Qi Yuan pulled the corner of her lips. “It’s nothing.”
……
Qi Zhen started to think maybe his daughter had been driven half-mad with anger.
Who would’ve thought that the Crown Prince himself had come begging for Qi Yuan to become Imperial Grandson Consort? Everyone thought it was basically a done deal—ninety percent certainty at least. Then out of nowhere, Li Changqing appeared and, with no basis at all, declared Qi Yuan a calamity star—and immediately turned around and exalted Feng Caiwei to the heavens?!
Qi Zhen was half-mad with rage too, but he still retained some reason. “Ah Yuan, don’t be rash. We can take our time and figure this out.”
“Take our time?” Qi Yuan let out a sneer, her eyes suddenly filled with killing intent. “Taking my time has never been my style. I must have gone too long without killing anyone. That’s why they all think I’m a toothless tiger now.”
Since someone wanted to provoke the tiger, fine. She’d play to the end.
Qi Zhen scratched his head. Too long without killing anyone? Well… not really?
Just recently, hadn’t she burned Feng Jun and Wei Changying to death while out on a trip?
Still, if Ah Yuan thought it had been a while—then it had.
Qi Zhen lowered his voice: “Ah Yuan, Father is right. Li Changqing has great martial skill and a lot of strange Daoist techniques. You can’t just act recklessly.”
Not to mention—even if she did kill him, that reputation of being a calamity star wouldn’t disappear.
Qi Yuan raised an eyebrow: “When have I ever acted recklessly?”
Qi Zhen cleared his throat. “Well… no, you haven’t. That’s not what I meant. I mean—killing him won’t fix anything…”
“It will.” Qi Yuan laughed mockingly. “Isn’t he called the Immortal Sage or whatever? Well, how can a true immortal die? If I kill him and send him to the heavens, then everyone will see—he’s just flesh and blood like the rest of us.”
No need for convoluted tactics.
As she spoke, she turned to leave.
Only then did the Old Marquis Qi realize what was happening. “Ah Yuan!” he called out hastily.
Qi Yuan stopped.
He quickly followed her: “Ah Yuan, there are other ways. Yes, he’s a respected Daoist, but our Great Zhou isn’t short of spiritual masters. There’s the Celestial Masters of Mount Longhu and the Mount Mao Sect too!”
He took a deep breath and looked her in the eye. “He’s not the only one who can read fate. If you want to consult a reading, then consult several! And not just Daoism—we can have the Buddhists weigh in too!”
If they want to play dirty, then fine—let’s all play.
He wanted to see—if Buddhist and Daoist readings contradicted each other, would everyone still believe only Li Changqing?
Qi Yuan’s expression softened slightly. She glanced gently at the Old Marquis. “I’m glad… that none of you believed him and treated me as a disaster star.”
Truthfully, she had never fully trusted the Qi family.
Or rather, she had treated this place as a residence—not a true home.
But now, with the Old Marquis, Qi Zhen, the Old Madam, Second Madam, and the children who were kind to her… it was starting to feel like she finally had a home.
And so—she would never allow anyone to destroy it.
The Old Marquis said without hesitation: “I crawled out of piles of corpses. If I believed this nonsense, I might as well say my karma is punishment for killing too many people!”
Old Madam Qi, however, was anxious: “Ah Yuan, he moves within the palace. Killing him won’t be easy—not something you can rush.”
Killing him wouldn’t be simple.
Qi Yuan, however, didn’t think it was that difficult.
After all, she had killed Li Changqing in her previous life too.
Back then, he had tried to help Eldest Princess Baorong. He went to Qi Wang and told him that she was the reincarnation of a fox spirit—that she was possessed by Daji—and that Qi Wang should not fall for her bewitchment.
And then—he died.
Qi Yuan sneered and curled her lips: “I’m not rushing. I’m just going to collect a bit of interest first.”
Qi Zhen felt uneasy and followed her a few steps. Seeing her walking quickly, he called out: “Just be careful, alright? Don’t be reckless!”
Qi Yuan didn’t even turn around. She just waved her hand dismissively.
Old Madam Qi turned pale, looking at the Old Marquis and Qi Zhen. “Should we inform the Imperial Grandson about this?”
Qi Zhen lowered his voice: “I’ll send someone to deliver a message…”
But he didn’t have high hopes.
Now that Li Changqing had said Feng Caiwei was “incomparably noble” and painted Qi Yuan as a heaven-sent calamity—Xiao Yunting was likely in trouble too.
At that moment, Xiao Yunting was still busy dealing with the massive flooding of Poyang Lake.
Looking over the memorials from the prefect of Hongdu, he frowned: “Poyang Lake flooded just last year. The court already allocated silver to reinforce the levees. How is the devastation this year still so severe?!”
The members of the cabinet all looked grim.
Jiangxi had floods every year, big and small.
But something like this—tens of thousands dead or displaced—was rare even by historical standards.
The Grand Councilor stroked his beard. “Your Highness, right now disaster relief is the top priority. We’ll have to delay any accountability.”
That was true. The people came first.
Looking at the proposal drafted by the cabinet—50,000 taels of silver for disaster relief—Xiao Yunting raised an eyebrow. “I will go personally report to His Majesty.”
Though he had already approved it, the emperor still needed to see it.
Just as he stepped out of the cabinet, Babao rushed over and said anxiously: “Your Highness, something’s happened! The Eldest Princess’s residence sent a message…”
He recounted everything Li Changqing had said at Baiyun Temple.
Xiao Yunting’s expression darkened instantly.
He had known—Li Changqing’s return wouldn’t be anything good.
Sure enough, he came back with ill intent.
How had the Feng family managed to bring Li Changqing to their side?
He narrowed his eyes and immediately turned to Babao. “Make haste to Mount Longhu. Deliver a letter for me.”
Why should Li Changqing’s words be law?
He was just a Daoist mystic. When Emperor Wu of Han summoned spirits for Madam Li, was that a good thing?
Those mystics caused nothing but chaos—during Emperor Wu’s later years, the witchcraft scandals got out of hand, and even the Crown Prince Wei was driven to death.
So many lives, including the Eldest Princess, were lost in that debacle.
Had the lesson not been painful enough?
He would never believe such nonsense. And he would never let Li Changqing or the people behind him get their way.
Babao, understanding the urgency, didn’t dare delay. He followed Xiao Yunting back to the residence, took the letter, and immediately departed.
Xiao Yunting was just about to head to see Emperor Yongchang when a eunuch from Empress Feng’s palace arrived, bowing carefully. “Your Highness, the Empress wishes to see you.”
Xiao Yunting frowned.
Of course, he knew what this summons meant—exactly what the Empress wanted to talk about at a time like this.
