Number 010: The Poor Sap

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Wen Que's interruption sent every messy, uncertain thought in Luo Mingxi's head up in smoke. She lifted her proud head again, as if she had just come off a battlefield, brimming with fighting spirit.

She stepped onto the all-too-familiar stairs before Xuanyan Hall and climbed them one by one.

[Uh, what do I do? Follow her, follow her, or follow her?]

[I thought we'd do this properly: come in through the main gate, have someone announce us, maybe sit down somewhere for a cup of tea while we waited for His Majesty to summon us?]

[How did we end up charging straight in? How many steps did my junior sister skip?]

Luo Mingxi: "..."

"Wen Jiujiu, aren't you coming?"

"Coming, coming!"

She sounded perfectly obedient, but inside, she grumbled:

[When she needs me, it's Third Senior Sister. When she doesn't, it's Wen Jiujiu. Tsk, my junior sister has that commanding air down pat.]

Xuanyang Hall was where the emperors of the Amber Dynasty had handled affairs of state for generations. They reviewed memorials there, held small meetings, and received court officials. As a vital part of the imperial palace, it was heavily guarded. Ordinary people could not approach it lightly; even princes could not enter without the emperor's summons, and imperial consorts had even less chance of getting near.

Only Luo Mingxi could come and go freely, without being summoned or announced. It was a singular favor everyone envied and no one understood.

The emperor was reviewing memorials while complaining to the crown prince that when court officials wrote a memorial, more than half of it was empty prattle. They said next to nothing of substance, took forever to get to the point, and only after reading to the end would he discover they had merely written to send their regards.

Then he heard a commotion at the entrance. He looked up, saw Luo Mingxi standing there as pretty as a picture, and broke into a smile.

"What's this, little Mingxi? Have you been gone so long you don't recognize your uncle?"

In the old days, they would hear Luo Mingxi's bright voice before she even entered Xuanyang Hall. She would call out affectionately to her uncle and cousin from afar, eager to share some new amusement she had found or an interesting story she had heard.

Back then, Luo Mingxi had been so small she had to clamber over the threshold of Xuanyang Hall. She never wanted help. Watching her scramble up on hands and knees, grinning from ear to ear, had filled their hearts with joy.

Later, the young princess grew up and made something of herself. She entered the Heavenly Sun Sect and embarked on the path of cultivation. She could no longer come home often, much less appear before them whenever she pleased.

At first, father and son had struggled to get used to it. They would often hear a noise and look up, only to find it was not that familiar figure. A little disappointed, they would exchange a smile.

And so the years had passed, one exchanged smile after another.

Seeing Luo Mingxi again, they realized the little girl from back then truly had grown into a young woman. Even her bearing was entirely different.

"Uncle!"

At the sound of the emperor's familiar greeting, Luo Mingxi no longer cared whether he knew the truth about her parentage. She simply wanted to savor this moment of warmth, and she walked in smiling.

"Cousin!"

"Mm!" The gentle, refined crown prince smiled and nodded too. His gaze drifted lightly toward Wen Que, who trailed behind Luo Mingxi, peeking out like a sneaky little mouse that dared not show its head openly.

His Highness the Crown Prince's clear, cool gaze swept over her, and Wen Que straightened involuntarily, chest out and head up, as though she had run into the school disciplinarian.

His Highness the Crown Prince's mouth curled up a little higher.

Noticing his gaze, Luo Mingxi turned and smiled. "Uncle, Cousin, this is Wen Que. Like me, she's a disciple of Endless Peak in the Heavenly Sun Sect. She's the third disciple of my master, Venerable Falling Maple."

The third disciple of the Heavenly Sun Sect's Endless Peak—in other words, Luo Mingxi's third senior sister.

They simply had not expected her to be someone like this.

But whatever sort of person she was, anyone who set foot on the path of cultivation naturally earned people's respect, along with an admiration and longing they could hardly contain.

The emperor and crown prince, who ruled a dynasty, were no exception. Unlike ordinary people, however, the rulers of the Amber Dynasty had seen true cultivators and even supported many of them in their service.

And after Luo Mingxi entered the Heavenly Sun Sect, His Majesty had gathered information from every quarter, giving him a better understanding of what cultivators were really like.

"Greetings, Fairy Wen."

Father and son greeted Wen Que together, startling her so badly that she waved both hands.

"No, no! Don't be so formal. Really, there's no need—I get nervous when people are too polite. Just call me Wen Que. I'm no fairy."

A fairy at the Qi Refining stage? People would laugh if they heard that. She had no nerve to accept the title.

Luo Mingxi smiled too. "Uncle, Third Senior Sister isn't like most cultivators." She put on no airs as an immortal cultivator, nor did she have the habit of acting superior like some cultivators did.

"Exactly, exactly. I'm just an ordinary person."

[Oh my god, guys, I'm sweating buckets. I've met a real emperor and a real crown prince!]