Chapter 143
Chapter 143
“Well? Did you deliver the man to A-Sheng?”
Weiqing Song rolled the prayer beads in his hand, set down his book, and turned his gentle, jade-like eyes to Jian Zhang, who knelt before him.
His subordinate looked travel-worn. He had probably come straight to the Eastern Palace without even stopping to rest.
Weiqing, who had watched the barbarians for years, knew that every generation of High Priest mastered an eerie secret art.
The Art of Confusion.
No one knew how this strange secret art was performed. At first, those afflicted displayed no obvious signs. Then one day, the illness would suddenly strike. Their once-normal memories became muddled, and they ceased to recognize family and friends.
As time passed, their memories grew ever more chaotic, tormenting them until they went violently insane. Their heads would feel ready to split, and in the end, their only desire was death.
None of those afflicted by the Art of Confusion had ever died with an intact corpse.
Weiqing had once seen an afflicted man gouge out his own eyeballs, put them in his mouth, and chew them to pulp.
Therefore, the moment Fusheng Duan’s letter arrived, he had immediately sent Jian Zhang to abduct the barbarians’ High Priest.
He did not know how the minor City Lord had learned a secret art passed down only among generations of High Priests. But compared with that young dilettante, a cowardly old High Priest who had clung to life for more than sixty years was clearly the more reliable choice.
Besides, the culprit who had harmed Shengsheng Zhou deserved to be tortured with great care. Making him pay only an antidote would be far too lenient.
Jian kept his head lowered and did not answer.
Sensing that something was wrong, Weiqing rose and walked to him. His radiant, handsome face tilted slightly, and his throat tightened. “What happened?”
“The Noble Consort… killed the High Priest outright…” For some reason, Jian’s voice sounded terribly hoarse.
Weiqing frowned. “Why would he do that? How did the High Priest offend him? Could he not produce the antidote?”
Jian steeled himself and raised his face. Only then did Weiqing see the dark stubble along his jaw, the heavy shadows beneath his eyes, and the profound grief within them.
“Your Highness… Miss Shengsheng was murdered. She’s dead.”
Weiqing did not understand what the final two words meant.
A man who regarded the deaths of others with almost lofty indifference now subconsciously fled from the truth.
Only after he had turned those words over and over, chewing them until nothing remained, did Jian watch his master silently return to his former place and sit down.
“Who?” Weiqing clutched the storybook he had read so many times. His eyes, usually warm as though holding the finest jade, were now deathly still and cold to the extreme.
In Shengsheng’s words, the light had gone out of his eyes.
Jian swore he had never seen such a terrifying expression on the Crown Prince’s face.
“The former commander of Yong Kingdom, Shou Xiong.”
…
Fusheng returned, but Shengsheng did not come with him.
When Zhiyu Jiang learned of this, she initially wanted to find the Noble Consort and ask him about it.
But she heard that the Noble Consort had coughed up blood several times overnight and was refusing all visitors, so she never found the chance.
After finally catching Xiangxiang coming out to empty medicinal dregs, Zhiyu hurriedly pounced on her. “Sister Xiangxiang, could you ask Her Highness why Shengsheng still hasn’t returned?”
Xiangxiang glanced at her. Her usually carefree face had taken on an unexpected solemnity. She said softly, “From now on, do not mention that name in Her Highness’s presence.”
With that, she left.
Zhiyu stood there at a loss. No, it was precisely because she had no chance to see Her Highness that she had come to ask you…
Meiren Liu was gone, and Shengsheng had not returned. Zhiyu looked up at the gray sky, feeling rather sad.
She did not want to be alone…
…
A-Xuan was the one who told Fusheng of Shengsheng’s death.
It had witnessed Shengsheng die and had tried to intervene when Shou Xiong’s great saber came down upon her.
But after controlling an entire group of Yong Kingdom soldiers and making them slaughter one another, it no longer had any strength left.
In the end, A-Xuan was still one step too late.
It was only a bird. It merely knew that this human woman should have mattered a great deal to Fusheng Duan.
After it reported the woman’s death, every feather on A-Xuan’s body stood on end in terror.
It would never forget Fusheng’s expression at that moment.
Blood kept spilling from his mouth, yet the corners of his lips rose uncontrollably. It was no smile. The emotion in his eyes was as intense as a ghost crawling from hell, filled with towering rage and hatred.
And beneath them lay a grief and regret A-Xuan could not understand.
News that Fusheng had coughed up blood eventually alarmed the Empress Dowager and the emperor.
The pair had been celebrating Yong Kingdom’s inexplicable retreat, but they soon followed the commotion and hurried over.
Fusheng, however, refused to see anyone.
Everyone in Qianyi Palace remembered that day.
In the space of a single night, the vividly beautiful Noble Consort seemed to waste away, withering until illness confined him to bed.
The Empress Dowager wept every night. Ignoring the empty treasury after their narrow escape from war, she even began constructing temples on a grand scale to pray for the Noble Consort’s recovery.
Fortunately, everything soon changed.
The turning point came in a letter sent across a thousand miles from Zhen Kingdom.
That was right. Neither her body nor her murderer had fallen into his hands. How could he have the face to lie here and let his mounting anguish consume his days?
Fusheng threw aside the snow-white handkerchief stained with broad patches of blood and walked outside.
…
“My darling, does your head hurt? Is there anywhere else you feel unwell?” The richly dressed woman gently touched the girl’s forehead. Her eyes were swollen and red, her face alight with incredulous joy.
Shengsheng Zhou suppressed the numbness in her heart, held the woman’s hand in return, and shook her head. “I’m fine… Mm, Imperial Mother…”
Flattered surprise entered the woman’s tearful eyes, and she cried even harder. Turning to the figure in bright yellow seated beside her, she said, “Your Majesty! Your Majesty, did you hear? My Sheng’er–our precious daughter–called me Imperial Mother!”
The man addressed as emperor was already very old, but he forced his frail body to comfort his empress and smiled with relief. “Heaven has shown mercy… Heaven has truly shown mercy…”
Looking at this familiar emperor, Shengsheng nearly burst into tears.
What nonsense about letting old affections ferment into wine? She had opened her eyes right in an old acquaintance’s stronghold. How was she supposed to spend the rest of her life drunk and free of sorrow?
After finally calming Imperial Mother’s emotions, Shengsheng heard the empress ask with swollen eyes, “Where is Weiqing Song? With something as important as Sheng’er regaining her senses, why hasn’t he come yet?”
The kneeling palace attendants made no sound. The emperor patted her hand. “Enough. He is busy. When he has time, I will make him come.”
The empress muttered her dissatisfaction. Only after taking Shengsheng’s hands and crying for a long while did she finally leave.
When silence at last returned, Shengsheng said she was tired and wished to be alone for a while. The palace attendants swiftly withdrew.
No one dared disobey the apple of the empress’s eye.
Once everyone had left, Shengsheng finally shrieked, *A!! Pang!!*
The little panda asked softly, *What is it, Shengsheng?*
Pointing at her face, Shengsheng snapped, *This is what you meant by a rich beauty who could keep a different pretty boy every day?!*
A-Pang argued, *How is it not? You may still be young, but once you have your own princess’s estate, you can keep them however you like!*
Shengsheng roared, *I really have to thank you! I thought that after reincarnating, I’d never have anything to do with these people again! But you–you did a wonderful job!*
*I dropped an entire generation and became the bargain-bin little sister of that king of overthinking, Weiqing Song!!*
Only heaven knew that after celebrating her successful reincarnation, Shengsheng had nearly smashed her head against a pillar and died again once she searched through this body’s memories.
When mountains and rivers leave no road in sight, remember: *make* never takes *to*.
She had actually been reborn as the youngest daughter of Zhen Kingdom’s empress, a princess born witless–Mosheng Song.