20. Face Change (Part Two)

He wanted both the empire and the beauty.

Damn it!

The Imperial Advisor's face twisted in anger as he unleashed a barrage of attacks, tearing apart the shops surrounding the long street in an attempt to find the girl on horseback.

But the empty shops were deserted, with not a soul in sight.

Tiles clattered and scattered all over the ground. As dust rose, Ran Qinghe's long whip arrived, its tip lashing out sharply, only to be stopped three inches away by a whisk.

Ran Qinghe calmly lashed out with her whip again and said, "The Grand Preceptor made a three-day agreement with me before. Shouldn't you hand over the Mirror of Past Lives to me now?"

The Imperial Preceptor twirled his whisk, and silver threads wrapped around the long whip from all directions. He pulled hard on the whip and replied, "But I also said that you cannot hinder any of my actions."

"You, you, and you, you made me fail again." He restrained Ran Qinghe's attack with one hand while venting his anger by swinging his spirit blade repeatedly.

Ran Qinghe stepped back to dodge, and sneered, "Does the Grand Preceptor mean that I should let Ran Zheng do whatever he wants without being able to resist?"

"The Grand Preceptor wants to save Ran Zheng, but he completely disregards my life. How can I keep my promise to the Grand Preceptor?"

The Grand Preceptor did not answer. He was in a great hurry and did not care whether he could shake off the three people behind him. He then flew towards the city gate.

At the city gate.

The armored banners resembled two giant clouds, one black and one red. The red banner bore the character "永" (yong, meaning eternal), while the black banner bore the character "安" (an, meaning peace).

Ran Qinghe immediately noticed something was wrong. The city had been peaceful on the surface, so why had it suddenly turned into a standoff between two armies?

Today was supposed to be the day she attained enlightenment and left the mortal realm. Prince Yong should have just captured the capital. But now, the situation has changed, with Prince An, Shen Zihuai, besieging Prince Yong in the capital.

It seems that the Imperial Preceptor, unable to find Ran Qinghe, activated the Mirror of Past Lives again, changing the point in time.

Qi Feng, who had been lagging behind, and Lou Tinglan, covered in blood, caught up. Ran Qinghe glanced at his pale face, a hint of guilt in her eyes, and couldn't help but say sarcastically, "What are you doing chasing after us? Coming to your deaths?"

Lou Tinglan looked exhausted. Blood was still on his lips, and his chest heaved violently from the pain. He said in a hoarse voice, "I was ordered to retrieve the Mirror of the Past. We couldn't be sure that the Mirror of the Past was in the hands of the Grand Preceptor before, but he activated it in his desperation, which exposed him."

Behind them, the shops that had been scattered by the Imperial Advisor had been repaired and restored to their original state.

Ran Qinghe said sincerely, "With just you two? One is sickly, and the other is cunning. Even if you put yourselves together, you're no match for the Imperial Preceptor. Instead of wasting your time here, you might as well go back and find some help."

Qi Feng shrugged and smiled, "Miss Lan Cao is right. However, the Mirror of Past Lives has cut off our communication with the outside world. Neither sound transmission talismans nor spirit leaves can transmit sound, and there's nothing we can do. But as for help, it's right under our noses, even though it's far away..."

"The three of us together might even be able to fight the Imperial Advisor."

Ran Qinghe pointed to herself: "Me? Have you misunderstood something? I was only looking at the Grand Preceptor because I was afraid he would activate the Mirror of Past Lives again and affect my enlightenment. You are from the Disciplinary Hall. If we're really talking about it, you are my enemies. If I let you die here, I won't have to go back to the Tower of Heaven Prison. Wouldn't that be more advantageous for me?"

Qi Feng smiled knowingly: "But since Miss Lan Cao has joined us in stopping the Grand Preceptor, it means you've already made your choice, hasn't it? At least for now, you're standing on the opposite side of the Grand Preceptor. If the Discipline Hall can't take back the Mirror of the Past from the Grand Preceptor, it won't be a good thing for you either."

Ran Qinghe was too lazy to correct him for calling her "Blue Grass Girl" all the time, and said, "If you want me to work for your Discipline Hall, you should at least offer some kind of compensation."

Qi Feng said, "Please speak, Miss Lan Cao."

Ran Qinghe said calmly, "I do have a way. Not only can I take back the Mirror of the Past from the Grand Preceptor, but I can also help you trap him."

Qi Feng was startled: "Oh?"

Ran Qinghe said, "But I'm a fair person. If I help you, you have to put in some real effort. After it's done, your Discipline Hall needs to completely set me free. Don't be like your old hall master and keep bringing up things like sins and merits."

Qi Feng was about to agree when Lou Tinglan refused, saying, "I'm sorry, we cannot make that promise."

Qi Feng gestured to Lou Tinglan with his eyes, seemingly urging him to agree first, but Lou Tinglan acted as if he didn't see it: "The detention of all criminal cultivators shall be decided by the Hall Master and the elders."

He then changed the subject: "But the reason I'm bringing you back is not for imprisonment, but because you left the Discipline Hall before completing your mission, which constitutes an escape. The Hall Master had previously promised that you could make amends for your actions in the Tianhai Valley incident, and I will advise you on that."

Ran Qinghe pressed further: "What if you can't persuade them?"

Lou Tinglan: "I will bear all the consequences."

Ran Qinghe's smile deepened: "You brought me back so you could set me free? You don't need me to do anything else to atone for it? And you don't need my help with the Mirror of Past Lives?"

Lou Tinglan replied to each one, "Yes. No need. It's up to you."

The promise of the chief disciple of the Discipline Hall is worth more than a thousand pieces of gold.

However, she has always only trusted herself.

Suddenly, her icy fingers gripped Lou Tinglan's chin, and without hesitation, she shoved a perfectly round, glistening pill into his throat, then tapped his collarbone. Before he could even show any surprise, he had already swallowed the pill.

Ran Qinghe smiled: "It's not that I don't trust the Immortal Lord, but everything needs a double guarantee. This is the Flying Flower Poison I developed. The poison is drawn from the Ghostly Miasma Land beneath Mount Feifeng. At first, the poison only circulates in the dantian, but later it will slowly permeate all the meridians in the body. If you are poisoned by this, your cultivation will not only stagnate, but it will also regress as the poison intensifies. The only antidote is in my hands. If you can do that, I will give you the antidote, understand?"

There was no reaction as expected; Lou Tinglan simply replied, "Okay."

He didn't react much, but Ran Qinghe was dissatisfied. "Aren't you scared?"

Lou Tinglan said, "It's alright, I will do it."

He was a man of few words, but Ran Qinghe understood his meaning: he could set her free, so there was no need to worry about poison or antidote.

Ran Qinghe pursed her lips and said, "You're really boring. Forget it, if you sickly person die here, I'll be in trouble too. I'll help you with the matter of the Mirror of Past Lives."

Lou Tinglan smiled faintly and said solemnly, "Thank you."

Ran Qinghe pointed to the city gate. In front of the Yongwang army, a young girl in red riding attire was bound tightly and thrown to the ground, the tip of a long spear pointing at her vulnerable neck. With just one order, she would become a sacrifice in the battle between the two armies.

"As you have seen, the Imperial Preceptor's purpose is none other than Ran Zheng's daughter, Ran Qinghe."

"Whether he wanted to save Ran Zheng or drag Ran Zheng's body away, it was all to prevent Ran Qinghe from leaving the manor. You all saw the outcome of Ran Qinghe leaving the manor, so I guess that the Imperial Preceptor activated the Mirror of Past Lives to save Ran Qinghe's life."

Now, it is clear that Prince Yong is using Ran Qinghe's life to force Prince An, Shen Zihuai, to withdraw his troops.

"Shen Zihuai, I have given you the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. Have you thought it through?"

"Do you choose the throne of the Ming Dynasty, or the life of your beloved?"

Prince Yong's spear had already slashed through Ran Qinghe's neck, and the blood that seeped out stained the tip of the spear.

Under these circumstances, Ran Qinghe roughly pieced together the story of the Mirror of Past Lives: "Outside the mirror, Prince An, Shen Zihuai, has now become emperor, and the Imperial Preceptor is under Shen Zihuai's command. Therefore, his use of the Mirror of Past Lives to save Ran Qinghe must have been at Shen Zihuai's behest."

Ran Qinghe recalled that when she first met Shen Zihuai at the restaurant, Shen Zihuai was very surprised to hear her name, which must have been because of Ran Qinghe.

"Therefore, Shen Zihuai's successful siege of the capital and ascension to the throne shows that he had already abandoned Ran Qinghe and chosen the throne. However, after becoming emperor, he regretted his initial choice and ordered the Grand Preceptor to enter the Mirror of Past Lives to save Ran Qinghe."

"He harbored a desire for both the empire and the beauty."

Qi Feng suddenly seemed to realize something was wrong and said, "Wait a minute, do you mean the emperor is the current Prince An?"

Ran Qinghe said, "Of course."

Qi Feng said, "That's strange. When I went down to the mortal realm to investigate, the emperor at that time was not Prince An, but Prince Yong."

Ran Qinghe said, "Before I left the mortal realm, I heard about the outcome of the Yongwang Rebellion. The final winner was indeed Prince An, Shen Zihuai."

The two had conflicting accounts, and Lou Tinglan listened silently for a while before asking Qi Feng, "When you went down to the mortal realm, did you contact the Discipline Hall?"

Qi Feng shook his head.

Ran Qinghe instantly understood Lou Tinglan's implication: "You mean that when Qi Feng descended to the mortal realm earlier, the Mirror of Past Lives had already been activated. He did not contact the upper realm, so he did not realize that he was already inside the Mirror of Past Lives."

"No wonder the Imperial Advisor said they had failed again. They must have tried to rewrite Ran Qinghe's ending with the Mirror of Past Lives, but they failed, so they have to start over again and again. The Imperial Advisor is probably hiding in the shadows right now, waiting for Shen Zihuai's choice, but obviously, Shen Zihuai in the mirror will not have a second choice."

"If Shen Zihuai chooses the throne again this time, then the Mirror of Past Lives should be activated once more."

Having said that, she rummaged through her storage bag and pulled out a mirror of utterly ordinary design, about the size of a palm, with a brass surface and a black wooden body. Lou Tinglan grabbed her wrist with tremendous force, his face tense and his eyes dark: "Why is the Mirror of Past Lives in your hands?"

Ran Qinghe raised the corners of her lips smugly: "Does it look that similar? It seems I did a pretty good job." She originally planned to use this fake Past Life Mirror to steal the mirror, but who would have thought that the Imperial Advisor would steal it first.

Lou Tinglan hesitated for a second, then loosened her grip: "Sorry, is this fake?" Her voice still held disbelief.

Ran Qinghe said, "Of course, otherwise why would I and that old man bother?"

“Since Shen Zihuai allowed the Imperial Advisor to enter the mirror, it means that during the siege of the capital, the Shen Zihuai in the mirror abandoned Ran Qinghe, while the Shen Zihuai outside the mirror wanted to save Ran Qinghe. Therefore, now that Ran Qinghe is dead, the Imperial Advisor will definitely activate the Mirror of Past Lives again to change the outcome.”

"At that time, you can follow the traces of spiritual energy to find the Grand Preceptor's hiding place, while I will be responsible for interrupting the operation of the Mirror of Past Life and stealing the sky and changing the sun."

Qi Feng praised, "Blue Grass Girl is indeed very clever."

"And what about the Imperial Advisor?"

"Even if we manage to get our hands on the Mirror of Past Lives, we are no match for the Imperial Preceptor. How can we possibly trap him?"

Ran Qinghe raised an eyebrow and said, "That depends on whether you two can act."

*

Imperial Capital Long Street.

Ran Qinghe casually plucked two candied hawthorn skewers from the candied hawthorn skewer held up by a roadside vendor. Lou Tinglan handed the copper coin to the waiter, and as soon as he turned around, Ran Qinghe mischievously stuffed one of the skewers into Lou Tinglan's mouth without saying a word.

Lou Tinglan indulged her behavior, silently removing the candied hawthorn from her mouth and explaining, "I have already abstained from grains and do not eat these mundane things."

Ran Qinghe waved her hand dismissively, then bit off a hawthorn ball from the stick and mumbled:

"Lou Tinglan doesn't eat worldly things, but you're currently indulging in Chen Zihuai, do you understand?"

“Shen Zihuai is just an ordinary mortal, and he would not refuse Ran Qinghe’s request.”

Her lips were rosy, and there was still a bit of sugar residue at the corner of her mouth; she was eating with great satisfaction.

She ignored Lou Tinglan behind her and strolled ahead alone until they were quite a distance apart. Only then did Lou Tinglan lower her head and, as if possessed, bite into a hawthorn.

It's very sour when you first bite into it, but after chewing it in your mouth, the sweetness of the rock sugar completely covers the sourness of the hawthorn and even spreads throughout your mouth.

It is indeed very sweet.