Chapter 31: Apology

Jin Dafu knelt on the ground, trembling uncontrollably. Having just been slapped twice by Bai Xiao and ordered to bring Su Tian back, he knew all too well what would befall him if he failed to appease Su Tian today.

"Master Su! Had I known it was you, I would never have spoken such insolent words!"

Su Tian, with a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, ignored the man kneeling before him entirely. This guy...

"Very well, I shall go out and see him." Yun Jingshu stood up as she spoke, smoothed her clothes, and walked out.

With this peculiar energy, Xia Tian found a way to allow his soul to utilize body-tempering techniques while projected outside his body. In this state, the soul was at its most liberated; though it was no longer flesh and blood, it could exert strength comparable to a physical form.

Aunt Du was pregnant—this was truly terrible news. And the fact that the Madam could not extend her reach into Xianglan Courtyard was even worse. No wonder the Madam’s brows were knitted into a knot that refused to loosen.

Wang Jiaping understood the nuances of Zhu Yijun’s temperament and had once summarized his approach to remonstrance: "Use tact to guide him, dedicate effort to support him, and use absolute sincerity to move him. Only if he refuses to listen should one resort to forceful persuasion." Seeing the Emperor adopt such a humble posture this time, Wang Jiaping refrained from bringing up his resignation again.

The curtains of the inner chamber were drawn low, leaving the room dim. As the ministers entered, they blinked, struggling to adjust to the gloomy atmosphere. Upon reaching the bedside and seeing Xu Xi lying there, they were all struck with shock.

The Ninth Prince mused that the Fourteenth Prince must be returning to the princes' quarters in the palace. Indeed, he was traveling with the Fourth Prince, and he clearly did not care what others might think or suspect. Riding openly in his brother’s carriage through the streets was, after all, typical of the Fourteenth Prince’s style.

Whiz! The whip cut through the air toward Yun Jingteng. Then, just as it had the day before, a cold gust swept through. The oil lamps in the cell and the torches in the corridor were extinguished instantly. Two sounds of the whip hitting empty air echoed through the cell—it seemed the lash had missed its mark.

The bustle of the North City gradually died down, while the East City remained, as always, steeped in clamor and activity.

Once we were completely calmed, the night had turned thick as ink. Suddenly, I felt that I, and everything else, had been utterly annihilated by him—perhaps he, too, had been. Like two newborn infants, we lay together, tender and fragile, smiling painfully and weeping with happiness in the quiet gaze we shared.

Lady Liu’s expression darkened. She remained silent, simply shuffling her feet as she walked slowly alongside them toward her own estate.

Liang He later received a fiefdom called "Kong," which is why his son was named "Kong Qiu"—the man we later refer to as the "Supreme Sage and Foremost Teacher, Confucius." The Lu official who first welcomed Zhao Wu, Qin Jinfu, a retainer of Meng Xianzi, later saw his own son become one of the seventy-two disciples of Kong Qiu.

Passing the battlefield where Xuan Yu had fought the mermen of the Evil Palace, Li Bin recovered another 3,000 corpses and took away a portion of the seawater that had turned into a rotten sea.

After a long while, the Iron-Spine Dragon and the Labyrinth Commander, who had caused such a stir, emerged once more from the spot where they had vanished.

The two had just reached the other end of the narrow passage when a figure suddenly darted from the corner and collided with the maid walking in front.

As the guards responded in loud voices, the two advisors exchanged glances, truly unable to fathom what Wei Ziyang was up to.

Before Feng Wan had married in, Zhao Jun had a concubine, but she had been sent to the countryside by Zhao Jun the day before Feng Wan’s arrival. Over the past year and a half, he had felt the urge to stray a few times, but perhaps out of gratitude for the good fortune Feng Wan brought him, or perhaps because his ambition to climb the social ladder consumed all his energy, he had not taken any concubines.