Chapter 178 - Perplexed
TL-checked : Zaki
Edited by Zaki & Animeart
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Xiao Lingyang heard it.
How much did he hear?
Who instructed him to eavesdrop on this hall?
Lin Shu was watching Xiao Lingyang’s every move, while thinking fast about these questions.
He did not believe that with Xiao Lingyang’s mind, he would think of spying on the Empress. This was not something he would do.
Xiao Lingyang leaned under the Begonia tree and looked at the falling flowers on the gra.s.s.
The look in his eyes was very complicated, so complicated that Lin Shu had no way to describe it. His fist tightened slightly, trembling, his lips were tightly closed, and his face was pale.
Knowing that the Empress Mother did not want him to be the Emperor, but wanted someone else to be, and his sister was actually a brother …… Out of these two things, which was the one with greater impact?
Or, did Xiao Lingyang, who never cared about anything, suddenly realized that the world was not what he thought it was?
Lin Shu silently lit a candle for this younger brother in his heart, and turned his attention back to the main hall.
The Empress let Ling Fengxiao walk up to her. Holding his hand, she explained the specific plan.
Ling Fengxiao slightly lowered his eyes: “Yes.”
The Empress stroked his hair: “It’s good that you understand the Mother’s pains.”
“But this son has a request.” Ling Fengxiao said.
The Empress: “Huh?”
Ling Fengxiao said, “Right now, the Great Wizard is dead, Northern Xia is in chaos, and the opportunity for war is perfect. I request to allow this son to lead an expedition to conquer Northern Xia. The day we recover the four seas, then this son can ascend to the throne as Emperor.”
The Empress asked, “What are the chances of winning?”
Ling Fengxiao said, “Ninety percent.”
The Empress pondered for a while and said, “That’s good.”
She also said, “Does Xiao’er want to lead the army in a female body or a male body?”
Ling Fengxiao said, “First, I will lead the army in a female body, and if there is a chance in the battlefield, I will let Ling Fengxiao die in the battlefield and Xiao Shao could save the day, and the rest is up to the arrangement of the Empress Mother.”
The Empress nodded: “This is a good idea, I will make the right arrangements.”
Ling Fengxiao: “Thank you, Empress Mother.”
When the discussion was over, the queen’s slender fingers, coated in cinnabar, were holding the Imperial edict on the case.
The Emperor’s imperial edict before his death was naturally to arrange for his successor to the throne.
There was no joy or anger in her eyes as she placed the Imperial edict on the eternal lamp that was kept in the Palace. The Imperial edict was made of silk and ignited when it met the fire. The flames of the fire rose up and burned the solemnly shaped Imperial edict into ashes within a few moments.
The ashes curled down in the white smoke from the incense burner.
Ling Fengxiao said, “This son, wants to know one thing.”
The Empress’ eyes turned towards him, her calm and unruffled expression had a bit of warmth, and said in a warm voice: “What is it?”
“When I was a teenager, I had a lot of complaints about the female body, but Empress Mother and Mother did not waver. Now I’ve stopped being obsessed with this matter, but the Empress Mother suddenly wants me to show my true face”, Ling Fengxiao said lightly, “Is it because this matter could not be known by the Father?”
After a pause, he said again, “But the Phoenix Mountain Villa is very powerful, so if you are really dissatisfied with the royal family, you could leave. What are you afraid of?”
The Empress looked at him steadfastly, her eyes filled with a flood of sadness that could not be suppressed. After a long time, she hugged him in her arms: “Mother naturally has her own difficulties, do not ask.”
Ling Fengxiao was silent for a while, and finally said, “This son is guilty of offending Mother.”
“No harm…” the Empress’s mood seemed to be out of control. She retracted her hand and kept silent for a moment before she recovered. Finally, she said, “Treat Lingyang well.”
Ling Fengxiao said, “I will.”
The Empress nodded, and then talked about the Emperor’s funeral. Most of the time, she said that all the processes seemed to be already completed and just needed to go through it once, and Ling Fengxiao said “En” from time to time.
After the explanation, the Empress said, “You seem to be a little tired. Go back to the Wutong courtyard to rest.There is no need to worry about everything in the palace.”
Ling Fengxiao said, “This son wants to stay with Father for a while.”
The Empress sighed: “Then Mother will go back to the back hall to take care of the items needed for mourning.”
Ling Fengxiao answered in affirmative.
The Empress straightened her lapel and the flowing skirt, then got up and went to the back hall. Lin Shu looked at the elegant figure gradually disappearing behind the heavy beaded curtain, and finally turned a corner and disappeared completely.
The Emperor’s bed in front of Ling Fengxiao faced towards his direction.
Lin Shu knew with Ling Fengxiao’s current cultivation, it was easy to notice his existence, so he glided down from his perching position and walked to Ling Fengxiao.
Ling Fengxiao held Lin Shu’s hand.
Lin Shu immediately felt the temperature of his hands and looked at the faint b.l.o.o.d.y color in Ling Fenxiao’s eyes and knew at once that the man’s condition was not very good again.
The Empress only knew that she was in a bright and warm hall talking heart to heart with her son, but she did not know that the world in Ling Fengxiao’s eyes was a sea of blood. He was in the middle of a sea of blood full of corpses, his ears were filled with the wailing of thousands of resentful ghosts. His rationality might be consumed by the resentment of all people in the world at any moment– and he had to maintain a sober mind at the critical point and a gentle manner, while listening to the Empress’s plan to steal the throne.
Those who loved cleanliness often fell into the mire, and those who wanted to be free and unfettered were often bound to the dust net. People in the Jianghu had no choice, similar to how people in the court had no choice.
Ling Fengxiao leaned gently on his shoulder. He hugged the man in his arms and stroked his hair gently.
At the age of fifteen or sixteen, they didn’t know each other very well. Some people said that, in this life he would never be able to act involuntarily.
At that time, Lin Shu thought it was just an occasional sentimental and groundless self-mockery. Now, he felt this sentence was the basis of his whole life.
Ling Fengxiao didn’t like the world. Lin Shu knew it.
Just now when he was perching at the top, listening in, he thought, why did the Empress take such a detour?
Wouldn’t it be simpler to tell Ling Fengxiao directly? The Imperial Dynasty on Earth had cut off the Qi vein connecting heavens and earth, and there was no chance for survival for those who had the Phoenix bloodline. The boys of the Phoenix’s direct bloodline were not allowed to live in the world, or tell him that the Phoenix’s blood needed the nourishment of Heavenly Qi. If Ling Fengxiao didn’t become an Emperor and didn’t get the Qi Luck of the Human Emperor, the day when the Phoenix’s blood awakened, he would die. Wasn’t persuasion like that more effective?
But at that time, seeing Ling Fengxiao’s eyes, he understood again.
A person like Ling Fengxiao didn’t live for himself. He had no affection for the world and had no attachment to the people in the world. He didn’t care if he became the Human Emperor or died. Instead, he only cared if he was free for a few days and wanted to wait quietly for death.
Recently, he has become the embodiment of resentment in the world. Now even more he was less like a human and was disgusted and hated the world due to the resentments.
The Empress knew her child too well. She knew that if she wanted him to be an Emperor, she could only try every means to get him to follow her wish.
What could Lin Shu say about this?
He covered Ling Fengxiao’s hand with his hand.
Ling Fengxiao lifted his face to look at him.
The eyes were better, the color of the blood had faded, revealing the pair of inky black pupils.
Lin Shu rubbed the little chick’s head.
Ling Fengxiao grunted a few times and sat up straight. It looked like his condition had stabilized.
Those grunts automatically transformed into the chick’s “chirp chirp chirp” in Lin Shu’s mind.
Seeing that he was in a much better state, Lin Shu spoke: “Xiao Lingyang had installed a sound stone here.”
Ling Fengxiao’s first reaction was actually not “What did he hear?”
—–instead he asked, “Where did he get such great ability?”
Lin Shu: “……”
He gave a full account of the matter.
What Xiao Lingyang heard was the first half of Ling Fengxiao’s conversation with the Empress, which was mainly about discussing the ownership of the throne.
But when it came to the matter about his gender, it was also ambiguous. There were no straightforward words used saying Ling Fengxiao was actually a man. But, depending upon whether Xiao Lingyang’s brain worked well or not, he could guess it.
Ling Fengxiao was extremely dissatisfied: “In the end, he was still able to escape.”
Lin Shu: “He doesn’t look happy.”
Ling Fengxiao: “Maybe he was disappointed with Empress Mother.”
Lin Shu thought there was some truth to it.
The mother who raised him single-handedly, in the end, always had Ling Fengxiao in her heart. Xiao Lingyang might not have a great balance in his heart.
“But it’s not quite right. There is something strange between Father and Mother. There must be..,” Ling Fengxiao slowly said: “If there is a chance, I will find out.”
Lin Shu gave an “En”.
At this time, the palace staff came in one after another from the back hall.
The emperor’s body could not be left unattended and had to be dealt with.
Everything went on in an orderly way. The Emperor left quietly without raising even the slightest storm. Even the last Imperial edict was downplayed and burned by the Empress.
Ling Fengxiao asked Lin Shu, where Xiao Lingyang was now.
Lin Shu had split a part of his divine sense and kept an eye on Xiao Lingyang’s movements.
The younger brother was left dazed by the revelations he had just heard and was still standing under the Begonia tree as if he had lost his soul. Then suddenly he became very irritable and kicked the tree and got showered with a head full of flowers. It took quite some time to clean up all the flowers on his body which made him even more upset.
Then, he cleaned up his expression, warmly and respectfully continued to kneel back to the entrance of the main hall.
Ling Fengxiao listened to the end, hooked his lips and smiled: “He’s capable.”
He then continued, “There must be someone behind him, intending to alienate him from Empress Mother and me, when we go out, I will question him.”
Lin Shu nodded.
After saying these things, Ling Fengxiao pulled up Lin Shu and went around behind the screen.
The incense burner behind the screen was still curling and burning and the white smoke flowed, the scent was hard to distinguish, mixing with the smell of medicine.
He took a half burnt incense charcoal, extinguished it, and stored it away.
He looked inside and outside the hall, to confirm that there were no other sound stones or shadow beads or other such items.
The corridor connecting the front hall and the back hall was covered with layers of gauze and decorated with small pearls. When the wind blew, the white gauze moved in the wind like the white smoke on a river.
Ling Fengxiao looked at the veil and said softly to Lin Shu, “I thought this matter was going to be over, but looks like I still have to drag you on this Mortal world for many more days.”
Lin Shu said, “It does not matter.”
Then he continued, “Are you okay?”
Ling Fengxiao took a deep breath and said, “When I am in a crowded place, the sea of blood becomes more and more violent. The blood Qi in the Palace was so thick that my soul was even more unstable.”
He continued, “If it weren’t for the temporary purification due to staying by your side, I’m afraid I would have already been possessed by the resentments and would have fallen into the darkness.”
Lin Shu only looked at him.
Little chick.
Fluffy little chick.
Saying chirp, chirp, chirp and some coquettish words.
However, Ling Fengxiao seemed to see something so rare. He looked straight into his eyes and said after a while, “Immortal Lord, did you just smile?!”
Lin Shu: “Hmm?”
Did he smile?
He had no perception of it.
Ling Fengxiao reached out and touched his eyebrows, his eyes and then touched his lips: “It seems to be a smile, it was very nice ……”
Lin Shu was both bewildered and innocent, appropriately revealing the doubts that an emotionless Sword Cultivator would show at this time.
Ling Fengxiao teased him for a while, withdrew his hand and looked at the heavy palace doors, with a vague sense of despair in his eyes.
Lin Shu watched with him.
Phoenix Blood, if he didn’t become the Human Emperor, he would die.
But he would not be happy, being the Human Emperor.
For a moment, his heart was confused.
After a while, Ling Fengxiao withdrew his gaze, straightened his expression, and said coldly: “Let’s go and deal with Xiao Lingyang.”
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Didi: Next, I will use my strength