CH 36

When a new Phoenix King came into power, the Emperor had to send a special envoy to the Cloud Palace to witness the appointment ceremony. This special envoy was usually the Crown Prince, and if there was no Crown Prince at the material time, then the Emperor had to attend this personally.

The reason for this was that the rest of the Princes and Kings ranked lower than the Phoenix King in the empire’s hierarchy, and thus did not have the standing to bear witness to his appointment. 

The new Emperor had only just ascended the throne, and naturally, no Crown Prince had been appointed yet. The Tiande Emperor had no choice but to make this trip to the Cloud Palace personally as such.

“I really don’t know why the Taizu Emperor gave the Phoenix King such a high rank!” the Tiande Emperor fumed, narrowing his eyes. The Phoenix King not only enjoyed a high status, but had also been given all sorts of irritating privileges. How could the Emperor be the one to go over to the Cloud Palace to witness the ceremony, instead of the new Phoenix King coming to the Imperial Palace for the appointment? Who was the Emperor, and who was the subject here?!

“Your Majesty, please calm down…” Chen Ziqi said in a perfunctory manner. Inwardly, he rolled his eyes; if the Emperor didn’t want to go, then could just not go, really. However, knowing Dan Yi’s personality, he would never come to the Imperial Palace and beg for the appointment. Not in this lifetime.

“You’ll come with Zhen,” the Tiande Emperor said, heaving a long sigh as he looked at Chen Ziqi. “You and Dan Yi have had a good relationship since young. Help Zhen to persuade him to send another High Priest over.” 

Because the position of High Priest was currently empty, all sorts of rumours were spreading in the palace. The Imperial family’s power came in a large part from divine recognition by the Protector-God. Only the Lan family knew how to call forth the Protector-God’s holy signs on the Zhanghua Pavilion, and the Lan family took orders only from the Cloud Palace.

This was also the main reason why the Emperor absolutely had to go to the Cloud Palace this round.

“I haven’t seen Dan Yi in many years, and we’re just childhood playmates, really. I doubt our history of playing together will go very far to persuade him,” Chen Ziqi said. He was very reluctant to go along. He had just received his fief, and all he wanted to do was bring his little fairy to the fief, where he would live out his life peacefully raising chickens. He didn’t want to get involved with these political battles.

“Hmph. Whether or not you can persuade him – this will only be known after you’ve tried,” the Tiande Emperor said, looking darkly at Chen Ziqi.

This fellow was the Emperor after all, and what he gave, he could easily take back. This applied to Chen Ziqi’s fief as well. It was said that people had no choice but to bow their heads when passing under low eaves, and Chen Ziqi was also not someone who would take a hit if it could be avoided for the time being. He immediately put on a most obedient and humble look. “If Brother Emperor wants me to go, then I will certainly do so even if it costs me my life!” he declared.

The Tiande Emperor nodded in satisfaction, then dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

When Chen Ziqi left, a grey-cloaked, middle-aged man stepped out from behind the screen. His face was a pasty, unhealthy shade of greyish-white.

“Do you have any way of controlling Dan Yi?” the Tiande Emperor asked the grey-clothed man. 

The latter thought in silence for a while. “No,” he said in a raspy voice.

“Hmm,” the Tiande Emperor said, frowning. “Then what about inconveniencing him a little?”

“… Not possible,” the grey-clothed man said, shaking his head.

The Tiande Emperor was stunned. “Is the Danyang Divine Martial Arts that powerful? How about Lan Jiangxue? If you can’t control Dan Yi, controlling Lan Jiangxue is good too. You’ll come with me to the Cloud Palace.” 

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Now that the new Emperor had ascended the throne, even the princes that had not reached fourteen years of age could be appointed as Kings, just that they didn’t have fiefs. Ah Mu was particularly happy as he packed up his things with Chang Er. As a Wang, he could leave the palace, which also meant that he could follow his mother and gege to Chen Ziqi’s fief.

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“I don’t want a fief. I only want Mother and gege,” Ah Mu said, beaming like a Cheshire cat. 

“You don’t want your jiujiu any more?” Chen Ziqi teased, popping in and pinching Ah Mu’s plump cheeks.

Ah Mu let him do as he wished. “I still want my jiujiu, but… I’ve already forgotten what he looks like…” he whispered softly. When he said the second part of the sentence, he looked rather forlorn.

Chang Er smacked Chen Ziqi’s hand away and reached out to pinch Ah Mu’s cheek comfortingly. “Don’t worry, even if you don’t remember what your jiujiu looks like, your jiujiu will certainly still remember you. If he still misses you, he will definitely come to look for you.”

“Mmhmm!” Ah Mu immediately brightened on hearing this. 

“The Emperor asked me to do something for him, so I can’t go with you both to the fief,” Chen Ziqi said, picking up the little jade horse that had just been put into the luggage. He toyed with it for a bit, then shoved it into his sleeve. “I’ve told Brown Berry already. The two of you will travel with him.”

“Where are you going?” Chang Er asked, frowning. This Emperor was really a slave-driver; Chen Ziqi hadn’t even set foot in his fief before he ordered him off on an errand.

“To the Cloud Palace. It probably won’t take too long.”

The Cloud Palace was in the Southwest, and Chen Ziqi’s fief was in the Southeast. They would be travelling to the south of the Capital for either destination, and he could head to Jianyang directly from the Cloud Palace, so it wasn’t very inconvenient. 

Before they left, Chen Ziqi accompanied Chen Zimo to the Yeting Palace.

Seven years ago, Cheng Jieyu had been locked up in here, and had not been released since then.

A woman with messy, untied hair flowing down her back sat on the steps of the desolate Yeting Palace courtyard, staring blankly into space. When she heard footsteps approaching, she turned listlessly in their direction, and gazed at them for a few moments before she recognised the people who had arrived. “Xiao Mo, Xiao Mo!” she exclaimed, getting to her feet and running quickly toward Chen Zimo. In her haste, she tripped and fell flat before Chen Zimo’s feet.

“You’ve finally come to see me. Tell them, tell them I’m not mad, tell them to let me out!” Cheng Jieyu cried, on the verge of tears as she gripped a corner of Chen Zimo’s robes. 

“I’m here to take you away,” Chen Zimo said. His face was bland, betraying no emotions at all. “Lu City is now my fief, and I am bringing you to the Cheng family home.” The moment he finished speaking, he used the edge of his hand to chop the back of Cheng Jieyu’s neck in one swift motion. She fainted immediately.

“Whoa, how far along are you with ‘Open the Heavens’?” Chen Ziqi asked, looking a little enviously at him after seeing this flawless move.

“I finished,” Chen Zimo said. He picked Cheng Jieyu up with one hand as if she weighed nothing at all. He was only fifteen, but was already unspeakably strong. “I said I’d teach you, but you didn’t want to learn.”

“That gongfu is way too difficult to master. I don’t want to learn it at all,” Chen Ziqi said, his lip curling. In truth, because he had mastered a bit of the Divine Dragon’s Howl, he couldn’t learn any of the other martial arts any more. There was once he accidentally started using the techniques in the Tianyan Wanxiang Gong whilst he was practising martial arts, and the neili in his veins suddenly went out of control. He nearly went insane. After this incident, Dan Yi scolded him soundly, and forbade him from even remembering any of the other martial arts sects’ techniques. 

He sighed inwardly. Even though the legends said that the Divine Dragon’s Howl was very powerful, he had only just managed to master the first level of it, and it probably counted for absolutely nothing in the martial arts world.

Speaking of gongfa made Chen Ziqi think about Dan Yi. That fellow hadn’t even attained the third level of the Danyang Divine Martial Arts when he left two years ago, and he had suddenly become the Cloud Palace Master. The Cloud Palace had many first-class martial artists, and he wondered if Dan Yi would be able to hold sway over them all, since his martial arts level might not be as high as theirs.

“Xiao Qi, Xiao Qi?” the Tiande Emperor’s voice sounded from beside his ear, jolting Chen Ziqi out of his thoughts.

“I was napping just now. My apologies, your Majesty,” Chen Ziqi said, smiling disarmingly. “Brother Emperor, what were you saying just now?” 

“I was saying, we’ll be in Jade Mountain in four hours,” the Tiande Emperor said, looking at the scenery flashing by them outside the horse carriage.

Jade Mountain was where the Cloud Palace was situated.

“Finally! I feel like the bones in my body are all disassembling after being bumped around in this horse carriage,” Chen Ziqi said. He rubbed at his chest. Perhaps it was because he had been closeted in this carriage for too long, but his chest felt a little tight and painful.

“Is your chest hurting? Drink some Junshan Yinye tea, it’ll be better after that,” the Tiande Emperor said, lifting his chin in the direction of the teapot. 

“Thank you, Brother Emperor,” Chen Ziqi said, smiling as he poured himself a cup of tea. As he brought the tea to his lips, his hand suddenly paused, and he suddenly looked up at the Tiande Emperor suspiciously. These two days, the Emperor had often called him into his carriage to chat and drink tea, but the tea he served had been Longjing tea, not Junshan Yinye tea.

The Tiande Emperor didn’t react to the change in Chen Ziqi’s facial expression. He looked out the window instead, watching the passing scenery. “I knew since we were little that you were the smartest out of all my Imperial brothers,” he said.

“What’s in this tea?” Chen Ziqi asked, putting down the teacup. His face was calm as he asked this question.

“It’s not poison. In fact, it is able to soothe the thing in your heart, which is why I’ve always kept Junshan Yinye tea leaves for you every year. Don’t fail to repay my good intentions,” the Tiande Emperor said, smiling faintly at him. There was a threat inherent in that faint smile. “If you don’t believe me, you can try pressing on the spot an inch to the left of your central meridian.” 

Chen Ziqi found the spot, then grit his teeth and pressed hard.

“Ah!” A heart wrenching pain suddenly exploded in his chest, and Chen Ziqi couldn’t help but curl up and cry out. When he raised his head again, his handsome face was covered in cold sweat.

“You must be careful of anything the Crown Prince gives you…” Chen Ziqi suddenly recalled what Dan Yi had told him when they were children.

However, the Crown Prince had always drunk this tea with him in the past. If Junshan Yinye tea wasn’t poisoned, then what on earth was it? 

“So long as you’re obedient, you can live to a hundred, and Zhen will give you all the wealth and power you want,” the Tiande Emperor said, smiling superciliously. He wasn’t ten years older than Chen Ziqi for nothing. He knew all about how this little fellow had pretended to be on his side, but at the same time acted all cozy with the Second Prince.

He wasn’t able to get into the Cloud Palace Shizi’s good books, but he now had Dan Yi’s good friend Chen Ziqi under his thumb. Everything was still within his control.

“Haha, Brother Emperor, you’re really thinking too much. You’re already the Emperor. If I don’t pledge my allegiance to you, who can I possibly pledge my allegiance to?” Chen Ziqi said, wiping cold sweat off his chin and smiling amiably despite the pain.

The horse carriage stopped at the foot of Jade Mountain. Everyone got off and looked up at the buildings high up the mountain. 

The Jade Palace towered high above the clouds, and its sides sloped steeply downwards. There was no road leading up to the mountain top at all. Higher up the mountain, the harsh incline evened out into a gentle slope, and countless pavilions and buildings peeked out from beneath lush green leaves. A huge waterfall could also be seen, the white, foamy water thundering down from the mountain peak.

“Your Majesty has personally travelled a great distance to get here. May your Majesty pardon this shabby welcome,” a cold, clear voice sounded from above. A figure in snow-white robes descended gracefully, bringing with him subordinates dressed in brown work clothes. It was Lan Qinghan.

There was no road up to the Cloud Palace, and to get up there, one had to use the Cyclone Step. The twelve palanquin bearers could bring three people up the mountain – the Tiande Emperor, Chen Ziqi, and the Master of Ceremony from the Ministry of Rites that had accompanied the Emperor.

“Zhen should be allowed to bring a few Jinwu Guards in the very least,” the Tiande Emperor said, doing his best to contain his temper. 

“It takes four people to send one person up the mountain. The Cloud Palace is very busy now, and we’re quite shorthanded. We could only spare these twelve palanquin bearers. Your Majesty, you can go up first, and later, I’ll get them to collect your guards. Is that alright?” Lan Qinghan said calmly. His arrogant tone indicated that what he really meant to say was, “Get on if you want, and if you don’t, you can go back home. We don’t care.”

The Tiande Emperor sniffed coldly, then seated himself on the largest palanquin.

Chen Ziqi had previously sat in this palanquin before with Dan Yi. The Cyclone Step was truly amazing; the palanquin bearers looked like birds flying toward the clouds, and didn’t seem to need to push off anything solid at all. They flew up the mountain and reached the mountainside high up the mountain in no time.

The author has something to say: Second Watch~ Lalala~ 

Mini-theater:

Qiqi: Boohoohoo, I’ve been had

Birdie Gong: Don’t be scared, come here, come to Laogong

Tiande: Pfft, you think giving him a little hug will save him?

Birdie Gong: Nope

Tiande: Then what are you doing?

Birdie Gong: Dog abuse

Tiande: (vomits blood)