23. Changing Faces (Part 5)

He lost.

Inside the main hall, the vengeful spirit completely disregarded Shen Zihuai, turning the hall upside down. Resentment spread everywhere, incense burners, tables, and desks were all overturned, books were scattered all over the floor, and the place was a complete mess.

"Playing tricks." Shen Zihuai drew the Emperor's Sword hanging at his waist with a clang, the sword's cold light reflecting on his stern face. "Consort Rong, your trip out of the palace has brought me quite a surprise."

Seeing Shen Zihuai draw his sword, the vengeful spirit became even more disbelieving that he was the Ah Huai brother she had always longed for, and even mobilized her dark energy to attack him.

Fortunately, it had been injured by the sword energy of Lou Tinglan and Qi Feng, so after several rounds of fighting, it was temporarily suppressed by the two.

If the grudge cannot be resolved, the vengeful spirit cannot dissipate. As time goes by, the resentment intensifies, and sooner or later it will once again disturb the peace of the capital.

"Imperial Preceptor, why don't you explain to me what exactly is going on?" Shen Zihuai's eyes flashed with anger, and a hint of fear that was not easily noticed by others.

Although he addressed the Imperial Advisor, he was not looking at Lou Shuang, who was wearing a mask and shackles, but at Lou Tinglan, who was standing with a sword in hand.

Lou Tinglan and Ran Qinghe's eyes met briefly before Lou Tinglan replied to the emperor on the throne, "Your Majesty, I entered the Mirror of Past Lives by Your Majesty's command."

Lou Tinglan answered while observing Shen Zihuai's reaction.

Shen Zihuai nodded slightly. It seemed that the Grand Preceptor's entry into the Mirror of Past Lives was indeed at his behest.

He continued his report: "After entering the Mirror of Past Lives this time, I wanted to save Miss Ran Qinghe..." Shen Zihuai's lips curled up slightly before returning to their original state.

Therefore, saving Ran Qinghe was not Shen Zihuai's original intention.

Lou Tinglan changed the subject: "I have completed the tasks Your Majesty entrusted to me, but I failed to save Miss Ran Qinghe."

“Miss Ran Qinghe is still dead…” Shen Zihuai raised his eyebrows slightly, clearly expecting this outcome.

He asked, "Then what kind of monster is being held captive down there?"

When the vengeful spirit heard him mention himself, it suddenly spat out a wisp of black smoke at him, saying, "Liar, give me back my brother Ah Huai."

It wasn't until the vengeful spirit mentioned Brother Ah Huai for the second time that he finally recalled that person from his memories.

"Qinghe?"

His expression was tense, showing absolutely no joy. "What's going on?"

Ran Qinghe wasn't exactly disappointed by Shen Zihuai's reactions, but she should have expected it. When they first met, Shen Zihuai brought her into the palace, and she assumed it was because he was deeply in love with Ran Qinghe, so even hearing a similar name would elicit special treatment from that person.

But she forgot that if Shen Zihuai really couldn't live without Ran Qinghe, he would probably only suspect that she was deliberately getting close to him, and would never treat her as a substitute.

Why?

Her emotional experience was almost nonexistent, and she truly couldn't understand why, if Shen Zihuai had ordered the Imperial Preceptor to enter the Mirror of Past Lives, there was anything else going on, and why the Imperial Preceptor would go to such lengths to try and save Ran Qinghe. Moreover, it wasn't just a casual act; it was a repeated attempt, a hundred times over, all for the sake of giving Ran Qinghe a sliver of hope.

Lou Tinglan replied, "After Miss Ran Qinghe died, she was filled with resentment, which is why she turned into a vengeful spirit. A vengeful spirit is a collection of resentment, and only by eliminating the resentment in her heart can she be reincarnated."

Shen Zihuai countered, "A vengeful spirit? The Imperial Preceptor's abilities aren't enough to kill it on the spot?"

Lou Tinglan shook her head and said, "No."

But in fact, it did exist. Ran Qinghe knew that the Tower of Babel had also imprisoned vengeful spirits. These spirits, their resentment unresolved, lingered within the tower until their numbers grew to the point that the tower could no longer contain them. In such cases, the spirits were forced to either kill each other or be slain by cultivators who had broken the rules. Slaying vengeful spirits essentially shattered the cultivator's soul. With a shattered soul, that person was gone, utterly vanished from the world, unable to enter the cycle of reincarnation or be reborn.

Ran Qinghe would not do this unless it was absolutely necessary, and Lou Tinglan felt the same way.

Shen Zihuai asked, "In the opinion of the Imperial Preceptor, how can we dispel the resentment and vengeance of the vengeful spirits?"

Lou Tinglan replied, seemingly respectfully, "It wants to see Shen Zihuai."

Shen Zihuai frowned deeply, clearly displeased that the Imperial Preceptor addressed him by his full name, but he remained silent.

Upon hearing this name, the vengeful spirit was about to erupt in a frenzy again.

"I'm already in front of her," Shen Zihuai said, fiddling with the sandalwood beads in his hands, his previous composure gone. "So what do you want me to do?"

Lou Tinglan said, "As you can see, she doesn't recognize you."

Shen Zihuai walked down the steps of the palace, his smile slightly stiff under the gaze of the crowd, but comforting people was always his forte.

He asked the inhuman-shaped mass of black mist:

"Miss Ran's riding skills are so superb, would you mind joining me for a rabbit hunt in the northern suburbs?"

The vengeful spirit stopped moving, as if it too had fallen into memories.

He stepped forward slowly and continued, "Miss Ran, why do you prefer to sit on this crabapple tree? Is it because the view from the tree is so beautiful? If so, could you please give me a seat? I would also like to enjoy the view with you."

The vengeful spirit stammered, "Of course it is."

Seeing that the vengeful spirit's attitude had softened, Shen Zihuai stepped forward again: "I have two sugar paintings, one is a rabbit eating a peach, and the other is a raccoon perched on a tree. Which one would you like to choose, Miss Ran?"

Seeing that the vengeful spirit had stopped moving, Shen Zihuai continued, "Miss Ran can't choose? Then may I choose one for you?"

The Emperor's Sword, already unsheathed, plunged steadily into its body without the slightest hesitation.

The vengeful spirit paused for a few moments. After it realized what had happened, its resentment, which had been weakened by the sword energy, surged again by three points, and for a moment it broke through Qi Feng's restraints.

A massive surge of resentment clung tightly to Shen Zihuai's body, suffocating him to the point that he could barely breathe. Yet he remained calm and collected, managing to utter with difficulty, "It seems... he truly is... an unkillable demon."

Everyone was quite taken aback by Shen Zihuai's actions.

Ran Qinghe untied her long whip, dispelling the resentment emanating from Shen Zihuai, and said to Lou Tinglan and Qi Feng, "Keep an eye on your Elder Lou. I know where Shen Zihuai is, the one it wants to see."

After saying that, she summoned the Mirror of Past Lives. After a flash of light, she and the vengeful spirit disappeared from the spot.

Seeing this, Lou Tinglan left behind a sentence, "She alone is no match for the vengeful spirit. You have high hopes for the elder," and then she disappeared into the Mirror of Past Lives.

The Mirror of the Past. Five years ago.

Ran Qinghe used her whip to block the vengeful spirit's attack and advised, "Alright, don't be sad. I'll take you to find the real Shen Zihuai."

However, after Emperor Jingming's meddling, the vengeful spirit no longer believed her words. Its resentment raged on relentlessly, leaving her no chance to catch her breath.

Lou Tinglan followed closely behind, summoning her sword to disperse the vengeful spirit's attacks, and asked, "Where are you taking it?"

Ran Qinghe said, "Take her to find Shen Zihuai. The commotion in the main hall made it clear to me that he wasn't looking for Shen Zihuai as Emperor Jingming, but rather Shen Zihuai as Prince An at that time."

Lou Tinglan trusted him completely and replied, "Alright, you lead the way, and I'll guide it to the Prince An's residence."

The Prince An's residence is located in Yanwu Lane in the east of the capital city. Ran Qinghe had heard the storyteller in Yuexian Tower talk about it when she first descended to the mortal world.

During the reign of the late emperor, Prince An was just an unfavored prince, while the Imperial Preceptor was merely a staff member in Prince An's household. The two met by chance and hit it off immediately, and the Imperial Preceptor thus became Prince An's trusted advisor.

Later, when Prince An, Shen Zihuai, declared himself emperor, he bestowed the former Prince An's residence upon the Imperial Advisor to demonstrate his close relationship with the Imperial Advisor.

Sure enough, as soon as the vengeful spirit approached the Prince An's mansion, it became unusually quiet and transformed into a girl who was overjoyed at the prospect of seeing her beloved.

It whispered, "I sensed Brother Ah Huai's presence. So you really didn't lie to me."

Ran Qinghe breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that her gamble had paid off this time. "Do you remember what you said before?"

She said shyly, "I know, I just want to see Brother Ah Huai one more time, even if it's just to hear his voice."

Lou Shuang and Shen Zihuai were playing chess on a bamboo couch in the study.

Without hesitation, Shen Zihuai placed a piece and chuckled, "Brother Lou, I recently met a young lady who is quite different from others."

The vengeful spirit excitedly shared with the two people beside it, "Brother Ah Huai is talking about me."

Lou Shuang followed suit, placing a piece in the next move, also intrigued by the topic: "What's different?"

Shen Zihuai tapped the chessboard and hesitated, "I can't really explain it, but I want to marry her and make her my empress." In front of Lou Shuang, he made no attempt to hide his ambition to become emperor.

Lou Shuang gestured for him to make his move, then casually inquired, "Which family's daughter is she?"

Shen Zihuai said, "You must not have met this young lady before. I will introduce you to her in the future. She is Ran Qinghe, the daughter of the imperial merchant Ran Zheng. Her name is Ran Qinghe. The wind shakes the jade and the green lotus tilts. It is a good name."

Lou Shuang paused, and the chess piece fell to the side of the chessboard.

Shen Zihuai picked it up and handed it to him: "What's wrong, Brother Lou? You think you're about to lose and want to smash this chessboard?"

Lou Shuang casually accepted it, then asked nonchalantly, "Are you trying to win over the capital's purse strings or...?"

Shen Zihuai said solemnly, "Of course it's true."

Lou Shuang remained noncommittal: "But you know, I would think you have the intention to win over Ran Zheng, Prince Yong would think so too, and even His Majesty would think so."

Shen Zihuai knew better than anyone that once he decided to be with Ran Qinghe, his hidden ambitions would be exposed.

He sighed, “To be honest, I always feel that everything I have come about too easily. From the military achievements in the western expedition to the major tax case in Yanzhou, and then to my timely withdrawal when my father was investigating factionalism, all of this is really thanks to Brother Lou.”

He joked, "Sometimes I even have the illusion that even if I make a mistake, Brother Lou will be able to correct it in time."

Ran Qinghe thought to herself: At this moment, Lou Shuang is probably already using the Mirror of Past Lives to help Shen Zihuai become emperor.

Then, he took out a letter from his pocket and solemnly handed it to Lou Shuang: "This letter is for Brother Lou. I know that Brother Lou is very capable, so if I ever have any intention of using Qinghe in the future, please stop me."

Lou Shuang remained calm and accepted the letter. As he prepared to make his move, he discovered that Shen Zihuai's black pieces had formed an encirclement, trapping him in a deadly situation.

He lost.