The Oriole Behind

"Your Majesty!!" Three voices rang out at once.

"Did you not hear what I said?! Send someone at once and kill this boy!!"

Yang Qingchan cried out in alarm, staggered back several steps, and fell beside the white jade balustrade!

"Little Mistress! Are you all right?" The Palace Attendant spoke in a thin, delicate voice as he hurried forward to support her!

The palace gates swung open, and the Han Emperor approached with a surprised smile. "Why is my daughter here?"

"Mother isn't here, Father is busy, and there's nowhere for your daughter to play!" Yang Qingchan got to her feet. The Han Emperor smiled. "There are so many girls in the palace. Which one of them cannot play with you? Palace Attendant!"

"This old servant is here!"

"Take good care of the princess!"

The Han Emperor turned and went inside, sat beside the long table, and continued reviewing memorials.

Yang Qingchan pulled the Palace Attendant to a secluded spot, drew a dagger from her hand, and said coldly, "You are not to tell anyone about what happened today! Otherwise..."

The Palace Attendant pulled a long face. "This old servant is blind and deaf. What could I possibly say? I know nothing at all!"

Yang Qingchan burst out laughing. She removed an earring and gathered a little pill power in her left palm. The golden earring immediately melted into a lump of gold, which she stuffed into the Palace Attendant's hand. "Here, this is for you!"

The Palace Attendant beamed and reached for it, but Yang Qingchan giggled. "Didn't you say you were blind? How can you recognize gold?"

The Palace Attendant smiled bitterly. "When this old servant ought to be blind, he truly is blind. But gold shines wherever it is placed. Even a blind man can recognize it!"

Yang Qingchan laughed until her stomach hurt, then stuffed it into his hand and whispered, "Prepare a set of men's clothes for me!"

"Th-this!" The Palace Attendant was startled and hurriedly waved his hands. "Little Mistress, please do not make things difficult for this servant!"

"Oh? I'll shout right now that you stole palace treasure! Do you believe me?" Yang Qingchan pressed forward step by step, gripping the hand in which the Palace Attendant held the gold!

The Palace Attendant pleaded with a bitter smile, "This old servant will think of something, think of something!"

"That's more like it!"

At the hour of the Rooster, the Palace Attendant had a palace maid deliver a bundle containing men's clothing to Yang Qingchan, who lived in Weiyang Palace. Once she received the clothes, she took her treasured sword and exchanged garments with a palace maid whose appearance resembled her own. But when she reached the inner palace gates, she was shocked to see the Commandant of the Palace Guards personally leading halberd-bearing guards in overseeing the inner palace. Terrified, she grabbed the palace maid and retreated once more into Weiyang Palace.

"Why did Father suddenly strengthen the guards? Could he have seen through me this morning?" Yang Qingchan was so anxious that fragrant sweat covered her brow. She lay weeping over the table.

Before long, peach blossoms filled the sky and drifted down! Yang Qingchan cried out joyfully, "Senior Brother! Senior Brother!"

"How strange! Why isn't Senior Brother here today?" Yang Qingchan sighed in frustration, leaning beneath the peach tree. At that moment, her "teacher's" voice sighed, "Instead of going back to cultivate properly, you still wish to climb over the palace walls tonight?"

Yang Qingchan was overjoyed. She stepped forward and clung to the arm of that yellow-robed figure. "Teacher, please help me!"

"That swordsman bore no ill intent yesterday, and your Senior Brother received a fortuitous opportunity as well. You, on the other hand—" The yellow-robed figure tapped Yang Qingchan on the forehead. "Your disciple has only second-realm cultivation. If you go out, how can you help your Senior Brother? You may even become a burden instead... Fine! Fine! Fine! I'll let you go! I'll let you go!"

Unable to withstand his young disciple's soft pleading and persistent pestering, the "teacher" nodded in agreement. Yang Qingchan leaped joyfully onto the tree, then jumped back down again.

"Your master has a sword art. It may be used by one person, but when two join their blades, its power increases further!"

The yellow-robed man split into two incarnations. Ice and fire qi entwined, like endless tender affection, yet also like sworn enemies killing one another. In its mournful beauty lay lifetimes upon lifetimes; in its tragic grandeur, the River of Heaven flowed backward.

"This is the first time Teacher has taught me martial arts!" Yang Qingchan was supremely intelligent, her comprehension three parts stronger than Liu Yunshen's. After seeing the intricate sword forms only once, she remembered every last one.

The yellow-robed man withdrew his power. Yang Qingchan bowed. "Thank you, Master, for imparting this art!"

"There is little time. Why has my disciple not gone yet?" The yellow-robed man smiled. Before Yang Qingchan could react, he swept his sleeve, and the peach blossom dream shattered.

When Yang Qingchan opened her eyes again, she was already beside the Yellow River. The red sun at the horizon was slowly rising from the mountains, and a ray of golden light illuminated heaven and earth. She still gripped Allure Flame in her hand!

Now, back within the Han Court.

By imperial command, the Commandant of the Palace Guards personally led men in guarding the inner palace. The outer court was held by the Minister of the Guards, who watched over the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise Gates. Of them, the Vermilion Bird Gate ran north to south through the inner and outer Han Court, and its defenses were especially stringent.

Yet under such heavy guard, the Palace Attendant left the imperial palace almost without obstruction. Wherever he passed, from the Commandant of the Palace Guards, one of the Nine Ministers, to ordinary captains and soldiers below, all had red gleams in their eyes, as though their minds had been lost.

After leaving the imperial palace in plain clothes, the Palace Attendant sprang into motion, like a wisp of mist. He reached the temporary residence of the Li Clan of Longxi, saw no tail behind him, then leaped away again, heading instead toward the commoners' quarters northeast of Heavenly Capital. After turning several corners within, he cautiously climbed over a wall and entered a courtyard.

"You're here!"

"The princess has already disappeared. I had originally planned to lend that girl a hand myself!" The Palace Attendant completely shed his usual submissive manner. Pride filled his brow, and his pale, thin lips pressed together as he all but looked down on the man before him.

"Since she has already gone out, I can send my men too, yes?" The man's voice was low. The room suddenly turned colder, and the candle flame flickered uneasily.

The Palace Attendant frowned. "The princess seems to have a teacher of mysterious identity. I do not know what Daoist art or divine ability he used, but he actually moved her outside the palace."

"Master of Battle-Axe Palace, do not worry. The eyes and ears I have sent out spread across the world. There is no fear that we will fail to find this niece Yang!" The man gave a sinister, chilling laugh.

The Palace Attendant smiled and nodded. "No need for such courtesy. I still prefer that you address me as the Master of Frameweaving Palace!"

"Are all you Three Stars Sect people so utterly lawless? Or do you prefer calling yourselves disciples of the Nine Bestowals Sect?"

The man laughed loudly, revealing Li Zheng's sinister and savage face.

The Palace Attendant took the letter Li Zheng handed him. After opening it and reading it, he nodded and laughed in a strange, affected tone. "Brother Li, are you truly so impatient to get rid of that girl? She has not obstructed Lord Li in any way!"

"She has not obstructed me, but she has obstructed my children! Qinghui has neither eaten nor drunk these past few days. How can one be at ease?" Li Zheng shed tears sorrowfully and wiped them away with his sleeve.

The Palace Attendant chuckled darkly. "Has she obstructed you from becoming the imperial father-in-law?"

Li Zheng's face turned cold, and he clenched the wine cup. The Palace Attendant giggled. "What is this? The map has reached its end, and the dagger is revealed?"

A thunderous boom suddenly erupted from the commoners' quarters northeast of Heavenly Capital. A shadow shot into the sky and laughed wildly. "Brother Li, your wishful calculations are far too shrewd! One should always leave a thread of mercy, so there will be room to meet again! How can this world be monopolized by one man alone!"

"That traitor! I truly underestimated him!" Li Zheng stood in the air, furious beyond measure. Beside him were a tall, thin man and a brawny man. The tall, thin man was precisely the one who had first humiliated Liu Yunshen!

"My lord! This place is not safe to remain! We must quickly silence that thief forever!"

"Go!"

The three transformed into streaks of light and flew out of the city, pursuing the Palace Attendant!

Meanwhile, within the Li residence, Li Qinghui stood high above, gazing into the distance. By the grace of the bright moon, she saw everything with perfect clarity. "Father is so cruel—he actually wants to kill Sister Yang!"

Li Qinghui wiped away her tears and leaped from a pavilion several zhang high!

"Cui'er, Qian'er!"

"Miss!" The two cried out in alarm. Seeing their mistress dressed in black night-traveling clothes, they were too shocked for words. "Where is Miss going?"

"Stop asking so many questions. Quickly bring the water skins, dried provisions, banknotes, and fast horse that were secretly prepared long ago!"

"Yes!"

Not long afterward, a fast horse galloped out through Heavenly Capital's southern gate!

The gate captain held the command token, utterly bewildered! More than half an hour later, Li Zheng and the other two returned through the southern gate, their faces ashen as they too held command tokens.

The captain snorted. "How strange. One went out just now, and now three come in. Are you in such a hurry to attend a funeral?"

"What? Who left the city?" Li Zheng was greatly alarmed. He turned and seized the captain in one grab.

The captain cried out in terror, "Y-you! What are you doing?!"

The surrounding soldiers raised their spears in fury, but the captain tilted his head strangely and smiled. "It's nothing!"

The soldiers lowered their spears and stood at attention.

Li Zheng dragged the gate captain, who seemed like a puppet, into a dark corner. He stretched out five fingers and gripped the man's head. A strange golden light appeared, and countless images surfaced within his mind.

Before long, foam spilled from the gate captain's mouth, and he collapsed unconscious onto the ground!

Li Zheng ground his teeth in fury.

The two men asked in shock, "Master, what happened?"

"Recall the assassins we sent out at once!! Quickly!!!" The refined and affable Li Zheng roared in berserk rage.