Once Princess Ling Yi’s royal carriage had vanished at the end of the palace path, Yan Jiuge slowly turned. Her phoenix-like eyes swept like lightning over Wei Xianren, who was prostrated on the ground.
"I thank you for saving my life, Your Ladyship! I would have been finished today otherwise!" Wei Xianren hurriedly kowtowed, pressing his forehead to the ground, his voice trembling with the relief of having survived a calamity.
The eunuchs and Palace Maids of the Eastern Palace feared many of the Crown Prince’s Consorts more than they feared Xia Wuyang himself.
This was true for both Yun Liyue and Yan Jiuge.
As one of the most talented princesses of the Southern Fire Spirit Race, Yan Jiuge was, at just over sixty, already a Second Grade Grandmaster in the Marrow Refining Realm. She was ranked among the Upper Three Grades, her status in the Eastern Palace second only to the Crown Prince Consort, Yun Liyue.
If Xia Wuyang hadn’t broken the hearts of so many of his Consorts, leading them to stop meddling in his affairs, he wouldn’t be in his current predicament—bullied by the likes of Wei Xianren and Liu Jun.
SLAP...
A sharp slapping sound cracked through the air. The moment the words left Wei Xianren’s mouth, a vicious slap from Yan Jiuge sent him flying.
He crashed heavily to the ground, head split open and bleeding, a wretched sight.
Yan Jiuge stood before the steps in her palace gown, the fiery patterns on her cuffs shimmering with a dark luster in the sunlight. "I have been busy with my secluded Cultivation these past few years, but I never imagined you would grow so audacious. To think you even dare to humiliate the Crown Prince... you must have the heart of a wolf and the gall of a leopard."
Crimson Qi Blood pulsed at her fingertips, and for a moment it seemed she might kill Wei Xianren on the spot. Her voice was as cold as ice.
"I wouldn’t dare, Your Ladyship! Please forgive me!" Wei Xianren cried. ’I might have dared to bully Xia Wuyang before,’ he thought with a bitter smile, ’but how could I possibly dare now?’
THUMP...
Wei Xianren was sent flying again. Yan Jiuge stared at him coldly. "What wouldn’t you dare? You even had the guts to snatch the Miracle Treasure that His Majesty personally bestowed upon the Crown Prince. You’ve sold off and carved up many of the Eastern Palace’s assets. Are you saying that’s all a lie?"
"That..." Wei Xianren was speechless. It was all true; it was just that things had gone awry later on.
BOOM...
Wei Xianren was sent flying a third time, slamming so hard into a palace wall that it collapsed. "I have been negligent these past years. I never thought that some distant, insignificant relative of mine would dare to use my name to run amok."
"If the Crown Prince weren’t already on his last legs, I would not have spared you. From now on, you are to take good care of him. If I hear of you humiliating the Crown Prince again, don’t blame me for being merciless and taking your head."
A scorching wind billowed from the furl of her wide sleeves. The murderous intent that surfaced in her bright eyes made it clear she was not making an empty threat.
"Rest assured, Your Ladyship, I know what to do now," Wei Xianren kowtowed again and again, pledging his obedience to Yan Jiuge. A dark red stain quickly spread across the stone tiles.
’Even without Yan Jiuge’s threats, he would never dare act like that again. But he couldn’t possibly say why. For now, he would have to take that secret to his grave.’
After teaching Wei Xianren a harsh lesson, Yan Jiuge did not linger. She turned and walked away.
As she walked, she thought about everything she had just learned, and her eyes began to redden.
Decades ago, in his quest for a treasure of the Fire Spirit Race, Xia Wuyang had nearly driven her parents to their deaths—all for a sliver of hope that he might recover.
But as it turned out, that clan-suppressing treasure of the Fire Spirit Race could not restore his crippled Foundation. A deep rift had formed between them.
The once-loving couple became like strangers overnight. After several arguments, Yan Jiuge retreated into long-term secluded Cultivation within the palace, ignoring the outside world entirely.
It was because of this that her progress had been so meteoric. At just over sixty, she had already reached Marrow Refining Perfection and was on the verge of breaking through to the Blood Transformation Realm to ascend to the First Grade Level.
For a Martial Artist not yet a century old, such progress was nothing short of astonishing.
Her original plan had been to wait until Xia Wuyang was on his deathbed before seeing him one last time.
However, the recent events surrounding Xia Wuyang had been too sensational to ignore. Even Lady Xingyan, with whom she was on good terms, had managed to secure a Divorce Certificate. This prompted Yan Jiuge to finally look into matters.
She was stunned to discover just how miserably the elder Crown Prince had been treated in recent years. The other Princes and Princesses bullied him, the Nobility and Ministers mocked him, and even the servants of the Eastern Palace had climbed all over him.
Wei Xianren’s appointment as the Eastern Palace’s Chief Eunuch had been partly thanks to her. She never expected he would become one of the people who bullied Xia Wuyang the most viciously.
That was why she had seized this opportunity to teach Wei Xianren such a harsh lesson.
Though she had many grievances against Xia Wuyang and still resented him for nearly causing her parents’ deaths, they had been husband and wife, after all. There was a time when they had been deeply in love.
It was only after his Cultivation Foundation was destroyed, turning him into a laughingstock, that his temperament had gradually grown so warped.
Now, hearing of Xia Wuyang’s miserable plight over the years, Yan Jiuge slowly began to understand. Her resentment toward him had lessened.
An image of the high-spirited young Crown Prince from long ago surfaced in her mind. She, too, had been smitten with him back then. She never imagined that, decades later, things would come to this.
Sigh...
With a faint sigh, Yan Jiuge quickened her pace. She would return as soon as possible, continue her secluded Cultivation, and stop paying attention to the outside world—and to any news of Xia Wuyang.
"If only life were always like the first time we met..."
The whisper dissipated in the morning light as the crimson-gold figure faded into the distance.
No one saw the single tear that fell into a crack between the palace stones, instantly evaporated into mist by her Qi Blood.
News of what had happened with Wei Xianren quickly reached Xia Wuyang.
He couldn’t help but sigh when he learned what Yan Jiuge had done.
’My actions back then to restore my Cultivation Foundation were truly outrageous. Even now, I feel I wronged Yan Jiuge.’
’Yan Jiuge hasn’t sought revenge all these years, only hiding herself away to focus on her Cultivation. And now she’s even looking out for me...’ The thought made Xia Wuyang feel even more ashamed.
’If a suitable opportunity arises, I must make up for my past transgression. But now is not the time to let anyone know I’ve recovered.’
After this incident, Xia Wuyang’s Spiritual Power increased by another point the next day, reaching a total of fifty.
DONG...
A strange, chime-like bell resounded within his body. Xia Wuyang knew another Companion Talent was about to awaken.
Simultaneously, his memory, understanding, and Comprehension all grew at an astonishing rate, breaking through a small bottleneck.
His physical constitution improved as well, strengthening to bear his ever-increasing Spiritual Power.
After all, his Spiritual Power was now a full fifty times that of an ordinary person. Normally, a physique far surpassing the average person would be required to withstand it, but his body wasn’t there yet. The Seven-Aperture Exquisite could only passively improve his physical condition along with everything else.
In a way, this was also strengthening his Cultivation Foundation and raising his Cultivation Realm.
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a strange power pulsed in his heart and spread toward a small bird nearby.
’Yummy, yummy, so yummy!’
He soon discerned the meaning behind the little bird’s chirps. It had eaten something tasty and was chattering excitedly.
’What’s so tasty?’
Xia Wuyang used Telepathy to send his question to the little bird.
The little bird froze. It cocked its tiny head, looking for the source of the voice, then immediately began to chirp again. ’Bug, bug... bug is yummy...’
’So it was eating bugs,’ Xia Wuyang realized.
This was his newly awakened talent... the Language of the Heart.