Ascending, Do Not Disturb!

Chapter 87: Have You Been Well?

“Greetings, Immortal.” Emperor Jinghong and the crown prince saw the aloof expression of the white-robed immortal and did not find it strange. In the imaginations of ordinary people, immortals were high up in the sky, so when they appeared with proud attitudes, no one would find it insulting.

Everyone, including the emperor, thought this.

Huan Zhong’s appearance caused everyone to feel the “immortals” were even more mysterious and they felt even more reverence. When Lin Hu put away the jade ship and landed, almost no one dared to look directly at him. He silently followed behind Huan Zhong and looked toward the southeast.

Resentment and fiendish energies seemed to come from that direction. Were cultivators doing evil in the mortal world?

But seeing Master and Miss Kong Hou remain silent, Lin Hu looked away and pretended not to discover this.

“Immortals, please come this way.” The crown prince bowed and gestured in invitation. As the master of the eastern palace, he had not bowed humbly to other people for many years. But his actions flowed easily as though he revered the three cultivators.

Kong Hou glanced at him. He had proper features, his brow clear. He had the face of a wise monarch. The crown prince was more than a decade older than her, so when she had been a puppet princess in the inner palace, she rarely encountered the crown prince. Even if they met at banquets, the crown prince would politely call her princess and never harassed her due to her status as a princess of the previous dynasty.

Kong Hou did not plan to embarrass this benevolent and virtuous crown prince. She nodded and then descended the altar. The officials kneeling on the ground saw her and all moved backwards on their knees to make a wide path for her.

The long tail of her dress swept past like the river stones under the moonlight with cold and superior beauty.

Underneath the Astronomy tower, the moment the jade ship appeared, the guards could not help but kneel. When they saw the crown prince come with the immortals, they wanted to peek but did not dare. After the group passed, they dared to lift their heads and peek.

“Did you see?”

“I only saw the shoes of the immortal. Immortal’s shoes are so beautiful—they glow, and are untouched by dust.”

“That dress is also beautiful. If the niangniang in the palace saw it, they would be tempted.”

“If it was other people never mind, but this is the immortal. Even the most favored noble consort would not be so daring as to copy the clothing of immortals.”

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Kong Hou had left this palace for seven years. At the time, she had felt the imperial palace was both large and stern, unescapable for her entire life. When she saw this imperial palace again, she found that some walls had marks of rain streaking down. Some floor tiles were cracked. The tall walls were not tall. When she looked down from the sky, the palace seemed to be like a speck, so small it was almost invisible.

The gates were open. The center path supposedly was one only the emperor could take. Even the empress would only have such an honor on her crowning ceremony. Yet today, the emperor, the crown prince, and even the court officials welcomed her to step onto this path.

She clearly did not care anymore about the past, but when she stepped on this path, Kong Hou still felt as though she had been released from her chains. She stopped and looked towards the sign on the palace.

Huan Zhong saw her suddenly stop and looked at her. “What is it?”

“When I was six”—Kong Hou pointed towards the gates—”I was protected by an attendant and fled behind this door. But I was unlucky and found by the patrol who took me back.”