Changsun's Fury

Zhenji Kingdom had lost. It had lost not only twenty thousand warhorses, but also the ability to raise a great army again within the next ten years.

With the agreement laid down in black and white, along with the seal of Zhenji Kingdom's ruler, Zhenji Kingdom could not possibly go back on its word.

Most importantly, Great Xia was the strongest nation in this world and stood on the side of reason. If anyone still dared to renege, Marquis Buyi's two hundred thousand Black Feather Army would no longer merely be there to guard the borders.

The remaining matters were the work of Great Xia's various ministers. Most of Great Xia's Martial Marquises were stationed outside the capital; those left within the imperial city were basically civil generals and Confucian officials. Still, they were more than enough to handle such affairs.

Having completed his task, Ning Chen did nothing but cultivate and await the Xia Emperor's decree.

At last, on the third day, the Xia Emperor's decree arrived. Xia Miaoyu, daughter of Prince Hua, was specially conferred the title of Princess Miaoyu and sent to Zhenji Kingdom for a political marriage. Ning Chen's name stood conspicuously on the list of those escorting the bridal party.

Changsun and Qing Ling were both stunned upon hearing the Imperial Edict. Changsun in particular was not only furious, but deeply shocked as well.

Having spent so long in the palace, how could she fail to guess the reason? Ning Chen's name had clearly been added at the last minute; it was neither here nor there. The Xia Emperor's addition of that single stroke obviously meant someone had pleaded for him.

Within this palace, there was only one person Ning Chen could have approached who could influence the Xia Emperor: the Ninth Princess.

"Very good. Very good!"

In the main hall of Weiyang Palace, Changsun stood in the hall, her face livid with rage. She snapped, "Someone, bring Ning Chen here."

"I'll go," Qing Ling said, worry filling her heart.

"You stay here." Changsun was furious, and even her tone toward Qing Ling had become much harsher. She knew Ning Chen and Qing Ling were close, which made it all the more impossible for Qing Ling to go.

Not long afterward, Ning Chen arrived slowly. His expression was calm, devoid of his usual faintly bashful smile and without the slightest hint of fear.

"Empress Dowager."

For the first time, Ning Chen knelt and respectfully kowtowed.

At the sight of Ning Chen, Changsun's fury rose even higher. She slammed her palm onto the table and roared, "Are you so impatient to leave?"

Ning Chen raised his head and calmly replied, "Empress Dowager, I imagine you understand as well. My nature is not suited to palace life. So long as I remain here, sooner or later I'll bring disaster upon myself."

"I am the Empress of Great Xia! Can I not protect you? What exactly are you afraid of?" The more Changsun thought about it, the angrier she became. She nearly wanted to smash the teacup on the table into his face.

"I'm afraid that one day, when the trouble I cause grows too great, the first person to order my head cut off will be you, Empress Dowager." Ning Chen let out a quiet sigh.

Bang! Unable to contain her fury, Changsun seized the teacup and hurled it viciously at Ning Chen. With a crack, it struck his forehead, splashing blood everywhere.

"You have disappointed me too deeply."

Seeing blood streaming down Ning Chen's face while he still refused to lower his head, Changsun trembled from head to toe with rage. Closing her eyes, she said in disappointment, "You have disappointed me too deeply."

"The Ninth Princess has arrived."

Just then, Xia Xinyu entered. The moment she stepped into the hall and saw the scene before her, her heart jolted again.

She had expected her mother to lose her temper, but she had never expected her to be this enraged.

"Kneel!"

Changsun suddenly opened her eyes and glared at Xia Xinyu as she barked the command.

Xia Xinyu's expression changed slightly. Obediently, she knelt, shock filling her heart. This was the first time she had ever seen her mother fly into such a towering rage.

In this palace, everyone wore a mask. Genuine emotions were rarely revealed. Her mother's state now meant she was truly aflame with anger.

"You have some nerve. I have raised you for so many years, yet I never expected you to turn all your schemes against your own mother!"

Changsun stared at Xia Xinyu, fury burning in her chest. Every single person around her was truly something else!

When rage reached its peak, it became hatred. Changsun hated the two of them, and she hated herself as well—she hated them for failing to live up to expectations, and hated herself for not seeing clearly.

Yet the boat had already sailed; the Imperial Edict had been issued. Even if she stepped forward, the Xia Emperor could not retract it. A ruler's word was no jest, and it could never be changed for anyone.

The bridal escort had been set for the end of the month, less than twenty days away. That meant Ning Chen had less than twenty days before leaving the palace.

A trace of exhaustion flashed through Changsun's heart. She no longer wished to pursue the matter further. Sitting in the seat of honor, she waved a hand and said, "Since you chose to help him leave the palace, you will bear the remaining five months of confinement in his place. Withdraw."

"Mother!" Xia Xinyu cried out in alarm, her face draining of color.

"Withdraw!" Changsun slammed the table and shouted.

"Yes." Xia Xinyu reluctantly performed a salute, then rose and left.

This time, she had miscalculated.

After Xia Xinyu left, Ning Chen was the only one still kneeling below. Qing Ling stood to one side, yet she did not dare plead for him. She understood the Empress Dowager's disappointment, and even she could not understand Ning Chen's actions.

Even if he wanted to leave the palace, given the Empress Dowager's favor toward him, if he asked often enough, he might not have failed. There had truly been no need to use such desperate means to rush out of the palace.

Looking at Ning Chen kneeling before her, blood flowing freely down his face, Changsun recalled scene after scene since he had entered the palace. Forcibly suppressing the anger in her heart, she said in a deep voice, "I will give you one final chance. If you admit your mistake and return obediently after escorting the bridal party, I can pretend none of this ever happened."

Ning Chen let out a heavy sigh but said nothing. Things had come to this—how could he turn back now?

If he did not want to die in the palace, he had to leave as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, he could not tell Changsun any of this. He could only keep hiding it from her.

"Good. Very good!"

Changsun rose in fury, then strode from the main hall with an ashen face.

Qing Ling gave the kneeling Ning Chen a complicated look. Without saying a single word, she followed Changsun out.

Ning Chen remained kneeling on the ground in silence. He continued to kneel there, bitterness filling his heart, along with guilt and sorrow.

As the sun set and the moon rose, the lights in Changsun's sleeping palace remained lit. In Weiyang Palace's main hall, Ning Chen still had not risen. Palace maids came several times, replacing the candles before hurrying away again. No one dared linger for even a moment.

Neither of them was willing to yield half a step. Changsun was waiting for Ning Chen to admit his mistake, yet all she received was disappointment, again and again.

It was not that Ning Chen did not wish to admit fault, but that he could not. He truly could not return. He could deceive everyone beneath heaven, but he did not wish to deceive Changsun.

In her room before the rear garden, Qing Ling looked at the brightly lit main hall and Changsun's sleeping palace, her heart tangled beyond measure. She knew both the Empress Dowager and Ning Chen were stubborn people. This time, there truly was no turning back.

She could not understand why Ning Chen, with his nature, had chosen this path.

It was not only Qing Ling who could not understand. Even Changsun in her sleeping palace was wondering why. Ning Chen had not been in the palace long, and he had once been easy to read: clever, proud, grateful for kindness and eager to repay it, sometimes so stubborn he seemed foolish.

But what, exactly, had made him so desperate to leave the palace?

Time passed bit by bit. Changsun and Qing Ling both remained awake all night, while Ning Chen knelt in Weiyang Palace's main hall for the entire night. Those who did not understand could never figure out why; those who understood could never speak it aloud.

At dawn, Changsun had matters to attend to. She left Weiyang Palace with Qing Ling accompanying her. As they passed the main hall, Changsun's steps visibly faltered, yet she still did not stop.

What happened in Weiyang Palace quickly spread. Everyone in the palace knew the Empress Dowager had flown into a furious rage the day before, and that the little eunuch who had recently stolen all the limelight had knelt in Weiyang Palace's main hall for an entire night. Yet no one knew the reason.

Besides that, another matter also drew considerable attention. It was said that the person entering the political marriage had not been personally chosen by the Xia Emperor, but had been requested by Prince Hua's daughter, Xia Miaoyu, herself. Prince Hua could not win against her stubbornness and could only agree helplessly.

Xia Miaoyu had already been conferred the title of princess, and every aspect of the political marriage had to follow the standards for an imperial princess's wedding. As the Empress of Great Xia and mistress of the harem, Changsun had to personally inspect every dowry and ceremonial item, leaving her too busy to concern herself with anything else.

Ning Chen continued kneeling in Weiyang Palace's main hall and seemed gradually to have been forgotten. Even the palace no longer paid attention to the matter. When it was mentioned occasionally, people merely sighed in secret, feeling pity for the little eunuch who had once dazzled them.

People said the imperial family was heartless. This was the finest example. No matter how astonishingly gifted you were, once you made a mistake, you would be cast down into the dust.

Three days later, Ning Chen, who had not taken even a drop of water, collapsed in the hall. Changsun's hands trembled upon hearing the news, but no emotion showed on her face. She merely said, "Take good care of him," and spoke no further.

However, from that day onward, whether Changsun went out or busied herself in Weiyang Palace, she no longer allowed Qing Ling to accompany her.

Ning Chen was unconscious for only a short while before waking. After drinking some water and applying some medicine, he was mostly fine. Qing Ling came afterward. Seeing his pale face and cracked lips, pity flashed across her face as she rebuked him, "Why put yourself through this?"

Ning Chen grinned weakly. "I had no choice. I'm sorry."

"The one you should apologize to is not me, but the Empress Dowager," Qing Ling could not help saying scornfully.

"Heh." Ning Chen shook his head and gave a bitter smile.

"Do you have to leave?"

Seeing this, Qing Ling said no more. With a soft sigh, she asked.

"I have to leave!"

Ning Chen nodded in reply.

This was his only chance. If his guess was correct, once the political marriage was over, the batch of little eunuchs who had recently entered the palace would certainly undergo another inspection.

At that time, no one would be able to protect him. Even Changsun's reputation would be implicated.

Two days later, Ning Chen's body had mostly recovered. Qing Ling left the palace once, and when she returned, she brought back a strangely shaped medicinal herb. The moment the box was opened, one could feel a faint chill.

"Take it." Qing Ling's expression was serious.

"What is it?" Ning Chen did not suspect anything. Hearing that, he swallowed it. It was extremely bitter, and once it entered his body, a chill spread through him.

"Heavenly Frost Grass," Qing Ling explained calmly. "The true qi within your body is cold in nature. This Heavenly Frost Grass will help you temper your foundation and speed up your cultivation."

Ning Chen understood only half of it. Curious, he asked, "Is it expensive?"

"It doesn't cost silver," Qing Ling replied blandly.

It did not cost silver; it cost spirit jade. But there was no need to tell him that.

"Starting today, I'll teach you movement techniques. You had better prepare yourself."

As she spoke, Qing Ling turned and walked toward the door. "Follow me."

Ning Chen followed her all the way to the rear garden. October had arrived, and flowers filled the garden in fallen ruin. When the autumn wind swept through, petals drifted across the sky.

"Watch carefully."

The instant her words fell, Qing Ling moved. In a flash, her shadow flew like snow. Amid the falling flowers, she became a small boat swaying beneath a curved moon, dancing with the wind, not a single leaf touching her body.

Ning Chen stared from the side, dumbfounded. What a monster.

They were about the same age—how could the gap between people be so vast?

After a moment, Qing Ling stopped and looked at Ning Chen. Calmly, she asked, "Did you see the footwork clearly?"

Ning Chen shook his head furiously. See it clearly? As if.

Qing Ling did not mind and continued, "How much did you see?"

"Hehe."

Ning Chen scratched his head sheepishly, stepped forward twice, and drew a huge circle on the ground.

"I only saw this step."

"..."

Qing Ling's face turned cold. She forcibly suppressed her fury and barely managed not to go over and hit him. That was where she had been standing at the beginning.

Walking forward, she kicked his right leg aside and snapped, "Stand on one leg. For one hour, do not let me see you switch to the other."

Ning Chen grimaced in pain but did not dare cry out. Drawing in cold breaths, he stood on his left leg, his body swaying continuously from side to side.

After a quarter of an hour, Ning Chen could already feel his left leg going numb, and his body swayed even more violently.

But when he saw Qing Ling's cold expression in the distance, his heart trembled. He still gritted his teeth and steadied himself.

After half an hour, Ning Chen seemed unable to feel his left leg at all. Yet his knee throbbed with burning pain. It was the old injury from kneeling earlier, not yet fully healed.

Qing Ling stood there without the slightest reaction. She could tell Ning Chen's knee injury had not damaged his muscles or bones. Even if it hurt, he had brought it upon himself.