Bai He encountered Zhang Shan on the way to the Laundry Bureau.
Even His Majesty’s trusted eunuch was not having a good time those days. The Queen Mother’s resentment hung over Zhang Shan’s head like a sword, making him gloomy and irritable all day long, with a stern expression on his face.
Bai He called out, “Zhang Gonggong.”
Zhang Shan stopped on the palace road, glanced at her, grinned insincerely, and asked in a sharp voice, “Where is Lady Bai He going?”
Bai He smiled, “I lost my handkerchief and want to see if it fell at the Laundry Bureau.”
Zhang Shan was not one to enjoy conversing with others. After exchanging pleasantries, he led a group of eunuchs away.
Bai He stood alone on the long palace corridor, holding a flower in her hand, and glanced back.
In just a few steps away from leaving the Imperial Garden, the gray clouds covered the towering palaces.
Every inch of land in the imperial city seemed to be soaked in thick blood, and beneath the city walls, white bones loomed. The wind, brushing against the ground, seemed to carry a hint of blood, making it difficult for people to breathe.
Bai He thought, she didn’t really like the palace, but she couldn’t bear to part with the current glory and wealth.
First serving as a dog to the nobles, then treating others like dogs, inside and outside the palace, it was all the same. Who could blame her, this was just the way of the world.
There was a slight hint of worry in Bai He’s eyebrows and eyes as she looked at the flower brushed by the fingers of the high priest in her hand. She sniffed it lightly, trying to appear compassionate, but she couldn’t hide the smugness in her eyebrows and eyes.
Bai He found her handkerchief at the Laundry Bureau, unexpectedly lost by Wen Jiao’s clumsy hands while washing.
Seeing the desperate and trembling young boy, Bai He thought: “How pitiful, it’s just a small matter, but why should I let him off?”
It has nothing to do with rules, nothing to do with her personality; blame it on the way of the world. If the Queen Mother can easily take her life, what’s wrong with slightly punishing a little eunuch?
So she gave the boy ten strikes, and made him wash several basins of clothes. He wasn’t allowed to eat until he finished washing.
The Laundry Bureau was dimly lit in the evening, with the cold wind whistling, mixed with the helpless sobbing of the young boy.
Wen Jiao had been beaten and hungry for a day and a night, and now he cried as if he wanted to suffocate. He felt so wronged, wiping his tears constantly.
He wanted to leave the palace…
He regretted it…
With the disappearance of the Emperor, his last support in the Chu Kingdom’s imperial palace was gone. With the merfolk outside going mad one by one, revealing his pure merman identity would only lead to his imprisonment.
“What should I do, what should I do, I don’t want to die… Sob… I don’t want to die…” He covered his face with his hands, his ambitions for power and wealth completely dissipating. Wen Jiao lifted his head, his eyes red, sniffing as he decided to go find Fu Chang Sheng.
He knew he had done many excessive things to Fu Chang Sheng, but Fu Chang Sheng loved him so much, he wouldn’t just watch him die, he would forgive himself.
The bamboo leaves rustled as Wen Jiao timidly stood in front of the house where Fu Chang Sheng lived.
He recalled the last time they had parted ways on bad terms.
He had tried to seduce Fu Chang Sheng with Illusory Eyes, but Fu Chang Sheng had not been swayed. He had just looked at him quietly for a long time under the moonlight, then softly said to him, “Your Highness, go back.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Lf xcfk Me Jtjcu Vtfcu tjv yffc jcugs atfc.
… It’s been so long now, has he calmed down?
But why should he be angry with him again?
Qfc Aljb atbeuta, offilcu fzagfwfis juuglfnfv jcv j cjwfifrr jcufg regufv eq klatlc tlw.
Has he ever forced Fu Chang Sheng to do anything? Did he hold a knife to his neck and force him to stay? It was all willingly done by Fu Chang Sheng for him! Fu Chang Sheng loves him to this extent, can he blame him?
Ktf vbbg bqfcfv, jcv Me Jtjcu Vtfcu, vgfrrfv lc yijmx, rafqqfv bea.
Qfc Aljb tegglfvis reqqgfrrfv tlr jcufg, qeaalcu bc j qlaloei ibbx, jcv rboais mjiifv bea, “Dgbatfg Jtjcu Vtfcu…”
Fu Chang Sheng had a sword at his waist and a package on his shoulder. When he saw Wen Jiao, he just frowned slightly. “Your Highness, didn’t I tell you not to come to find me?”
Wen Jiao felt like crying when he saw him, and rushed over to throw himself into Fu Chang Sheng’s arms.
But Fu Chang Sheng just frowned deeper, took a step back, and respectfully kept his distance from him. “Your Highness, this is not appropriate.”
Wen Jiao reached out and grabbed his sleeve, tears streaming down his face. “Brother Chang Sheng, I regret it, I really regret it. Brother Chang Sheng, take me out of the palace. Sob… take me out of the palace! I can’t stand it here anymore.”
Fu Chang Sheng was slightly stunned and whispered, “Indeed, I am leaving the palace today.”
Wen Jiao suddenly widened his eyes and clenched his fingers.
—Fu Chang Sheng is leaving the palace? Tonight? What will he do if he leaves? Fortunately, he comes; otherwise, Fu Chang Sheng would completely abandon him.
Wen Jiao felt both relieved and angry, and asked sharply, “Are you really planning to abandon me like this?!!”
Fu Chang Sheng didn’t say anything; he found it quite amusing.
Wen Jiao widened his eyes, unable to believe it. “Chang Sheng, are you really giving up on Jiao Jiao?”
Fu Chang Sheng pressed his lips together, still silent.
Wen Jiao froze in place, feeling frantic. In his panic, he thought about pretending to cry and appear pitiful.
Fu Chang Sheng looked at his red eyes seriously. “Don’t worry, Your Highness. Even if I leave you behind, you won’t have trouble surviving in this palace.”
Wen Jiao suddenly raised his head, grinding his teeth. “Fu Chang Sheng, do you want me to die right in front of you?!”
Fu Chang Sheng smiled slowly, calmly saying, “Your Highness, do you know? I’m least afraid of death. Whether it’s my own death or witnessing someone else’s.”
Wen Jiao’s face turned pale. It occurred to him that Fu Chang Sheng was the youngest general in the Liang Kingdom. He had been on numerous battlefields, and death posed no real threat to him.
Fu Chang Sheng didn’t even care about his own death.
He really despised him now.
“No, Chang Sheng…” Fu Chang Sheng pushed away his hand, not saying a word to Wen Jiao as he walked forward, swiftly climbing onto the wall.
His robe shimmered under the starlight and moonlight, as if breaking free from a muddy pit. The perpetual anxiety and depression that once enveloped him were gone, replaced by a vast and clear sky with a gentle breeze.
“Fu Chang Sheng! Can you face my mother like this?” Wen Jiao’s mind went blank, and he cried out in despair.
Fu Chang Sheng turned his head on the wall, looking down with a soft voice. “Madam Han Yue… I want to know too. Whether I have truly treated her unfairly.”
Wen Jiao cried uncontrollably, his words trembling. “How could you treat me like this, Fu Chang Sheng? You will regret it, absolutely regret it, but I won’t forgive you. Fu Chang Sheng! I will never forgive you!”
Fu Chang Sheng understood him well. He jumped down from the wall, saying lightly, “Then don’t forgive me.”
“Fu Chang Sheng!!” Wen Jiao was completely terrified. He rushed over and pounded on the wall, filled with hatred and resentment. Thinking about his bleak future, he burst into tears.
He cried so hard that his eyes were almost blinded… The large drops of tears fell onto his arms, stinging his skin.
Wait, it hurts?
Wen Jiao was startled and quickly stopped his tears, only to see pearl after pearl rolling on the ground…
Tears turned into pearls.
This scene was like a bolt from the blue, leaving Wen Jiao’s mind blank and his body cold.
He is turning into a pure merman ! At a time when merfolk are being hunted down!
Wen Jiao couldn’t even care about crying anymore. He pounded the wall with all his strength, shouting anxiously and despairingly, “Fu Chang Sheng! Fu Chang Sheng! Save me, save me! I’m turning into a merman! I don’t want to become a lowly merman! They will lock me up! Fu Chang Sheng—Fu Chang Sheng!”
But no one answered him. He had lost the only person in the world who had been kind to him.
Wen Jiao shouted hoarsely, “Fu Chang Sheng!”
“He has already gone far away.” Just as he was about to cry again, a faint voice sounded in his ear.
Wen Jiao turned around, only to see a person in a purple robe standing behind him, tall and graceful, with a charming demeanor.
The purple-clad figure stared at the red mole on his forehead, with a gentle and elegant smile on his lips and deep, profound eyes.
Seeing his extraordinary demeanor, Wen Jiao immediately stopped crying, feeling both frightened and intrigued.
Song Guichen smiled first and said lightly, “You don’t need to think about using the Illusion eyes on me; it doesn’t affect me.”
Wen Jiao’s thoughts were exposed, and his face turned pale.
Song Guichen glanced at the wall and said softly, “My second junior brother, who is usually so honest and loyal, has actually been driven away by you. You’re quite interesting”
Song Guichen chuckled lightly again, “I never expected that after three years in Dongzhou, there would be more than one old acquaintance mentioned by Jingshi Hall.”
Wen Jiao gripped his sleeves, not understanding what he was talking about.
He disliked the way the man looked at him, just like that gray-clothed youth did back then.
But that youth named Xia Qing truly didn’t care about him, his gaze passing over him like a breeze. However, this purple-clad man looked at him more like an inanimate object, with scrutiny, appraisal, and mockery.
After a moment, Wen Jiao heard the man speak again.
“Do you want to leave the palace?”
Wen Jiao’s heart skipped a beat; his fear of death overwhelmed everything else. He nodded, sniffing, “Yes, I do.”
Song Guichen’s gaze remained fixed on his forehead. “I can help you leave the palace.”
Wen Jiao’s eyes widened. “Really?”
Song Guichen casually said, “But you have to promise me one thing.”
Wen Jiao looked at him timidly. “What is it?”
Song Guichen said, “Go to the Imperial Tomb of Liang Kingdom and bring back the pearl from your mother’s coffin.”
Wen Jiao froze.
Song Guichen continued, “How could an ordinary cultivator dare to trespass upon the place where Zhu Ji’s coffin lies? Yan Lan Yu’s actions are truly pointless. I had originally intended to personally make a trip to the the capital, but it seems that there’s no longer a need for that.”
His gaze lingered silently on that red mole, a smile playing on his lips, yet his eyes were filled with disgust, as if he were talking to someone else through Wen Jiao’s body, his words spoken slowly and deliberately.
“You’ve succeeded; I will send the person out of Ling Guang to your coffin. But even if that happens, what will you achieve? Haven’t the events of a hundred years ago taught you enough of a lesson?”
Wen Jiao’s face was pale and transparent, looking completely bewildered, not understanding what he was saying at all.
Song Guichen didn’t linger his gaze on him. His fingers lightly gripped the Sifan sword in his sleeve, the cold touch calming his anger slightly. He closed his eyes and told himself, he couldn’t kill him yet.
This young man carries a mother Gu.
Symbiotic Spirit Gu: The mother Gu and the child Gu are born and die together. To break the Gu, one must find the person who performed the ritual.
Song Guichen asked, “You were about to turn into a merfolk, right?”
This question should have been directed at him. Wen Jiao nodded hesitantly, not knowing why he was especially afraid of the person in front of him.
Song Guichen smiled, “Turning into a merfolk… turning into a merfolk.”
How could a merfolk only turn into one after growing up…
That is just when the mother Gu erupts completely.
Symbiosis.
By then, the child Gu will be completely controlled, willingly sacrificing everything for the mother Gu.
Song Guichen hadn’t been angry for a long time, but when he was angry to the extreme, he could still put on his usual gentle and warm smile and say softly, “Tomorrow I’ll send someone to escort you out of the palace.”
He stared at the crimson mole on Wen Jiao’s forehead like a knife wound and said word by word, “Zhu Ji, I’ll be waiting for you.”
Oh yikes… I think it’s truly over for Wen Jiao… well I don’t think he’ll be missed 😝 and good job Fu Chang Sheng!!! finally rid of that leech sucking on your goodwill, tsk tsk 😒 and Xia Qing’s thinking isnt entirely wrong about Zhu Ji either. I guess shes just been… fermenting…? within Wen Jiao and they say the apple never falls far from the tree so… 🫢 THANK YOU FOR THE CHAPTERS!!! ❤️
I’ve been worried about Fu Chang Sheng! So glad he’s escaping from WJ!
Good grief..WJ shamelessness know no bounds. Thank you for the awesome chapter.
Oh god, so zhu ji’s soul resides in wen jiao?? No wonder he’s so twisted and unhinged. Not an ounce of kindness from him even at the cost of his only friend’s life. I’m so glad fu chang sheng managed to break free from him ><
I’m glad Song Guichen knows that his other sect brother is here owo Wonder why they’re all walking at earth. Some with memories and some without too. Anyways, more glad that Xiao Fu finally escaped from this thing’s clutches 😌💖