Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The first day of the countdown in Siming’s Book of Fate had arrived.

Wei Huaiqi sent someone to summon me.

The commotion startled my soul out of the bamboo.

A sudden wind rose, and the bamboo leaves rustled.

I gathered my soul, landed on the ground, and emerged from the bamboo grove.

Luxiao was looking for me.

She turned around, her eyes wide with surprise.

“Queen, your complexion looks much better.”

My true form was a stalk of green bamboo born of heaven and earth.

My spiritual veins were connected to all bamboo.

Now that my Immortal Bone was cracked and my soul was scattered, taking refuge within the emerald bamboo allowed me to barely manage some repairs and healing.

However, the speed of this recovery was incredibly slow.

“Let’s go.”

In the main hall of the Wei Kingdom, Wei Huaiqi was waiting for me.

He wanted me to perform a formal apology to Hongli.

If it meant fewer disturbances over the next two days, I felt that bowing my head was no great sacrifice.

“Will a minor salute suffice?”

I didn’t ask Wei Huaiqi.

Instead, I looked toward Hongli, my tone serious.

“I am afraid you might not be able to withstand a formal kowtow.”

Hongli grew flustered under my gaze. Seemingly frightened, she took two steps closer to Wei Huaiqi.

Wei Huaiqi shielded her.

“Why wouldn’t she be able to withstand it? Who do you think you are?”

I nodded slightly.

Since the master had spoken.

Then I would kneel.

With my status as a High Immortal of ten thousand years, I was to kneel to her, a Little Carp of a few thousand years.

It was a total reversal of the natural order, an affront to the heavens.

I only hoped she could maintain her human form under the weight of such a gesture.

“I have wronged you.”

Facing Hongli, I was just about to bend my knees.

Two light-red sleeves hurriedly reached out to support me.

“Sister Queen, there is no need for this!”

I knew she was afraid of the spiritual backlash. I turned to look at Wei Huaiqi, my tone indifferent.

“She says it is unnecessary, so my apology is finished.”

I turned to leave.

Wei Huaiqi told me to stop.

Hongli snuggled intimately into his arms.

“Sister Queen, kneeling is unnecessary. But I am pregnant and often feel unwell. The mystic said that I must live in the southeast, where the water and wood elements are most prosperous, for my condition to improve.”

Southeast, where water and wood flourished.

That would be Phoenix Sound Palace, which was adjacent to the inner lake and surrounded by dense emerald bamboo.

I remained silent for a moment.

I still needed the bamboo to heal my injuries.

But before I could say anything, Hongli made a move to kneel before me.

“I beg you, Sister, to allow me to stay in a corner of Phoenix Sound Palace for a while.”

Wei Huaiqi pulled her into his arms, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Why stay temporarily? The Queen has produced no heir in three years; surely she will move out of her own accord?”

He was forcing me to move to another palace.

I hesitated for a moment.

“Your Majesty, may I move in three days? Please allow me a little time to rest.”

I was truly exhausted.

Including tonight, I would only be staying for two more nights. It seemed like a lot of trouble to move house for such a short time.

“No.”

Wei Huaiqi smiled dismissively.

“You need to rest, but does that mean Hongli doesn’t?”

As if intentionally targeting me, he suddenly curled his lips into a cold sneer.

“Or are you still attached to this place and trying to play for time, dragging this out day by day?”

He was wrong.

Within the Wei Palace, there was no longer anything left for me to be attached to.

“I will move.”