Capítulo 945: Chapter 557: Teacher? Or Older Sister? [Thank You to “|Wei, Lai|” for the Silver Alliance Reward!]
Inside the underground palace of the Imperial Mausoleum, in an incredibly new and majestic Great Hall.
The atmosphere beca eerily silent.
A beautiful woman with autumn eyes had a purple sword hovering over her shoulder.
A young girl with peach-blossom eyes was holding a severed arm.
And a well-endowed lady with snow-white eyes, her garnts swirling with the wind of joy.
Confronted with the brand-new arrangent within the empty Great Hall.
The air between the three won was a bit tense.
Zhao Qian’er opened her mouth but finally bit her lip hard, bowing her head, suppressing the restless emotions in her chest, refraining from questioning the lady and Zhu Yourong.
The severed arm in her embrace seed to sense the force with which the young girl was holding it.
Blood kept dripping, forming a string, falling onto the cold floor.
Beside her, Zhao Lingfei’s charming face was tense as she quickly turned her head at the first mont, her clear eyes fixed on the enormous dragon coffin in the center of the Great Hall.
Zhu Yourong’s response was different from the two won.
In an instant, she appeared in front of the burial path leading from the main hall to the rear hall.
At this mont, the stone pile that she and the tall, thin elder had deliberately not removed was cleared away.
Zhu Yourong rembered that their Divine Sense had detected a group of frail won inside the rear hall, thought to be the pitiful concubines held captive to accompany the earthly emperors in death in the mausoleum.
But now it seems…
Zhu Yourong lowered her head, looking at the faint footprints on the ground, then lifted her head, and with a swirl of the wind of joy, her figure disappeared again.
Almost simultaneously, a woman in Confucian robe suddenly appeared in the side hall not far away.
Her snow-white, cold eyes swept around…
After a mont, Zhao Lingfei and Zhao Qian’er in the main hall saw Zhu Youran returning empty-handed, her brows still furrowed.
Suspicion lingered.
The atmosphere quieted once more.
Little Qian’er spoke hoarsely, “Miss, Mr. Zhu… where is Rong’er?” lowering her head.
Zhao Lingfei closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Zhu Youran also felt the strange emotions rising within the two won.
She pondered, “Not long ago, Ziyu was right here in this Great Hall. I personally helped him lean against the dragon coffin… right here.”
She walked to the clean dragon coffin, pointed to a spot, and said softly, “I suspect… this has sothing to do with the won imprisoned in the rear hall beside us, but they… are also missing.”
Zhu Yourong then explained to the two won about those won in the rear hall and what she knew of the situation.
“But according to the signs now… if these won with questionable identities took Ziyu away first, then the hall being so new without a trace is sowhat illogical.”
Zhu Yourong’s snow eyes squinted, “Besides, outside the Great Hall, there’s no sign of their departure… So many of them had to carry the severely injured and bleeding Ziyu…”
“It’s as if they vanished into thin air inside this Great Hall.”
She concluded in a deep voice.
Little Qian’er stood quietly with her head down, but the pink fist under her sleeve was already clenched, trembling slightly.
Leaving the gravely wounded Rong’er alone here… and leaving behind unknown won, creating instability…
Little Qian’er now wanted so much to say sothing to Mr. Zhu.
But at that mont, a hand reached out from the side and pressed on Zhao Qian’er’s uplifted hand.
It was the equally silent Zhao Lingfei.
She preemptively stopped her maid.
Gently pulling Little Qian’er behind her, then turned and nodded to Zhu Yourong, “Thank you, Mr. Zhu.”
Zhu Yourong suddenly felt a bit guilty.
She apologetically explained, “Lingfei, Qian’er, I…”
Zhao Lingfei shook her head, interrupting her explanation, eyes lowered, “It’s okay, Mr. Zhu, you have done your best. As a teacher… you’ve already done enough for Ziyu.”
Zhu Yourong paused.
If it was not the snow-eyed Nascent Soul here but the physical body, she would have seen Zhu Yourong’s pupils constrict slightly and her expression frozen at these words from Ziyu’s childhood sweetheart.
The latter part of what she had just said sounded like comfort but also like…
“Lingfei sister, I’m sorry, the spiritual energy of the Jade was exhausted at the ti, I had to disperse my projection first…”
The usually poised and elegant Academy teacher was a bit flustered in her explanation, even inadvertently addressing her as ‘Lingfei sister’.
Perhaps because she subconsciously didn’t like the existence of a generational gap between Ziyu and the won around him, as she always interacted with Ziyu as a ‘confidante’.
This was how Zhu Yourong explained it to herself.
But she accidentally spoke it out loud and imdiately stopped, realizing she was being improper.
Yet, it was already too late.
In front of her, Zhao Lingfei, who was turning around, suddenly turned back.
“Mr. Zhu.”
Three words.
The tone was sowhat heavy.
Zhu Yourong called her sister, but Zhao Lingfei did not call Zhu Yourong sister.
Zhao Lingfei was not anyone’s sister.
She was the sister, and it all depended on her mood at the ti, whether she was willing to acknowledge soone as a sister…
“You’ve done enough, and on behalf of my husband, Qian’er and I thank you for your efforts. As for what follows, let Qian’er and handle it.”
Zhao Lingfei’s tone softened a bit towards the end, as if the heaviness of the three words was just a slip of the tongue in haste.
She glanced to the side, signaling, “Qian’er.”
Little Qian’er was silent for a mont, then stepped forward and softly said, “Thank you, Mr. Zhu.”
Zhu Yourong’s breath hitched.
The always amiable Zhao Lingfei and Little Qian’er, who had previously subtly defended her, now gave her a strong feeling of exclusion and estrangent.
Making her an outsider.
This was clearly just a snow-eyed Nascent Soul avatar of Zhu Yourong without a heart, yet she suddenly felt a sharp pang as if her heart was being twisted.
Perhaps the true body’s heart back in the Academy was in pain at the sa ti.
Ziyu’s severe injury and disappearance filled Zhu Yourong’s heart with guilt and pain.
It was as if a dull knife was cutting her heart.
Zhu Yourong closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“I’m afraid not, Lingfei, Qian’er.” She suddenly said.
Zhao Lingfei and Zhao Qian’er paused in their movents.
Not far away, Li Bai, who was touching his chin and contemplating sothing, couldn’t help but glance at this busty academy teacher.
“I represent the Academy this ti. The incident with Ziyu also carries part of the Academy’s responsibility. On behalf of all the teachers and students, I must find Ziyu and bring him back intact.”
At this mont, Zhu Yourong’s expression had already cald down, and she spoke solemnly to the two won.
She was ultimately not like the timid Su Xiaoxiao, who would run tearfully or pout and act cute when faced with a ‘high-level predator’ eyeing Zhao Lang.
She was Zhu Yourong.
The top-ranked Confucian scholar, the Orchid Teacher admired by the students of Linlu Academy, and also… Ziyu’s sincere friend in calligraphy.
She, too, could be a ‘high-level predator’…
At this mont, Zhu Yourong t Zhao Lingfei’s gaze.
The atmosphere was becoming sowhat off.
Even a bit… tense.
At least, that’s what the observing Li Bai thought.
In truth, as a bachelor himself, he couldn’t perceive any sparks flying between the two won.
But he felt that there was sothing unsaid in the words of the mistress and this busty academy teacher, as if they were probing and sparring with each other…
Ah, the intricate entanglents between won are already difficult to decipher, let alone when it involves rivalry over the sa man—it becos exponentially more complex. Such complexities beco the main storylines in many romantic tales, rich and colorful, as expected.
Li Bai sighed, feeling a bit troubled.
This was all happening even with that brat not present… he muttered.
And at this ti, it seed that others also sensed the awkward atmosphere.
“Lingfei.” Zhu Yourong looked sincere and spoke gently but firmly, “Finding Ziyu is the top priority; we’re all here for his sake. Now, the more people, the more strength. If there’s anything else… let’s discuss it later, don’t delay further.”
Zhao Lingfei remained silent for a mont.
Then nodded.
But before she turned away, her autumn-colored eyes gave Zhu Yourong a aningful look.
The Confucian robe-wearing woman then gracefully lifted her jade hand, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, revealing her elegant profile.
Zhu Yourong gave her a gentle smile.
Zhao Lingfei seed to sense a certain… imposing aura of a kindred spirit.
Despite the brief delay, no one dared linger further and refocused on the important task of finding Zhao Rong.
The recent tension seed as if nothing had happened between Zhao Lingfei and Zhu Yourong, except for the expressive little Qian’er.
Zhu Yourong said, “Let’s check the Great Hall once more.”
Zhao Lingfei nodded and suddenly took the initiative to move towards the enormous Dragon Coffin at the center of the Great Hall.
Zhu Yourong and Zhao Qian’er quickly began inspecting other parts of the Great Hall.
Zhao Lingfei directly opened the Dragon Coffin, having felt an inexplicable pull from it since entering the hall.
Yet looking at the others’ expressions, it seed they did not feel the sa, and she wondered if it was just her imagination.
Upon opening the coffin lid, she saw a small tripod inside.
It was bronze, square, with four legs and two handles.
Other than that, it was empty.
The Dragon Coffin, which was supposed to hold the remains of a human emperor, instead contained this peculiar bronze tripod.
Indeed strange.
Zhao Lingfei’s autumn-colored eyes narrowed as she suddenly reached out.
She felt an impulse to touch the tripod.
This impulse was faint, yet carried a primal attraction.
Like a blurry call from a dream long buried in childhood, suddenly rembered during a sleepless night as an adult.
In fact, since Zhao Lingfei arrived at Sacrificial Moon Mountain, she had sensed this feeling erging.
But before, her heart was wholly focused on her husband, and she paid it no mind.
Now, standing before the coffin, with the bronze tripod right before her eyes.
So close.
Zhao Lingfei, as if possessed, extended her fingers—middle and index fingers together—almost touching the tripod.
“Miss, I think… I might know where our young master is.”
Zhao Lingfei snapped back, startled, retracting her fingers abruptly.
In the end, she did not touch the small tripod inside the coffin.
In the Great Hall, Zhao Lingfei and the other two won turned to see; it was Li Bai.
The swordsman they had been ignoring all along.
His expression… was a bit odd at the mont.
The three won were slightly stunned.
Zhao Qian’er: “Uncle Bai, you know? Quickly, tell us!”
Zhao Lingfei: “Speak promptly!”
Zhu Yourong: “What do you an by this?”
Li Bai blinked.
…
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PS: Thanks to the brotherhood of “| i, Lai |” Silver League sponsorship!!! The first Silver League for Sword Lady, simply aweso.
Wuwuwu, no more words, little Rong is now a machine without emotions, writing fervently!
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