No. 017: The Sucker

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The Amber Dynasty affair came to a temporary close. Ming Xi had only come to attend His Majesty's birthday banquet and present the gift she had carefully prepared. Everyone and everything else had merely been incidental.

She didn't know what He Xueyi and the prince consort had said to the eldest princess, but the woman, who had been nearly mad, suddenly calmed down. She still looked at Ming Xi as though nothing about her was right, but at least she no longer came looking for trouble.

Ming Xi asked little of the eldest princess. As long as the woman left her alone, she could pretend she didn't exist.

Just as she had all these years.

Wen Que, however, felt certain things weren't that simple.

[I feel like she's plotting something nasty! I need to stay alert. I can't let these people hurt my little junior sister!]

Ming Xi felt touched, but she couldn't help laughing. She was a Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator. Why would she need protection from a Qi Refining Stage rookie like Wen Que?

Yet the eldest princess made no move before they left.

Trouble struck when they were nearing the Heavenly Sun Sect. More precisely, it struck He Xueyi.

[Why am I not surprised to see this?]

Watching He Xueyi struggle against the demon beasts surrounding her, Wen Que somehow felt as though this scene had been bound to happen.

He Xueyi had retreated too quickly before, looking as though she was swallowing her grievances for the sake of her birth mother, the eldest princess. She had given Ming Xi and Wen Que no chance to do anything.

Even at His Majesty's birthday banquet, the eldest princess had wanted to formally introduce her birth daughter, the Amber Dynasty's true Princess Jingya. But her illness had left her too weak, forcing her to give up.

It was fortunate she hadn't succeeded. She would only have embarrassed herself further.

So what if she had snatched the title of Princess Jingya? His Majesty had directly named Ming Xi the Princess Protector of the Realm.

The imperial decree was read aloud that day and proclaimed throughout the realm the next. It was like a vicious slap across the eldest princess's face. Word had it she had nearly fallen ill beyond recovery, and only an immortal pill from He Xueyi had saved her.

In truth, only scraps of news reached Ming Xi. Someone was clearly testing her reaction, but she gave none. Once the emperor's birthday had passed, she turned around and left with Wen Que.

Then she saw He Xueyi surrounded here, and it felt like a foregone conclusion.

Ming Xi turned to Wen Que. "Third Senior Sister, is there some opportunity hidden on me that even I don't know about? Why does everyone take me for a sucker and insist on getting something out of me?"

Wen Que: "..."

[I'd like to know why too. But thinking about it, the conflict between He Xueyi and my little junior sister probably comes down to their identities as the real and false daughters, doesn't it? My little junior sister might also have had Wen Yan stirring up trouble around her back then. She was a hopeless case of love-brain at the time, so when she went up against He Xueyi, with the eldest princess meddling too, she suffered plenty of losses.]

Ming Xi: ??? I don't believe it!

She refused to believe she could lose out in something like this.

[It's hard to believe my little junior sister could play such a strong hand so badly. Wen Yan is downright poisonous.]

[But that's strange too. After spending these days with my little junior sister, I know her well enough to think Wen Yan won her over far too easily. Is there some detail I've missed?]

Ming Xi wanted to know why Wen Que had gotten the wrong idea about her.

[Can the plot really be that powerful? That's terrifying. Does it just have to shove my little junior sister down the path of a sucker?]

Ming Xi: Not happening.

During that brief delay, He Xueyi spotted Ming Xi and Wen Que. Her eyes lit up at once.

"Fellow Daoist Ming! Fellow Daoist Wen!"

She said nothing outright, but her expressive eyes made her plea for help clear.

Ming Xi pretended not to see her. She was the villain anyway, and who said she had to find joy in helping others? Helping He Xueyi wouldn't make her happy in the least.

Wen Que's sharp eyes caught something else.

[Huh? Are my eyes playing tricks on me?]

Following Wen Que's gaze, Ming Xi saw it too. Wen Que's eyes weren't playing tricks on her: He Xueyi was holding something furry in her arms.

He Xueyi lived up to her name. Year-round, she wore snow-white dresses and looked like a fairy born from a snow lotus, untouched by the world and clear as crystal. The little creature in her arms was even whiter than her dress. If scarlet blood hadn't stained its snowy fur, it would have been difficult to spot.

At the sight of that furry little thing, Ming Xi's brow gave a sharp twitch.

Sure enough—

[Oh? So my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. That little white fox cub looks awfully familiar!]

[At this rate, the plot really is that powerful. Even after getting kicked out, it managed to come running back!]

[Too bad my little junior sister doesn't know that this little white fox cub is the legendary young prince of the Demon Race. Wen Yan—the one who practically clung to her leg and cried before? His full name is Wen Jinsheng.]

Ming Xi: I know now.

Her embarrassing past was right over there. Ming Xi couldn't get away fast enough. "Let's go, Third Senior Sister."

Wen Que: "Huh?"

Ming Xi raised an eyebrow. "What, Third Senior Sister? Do you want to help?"

"No, no, no, no!" Wen Que shook her head at once, refusing again and again. "I'm not going over there just to get slaughtered."

[I'm kind, but I'm not the sort to charge blindly to my death. He Xueyi can't handle those demon beasts, and she's in the Foundation Establishment Realm. If I go over there as a Qi Refining Stage cultivator, will I be making things worse, or making things worse?]

[As for my little junior sister... Well, it's only natural that she wouldn't help. If it were anyone else, she might lend a hand just because she appreciates beauty. But this is He Xueyi. Better not...]

"I'm not someone who'd leave a person to die." Ming Xi felt she ought to explain. Wen Que seemed to have quite a few misconceptions about her. "The Heavenly Martial Sect has plenty of tricks up its sleeve, and He Xueyi is Venerable Qingheng's beloved disciple. Even I can deal with a few demon beasts. There's no way she can't. Either she's putting on an act, or she's reluctant to use her life-saving measures and is waiting for me to step in like a sucker."

Wen Que nodded at once. "Little Junior Sister, you're brilliant!"

There was something endearingly obedient about her eager flattery. [As if my little junior sister hasn't been a sucker plenty of times before!]

Ming Xi's smile vanished.

She hadn't spoken loudly, but it was enough for He Xueyi, a cultivator, to hear every word. Her already pale face turned even more ghastly.

Because Ming Xi was right. The demon beasts had caught her off guard at first and left her looking wretched, but she had plenty of life-saving measures and could handle them easily. Using those measures felt too costly, though. If Ming Xi would help her now, with the two of them in the Foundation Establishment Realm