Chapter 279 Xuanji’s ReturnHua Qiyue frowned. She was only an ordinary friend of Bai Qianxue, although Bai Qianxue had faithfully supported her, standing by her side. This had caused misunderstanding among countless people.
This woman was no more than an admirer of Bai Qianxue. She was looking for trouble in Hua Qiyue.
“What are you looking at? Haven’t you seen Princess Chulan from the Yuewu Kingdom?”
Another maidservant yelled out arrogantly.
Hua Qiyue raised her brows. This Princess Chulan was no more than an eminent guest of the Crown Prince. Even the Emperor had to give in to her at times. But she was too bold, wasn’t she? Provoking her on the streets?
Seven or eight maidservants immediately surrounded Hua Qiyue, Tianci, and Bai Qianxue.
“Princess Chulan, you’re mistaken. I am only an ordinary friend of City Master Bai. But… would you like such a wilful and ignorant girl, City Master Bai?” Hua Qiyue smilingly gazed at Bai Qianxue.
Bai Qianxue gave Princess Chulan a cold, indifferent stare.
This handsome man, who was as good-looking as an immortal, had won Princess Chulan’s heart with his chilling glance. But his later words almost made her break down. “I’m sorry, Princess Chulan, you flatter yourself too much by thinking that I love you. I don’t need you to tell me who I should like. Besides… you can’t compare to even a hair from Qiyue. So why are you yelling here?”
A lot of bystanders were watching around. After all, Bai Qianxue was by Hua Qiyue’s side and most people could recognize Bai Qianxue at once.
Bai Qianxue was extremely famous in the Yuewu Kingdom. Now that he was taking a rare excursion on the streets, many would like to catch a glimpse of him.
Handsome men were pleasing to the eyes. Surely, why not enjoy a good show?
“You, you… ” Princess Chulan was so angry that she shivered. She was the beloved daughter of Prince Ling and even the Emperor doted on her. But she was poorly informed. She did not know that Hua Qiyue had attended the Crown Prince’s banquet the evening before.
After all, the banquet was kept highly confidential by the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince did not want many to know, or it might alert enemies and cause panic among the people.
“Hua Qiyue, do you dare to fight me? Humph, if you lose, get out of the Yuewu Kingdom at once!”
When she saw Bai Qianxue defending Hua Qiyue, Princess Chulan became even angrier. So she arrogantly issued a challenge to Hua Qiyue.
Hua Qiyue had disguised her Qi aura so the Princess and her servants could not tell the level of her Qi Art.
As she was already at the Great Completeness of Round Sun, the Princess thought herself more gifted than others. She would surely be superior to Hua Qiyue. Hence, she did not fear the latter’s presence.
“Mom, these flies are so annoying. My belly is starving!” Tianci pulled at Hua Qiyue’s hand. He glared with displeasure at Princess Chulan who was enraged, her eyes full of derision.
“Be good. Go with Brother Bai over there and eat first. Later, mom will come.” Hua Qiyue smiled. Although she was dealing with Princess Chulan alone, she was certain she would win.
Caining and Caiqing were in the inn, recuperating from their injuries. She had refused their company when she left in the morning.
“Alright, mom. We shall make a move first. Later, you must thrash this rotten Princess like a dog begging for mercy!” The little fellow started to blink mischievously. Princess Chulan was so angry that she gritted her teeth. She decided to skin this young fellow alive after disposing of Hua Qiyue.
But with Bai Qianxue around, she suffered some scruples.
Bai Qianxue took Tianci over to the stall and sat down to eat. He did not at all care about Hua Qiyue confronting Princess Chulan and her maidservants alone.
Princess Chulan was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with confidence. After all, in Xuanyuan City, no other woman was her match.
From young, Princess Chulan had had too much attention. And she won every challenge she had issued. She eventually turned into a proud, overweening person. She did not believe any woman could be more outstanding than herself.
And when Hua Qiyue’s name was bruited through Xuanyuan City, Princess Chulan was inwardly unconvinced. She had long yearned for this challenge. Now that she had run into Hua Qiyue on the streets, she naturally issued a challenge.
It must be said that Princess Chulan understood well who she hated or loved. Her personality was better than Hua Mengshi’s, but her overweening ignorance could not be a good thing.
“Show your move. Humph, I won’t retaliate for 10 moves!” Princess Chulan sneered coldly.
The bystanders standing around started to get excited. Two ravishing women in a showdown—one, the famous Princess Chulan, the other, the legendary Hua Qiyue. Many had not seen Hua Qiyue fight before and they were eagerly looking forward to Hua Qiyue’s astonishing performance.
“Come on and fight! Let’s see who wins!”
“That’s right. Display your moves. Our Princess Chulan will surely triumph over Hua Qiyue!”
“Ho ho, it’s a real eye-opener. Two women fighting in the streets over a man. Tsk, tsk. A rare sight for ages!”
Someone started to yell impulsively. Another remarked sarcastically.
Hua Qiyue lifted her brows. “I don’t need even half a stroke. I will make you kneel down before me!” Hua Qiyue said.
She stuck out her middle finger. A colorless stream of Qi darted out and hit Princess Chulan’s knee cap!
Princess Chulan’s facial expression changed. She felt a sore pain on her left knee. The strange sensation was expanding. Even though she was expending all the spiritual energy in her body, she could not curb this aggressive force!
“Your Highness!” The maidservant by her side saw this and started to shriek in horror. But they were too late. Princess Chulan had slumped down onto her knees. Hua Qiyue nodded with satisfaction.
“Good, you’re obedient. You’ve knelt down after half a move! Good girl, stand up. I won’t resent you, since a magnanimous person won’t recall past wrongs!”
Hua Qiyue’s words made those who resented Princess Chulan guffaw loudly.
Princess Chulan’s face flushed and paled by turns. She started to scream. “Hua Qiyue, die!”
She pushed her maidservants aside. The glow above her palm started to expand quickly and soon surged speedily out from her palm. It hurtled madly toward Hua Qiyue!
However, the glow started to streak to Hua Qiyue’s front and suddenly appeared to slam into something noisily. Then it rebounded!
Princess Chulan was shocked. This was her most adept lethal skill, Scorching Flames. It could incinerate opponents into ashes.
But to Hua Qiyue, it seemed to have no effect at all.
The glow of light rebounded. Princess Chulan’s enraged face flushed crimson and white by turns. She wanted to stretch out her hands to receive the rebounding blow, but the moment she touched the light, her robe sleeve caught fire!
“Haha…” When they saw Princess Chulan’s sorry state over her own lethal skill, Tianci and the others nearby started to chuckle delightedly.
Tianci stood on the chair so that he could see the scene amidst the crowd.
“Your Highness!”
“Be careful, Princess!” The eight maidservants started to cry out in fright. They immediately dashed over and tried to put out the fire on Princess Chulan’s body.
Princess Chulan could only unleash a palm at the circle of light. It sizzled and then completely disappeared. But the fire on her sleeve started to rage madly. The maidservants tried to put out the flames frantically. They did not have the time to concern themselves over Hua Qiyue.
Hua Qiyue jerked up the corners of her mouth. Arrogant and ignorant women would surely come to no good end.
She walked relaxedly over to Tianci and Bai Qianxue. Then, she asked the stall owner for a bowl of barbecue noodles.
When Princess Chulan and her servants finally put out the fire, she was left with only a petticoat. Most of her robe had been consumed by the fire. Her entire body was soot-black. Princess Chulan glared hatefully at Hua Qiyue and departed with her maidservants, crestfallen.
Princess Chulan had wanted her father to act on her behalf. But upon returning to her mansion, she was sternly lectured by her father. She finally knew that Hua Qiyue was a Qi Artist at the first level of Holy G.o.d, highly esteemed by the Emperor. She was also an ally of the Crown Prince!
Princess Chulan was upset. She could not win the heart of the handsome man and had offended Hua Qiyue instead. She had created trouble for the Emperor and the Crown Prince. Prince Ling was so angry that he could not eat for days. He took Princess Chulan along daily to the imperial palace, begging for the Emperor and Crown Prince’s forgiveness. They, too, went to Qinghe Inn to apologize to Hua Qiyue.
But Hua Qiyue did not receive them. In her eyes, it was a sheer waste of time receiving guests like Prince Ling.
Yun Shimo did not manage to find a fortune-teller.
In the next few days, Yun Shimo looked quite poorly. Hua Qiyue secretly questioned Bingyi, but the latter kept quiet and revealed nothing.
Later, only when Hua Qiyue announced that she was going to Yun Shimo to confront him with the question did Bingyi spoke to stop her. “Princess… Actually…”
He started to hum and haw. He had accompanied Yun Shimo to look for a master. He must have heard something quite unpleasant, eh?
“Actually what? Bingyi, I will have to know in the end. If you won’t say, I’ll have to confront the Prince,” Hua Qiyue said quietly. Her brows were gently knitted.
Bingyi’s face turned downcast and he said softly, “I accompanied the Prince to a very famous fortune-teller at West City Street. We wanted him to select a date. But after looking at your birth date and his, he said… that the two of you cannot wed in the next two years, and you two must wait for another two years to get married… ”
It couldn’t be true, could it?
Was Yun Shimo dejected over the master’s words? Was that why his mood was low?
“Since his return, the Prince has been upset and worried. I told the Prince that those were only the lies of a bogus fortune-teller. That fraudster must have wanted the Prince’s money to perform rites. But the Prince just wouldn’t cheer up.” Bingyi related the event of that day.
Hua Qiyue froze and frowned. “Did that master ask for the Prince’s silver? And when the Prince wanted to give him some to perform rites, he refused, right?”
Bingyi’s eyes widened. “That’s right. How did you guess that, Princess?”
“That master at West City Street should be Master Xuqing. I’ve heard of him too… he only takes 10 taels of silver for choosing auspicious dates. He won’t accept more. He never performs rites even when asked to. He isn’t a greedy man,” Hua Qiyue said. She knew that Yun Shimo had understood all these and that the master was an accurate fortune-teller. That must be why Yu Shimo was upset.
“Princess, you wouldn’t believe in this so-called master’s words, would you? These sham fortune-tellers on the streets are all fraudsters!” Bingyi said incredulously.
Hua Qiyue was about to speak when Ji Jing’s surprised and delighted voice rang out from the outside. “Brother Xuan, is that you?”