Chapter 52
Chapter 52
When Shengsheng awoke the next day, she learned that the Yong Kingdom’s carriages had departed quietly at dawn.
The Zhu delegation had traveled farther and should also have begun its return journey that day. For some unfathomable reason, however, Xunlan Liu insisted on waiting until tomorrow.
Shengsheng had not seen Weiqing at all. He had left the Eastern Palace early that morning.
She had hoped to fulfill the last of her duties as his servant, but Weiqing himself did not appear to care.
Glad of the freedom, Shengsheng went to fly a kite with Zhiyu Jiang.
According to the plot, she could now return to the Zhu Kingdom.
***
At a mountain estate outside the capital, a handsome man in green rolled a string of prayer beads through his fingers.
Smiling faintly, he regarded the man seated in the pavilion.
“I never knew the finest tea estate in the Zhen Kingdom belonged to you.”
The man at the table had been carefully savoring the fragrance rising from his cup. He slowly lifted his head.
His lush, languid beauty carried a hint of mockery.
“Since when have you cared about my affairs?”
Weiqing laughed and shook his head.
“You must give me the opportunity to care, A-Sheng.”
“Sit.”
Ignoring his glib answer, Fusheng casually indicated the chair beside him.
Within the palace, they appeared to be no more than casual acquaintances.
In private, they had been close friends for many years.
“Why did you invite me here?” Weiqing asked.
Steam rising from the tea concealed Fusheng’s lowered eyes and the sharp light within them.
“No particular reason. An acquaintance of mine wishes to ask you for something.”
Weiqing traced the rim of his cup.
“He may ask.”
The moment the words left his mouth, a hearty voice sounded nearby.
“Then this prince will gladly accept your generosity!”
The newcomer wore royal-blue robes. His handsome face carried a wild and reckless arrogance.
At his appearance, numerous black-clad men abruptly emerged throughout the formerly tranquil, almost otherworldly courtyard.
Every one of them carried a long saber.
Weiqing’s gaze turned cold.
“What is the meaning of this, Third Imperial Brother?”
Weicen Song smiled.
“Why, I have come for your life.”
Fusheng calmly took a sip of tea, as though the impending tragedy before him did not exist.
“Well, my dear little brother?” Weicen gloated. “How does it feel to be betrayed by your closest friend?”
Weiqing shook his head with a bitter smile.
“I treated you like my own brother, yet you joined with my brother by blood to take my life. A-Sheng, how cruel you are.”
As though his heart had been cut open, Weiqing slowly pressed one hand to his chest. Profound sorrow covered his handsome face.
“Enough, little brother,” Weicen sneered. “You may complain again on the road to the Yellow Springs.”
He swept one hand forward.
The black-clad men surged in.
As sabers left their sheaths, Weicen could almost see himself dressed in the Crown Prince’s robes, accepting the great Zhen realm from his father.
A cold blade plunged into flesh.
Warm blood sprayed.
Weicen clutched his chest in disbelief. Shock filled his face as he stared at Fusheng, who remained seated across from him, drinking tea.
Fusheng lazily lifted his brows and complained to Weiqing.
“Your acting was far too exaggerated.”
Weiqing merely shrugged.
He walked to where Weicen struggled on the ground and rolled the prayer beads between his fingers with a smile.
“Third Imperial Brother, at last we lured you out of the palace.”
Their father favored Weicen. Even knowing that the third prince intended to kill the Crown Prince, he would protect him.
But if Weicen voluntarily left the palace and came seeking death beyond their father’s sight, matters became entirely different.
The struggle for succession was merciless.
Either one killed, or one died.
Weiqing might turn his body toward the Buddha, but his heart remained firmly in the mortal world.
Naturally, Weicen could not accept his defeat.
Yet life and death had already been decided.
He had been a fool to believe his schemes could surpass Weiqing’s.
But he had prepared one final move.
If they wanted him dead, then he would kill the person they cared about.
Weicen Song looked up at Weiqing with a savage expression.
He smiled meaningfully, then closed his eyes for the final time.
***
Let us return to the imperial palace.
The two women who had been happily flying a kite had no idea that disaster was already descending upon them.
When Shengsheng regained consciousness, Zhiyu Jiang sat beside her, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.
“Xiaoyu…”
Only when she spoke did Shengsheng hear how hoarse her voice had become.
“Shengsheng, you are awake.”
Zhiyu peered at her anxiously through eyes swollen red like a rabbit’s.
“Where are we?”
Shengsheng pushed herself upright. Something scratched and itched beneath her hand, making her frown.
She lay on a barren patch of ground. A cliff yawned nearby.
Apart from Zhiyu, the only thing beside her was a large pit.
Zhiyu explained between sobs.
“That bad man wanted to throw us over the cliff and kill us. I woke up first and struck him dead with lightning.”
Shengsheng stared at her.
With a few more details, that explanation could have filled an entire chapter.
She truly loved clinging to the heroine’s mighty thigh.
The chosen one received very different treatment indeed.
“Are you hurt?”
Shengsheng caught Zhiyu’s arm and examined her closely.
Zhiyu’s mouth crumpled. She cried even more pitifully and held out her hand.
Scratches covered her tender palm. Several had broken the skin and bled.
Shengsheng’s heart ached.
She pretended to search her sleeve while secretly redeeming something from A-Pang.
After producing an ointment, she blew gently over Zhiyu’s wounds and applied it.
Following Shengsheng had brought the girl far too much suffering.
In the original novel, Zhiyu had never endured any real physical harm.
*A-Pang, if we could cure Siran Ming’s amnesia, let us restore Xiaoyu’s memories too.*
Shengsheng had been so concerned with the plot that she had forgotten the possibility.
A-Pang answered, *The medicine we used last time was unique. The shop only had one dose. If you want another, you must wait for the inventory to refresh.*
*When will that happen?*
*When fate brings it back.*
What kind of answer was that?
Helplessly abandoning the idea, Shengsheng focused on their present situation.
*Where are we?*
*In the territory of the frontier tribes.*
Shengsheng went blank.
What?
The?
Hell?
The frontier tribes lay an absurd distance from the Zhen Kingdom.
The most accurate comparison would have been the distance between Shandong and Xinjiang.
Had their abductor possessed rockets for legs?
One moment, Shengsheng had been flying a kite in the Zhen imperial palace. The next, she was thousands of miles away.
A-Pang plainly had no way to explain the author’s carelessness. They hid inside Shengsheng’s hair and played dead.
Shengsheng was losing her mind.
Other transmigrators impressed everyone and slapped villains in the face.
Why did she do nothing but serve people and wander from place to place?
Was this *The Adventures of Shengsheng Zhou*?
How had her life become this ridiculous?
***
Thousands of miles away, the master of the Eastern Palace had reached the limits of his fury.
“Search! Turn over every stone if you must. Find her!”
“Your Highness, please calm yourself. I fear it may already be too late…”
Jian Zhang’s words struck Weiqing’s heart like a hammer.
The thought that Shengsheng might have died innocently because of him left him unable to breathe.
Then a magnetic voice edged with killing intent sounded nearby.
“She will come to no harm. Do not forget–the woman beside her can call down Heaven’s Thunderbolt.”