Chapter 848: The Cycle of Cause and Effect

She would beg no more.

She no longer wanted to beg.

Born into a family like this, Shang Youlan understood too well. Once words had reached this point, even if she knelt before this nephew of hers, it would make no difference.

The pile of gifts had all been given away for nothing.

Chief Steward Tian Yu stood to one side with his head lowered, utterly silent, as though he had heard nothing.

Shang Jianxiong stared after Shang Youlan's departing figure and slowly said, "Aunt, I still say the same thing. At a time like this, whoever controls the troops controls the right to speak. Perhaps you can go try Shang Chaozong!"

Naturally, he did not want Shang Chaozong to grow stronger.

But under the present circumstances, there was nothing he could do.

By saying this, he hoped Shang Youlan might indeed go and try.

Perhaps she could persuade Shang Chaozong, though Shang Jianxiong knew the result was unlikely to change.

There were some matters even Shang Chaozong could not decide for himself.

At the end of the day, this world was still controlled by cultivators.

Shang Youlan paused slightly.

She had clearly heard him.

Then, still weeping, she walked away.

She left this place.

She left this imperial palace.

She left the place that had given birth to her and raised her, a place both familiar and strange, a place that held too many of her joys, sorrows, angers, and delights.

She never wanted to return again.

Because now she understood with perfect clarity that from the day she had been married away, this place had already ceased to be her home...

On the Yan-Zhao front, one man and three women arrived belatedly and were stopped outside the Yan army camp.

They were none other than Zhao Dengxuan, Dong Jinhuan, An Miao'er, and Lin Feiyan.

They had originally headed straight for Maolu Villa. After hearing on the road that the two states had gone to war, they changed direction and came directly here.

There were Xiaoyao Palace disciples in the camp who knew Zhao Dengxuan.

Even so, an army camp had its rules. Only after strict verification were the four allowed inside.

When Fei Changliu, Xia Hua, and Zheng Jiuxiao—who happened to be meeting together—heard that those three rebellious disciples had returned, fury immediately flared. They ordered the women brought over.

The three Sect Leaders had been preparing to teach these traitorous disciples a severe lesson.

Who could have expected Zhao Dengxuan to step forward on their behalf?

The three sects were not Niu Youdao. They did not possess the nerve to show disrespect toward a man from Xiaoyao Palace.

So they suppressed their anger and listened to Zhao Dengxuan's load of nonsense.

After all, Zhao Dengxuan was not an ordinary Xiaoyao Palace disciple. His master was an Elder of Xiaoyao Palace.

The three women kept their heads lowered timidly and did not dare speak.

Fei Changliu glanced at Dong Jinhuan and said in a heavy voice, "Mr. Zhao, it isn't that I refuse to give you face. The problem is that I'm afraid neither you nor I can decide this matter. We will still need Niu Youdao to make the decision!"

Zhao Dengxuan nodded. "I understand Sect Leader Fei's meaning. I won't put you in a difficult position either."

"How about this? Leave Niu Youdao to me. I'll persuade him. Until then, I ask that the three sects not make things difficult for these women. I will naturally give all three sects an accounting. What do you say?"

What could they say?

They agreed.

But the moment Zhao Dengxuan left, all three sects immediately went to find Gongsun Bu and reported the matter to Niu Youdao.

After returning to her own tent, Lingxiu Mountain Sect Leader Xia Hua stared at Lin Feiyan, who was waiting inside trembling with fear, and ground out, "You've disgraced us completely!"

A palm print marked Lin Feiyan's face. Her master had just slapped her.

Now she dropped to her knees with a thud and began crying.

"Sect Leader, this disciple was forced into helplessness at the time. There truly was no road to survival..."

Through tears, she explained the situation inside the Secret Realm in detail.

Her master stood to one side with an expression of unbearable embarrassment.

Humiliating.

The entire affair had become public knowledge, and this was her own disciple.

It was truly humiliating.

After hearing her out, Xia Hua shook her head with a heh.

"No road to survival?"

"Niu Youdao managed to bring so many people from Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion out alive. You think he would have cared about a few more of you?"

Tears streamed down Lin Feiyan's face.

"This disciple was ignorant and foolish. But the people from Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion had betrayed Master Dao at the time too. They betrayed him first. That was what left this disciple with no choice."

She regretted it too.

But under the circumstances then, how could she have known things would end this way?

Xia Hua said, "Where is the man you slept with? Why hasn't he come forward to protect you?"

"You think Zhao Dengxuan can protect you?"

"He thinks his identity as a Xiaoyao Palace disciple can frighten Master Dao?"

"That fellow who doesn't know the height of Heaven or the depth of earth probably still has no idea that even Xiaoyao Palace Elder Guo Qingkong was killed by Master Dao."

"This time Master Dao forcibly ignited a war without giving the three great sects the slightest face. And what can those three great sects do to him?"

"What qualification does Zhao Dengxuan have to protect any of you?"

Lin Feiyan choked back sobs, visibly frightened.

Xia Hua continued, "Do you think the sect sent you into the Secret Realm to attend Niu Youdao because we had some filthy intention from the beginning?"

"Fine. I'll admit there was some of that."

"But if we hadn't sent you into the Secret Realm, and instead merely told you to go to Maolu Villa, would you have been willing?"

"Don't think I don't know. Which female disciple in the sect wouldn't like to marry Niu Youdao?"

"He's young, unmarried, powerful, and influential. Every girl who sees him has her eyes light up. They simply never get the chance to climb that high branch."

"But the moment the Secret Realm is mentioned, suddenly none of you wants to go."

"You want to climb a high branch, but you don't want to bear any risk. Girls, where in this world is there such a wonderful bargain?"

"Does Niu Youdao lack women?"

"If he wanted women, all he would have to do is speak. What kind of woman could he not obtain? Do you think your looks alone would make him choose you?"

"He doesn't lack women. What he lacks are his own people!"

"Going into the Secret Realm was dangerous. But opportunity and danger exist together."

"Do you even understand what you missed?"

"If you had stayed beside Niu Youdao through that danger, if you had shared life and death with him, then even if you never gave your body to him, so long as you emerged alive, you would have become one of his people."

"You would no longer be some insignificant junior disciple of Lingxiu Mountain whom he wouldn't even bother looking at properly."

"From then on, in his eyes and at his side, there would be a place for someone called Lin Feiyan."

"You could enter Maolu Villa whenever you wished. Whatever benefits came later, you would have your share!"

"An individual is not the same as a group."

"A group may make another choice for the sake of everyone's interests. So long as it is not for private gain, the decision can still be explained."

"But when an individual changes sides, that individual is a traitor!"

"Before you went, did you think the sect was wronging you by making you do this?"

"Girl, we didn't choose someone else. We chose you."

"Yes, it put you through hardship—but it also handed you an excellent opportunity."

"And you missed it."

"You missed the chance to become one of Niu Youdao's trusted people."

"An opportunity like that will never come again."

"Foolish!"

Lin Feiyan knocked her head against the ground and wept until she could barely breathe.

She understood now.

She finally understood.

And she regretted it.

She truly regretted it.

...

Heaven stood high and earth stretched broad.

Mountains and waters changed with the four seasons. Withering and flourishing followed their natural course, never forcing anything to become what it was not.

And so they endured as they always had.

The ones forever insisting on changing things were the people wandering among those mountains and waters.

Beside a lake, Niu Youdao and Mr. Yucang walked side by side, taking in the surrounding scenery and talking with great enjoyment.

Xiaoyue Pavilion had countless matters demanding attention now, yet Mr. Yucang had insisted on meeting Niu Youdao personally.

He simply could not feel at ease without seeing him.

Things had already reached this stage. Mr. Yucang feared Niu Youdao might change his mind.

If anything went wrong and Zhao managed to free its hands, Xiaoyue Pavilion, which had only just raised its banner, would have no way to withstand Zhao's counterattack.

Once they had discussed almost everything, Mr. Yucang did not linger. He took his leave.

Before departing, he turned and nodded in greeting toward Guan Fangyi and Wu Zhaoxing not far away.

His gaze lingered a little longer on Wu Zhaoxing's face.

He was somewhat puzzled.

There were a few things he simply could not make sense of.

It was already strange enough that Hongniang, who had spent so many years entrenched in Fufang Garden in the Qi capital, had become utterly devoted to following Niu Youdao.

But what was going on with Wu Zhaoxing?

A dignified expert ranked sixth on the Golden Core Ranking now looked almost like one of Niu Youdao's subordinates.

After watching Mr. Yucang rise into the air and depart, Guan Fangyi walked over and asked, "Everything was going fine. Why did you scare him?"

By "scare him," she meant a line Niu Youdao had suddenly inserted into one of the letters he and Mr. Yucang had been exchanging recently:

The pressure is considerable.

That one sentence had frightened Mr. Yucang badly enough that he had insisted on rushing over to meet Niu Youdao in person.

Niu Youdao rested both hands on the hilt of the sword planted before him.

His tone was calm.

"When it's time to frighten him, then he needs to be frightened."

"He has to understand that none of this comes for free. I cannot allow Yan's three great sects to seize control of the negotiations between us and Xiaoyue Pavilion."

Guan Fangyi fell into thought.

She understood.

They needed Xiaoyue Pavilion to stand firmly on their side.

They could not allow Xiaoyue Pavilion to decide that Yan's three great sects were powerful enough to bypass Niu Youdao and negotiate cooperation directly.

Xiaoyue Pavilion needed the occasional reminder of exactly who controlled Nanzhou's forces.

This side could ruin Xiaoyue Pavilion's plans at any time—for example, by allowing unrest to break out within the Yan army and giving Zhao the chance to free its strength.

"Ah..." Guan Fangyi could not help sighing.

She felt that the game they were playing had grown larger and larger, large enough that every step now made the heart tremble.

Everyone aboard their ship seemed to be traveling through towering waves, with the danger of capsizing and dying at any moment.

Fortunately, this man had always managed to keep a steady hand on the rudder.

Thinking back to all the troubles that had once tormented her in the Qi capital, she realized those things were barely worth mentioning compared with what they faced now.

Here, a single mishap could cost lives.

"What are you sighing about?" Niu Youdao lifted his chin toward the sheets in her hand. "Another message from the front?"

"Yes. More people looking for you. They couldn't contact you, so they went to the Prince instead."

"If there's nothing special, ignore them for now."

Guan Fangyi pulled out one sheet.

"There are two messages that are a little unusual."

"Liuxian Sect and the other two sects passed word that the three disciples who betrayed you have returned..."

She summarized the contents of the report, then asked, "They're asking how you want them handled."

Had she not mentioned it, Niu Youdao truly would not have remembered the matter.

Now that it had been raised, he fell silent and thought for a while.

"Reply to them. Give Zhao Dengxuan face. Don't make things difficult for the women."

Guan Fangyi's eyes widened.

"You're just going to let three traitors off like that?"

Niu Youdao said calmly, "Helping bring about a good match is a virtuous thing."

"Tell Fei Changliu and the others to treat those three female disciples well."

"When the present affair is over, I'll personally go to the three great sects and propose the marriages for them. I'll see the matches completed!"

"Uh..." Guan Fangyi did not know whether to laugh or cry. "The three great sects like to call themselves upright and orthodox. With women carrying the name of traitors, I'm afraid they won't allow them to marry into their sects."

Niu Youdao gave a low hmph.

"That won't be up to them."

"They've already slept with the women. How can they not marry them?"

"How can people from my Maolu Villa be allowed to be toyed with however others please?"

"They must take responsibility!"

Guan Fangyi immediately sensed something strange.

She looked at him suspiciously.

"What are you plotting now?"

Niu Youdao did not elaborate.

"Just have Fei Changliu and the others do as I said."

"What else?"

Guan Fangyi studied him for another moment.

She was certain there was no good intention behind Niu Youdao personally going to propose those marriages.

But since he refused to explain, she did not press him.

Instead, she pulled out another sheet.

"This came from the Qi capital. Yan Baoru has taken refuge with Wuxin, the Ghost Doctor's disciple."

"Oh?" Niu Youdao reached out and took the paper himself.

After reading the detailed report, he was genuinely surprised.

Driven into a dead end, that woman had truly managed to think of every possible method.

The intelligence report stated very clearly that Wuxin had already examined Yan Baoru and confirmed that she had never been poisoned.

That development exceeded Niu Youdao's expectations.

He truly had never imagined that Yan Baoru would seek out the Ghost Doctor's disciple.

Still less had he expected the Ghost Doctor's disciple to accept her so easily.

Yan Baoru herself had more or less sold herself into servitude. She was now staying at Wuxin's side, seeking shelter beneath his protection.

"If this hadn't involved me, I doubt Wuxin would have taken her in either. Truly, the cycle of cause and effect..." Niu Youdao murmured to himself.

Guan Fangyi asked, "Qi happens to be trying to contact you right now. Should we send them a message and pressure them into dealing with Yan Baoru?"

Niu Youdao said, "You shouldn't always think about fighting and killing. Learn to think about other people."

"Wuxin has a solitary temperament and lacks manpower around him. Things are easier when you have someone capable nearby."

"Now that he's finally found someone who suits him, let him keep her."

Think about other people?

Guan Fangyi rolled her eyes.

As if she would believe that nonsense.

[End of Chapter 848]