Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Though Wuyou was not afraid of yang energy, it was afraid of Ren Fengjue.

It trembled inside the Soul-Ferrying Lantern. “With a great Buddha like him standing right next to you, how would I dare come out?”

Xia Ximo’s brows drew together slightly. “Fine, you don’t have to come out. Just tell me where Meng Zhiyuan’s Primary Soul is now.”

Ren Fengjue watched her speak to the lantern, yet he could hear no response from anywhere around them.

Could she truly understand ghost speech?

After a long while, Xia Ximo set the lantern down and asked him, “Do you know where the very center of the imperial palace is?”

Ren Fengjue answered without hesitation, “It should be Yuji Hall.”

“What is it used for?”

Ren Fengjue tried to explain in the simplest terms. “It is where morning court is held.”

He asked, “Meng Zhiyuan’s ghost is there?”

Xia Ximo nodded.

If her guess was correct, Meng Zhiyuan would only go to a few places he had frequented while alive.

Perhaps only by seeing the Emperor and delivering the map in his hands could he finally resolve his last obsession.

“Is there a way to have the Emperor come to Yuji Hall?” she asked.

Ren Fengjue understood her intention at once. “Meng Zhiyuan’s unfinished wish in the mortal world is to see the Emperor?”

Xia Ximo said, “More precisely, he wants to personally hand the map he drew to the Emperor.”

“But the living and the dead walk different paths…”

Ren Fengjue had meant to say that the Emperor’s mortal eyes could not see ghosts, so this matter likely would not work.

But then he thought of another possibility.

“Possession.”

Xia Ximo said it bluntly. “If necessary, I will let Meng Zhiyuan possess me directly.”

“…”

Ren Fengjue hesitated before asking, “If it really has to be done, that person does not necessarily have to be you…”

“It can only be me.”

Xia Ximo’s tone was certain. “What remains of Meng Zhiyuan in the palace is only a wisp of soul, and its yin energy is still weak.”

“Right now, only an Extreme Yin Body can contain that wisp of soul.”

“In such a short time, I doubt you could find a second person besides me.”

Only after hearing her explanation did Ren Fengjue understand the conditions required.

Then he suddenly froze.

An Extreme Yin Body…

That meant someone born in a yin year, yin month, yin day, and yin hour.

According to fate reading, such people were born as Heaven-Blighted Lone Stars, destined to bring death to their closest kin.

Ren Fengjue remembered that when he was ten, he had once heard someone mention it.

It was one of the wet nurses in his room.

That afternoon, after coaxing him to sleep, the wet nurse had chatted idly with several maidservants under the eaves.

“If you ask me, that girl of the Xia family is a Heaven-Blighted Lone Star. She killed off both her parents one after another, and she herself is a sickly little medicine jar.”

“The Marquis and Marquise are simply too kind. The General’s Manor has already fallen apart, so why keep that marriage arrangement?”

“Poor Donglang. Who knows what will happen when he marries a woman like that in the future…”

Those fragmented words drifted faintly into his ears.

For a moment, he could not tell whether it was a dream or reality…

But when he woke up, that wet nurse had vanished from his room.

Only when he was a little older did he learn that his mother had happened to pass by that day and heard those words. She had immediately ordered the wet nurse driven out of the Marquis Mansion.

After learning the truth, he had felt indignant for a very long time.

For the sake of someone he had never even met, and for some inexplicable marriage arrangement, he had lost a wet nurse who doted on him…

He had never been able to let it go.

But now, thinking back on it, Ren Fengjue saw the matter differently.

Even a wet nurse in his own household could say such things.

Then what about Xia Ximo, who was living under someone else’s roof?

In a place like that, even with the title of a general’s orphan, she must have still been the subject of countless rumors…
And judging by Mu Zheng’s attitude toward her, how much sincerity could this uncle possibly have?

Ren Fengjue slowly came back to himself, only to find Xia Ximo staring at him with those bright black eyes, as if waiting for an answer.

“In that case…”

He said, “I can only try.”

Only then did Xia Ximo nod. “Then I’ll head over first. You just need to bring the emperor there.”

“…”

She made it sound so easy.

That was the emperor they were talking about.

Who else would dare say something like that?

And yet Ren Fengjue found himself unable to refuse. As if possessed, he chose to trust her one more time.

“All right.”

–

When Ren Fengjue returned to the banquet, Princess Ding’an was in the middle of a little tantrum.

The moment she saw him come back, she was visibly delighted, but then she immediately gave a huff and turned away with her arms folded.

Seeing this, Emperor Qingkang glanced in their direction as well.

To coax his daughter, he pretended to put on a stern face. “If you had stayed away any longer, We would have sent the Golden Feather Guards to drag you back!”

Ren Fengjue stepped forward and bowed to the emperor and princess at the same time. “This subject was forced to step away for a moment because something occurred to me. Please forgive me, Your Highness.”

At that, Princess Ding’an puffed up in anger and marched over to him, hands clasped behind her back as she scolded, “I looked all over for you! My feet are sore from walking!”

“What on earth did you go off to do?”

Ren Fengjue smiled, but he looked toward Emperor Qingkang and said, “A few days ago, His Majesty and I played a game of chess…”

Emperor Qingkang loved chess. Even with state affairs demanding his attention day and night, he still had to make time for a game.

However, though there were quite a few skilled players at court, most were cowed by imperial authority. Either they were so timid they hardly dared place a piece, or they deliberately played to please him and let him win.

The only one who could truly give him a satisfying match was Ren Fengjue.

A few days earlier, the two had played a game in a side hall of Yuji Hall.

Emperor Qingkang had won by a narrow margin of one piece, and immediately declared that if Ren Fengjue could think of a way to break the position, he could come find him at Yuji Hall at any time…

“So, Young Master Ren has found a way to break it?”

The moment chess was mentioned, Emperor Qingkang’s whole face lit up. Even his way of addressing Ren Fengjue became much more affectionate.

Ren Fengjue replied, “If Your Majesty permits, we may test it right now.”

“Good.”

Without another word, Emperor Qingkang rose to his feet. “We will go with you to Yuji Hall first.”

Princess Ding’an pouted unhappily and whined, “Imperial Father, I want to go too…”

“Ruozhen, with so many guests present, sit here for a while. Father will be back soon.”

Chess was a game that brooked no distractions. Afraid his precious daughter would cause trouble, Emperor Qingkang shot a look toward Consort Qi beside them.

Princess Ding’an had grown up in the consort’s palace since childhood. Of all the people in the inner palace, the one she feared most was Consort Qi.

“Ruozhen.”

That soft call alone was enough to make the princess return to her seat and obediently watch Emperor Qingkang and Ren Fengjue leave.

She gave a small huff, picked up the tea on the table, took a sip, and sulked by herself for a while longer.

Just then, her Third Brother, Prince Yu, quietly came over.

“Sixth Sister, here. Third Brother’s birthday gift for you.”

Prince Yu smiled as he presented his gift: a lustrous pearl the size of a pigeon’s egg.

Princess Ding’an’s eyes immediately lit up. “Thank you, Third Brother. This pearl is so beautiful. Where did you get it?”

“As long as Sixth Sister likes it, even if it were a dragon pearl from the Eastern Sea, Third Brother would retrieve it for you!”

The siblings chatted for a while, and only then did a smile return to Princess Ding’an’s face.

However, while the princess was in a good mood, Prince Yu suddenly changed his tone and asked, “Ruozhen, there’s been a rumor in the capital lately. It’s about that ‘Brother Feng’ of yours. I wonder if you’ve heard it?”