By the time Wen Li and Gu Linshu returned to the detached courtyard, it was already dusk.
As Wen Li and Gu Linshu stepped through the shattered, battered doorway, a figure suddenly lunged toward them—or more accurately, straight at Wen Li.
“Boom!”
Wen Li raised her hand in an instant reflex and slapped the figure away.
“What kind of filthy thing dares to ambush me?”
The figure was sent flying straight into a tree in the courtyard, hanging there limply, their fate unknown.
“M-M-M-Master...”
Annoyed by the noise, Wen Li reached over and pinched Gu Linshu's mouth shut. “If you want to say 'Master,' then say 'Master.' Stop with the endless 'M-M-M.' If you can't spit it out, use voice transmission.”
“You just sent Junior Sister flying,” Gu Linshu transmitted in a flash.
“!”
Wen Li turned her head and looked. Sure enough, it was the new disciple she had been thinking about. She hurried over and hauled down Zongzheng Huangyue, who was dangling upside down in the tree, half-dead.
“What were you doing charging at me out of nowhere? I thought you were another ambusher! Don't pull a stunt like that next time, or you're going to get yourself killed by me.”
Wen Li rambled as she set her down on a rocking chair. Seeing that her complexion was ruddy and otherwise fine, aside from an arm bent at an unnatural angle, she looked her over.
“How was I supposed to know you'd strike without warning? I thought you two had been captured again! I've been waiting here for fifteen minutes, worried out of my mind.” Zongzheng Huangyue wanted to weep, but had no tears left. She had simply been overwhelmed with excitement at the sudden return of her lifesaving straw, unable to stop herself from rushing forward to grab hold of her for fear she would run off.
“This place isn't safe anymore. Let's find a new spot first.” Wen Li reached out and casually gave Zongzheng Huangyue's arm a twist.
Crack.
“Hiss!” Zongzheng Huangyue cried out in pain. A second later, the ache in her arm vanished.
Realizing what Wen Li had said, she added, “Follow me. I have another residence that no one knows about.”
The three arrived at the new courtyard.
Gu Linshu skillfully put up Spirit-Erasing Talismans around the perimeter, laid down two Defensive Talismans, and stepped inside the house. By then, Wen Li was already recounting how Lou Yan had “invited” them for tea.
Before Wen Li could even analyze the situation, Zongzheng Huangyue caught on. “He didn't intend to make enemies of you. He just wanted to use you as a breakthrough point to form an alliance with me. I've met him before. He showed goodwill toward me twice, intentionally or otherwise, but I played dumb and mostly ignored him.”
“I heard that the other five princes of Shengyang Kingdom have been locked in fierce infighting recently. For him to come out at this time to attend the ceremony on behalf of Shengyang Kingdom's imperial clan... The other princes couldn't possibly have overlooked that this would be a prime opportunity for him to win me over, yet they still let him come, and him alone. Either Lou Yan is the weakest among the five princes and they aren't worried about him in the slightest, or he possesses enough capability to suppress all five of them.”
Wen Li sat in the main seat, lazily looking up as she asked, “So what are your thoughts? Do you want to ally with him, or keep your distance?”
Gu Linshu walked over to sit on the side, listening quietly.
“Regardless of whether he is weak or formidable, I cannot get involved with him at this moment. I have only just been titled princess. Although the imperial clan venerates bloodline purity, power inevitably blinds people's hearts. There are plenty of people in the Zongzheng clan eager to drag me down. I haven't grown enough yet to have the luxury of forming outside alliances. If my own power is insufficient, no matter how pure my bloodline is, it's nothing more than a decoration, and Lou Yan wouldn't genuinely treat me as an ally anyway.” After mulling it over carefully, Zongzheng Huangyue shook her head.
She raised her eyes, her gaze proud but not arrogant. “Since he released you, it shows he still holds some wariness toward my status. There's no need to pay him any mind. Once I am strong enough, he will naturally come seeking me as an ally again, and by then, I'll also need to see his worth.”
She was not an ally waiting to be chosen; she was the sole avenue that others would have no choice but to beg to cooperate with.
“It's good that you know what you want.” Wen Li nodded slightly, her eyes full of appreciation for her cleverest kid. Zongzheng Huangyue was different from the previous three disciples.
She revered strength, worshiping power and authority above all else, interested only in growing stronger.
This drive had taught her how to navigate schemes and court politics from a young age within the tangled web of imperial royalty. Her temperament was ruthless and cold, yet resolute and self-contained, adept at donning hypocritical masks.
Aside from trusting herself, she would dissect the motives of anyone who approached her.
And initially, Wen Li had gone out of her way to make Zongzheng Huangyue recognize the worth of her fate-divining abilities, forcing her to see that Wen Li was her only lifeline so she would take the initiative to beg to be taken as a disciple.
In a sense, Zongzheng Huangyue was the disciple who took after her the most.
Sensing Wen Li's satisfaction, Zongzheng Huangyue couldn't help but feel a flicker of joy. “It's all thanks to Master's good teaching.”
Pausing, she recalled something. “Master, before coming here, I went to see the Imperial Preceptor.”
“What did he say?”
Zongzheng Huangyue's expression turned nuanced. “The Imperial Preceptor asked who I had met recently, and instructed me to take guards whenever entering or leaving, and not to leave the palace casually.”
This made Wen Li look up. According to Zongzheng Huangyue's previous complaints, Zongzheng Yingchu usually only gave her pointers on cultivation and showed no real concern, acting as though he were merely fulfilling a task assigned by the Saint Emperor. For him to take the initiative to caution Zongzheng Huangyue like this... could something be about to happen?
“Did he mention if anything was happening in the imperial capital?”
“Master, you have no idea. The Imperial Preceptor maintains an ice-cold face all day long, half-hiding and half-revealing his words, insisting on putting on the air of some transcendent master. He could clearly just tell me the reason directly, yet he insisted on giving only a vague warning, leaving me unsettled to search for the answers myself. Sometimes I'm annoyed to death by him.” Zongzheng Huangyue curled her lip.
Hearing this, Wen Li fell silent for two seconds before nodding in immediate agreement.
“Indeed, he's way too pretentious.”
“...” Beside them, Gu Linshu fell silent. Was whether Zongzheng Yingchu put on airs really the most pressing thing to discuss right now?
He glanced at his junior sister, sorely tempted to remind her: if Master had the chance to put on an act, she would be far more pretentious than Zongzheng Yingchu.
“I intend to take you out for training for at least a year, but the Saint Emperor and the rest of Houchi Kingdom cannot find out that you've left. Do you have any ideas?”
After joking around, Wen Li turned to serious business.
She had no desire to shoulder the crime of kidnapping Houchi Kingdom's princess. If she did, Houchi Kingdom's Saint Emperor would be added to the list of people hunting her down, resulting in yet another Eastern Province kill order.
Right now, she was only at Foundation Establishment Great Perfection; that would truly be the death of her.
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