Chapter 560: A Sudden Change

Li Wuhua's gaze shifted. Seeing Hai Ruyue lost in thought, unaware that he had already come to stand beside her, he asked, “What are you thinking about?”

Even the tone he used with her had changed.

Before, his voice toward her had generally carried either pressure or teasing amusement.

The pressure came when they discussed serious affairs.

The teasing and amusement came when he was savoring her charm and beauty.

Without either of them quite noticing when it happened, that feeling had faded.

No matter how alluring Hai Ruyue remained, she no longer stirred in him that impatient desire to possess and toy with her.

His tone had become ordinary and calm.

There was no longer covetousness, playfulness, or possession in it.

He spoke to her not as an outsider, but in the manner one used with family.

Hai Ruyue came back to herself and stood. “Eunuch Zhao left?”

“He left.” Li Wuhua nodded.

Hai Ruyue's gaze fell on the box tucked under his arm. “What's that?”

“A congratulatory gift Zhao Sen delivered on the Empress Dowager's behalf. One box contained tonics. This one...” Li Wuhua opened the box in his hands. “I can't quite make sense of.”

Both boxes had already been inspected carefully, and nothing suspicious had been found.

The box of tonics had been set aside for the time being.

No one dared casually feed Hai Ruyue anything sent from the capital.

Inside this second box, however, were a crystal ball, amber with insects suspended inside, tiny carved wooden dolls, delicate wind chimes, and all manner of other little objects packed together in dazzling profusion.

Li Wuhua looked puzzled. “Are these for the child to play with? He's this young. He couldn't possibly understand any of this.”

The moment Hai Ruyue saw what lay inside, her gaze froze.

Her eyes slowly reddened.

She reached into the box, fingertips brushing over one object after another, and murmured, “They aren't toys for the child. These are things I played with when I was little.”

Li Wuhua had nothing to say.

Hai Ruyue took out a silk handkerchief and unfolded it.

Crooked flowers and grasses had been embroidered across it, along with two ugly butterflies hovering above them.

The instant she saw it, tears spilled from her eyes.

She clapped one hand over her mouth, glanced toward the baby, and seemed afraid her sobs might wake the peacefully sleeping child.

Li Wuhua asked in surprise, “What is it?”

Hai Ruyue choked out, “This is the first thing I embroidered when I was learning as a child. Mother...”

So childhood memories had overwhelmed her.

Li Wuhua understood and sighed. “Could this be an attempt to move you with sentiment? To use these things to tempt you back to the capital?”

Hai Ruyue shook her head through her tears, her expression full of bitterness.

“I'm not that little girl anymore. Imperial Brother is no longer that boy from back then either. Mother Empress can no longer control him, and she can no longer control me.”

“Can we still go back?”

“We can't.”

Good. So long as she understood that much.

Li Wuhua placed one hand lightly against her back in comfort. “Since they're memories from your childhood, keep them with you.”

Hai Ruyue took possession of the box and sat to one side.

She removed the objects one by one, touched them one by one, and set them one by one across the table.

Every object carried a memory.

She would pick one up, play with it, then wipe away another tear.

Inside was not only her first attempt at embroidery.

There was also the first painting she had ever made.

The paper had already yellowed with age, yet it had been folded neatly and preserved inside.

When she saw the ugly painting, Hai Ruyue could not help laughing through her tears.

Looking at it with her present eyes, she could hardly imagine she had ever drawn such a thing.

Yet the moment she saw it, she knew it was hers.

Li Wuhua stood by the doorway and looked back at her for a while.

Finally, he stepped out.

...

The next day, something began to seem wrong with Hai Ruyue's body.

She developed a slight fever and started coughing from time to time.

Li Wuhua did not know whether the childhood objects had stirred her emotions too deeply.

He did not care about the explanation.

He immediately removed the box and everything inside it, isolating the objects from this side.

What frightened him even more was that his infant son also began to develop a fever and wailed without stopping.

As a cultivator, Li Wuhua repeatedly administered spiritual pills and medicines to mother and child and used spiritual power to treat them.

Their temperatures would fall.

The coughing would stop.

Then, before long, the symptoms would return.

Treatment followed treatment.

The illness kept recurring.

Whether he used spiritual power or medicine, nothing produced a true effect.

Instead, the qi and blood of mother and child gradually weakened.

Hai Ruyue was an adult and could still control herself.

The infant understood nothing.

He could not endure crying without pause like this.

With no other choice, they sealed his acupoints and forced him into unconsciousness. Only then did the crying stop.

Li Wuhua began to panic.

He sent an urgent message to the sect asking for help.

The envoys from the various states who arrived one after another to offer congratulations were likewise unable to see Hai Ruyue.

Li Wuhua found excuses and kept every one of them away.

...

Two riders entered Jinzhou City.

Niu Youdao and Guan Fangyi came openly and without hurry, making no attempt to hide themselves. They entered with their real faces exposed.

Once inside, they met Fang Zhe, who had come to receive them. The three then headed together toward the Provincial Inspector's Residence.

Old Second Wu had already entered the city ahead of them and secretly reached Nanzhou's liaison point there.

After reaching their destination, the three waited briefly outside the residence.

A gate guard went in to report. Before long, someone emerged and led them inside.

Zhu Shun appeared within the gate to receive them.

The old steward looked much older than before, his expression drawn and haggard.

“Steward Zhu, haven't you been resting well?” Niu Youdao asked casually when they met.

Zhu Shun forced a smile but did not explain. He simply gestured for the three to follow him.

As they moved deeper into the residence, Niu Youdao gradually noticed something strange.

Servants came and went, yet not a single one bowed to Zhu Shun.

Niu Youdao could more or less see what had happened.

The steward seemed to have lost his standing inside the Provincial Inspector's Residence.

The bitterness behind it was not something Zhu Shun could easily explain to outsiders.

The genuine descendants of the Xiao clan had been weak in Jinzhou for far too long.

When Xiao Bieshan was alive, his health had been poor, and Hai Ruyue had managed the household and its affairs.

After Xiao Bieshan died, Xiao Tianzhen was still young and sickly, so once again Hai Ruyue remained in charge.

Throughout all those years, Hai Ruyue had been the one speaking for the Xiao clan in Jinzhou.

Altogether, she had controlled Jinzhou for nearly twenty years.

The old retainers who had once been loyal to the Xiao clan had almost all been replaced over time.

When nothing happened, the change had been difficult to notice.

Only after the recent upheaval did Zhu Shun realize that those forces once loyal to the Xiao clan had gradually changed under Hai Ruyue's soft-handed management.

To them, the Xiao clan was Hai Ruyue, and Hai Ruyue was the Xiao clan.

Even if the Xiao clan itself was gone, so long as Hai Ruyue remained, it made little difference.

That was why the recent transformation had caused almost no disturbance in Jinzhou.

Hai Ruyue had changed her status with astonishing ease.

The Xiao clan had already become part of the past in Jinzhou.

And since the change had already been made, Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion had no desire to leave any lingering Xiao clan influence behind and risk future disputes or turmoil across Jinzhou.

After all, the Xiao clan still had a son in Ghost Doctor's hands.

Li Wuhua had originally intended to remove Zhu Shun altogether.

Hai Ruyue remembered the old steward's years of hard work and insisted on keeping him.

He remained, but his authority was gone.

He had been stripped of real power.

The person now managing the affairs of the Provincial Inspector's Residence in Zhu Shun's place was one of Li Wuhua's disciples.

When they encountered Li Wuhua in a courtyard, Niu Youdao was surprised again.

The cultivator looked every bit as haggard as Zhu Shun.

Before Niu Youdao could even offer a polite greeting, Li Wuhua glared at him.

“What are you doing here?”

There was truly little courtesy to be found for this visitor.

How could Li Wuhua easily forget that Niu Youdao had once seized Xiao Tianzhen and used him to threaten Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion?

Niu Youdao smiled. “I was unable to come offer congratulations when Elder Li married. Please forgive me. I heard Elder Li has now been blessed with a precious son, so I came especially to congratulate you.”

When Li Wuhua and Hai Ruyue had married, it had been after the great battle in Nanzhou.

At the time, Niu Youdao had been hiding his whereabouts and did not want Tianyu Sect to find him, so he had not come.

Li Wuhua swept one broad sleeve. “I have no need of your congratulations. You are not welcome here!”

Niu Youdao had already given him face more than once.

Li Wuhua's continued hostility was beginning to cross the line.

Niu Youdao raised his brows slightly, and his tone sank.

“Elder Li, from the sound of that, are you intending to represent Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion and terminate the alliance between Jinzhou and Nanzhou?”

“If that is truly your meaning, I will leave.”

“But let me say the ugly words first. Once I walk out through this gate, Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion had better not regret it!”

Li Wuhua was already distraught and irritable.

Now someone had come to threaten him to his face.

He almost wanted to roar at Niu Youdao to get out.

But he had not yet lost his senses completely.

He knew perfectly well that Nanzhou was no longer what it had once been.

Even Tianyu Sect had been kicked out of Nanzhou by this man.

Niu Youdao now possessed absolute influence over Nanzhou.

Li Wuhua had no authority to terminate Jinzhou's alliance with Nanzhou.

Niu Youdao, however, truly did have the standing to terminate Nanzhou's alliance with Jinzhou.

Li Wuhua could not shoulder responsibility for something that serious.

Otherwise, he would never have allowed Niu Youdao through the gate in the first place.

Li Wuhua's disciple Guo Wanjin, the man now handling the affairs Zhu Shun had once managed, hurriedly stepped forward to smooth matters over and give his master a way down.

“My master has been in a troubled state of mind recently. Brother Niu, please do not take it to heart.”

Niu Youdao had no desire to rupture relations with Jinzhou either.

He accepted the offered step and smiled.

“With a beautiful wife beside him and now a precious son as well, this should be a time of joy. What could have put Elder Li in such a foul mood?”

Guo Wanjin did not know whether this was something he should say.

For now, the matter was still being kept secret.

They feared that if the news spread, it might cause disorder in Jinzhou.

Just then, the faint wailing of an infant drifted over from deeper within the residence.

Li Wuhua abruptly turned his head.

Anxiety showed plainly on his face.

He knew it was probably time for the child to feed again.

They could not keep the baby unconscious forever without letting him eat.

Yet whenever the child woke, he cried.

The sound of his son's crying left Li Wuhua increasingly distraught.

Guo Wanjin could not help frowning either.

Niu Youdao immediately sensed that something was wrong.

Slowly, he said, “I want to see the Grand Princess.”

Li Wuhua turned back. “She has only just given birth. It is not suitable for her to receive visitors. If you have business, you can speak to me. It makes no difference.”

“Elder Li, I do not want anything to happen here that affects the alliance between our two sides.” Niu Youdao's voice hardened. “Something has clearly happened.”

“I'll say it again. I want to see the Grand Princess.”

There was no stopping him.

The more Li Wuhua tried to prevent the meeting, the more certain Niu Youdao became that something had happened to Hai Ruyue.

The claim that childbirth made her unfit to receive visitors was nonsense.

Several days had already passed.

Even an ordinary woman would be able to see people by now.

Niu Youdao refused to believe that a woman surrounded by cultivators helping her recuperate would somehow recover more slowly.

Their attempts to block him failed.

Niu Youdao insisted on seeing her and was willing to rupture relations over it if necessary.

In the end, Li Wuhua had no choice but to take him inside.

The moment Niu Youdao entered the room where Hai Ruyue was resting, a Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion disciple had just finished circulating spiritual power to regulate her qi and blood.

It was not only one disciple helping her.

Several disciples took turns throughout the day, one after another, using spiritual power to treat her.

The infant was receiving the same care.

At this point, no one could still worry about propriety between men and women.

Two maidservants supported Hai Ruyue as she lay back down.

Niu Youdao saw her face.

Her eyes were dull and spiritless.

Her complexion was deathly pale.

Hai Ruyue saw him too.

The instant she recognized him, she became violently agitated, as though she had seen a demon.

[End of Chapter 560]