Volume 3 Chapter 21
Chapter 21: Fellow Disciples Who are as Incompatible as Fire and Water
Once Ye Hongyi left, An Bingshan quickly walked over to Jue Chen.
"How did you know about those symptoms?" demanded An Bingshan through gritted teeth.
"Senior Brother wishes to know?" Even though Jue Chen was terrified for his life right now, he was still indescribably pleased to see the fear and unease on An Bingshan's face.
"Hurry and up answer!" pressed An Bingshan impatiently.
"Jue Chen refuses. Senior Brother, you shouldn't forget, back then if it weren't for you, how could the second prince and Jue Chen have lost so badly?" When Jue Chen recalled the past, intense hatred filled his eyes.
"That incident was the empress, Yao Moxin's idea. This one was only…" An Bingshan reflexively tried to explain himself, but Jue Chen's smile only grew colder.
"Was only what? Adding momentum? Humph! Back then, Yao Moxin had deliberately left the second prince a road of retreat. It was you, damned castrate, that insisted on exterminating him, which was what led to the second prince dying under a 'misfired' arrow. Jue Chen will definitely make sure vengeance is gotten for the second prince! However, right now shouldn't Eunuch An be leading the way? If His Majesty loses his patience, you won't be able to take the consequences!" Jue Chen glowered at An Bingshan as he said this, his tone as cold as ice.
"You shouldn't be so smug. There's no way your divination will be that accurate!" An Bingshan angrily flung back his sleeves and hurried to catch up with Ye Hongyi. Jue Chen knew from An Bingshan's slightly flustered steps that he was scared. Forget it. If he was able to slaughter An Bingshan, this bastard, even if the cost was his own life, it would be worth it.
Outside Guan Osprey Palace, before Ye Hongyi even stepped inside, he could already hear laughter.
"Ting Yue, hurry and come! There's a drowned rat here! Haha! Humph! You're always bullying Wan er, and now you got retribution! Hahaha!" Inside the courtyard, Yao Mowan was pointing at Ye Junqing who was drenched while laughing with her other hand pressed against her belly.
"Empress, please conduct yourself with dignity!" Ye Junqing looked towards Yao Mowan indignantly as he clenched the hems of his wet garments with suppressed fury.
"Humph! This consort insists on laughing! Ting Yue, Liu Xing, laugh at him with this consort! He's a grown man, but he actually fell into the lake! He's seriously stupid! Hahaha…" Since Yao Mowan had given the command, Ting Yue and Liu Xing naturally complied and started laughing loudly with her.
"You guys! You guys are going too far! This prince will…" Just as Ye Junqing was about to hit them, Ye Hongyi suddenly appeared in Guan Osprey Palace.
"Junqing ah, no matter how much Wan er is in the wrong, she's still our empress, the mother of the nation. No matter what you shouldn't get violent towards her!" Ye Hongyi slowly walked over to pull Yao Mowan into his arms. When his gaze landed on Ye Junqing, he couldn't help but be astonished.
"Esteemed Prince… How did you end up like this?" An Bingshan inhaled sharply the instant he saw that Ye Junqing's body was covered with water.
"That's right. Junqing, you've always been very careful, how did you end up in such a wretch state?" Ye Hongyi was also very curious about the reason.
"Replying Your Majesty… As this subject brother was passing by Jade Lake, this subject brother saw a garment floating on the lake and thought that someone had fallen into the water, so… This subject brother never expected that it was actually the empress's prank!" said Ye Junqing angrily as he looked towards Yao Mowan.
"Oh? Wan er, what's going on?" Ye Hongyi hadn't visited Guan Osprey Palace a single time since he had made Yao Mowan empress. It wasn't because he didn't miss the beauty in his arms but that, just as Jue Chen had said, there were some things in which he currently had the will but not the strength.
"Your Majesty… Wan er just wanted to test for Your Majesty whether Esteemed Prince had sympathy. Yup, he does!" explained Yao Mowan with a completely straight face.
"Your Majesty!" When Ye Junqing heard this, his anger immediately soared up again.
"Enough. Junqing wouldn't be as petty as to bicker with Wan er, right? Oh, and Junqing, take a look at this person?" As Ye Hongyi looked over at Jue Chen, he saw that Jue Chen was currently hiding being An Bingshan's back.
"Jue Chen, hurry and come greet the esteemed prince!" asked Ye Hongyi spoke, he kept his eyes fixed on Jue Chen to observe the two's reactions.
"Ahem… This humble Daoist Jue Chen kowtows in salute to… Ah!" Just as Jue Chen was bowing, he felt a burst of cool wind in front of him. In the next second, he felt like his nose had collapsed in on itself as blood poured out.
"You swindler! You actually dare to step out of Honest Monastery!? You're the one that came seeking your own death!" Ye Junqing hadn't bothered to say a single word before punching Jue Chen's nose. However, he still didn't feel satisfied and stormed forward to lift Jue Chen by his collar.
"Stop! Ye Junqing, do you even bother to show any respect for us!?" shouted Ye Hongyi in feigned indignance.
"Your Majesty! Did you forget how he had once misled everyone with lies? How he had Imperial Father take your and Junqing's blood? It's rare that he's finally dared to take a step out of Honest Monastery, so if Junqing doesn't beat him up until he has to scrambled on the floor to find his teeth, Junqing can't be called a man!" replied Ye Junqing angrily. He took advantage of this moment while Ye Hongyi was taken aback to punch Jue Chen again, causing Jue Chen's incisor to fly out with a trail of blood.
"Your Majesty… please save me!" At this moment, Jue Chen truly tasted what it was like to be beaten to the point his teeth fell into his stomach.
"Enough, Junqing. Jue Chen is the state preceptor that we have invited! Stop being so disrespectful!" Ye Hongyi's words stunned everyone present.
"Your Majesty, he's a liar!" reminded Ye Junqing indignantly.
"Your Majesty, the esteemed prince is right. This person can't be allowed to…" An Bingshan never expected for Ye Hongyi to actually make Jue Chen the state preceptor and his heart chilled with fear.
"All of you, shut up! We can naturally tell whether he's a liar or not. Jue Chen, the current empress is right here, so help divine the empress's fate. We wish to know the empress's fortune!" shouted Ye Hongyi.
"This humble Daoist will do as you bid." Jue Chen had no choice but to use his sleeve to wipe the blood off his face before walking respectfully to Yao Mowan.
"Your Majesty…" Yao Mowan reflexively backed away and ducked timidly into Ye Hongyi's arms.
"Wan er, don't be scared. We're just having him divine your fate a little, it'll be fine!" As Ye Hongyi spoke, he opened Yao Mowan's palm and lifted it in front of Jue Chen.
Jue Chen examined the features on Yao Mowan's palm carefully, lifting his brows and exclaiming in surprise from time to time. In the end, he actually fell to the ground and began prostrating himself while calling her the phoenix master.
Yao Mowan couldn't stop her brows from lifting when she saw Jue Chen's exaggerated behavior.
"Jue Chen, what do you mean by this?" Ye Hongyi looked towards Jue Chen in confusion.
"Replying Your Majesty, based on the lines of Her Highness, the empress's palm, Her Highness is the phoenix master decreed by the Mandate of Heaven, a life that is extremely precious. Forgive this humble Daoist for being too talkative, but with the empress presiding over the inner palace, great Chu will definitely have eternal prosperity!" said Jue Chen earnestly.
"As the empress, of course her life is extremely precious…" muttered An Bingshan quietly.
"Charlatan!" Ye Junqing snorted.
"Your Majesty, this Guan Osprey Palace definitely contains an omen… Wait a little…" Jue Chen squinted slightly, his brows furrowed. He pressed his fingers together as he worked on divining the direction and gradually ended up making his way towards the swing in the pear garden.
"Your Majesty, if this humble Daoist didn't make a mistake in the divination, then there is definitely an omen beneath here!" said Jue Chen firmly.
"Guards! Dig!" Ye Hongyi's expression was serious and he glanced down meaningfully at Yao Mowan who was in his arms. At this time, the guards had already gotten iron picks to start digging.
"Careful! If Heaven's omen is damaged, it'll cause terrible misfortune!" said Jue Chen hastily. The guards naturally understood the risks of this and immediately dropped the iron picks to start digging by hand instead.
After a few minutes, a guard suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
"I see it! I see it!" Everyone surrounded him upon hearing this to find that an enormous lingzhi mushroom had been unearthed. Its outer shell was violet black with a faint luster and white steam was currently emerging from it.
__________Credits: Translated by Chiyomira
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