Was this connected to Ninth Imperial Uncle being wounded last time as well? Had the veiled Ladyship sought out Ninth Imperial Uncle on Emperor Qiwen’s instructions or not?
Yet given the place Emperor Qiwen held in the veiled Ladyship’s heart, whatever she wanted to do, it was rather unlikely he would be the one directing it.
Still, in certain matters, the interests of these two might be aligned. Should Emperor Qiwen ask the veiled Ladyship to deal with Ninth Imperial Uncle — and should that request happen to be advantageous to the veiled Ladyship as well — then the fierce battle Ninth Imperial Uncle would face might well become a reality.
“Well? Do you regret having cured me?” Long Feiyan leaned back against the chair, looking at the young man standing before her.
Lips a vivid red against white teeth — even wearing a different face, still so remarkably handsome.
This girl, truly could go either way — she was striking no matter how she appeared.
Feng Jiu’er could not read the meaning in the veiled Ladyship’s eyes, but one thing she could confirm was that this Ladyship bore no hostility toward her.
However, an absence of hostility did not mean she was not an enemy. If she intended to harm those Feng Jiu’er cared about, then she was no friend.
“I do regret it somewhat. But I had no choice, did I?”
Since Emperor Qiwen had threatened her by holding everyone in Tianji Hall hostage, for as long as she remained within this imperial city, she would be subject to his control and manipulation for every single day she stayed.
“You could choose to leave the imperial city. The entire nation of Bei Mu is not limited to this imperial city as the only place where one can make a living.”
Long Feiyan accepted the tea that Qing Zhi offered her, took a light sip, and then smiled. “That would be true if you were merely an ordinary merchant.”
That was the premise — but clearly, they both knew she was not.
“Knowing full well the danger, and yet choosing to remain in this place — while refusing to join hands with your Ninth Imperial Uncle — Feng Jiu’er, what is your true purpose in pretending to be under Emperor Qiwen’s control? And what is your aim in having infiltrated this imperial palace?”
That the veiled Ladyship could understand her affairs with such thoroughness seemed to catch Feng Jiu’er not the least bit by surprise.
She looked at Long Feiyan. The slight nervousness she had felt upon entering had, by this moment, entirely vanished.
“You are hiding within this imperial palace, yet unwilling to give yourself to Emperor Qiwen, and still unwilling to leave — what is that for?”
Long Feiyan gave a light smile. “Everything is available here. He can provide all that I need. Why should I not take advantage of that?”
This explanation was perfectly plausible, but Feng Jiu’er knew that this was absolutely not the true reason the veiled Ladyship was willing to remain in the Lí Courtyard.
It was just that since the other party was unwilling to speak, however many times she asked, there would be no answer.
“Since you called me here today, I wonder what instruction Your Ladyship might have for me?”
Long Feiyan set down the cup in her hand. Her deep, steady gaze carried a thread of undeniable authority. “Let me see the Phoenix Mark on your body.”
Feng Jiu’er’s palm tightened slightly. She had imagined hundreds of possibilities — but this one had never crossed her mind.
This veiled Ladyship seemed to be fully acquainted with everything that transpired under the heavens. What kind of power was backing her?
And the Long Family’s calamity from back then — did she have any connection to it?
“Who exactly are you?” Feng Jiu’er stepped back half a pace without changing her expression.
“Who I am bears no conflict whatsoever with my wish to see the Phoenix Mark on your lower back.”
Long Feiyan gave a faint smile. “The mark rests on your body, yet you have never known how to make use of it. What meaning is there in leaving it with you?”
Feng Jiu’er’s heart gave a sudden lurch. What did those words mean? “Could it be… that you know the significance of the Phoenix Mark?”
“She who wins the Phoenix Girl wins the realm under heaven — have you never heard this saying?” Long Feiyan was toying with something in her hand, though Feng Jiu’er could not identify it.
From Feng Jiu’er’s vantage point, it appeared to be a small knife — yet she had no idea whatsoever when it had come to rest in the veiled Ladyship’s hand.
She had been keeping careful watch on the veiled Ladyship’s every move the entire time. Yet when exactly the small knife had appeared in her hand, Jiu’er truly had not seen.
Her own abilities were still a far, far cry from this veiled Ladyship’s.
“I have heard it. But I do not know where the secret lies. What purpose can the Phoenix Mark serve?”
Originally, Feng Jiu’er had been looking for an opportunity to slip away — but the veiled Ladyship’s words had hooked her greatest curiosity.
Everyone knows that excessive curiosity brings no good — yet this Phoenix Mark had always been on her body, a part of her flesh. When it came to secrets of one’s own body, no one could resist wanting to know. She was no exception.
“It is merely a treasure map.”
“A treasure map?” Simply… beyond all imagining!
Long Feiyan’s small knife turned slowly in her hand. In the candlelight, it gave off a cold gleam that instinctively put one on guard.
“Precisely — a treasure map. It is said that once the location of the treasure is found, the riches within would be sufficient to overthrow an entire dynasty.”
She looked at Feng Jiu’er with serene composure, a smile of effortless ease at the corner of her lips, as though even such a treasure was beneath her notice.
“Each generation’s Phoenix Girl has the treasure map branded onto her body by the previous generation, using inner force — a secret technique passed down only within the Phoenix Clan, known only to a select few within that clan.”
No matter how formidable your martial arts or how profound your inner force, if you have not learned the Phoenix Clan’s secret technique, you cannot brand a treasure map beneath a person’s skin and flesh.
“Phoenix Clan?” Before Feng Jiu’er had even recovered from her shock, her body suddenly tensed — the other party had made her move.
With a flash of thought, she thrust out a palm.
Yet as that palm connected, the veiled Ladyship neither dodged nor moved aside. Feng Jiu’er felt as though she had struck a palm into the boundless open sea.
The veiled Ladyship’s inner force was far deeper and more vast than she had imagined. It was as though her palm strike had not truly connected with anything substantial at all. Even more startling — when she tried to withdraw her palm, the other party’s inner force latched onto hers and dragged it forward, compelling her to lunge headlong toward the veiled Ladyship.
Qing Ye and Qing Zhi simply stood guard to one side, showing no intention of intervening.
When their mistress had exchanged moves with the Ninth Prince, they had still felt a few pangs of worry in their hearts. Now, facing this little girl Feng Jiu’er, it was nothing more than playing with a child for amusement.
With a thud, Feng Jiu’er was pressed face-down onto the bed by that powerful inner force — then in a flash she spun around, and with a swift ring of steel, slashed a knife at the person behind her.