Meng Anli nodded guiltily. "Mm!"
Empress Chu looked at the bloodstained shoes. Combined with what Meng Anli had said, she could guess why she had used Meng Ying's identity.
She did not blame her, only worried. "Wouldn't the Crown Prince be difficult to deal with? Meng Ying won't be able to handle him, will she? Should we hide Meng Ying first?"
"That was what I was thinking too." Meng Anli asked Meng Ying, "Do you have any wishes, or anywhere you want to go? I can grant them all."
Meng Ying raised a chicken drumstick and shouted with her arm held high, "I want to cultivate immortality!"
Empress Chu looked at her in surprise.
Meng Ying wiped the grease from her mouth and spoke seriously.
"Mother, I want to protect you. I want to cultivate immortality and become stronger. But I saw you wake from nightmares countless times, saw how afraid you were of those who could fly and wield spiritual power, so I never dared say it.
"Today, when Miss Anli came and casually immobilized me, I understood even more deeply how important great strength was. I want to become stronger even more.
"I kept thinking all day about how to tell you."
Tears glimmered at the corners of Empress Chu's eyes. "Child, no wonder you barely ate anything. You could only eat one chicken drumstick. So this was what had been troubling you."
Meng Ying flashed a grin. "As long as Mother isn't angry with me."
"You were considering Mother's sake. How could Mother be angry? It's only that cultivating immortality..." Empress Chu looked toward Meng Anli. "Would she need to go to the Heavenly Court? She would run into the Crown Prince, wouldn't she?"
Meng Anli had been pondering ever since Meng Ying said she wanted to cultivate immortality.
Now, she answered without hesitation, "There's a good place—Taishan Academy. Taishan Academy is an academy for cultivating Dao arts, second only to Xuantian Academy. Its management is strict, and outsiders cannot enter. The Heavenly Emperor might be able to enter, but the Crown Prince certainly cannot."
Empress Chu looked at Meng Ying again.
Meng Ying did not hesitate. "That sounds great! I'll go there."
Meng Anli said, "I'll go ask my master first. Then I'll come down and take her there."
"No." Empress Chu rose and straightened her clothes.
"I'll go find Your Majesty. He has some acquaintance with Taishan Academy's headmaster, so there will be no need to wait three days. I'll tell you now—I am willing to go to the Heavenly Court. But you cannot be the one to take me there. In the Heavenly Realm, it is better if we remain enemies."
Meng Anli did not quite understand.
Empress Chu smiled softly. "According to what you said, the Crown Prince is not merely interested in Meng Ying. He has already developed feelings for her.
"Before he left, he also said he would investigate. Once he finds out what happened to me, he will want to dispel Meng Ying's concerns. He will surely have me go to the Meng family to erase my trauma, so that I will agree to let Meng Ying be with him."
"I won't be with him," Meng Ying refused. "I want to become stronger."
Empress Chu looked at her with a gentle smile. "Mother will follow your wishes. We are only discussing the Crown Prince's methods right now."
Meng Anli hesitated. "Will that work? The Crown Prince is actually rather cold-hearted. Maybe he'll forget about it in a few days."
Empress Chu said, "As long as he comes, I will have a way to make him willingly take me to the Heavenly Court. If he does not come, I will climb Chongwu Mountain alone. In any case, it is better not to let others know that our relationship is good."
Meng Anli could not help admiring her. This was what a truly intelligent and resilient woman was like.
After settling several details with Empress Chu, Meng Anli returned to Xuantian Academy.
She flew straight toward Qin Zhai.
After landing at the entrance, she took a deep breath and dragged her feet inside.
The courtyard was brilliantly lit. The peach blossom tree glowed pink, while fireflies flitted around its blossoms.
Her originally tense heart became slightly distracted. What was going on with this peach tree?
It was already midsummer, yet it bloomed so splendidly.
"Zheng~"
A zither note brimming with killing intent startled peach blossoms into raining down.
Meng Anli shuddered in fright and nearly dropped to her knees.
Her gaze lowered, and she saw her master playing the zither beneath the tree.
Her master wore flowing white robes, his wide sleeves drifting as though he might take flight. His ink-black hair fluttered with the zither's melody.
That transcendent, devastatingly beautiful face was even more dazzling than the peach blossoms falling behind him.
As his lean, fair, long fingers danced over the strings, one solemn, murderous note after another poured forth.
She felt as though her master was playing the artery in her neck.
Yuan Tuo stood three zhang away from him, silent as a cicada in winter.
He gave Meng Anli a look that told her to pray for herself.
Meng Anli's knees went weak, and she dropped to her knees at once. "Master, I was wrong."
Yun Jing's fingers did not stop. He merely said blandly, "What did you do wrong?"
Joy rose in Meng Anli's heart. He was letting her explain.
That meant there was still hope.
She quickly recited the words she had rehearsed all the way here. "I should not have gone traveling with the Crown Prince, but I only traveled with him for the sake of my plan."
"Oh?" Yun Jing's fingers slowed, and the tune turned gentle and melodious.
Meng Anli secretly let out a breath of relief, knowing she had said the right thing.
She continued, "I was worried that the Meng family would form an alliance with the Crown Prince. Using Meng Ying's identity, I plotted against Meng Shiwan. But I also did not want the Crown Prince to be drawn to her, so..."
Yun Jing finished for her, "So you drew the Crown Prince to yourself?"
Meng Anli stressed, "Using Meng Ying's identity. I thought that if the Crown Prince truly became interested in Meng Ying, he would not keep staring at me. It would also make it much easier for me to break off the engagement later. And besides..."
Meng Anli's eyes sparkled. "I even inadvertently helped bring about something important."
Namely, the possibility that the Crown Prince would take Empress Chu to the Heavenly Realm.
Meng Anli explained this possibility, then said, "I never even showed myself. No one would ever think it was me. This move is called turning the bright into the dark, killing two birds with one arrow."
Yun Jing looked at her lively, faintly proud brows and eyes. His fingers moved slightly, and the zither melody became cheerful and flowing.
"It is killing three birds with one arrow."
Meng Anli looked at him in confusion.
Yun Jing counted them out. "You stopped the Meng family from allying with the Crown Prince, prepared for breaking off your engagement, and used the Crown Prince to bring Empress Chu to the Heavenly Court."
"Ah." Meng Anli suddenly understood. "If we count it that way, there is another bird. I also obtained the formula for explosives."
Yun Jing pretended not to know. "What explosives?"
"It's like this."
Meng Anli seized the chance to rise. As she walked to the small stone table to pour Yun Jing some tea, she explained both the explosives and their formula.
Yun Jing looked at the clear, fragrant tea before him. His fingers pressed lightly, and the zither fell silent.
He raised a hand and accepted the tea.
Meng Anli immediately said, "Master accepted my tea, so you're not angry anymore, right?"
With a turn of his wrist, Yun Jing poured the entire cup of tea onto the ground.
The movement flowed like clouds and running water, without the slightest pause.
Meng Anli: "..."
She should not have pushed her luck.
Yuan Tuo watched with his heart in his throat.
Little Anli, you truly have the audacity to touch the heavens.
Who dared negotiate terms with Great Emperor Dangmo?
As her elder brother, he gritted his teeth and stepped forward. "Anli, she..."
Yun Jing cast him a sidelong glance. "Shouldn't you be preparing lessons?"
"I should." Yuan Tuo gave Meng Anli a sympathetic look, then fled.
This brother had done all he could.
But his master was exceptionally tolerant toward Anli. Anli would surely turn danger into safety.
Before you continue