Wen Jingning was nearly fifteen years older than Wen Jingshu. She usually doted on her like a precious treasure, so much so that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her a second mother.
Wen Jingshu was also extremely close to this elder sister, wrapping her arms around her waist to act spoiled and cute.
Her elder brother, Wen Jingtian, had been away on a bandit-suppression mission during this period. Upon his return, he heard that Wen Jingshu had slipped and fallen into the water, remaining unconscious for seven days before finally waking up.
The young man was first angry and then heartbroken. Looking at his little sister's noticeably thinner face, he couldn't bring himself to say any harsh words. In the end, he could only pinch her cheek hard and say:
“Tomorrow, I will find five hidden guards to protect you closely. Before, you always complained that having too many people around was annoying, but you cannot refuse this time.”
Wen Jingshu knew that refusing would be useless, so she could only obediently agree.
It took another half a month of recuperation for her illness to fully clear up. The little child, having escaped her cage, was like a freed bird, playing and romping around the Grand Princess Manor without a care in the world.
If she was truly bored, she would go out of the manor to play. However, every excursion was a grand affair, for fear that this precious commandery princess might meet with some accident.
Every year during the summer retreat, her imperial uncle, the Emperor, would bring her along.
Although her imperial uncle had seven or eight princesses of his own, the one he doted on the most was still his little niece.
Not to mention her imperial uncle, even her imperial aunt, the Empress, and her crown prince cousin adored her to the extreme.
Though Wen Jingshu was only a commandery princess, in reality, even ordinary princesses could not compare to her.
Even her imperial uncle, Prince Qi, would tease, “In this world, one can offend His Majesty, but one absolutely must not offend our little ancestor.”
Despite his words, Prince Qi's pampering of her was also completely without limits.
Her life was like being soaked in a jar of honey, smooth and without a single obstacle.
She did not conform to the rules like ordinary noble ladies to learn tedious and boring etiquette. She was loved and cherished, possessing a lively, innocent, and kind-hearted nature. As soon as she reached her hair-pinning ceremony, countless matchmakers came to her door to propose marriage.
Wen Jingshu looked at the portraits of dozens of handsome men, her eyes completely dazzled, and asked Yingran beside her:
“Which one do you think I should choose?”
Yingran looked at the portraits with absolute criticality and said, “This one is said to be ignorant and incompetent. No.”
“This one's nose is too big. He's not good-looking. No.”
“This one's mother is too strict. No.”
“This one's family is too poor, and he's stingy with his daily expenses. No.”
Yingran tossed them aside one by one. Before long, over a dozen portraits had been thrown to the ground.
Yet, despite Yingran's nitpicking, everyone agreed with her. In the end, after three years of careful selection, they finally chose that year's Tanhua, the third-place imperial scholar.
But they wouldn't even let her marry out. Her imperial uncle, the Emperor, directly had the Tanhua marry into Wen Jingshu's family as a live-in husband.
The young Wen Jingshu, dressed in a grand red robe, held the hand of her groom, who wore a bridal veil, looking infinitely glorious.
On their wedding night, she nervously lifted the bridal veil.
What met her eyes was an exquisitely beautiful and striking face. When still, he was like the unreachable bright moon in the sky; when smiling, he was like the dazzling sun, drawing all eyes to him. Especially the tear mole at the corner of his eye, which was incredibly alluring and charming.
Such a beauty instantly jolted Wen Jingshu wide awake.
In truth, she had long since seen through the illusion, but she had been reluctant to wake from this beautiful dream.
The Grand Princess Manor had always been a regret for Wen Jingshu. Even now, she still had not let it go.
When she had the chance, she would definitely return to the Northern Dark Continent and visit the Grand Princess Manor. Even if she didn't disturb anyone and simply burned some paper money before her relatives' graves, that would still be good...
But she had never expected to suddenly see Sui Qi's face in the illusion!
Her divine sense returned to her body. Wen Jingshu gasped heavily several times, patting her chest to catch her breath.
“My goodness, how did this illusion dare! What kind of status does Sui Qi have, yet it actually arranged for him to be my live-in husband?”
Leaving aside the fact that she didn't even know what Sui Qi's true identity was, as a mere Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator, how could she dare to lust after an immortal!
Though that face of his was indeed delicious!
But she would have to wait until she had the capital to propose to him!
At least ascend to immortality first!
But then again, Sui Qi in wedding robes was truly handsome!
Sigh, she was getting off track.
In the Immortal Realm, the "aloof flower" who was currently sitting by a cold pool pretending to be cool and detached suddenly sneezed.
Sui Qi rubbed his nose, feeling a bit puzzled.
He had never heard of immortals catching colds!
Forget it, he would change to another spot to act aloof. If he really caught a cold, how was he supposed to maintain his cool persona?
Hmm... he would go to the place where he had picked peaches with little Shushu last time!
Wen Jingshu's thoughts drifted off to the nine heavens. Suddenly, her vision blurred again, and the scene shifted once more.
When she looked up, she saw a five-year-old toddler.
The toddler held a sword and struck first. Her aura was identical to Wen Jingshu's, and even her sword-holding posture and stance were exactly the same. The only difference was that those eyes held not a single shred of emotion, leaving only a pure instinct for slaughter.
Wen Jingshu hastily retreated a few steps, quickly adjusting her mindset.
First, she had passionately fought her way up, then she entered an illusion that plunged her into a gentle dream, and now it suddenly threw an phantom of herself at her?
Even a mind of iron would crumble under this!
Wen Jingshu took a long moment to compose herself before entering the zone.
The phantom thrust its sword straight forward, using the basic thrusting technique that Wen Jingshu was highly familiar with. Its speed and power were a perfect replica of how she usually fought.
Wen Jingshu blocked horizontally with her sword. The harsh clang of clashing metal erupted, numbing the web of her hand.
The opponent knew her every habit. When she sidestepped to dodge, the phantom anticipated where she would land, its sword following closely. When she slashed diagonally upward, the phantom executed the exact same move at the exact same time. The two swords collided, sending sparks flying.
Without any flashy tricks or bizarre secret techniques, the two identical figures clashed back and forth in the gray illusion.
When she retreated, the phantom advanced. When she sought an opening, the phantom had already sealed it off in advance. The phantom's sword moves were entirely her own style; it understood her strengths and was well aware of her weaknesses.
After several exchanges, Wen Jingshu narrowly avoided the blade multiple times, the hem of her robes torn into several small slits by the wind of the sword.
Wen Jingshu calmed her mind and stopped fixating on aggressive attacks. Since the opponent was familiar with her, she would do the exact opposite of her usual style!
Wen Jingshu pulled back her sword stance and steadied her lower body. Seeing the phantom sweep its sword horizontally once more, she did not meet it head-on. With a slight twist of her wrist, she converted her chop into a parry, using the spine of her blade to stick to the opponent's blade and redirect the force outward.
Pulled by this force, the phantom's body lost balance slightly. In that split-second opening, Wen Jingshu stepped forward and lightly pushed the tip of her sword against the phantom's throat.
The figure before her suddenly shattered like broken glass, dissolving into a sky of starry mist.
Without giving her time to catch her breath, she proceeded to the next floor.
This floor still featured her phantom, except this one held a sword in one hand and talismans in the other.
Wen Jingshu watched as it immediately threw three Thunder-Attracting Talismans at her, and she could not help but complain bitterly.
How satisfying it had been to blow others up before was exactly how painful it was to be blown up now!
With a thought, her own commonly used talismans appeared in her hand. Leaping to a safe distance, she first exchanged explosions with the phantom, saying with a touch of madness:
“Come on, let's trade blows and see who survives!”
Rate on N.U.
