Chapter 814: Collision

Seeing Taishu Shanyue and the others arrive with a group of men, Myriad Beasts Sect Elder Sun Changhao, Ling Sect Elder Mei Jiukai, and Tianxing Sect Elder Wang Tiandi all went on guard and called their own people over to face them.

Taishu Shanyue's sudden accusation left the three Elders looking at one another in confusion. None of them understood what he was talking about.

Mei Jiukai of Ling Sect said, "Old Taishu, what are you babbling about?"

Taishu Shanyue gave a cold snort. "There's no point pretending ignorance. We don't mean anything else by it. We simply want to get to the bottom of the matter."

Wang Tiandi of Tianxing Sect said, "Then start by making yourself clear."

Taishu Shanyue said, "Are you telling me that pack of overseas demons and monsters isn't in league with you?"

Sun Changhao of Myriad Beasts Sect said, "What nonsense are you spouting? Are you deliberately looking for trouble?"

"Hey!" Taishu Shanyue raised a palm to stop him. "No need to put it so strongly." With his other hand, he tossed over a scrap of cloth. "See for yourselves."

Sun Changhao caught the cloth and shook it open. After reading it, he was left somewhat speechless. He handed it to the other two.

Both men frowned after reading it. Mei Jiukai held the cloth between two fingers and asked, "What's the meaning of this?"

Wushang Palace Elder Dao Wufeng said heavily, "It's written there in plain black and white. Why are you asking us what it means?"

Mei Jiukai said, "If you're looking for trouble, there's no need to resort to such a low-grade trick. You pick up some rag, scribble a few words on it, and now you want to come calling us to account?"

Baichuan Valley Elder Shi Ru raised a hand. "Brother Mei, you've misunderstood. Not long ago, someone secretly threw this over to our side from your direction. Other than your people, the only ones over here are Misty Pavilion's. Surely you're not suggesting Misty Pavilion did it? We only want to understand what exactly is going on."

It had been delivered from this side?

The three men being questioned exchanged startled, suspicious glances. Mei Jiukai lifted the cloth and swept his gaze across everyone nearby. "Who did this? Step forward and admit it honestly!"

The disciples of Myriad Beasts Sect, Ling Sect, and Tianxing Sect remained silent. No one answered, and naturally no one stepped forward to admit anything.

Mei Jiukai asked several more times without receiving a response. Rather than pursue it further in front of outsiders, he turned back to the men who had come to confront them. "You all saw it yourselves. This has nothing to do with us."

Taishu Shanyue chuckled. "I hope everything written there is false. But if someone really is playing games with us, then don't blame me for putting the ugly words first. We also owe our dead disciples an explanation. Anyone who helps our enemies is openly setting themselves against us!"

He stopped there and said no more, then turned and left.

He had no choice. Unless driven to it, he did not dare provoke these people too far. Otherwise, he would never have spoken so mildly.

The others also turned and departed one after another.

They were leaving just like that?

Yan Baoru, watching from the side, stared in disbelief. Nothing she had hoped for had happened. Her disappointment was immense.

What she did not understand was that games between powerful sects and factions were different from the way an independent cultivator acting alone settled matters. For her, if she had the strength to kill someone, she could simply act. These factions were bound up in complicated interests and consequences behind the scenes. They could not settle grudges as freely and directly as she could.

She almost jumped out to testify personally, but in the end she did not dare. If she had dared reveal herself openly, she would never have needed to tip them off in secret in the first place.

To step forward directly would mean openly opposing Myriad Beasts Sect, Ling Sect, and Tianxing Sect. An independent cultivator ranked second on the Golden Core Ranking carried real weight, but not enough to contend with three colossal sects like these.

After the men who had come looking for trouble left, Sun Changhao, Mei Jiukai, and Wang Tiandi gathered together and spoke quietly.

In front of Taishu Shanyue and the others, the three had not been willing to investigate too deeply and throw their own side into disorder, leaving an opening for others to exploit. Once those outsiders were gone, however, they had to find out what had happened.

"Whoever did this had better step forward on your own." Mei Jiukai's voice turned severe. "The three of us can promise that as long as you admit it honestly and explain the reason clearly, we'll treat it as though nothing happened and will not pursue the matter. But if we find you ourselves, it'll be too late to confess then!"

Still no one came forward.

The warning having been given, and with the expected culprit failing to show, the three sects immediately began investigating.

They checked again and again, but with nothing except a single scrap of cloth, there was very little they could discover.

No one admitted anything from beginning to end, nor would anyone. Yan Baoru certainly did not dare confess that she had been trying to set them up. That would have been openly courting death.

In the end, the matter could only be left unresolved.

Of course, the three sects also suspected that Jin, Han, and Song might have been deliberately looking for an excuse to cause trouble, so they quietly put their disciples on heightened guard.

While personnel were being repositioned, Chao Jing's eldest disciple Xu Huo passed Yan Baoru and added one more spark to the fire.

"It was you, wasn't it?" he murmured.

Yan Baoru's heart jolted.

Before she could defend herself, Xu Huo had already walked past.

This too was Niu Youdao's intention.

For someone no longer under control, there was no longer any need to keep trying to control her.

If Yan Baoru kept her head down, so be it. But once she chose to jump out, she had to be forced to finish what she had started.

...

In the imperial palace of Wei, Xuan Wei had just rounded the corner of a pavilion when she collided with another figure coming around from the opposite side.

Crash!

A serving tray overturned. Cups and bowls shattered across the ground, and soup splashed all over Xuan Wei.

"Impudent!" shouted one of the guards following her, his hand almost going straight to his sword.

The alluring beauty who had collided with Xuan Wei saw who she had struck and turned pale with fright. She immediately dropped to her knees and apologized again and again.

The two maidservants behind her went white as well and hurriedly knelt with her.

Once the guards saw who had caused the accident, however, their half-drawn blades could go no farther. This was the emperor's woman, not someone they could casually punish.

Xuan Wei shook the soup from her skirt and looked at the beauty kneeling before her.

Cloudlike hair framed dark brows; her delicate skin was fairer than snow. She truly possessed the kind of beauty said to eclipse the moon and shame the flowers, enough that even another woman could not help feeling tenderness toward her.

The emperor's new favorite: Noble Consort Chang.

Xuan Wei frowned slightly and sighed inwardly. Had Ximen Qingkong been here, a misunderstanding like this could never have happened. Someone approaching from several zhang away would already have drawn his attention. How could anyone possibly have collided with her?

"Forget it." Xuan Wei waved off the guards gathering around.

This was the emperor's woman and therefore her younger brother's woman. She could hardly go too far. Bending down herself, she reached out and helped the frightened Noble Consort Chang to her feet.

Xuan Wei studied her face closely and sighed inwardly again. What extraordinary beauty. No wonder the emperor was infatuated with her.

She asked, "There are servants for carrying trays and delivering things. Why trouble Noble Consort Chang to do such work yourself?"

Noble Consort Chang appeared to tremble as she answered, "For anything His Majesty uses, if I can prepare it myself, I try to do so. I don't want to leave it to another's hands."

"Oh." Xuan Wei tugged at her stained skirt. "It's nothing."

With that, she stepped around the woman and left.

Once she had gone some distance, Xuan Wei beckoned.

Jiang Shiji, Chief Commissioner of Wei's largest intelligence organization, the Mist Bureau, quickly approached and cupped her hands.

"The two new favorites are deeply loved by His Majesty," Xuan Wei said as she walked. "Are you certain there is nothing wrong with their backgrounds?"

Two new beauties had recently been presented to the emperor and quickly won his favor. Xuan Wei had taken notice from the beginning, so naturally people had investigated them. The reports had said there was no problem, and she had let the matter go. Today's incident stirred the thought again, prompting her to ask once more.

Jiang Shiji replied, "We've investigated them repeatedly and in detail. We checked three generations of both families from top to bottom. There truly is nothing suspicious."

"The people around the emperor cannot be allowed to present any hidden danger."

"The Mist Bureau has continued monitoring their families as well. We will not overlook anything unusual."

...

The plump ruler of Wei, Xuan Chengtian, arrived cheerfully at a courtyard in the rear palace, personally cradling a small purple kitten in his arms.

Seeing one room tightly shut and all the maidservants waiting outside, he asked, "Where is your mistress?"

The maidservants bowed and told him she was inside. They did not know why she had driven them all out.

"Beloved Consort, open the door. We brought you a gift..." Xuan Chengtian knocked repeatedly, but there was no response.

Then came a crash from inside.

He froze and sensed something was wrong. This was the first time she had known he had arrived yet failed to come out and welcome him.

He slammed his shoulder into the door and burst it open.

One glance inside frightened him so badly that he flung the kitten from his arms.

A figure hung from a length of white silk beneath the roof beam.

It was Noble Consort Chang.

"Someone! Save her! Save her!" Xuan Chengtian screamed.

People immediately rushed inside to rescue her, while the maidservants soon dissolved into sobs.

Why had she tried to take her own life?

After Noble Consort Chang recovered, she refused to say. Xuan Chengtian remained beside her the entire time.

Only late that night, while curled in Xuan Chengtian's arms, did she finally whisper, "I'm afraid."

Xuan Chengtian held her and soothed her. "Don't be afraid. We are here. With Us here, Beloved Consort has nothing to fear."

"I accidentally ran into the Chancellor of Tianwei Residence today!" Noble Consort Chang began sobbing softly.

Xuan Chengtian was momentarily speechless. "We heard about that. That's all? Beloved Consort, don't tell Us you tried to take your life over something like this."

Noble Consort Chang raised a tear-streaked face. "Your Majesty, that is the Chancellor of Wei! Offending the Chancellor is an enormous matter. How could I not be afraid? Rather than wait to be punished, I thought it would be better to..."

Xuan Chengtian pressed one finger to her red lips. "You're far too sensitive. She's Our Imperial Sister. What is there to fear from a misunderstanding? Don't worry. The next time Imperial Sister comes, We will speak to her personally for you. Nothing will happen."

Noble Consort Chang immediately looked terrified. She scrambled upright and knelt on the bed, kowtowing again and again. "Your Majesty, if you tell the Chancellor, you might as well kill me yourself! If the Chancellor learns that I complained about her in front of Your Majesty, I'm afraid I'll die without even a place for burial. My family and all nine clans may be dragged into disaster as well!"

The corner of Xuan Chengtian's mouth twitched. He sat up. "What are you saying? Is Our Imperial Sister really as frightening as you make her sound?"

Still kneeling, Noble Consort Chang shook her head through her tears. "The military and political power of Wei are both in the Chancellor's hands. Everyone beneath Heaven knows it. Only Your Majesty does not."

Xuan Chengtian looked awkward. "How could We not know? We know something of it. It's only that affairs of state are truly exhausting. We don't wish to manage them, and having Imperial Sister handle the burden leaves Us relaxed and at ease... It isn't as serious as you're making it sound."

Noble Consort Chang choked back a sob. "I heard that there was once a consort in the palace who displeased the Chancellor and was dealt with by her. I dare ask Your Majesty: did such a thing happen?"

Xuan Chengtian grew even more awkward and rubbed his nose. "Some things weren't Imperial Sister's fault. Looking back now, perhaps We behaved too absurdly at the time and made her angry."

Noble Consort Chang lifted her head. "Then I dare ask Your Majesty one more thing. If one day the Chancellor wanted to kill me and Sister Sang, could Your Majesty protect us?"

Xuan Chengtian opened his mouth, but no words came.

[End of Chapter 814]