Chapter 26: Position Card

Chapter 26: Position Card

Zhao Changhe did not know how to respond.

With such hatred in her heart, if First Seat Tang were to bring this “prince” back to the capital to become the crown prince, then forget about Zhao the Manslayer; the one that would throw the world into chaos was the one in front of him.

Indeed, whether it was Zhao Changhe or other people, nobody had really ever cared about what Luo Qi thought.

“As for the Luo family...” Luo Qi laughed mockingly. “Luo Zhenwu was older than me, but not by much. He’s only older than me by about two to three months. While the emperor’s people were not around, Village Lord Luo began to scheme. When the emperor sent people to inquire about the matter, the village lord used all kinds of ambiguous language to obscure the truth and make them think that Luo Zhenwu was the prince.”

Zhao Changhe said, “He had guts for being able to pull that off. He even hoped that one day his son would be able to sit on the throne? He, a mere regional lord, wished to vie for the throne. Just how many lives did he think he had?”

“He didn’t need guts to do what he did. All he wanted was to take advantage of the situation to give his son a brighter future. Since the emperor believed Luo Zhenwu to be his own offspring, he naturally looked over them somewhat, even going as far as to send a few masters from the interior to protect him. It’s a shame that Luo Zhenwu couldn’t rise to the occasion. Otherwise, how could his achievements have remained so insignificant?”

“Indeed.”

“However, this manufactured misunderstanding is a little interesting—whether or not Luo Zhenwu was actually the prince, everyone now thinks that the emperor bore a son at the Luo Family Village. No one ever thought it might be a princess.”

Zhao Changhe said, “Given the circumstances, Village Lord Luo should have killed you.”

“You think he didn’t want to? He was too much of a pussy. He didn’t dare to. To kill a princess—the daughter of the number one man under heaven—even if he had such an intention, he didn’t have the gall to go through with it. Instead, he made me pretend to be a man. The problem was, once he’d done all this, it was impossible to just stop halfway and he didn’t know how he would be able to get himself out of this situation.”

“...how worthless.”

Luo Qi broke out in laughter. “If he wasn’t worthless, I wouldn’t be standing here today.”

Zhao Changhe nodded. “After that?”

“He threw my mother and me into the outer sect. Before she passed away, she didn’t know what the emperor had intended, and was afraid the emperor may have misunderstood something, so she also didn’t dare to contact him. Those days were especially difficult for us. Changhe... I thought the only person that would leave food for me in this world was my mother. I never thought that there would be someone like you in this world. All that hesitation I felt before stemmed from this.”

Zhao Changhe: “...”

Luo Qi sighed. “After my mother passed away, Village Lord Luo became less apprehensive. He gave me good food and drink, started taking care of me, and even gave me my own personal courtyard... Right, did it never occur to you that this was not something an outer sect disciple was supposed to have?”

Zhao Changhe answered, “You’re the one that called me an idiot.”

In response to Zhao Changhe’s non-response, Luo Qi smiled lazily and said, “To be honest, what he did was insurance for the future. If one day I was to accept my identity as a princess and return to the Imperial Clan, he needed to make sure that I’d owe him something for his kindness of taking care of me. It was truly a good scheme.” Foll0w current novÊls on nov/3lb((in).(co/m)

Zhao Changhe shook his head. “This type of person thinks too much. He’s scared of the slightest thing. It’s hard to accomplish great things if you always scheme and never make firm decisions.”

“That’s why he’s worthless.” Luo Qi said unhurriedly. “However, I needed to guard against this worthless person. My mother passed down to me the divine art of the White Tiger, another one of the Four Idols. I didn’t dare let anyone find out. As long as I played the part of an outer sect disciple proud of breaking through to the first heavenly layer... nobody would bat an eye. In reality, with my Divine White Tiger Art, I already reached the fourth layer of the Profound Gate at the start of the year. Now, I’m almost at the fifth layer.”

Zhao Changhe said, “Fuck. You damn little...”

“It’s highly likely that, as far as other people are concerned, you are me. I bet this never crossed your mind.” Luo Qi laughed. “Even though I don’t like this identity of mine one bit, I hate having what’s mine stolen from me even more. If you were in my position, wouldn’t you also want to kill the person who took this away from you?”

Zhao Changhe sighed. “Maybe I really would... That’s a very interesting reason for wanting to kill someone, although it’s a bit hard for me to acknowledge. At least it’s better than wanting to kill me over some treasure. Come to think of it, the Four Idols Cult and Blood God Cult went to exterminate an entire clan to kill the emperor’s heir who turned out to be one of the outer sect disciples they spared. Venerable Vermillion Bird might vomit blood if she finds out about this.”

Luo Qi laughed. “The Four Idols Cult wants to kill the prince. I’m a girl, so there’s no need to kill me. Not to mention, I’m even descended from the Four Idols Cult and all I feel for the emperor is hatred. I have absolutely no intention of accepting him as my father.”

Zhao Changhe thought for a moment and nodded. “Yes. The one that wants to join the Four Idols Cult the most is you. You’re also the most suitable person to join them.”

Luo Qi said, “You say that this reason for killing you is better than killing you over scrambling for some treasure. But it’s all the same, really, whether it’s scrambling for treasure or some identity... Since this treasure is now mine, then...”

She paused, then suddenly smiled as she took out a jade pendant and threw it over. “I am honored to make your acquaintance, Your Highness. Well, whether you want to make use of this identity is up to you to decide.”

Zhao Changhe felt a shiver. “Hey!”

Luo Qi shrugged. “The Four Idols Cult and the Imperial Clan are opposed to each other. I can only choose one or the other. Since I’ve chosen the Four Idols Cult, this token will only be a burden to me. If, by any chance, the Four Idols Cult discovers it, there are bound to be some problems. That’s why I can’t hold on to it. If you don’t want it, then just throw it away.”

Zhao Changhe stared blankly at the round jade pendant engraved with the image of a dragon.

It looked exactly the same as the jade pendant on the position card.

What the card actually was had never once crossed his mind, much less that it would come into his possession.

Come to think of it... Since the Back Eye on the card was his now, were the things on the other cards supposed to belong to him as well?

With this, the mystery of the position card had been solved. Zhao Changhe, however, felt none of the thrill of solving a mystery that he had expected. On the contrary, he felt somewhat dreadful. How is it that my fate is fixed... Don’t tell me that these are all events that have happened before and I’m just reliving these events?

Or could it be that there is some hidden master controlling things behind the scenes?

But everything that’s happened so far has been the result of choices I’ve made after thinking things over by myself. Was it all an illusion?

Zhao Changhe remained silent for a while before settling on a plan.

He needed to keep the jade pendant. It was highly likely that it was crucial for solving the mystery of his transmigration. However, no matter what, he could not use it. He would wait and see to what extent this “fate” controlled everything.

But as he thought this, the jade pendant began faintly glowing. This scene was incredibly similar to Luo Qi and the inheritance of the Azure Dragon Seal, and Zhao Changhe felt a strange power slowly crawling through his meridians.

Zhao Changhe was dumbstruck, and Luo Qi’s eyes widened.

After a moment, Luo Qi burst out laughing. She laughed so hard that she had tears in her eyes. “I see, I see. This jade pendant contains Xia Longyuan’s inheritance. However, it was meant for his son!”

1. White tiger is slang for hairless female genitalia. ☜