Hearing this.
Jiang Yuechu leaned back slightly, her expression unchanged as she said, "You misremembered."
"You're lying!"
Wei Qing's eyes widened, looking as if she wanted to pounce and bite her.
"In the Region, in the pavilion in my backyard! You clearly played a song, and it was beautiful!"
Jiang Yuechu's expression was calm.
"I forgot."
Seeing Jiang Yuechu unmoved.
Wei Qing gritted her teeth, squeezed next to Jiang Yuechu, and wrapped both arms around one of Jiang Yuechu's.
"My dear Yuechu…"
"Just help me this one time!"
"I know you're the best, you definitely can't bear to see me mocked by those people, right?"
"Please…"
As she spoke, she rubbed her face against Jiang Yuechu's sleeve.
Jiang Yuechu herself was someone who responded to softness, not hardness.
Facing such a persistent display of coquetry… she was truly defenseless.
"Let go."
"No!" Wei Qing held on tighter. "I won't let go until you agree! I'll just cling to you!"
"…"
Jiang Yuechu sighed helplessly.
She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.
Indeed… playing the zither wasn't a difficult task for her.
Her predecessor, as Jiang Xun's daughter.
Had been raised from childhood according to the mold of a noble young lady.
Moreover… she thought of the 'Extensive Knowledge and Strong Memory' she had recently acquired.
Now, even the most obscure and difficult musical scores, with just a glance, could be imprinted in her mind, never to be forgotten.
It was just… her current fiery temper.
If she really went to such an occasion.
Jiang Yuechu opened her eyes, looked at the girl clinging to her, and said faintly:
"Have you thought it through? You know what kind of temper I have."
"If on that day, some ignorant person provokes me, or if Prince Jing says something I don't like to hear…"
"I'm afraid I might not hold back and turn your Floating Goblet Banquet into a funeral feast."
Wei Qing's body stiffened.
A… a funeral feast?
The image of Jiang Yuechu drawing her sword and cutting people down involuntarily appeared in her mind.
Blood splattering, heads rolling… amidst the screams of scholars and refined gentlemen, this female fiend calmly wiped the blood from her blade.
Wei Qing shivered.
But then she thought.
The Wei family was not what it used to be.
If she made a fool of herself at Prince Jing's manor this time, those people would surely badmouth her father behind his back… Seeing Wei Qing fall into a dilemma again, Jiang Yuechu sighed helplessly: "Alright, let go."
"I won't… Eh? You agreed?!"
"I did agree."
Jiang Yuechu straightened her disheveled sleeve and said faintly, "However, I have one condition."
"Name it! Don't just say one, I'll agree to ten or a hundred!"
"I want to see your father."
"See my dad?"
Wei Qing released Jiang Yuechu's arm, and a hint of nervousness appeared on her face, which had been somewhat coquettish moments before.
"Is it… for official business?"
Although her relationship with Jiang Yuechu was still as close as sisters, it couldn't hide the fact that the latter was now a Silver Robe Inspector of the Demon Suppression Division.
With such status, if she wanted to see her father for official business… Seeing the fleeting worry in the girl's eyes.
Jiang Yuechu shook her head.
"It's not official business."
Hearing this, Wei Qing visibly relaxed.
Her tensed shoulders slumped, and the carefree smile returned to her face.
"You scared me, I thought the Demon Suppression Division was investigating my dad."
She patted her chest and waved her hand dismissively.
"Since it's a private matter, it's easy to handle."
"My dad has been very busy lately, but it's getting late now, so he should be finished with work and back home in about half an hour."
"I'll have someone wait in the front yard; as soon as he returns, I'll take you to him."
Jiang Yuechu nodded slightly.
"Alright."
Since the matter was settled.
She immediately found an excuse.
"I'm going out for some fresh air."
...Under the corridor.
The late autumn wind, carrying a biting chill, blew over her face.
Jiang Yuechu stood on the steps, hands clasped behind her back, watching the setting sun gradually sink below the horizon.
Whoosh—
She slowly exhaled a breath of turbid Qi.
The white mist quickly dissipated in the cold wind.
Actually.
It should have been like this as early as her first return to the capital.
The reason she went to the Demon Suppression Division, to the Martial Temple, and even came to find Wei Qing for a meal.
Yet she had never inquired about that case.
It wasn't that she was afraid of being implicated, nor was it that the case was particularly tricky.
It was just… for that father she had 'never met'.
She actually didn't feel much affection.
She even felt it was strange.
But… Jiang Yuechu lowered her head, looking at her slender, fair hands.
These hands could now wield a blade and slay demons.
But they ultimately could not sever the Karma of this Bloodline.
Since she occupied someone else's body and received this favor.
Some debts, after all, must be repaid.
Even if.
It was just for peace of mind… In the Palace of Eternal Happiness.
Darkness surged like a tide, engulfing the figure seated on the Phoenix couch.
After an unknown period.
A dark shadow, like ink dripping into clear water, spread across the golden brick floor of the hall.
Finally, it formed a human figure, kneeling on one knee.
"Empress Dowager."
Empress Dowager Liu slowly opened her eyes, which were bloodshot.
"How is it?"
"She has entered the Ink Dot Realm, is serving as a Silver Robe Inspector in the Demon Suppression Division, and with a single strike, killed a Seed Lotus Realm Demon King on Taihu Lake."
"…"
After a long while.
She finally murmured, her eyes filled with excitement: "How long has it been? Less than half a year, from a weak girl in her boudoir to a Silver Robe Inspector capable of slaying a Seed Lotus Realm cultivator…"
"It seems this girl must be…"
Her words were cut short.
The dark figure bowed its head, its tone calm: "Empress Dowager, there is one more matter."
"Hm? Speak."
Although her words were interrupted, Empress Dowager Liu patiently listened.
"Granny Liu from the clan has seen her on Taihu Lake."
Empress Dowager Liu's eyes narrowed.
Granny Liu was a Mountain-Gazing Realm powerful figure; if she had seen her… "What did Granny say?"
"Granny asked this subordinate to relay a message to you, Empress Dowager."
The black-clad figure paused, seemingly weighing its words, but in the end, it repeated them verbatim:
"The case of Jiang Xun, including the exile of that girl to the Region, and the secret collusion with the Longyou Commandery—the clan is aware of these matters."
"Past grievances are forgiven."
"But from now on…"
"Remember, remember."
"Absolutely do not provoke her again."
Crack!
The prayer beads in her hand completely shattered.
After a long while.
"Heh… heh…"
A suppressed low laugh squeezed out from the depths of Empress Dowager Liu's throat.
Wood splinters pricked her fingertips, a drop of crimson blood oozing out.
The laughter grew louder, carrying a hint of madness.
"Ha… haha… What a 'do not provoke'!"
Empress Dowager Liu suddenly stood up, her wide Phoenix robe sleeves sweeping across the table.
"You are a member of the Liu family, Granny is the Old Ancestor of the Liu family, and all of you tell this empress to endure?"
"This empress has endured for half a lifetime!"
"Now… just because that little bitch has some ability, the clan wants me to stop?!"
The dark figure remained silent, paying no heed.
Empress Dowager Liu shrieked: "Back then, who didn't know Consort Ming was pregnant with a demon fetus?!"
"Jiang Yuechu is most likely Consort Ming's child. If it can be proven that she is a half-demon, then the one sitting on the Dragon Throne…"
"The dignified Son of Heaven of the Great Tang, born of the same mother as a Yao Race remnant, can this empire, this society, still tolerate him?!"
"At that time, only my Jing'er! Only my flesh and blood, born after ten months of pregnancy, will be the sole legitimate heir of the Great Tang!"
To allow her son, who had long been marginalized, to rightfully reclaim everything that belonged to him.
She had exiled Jiang Yuechu to the Region and even secretly instructed Pei Changqing to send her to the borders of the Demon Court.
The purpose was to force out the demon nature within her.
But now… "You tell this empress not to provoke her?"
"Aren't you trying to protect the Great Tang? Aren't you trying to protect the Liu family?"
Empress Dowager Liu pointed out the window, sternly questioning: "Letting a Prodigy usurp a Divine Artifact, is this what you call protecting the Great Tang?!"