In the depths of Great Yan Dynasty, there was a palace which occupied a very large piece of land. Inside this palace, Princess Zhang Le was seen lying on a large bed on her stomach, appearing to be in a trance.
Through a few layers of light-green curtains, one could see that the sun was now shining brightly outside the palace. Bai Zhu'er and Bai Zu'er, together with a group of palace maids, were entering and leaving the palace cautiously without making any noises, as they were tidying up various odds and ends in the room. It was Princess Zhang Le's bedroom. The room was luxuriously decorated, and there were three huge jade tables carved with numerous patterns placed in the center of the room, which were extremely eye-catching pieces of furniture.
A couple dozens of chessboards, each made with different, extremely precious materials, were scattered on one of the jade tables. The chess pieces were made with rare gemstones and black and white pearls, and were messily placed on top of the chessboards; some even spilled and fell onto the light-green carpet on the floor. Together with a few palace maids, Bai Zhu'er was now picking up these chess pieces soundlessly, sorting them and placing into different boxes carved out of jade stone.
On the other jade table were zithers stacked up in a messy order. All of these zithers took an aged and ancient hue, and were all made using various rare Spirit Woods or Jades. In addition to that, the strings of zither were either made from the tendons of serpents, or silk spat out by spirit beings which had lived for over ten thousand years, or silk produced after melting the spirit jade of water element and re-condensing them. Regardless of what kind of materials were used in producing them, each of them was extremely rare and priceless.
On the last jade table, a couple dozens of large drawing papers were placed, each looking as white as the purest snowflakes. Among these drawing papers, a few of them were covered with countless tiny characters; they were all the poem which Wu Qi stole and read for Princess Zhang Le. They were repeatedly written, vertically and horizontally, perhaps over a few hundred times. Meanwhile, all the other drawing papers were stained with ink as well, but they were in a state of utter confusion, and no one seemed to have any idea of what the drawings were about.
If Wu Qi were here, he would definitely comment that these drawings looked like the scribbles of some three years old kids, and the person who drew it simply did not possess any talent in drawing. The trees she drew looked like some hairless chicken feet, the people looked like a few matches stuck on a ball of dough, and as for those animals, they looked like some creatures who had been washed and skinned, and soaked in a hot soup for a very long time until their original shape was all gone.
A few inkstones of excellent quality were dripping wet with dark ink; a couple dozens of small brushes made using the hairs of demon beasts were also disorderly tossed on the jade table. It was a complete mess on the jade table with a circumference of tens of feet, as if a pack of wild dogs had just wreaked havoc on top of it.
Leading a group of a couple dozen palace maids, Bai Zhu'er and Bai Zu'er were now tidying up the mess in Princess Zhang Le's bedroom, restoring everything to their original look with the quickest speed possible.
With her hairs straggling over her shoulder, Princess Zhang Le was lying prone on the bed, tilting her head sideway while watching them busy in working. Her pair of bare feet was swaying back and forth in the air. From time to time, she would pick up her blanket using her pinkish toes and wave it around in midair. At last, when she saw that Bai Zhu'er and other girls had nearly finished their work, Princess Zhang Le yawned lazily and said, "Zhu'er, Zu'er, what do you think? Should I get off from the bed now, or continue sleeping?"
Bai Zhu'er clapped her hands and came before Princess Zhang Le's bed, bowed towards her, smiled and said, "Princess, it is better for you to get up from your bed. For the past two days, besides from carrying out your daily homework of cultivating at night, you have been sleeping all day. Even though you've formed your Gold Core, but could this be good for your health?"
With both palms cupped under her chin, Princess Zhang Le breathed out a long sigh and said, "What can I do if I wake up? I don't know why grandpa suddenly came out and took over the state affairs personally, and with that, no one dares to create any troubles in Ji City, I can't even be a bystander! Also, Wu Qi that fellow, I really have no idea what he is doing in Heaven Breaking Sword Sect. I've not seen him for a couple of days. Tell me, what can he do in Heaven Breaking Sword Sect? And he even borrows the crafting room of sister Yaonu, mentioning that he wants to craft something? He better not burn the entire cave of Sword Stems From The Mind!"
Bai Zhu'er laughed. She dexterously began tidying up Princess Zhang Le's hairs, and with the utmost care, she tied them into a neat bun. It looked like she was used to combing Princess Zhang Le's hair while she was still lying in bed. Although her posture was rather inappropriate for the task, yet the quality of the bun she tied was flawless. While working on princess's hair, she smiled and said, "It is hard to tell, Princess. Hasn't Marquis Wu made a large purchase of various metals in Market of Four Seas? Perhaps, he is trying to craft a sword, or some other items. Although he is a Daoist of Xiantian realm, he could still craft some pretty handy items!"
Princess Zhang Le twitched her lips, twisted and turned her body, then said unhappily with a frown on her brows, "What is he trying to craft? He can just let me know straightaway, and I can bring them to him from the national treasury. Why does he want to waste time and effort? Oh dear, he wasted tens of days of time! Doesn't he know that he can accompany me with all this time?"
Bai Zhu'er dared not answer her, but just kept herself busy in coiling and tiding up a hair bun for Princess Zhang Le.
Princess Zhang Le sighed briefly. Then, she casually waved her hand, and the several dozens of curtains hanging down from the ceiling immediately flung up and hung on some hooks on the wall. A wall on one side of the bedroom was slowly moving aside, revealing a large room behind, several hundred feet in both length and width, and fully filled with neatly arranged wooden racks. Each of those racks was filled with dresses of various fashions. Tilting her head, Princess Zhang Le peered into the room, felt worried and asked, "Which dress should I wear today? No matter how I look at them, although it seems that I have so many dresses, in fact, I only have two to three of them. All of them are the same color and same design. What a headache!"
She sighed again, twitched her lips and asked, "What should I eat for my breakfast? Is it still the same lotus seed cakes and porridge of five rices? Or is it changed to something else? But, what should I eat? Ugh, how strange, why must I have breakfast now? I'm a Human Immortal of Gold Core realm, and I can be fed with wind and dew!"
Her pretty face suddenly fell, then Princess Zhang Le raised her head up and breathed out a long sigh into the sky while saying, "How pitiful! I can't even have a proper breakfast! Be fed with wind and dew? Doesn’t that mean drinking the northwest wind? [1] Hmm, compared to that, it is better to have a proper breakfast."
Wearing a gloomy expression, Princess Zhang Le tilted her head again, frowned and muttered, "Would Wu Qi leave the mountain today? Would he? Would he not? Aye, if he still doesn't want to come out, I'll rush into the cave and drag him out. But, the cave of Sword Stems From The Mind has a very strict defensive mechanism. I can't barge in! Even grandpa can't break those mechanisms, so it is simply a mission impossible for me. Hmm, what is sister Yaonu doing right now? Why has she suddenly entered secluded cultivation?"
After sighing and groaning for a while, Princess Zhang Le continued to have her mind troubled with thoughts as she said, "If Wu Qi really leaves the mountain today, what should I wear when meeting him? What shoes shall I wear? How about the ornaments on my head? Does he prefer exquisitely designed ornaments, or some bolder design? Hmm, shall I wear a light makeup or a heavy one? I think it is better to have a light makeup, isn’t it? Heavy makeup makes my face suffer!"
Suddenly, a cry of a bird came. A green bird with a long tail like the peacock, yet only the body size of a human palm, was seen plunging quickly down from the sky, and went straight into Princess Zhang Le's bedroom. Joyfully, the green bird flapped its wings and flew towards Princess Zhang Le. The arrival of the bird startled the Princess, yet the shocked emotion was instantly replaced with a wild joy. Without hesitation, she stretched her hand out and caught the bird, then savagely pulled out a small, gold ring from underneath the bird's wings. From the ring, she pulled out a tiny roll of paper. On the paper was a secret mark of the Scouting Office, and a simple sentence: Marquis Tianyun has left the cave of Sword Stems From The Mind.
"Excellent!" With a great cry, Princess Zhang Le simply threw the green bird out from her hand. The poor little bird did not expect that, and was forcefully thrown and slammed onto a nearby table, rolling its eyes before fainting completely, having its wings and tiny legs twitching and struggling. Meanwhile, Princess Zhang Le leaped off the bed while crying out loud, "Hurry up, help me change into a new dress and do me a makeup. Be haste, be haste! I need to stop Wu Qi at the city entrance! No matter what, I want him to accompany me to play for one whole month in Garden of Zhang Le!"
Palace maids rushed towards her from all directions. Using the quickest speed possible, they began helping Princess Zhang Le in changing into new dress and makeup.
Right after everything was done, Princess Zhang Le had her left hand carry a bowl of porridge and gulped down two mouthfuls of the porridge, while her right hand picked up two cakes and shoved them into her mouth quickly. Then, she impatiently brought Bai Zhu'er and Bai Zu'er and ran towards the outside of the palace. Eight Ghost Immortals, who had their bodies enshrouded with intense Ying energies, together with a troop of a few hundred palace guards, immediately followed behind them and formed a circle around Princess Zhang Le, providing her a tight and secure protection.
Not long after the large parade left Princess Zhang Le's bedroom and went past a few other palaces, about to leave the boundary of the Imperial Palace, Taba Haofeng and a few of his followers entered the Imperial Palace under the lead of a few imperial eunuchs, and just happened to bump into Princess Zhang Le.
While sitting in her coach, Princess Zhang Le had her face darkened upon seeing Taba Haofeng, who came with a smiling face. Without hesitation, she gave out an order, "Somebody, break all four limbs of Taba Haofeng and throw him out of the palace. Hmph! Do you really think I can be so easily deceived by you? That damn Taba Qingye is not a good man. You, Taba Haofeng, are not a good man either! Since you keep giving troubles to Wu Qi, you must be a bad guy! Somebody, break his... shatter all four limbs of his, and throw him out of the palace!"
Like a pack of savage and wild wolves and tigers, over thirty palace guards sprung forward and held up Taba Haofeng, who dared not to put up any resistance, and were about to carry out Princess's order.
Taba Haofeng's mind was filled with a great hatred. He quickly cried out, "Your Highness, Princess Zhang Le, please listen to me. I'm here to bring you the invitation card from young miss Yu! She is hosting a meeting of poetry and drawing at Myriad Red River these few days, and have invited the most famous and talented men and ladies in the city. I have no courage to offend Princess. As young miss Yu knows that I can enter the Imperial Palace and meet with Princess, that's why she asked me to bring the invitation card to Princess!"
Princess Zhang Le was struck dumb. She frowned and asked, "A meeting of poetry and drawing? Hosted by young miss Yu Qianqian? Why have I never heard about it before?"
Taba Haofeng forced out a few laughs, then carefully threw his glance at a few palace guards who were holding him and his followers up.
Princess Zhang Le snorted coldly and said with a deep voice, "Release him. Taba Haofeng, I'll usually be the first one to know when young miss Yu Qianqian is hosting a meeting of poetry and drawing. Why is it that this time, she asked you to bring me the invitation card?"
Carefully, Taba Haofeng handed over a light green invitation card to a nearby palace guard, asking him to pass it on to Princess Zhang Le. Princess Zhang Le unfolded the invitation card and gave it a glance, then casually handed the card to Bai Zhu'er, before she finally looked back at Taba Haofeng and said, "Now tell me, why did I not get any news about the meeting before this?"
Taba Haofeng bowed his head and said carefully, "Young miss Yu decided to host the meeting on the spur of the moment. It will continue for seven days, allowing everybody to have an ample time to bring their best talents and skills into play, and hoping that some excellent poems and drawings could be given birth during the event. Today is the third day of the meeting. Initially, I thought of informing Princess earlier. However, as the temper of Princess in this few days... as young miss Yu had once again asked me about Princess today, that is why I gathered my courage and paid Princess a visit in the Imperial Palace."
Princess Zhang Le startled, throwing an angry glance at Taba Haofeng and snapped, "Are you trying to say that I have a bad temper?!"
An invisible pressure came whistling out, forcing Taba Haofeng and a few of his followers to take a few staggering steps back. As Taba Haofeng was standing before everyone else, the immense pressure instantly made him burst out a mouthful of blood. It gave Princess Zhang Le a slight start, then she forced out a rather embarrassing laugh and said, "Zhu'er, did I really have a bad temper in these few days?"
Both Bai Zhu'er and Bai Zu'er smiled, but did not say anything.
Princess Zhang Le shook her head, her brows furrowed as she said, "Taba Haofeng, lead me to Myriad Red River for the meeting. Zhu'er, bring someone with you and wait for Marquis Wu at the city entrance. Once he arrives, tell him to find us at Myriad Red River. Also, tell him that if he doesn't go there, I'll dismantle the entire Duke Yan Le's Mansion once I return."
Bai Zhu'er answered her hastily, brought a couple dozens of palace guards, boarded another coach and left the Imperial Palace.
So Princess Zhang Le and her company went on towards the Myriad Red River. At the same time, Lu Chengfeng was invited to a banquet by a few important ministers of Great Yan Dynasty. Meanwhile, the last man who was on good terms with Wu Qi in Ji City, Yan Jiuhui, was summoned to the Central Wind Guards of Scouting Office by Qin Qingshui, using the reason of attending an internal meeting of renovating the Scouting Office.
In Ji City, anyone who was familiar with Wu Qi, holding high power and status and a great channel of grapevines, and could provide speedy rescue once anything happened to him, was enticed away.
[1] Drink the northwest wind - It simply means have nothing to eat.
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