Pivot of Heaven Pavilion

Lu Changfeng had barely left the waterside pavilion and was about to head for the Pivot of Heaven Pavilion when a low shout came from behind him: "Director of Medicine Lu, wait!"

Lu Changfeng stopped and turned to see Gao Jian striding toward him.

Gao Jian still wore a polished expression, but the malice in his eyes was now plain to see.

Qing Dai used Silent Voice Transmission, sending her voice straight into Lu Changfeng's ears. "Be careful, sir. This is Gao Jian, Deputy Director of Ceremonial Affairs and a Principal Fourth Rank pavilion commander of the Plum Blossom Guards. He is also someone Her Highness is... rather close to."

A male favorite?

Lu Changfeng's brow lifted almost imperceptibly. His gaze swept over Gao Jian's outwardly handsome but inwardly hollow shell again, and understanding dawned at once, accompanied by a flicker of absurd amusement.

-Wu Zetian treasured that street peddler Xue Huaiyi, and Princess Taiping isn't much better. What kind of rotten scraps are they feeding on?

All I did was offer a treasure and show a little more of my worth so she wouldn't chop my head off one day if a treatment went badly, and get a few books to read along the way. Yet he's already this desperate. Truly... a shallow pond teems with turtles, and a tiny temple breeds great demonic winds!

He sneered inwardly but showed nothing on his face. He even cupped his hands slightly, his tone carrying just the right hint of distance. "So it's Deputy Director Gao. What advice did you wish to offer by stopping me?"

Seeing his indifferent manner, neither fawning nor fearful, Gao Jian felt the nameless fire within him burn all the hotter.

Suppressing his anger, he drew close and stared fixedly at Lu Changfeng, smiling without warmth. "Not advice, exactly. I merely noticed how highly Her Highness favors Director of Medicine Lu and came to offer a reminder or two. Her Highness is exalted and possesses extraordinary discernment. Common tricks and clever contrivances may win a moment's delight, but they are no lasting path."

The insinuation could not have been clearer: Lu Changfeng had won favor through flattery.

He paused, then raised his chin and spoke like a seasoned veteran. "I hear Director of Medicine Lu is proficient in medicine. That is certainly commendable, but... if you wish to remain at Her Highness's side, relying solely on the healing arts or a few ingenious trinkets is ultimately a lesser path, one that can hardly win the regard of the truly refined."

"Her Highness possesses boundless grace and enjoys poetry and literature. Those who frequent her side are cultured gentlemen such as ourselves. Here in Chang'an, here in this residence, without an appreciation for poetry and verse, music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, without literary learning or an understanding of romantic sensibilities, it is ultimately... difficult to advance any further."

He placed particular emphasis on "advance any further," watching Lu Changfeng closely in hopes of catching the embarrassment of someone whose hidden intentions had been exposed.

At these words, the faint humility on Lu Changfeng's face gradually faded, replaced by a stillness like a deep pool.

-What an ugly sight, guarding his food like this.

-Thankfully, I haven't sunk that low.

Rather than becoming angry, he smiled softly, leaned toward Gao Jian's ear, and recited in a low voice, "My unsullied heart has always reached for the sky; why vie with clustered blossoms in their shallow crimson dye? Snow weighs upon the green pine, yet its boughs stand straighter still; I scorn to chase the spring breeze with peach and plum upon the hill..."

Gao Jian's face instantly turned livid!

Qing Dai's gaze trembled. She looked up at that figure in blue, shaken to her core.

Lu Changfeng straightened again and said with a faint smile, "My ambition is to heal the world and save lives, and my heart lies with medical classics and secret remedies. Poetry is a minor pursuit, merely an occasional outlet for my feelings. I would not presume to make my living through it. As for the refinement you speak of, Deputy Director, I am too dull to join in. Farewell!"

He turned and left, his meaning clear: Don't worry. I'm not interested!

Qing Dai froze briefly, then bowed to Gao Jian and hurried after him.

Gao Jian stood rooted to the spot, his face alternating between livid and pale.

Those few softly recited lines from Lu Changfeng were like poisoned needles of ice, piercing with unerring precision into the most hidden, most shameful corner of his heart.

"I scorn to chase the spring breeze with peach and plum"-"scorn"! "Chase the spring breeze"!

Every word was like a resounding slap, leaving his ears ringing and his face burning.

He had spent so long as a male favorite, enjoying fine clothes and sumptuous meals in the Princess's Residence and growing accustomed to flattery, that he had almost forgotten he was fundamentally no different from those who sold smiles at doorways and bent themselves to please others. All of them survived by pleasing the powerful.

He ordinarily prided himself on his refinement, styling himself a cultivated literary companion and decorating his facade with poetry, music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, as though these could conceal the shame beneath that handsome skin.

He had almost convinced himself that perhaps... perhaps there truly was some affection between him and the princess?

Yet Lu Changfeng's merciless poem had torn that splendid cloak of self-deception to shreds! It had trampled his pitiful scrap of pride into the mud!

"Snow weighs upon the green pine..."

This was no longer merely an insult. It reduced everything he depended upon-his looks, his talents, the dignity he so carefully maintained, even that tacitly understood relationship between him and the princess-to the lowest sort of charity, obtainable only by wagging his tail and begging for pity!

And Lu Changfeng, that lowborn itinerant physician, had actually dared liken himself to a "green pine," assuming an air of purity and nobility, as though he disdained associating with him!

What gave him the right?! Those medical skills of unknown authenticity? Or those little contrivances wrapped in mystery?

Gao Jian abruptly recalled the flash of wonder in the princess's eyes when she accepted that bottle of "Condensed Fragrance Dew," and the genuine trust and regard she had shown when handing Lu Changfeng the medicinal garden token, so unlike the way she admired and amused herself with a male favorite... That was the esteem she held for someone "useful," entirely different from a "plaything" like him, kept solely for entertainment!

A powerful sense of crisis seized him.

If Lu Changfeng were allowed to continue, if he truly came to occupy a more important, more substantial place in the princess's heart...

Then what would he, Gao Jian, become? Yesterday's faded flowers? An old shoe cast aside?

No!

Absolutely not!

Never had his killing intent surged so fiercely!

Gao Jian slowly raised his head and stared toward the end of the corridor where Lu Changfeng and Qing Dai had disappeared, his eyes as cold and sinister as ice in the depths of winter.

Lu Changfeng had to die! And quickly! Before he truly took root and gained more of the princess's trust, he had to vanish completely!

He drew a deep breath and forcibly suppressed his churning murderous intent. Putting on his customary mask of gentle refinement once more, he turned and headed in the opposite direction from Lu Changfeng, beginning to plot how he might use the troubled waters surrounding the Great Vehicle Sect, or engineer an "accident," to rot that irritating "green pine" down to its roots!

Princess Taiping's Residence sprawled for several li around, nestled against hills and water, its pavilions and towers stretching like clouds. Its scale far exceeded that of an ordinary imperial prince's estate, almost rivaling a small palace city, displaying the tremendous power and supreme favor enjoyed by this Princess Taiping, Guardian of the Realm.

In the deepest, most secluded part of the residence, beside a bamboo grove brimming with spiritual energy and a cold pool wreathed in mist throughout the year, lay a forbidden area-the Langhuan Blessed Land.

Rumor held that several Buddhist and Daoist masters had drawn spiritual veins together to create this place. Apart from the imperial city in Chang'an and Luoyang Purple Tenuity City, the two Princess's Residences possessed the richest spiritual energy.

Cultivating internal arts here yielded twice the results for half the effort.

Without special permission, ordinary people would lose themselves in the formations even if they merely approached the outskirts.

The Pivot of Heaven Pavilion stood at the very heart of the Langhuan Blessed Land.

It was a vast, seven-story octagonal tower built entirely from enormous dark stones and rare ebony. Its design was ancient and austere, its upturned eaves and bracket sets spreading like phoenix wings, while its spire pointed straight into the heavens, as though seeking to draw down the power of the stars.

Invisible currents of energy circulated around the tower as its powerful protective formation operated, inspiring awe and dread in all who looked upon it!

This pavilion ranked among the finest repositories of martial arts and secret texts in the Princess's Residence, and indeed anywhere outside the Li Tang imperial household!

Its collection of books was as vast as a sea, and their origins were even more astonishing.

Qing Dai led the way, explaining as she walked, with longing in her voice. "The lower and middle floors of the Pivot of Heaven Pavilion house the defining supreme arts of countless martial sects, manuals of extraordinary skills long thought lost, internal cultivation methods from various schools, sword manuals and saber formulas, lightness arts and hidden-weapon techniques..."

"Most of these are spoils Her Highness seized when she personally led the Plum Blossom Guards during Empress Wu's reign, eliminating traitors within and beyond the court and suppressing mighty martial figures who refused to submit to authority. Who knows how many sects once renowned throughout the land ultimately had the essence of their legacies collected here?"

"The higher floors hold even more profound Fifth Tier and even Sixth Tier texts. Among them are secret teachings that secluded sects and communities beyond the secular world voluntarily offered as 'tribute' in exchange for protection or benefits. There are even fragments of pre-Qin qi refiner texts transcribed from the imperial archives, translated Sanskrit texts on Buddhist divine abilities, and more."

"To obtain even a single piece or half a scroll, many people willingly entered Her Highness's service and became pavilion slaves guarding the Pivot of Heaven Pavilion. They obey only her commands. When you browse the medical texts on the first floor, sir, you must be very careful and avoid any misunderstandings."

Lu Changfeng nodded.

He understood: he had to avoid adjusting his shoes in a melon patch or straightening his cap beneath a plum tree.

He had only just arrived, and there were probably many people watching him from the shadows. The slightest improper move would immediately earn him accusations of harboring sinister intentions and plotting them for ages.

But he truly was only here to read medical books. They could watch all they liked.

The two passed through courtyards and covered walkways and arrived before the Pivot of Heaven Pavilion.

There were no lavish decorations at the entrance, only a stooped old man with white hair and beard, seated cross-legged on a rush cushion with his eyes closed. He resembled dead wood, his presence almost entirely blended into his surroundings.

Qing Dai stepped forward and silently displayed the princess's token.

The pavilion slave did not even lift his eyelids. His withered fingers moved slightly, and the heavy sandalwood doors behind him silently slid open a crack.

Lu Changfeng took a deep breath and stepped inside.

The interior was far more spacious than it appeared from outside. Rows of enclosed chambers bearing plaques for different categories stood within, their interiors faintly visible, densely packed with bamboo slips, silk manuscripts, and paper volumes. The scent of old ink permeated the air.

People dressed in various official uniforms were also quietly browsing within.

Qing Dai transmitted her voice. "The lower three floors are open to generals with sufficient merit and senior members of the Plum Blossom Guards. Anyone with enough merit can exchange it for martial arts manuals."

Lu Changfeng nodded and swept his gaze across the room. There were Golden Crow Guards wearing bright armor, pale, beardless eunuchs, female court officials, and Plum Blossom Guards in dark fitted uniforms embroidered with subtle plum-branch patterns!

It seems this Pivot of Heaven Pavilion doesn't belong to Taiping alone...

Ignoring the others, Lu Changfeng followed the category signs directly toward the chamber marked "Medicine."

He had just reached the doorway when a woman's furious shout rang out from within: "You dared deceive me!!"