Zongzheng Huangyue stood up calmly, her words a blend of truth and lies.
“She is my savior. She said I was to her liking and wanted to grant me an opportunity. After learning of my relationship with you, she told me to switch my tutelage to her, but I refused. So, she asked me to deliver this pouch to you.”
Zongzheng Yingchu narrowed his eyes, masking his thoughts as his aura slowly calmed. He didn’t ask for details, only one question: “Where is she?”
He already knew the person he had suspected days ago was her. No wonder; he had never felt that way about anyone else.
Following the response Wen Li had anticipated, Zongzheng Huangyue replied, “She said she has already left Houchi Kingdom. She added that if you come looking for her, then... none of us will survive.”
Zongzheng Yingchu suddenly chuckled—the cold, piercing laughter of someone whose suppressed rage needed an outlet. The killing intent in his eyes slowly faded.
That was exactly something she would say. It was definitely her. Others might imitate her methods, but no one could replicate her crazed shamelessness and her rat-like, cowardly caution.
He stared intensely at Zongzheng Huangyue. “She wanted you to switch masters. Why did you refuse?”
Zongzheng Huangyue, a master of deception herself, didn’t bat an eye as she spoke to his face.
“I am a princess of Houchi Kingdom, and my Master is the Imperial Preceptor. Why would I apprentice myself to an outsider, especially one of unknown origins? Furthermore, she has a grievance with you, Master; it would be impossible for me to associate with her.”
“Then do you know what she wrote?”
Huangyue looked genuinely confused. “What?”
She truly did not know.
“She said... she wants me to secretly escort you out of Houchi Kingdom and provide cover for you. You are to return in no more than ten years.”
Zongzheng Yingchu closed his eyes to suppress his emotions.
In the end, she still wanted to steal his disciple. During the Aptitude Battle in the Central Province all those years ago, she had snatched his token and made him lose all face. Now, she had the gall to come to his doorstep to steal his person. She was truly seeking death.
“No, I’m not going. She never mentioned this to me.”
Zongzheng Huangyue immediately gave a cold refusal. “My bloodline purity was cultivated through the Saint Emperor’s painstaking efforts. I cannot leave Houchi Kingdom. She’s just a rogue cultivator—what right does she have to threaten you? If the Saint Emperor hears of this, he certainly won’t let her go. Master, we cannot let her have her way.”
She even offered a scheme: “Don’t you have a grudge against her? Master, pretend to send me away, and I will lure her out. You can lie in ambush nearby and slaughter her, finally venting the hatred you’ve harbored for all these years.”
The cold, heartless look in her eyes didn't seem feigned.
“...”
Zongzheng Yingchu opened his eyes. His gaze fell coldly upon her, silent.
He released a mere one hundred-thousandth of his formidable divine sense.
“Urgh!”
Zongzheng Huangyue’s body jolted. Her knees buckled, threatening to force her into a kneel, but she gritted her teeth and stood tall. Despite the crushing pressure of a high-level cultivator’s divine sense and her face turning pale, her ruthless expression didn’t waver in the slightest—as if she truly wanted to help him eliminate Wen Li.
Yet, a flash of confusion flickered in her eyes as if wondering why he would strike at her.
A gust of wind swept through the ruined hall, kicking up countless specks of dust, heightening the oppressive atmosphere to its limit.
“Do you think your little tricks could ever hold a candle to absolute power?”
Zongzheng Huangyue couldn’t speak; she feared that the moment she opened her mouth, blood would spray from her throat.
She stared directly into his eyes as her divine sense was ground down inch by inch. Her back was soaked with sweat. Her fingers clenched so hard her nails dug into her palms. A faint cracking sound echoed from her knees—the sound of bone being slowly crushed.
She was too pale to move.
With a mere shift of Yingchu’s gaze, the wind instantly went still. To be more precise, his divine sense pressure took control over every object in the hall, including Zongzheng Huangyue, who was currently dripping with sweat from the excruciating pain.
Finally, he stood up slowly. His tall, imposing figure cast a long shadow as his lotus-patterned gold robe swept the floor. He walked step by step toward the girl standing below with unyielding determination.
“Tell her this: If she has the ability to take you as a disciple, let her try—as long as she isn't afraid that one day, you’ll betray her just as you have betrayed me. I don’t have to be your Master, but you must remain the Princess of Houchi Kingdom.”
A pair of utterly indifferent eyes looked down at her, as if seeing through her every thought, filled with nothing but disdain for her shallow schemes.
“At midnight, I will secretly send you out of Houchi Kingdom. You are on your own. Ten years from now, I expect to see you here. Otherwise... the Princess of Houchi Kingdom can just as easily be a puppet.”
The moment he finished speaking, his figure vanished from the hall. He didn’t give Huangyue a choice, nor did he worry that she might end up dead in a ditch after leaving with Wen Li.
He never had any master-disciple sentiment for her to begin with. He had only taken her in as an exception because Houchi Kingdom needed a pure-blooded mascot.
He knew this disciple was young but possessed a vicious heart. Sending such a person to Wen Li's side might just be a way to let her own actions backfire. With Zongzheng Huangyue there, he would have opportunities to kill Wen Li in the future.
Thud.
The objects in the hall regained their autonomy. As the dust settled, the abandoned Zongzheng Huangyue instantly lost her strength and collapsed to the floor.
“Puh!”
The metallic taste of blood surged up her throat, and she spat it onto the ground. Sweat gathered at her brow, dripping down to mingle with the blood on her lips.
She replayed his words in her mind, her expression shifting as she clenched her fists. He had seen through her silver-tongued act and guessed she had already sided with Wen Li. He hadn't even respected her as a princess; just like the Saint Emperor, he viewed her as nothing more than a mascot to stabilize the commoners' hearts.
A mere object to be toyed with at their whim!
A puppet... made to laugh when told, and cry when ordered.
Bowing her head and prostrating herself on the floor, she felt the agonizing pain in her knees that Yingchu had crushed with his divine sense. Panting through the numbing agony, Zongzheng Huangyue suddenly chuckled. This was his punishment for her betrayal.
“Heh... hahaha...”
Veins bulged on her forehead and the backs of her hands, yet she didn't let out a single cry of pain. Instead, her pale face and blood-stained lips made her smile look even more eerie and alluring.
She laughed with wild abandon, her cold, shrill laughter sounding particularly terrifying in the empty hall.
So what if she betrayed him? So what if he knew? She was only trying to become stronger so she would no longer be a pawn. He wanted her to drive a wedge between her and Wen Li? Fine, she wasn't afraid. Wen Li was powerful enough to command her fear—powerful enough that she wouldn't dare harbor thoughts of betrayal.
As for his words about Wen Li having the skill to take her, and not being afraid of betrayal... was Yingchu truly angry about her betrayal? No.
Zongzheng Yingchu was merely furious that in her eyes, he—the Imperial Preceptor—couldn't compare to his old rival, failing to earn the trust and choice of his only disciple. He was angry that he was inferior to Wen Li. Thus, he had given her a small punishment while still agreeing to Wen Li's demand to send her away.
He was intentionally using her to insult Wen Li—letting Wen Li know that he didn't think much of this disciple, making her fitting for someone like Wen Li.
“Heh... hahaha... Zongzheng Yingchu, you’re angry. You truly aren't qualified to be my Master. You aren't worthy.”
Though it seemed she had been punished this time, she was happy. She was happy that her choice had been proven right.
Once she had finished laughing, Huangyue reached out and placed her hands on her shattered knees. A wave of dark green spiritual energy rippled from her trembling hands, stabilizing the fractured bones to prevent further injury.
“Sss...”
Gritting her teeth and using the floor for support, she slowly pushed herself up. Her face was contorted and pale from the sheer agony of her broken legs, but once she was standing tall, she slowly looked up. Her eyes fixed with predatory intensity on the hall that was now as battered as she was.
She had pills to heal the injuries, but she didn’t use anything to numb the pain. She wanted to use this agony to remember today’s humiliation and the way she had been trampled.
“If you want to make me a puppet, then let's see who's really putting on the show.”
The corners of Zongzheng Huangyue's mouth curled into a smile. Her blood-stained lips parted as her cold voice fell like lead. A faint, brilliant light ignited in her eyes, like a fire called Ambition consuming everything else. The light and shadow played across the girl's exquisite profile; her resolute pride was her most magnificent adornment.
She would never yield to some bullshit fate, nor would she ever be anyone's pawn again.
Zongzheng Yingchu, you are not only my Master’s defeated foe, but you will also be the whetstone for my ascent to the throne of the Saint Emperor.
I will kill you. I will subject you to a death of a thousand cuts!
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