Photo above: Marquis Qingyi (the dude who got murdered by a demon kid in the previous chapters)
Her dainty fingers pinched the bamboo dragonfly and faced it towards the window. The bright sunlight shining through gave the delicate dragonfly a fuzzy layer of light around its edges. Ling Miaomiao looked from the right, and then from the left, clicking her tongue as she praised herself, "Beautiful."
Mu Sheng reached out to take it but she changed her mind at the last moment, rushing to squeeze it in her palm. With a 'whoosh' it flew out and she exclaimed in great delight, "Let's try it out first!"
In a short moment, the dragonfly had soared high up and had crashed into the roof beam with a rather crisp thunk. Then, it flitted back down to the ground.
Ling Miaomiao stretched her waist, relaxing her body and sliding down to lay lazily on the bed. She rubbed her aching eyes, "It was a success. Now go pick it up."
Mu Sheng didn't move. He was still sitting at the edge of her bed, seemingly hesitating over something. After a good minute, a thin metal band appeared in front of Miaomiao's eyes. It was the Demon Restraining Circlet Mu Sheng wore daily.
Miaomiao was at a loss as she looked at him.
Mu Sheng wasn't looking at her, rather he was staring with full concentration at the Demon Restraining Circlets in front of him, "This is for you."
Ling Miaomiao felt as if an explosion went off in her mind. It was just like a bottle of champagne being opened, the cork popping off and the foam flying several meters away. Not just flying far away, it also spun in circles while spraying all over. However, her face didn't leak any of her inner thoughts. She calmly, somewhat carefully asked, "You... you want to give your Demon Restraining Circlets to me?"
If she didn't remember wrongly, this pair of Demon Restraining Circlets were gifts from Mu Yao to him. They had great importance to him.
Back then, when they were on the big boat traversing the winding river, the Black Lotus would be more willing to take a stab rather than lose one of them.
Mu Sheng raised his head to look at her. As if he was greatly dissatisfied with this kind of response from her, his black irises seemed to become suffused with anger, "I'm giving them to you so take it. Don't say so much nonsense."
He paused and his gaze moved over to the bamboo dragonfly laying on the ground. He intoned in a low voice, "Consider it a gift in return for that."
The next moment, as if he started to regret his actions, he grew irascible, "If you don't want it, then iust..."
Before he could finish his words, Miaomiao had already snatched a circlet over and put it on. She even shook her clothes to conceal them within her sleeves, as if she was afraid he would feel regret. "I want it! Of course I want it!
If I knew we were going to have this kind of trade earlier, I would've made 10 bamboo dragonflies for Young Noble Mu!"
Mu Sheng stared at her, "You.."
"I understand!" Ling Miaomiao immediately put away the brimming grin on her face and then rushed to speak in a clear tone, "You're afraid that I don't know anything and that I'd cause everything to stumble so you selflessly shared some of your belongings."
She shook her wrist, her big apricot-eyes bright and gleaming as she giggled loudly,
"Thanks."
However, a completely different train of thought ran rampant in her head. The Demon Restraining Circlets were originally a pair but now they both possessed one each. It stun of the sweet stench of sweethearts displaying their love. Was this considered a big step forward on the path to success?
"...I'll leave now." Mu Sheng bent over and picked up the bamboo dragonfly and placed it in his palm. Just before he exited the room, he paused for a moment and slightly tilted his head to the side. It wasn't clear what he was waiting for.
Ling Miaomiao didn't care so much and flipped around on the bed, facing the warm rays of the afternoon sun. She buried her head into the wondrously comfortable and soft pillow, then took a deep breath of the scent of pine. At the same time, she spoke in a muffled tone, "Young Noble Mu, help me close the door."
Ahhhh.... Being provided for in the imperial palace was such a great blessing.
Mu Sheng was absolutely still. He squeezed the bamboo dragonfly as he let his hand hang by his side. His index finger caressed the bamboo dragonfly's body, repeatedly streaking across the notches. It was carved from top to bottom in one smooth stroke. There wasn't even a single hint of hesitation in the cut.
—–Ziqi.
She only dared to call him this behind his back in a quiet voice. She always called him Young Noble Mu to his face but why did she never call him Ziqi?
He turned his body halfway, only to see the girl sprawled on the bed. Both of her feet were raised up in the air, kicking back and forth. The thin pants she wore slightly revealed the delicate ankles hidden beneath. She was just innocently burying her small face into the pillow and rubbing her face against it. This posture of hers... for some strange reason seemed to coincide with a certain, warm and comfortable dream.
"Bang."
The door was abruptly slammed shut, as if he was trying to shut off something else instead.
*
Over the past few months, going through late autumn and to the long, cold wintry winds, Princess Duanyang had been passing through her days with the Son of Heaven coming to visit her every few days. Peiyun would sit by her side, warmly serving them, and everything was calm and peaceful for the three.
To the small palace maids guarding outside, they would often feel thrilled when they heard the laughter of brother and sister coming out of the inner halls.
There was once a divide between the two that was as wide as the ocean. They only performed unfamiliar greetings to one another. However, after this whole experience, they grew to learn one another's heart.
They could even chat so joyously. They had found the intimacy one should've had between real blood-related families. Duanyang's identity as the most pampered princess of the country, had finally gained realization.
Everything was developing in a good direction. Other than Dowager Consort Zhao—-in everything that had happened up till now, she hadn't shown up at all. It was like she had turned taciturn.
When Ling Miaomiao took a stroll along the winding paths of the garden, she saw a long, continuous stream of people leaving Liuyue Palace. Court eunuchs dressed in official purple robes walked out in pairs and trios, carrying precious tea tables, pear blossom stools and four panel folding screens very carefully past her.
"Be careful, careful-..." The supervising eunuch's extended voice was just like a horsetail whisk commanding a unit, containing not a single hint of emotion.
"Excuse me, this is..."
The court eunuchs carrying the precious treasures nodded towards her, then smiling, "Dowager Consort Zhao is moving to a different palace. Please, excuse me."
This was the grand and glamorous Liuyue Palace... and Dowager Consort Zhao wanted to move away from here.
Two court eunuchs passed by her, carrying a stack of wooden chests, the top of which wasn't closed. She guessed it contained pearls, jewelry and hairpins within, judging from the crisp crinkling of precious gems colliding with one another. The two of them clenched their teeth and the veins on their foreheads popped out as they burst out with strength, lifting up the chests. Even their steps were uneven and shaky as they swayed back and forth.
"Ah ah...." One of them suddenly started shouting in a high-pitch voice. Before his voice even came out, the top chest slid to the right and tilted over with a loud noise. The open mouth of the chest was just like a giant beast spitting out a deluge, a deluge of necklaces, pearls, precious stones and other kinds of jewelry all over the ground.
The legs of the two eunuch's shivered and sweat rolled down their faces under the sweltering sun. The two of them placed the other chests back on the ground and started to toss the blame on the other.
"Rumble——–"
The weather had taken a sudden turn for the worse, dark clouds suddenly covering up the horizon. The sky turned into a stuffy dirt yellow color and the sound of thunder grew closer.
"What's going on?" The supervising eunuch ran out with a mouth full of curses.
The two couldn't place the blame on each other and could only hurriedly bend over to start picking them up. Large drops of rain were already starting to fall from the heavens, leaving countless circular marks on the ground where they fell.
Ling Miaomiao felt a sense of anxiety as she watched this happen so she also crouched down and helped pick them up. She collected a few light-colored Bead Flowers 1 in the palm of her hand. There was a gold hairpin on the ground with an exquisitely bound scroll next to it, slightly opened due to falling onto the ground.
Miaomiao reached out and pulled and the scroll, a painting, also opened up. The image of a person showed up without warning.
The painting was only a fourth of the size of a normal person's face, delicate and exquisite. Fully open, it only extended to her elbow. No wonder it was stuffed into the trousseau, hidden along with the pearls and beads.
The painting was somewhat old. The thin, light-gold skin gave off a warm feeling along with a noble air. In addition, the painting style was bold and in Gongbi. Even each and every strand of hair was painted in the style of Gongbi2.
The male in the painting had a white fox fur coat draped around him. The inner robe revealed beneath it was decorated in a low-key luxurious style with its decorative designs. He wore black cloud treading boots 3 and stood beside a horse, with a purple gold 4 crown adorned atop his head. However, the front half of his hair was carelessly tied up into a bun and the other half of his hair that glistened like shined copper was left draping over his shoulder. In this world, when one wore a crown, one couldn't let their hair down otherwise people would wag their little fingers.
However, the male in the painting grew a pair of long, narrow eyes that exuded nobility. His nose was tall and straight, his lips thin and tight. His temperament was clearly cold and arrogant, somehow turning the freely flowing hair into something that didn't seem out of place at all.
He was just like a tipsy young nobleman whose excitement was too thick so he mounted a white horse and rode madly and rushed about for days, completely disregarding how the wind and rain tossed and made a mess out of his hair. Until his excitement grew wan and he loftily alighted from his horse just like a snowflake falling during a winter night. Unintentionally causing those outside of the painting to look towards him.
Ling Miaomiao studied his features— High nose and deep eyes. The features most likely to appear on a heroic person. In addition, he had a white face and red lips that seemed like the result of a mountain of sea cucumbers, abalone and swordfish. 5 He was so beautiful he looked like he was photoshopped.
Interesting... Dowager Consort Zhao hid a pretty boy in her trousseau.
Miaomiao clicked her tongue as she closed the scroll. Suddenly she froze, then slowly opened it again.
Several large droplets of water landed on the painting and the downpour began to grow heavy.
...She had seen this person somewhere before.
This kind of stand-out appearance was good enough to shock people at first glance. Each and every part of his appearance was perfect but there wasn't anything unique to him. Thinking about it carefully, she could faintly remember 'handsome' being related to the face....
Where in the world did she see that face before?
It was... it was that... bronze bull and white horse passing through the city gates... hordes of the common people... red flags... Seven Fragrance Carriage...
She let out a gasp in astonishment, "... Marquis Qingyi!?"
According to the rumors of the current day Marquis Qingyi, he was as handsome as Pan An 6 and someone that looked heroic and elegant. He was definitely the man inside the dreams of every young girl in the country.
"Memory Fragment", Marquis Qingyi.
A shaky voice entered from her side, "How did you recognize Marquis Qingyi?"
*
The incense within the room was dense and all the windows and doors were tightly shut. The curtains were all let down and the room was both dusky and bleak. The very few streams of light that penetrated through, hit the tablet at a slanted angle.
Mu Yao and Dowager Consort Zhao sat, separated by a long old-fashioned ebony table, facing one another.
There was only a single, plain hairpin on Dowager Consort Zhao's hair. Shockingly, half of her hair had already turned white. Both the skin at the corners of her mouth and eyes had loosened. The bags she carried under her eyes were also shocking to see. Her eyes no longer contained their previous brilliance.
Mu Yao sighed internally. When they had first met, she had still been a middle-aged noblewoman who meticulously took care of herself. Yet, in just half a year, she now looked just like an old woman.
It had started to rain. The thick curtain of water fell down and knocked on the windows like an unceasing flood of peas. The curtains themselves shifted along with the lamentful howls of the wind.
Mu Yao opened the box in front of her. She picked up the jade tablet, adorned with red tassels and cinnabar beads. Then, she silently tucked it into her robes in silence.
Dowager Consort Zhao sat still, without making a single noise. She was just like a statue carved in her image.
This remote Chenxiang Palace was the original cold palace where discarded consorts went, utterly defeated. Once the old plots and schemes came to light, everyone started pointing fingers and under the Emperor's tacit acceptance, she isolated herself from the others. Since then, she had been living the life of a lonely widow.
"Dowager Consort, I still have something I wish to consult you on." Mu Yao was somewhat hesitant. "In the ruins of the old temple, I found my family's Demon Suppression Seal. The power of the seal is extremely powerful and if my memory serves me correctly, it would need both my parents working together to create such a seal...."
Dowager Consort Zhao nodded, her tone flat without the slightest perturbation, "Taoist Mu, you need not be so skeptical. Back then, this consort held onto the Mu family's jade tablet and drew up a lie, forcing your mother and father to suppress the demons within Xingshan Temple. To conceal the truth of the matter." She curled up the corner of her mouth. It was a cold, cold sneer. "Doing this kind of thing that goes against the heavens, I must be receiving retribution right now."
However, Mu Yao's doubt grew even more. She unintentionally let some anxiety enter her voice, "But if you already used the jade tablet a decade ago, then..." She took the jade tablet out of her sleeve, slanting her eyes at it, "This jade tablet..."
How could one person have two jade tablets?
Dowager Consort Zhao went silent for an extended period. She smiled in a strange manner, "That jade tablet in your hand isn't mine, it was gifted by someone else. If this matter didn't concern Minmin, and I had no other solution, I wouldn't have used it so easily.
Mu Yao frowned. The Mu family's jade tablet was extremely rare and hard to come across. It was a jade tablet with the power to control a Demon Hunter family. It could allow one to walk sideways 7, even the Tiger Army Medallion 8 would be considered less important. Who had given it to her so easily as a gift?
She didn't relent with her questions, "Who originally owned this jade tablet?"
Dowager Consort Zhao seemed to suddenly turn 10 years older, the gaze she used to stare at Mu Yao filled with great vicissitudes, "...This consort's younger brother, Zhao Qinghuan."
Sentiments flashed through her eyes, of guilt and pity. She stared at Mu Yao's face for a very long time. She seemed to want to say something but withheld in the end.
*
Marquis Qingyi passed away close to ten years ago. Unexpectedly, Miss Ling was able to recognize him..." Xu Gonggong's eyes peered through the thick mesh of wrinkles on his face to stare at her. He held onto a massive oiled, yellow paper umbrella, the two of them taking shelter underneath it.
His tone was somewhat strange, containing countless sighs within.
The light rain around them suddenly grew heavier. Large droplets of rain striking the earth in a loud symphony of pitter patters. The eunuchs who were transporting things, all made a racket, yelling as they hurried to bring the furniture and whatever else they were carrying, under the eaves to hide from the rain.
Ling Miaomiao studied the painting, returning the question with another question, "...Did Dowager Consort hide a painting of Marquis Qingyi in her boudoir?"
The old supervisor eunuch frowned. The look in his eyes as he looked at her was very strange, as if he was greatly dissatisfied at her less-than-friendly conjecture, "His highness Marquis Qingyi was our Dowager Consort's own younger brother by blood."
"......." Miaomiao was shell-shocked for a moment then hurriedly rolled up the painting and stuffed it into his hands. "Excuse me." She spun around and ran into the thick curtain of rain.
What a mess... Marquis Qingyi is Dowager Consort Zhao's younger brother???
Wait a moment, Marquis Qingyi died about 10 years ago. According to that timeframe... the child that broke into the Seven Fragrance Carriage to choke him... if we consider the ages, they seem to line up....
The Black Lotus and Dowager Consort Zhao couldn't see eye-to-eye because they had some sort of telepathic connection due to the resentment for killing someone's family? Dowager Consort Zhao racked her head thinking of a way to send a small tiger over. What was her meaning? Raising a tiger invites calamity? Act as the accomplice of the tiger? 9
She jogged her brain but still couldn't understand anything.
*
At the end of their conversation, Mu Yao took out a skinned leather box painted red and opened it. She pushed it in front of Dowager Consort Zhao. On the golden yellow cloth lay two black stones. The moment Dowager Consort Zhao saw them, she reacted as if she had been burned, immediately closing her eyes and rubbing her temples. Acting as if she was suffering from a great headache.
Mu Yao didn't pause because of her overt resistance, asking, "Dowager Consort, do you know what this is?"
"What else?" Dowager Consort Zhao supported her head as she coldly smiled, "They're evil objects."
They had fooled her, harming her for eternity. These evil objects.
Mu Yao pitifully looked at her, "Fuyi and I checked them, these so called śarīra are actually just Tao Yushi's teeth."
"........" Dowager Consort Zhao immediately raised her head. The corners of her mouth twitched, countless wrinkles forming along with the movement.
Tao Yushi did not live to have a good ending. After death, she was mistakenly taken as a holy object and worshipped and revered. It was all a scheme Tao Ying had concocted to mock her.
Mu Yao and her locked gazes for a long time before finally sighing, "Although this matter has come to an end, there are still many questionable points to be understood. With just the strength of a single demon, it's not possible to give these two teeth so much power."
"Also, the remains and ashes of the people of Xingshan Temple. How could it possibly get all the way to Jingyang Slope? And then get mixed into the incense...."
She stared at Dowager Consort Zhao, "Dowager Consort, we suspect that there's a great demon behind the scenes conducting all of this mischief. That's why we have to investigate the clue with Li Zhun at Jingyang Slope."
Dowager Consort Zhao seemed absolutely weary. She barely forced herself to continue being courteous, only apathetically nodding, "Do as you wish."
End of Second Volume