Princess Qingli's True Form

Lin Qi drank himself into oblivion in the imperial city, while Elysian Heaven raged through Blood Xiang War City until sun and moon lost their light. Meanwhile, Qingxi Commandery Prince rode alone on a light horse to Princess Qingli's residence. After a brief announcement, Qingxi Commandery Prince went straight into the tallest white tower at the heart of the princess's estate. Attended by two palace maids draped in gauze, he followed a spiraling secret passage deep underground.

The underground palace, more than a hundred zhang below the surface, was deep and dim. Within the chamber, several dozen zhang in length and width, only a few pearl-sized luminous beads hung overhead. Their faint glow lit up the pale blue patterns on the surrounding walls. They were carvings of all manner of strange birds and beasts, every one of them lifelike, as though they might leap from the walls at any moment.

As for the floor, it was formed from a single enormous slab of ten-thousand-year cold jade. The semitransparent jade radiated a bone-chilling cold that made even Ying Shao shudder. He looked around the empty hall, then suddenly smiled. "Imperial Sister, I know you've returned from the imperial city."

A shadow flickered. Princess Qingli, clad in a robe of azure feathers, silently appeared several meters behind Ying Shao. In her hand was a pale blue longsword fashioned entirely from cold jade that radiated piercing frost. Its tip lightly tapped against the massive slab of cold jade beneath her feet as she softly asked, "What are you here for? At a time like this, shouldn't you be drinking and celebrating in the imperial city?"

Ying Shao turned around and smiled as he bowed to Princess Qingli. "There is simply something I would like to ask Imperial Sister."

Princess Qingli casually tossed away