The witnesses and evidence were all there, and the verdict had been reached. They could announce the final punishment now.
Elder Feng said,
"Jian Wushuang was born into a renowned Aristocratic Clan and has been part of our Wuya Sect for fifteen hundred years. During that time, she disregarded the Sect Rules, took her fellow Junior Sister's innocence, and abandoned the child in her womb. This falls under Article 132 of the Wuya Sect Rules. We also accept the supplementary opinion of Ye Xiaoyao's Master, the Heavenly Sword Venerable. The final sentence is to have her bones ground to dust and her ashes scattered."
Thump.
At those words, Jian Wushuang nearly burst into tears.
Cruel. Too cruel.
This punishment might as well have said, "We're helping Ye Xiaoyao get revenge." That would've been simpler and more direct.
"I still have something to say. Ye Xiaoyao isn't here, so you can't pass judgment on me just yet. That's unfair." Jian Wushuang clung to her last sliver of hope, wishing Ye Xiaoyao would say a word or two in her defense.
If she still couldn't escape the fate of having her bones ground to dust and her ashes scattered, she would have no choice but to reveal her greatest secret to everyone.
Elder Feng stroked his beard. "What do you think?"
He wasn't the sort to deny someone a chance to speak. He preferred for people to accept their fate willingly.
Beside him, Elder Yun calmly sipped her tea.
The two elders, Feng and Yun, held real power in the Wuya Sect and enjoyed high status.
Ye Qingxian hauled over a chair of her own accord, set down a table, and poured herself a cup of tea as well.
The Female Protagonist came from a mysterious background and was the greatest prodigy in all of Jiuzhou. Even the sect master had to show her some respect.
Only Jian Wushuang was so nervous she wanted to bang her head against the ground.
All her hopes now rested on Ye Xiaoyao's arrival.
Junior Sister Ye Xiaoyao, I'm your own Senior Brother! You can't falsely accuse me.
The Heavenly Sword Venerable sensed where Ye Xiaoyao was. Her tone was stern and cold with killing intent. "I don't want a word of the conversation that just took place in the main hall to reach anyone's ears."
"Or else..." She let the words hang, and everyone else immediately understood.
She had to make sure Ye Xiaoyao didn't hear even a whisper of what had happened, to prevent any possible chain reaction from jeopardizing the plan.
The two elders, Feng and Yun, readily agreed. Jian Wushuang was still a suspect, so what right did she have to refuse? Even if she disagreed, she could only go along with it. Only Ye Qingxian seemed lost in thought, staring at the teapot on the table. Its glazed surface reflected her peerlessly beautiful young face.
Was she really an illegitimate daughter?
And the kind of illegitimate daughter Ye Xiaoyao didn't know about.
It was my first time meeting the Heavenly Sword Venerable, and there was no faking the nerves I felt.
Especially knowing that Jian Wushuang and Ye Qingxian were already inside.
How was this any different from a trial before three judges?
I entered the main hall, and my spineless nature immediately got the better of me. The towering figure seated high above seemed so imposing, while I was so tiny at the bottom of the hall that I didn't dare look anyone in the eye.
"M-Master."
My voice was as soft as my demeanor, like a ball of cotton candy anyone could bully.
I was just about to kneel on the floor.
To show my respect.
Who knew the Heavenly Sword Venerable would stand up at once? She raised one hand, and an invisible force lifted me upright. "You're the victim. You don't need to kneel when meeting your Master." She was an outsider, much like an otherworldly demon. She couldn't accept the Great Devil King of this world kneeling to her; it would go against the rules.
The Heavenly Sword Venerable was so shamelessly biased. The two elders, Feng and Yun, had long since grown numb to it. She might as well have held Ye Xiaoyao over her head and shown her off to everyone.
The two of them were unexpectedly calm now, as if they'd seen it coming.
The Heavenly Sword Venerable and Elders Feng and Yun were all Contemporary Great Powers. The former's cultivation was simply more terrifying. All of them could see at a glance that Ye Xiaoyao's fate had become entangled with someone else's. That meant she was carrying a child, and the baby in her womb had already developed a heartbeat. Considering the difference in her appearance and bearing, they could immediately tell that Ye Qingxian hadn't been lying.
"Ye Xiaoyao."
"Look up and tell me: is Jian Wushuang the father of the child in your womb?"
Only then did I have a moment to look around the main hall.
It was resplendent with gold and jade, and so imposing.
What should I do? I was such a coward. I didn't dare say a word.
Jian Wushuang was huddled in a corner, looking almost "pitiful." I gaped at her, then suddenly realized, after thinking it through, that I was the real culprit.
Ahem. Well, I was bad, all right.
Junior Sister, Junior Sister, Little Ancestor, you absolutely mustn't say anything ridiculous.
Look carefully at who I am!!
You can't let pregnancy make you old-eyed and mistake a deer for a horse!!
Jian Wushuang was screaming like a groundhog in her heart.
I blinked my beautiful red eyes. Everyone was waiting for me to speak.
The little girl's big, watery eyes sparkled. The hem of her Immortal Skirt, falling just above her knees, caught the eye, and its elegant color made her look even more gentle and well-behaved.
I was also mulling over what had happened.
In theory, I should have beaten Jian Wushuang to death.
But I knew she was a woman.
Since I couldn't beat her to death, I could only let her off.
I still had to play the part of an innocent young girl who knew nothing of the world. I took out the flying sword Jian Wushuang had dropped that day, laid it across my soft, pale palm, and closed my fingers around it.
Below the main hall,
Ye Xiaoyao's five small black fingernails were strikingly conspicuous. Her words made Jian Wushuang's heart race all over again. "Senior Brother, you left your flying sword with me last time."
"Are you still going to take me to play at your cave dwelling?"
At those words, Jian Wushuang froze like a wooden chicken.
Junior Sister.
Why did you always say things that made people misunderstand?
How were you any different from the little green teas in those storybooks?
Oh, no. Junior Sister was telling the truth.
How could she suspect that Junior Sister wasn't a pure little white flower?
Ye Xiaoyao's image had long been ingrained in everyone's minds.
Look—
Jian Wushuang was still reflecting on her own wickedness.
Not one person noticed the sly glint in the depths of Ye Xiaoyao's eyes.
"I mean flying on the sword, flying on the sword! We were going to try out the flying sword's functions in the cave dwelling." Jian Wushuang had never been this anxious. She hurriedly protested at the top of her voice, terrified the others would misunderstand.
Once I stepped into the main hall,
I knew I wasn't in any danger when I saw that no one was looking at me with suspicion.
That was the importance of one's reputation.
I was just a victim. I hadn't even said that Jian Wushuang was the child's father.
What could I have done wrong?
"Reporting to Master, the baby in my womb has nothing to do with Jian Wushuang." My tone was solemn and firm. Jian Wushuang's favorability toward me shot up in an instant. Was anything more thrilling than a life of dizzying ups and downs?
Little Ancestor Ye Xiaoyao had saved her life!
The soft voice from the main hall continued.
"I only agreed to meet Senior Sister in the Peach Blossom Forest because I had feelings for her."
At those words, Jian Wushuang finally felt her heart settle.
Hahaha, she knew it! How could Junior Sister be a little green tea, deliberately misleading everyone all along?
Now her greatest secret was safe.
Knowing she'd wronged someone, Ye Qingxian was still a little indignant. "You still deserve to die. You're just like the father of the baby in her womb—you actually tried to lay hands on your own Junior Sister. You must be punished."
Elders Feng and Yun nodded slowly in agreement. "Jian Wushuang devoted herself to cultivating the Ruthless Dao and did nothing wrong there, but she coveted her own Junior Sister. She is sentenced to fifty years in the cold pool, starting today."
Fifty years. A mere fifty years.
Jian Wushuang let out a long breath.
It would be over in the blink of an eye.
The punishment wasn't serious at all. She looked at Junior Sister with gratitude. "Junior Sister, this was entirely my fault. I'll make it up to you someday. Just wait for me to finish my sentence in the cold pool."
I played to perfection the part of a young girl who'd just realized she'd merely been a tool for someone's Ruthless Dao.
As if I'd only just learned the whole story, my little face went deathly pale for an instant, as though struck by lightning. One small hand clutched the hem of my skirt. I didn't look at Jian Wushuang in front of me; instead, I stared at a pattern on the floor, biting my lip as if trying to hold back tears.
I knew I should say something aggrieved, to win myself favor and make people feel guilty.
But I really wasn't a green tea.
I... was just a coward.
We cowards clutched our skirts and stared at the floor. Were we supposed to jump out and start reciting green tea lines?
Just then, a little punching bag shed a single useless tear.
Who knew that this only made the effect even better?
She knew it. Junior Sister definitely wasn't a green tea.
Her last trace of suspicion vanished.
Jian Wushuang felt even guiltier.
This was her Junior Sister. Even when she knew other people were bullying her, she wouldn't get angry.
That gentle little girl was always so mild-mannered. No matter how harshly anyone spoke to her, she would just silently bear it alone.
She... really was the one who should be ashamed.
Jian Wushuang went to accept her punishment, guilt weighing on her heart.
Ye Xiaoyao's appearance also satisfied the Heavenly Sword Venerable in secret.
Good, good. This was exactly her plan to make Ye Xiaoyao ordinary.
Even the Great Devil King could become a punching bag.
She didn't dare shout back when people bullied her.
The future level-five world was saved. Another supreme Devil King who ruled over everyone would never appear.
She could finally set her mind at ease and keep observing.
Ye Qingxian also stared at her Junior Sister, her gaze inscrutable.
She was utterly confused.
What was her Junior Sister thinking?
What unspeakable reason lay behind her refusal to reveal the identity of her biological father?
This time, even Master had stepped in.
Surely she'd learn the truth at last, right?
She had a feeling the truth would leave even her shocked and stunned. It would hit like a meteor tearing through the heavens—otherwise, why hide it so carefully?
As they watched the scene unfold before them, the two elders, Feng and Yun, looked at the Heavenly Sword Venerable with complicated expressions.
Whether she was the illegitimate daughter of an Immortal scion's second generation or third generation, she could only endure this humiliation and neglect.
Even the favor she showed her dared only come out when no one else was around.
Such a beautiful little girl should have been a Little Princess adored by everyone. What had she been raised into?
So timid she barely dared to raise her voice.
At that very moment,
As everyone stared at Ye Xiaoyao, their thoughts in a muddle, one burning question gnawed at them all.
It was like gossip: the bigger the secret, the more it stoked everyone's curiosity.
If it wasn't Jian Wushuang's—
Then whose child was it?
Judging by how hesitant and awkward Ye Xiaoyao looked, was there some unspeakable reason behind all this?
Before you continue