Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“Can an evildoer ever change into a well-doer?”
Fayan smiled without answering the question. Shangguan Ru’s enthusiasm gradually dissipated when she realized that the monk had actually answered her question. Since ‘the good always exists like how the shadows always follow behind,’ it didn’t matter whether the evildoer ever changed into a well-doer; the most important thing was that one could only rely on oneself to discover the good inside their hearts, not external forces and that subsequently meant that even the Essay of Severing Obsession should not be used often, let alone other means.
Upon unintentionally revealing what was in her heart, Shangguan Ru couldn’t help blushing while simultaneously feeling a bit disappointed. But she was able to quickly regain control of herself and put her shyness aside, saying, “Anyways, we’ve gotta get out of here, everybody.”
Xiao Fengchai was more interested in the topic of flight than the topic of good and evil. “Do you have a solution? Oh right, you’re the Queen of the Land of Fragrance and you have an army. They will come to save you, won’t they?”
“I’m not a queen, just an instructor of a group of female soldiers. They don’t know that I’m being held here and can’t come to the rescue even if they want to. As for the solution, there will be one sooner or later.”
Xiao Fengchai revealed an understanding smile. The shaky and bumpy feeling of the long journey was fading and she slowly returned to her charming and graceful bearing as fit for the most popular courtesan of the Retention Alley. Although the whole matter was really odd, since the other side hadn’t killed her right away, there was still some room to maneuver. “Instructor Shangguan, I actually have a plan.”
“Oh?” Shangguan Ru was very surprised. Lianqing also could not help but turn his head around to look at her.
“Whoever it is, since he had me kidnapped from far away, will meet me one day. I will ask him to release you and these two masters. As for the others, let them figure out a way themselves.” Xiao Fengchai hadn’t intended to save Lianqing but included him in the end for the sake of Fayan.
Unaware of the reluctance of the other side’s words, Lianqing asked, “That’s your plan? Why would they listen to you?”
Without even raising her eyebrows or her head, Xiao Fengchai simply smiled, and Lianqing immediately felt ashamed and lowered his head, which made her following words very convincing. “As long as he’s a man, he’ll agree with me.”
Lianqing was completely convinced while Fayan didn’t object. Only Shangguan Ru sighed and said, “I’m afraid that the one who kidnapped you is not necessarily a man.”
Xiao Fengchai was stunned. “Not a man? Why would a woman kidnap me? Could it be…” She immediately remembered that she had been kidnapped by the ‘Tenth Gongzi’ before in order to lure a customer out. “Could it be the Second Brother’s lover?”
Xiao Fengchai’s companion was Meng Mingshu, the second son of the Meng family of Jade City. Upon hearing that the kidnapper might be a woman, the first reason she thought of was him.
Shangguan Ru still had many doubts in mind and couldn’t answer Xiao Fengchai’s question, but she knew that Xiao Fengchai’s guess was definitely wrong.
The monks all followed the precept of taking no food after midday so supper was only a bucket of water. However, they were afraid that the water was also drugged and hesitated for a long time until they couldn’t bear it any longer. But they all looked at Fayan while drinking, expecting to receive help from him but reluctant to ask for it.
Shangguan Ru and Xiao Fengchai were hungry but they were still able to resist it, which actually helped them reduce the embarrassment of going to the washing room. Although there were two latrines outside the tent for men and women respectively, they were extremely rudimentary and smelly. It was so disgusting that on Xiao Fengchai and Shangguan Ru’s first visit there, they returned before they even went inside. And this famous courtesan of the Retention Alley had then wept for the first time since the age of thirteen.
“This really isn’t a place for humans. Who the hell kidnapped me!?”
The next afternoon, ‘more clues’ arrived. ‘Adding some gruel,’ as the officer put it.
Three people stood at the door of the tent, bewildered after their hoods were taken off. Just like how Xiao Fengchai had arrived, they had no idea why they had come here.
The monks automatically stepped aside and concentrated on chanting, fearing that the guards would play new tricks.
Shangguan Ru felt that the identities of the three newcomers was both expected and surprising. She recognized two of them, from which she guessed the identity of the third person.
Xu Yanwei came to her senses first. As she glanced through the baldies, her eyes suddenly lit up. “Miss Ru! How come you… Ehh, Xiao Fengchai? Oh my God, am I back in Southern Jade City?”
Shangguan Hong was so embarrassed that he really wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it, but at the same time, he felt burning hate inside of him. The one who had castrated him was Shangguan Fei but he regarded both of the twins as mortal enemies.
Frightened, angry, and puzzled, Queen Ju didn’t understand how things like abduction and kidnapping could happen to her. She had never thought that of all the miserable experiences like death, serious illness, and the downfall of her country and home, she would have a humiliating experience like this.
They sat in a circle and looked at each other, judging and sizing each other up like kung fu experts who were carefully examining their opponents before a competition.
The atmosphere was a little tense. Xu Yanwei was the only one that could break the ice, so she smiled harder than she had ever done before, saying, “I didn’t expect to meet anyone I knew in a place like this. Let me introduce you all one by one. This is Xiao Fengchai, a famous figure in Jade City. She’s really remarkable. Many men have spent thousands of taels of silver just to see her.”
Although Queen Ju grew up in Jade City, she had lived inside a big mansion in Northern Jade City and to her, the Southern Jade City was as far away as a myth. She had never heard of Xiao Fengchai’s great name and from Xu Yanwei’s introduction, she understood that the other side was a prostitute. She immediately felt contempt for her and skimmed over her without even a nod.
Xiao Fengchai snorted in her heart but did not immediately strike back.
Looking at Shangguan Ru, Xu Yanwei was a bit at a loss regarding how she should introduce her. She had never imagined that the two would meet one day. Apart from the embarrassment, she wondered how the Dragon King would react if he were here.
“I’m Shangguan Ru, the instructor of the Land of Fragrance,” said Shangguan Ru of her own initiative.
Queen Ju’s eyes couldn’t move. So this was that legendary ‘Queen’ who had taken back the entire country from the Dragon King’s hands but always called herself the ‘instructor’.
With her head tilted, Xu Yanwei enjoyed herself despite the unfavorable situation and secretly judged the two similarly-aged women as an onlooker.
Queen Ju was getting bossier. The timid and shy princess had long disappeared. Now she could remain dignified in the face of adversity as if she was humbling herself to come here and that this was an incognito visit to buy over people.
Miss Ru, who she hadn’t seen for a long time, had changed a lot. She appeared much less sad and depressed than when she was at the castle, and her smile was quite graceful and confident, somewhat seemingly resembling that of a real queen. It was just that she still possessed the innocence of childhood and looked too young.
‘If I were the Dragon King…’ Before Xu Yanwei’s mind could drift away, Queen Ju opened her mouth. “The Dragon King often talked to me about you.”
The Queen’s voice was approachable but Xu Yanwei immediately understood that the duel had begun. Queen Ju was lying. Xu Yanwei knew this more clearly than anyone else about how hard it was for the Queen to see the Dragon King even once. Even the ordinary soldiers of the Dragon Army saw the Dragon King more often than her. How could the Dragon King ‘often’ talk to her?
Shangguan Ru responded better than Xu Yanwei had thought she would, not showing the slightest emotion. “You must be the Queen of the Stone Kingdom. I really didn’t expect to see you here.”
Xiao Fengchai suddenly realized something, “Wait a minute, all of you are the Dragon King’s women. Did his enemies kidnap you?”
“I’m not.” Shangguan Hong spoke up for the first time after entering the tent. He had been standing beside Queen Ju and behaved no differently from a submissive servant.
“Pooh, they wouldn’t have tied you if you hadn’t shamelessly insisted on coming.” Xu Yanwei bluntly pointed out the truth.
Shangguan Hong really regretted it. As the Queen’s close aide, he wanted to show his loyalty at the critical moment but didn’t expect that the kidnapping would really succeed and that no one would come to save them.
The words ‘women of the Dragon King’ had a subtle effect on both Queen Ju and Shangguan Ru. The two bowed their head and said nothing, but in Xiao Fengchai’s eyes, it was just an intermission before even fiercer moves were revealed next. She had to do something to stop it, so she said to Xiao Fengchai, “That’s strange. What do these young and old baldies have to do with the Dragon King? And what’s your relationship with the Dragon King?”
“I have nothing to do with the Dragon King,” the two said at the same time. One of them was Lianqing, who had been sitting behind his Master as an onlooker, and inwardly sighing about the Dragon King’s good fortune in love affairs. “We have been imprisoned here for a long time. It was the Khan’s order, and it had nothing to do with the Dragon King.”
Xiao Fengchai also denied this, saying, “There must be a mistake or there are some other reasons. I have nothing to do with the Dragon King at all.”
Xu Yanwei pursed his lips. “Xiao Fengchai, we used to be in the same trade and neighbors, so you don’t have to hide from me, do you? Can you swear that you’ve never seduced the Dragon King? Can you swear that you’ve never done it?”
Although Xu Yanwei had long since retired from her old job, she was still a little jealous of Xiao Fengchai and didn’t believe that any man could resist the charm of this woman.
Unannoyed, Xiao Fengchai replied with a straight face. “While living in the brothel, it’s unavoidable that I seize a chance wherever there is merrymaking. But I swear to the Heavens that the Dragon King and I are innocent. He knows who I really love and therefore has always treated me with courtesy. He’s a worthy gentleman.”
Xiao Fengchai deliberately raised her voice in the hopes that the words would reach the kidnapper’s ears.
Xu Yanwei smiled and proudly glanced at Queen Ju and Shangguan Ru before she said to Xiao Fengchai, “Well, we all have someone we love. It happens all the time. You don’t have to care too much about it. Every man will become picky once they have two beautiful women like these two, let alone the Dragon King.”
The Dragon King had actually met Xiao Fengchai before he got married at the Stone Kingdom. Xu Yanwei didn’t care about the loophole in her words as she simply felt that the gap between her and the most popular courtesan of the Retention Alley wasn’t as big as she had thought.
Xiao Fengchai didn’t want to argue with Xiao Fengchai. She smiled and turned to Shangguan Ru, “That’s right. The Dragon King and Miss Ru were childhood sweethearts. Together, they manged the Kun Society well. The residents of the whole Jade City still remember them.”
Upon hearing this, Queen Ju abruptly raised her head, trying to say something but paused, though her expression had changed. She turned to Shangguan Hong and snapped, “What are you doing standing around here? Go and ask what’s going on and get me a glass of water while you’re at it.”
None of the two tasks was easy to complete but Shangguan Hong dared not object. He nodded and ran to the monks, intending to make up some lies and sneak out later. He knew that the Queen just wanted to vent her anger on him but didn’t really expect anything.
The four women fell silent, and Lianqing wasn’t aware of their complicated relationship and the battle of words at all. He could only think of one question. “Does the Dragon King only have this few women? It seems a bit too few.”
Xu Yanwei immediately said, “Of course not, there’s more, like…” She held back the name of Luo Ningcha in time. “Lotus. Right, if this is really a kidnapping of the Dragon King’s women, she should be the first to be kidnapped.”
Queen Ju sneered as she revealed, “I’m afraid the kidnapper is exactly her.”
Just then the officer came in and said, “One, two, three, four women, come with me. Someone wants to see you.”
