What If...I Remember?

Chapter 42

Two men sat by a pond, one with unbound silver strands the same shade as the beautiful moon hanging above them, the other with ordinary black hair, done up by a hairpin.

"..." Di Jun wore a cool expression, as always, before he set his white piece down, "Lian Song, you're losing." "Di Jun should be used to that by now, right?" Lian Song answered in annoyance, knowing that he had never beaten Dong Hua Di Jun in a chess match at all, and Di Jun shrugged, watching Lian Song put a black piece down before he spoke up, "Speaking of which, does your nephew intend to return to the Nine Heavens? He is the Crown Prince, after all."

"Huh?" Lian Song dropped the chess piece rather abruptly, before remembering that Ye Hua had yet to return from Qing Qiu for two days straight, and Lian Song grabbed his tea cup, drawing long sips from the china cup, before he smiled at Di Jun, "Ye Hua is not a person to do things halfway. I heard that Bai Qian fainted, and I doubt my nephew would ever dream of leaving her halfway through her recovery at all, because of the way he is, and all the more because she is Bai Qian, the only woman he has ever set his eyes upon."

"It will do him no good," Di Jun murmured, "If it were so known to all that he loves Bai Qian dearly. It leaps at his enemies, telling them clearly what his biggest weakness is, and showing them a way to his defeat." "Alas, I disagree." Lian Song chuckled, "Ye Hua loves her fiercely, and if anyone dared harm even a single strand of Bai Qian's hair, Ye Hua would be sure to execute them. Furthermore, Di Jun, Bai Qian herself is a High Goddess. If she can take down a Ghost Tribe army herself, I think she most certainly can defend herself."

"But if she were with child?" Di Jun interrupted, his azure eyes narrowed at his cup of tea, as if he had possibly seen something in the swirling, steaming liquid, "I daresay a pregnant woman cannot take down an army on her own, without suffering consequences some way or another."

"You think too much, Di Jun. I cannot possibly imagine Bai Qian would need to fight while with child, nor can I even imagine a fight breaking out anymore." Lian Song gave a short laugh, leaning on his arm rest as he drank more tea, but soon enough, he realised that Di Jun had fallen silent, still staring into his tea cup, and Lian Song set his cup down, worry entering his voice as he addressed the ancient deity, "Or is there something here that I do not know, Di Jun? Something that suggests that such a thing may befall upon Bai Qian?"

"Think, Lian Song." Di Jun resumed his normal air of omniscience, "Mo Yuan has returned. His soul no longer suppresses the bell from reopening, and Qing Cang is most certainly smart enough to find a way to provoke the bell into reactivating. Bai Qian was the last person to seal the bell, and I do not know if there might be a backlash on her if the seal were to break."

"But what does that have to do with Bai Qian having to take down an army on her own?" Lian Song was still rather confused, and Di Jun set his cup down irritatedly, "Did I not ask you to think, Third Prince?" "You did, but..." Lian Song was interrupted by Di Jun's raised hand, and Di Jun sighed, "Lian Song, tell me what you know of Ghost Lord Li Jing's takeover of the Ghost Tribe."

"The loyal subjects of Qing Cang objected to it, and they supported the First Prince, Li Yuan. But Li Yuan is locked away, now, so what does that affect?" Lian Song said slowly, and Di Jun nodded, "There was a rebellion, Lian Song. And there still is, except that it has yet to break out."

"You don't mean...that the moment Qing Cang breaks from the bell's seal and escapes, there will be a second war at Ruo Shui Riverbank?" Lian Song gaped in realisation, and Di Jun smiled grimly, "There will be soldiers. And as Crown Princess and her stubbornness to accompany that nephew of yours, Bai Qian will most certainly be on the frontline of the war." "But I do not understand, Di Jun. Even if that happens, wouldn't Ye Hua and Bai Qian already be the Heavenly Lord and Heavenly Lady? They will have control over all the Celestial soldiers, and she will not take on the soldiers alone." Lian Song could not catch up to the whirling speed that Di Jun's thoughts processed at, and Di Jun stood up, his figure casting a long shadow across the floor of his Tai Chen Palace.