After hearing the Empress Dowager’s words1, Lin’an’s first thought was that her brother Emperor intended to compromise with the court’s powerful nobles in order to consolidate his rule by marrying her off to the son of a duke.
This was not a baseless guess. Previously, her mother consort had also mentioned such matters and wanted to marry her to the second son of Duke Ding.
The Empress Dowager’s voice was very light, very calm, as she continued,
“We are still your mother in name. Your marriage is a major event and must be overseen by us.
“When the late emperor was alive, he paid no attention to your marriages, and we were happy to let things be. But now that the new emperor has such intentions, we cannot abdicate responsibility.”
Brother Emperor clearly knows how close I am to running dog. Although I never admitted any affection for him, can he really not see it… Lin’an held her breath in her heart.
Her face immediately darkened, and her tone, though respectful, carried indifference:
“Please, Empress Dowager, do not trouble yourself with this matter. Lin’an will speak to Brother Emperor in person.”
The Empress Dowager looked at her in some surprise,
“You do not wish to marry?”
Lin’an replied sternly,
“I will not marry anyone.”
The Empress Dowager nodded. She did not mind, and said softly,
“No matter.
“We heard from His Majesty that you and Silver Gong Xu have been quite close, and your relationship is very good… So His Majesty must have misunderstood.”
…Lin’an stared at her in complete shock.
After a few seconds of speechlessness, Lin’an stammered,
“M-mother, what did you say?”
The Empress Dowager replied calmly,
“His Majesty wishes to bestow a marriage between you and Silver Gong Xu. If you do not wish it, just reject him…”
Before she could finish, Lin’an interrupted loudly,
“S-since Brother Emperor has already said so, then even if Lin’an is most unwilling, I can only comply.
“Thank you, mother, for your arrangements.”
The Empress Dowager looked at her for a while, then smiled faintly:
“After all you’ve been through, you have indeed matured a bit.
“We have said all we needed. You may leave now.”
“Lin’an takes her leave!”
She maintained her composure as she saluted, then left Fengqi Palace with her two personal maids.
The moment she stepped out of the main doors, Lin’an’s legs went weak and she nearly fell.
“Your Highness…”
Fortunately, the two maids reacted quickly, holding her up.
“Does Your Highness feel unwell? I will fetch the imperial physician at once!”
The maid on the left ran off in a hurry.
Lin’an leaned weakly against the other maid, staring blankly.
“Your Highness, what is wrong?”
Alarmed, the maid tried to rouse her.
Lin’an felt her heart pounding wildly in her chest, her vision going black in waves. She tried to force a smile, but instead tears streamed down her face as she murmured,
“We do not know what is happening either…”
…
Late at night, Southern Marches.
On the outskirts of the Hundred Thousand Mountains, there stood a tall mountain called ‘Qingfeng Cliff’.
The full moon hung high, and countless figures moved busily under the silvery moonlight, some looked entirely human, some were humanoid but with beastly features, and some were entirely in beast form.
What they had in common was—they were carrying things.
Hundreds of Yao were throwing living creatures into a large pit. These living things included both animals and people from the Western Regions.
But whether animal or human, all were either barely alive or unconscious, utterly unaware of their impending fate.
High in the air, Luo Yuheng stood on her flying sword, Xu Qi’an was astride the Taiping Sabre, and Baiji was perched on his shoulder.
“A grand, bloody sacrificial rite,” Xu Qi’an said in a low voice as he looked down.
The collection of these lives had one purpose: to allow the severed limb of Shenshu to regain a measure of strength.
Shenshu had been sealed for five hundred years and his vitality had nearly run dry. Such depletion could not be restored by simple meditation or martial practice. To recover beyond-mortal strength, one would have to take in power of equivalent rank.
Xu Qi’an thought this met the principle of the conservation of energy.
Since blood pills of beyond-mortal grade were too rare, they had to rely on quantity to spark qualitative change.
“What’s wrong, oh brave and noble Silver Gong Xu? Can’t bear to see these lives snuffed out for nothing?” Luo Yuheng teased with a grin, like a mischievous Yao woman.
Xu Qi’an did not answer directly, but sighed,
“Let us not speak of noble titles, for every general is made atop a mountain of bones.”
Then he replied,
“People know how to adapt and must make choices. Blind adherence to principle is not the way of the wise.”
Luo Yuheng, smiling mischievously, raised her hand; her broad sleeve fell, revealing her snow-white wrist and jade-like hand as she stroked his head.
“You have never been one for dogmatic stubbornness.”
As they spoke, a great commotion rose from the forest below, trees falling in swathes.
From Xu Qi’an’s vantage point, he could see a gigantic, black-scaled serpent slowly slithering forth, crushing trees in its path.
“Hisss…”
The snake raised its head, flicking its tongue at the full moon overhead.
“It’s Protector Snake. Protector Snake is here!”
“Protector Snake’s body is as huge as ever…wait, has he grown even bigger?”
The Yao below all murmured with excitement.
The serpent’s belly squirmed as a large ball slowly edged upwards and, upon reaching the throat, was forcefully spat out.
It was a sphere of Western Region humans wrapped in Qi, likely several dozen in number.
“Screee!”
A shrill cry rang out through the night air.
Two enormous creatures swept across the sky: one was a giant scarlet bird over six metres long, its feathers as bright as flames; the other was a male eagle, about four metres long, with brown and gold plumage.
Each of the birds grasped an iron chain in its claws, and at the centre of the chains hung a huge wooden cage, six metres long, wide, and high.
The cage was packed with all sorts of animals, carnivores and herbivores alike.
The two great birds flew over the assembly of Yao, loosened their grip, and sent the huge cage crashing down.
Protector Snake flicked its long tail, easily catching the cage and lowering it gently.
Then a long howl rang out beneath the moon, as a giant dog, nine metres in length, bounded into view, running through the air as if on solid ground.
From the voices below, Xu Qi’an gathered that this was Protector Dog of the Wanyao Kingdom.
In the following two hours, the Yao protectors arrived one after another, eighteen in total, each one a fourth-rank Yao.
The living creatures in the pit grew more and more numerous.
In terms of numbers, the Yao have quite a high proportion of experts. And the Wanyao Kingdom surely has more than just eighteen fourth-rank Yao. Yeji isn’t here, so there must be others elsewhere…
Given that the Wanyao Kingdom had lain in hiding for five hundred years, slowly gathering their strength, to have such power was to be expected, as far as Xu Qi’an saw it.
“A pity there are only the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox and a bear as beyond-mortal masters.”
He said regretfully.
Beyond-mortal experts were dreadfully rare.
At its peak, the Wanyao Kingdom had more beyond-mortal Yao than anyone except the Buddhist sect, even the Great Feng could not compare.
After all, the Southern Yao symbolised the orthodox power of the Yao race, and held the entire race’s fortune together.
The northern Yao, by comparison, were notably lacking.
At that moment, he heard a little Yao call:
“Elder Qingji!”
Xu Qi’an immediately looked over. At the summit of Qingfeng Cliff stood a tall woman clad in a blue dress, her face veiled in silk. Her fox-like eyes glimmered as she gazed down over the crowd of Yao.
When did she appear? Does she have some innate ability akin to the stealth of the Shaman Clans’ Shadow Gu? Xu Qi’an heard Baiji cry out excitedly,
“Ah, Sister Qingji!”
Almost forgot, this little thing is herself the mighty Elder Baiji… Xu Qi’an asked,
“Is she your and Yeji’s sister?”
Baiji nodded hard:
“I haven’t seen Sister Qingji for so long. Her cooking is delicious.”
Just how many sisters do you have… Xu Qi’an asked tentatively,
“Is she pretty?”
Before Baiji could answer, Xu Qi’an stiffened, putting on a severe expression as he stated matter-of-factly,
“No matter how pretty, she’s not as beautiful as the National Teacher.”
Luo Yuheng nodded in satisfaction and withdrew her sword from his neck.
The veiled young woman looked down at the gathering Yao and called out in a clear, pure voice, neither sultry nor cloying, as clean and crisp as a silver bell,
“Invite Mistress!”
“Invite Mistress!”
All the Yao present cried out, their voices converging in a tidal wave.
“Ding-ling…”
The bright sound of bronze bells rang out in every Yao’s ears, as well as in Xu Qi’an’s and Luo Yuheng’s.
At that moment, the cold full moon seemed to dim, as if something had veiled it.
The Nine-tailed Celestial Fox has arrived… Xu Qi’an thought, glancing sideways at the full moon.
The fox tribe were renowned for their beauty, each one an unrivalled beauty.
What sort of splendour would this only Nine-tailed Celestial Fox within Jiuzhou possess?
PS: This chapter is a bit short, the extra will be made up next time.
Author’s note: the Empress has become the Empress Dowager now, last chapter still wrongly referred to her as Empress ↩
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