Three days passed.

Qing Ye had kept watch in the courtyard for the better part of the hour, but the expected carrier pigeon had not appeared.

She returned to Long Feiyan’s door and gave it a quiet knock.

“Come in.”

When Qing Ye entered, Long Feiyan was reading a military treatise.

Their mistress had few personal interests. Most of her time was spent reading.

Before, it had only ever been military texts. Lately it seemed there were a few other things added in — occasionally a book on medicine, sometimes even a collection of travel writings or something of that kind.

By now, Qing Ye could no longer read her mistress’s mind very well.

Sometimes their mistress seemed fiercely merciless. Other times it was as though she were a gentle breeze drifting past clouds, indifferent to so many things.

Qing Ye hesitated briefly, then said: “Mistress, the appointed hour has passed. No message has arrived from Ye Feixue.”

Long Feiyan’s expression did not shift in the slightest. She seemed to feel no surprise at all.

Qing Ye was a little puzzled. “Mistress — did you already know that Ye Feixue would turn against us?”

“She won’t.” Long Feiyan set down the military treatise, stretched out her muscles, and rose to her feet, walking toward the courtyard.

“Ye Feixue is not the kind of person who would sell out her mistress. But she is someone who values ties of loyalty and friendship deeply — she would not lightly betray a friend either.”

To remain faithful and righteous at the same time — both together was always difficult. But after this ordeal, she should be able to see clearly who it was she truly wished to be loyal to, and who she ought to protect.

That girl — her gift for winning over people’s hearts was no small thing.

Long Feiyan gave a faint smile, looking up at the expanse of blue sky and white clouds overhead.

“Mistress, I don’t understand what you mean.” Qing Ye followed behind her.

She could not see through it — whether her mistress was displeased right now, or pleased.

Why was there not even the slightest trace of wanting to be angry?

What was their mistress thinking?

What was Long Feiyan thinking? Perhaps only she herself truly knew.

The courtyard was filled with brilliant sunlight that lifted the spirits. Suddenly Long Feiyan rose in a long, graceful leap and gave a light snap at a treetop branch.

The broken branch fell into her hand. A single casual sweep — and the air all around seemed to split open.

Her movements were light and unhurried, yet wherever the branch passed, wild winds erupted and branches whirled through the air.

Qing Ye felt a flash of worry — would all the flowers and trees in this garden be completely destroyed?

But each time a branch was bent nearly to the breaking point and seemed about to snap, it miraculously recovered.

And that white figure in midair — her every move was graceful and unhurried, yet no matter how one looked, it was impossible to make out clearly.

She was like a drift of white mist, floating in the air. Clearly it was not dancing — yet it looked, somehow, as though she moved in elegant, gliding dance.

Qing Ye spent a great deal of effort and still could not make out their mistress’s figure clearly. She could only see a hazy, shifting form.

Qing Ye knew their mistress had no love for dance. But her technique was more beautiful to watch than any dance.

For a moment, even Qing Ye was left transfixed.

That hazy figure, those hazy movements — like cloud, like mist, so utterly breathtaking.

Their mistress’s power had grown considerably beyond what it had been.

If she were to encounter the Ninth Prince again now — who would prevail was genuinely hard to say.

The Ninth Prince was formidable, his cultivation profound and difficult to fathom. But he was, after all, young. In terms of experience, he did not match their mistress.

Added to that — their mistress had now fully recovered, no longer as weakened as she had been half a month ago.

If they met again now, the Ninth Prince might not fare so well.

Still — at his age, how had the Ninth Prince cultivated a power this formidable?

A level of cultivation like this had already surpassed Emperor Ji entirely. Who was the Ninth Prince’s true teacher?

Qing Ye had been so absorbed in watching the figure in midair that when someone entered the courtyard, she did not notice immediately.

By the time she did notice, Emperor Qiwen had already been standing to one side, watching for quite a while.

Watching with such rapt attention, it was as though his very heart had been drawn away.

Qing Ye gave a quiet cough. Emperor Qiwen still did not stir, his gaze fixed on the figure in midair that could not be seen clearly at all. His palm tightened into a fist.

The possessive gleam in his eyes grew stronger and stronger, more and more evident.

All these years. All these years.

Then, all at once, the white figure paused — and drifted lightly back down to the ground.

The wild winds all around vanished in an instant. The great trees that had been swaying nearly to the point of toppling immediately grew still.

What had been the fury of a windstorm just moments ago — and Qing Ye had been genuinely afraid the garden’s flowers and trees would suffer for it — had left, after the calm returned, barely even a scattering of fallen leaves.

Extraordinary. Truly extraordinary.

Emperor Qiwen, too, was left staring wide-eyed. Only when Long Feiyan turned to go back inside did he snap back to his senses and hurry after her.

“Long’er, your martial arts have advanced again!” Emperor Qiwen smiled broadly, waved a hand, and the Chief Eunuch immediately withdrew.

Long Feiyan gave only a faint smile and said nothing, and seemed to make no move to stop him from entering the room.

Emperor Qiwen was greatly pleased and strode inside after her.

Once the two were seated, Qing Ye prepared tea and served it to them both.

Emperor Qiwen took a small sip, then furrowed his brow. “We sent over superior-grade Dielo tea just two days ago — why have you not tried it? Is the flavor not to your liking?”

“Your Majesty, our mistress has always preferred light, simple food and drink. Dielo may be fine tea, but its flavor is far too strong for her.” Qing Ye replied.

Emperor Qiwen nodded, then said: “Then I’ll have someone bring over the Bi Luo Chun tea that arrived as tribute just yesterday.”

“No need. The tea here is enough to last me half a lifetime.”

Long Feiyan had never had any liking for excess or extravagance. Though she had everything here, what she actually ate, wore, and used was no more than the few things she personally preferred.

Gifts beyond counting had piled up over the years — mostly sitting untouched in several unused rooms, never moved by her at all. It had been Qing Ye and Qing Zhi, seeing there was simply no more space, who had quietly sold them off over the years, which had accumulated into quite a considerable sum.

In fact — a very, very considerable sum.

“Our mistress isn’t particularly focused on the pleasures of eating and drinking. But she does have quite a fondness for gold and precious stones.”

Qing Zhi, who had just come in, smiled and walked up to Emperor Qiwen. “Paying respects to Your Majesty.”

Qing Ye glanced at her, a hint of reproach in her eyes.

How could she say that their mistress wanted gold and jewels? That sounded so vulgar.

Qing Zhi just turned up the corner of her lips and smiled.

Their mistress had great ambitions to accomplish. Of course that would require a great deal of money. Besides, this old emperor was wealthy and easily taken advantage of. If their mistress did not use his money, he would not even be pleased about it.

Sure enough, the moment Emperor Qiwen heard Qing Zhi’s words, he said immediately: “Good. I’ll have some rare treasures sent over today for Long’er to enjoy.”

Long Feiyan said nothing — as though everything being discussed had nothing to do with her at all.

Emperor Qiwen looked at her fair, delicate face, and once again his gaze grew involuntarily transfixed.

Qing Ye gave a quiet cough. “Your Majesty, our mistress was observing the stars last night and noticed the golden phoenix star was faintly stirring. Has there been anything unusual in the imperial capital recently?”

Emperor Qiwen was still looking at Long Feiyan. He answered casually: “There’s nothing out of the ordinary in the imperial capital. Only — there is a rumor going around that the Ninth Prince has followed Feng Jiu’er in leaving the country…”