Has something happened to Mingyi?
His fingers tightened slightly around the teacup before relaxing. Ji Bozhai lowered his gaze.
Since Situ Ling had gone, there was no need for him to go as well.
But come to think of it, there were quite a few people here who cared about Mingyi.
If Situ Ling was merely acting out of professional duty, and Zheng Tiao had ulterior motives, then what about She Tianlin? As someone from Sunspire City, why had he suddenly taken an interest in Mingyi?
And why had Mingyi insisted on sending Twenty-Seven to the Cyan Tile Courtyard in the first place?
A heavy weight pressed on Ji Bozhai’s chest, leaving him unsettled. Whatever the reason, someone as complicated as her could no longer remain by his side.
Taking a sip of wine, he glanced to the side where Xu Tianji was approaching with light, joyful steps, intending to sit beside him again.
“Go sit over there,” he said, pointing to the farthest seat.
The smile froze on Xu Tianji’s face. Panicked, she asked, “My lord, why?”
Why else? Naturally, he had already acquainted himself with the envoys and no longer needed her presence here.
In the past, he might have gently coaxed her away with sweet words, but now he had no patience for it. His voice was indifferent as he replied, “I don’t like having anyone sit beside me.”
Xu Tianji: ?
Hadn’t Mingyi always sat beside him whenever he brought her to these gatherings?
Her aunt was still watching from behind the bamboo grove. If she moved to the farthest seat now, wouldn’t it be blatantly obvious that she held little importance in his eyes? Given her aunt’s temper, she would never let her off lightly.
Trembling, Xu Tianji quickly knelt before Ji Bozhai. “If I’ve done something wrong, my lord, please tell me. I’ll correct it immediately. Just don’t send me away like this.”
So many words, and so little tact.
Annoyed, Ji Bozhai stood and went to sit with Yan Xiao instead.
Xu Tianji stared blankly at his retreating figure, frantically wondering if news of what had happened earlier had reached him.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. What was so special about Mingyi anyway? Just a pretty face.
Gritting her teeth, she sat down beside Ji Bozhai’s empty seat, pretending to guard it for him.
Xiuyun observed her predicament and couldn’t help but advise, “Lord Ji is not a good match. Why subject yourself to such hardship?”
“What do you know?” Xu Tianji snapped. “If he isn’t a good match, then there are no good men left in this world.”
In the Azure Cloud Realm, the high officials of each city would groom a successor to ensure the city’s survival. This successor could be their own bloodline, but it could also be someone with formidable Essence Power adopted into the family.
Star Yearn City’s previous successor had been the high official’s own son, but he had passed away years ago. Now, the most likely candidate to inherit was Ji Bozhai.
As long as she stayed by his side—even if not as his official wife—wealth and status would be within her grasp.
Xu Tianji clutched her skirt tightly.
She couldn’t give up. Her aunt would never allow her to give up.
Mingyi was already dead, anyway. Compared to the others, there was nothing she couldn’t surpass.
Meanwhile, Mingyi—who had already been presumed dead—was squatting beside a dried-up well in a desolate courtyard, sighing.
Behind her, two eunuchs lay battered and bruised on the ground, too weak to even stand.
“Y-you…” one of them stammered, staring at her in terror, utterly baffled as to how this seemingly delicate girl had managed to break his ribs with a single punch.
“Enough with the ‘you.’ Give me some ideas instead,” Mingyi muttered, eyeing the well. “If I let you go, I can’t leave this place. But if I don’t, this well is too small to fit both of you.”The eunuch was so terrified he wet his pants: "Spare us, miss! We won't report anything!"
"Oh?" She jumped down from the well's edge, dusting her hands casually. "Then I'll trouble you both to stay here a while longer."
The inner courtyard was heavily guarded, but the kill order Empress Si Hou had issued for her was only known to these two men for now. If she could just make it back to the main path, she could return to the Song and Dance Stage and find a chance to escape.
Mingyi tried to recall the way she'd come as she navigated the paths.
Behind her, one of the two fallen eunuchs suddenly scrambled up and hurled a dagger straight at her back.
Mingyi sensed it, but before she could turn around, an arrow came whistling from afar.
"Whoosh—"
Swift as the wind, the iron arrowhead flashed coldly past Mingyi and embedded itself deep in the eunuch's shoulder blade.
Startled, she looked up to see She Tianlin standing at the crossroads ahead, holding his Ten Thousand Arrows bow and glaring at her coldly: "How many times must I say it? When cutting weeds, pull them up by the roots."
The evening sun cast its glow upon his black-and-white streaked hair, yet did nothing to soften his stern features.
Pupils contracting, Mingyi immediately raised her sleeve to cover her face and darted behind a nearby rockery.
She Tianlin was both angered and amused by this reaction: "I may be old, but I'm not blind. Get out here."
Back pressed against the cold rockery, Mingyi didn't move.
"You wretched girl," he growled in a low voice outside the rocks. "All this time I thought you were dead. I held forty-nine days of mourning rites for you, abstained from meat for over a month. Do you know how delicious your shiniang's braised beef brisket smelled?"
"I'm your only shifu, the one who watched you grow up—practically half a father to you. What couldn't you have told me that you had to flee to this backwater town?"
"If Dan Er hadn't vaguely mentioned something while asking for my help, would I have gone my whole life believing you dead?"
As he spoke, his footsteps drew nearer.
Mingyi bit her lip, listening to his approach, sweat beading on her forehead. "I'm not Ming Xian."
"Then who the hell are you?!" She Tianlin lost his temper, striding forward to haul her out by the collar. "Even dressed like this—even if you turned to ashes—just by how the wind scattered those ashes, this shifu would recognize you!"
Mingyi: "..." That might be excessive.
She tried to stand straight and face him properly, but the moment her feet touched ground, she wanted to hide again, head bowed so low she might as well bury it in the flowerbed.
Ming Xian was nothing like her. Ming Xian stood tall and proud, brimming with vitality, bearing Sunspire City's future on her shoulders—while she was weak, spineless, despicable, just a vase surviving through flattery.
Staring at the cracks in the bluestone pavement, Mingyi struggled to smile, but her voice trembled uncontrollably: "Elder has mistaken me for someone else."
Her hands kept retreating into her sleeves, toes desperately hiding under her skirt hem as she hastily bowed. "This humble servant must return to the banquet and shouldn't delay Elder's path."
With that, she turned to flee.
She Tianlin's throat tightened as he grabbed her arm. "It took this old man tremendous effort to earn that 'Shifu' from you back then. Now you change how you address me so easily."
He flipped over her wrist to examine her meridians, declaring with certainty: "You might fool others, but not me. These meridians—"
His gaze fell on her wrist, and She Tianlin's words cut off abruptly.The once fiery red meridians were now in complete chaos, tinged with blue and purple mixed with black. Forget about strong Essence Power, it was uncertain whether she could even survive.
She Tianlin's eyes turned red.
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