"Oh, hahaha! The other night, at night, huh?"
Li Xuan felt embarrassed and laughed awkwardly, pretending to rack his brain: "Let think, let think carefully, which day was it?"
He wished he could turn back ti to a few months ago. If he had known this would happen, he would have kept his mouth shut.
anwhile, Li Xuan was frantically figuring out how to avoid social death.
He was thankful he controlled his Qilinbi and refrained from doing anything inappropriate with the red-dressed woman; otherwise, how could he show his face in the future?
Xue Yunrou saw the embarrassnt and evasiveness in Li Xuan’s eyes and felt sowhat discouraged. She laughed and said, "It happened such a long ti ago, right? I think Xuan has forgotten about it."
She figured he wouldn’t tell her anything good. Regardless of the princess’s motive, as long as she didn’t listen, she could act as if nothing had happened.
If she wanted to find out the truth, she would do so in private.
In conclusion, she had one principle: do not listen, do not listen, I don’t want to hear, and I absolutely cannot hear!
"Really? As far as I know, Xuan has an excellent mory."
Yu Hongchang, lying in bed, suddenly started coughing. "Xuan, I want a drink of water. Can you get so hot water?"
Xue Yunrou intended to get the water. However, Li Xuan already moved towards the round table and got Yu Hongchang so water.
But when Li Xuan brought the water to Yu Hongchang, the princess made no move to take it. Her hands dangled weakly at her sides, and her big eyes stared pitifully at him.
Li Xuan had no choice but to bring the cup to Yu Hongchang’s lips and let her drink.
Now, Yu Hongchang blushed and panted. "Xuan, the dicine being made outside should be ready. Can you please get it for ? The new maidens the palace assigned to an well, but when it cos to feeding , they don’t understand my taste."
The maidens in the room stood speechless - the princess had just woken up, and they hadn’t had the chance to feed her any dicine yet.
Without uttering a word, Li Xuan headed out to get the dicine. At that mont, a "crack" sounded from the edge of Yu Hongchang’s bed.
It was Xue Yunrou. She expressionlessly crushed a piece of wood in her hand and scattered the splinters. "I apologize! The quality of this bed isn’t good. It shattered under my grip."
Soon after, Li Xuan ca back with the dicine. But as he was about to give it to Yu Hongchang, Xue Yunrou snatched it from him resolutely.
Yu Hongchang was clearly reluctant, but she forced herself to drink it. She then ordered one of the maidens, "It’s getting late. Notify the imperial kitchen to prepare dinner for Xuan and Yunrou. They will dine in the palace. Xuan likes Golden Abalone Soup, the neck of golden abalone, duck neck, chicken buttocks, all kinds of poultry wings. He also likes fresh ga, especially all kinds of wild pig at. And when it cos to plant food, he likes Mapo tofu, and vegetarian roasted eggplants——"
Xue Yunrou’s face turned as black as a pot bottom when she was halfway to drinking her dicine.
Once she finished drinking, Yu Hongchang tenderly looked at Li Xuan with anticipation, "Xuan, can you stay with for the next few days? When I think back to what happened a few months ago, I feel scared. I want you here with to talk."
Xue Yunrou’s sharp gaze turned to Li Xuan. She began to grind her teeth, "Staying overnight in the palace isn’t a good idea. Li Xuan is a man. It won’t be good for either of you if people from the Ministry of Rites and the Inspectorate were to find out."
"So what?" Yu Hongchang said nonchalantly, panting as if she was having trouble just talking, "Xuan is a Fumo Xiaowei, and he needs to stay in the palace for rotation duties. I can just tell my second brother later. Xuan, I can only be at ease with you by my side."
Unknowingly, Xue Yunrou crushed another piece of wood from the bed. She thought, this was truly Changle, her best girlfriend!
She didn’t believe for a second that a grand heavenly level woman, one who had nearly beco the Master of All Spirits with her spiritual body, could be so vulnerable.
Xue Yunrou didn’t know how to respond properly and felt pushing forward regarding the gender difference would not have much effect.
This Changle girl, she was probably just hoping for impeachnt from the Ministry of Rites and the Inspectorate, so she could purposely use it to her advantage, binding Li Xuan and her together.
Her heart worked quickly, and she turned to Li Xuan with a bright smile, "But Xuan is a protector of Neo-Confucianism, and he should set an example. It’s better not to commit this inappropriate act. Also, I know Xuan. He probably can’t stand the restrictive rules of the palace. Right, Xuan?"
Li Xuan glanced at eager and expectant Hongchang then looked at Yunrou, whose hostility was almost overflowing — an intense killing intent was hidden within.
He thought if he let the two of them keep going at each other, his fate would probably be dire.
Was there any need to think about it anymore? Among all the options, the best one is to make a run for it!
"I do want to stay and accompany Shang." Li Xuan seed to be having a difficult ti, "But Yunrou has a point too. As a protector of Neo-Confucianism, I can’t do sothing that violates etiquette. Plus, today I was promoted to Xiaowei, there must be tons of affairs to handle in the Liudao Division. I genuinely don’t have ti to stay in the palace."
His words made the two girls react - one first angry then happy and the other first joyful then anxious.
At this point, Li Xuan’s voice shifted again, "How about this, Shang, what do you think about Yunrou staying to keep you company? You are best friends, and I’m sure you have a lot to catch up on after being apart for so long."
The two young ladies across from him imdiately furrowed their brows in unison, looking at each other.
Xue Yunrou was the first to react. She let out a soft sigh of relief. If Li Xuan were to stay here, she feared she would go mad. After a mont of thought, she gave a small smile, "That sounds good. I will stay and keep Her Highness company. I do have so private matters to discuss with her."
Changle pondered for a mont and found the proposal acceptable. Although it was not what she had hoped for, it did largely achieve her purpose. As long as Yunrou was not by Li Xuan’s side when she was unable to leave her chamber, everything else could be discussed.
However, there was a trace of sadness in her voice, "That could work. Xuan, don’t forget to visit in the palace when you are free."
※※※※
At nightfall, when Li Xuan finally left the Forbidden City, he felt relief wash over him. It was a feeling similar to escaping from a dangerous place— like slipping away from a dragon’s pool and a tiger’s den.
Upon returning to the Earl’s mansion, he completed a few rounds of the ’Hunyuan Celestial Scripture’, eting the most basic requirents for cultivation, and then tumbled into bed for a deep sleep.
He was already feeling exhausted when he left Xiao Mausoleum. The evening spent in the Forbidden City was especially strenuous. His brain was drained, particularly during dinner. It was like being smack in the middle of a battlefield. He found it even more exhausting than the battle with the siblings Zhenru.
Li Xuan slept until late the next morning before waking up.
After waking up, he sat on his bed, wrapped in his quilt, and gazed blankly out of the window for a long ti.
Ever since the spirit of Yu Hongchang left his body and the imdiate pressure was lifted, his fighting spirit had completely evaporated. His entire body felt warm and he didn’t feel like moving at all.
When he was in the tomb chamber, he still had the motivation to push himself. With only a few days left to live, death was imminent if he didn’t break through to the fifth house level.
However, after he successfully broke through and attained a few more months of lifespan, Li Xuan felt his laziness creeping back.
After zoning out for a while, Li Xuan picked up the Huaiyi Blade and headed towards the training ground.
His martial arts needed to be practiced, and practiced constantly.
The Great Rectitude, he could not afford to give up even if he managed to rid himself completely of the Karma of Yin.
To avoid his future self from walking into disaster due to his impetuosity, the only solution was to beco stronger.
He wondered, if he could beco so powerful that no one could harm him, would he not be able to act recklessly?
When Li Xuan arrived at the training ground, he found Li Chengji waiting there for him.
Li Xuan couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, "Don’t you have to go to Bagua Continent for water training? Isn’t the patrol along the river very strict these days?"
Li Chengji was clearly very pleased with Li Xuan’s dedication to martial arts practice. Stroking his beard, he replied, "I took half a day off just to see this ’Superconductivity’ you talked about. I’m very curious about this blending of ice and thunder."
"Just as I suspected." Li Xuan confidently drew his blade, simultaneously releasing all the silver threads from the disk on his back, "Father, pay attention!"
With a flash, he appeared in front of Li Chengji. The Huaiyi blade brutally slashed towards Li Chengji’s chest.
What ensued was a face-off drastically different from the one he had with Zidie.
Li Chengji had no advantage in his escape technique, but a casual swing of his blade created an icy chill that spread for a hundred feet.
However, he was equally helpless against Li Xuan. His Yihan Saber might be powerful, but it couldn’t outmaneuver Li Xuan. It even helped Li Xuan save the cold Zhenyuan required to maintain the ultimate coldness of the silver threads.
Li Xuan, too, couldn’t lay a finger on Li Chengji. His father was not on the sa level as Zhenru, and Li Xuan would probably get frozen instantly by Li Chengji’s Cold Evil if he ca too close.
About half a mont later, both of them stopped simultaneously.
"Father, your cultivation has surprisingly reached the eleventh house level?" Li Xuan broached as he sheathed his blade, "Comparing only the Cold Power, it seems that even without the use of an external force, you can compete with Uncle Jiang who has yet to reach the heavenly level."
Hearing this, Li Chengji laughed heartily, "Recently, I had a little breakthrough in my cultivation. However, it’s not as impressive as you. Such a powerful escape technique makes you unbeatable within a range of two hundred feet."
However, he then clicked his tongue, "If I had known earlier that you are so intelligent and could solve the problem of blending ice and thunder, I would have practiced the Ice-Thunder Style. By the way, does this magical instrunt you have a na? Can you leave the blueprints and the thod of blending ice and thunder here with the family?"
"Absolutely!" Li Xuan patted the disk on his back, "Its na is Shenyi!"
Originally, he wanted to na it ’Angel Wings’, but he thought the na was too Western. Moreover, in the impressions of the people of this era, the so-called ’angels’ are eunuchs who deliver imperial edicts. Thus, he gave up on the na.
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