Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“So what about that?” Shadow Blade turned to look at her. “Are you suggesting that I should run out to my death while they are being boiled?”
Meng Fuyao was stumped and didn’t know how to reply for a moment. Shadow Blade was right; if he rushed out, he would simply be giving his life away. However, she had already long been used to Zhan Beiye and the Black Wind Calvary’s sacrificial relationship with each other. Hence, she was simply under the impression that within the Five Regions Continent, such a relationship would naturally exist between Shadow Blade and his subordinates.
Meng Fuyao was slightly surprised and mumbled, “I just feel that… I probably can’t stand it any longer.”
Shadow Blade fell silent. He moved his body with great difficulty and lay down on the close stools to sleep. Meng Fuyao turned around to redress his wounds, her fingers moving over the healing wounds like a delicate butterfly. It was hard to believe that when it came down to delicate tasks, the generally boisterous Meng Fuyao would actually be so gentle and meticulous.
The golden rays of dusk fell upon her face, illuminating her translucent earlobes, reflecting on the fine, little strands of hair behind her ear, shining on her delicate cheekbones, on her moist, pomegranate flower-like lips, and on her beautifully shaped eyebrows—these were all very beautiful, but the most beautiful of all, was the look of concentration and concern in her eyes.
Shadow Blade lay down with his head turned towards her. There was an ambiguous expression in his eyes as if night had suddenly descended, and he was separated by night while looking at the daylight.
The finger on his back was as gentle as a flower petal, as translucent as jade green spring water, washing over his back like a soothing and warm presence. He was shaken when he felt his heart stir, and he felt a bright, warm, and soothing feeling.
That kind of beauty, that kind of natural brightness made him inevitably think of his own darkness, all the chasing and escaping, all the fighting and bloodshed. The soundless swords in the night, blood-drenched robes on the ground as he changed clothes repeatedly, yet he was unable to remove the smell of blood that had penetrated deep into his bones. He belonged to hell, to the dark night, to the monstrosities and predators. He belonged to everything that was the opposite of her.
He suddenly felt the desire to confess.
He opened his mouth to speak, and Meng Fuyao stopped moving.
“You probably think that such a master is too cold and cruel, but actually, I feel that my survival is more important than the survival of anyone else.”
Meng Fuyao was speechless. If it were Zhan Beiye who said something like this, there was an 80% chance it would probably be changed into “If you all live, I’ll be even happier!”
“If I survive, then I’ll have a chance of saving them. Even if I can’t save them, I’ll also have a higher chance of avenging them. I can also compensate their families and ensure their quality of living. Compared to them, my life is more valuable.”
Seeing that Meng Fuyao had a rather disapproving look on her face, Shadow Blade laughed and said, “I had an extremely loyal servant. He would never leave or abandon anyone he served. Back when the enemy clan was hunting us, a companion was hurt and abandoned. He refused to give up, returning in the middle of the night to save him. However, he was captured by the enemy and tricked into revealing our location… It was a bloodbath, everyone died… He and I were all caught in the death trap. I was saved, but he had been skinned alive. I remember the last thing he told me when he pushed me down the well to hide… something like trust… was too much of a luxury…”
Meng Fuyao did not say anything.
Shadow Blade had spoken efficiently and straightforwardly, but it was as though she could smell the metallic smell of metal and the stench of blood in the forest, as though she could see the servant’s loyalty and anguish, the scene where he had been tricked and forced to betray, as though she could see them being skinned alive, and the little boy hiding in the well, his face smeared with blood.
“I used to think that trust was a two-way thing. If you were honest, others would reciprocate accordingly. However, this is often just a pipe dream. If there isn’t any benefit to gain, the trust is nothing.
“So with regards to me and my subordinates, there is only one relationship, master and servant. I control their will, their lives, their families, and promise them sufficient compensation after their sacrifice. As such, they offer me their unyielding loyalty, and I never have to worry about any betrayal. If not given the situation now, I am badly hurt, and they are boiling in the pot, but I can sit here without fear and tell you my story.”
He gave a cold laugh and asked Meng Fuyao, “Have you ever thought, given something like this, if they couldn’t stand the torture of being boiled and gave me up, what kind of situation you and I would be in right now?”
Meng Fuyao remained silent and sighed. She couldn’t not admit that Shadow Blade and Zhan Beiye were two entirely different people. Nobody was right, and nobody was wrong, they all had their reasons.
This topic was getting too serious. Meng Fuyao touched her nose and changed the subject, fishing out the pill from earlier and said, “Cross Dresser said that he can save us, but I think he also had some conditions.”
She broke open the pill and revealed a piece of paper. A row of words entered her vision:
“This emperor is still short of an empress!”
“Your mother, what has you lacking an empress, got anything to do with me?” Meng Fuyao jumped up and stomped angrily on the piece of paper. “And I still thought it was some kind of secret plan, turns out it was just a load of rubbish… Wait, this emperor? This emperor?”
She picked up the crumpled piece of paper and flattened it against the wall, reading it again. “This emperor?” She repeated dumbly.
Shadow Blade suddenly cut in nosily, “I heard that the puppet king of Xuanyuan is rather… special.”
“Oh…” Meng Fuyao rubbed her forehead. “Indeed… rather special,” she affirmed.
He was a cross-dresser who called her “Long Live”.
An heir who grew up under the sick and twisted reign of the Regent King, it wasn’t surprising that he would be even sicker and twisted.
The game he played was the throne, while the wine he drank were the concubines. The flower he admired was the Xuanyuan flower, and the one he climbed was the Meng family willow.
He was like an unshakable thousand layer of quilts.
“What did he say to you?” Shadow Blade’s eyes glinted as he asked.
“Meet him at the back garden of the Fragrant Jade House—that is, if I have a change of heart and accept his conditions,” Meng Fuyao replied wearily.
The corners of Shadow Blade’s lips curved upwards slightly. “To be his male empress?”
Meng Fuyao suddenly sat down on a bucket and said seriously, “I feel that he doesn’t deserve me.”
“Definitely,” replied Shadow Blade. “The one who is worthy of Your Ladyship probably has yet to be born.”
Meng Fuyao rolled her eyes, refusing to argue with a sick man. She asked again, “What do you think he means with this suggestion?”
“Xuanyuan has been recruiting concubines recently,” replied Shadow Blade replied. “For His Majesty to enrich his harem. Although His Majesty has quite a number of concubines in his harem, they are all of poor standards. As for the Fragrant Jade House, it is precisely where a new batch of girls who are most likely to enter the palace are residing.”
“Ha, why hasn’t an empress been selected after so long?”
“After a person’s freedom had been restricted too much, he would surely find some way to get back, be it singing, playing dumb, or not selecting an empress,” Shadow Blade replied lightly.
Meng Fuyao sighed and squatted on the bucket. The noise outside had not yet died down as she wondered, “Before night falls, Xuanyuan Cheng will surely search the palace again. We’ve already escaped him once, we can’t possibly escape him again. Hey, has your fever resided?”
Shadow Blade replied mildly, “Before tonight, I will relapse one more time, so you can leave by yourself.”
“Oh.” Meng Fuyao climbed down the close stools and scooped up Yuan Bao. “Then I’ll leave first, goodbye,” she replied.
She headed towards the door. Shadow Blade remained motionless, perched atop the close stools, watching her.
Meng Fuyao walked to the door and turned around. “Hey, how do I get to the Fragrant Jade Palace?” she asked seriously.
Shadow Blade looked at her silently, then suddenly smiled.
His smile was like a fresh flower blooming, the original weak look disappearing as it was replaced by the brightness of his glassy eyes and fiery red lips, bathing everything around it in its light. For a moment, Meng Fuyao was blinded by its brightness and shut her eyes.
‘How bright, truly bright, I’m both shocked and touched, I’m going to die by a beauty’s smile, being an “empress” is fine too…’
It was a pity that the smile only lasted an instant and Shadow Blade had already returned to his cold and pointed self. “I don’t need you to sacrifice yourself to do anything. Moreover, Xuanyuan Min’s conditions might not be as simple as they look, why do you need to put yourself through this,” he said.
Meng Fuyao smiled and wrinkled her nose slightly. Pointing at herself, she said, “Don’t be so narcissistic already, Brother Shadow Blade. I’m not doing this for you. I just don’t want Xuanyuan Cheng to be too comfortable, forcing me to hide so pathetically and almost losing my life. How can I just let it go? I insist on going against him; if Xuanyuan Min wants to use me, why can’t I use him too?”
She waved a hand and said grandly, “Since there’s something fun, why can’t I play and instead come here and gamble my life? Come, brother Shadow Blade, brother Yuan Bao, I’ll be able to let you two eat bird’s nest this time.” She adjusted her robes and readied her weapons, preparing for the arduous and risky journey to look for the Fragrant Jade House.
“Where is the Fragrant Jade House?” she asked again.
Shadow Blade looked at her for a long time until she was almost about to leave before finally saying, “It’s just next door.”
Meng Fuyao stumbled slightly against the wall and turned back bitterly. ‘Damn child, you’re too cruel…’
The Fragrant Jade House, where the new concubine candidates were staying, was just across a wall. Meng Fuyao tiptoed and peeked over the wall, smiling as she said, “Ah, silk robes and fine dining, soft beds and beautiful tapestry, here I come…”
“Oh right, I haven’t asked you, where did the bed I slept on last night come from?” Shadow Blade nodded his head at the bed, feeling that the material looked rather odd.
Meng Fuyao immediately laughed and turned around. “I made it by combining the close stools,” she replied gaily.
This time, Shadow Blade stumbled, and Meng Fuyao pretentiously rushed forward to support him. “Ah, brother, are you alright?”
Shadow Blade took a deep breath, then calmly said, “I’m fine.”
Meng Fuyao said, sympathetically again, “How can you go out in this condition?” She turned around, not looking at his beautiful, half-naked body and pinched her face as she added, “If I’d known earlier I would have brought the robes that the cross-dresser was wearing. That red and green peony and macaw robes was really not bad.” After speaking, she shuddered herself.
However, Shadow Blade said, “Are your eyes shot? Can’t you see the bag hanging on the vines behind the wall?”
Meng Fuyao looked across, and sure enough, there was a cloth bag hidden between the vines, and two sets of eunuch robes were hidden inside. After helping ‘Dar Charm’ change, she too quickly changed into her set of robes. Their actions shook the vine, and someone had gently knocked on the wall. Carrying Shadow Blade, Meng Fuyao flipped over the wall. They landed in a little courtyard, where a man who looked like a eunuch was waiting for them on the front porch of the Fragrant Jade House.
