What If...I Remember?

Chapter 38

"Zhe Yan!" Bai Qian called loudly the moment her feet touched down on the ground, and Zhe Yan, who had been sleeping on a peach blossom branch, opened his eyes with irritation as he glanced around, looking for who had called him in the middle of the night. "Eh?" His irritation vanished upon seeing that it was Bai Qian who called him, "What brings you here at night, Xiao Wu?"

"Could it be...you quarreled with Yehua?" Zhe Yan sniggered, and Bai Qian threw him a dirty look, "Not that, of course. I need your help with a matter." "Ah. A favour again." Zhe Yan beamed at her, descending from the branch with a small leap, "Go on. What do you want me to help you with?" "You are able to change one's eyes, right? Like, if I have a set of eyeballs, can you reinstall them into my sockets?" Bai Qian held a small box in her hands, and Zhe Yan glanced at her briefly, "I don't suppose you took your eyes back, Xiao Wu?"

There was worry in the edge of his voice, and even as Bai Qian saw the old Phoenix hesitate, she pressed on, "Yes, and can you help me to fit them back in my sockets?" "I can, but I will need to clean it first." Zhe Yan's voice was slightly more relaxed, but his shoulders were tense, "When do you want them reinstalled?" "As soon as possible." Bai Qian answered, and Zhe Yan nodded at her, "Fine then. You should get going, before someone reports that you snuck here in the middle of the night."

"Thank you." Bai Qian smiled at him, before she leapt onto a cloud quickly, and even as she rode the winds back to the Nine Heavens, Zhe Yan's frown resurface, deeper than before, and he quickly kept aside the box, pulling out the symbol that Bai Zhi had given him for emergency uses only, before he sent it, with a message.

Brother, I suggest you return to Qing Qiu quickly. There will be an uproar in the Heavens soon, and I fear Xiao Wu will need your help to settle it...

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"Who is screaming, at this unearthly hour?" Le Xu muttered, startled awake by the piercing shriek that echoed all the way to her chambers, and even as she headed in direction of the screaming, Ye Hua exited his chambers as well, heading straight in the direction of the Hall of Beautiful Youths. "Ye Hua, you don't suppose something might've happened to Su Jin?" Le Xu spoke, her voice most suggestive that he shouldn't head straight in Bai Qian's chambers' direction, "After all, Bai Qian might have attacked her for A-Li."

"I was about to check if Bai Qian was startled awake, Mother." Ye Hua replied, and Le Xu gritted her teeth to stop herself from insulting Bai Qian. Hardly was there ever a scream in the Nine Heavens, and yet Ye Hua was more concerned if Bai Qian was awoken? Simply absurd! "Your Highness!" Nai Nai ran out from the Hall of Beautiful Youths instead, and Ye Hua raised his eyebrow subtly. Nai Nai wouldn't leave Bai Qian's side, normally, unless Bai Qian had asked her to follow with A-Li.

"Your Highness, Madam has yet to return, and the Little Prince is still hysterical!" Nai Nai was not the smartest maid, but she knew that when A-Li had broken sleep the entire night and a persistence of waking up and crying for his mother, he most certainly was not fine. "Where did Bai Qian go?" Le Xu's eyes were slits at once, and Ye Hua intervened, saving Nai Nai from a round of interrogation, "Mother, let us find the source of the scream first."

"It should be nearby." Le Xu lifted her head, as though she was reimagining where the sound was from, and even as she moved ahead, Ye Hua gripped Nai Nai's wrist tightly, "What did Qian Qian do? Was she with Su Jin?" "Your Highness..." Nai Nai spoke in hushed tones, "Her Highness woke up, claiming she heard a scream, and we found Consort Su Jin ill-treating the Little Prince in his Qing Yun Hall, who was awoken by a nightmare. Madam ordered me to bring Little Prince A-Li away and back to the Hall of Beautiful Youths, but she has yet to return."

"You left her with Su Jin? After she watched Su Jin ill-treat A-Li?" Ye Hua's voice was shaking with realisation as it dawned on him what exactly must have happened, and he released the maidservant, running after Le Xu, who had taken the turn to A-Li's Qing Yun Hall, hoping to stop his mother from entering first, knowing that the sight greeting her could make her opinion of Bai Qian take a further dip down the negative end.

But it was too late.

"Oh my goodness! Su Jin!" Le Xu cried, tearing down Bai Qian's seal at once, storming into Qing Yun Hall, and Ye Hua's heart sank with dread as he followed in, his eyes meeting with quite a gorish sight. Su Jin clawed at hollowed eye sockets, her eyelids shut over a cavity in her face, and blood trickled down from her closed eyelids slowly, two tiny streams flowing straight down her cheeks. "Who did this to you, Su Jin? Was it her?" Le Xu helped Su Jin up at once, and Su Jin's sobs increased in volume as she nodded her head vigorously, moving her arms before her as she tried to locate Le Xu, "Bai Qian! Bai Qian took my eyes, Mother! Bai Qian did this!"

"That Bai Qian! I've had enough of her!" Le Xu turned to Ye Hua, glaring at him, "Are you still going to protect her now, Ye Hua? After what she has done?" "Qian Qian has done no wrong." Ye Hua kept his voice normal, although his heart yearned to speak up more for her. After all, it was not as if Bai Qian had attacked Su Jin out of the blue. Su Jin had it coming, anyway.

"No wrong?!" Le Xu's arms were shaking as she held Su Jin before her, "No wrong?!" But Ye Hua did not react; he stood, staring at his mother with an unreadable expression. "I am taking this matter to the Heavenly Lord, Ye Hua. It's time you came to your senses!" Le Xu snapped, escorting Su Jin away with much haste, and even as Nai Nai turned to him, her eyes filled with tears as she was at a loss of what to do, Ye Hua felt two cool hands wrap around his arm hesitantly, and he whipped around at once, only to see Bai Qian standing there behind him, her eyes filled with guilt.

"I'm sorry...the impulse was irresistible...I couldn't stop myself-" Bai Qian began, but Ye Hua merely swept her into his arms, "No, Qian Qian. I'm sorry. I should have known that this couldn't be buried beneath for long, and that it would be unfair to you to have to do so when you weren't in the wrong in the first place." "I'll make it right today." Ye Hua drew back from the hug at last, his eyes set with determination.

"I'll set things straight where they are, once and for all. Justice must surface; injustice has outstayed its welcome."

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"Oh my...Da Sao, what happened?" Lian Song was rather shocked as Le Xu passed by him, with quite a sight of Su Jin stumbling beside her, and Le Xu shook her head, "I should have known that Bai Qian was a threat to our family! I should've never agreed to her union with Ye Hua! She has turned him into a cold, heartless beast, and she has revealed herself to be a true vixen, indeed!" "Vixen?" Lian Song's jaw dropped, "She did this to Su Jin?"

When Le Xu nodded, Lian Song felt his mouth dry at once. Bai Qian must've done her revenge, for sure. "I'm bringing her to ask for justice from the Heavenly Lord." Le Xu spoke firmly, and Lian Song inhaled sharply at her words, before he smiled at Le Xu, "Of course, of course. I cannot go now, however, I fear Si Ming has already asked me over for an important matter." And even as Le Xu nodded, tuning to resume her brisk walking with Su Jin towards the Grand Hall, Lian Song tapped his fan against his palm anxiously, contemplating what would happen next.

At this point, it was rather obvious to him that Le Xu was going to make things ugly for Bai Qiam with Su Jin, and Lian Song knew that the only person that could possibly override his father was Di Jun.

So, with no choice left, Lian Song turned around, heading back to where he came from:

He sprinted back to Tai Chen Palace to seek help from Di Jun.

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A/N: Apologies, I have yet to write the confrontation and the whole fiasco that will happen in the Grand Hall; I unfortunately only managed to squeeze out this linking chapter with the time I had.

The next chapter will definitely be the confrontation, I promise. And for now...just wait for the next chapter to be uploaded :)

Z, out.