Chapter 668: Meeting Fairy Again
Before he realized it, the whole Guanglu Hall was completely empty. The emperor had left, those warriors on duty had left. The whole hall had only Yan Liqiang still kneeling there as if he was a stone statue.
He had his head lowered. Seeing his own reflection on that mirror like marble ground, he forced out a smile. But he did not feel happy but more feeling like a sad clown.
“Master Yan, why…why cannot you understand? His majesty was actually rather happy today, now he is so mad… hurry up. Leave now..” That eunuch who brought him in sounded a bit upset, he was obviously blaming Yan Liqiang for what he had just said.
Yan Liqiang stood up slowly. He glanced at that elder like a beaten warrior, and was “taken” out by that elder eunuch. During that journey, that eunuch who was very respectful and polite towards him became extremely cold as if Yan Liqiang had owed him couple hundred thousand tales of silvers.
Just walked out from the palace, before Yan Liqiang walked past the Golden Water River surrounding the palace, that eunuch waved his sleeve and left without saying anything. The carriage that brought him here was no where to be seen, leaving him standing outside all alone.
The palace was lit up by the golden light like a huge beast resting in the darkness. It was late in night, and it was not snowing today yet very cold. The streets outside the palace were empty with only a few people walking around. Yan Liqiang turned around and gave a complicated look at the palace before leaving quietly under the supervision of the numerous guards.
Quietly walking on the snow-covered street, Yan Liqiang heard some carriage wheel sound approaching him after a few minute of walking. A four-wheel carriage from the Manufacturing Bureau drove up from behind and stopped right next to Yan Liqiang. The tinted carriage window had been slide half open, half of Sun Bingchen’s calm face appeared. “Come up.”
Yan Liqiang thought about it, he slide open the door and enter the carriage which then started moving forward again.
Compared to the cold silence outside, the inside of the carriage with a little bronze stove burning in the middle was warm like the spring.
Sun Bingchen looked at Yan Liqiang and said calmly, “The second the news of the natural disaster broke out, some of the governmental staffs and local authorities started discussing privately, they are saying that a natural disaster like this is triggered by his majesty’s lack of worthiness for his throne. So right now, his majesty is already full of stress. If you try to force the local authorities and rice families to donate at this time, it might trigger anger in them and cause local riot. If the natural disaster actually comes as prophet, do you know what kind of consequences would that cause? The government had still not been able to fully recover the damage Lin Qingtian had left behind on this land, and your method now would only put his majesty in a worse place…”
Yan Liqiang did not say anything. He had said everything he wanted to or needed to. None of them were stupid — they all just had different approaches and things they appreciated.
Sun Bingchen stopped talking. The carriage moved within the streets of Imperial Capital in silence. The carriage then stopped in front of Sun Bingchen’s place. Before he left the carriage, he said to Yan Liqiang, “In the next couple of days, just stay at Deer Vila, don’t go out and about anymore. A lot of rebels from the White Lotus Society are here in the Imperial Capital. The imperial court is on it now, so do not mingle with that or mess it up again!”
“Thank you, lord, for the reminder. I will keep it in mind!” Yan Liqiang replied with a low rusty voice. After his trip into the palace and meeting the emperor, he had given up on it completely.
Sun Bingchen glanced at Yan Liqiang and nodded before getting off the car and asked the chauffeur to drop him off at Deer Villa…
When Yan Liqiang got back, it was already late in the night. He walked back to his own yard and into his own room. After walking up the stairs and into his own bedroom, he did not light up the lamp, instead, he sat in the darkness alone, thinking, forgetting the existence of time.
What else can I do right now? Yan Liqiang did not know as well. With his own power, he could not do much in the current situation. He had already done everything he could do, flapping his hardest with his little wings in hoping of changing the future to a different one than the one he had seen. But after all, he realized that what was about to happen is still scheduled to happen.
This reality could really make people lose their hope and give up easily.
But what else can I do? Yan Liqiang continued to ask himself the same question…
Without knowing how much time had gone by, his eyebrows flicked slightly. He turned around, and a person appeared out of nowhere in his room. Her clothes were white like snow, and her appearance was so beautiful as if she had come from another world. It was indeed Hua Ruxue.
She gently closed the window and walked in front of Yan Liqiang without any hesitation. She sat down gracefully one meter in front of him.
There was no light inside the room, but the snow on the ground outside reflected the light which was enough for them to see each other clearly. A slight floral smell wafted in with her arrival.
“In the beginning couple of days, thank you for saving me inside the Hui Province City!” Hua Ruxue had her eyes fixed on Yan Liqiang for more than a dozen seconds before she started talking. Her voice was calm and crispy, it had a nice ring to it.
“Should I call you Sword Fairy or Sacred Maiden?”
“If you take my head and give it to the Imperial Court, it will be ten thousand taels of silver! And you will be promoted to receive a knighted title. You have saved me twice now, so I have come to return the favor.” Hua Ruxue’s head was lifted up slightly revealing her snow-like neck. She glanced at Yan Liqiang before putting her long sword that she always carried around on the table. Eventually, she closed her eyes with pride.
“It is alright now, you know I would not do anything do you. If I were to want any of that, then I would not have let you leave last time you were here. ‘Being husband and wife for even one night would equal one hundred nights of return,’ just like the old saying, I am not be that cold-hearted. Otherwise, I would not have saved you in Hui Province City!” Yan Liqiang forced a chuckle.
Hua Ruxue opened her eyes, a blush appeared on her cheeks. She seemed a bit embarrassed, buzzing at Yan Liqiang. She then said in a forced calm voice, “You are still the same like before, can’t you be a bit more serious?”
Yan Liqiang controlled his emotions. “Oh, right, since you are the Sacred Maiden from the White Lotus Society, then why is the Demon King chasing after you?”
“It is a long story, and it involves the top secret of the society so I cannot tell you!” Hua Ruxue’s expression became complicated as she shook her head. “I came to find you this time is to ask you to leave the Imperial Capital as soon as possible! You cannot stay here for long!”
“Are you talking about the Heavenly Tribulation that is coming? Next year in spring, I will accompany the emperor to tour in the south, I will not stay long here in the Imperial Capital.”
“I am not talking about the Heavenly Tribulation!”
“Is your White Lotus Society planning to cause trouble inside the Imperial Capital? It would not be easy. This place is not like the south, the Imperial Court has very tight control over this place. If you want to come here and preach your organization would not be an easy thing to do. Sure, there would be one or two silly minded people who are not afraid of death would try it, but they were all killed by thImperial Court’s army. It would be a suicide mission!”
“No, we are not thinking about causing a riot either.” Hua Ruxue shook her head again.
“Are you guys even thinking about killing the Emperor?” Yan Liqiang frowned.
“He is just one man. Why the White Lotus Society all come out for that?”
“Then what?”
Hua Ruxue stayed quiet for a while. “I do not know the details for this operation, all I know is that the White Lotus Society has a big killer weapon. Once that thing starts, everything and everyone on this land will be killed way before the arrival of the Heavenly Tribulation. No one will be able to survive…”
Damn. Yan Liqiang was shocked. “What kind of thing has that kind of power?”
“I do not know, my mentor is the Sacred Sage of the White Lotus Society, he told me before he died!”
“Did he not mention what exactly it is?”
“He did not know precisely as well since it had never been used by anyone before. It seems to be a kind of poisonous thing, my mentor had never had it with him as well. Someone else inside the society had it, and he brought it with him when he joined…” Speaking of that person of the White Lotus Society, a hint of fear and hatred flashed across her face.
“Who is that person?”
“He used to be the Left Director of the White Lotus Society — he used my mentor’s trust to gain control of the society over the years, and right now, he basically controls the entire White Lotus Society. The second my mentor died, he changed completely and became the new Sacred Sage of the society. Because of him, the White Lotus Society is no longer the same institution as before the one used to help the suffering people of the world. All my mentor’s life work has been ruined by him. He’s already arrived here and is hiding somewhere right now. He might unleash that evil thing he has at any time. You better leave soon…”
“What about you? Are you leaving too?”
“Don’t worry about my business. Just remember what I said…” She looked at him with a complication look before grabbing the sword on the table and preparing to head out.
He grabbed her hand. “If I want to find you, I will be able to find you no matter where you are!”
“We are not the same kind of people. You do not need to know where I am, it will not do any good for you…”
“You coming here and telling me this, is it because you are still thinking of me?” Yan Liqiang suddenly asked a question that Hua Ruxue was not expected at all.
“You are overthinking it! I am only here to return your favor from before!” she said with a calm expression. She then bit on her teeth and let go of his hand. Then she open the window and disappeared in thin air before his eyes…
Yan Liqiang looked at his own hand, his expression seemed complicated. A vague nice-smelling scent still remained on his palm.
Even if she did not say it, but with the Psychic Serpent on him, he already knew some of the answers to his questions…
She had only told one lie. All the rest was true. Indeed, there was a killing weapon on the White Lotus Society’s side, and it was true that she did not know anything about it and all of it was told to her before her mentor died…
Comments