Chapter Ch146.1 - It’s Better Not To See
TL-Checked by SassyStrawberry; Edited by Animeart
The maid took an ornately carved lantern and led Lin Shu through the screen towards the palace hall doorway.
At the doorway of the hall, the ducks were still quacking and yelling, criticizing the maids and the imperial guards. The main gist of the matter was that they couldn’t allow unknown men to just come in as they liked and ruin Her Highness’s pure reputation. “We need to understand the circumstances and then educate the man who does not understand the immensity of the heavens and earth.”
The man who didn’t know the immensity of heaven and earth came out.
Lin Shu stood at the hall doorway and looked at them.
The ducks were silent for a moment.
Lin Shu, before going out, inspected his clothes.
They were entirely packed by Lingsu, very appropriate, and there were no problems. When going out, the attire of the Sword Pavilion’s Master was a little more luxurious than when he was on the mountain top.
Snow white clothes, neat outline, flowing clouds and wide sleeves, exquisite dark patterns, very unearthly, very Pavilion Master.
He evaluated his current appearance with an objective eye, and felt that he was far more superior to these quacking ducks in terms of appearance.
A single duck flapped his wings, raised his chin and enquired, “Who are you?”
The maid beside Lin Shu looked at him inquiringly.
Lin Shu nodded.
The maid stepped forward one step, “Gentlemen, your clamoring here is disturbing Her Highness’s rest. Please return back to the palace hall.”
The duck who spoke first, struck his neck, looked at Lin Shu, said, “Why are we not allowed in but he is allowed in?”
When the flock of ducks heard the question, they all were also stirred up and inquired, “Who is he?”
Lin Shu who was standing at the doorway of the hall, indifferently asked, “And who are you?”
The duck said, “We are Her highness’s intended husbands to be chosen! What are you?”
Looking at that righteous and self-confident look, it seemed as if he had already regarded himself as Her Highness’s rightful husband.
The maid stepped forward to mediate for Lin Shu and said, “Gentlemen, this is the Immortal Lord who has come to treat Her Royal highness. It is not what you think...”
The ducks did not believe: “Treat the illness? Why is the Healer not letting us in?”
Lin Shu looked on coldly and saw that these ducks didn’t seem to have any concern about Her Highness’s condition at all. All the focus was on Her Highness being with other men and not letting them in. It was clearly evident that they were only concerned about their own identity of “husband-ruler-to-be-selected” being threatened and furthermore if it was possible to become the rightful husband of Her Highness.
Who was Ling Fengxiao?
She was the Eldest Princess who could overturn the whole world.
At present, the old emperor was seriously ill, and the affairs of the entire empire were all under the command of the Crown Prince.
And the Crown Prince was dominated by Ling Fengxiao, consequently Ling Fengxiao now had the full authority of a regent, hoodwinking the public from truth.
If one becomes the husband of Ling Fengxiao, the benefits gained are pretty good. Not only would he benefit endlessly, but his family would also reach the heavens in a single bound.
No wonder these ducks were so stirred up after learning that Her Royal Highness Fengyang had a possible familiarity with another man.
Lin Shu silently thought. He, formerly when he was still studying in the academy, had thought influential family’s yearning for wealthy women was already too big, but he didn’t expect that when he arrived in the capital, these noble princes would be even more intense.
The girls at Phoenix Mountain Villa were worried that their family’s eldest Miss would live as a widow and in the future would not be married. It now appeared that even if she observed widowhood hundreds or thousands of times, with the identity of “the princess with power to overturn the world”, there would always be a steady flow of ducks coming to the capital with the intention to marry.
Of course, Ling Fengxiao was not actually widowed, at most one could say that she lived like one.
Lin Shu thought, Ling Fengxiao definitely didn’t like these ducks, so it shouldn’t be too much to drive them away by himself.
Under the attack of the ducks, the maid opened her mouth, wanting to continue to excuse Lin Shu.
Lin Shu put his right hand on the shoulder of the maid, motioning for her to silence.
The maid was very obedient and stopped talking.
Lin Shu: “To be selected?”
The duck said with righteous expression: “To be chosen.”
Looking at the expression, it seemed that “to be selected” was a great honor.
But if one thought about it, to be chosen as one of Ling Fengxiao’s husband-to-be, for sure these noble princes were all with prominent backgrounds in the capital.
Lin Shu: “Oh.”
The leader duck was greatly displeased: “What do you mean?”
Lin Shu’s gaze moved towards the imperial bodyguards stationed on either side.
The guards too looked back at him.
Lin Shu said, “Drive them out.”
The bodyguard followed the order.
The ducks couldn’t believe it.
The process of driving them away was another noisy clamor.
Just when Lin Shu’s head was starting to throb and his hand had already tightened the grip on the hilt of his sword, one of the ducks yelled out: “The Little Highness has come!”
Little Highness?
Lin Shu lifted his gaze and looked towards the garden’s entrance to see who was coming down.
Lin Shu: “....”
Fruit, along with a few beautiful concubines, was swaggering over in this direction.
Having not met one another for three years, he had grown quite a bit in stature, but still had not given up on donning female garb, dressed in all white, his head crowned with inky black tresses.
He resembled Ling Fengxiao greatly, with a very beautiful face, with an extremely pretty face, on the left side was written “high-spirited”, and on the right side was “domineering”.
The ducks clustered around him, and said, “Little Highness, there is a very daring man who dares to have designs on Her Highness!”
Fruit was greatly displeased: “How very daring!”
The ducks echoed and complained one after another.
Fruit said: “Take me there!”
Then they came back overbearingly.
Then everything came to a standstill.
The wind on this spring night was very strong.
Lin Shu looked at Fruit.
Fruit looked at him.
Lin Shu’s face was expressionless.
But he saw that Fruit’s eyes suddenly reddened.
The ducks had no idea of the true situation, so they continued complaining at Fruit.
Fruit’s voice took a bit of sobbing tone, and he said to them, “Shut up!”
The ducks who were not aware of the background, continued to ask, “Who is he?”
Fruit wiped his eyes, stomped his feet, and ran towards the interior of the palace hall.
Before leaving, he threw a sentence to the ducks: “My Dad!”
Then, when he passed Lin Shu, he went in directly without even looking at him.
Lin Shu vaguely felt that Fruit was angry.
Was he angry with him?
Angry that Lin Shu suddenly dropped Ling Fengxiao, Cat, and Wuque, that year, and went to Sword Pavilion?
The ducks were shocked by the phrase “My Dad” and began to whisper: “Ah?”
“AH???”
“Father?”
“I don’t agree.”
“Huge bad event.”
“Isn’t the Little Highness a spirit body? How can there be a father? ”
“You all, don’t you think they resemble each other?”
“I think the Little Princess resembles him more.”
“Hiss.”
“I’m afraid...”
The ducks’ eyes gradually became more prudent.
Lin Shu’s eyes once again swept the imperial guards with a cold look.
The guards continued to chase the ducks, and this time their actions became much firmer.
The ducks did not resist this time, they scattered around and disappeared into the palace in groups.
Lin Shu entered the hall.
Ling Fengxiao hadn’t woken up yet, and Xiao Wuque buried himself in the quilt next to him.
He stepped forward and uncovered Xiao Wuque’s quilt.
Xiao Wuque cried loudly: “You still have the face to come back!”
Lin Shu was a little bit overwhelmed for a while.
Yingying went inside, held on to Lin Shu’s arm, and tilted her head suspiciously.
Xiao Wuque fished Yingying into his arms: “He’s a heartless man! Don’t touch him!”
Yingying blinked helplessly.
Lin Shu tried to explain: “I...”
Fruit did not listen: “I do not want to listen!”
For a little while, the interior of the palace hall was in total chaos and totally jumped into a channel of family ethics drama.
Lin Shu noticed that even the maid’s eyes were not right when looking at him.
Right in the middle of this chaos, the imperial bodyguard outside the hall came in and announced: “Her Majesty the Empress has arrived.”
When the sound fell, the chickens stopped flying, and the dogs stopped jumping. Only Xiao Wuque, holding Yingying in his arms, cried and said to the person outside the door, “Grandma...”
Lin Shu also turned to the door.
What he saw first was a blazing, fiery phoenix robe.
Once he lifted his gaze, he saw the visage of an Empress.
She was not very old, about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, and had many similarities with Ling Fengxiao in her silhouette, but the details were different. Perfect facial features, a little less sharp and gorgeous, a little more gentle and beautiful, coupled with that square demeanor, it was simply the real interpretation of the word “Empress”.
She was also the woman whom ‘Shadowless’ had a glimpse of and fell in love at first sight, and then vowed to “Never enter Jinguan City” and carved the saying in his heart of “Thieves must never pick flowers, pick flowers and you will lose.”
The Empress was looking at him.
Lin Shu didn’t know how to describe her eyes, because she seemed stunned. After a moment, she adjusted and asked him, “Are you... Lin Shu?”
Lin Shu said: “Yes.”
The Empress came up, looked at his face, observed the face carefully, and said warmly: “You are... actually a boy?”
Lin Shu: “......”
So in those days, how did Mr. Taoyuan and the Empress make a marriage contract?
The Empress also thought that Lin Shu was a girl!
No wonder Ling Fengxiao firmly believed that Lin Shu was a girl.
Lin Shu could only say: “Yes.”
The Empress sighed slightly: “...So that’s how it is.”
Lin Shu: “?”
That’s how what?
Empress, what do you understand?
He saw the Empress gently walk to Ling Fengxiao’s bed and stroked his cheek with her finger: “He hasn’t rested for many days, let him sleep a little longer.”
Lin Shu: “Yeah.”
The Empress said: “You are here in Jinguan City, is it because you know something?”
Lin Shu: “Yes.”
The Empress continued: “Do you want to know something else?”
Lin Shu: “Yes.”
The Empress sighed slightly: “Follow me.”
She got up and walked outside the hall.
Xiao Wuque continued to cry.
Lin Shu touched his head and followed the Empress.
He had a hunch that he would come to know something very important.
The Empress was not only the Empress of the Southern Xia Dynasty, but also the core figure of the Phoenix Mountain Villa. Naturally she must know a lot about the Villa and the Imperial family’s secrets..
And at the same time, she also was acquainted with Immortal Lord Taoyuan, had previously met him, and in the past, together with him, had set a betrothal contract for their descendants.
——She must know a lot of things, and Lin Shu really had too many questions.
The Empress took him to the highest point of the entire Southern Xia Palace, the top of a platform was as high as one hundred meters.
This building was called “Xifeng Pavilion”.
Looking down from Xifeng Pavilion, you could see the lights of thousands of families’ homes in the imperial city.
And all this was shrouded in the faint night fog, like separated by a layer of yarn, very unreal, like a cloud covering the eyes.
The empress looked down and said, “Shao’er is not a woman, you must have known it.”
Lin Shu: “Yeah.”
The Empress said: “I never thought that you were not a girl.”
Lin Shu: “Lord Taoyuan said I am a girl?”
The Empress looked at him deeply.
“Yes,” she said, “at that time, Lord Taoyuan said that he had a female apprentice who could be given to Shao’er, because Shao’er would dress up in women’s clothes in the future, and he would let his apprentice dress up in men’s clothes, so as to deceive people’s eyes.”
Okay.
It’s the Immortal Lord Taoyuan who had tricked Ling Fengxiao and the Empress.
Lin Shu: “Why does he wear women’s clothes?”
He had been wondering about this question for a long time, but Ling Fengxiao had a mantra so he couldn’t talk about it.
The Empress said: “This matter is a long story.”
Lin Shu: “Please speak.”
Empress: “Do you know about the Phoenix bloodline?”
Lin Shu: “I know.”
empress: “How much do you know?”
Lin Shu said: “A thousand years ago, there was a great catastrophe. The world’s divine beasts, celestial races, heavenly alliances, all fell. However the phoenix bloodlines’ unique properties were sufficient for them to survive in this world and wait for Nirvana.”
The Empress nodded and said, “You already know a lot.”
Lin Shu: “I only know this much.”
The Empress said, “No matter, I will tell you.”
Then, Lin Shu listened to the Empress telling a story that was similar to what the Great Wizard had said.
However, it was much more detailed than the Great Wizard’s version.
The content of her speech was about the destruction of the Dragon Veins.