Chapter 42 042 Meng Po is out of soup today, come again tomorrow...

When we returned to Changle Palace from Changyang Palace, it was already dawn.

"Knowing the subtle..."

"Okay." Before Yun Tianjiao could speak, Zhiwei had already agreed.

Yun Tianjiao was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "I didn't even say what I wanted to do, and you already agreed."

"Whatever Your Highness wishes to do, I will agree." After saying this, Zhiwei actually picked up Yun Tianjiao and carried him towards the phoenix bed.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Yun Tianjiao was startled.

Zhiwei placed her on the couch and gently covered her with a blanket. "Whatever Your Highness does, wait until you wake up. You need to rest."

After emerging from the Puppet Bride Secret Realm of the Ascension Ceremony, entering the Past Life Realm of the Reincarnation Mirror, and then causing a ruckus at Changyang Palace, Yun Tianjiao has not had a moment's rest since then.

She didn't feel it when she was under a lot of mental stress, but now, lying on the couch, surrounded by the warm and dried brocade quilt, she was actually feeling sleepy.

"It's settled then. Once I wake up, we'll head to the Ghost Realm."

"Yes, Your Highness, I will do as you say."

Zhiwei's voice was soft and deep, seemingly possessing a calming power, and Yun Tianjiao quickly fell asleep.

Once she was fast asleep, Zhiwei lifted a corner of the blanket, gently lifted one of her feet in her palm, and began to paint peonies on her ankle.

On her snow-white skin, the peony paint was vibrant and alluring; with each stroke, Zhiwei's eyes grew darker.

Just then, the sound of rain came from outside, and candlelight shone through the bed curtains, enveloping the two of them, easily evoking a distant memory.

It was a rainy night like this.

The same candlelight and bed curtains...

After the entire peony was painted, Zhiwei practically fled from Yun Tianjiao's phoenix bed. The person sleeping on the phoenix bed, however, remained completely unaware of everything.

Yun Tianjiao slept until noon the next day, which showed how exhausted she was. As soon as she woke up, she went to the Shen residence without even having lunch, just in time to see Prime Minister Shen returning from court.

"Your Majesty, I was unaware of the arrival of the Princess and have kept you waiting. I deserve to die for this crime."

"Prime Minister Shen, you flatter me. I am here today for Qiongzhi."

When the death of his beloved daughter was mentioned, Prime Minister Shen's face, which rarely showed emotion, was filled with sorrow. "It was all my daughter's fate. I don't blame anyone. Hengzhen was young and impetuous, and he relied on the favor of His Majesty and the Princess. That's why he lost his mind and offended His Majesty. I hope Your Highness will put in a good word for him with His Majesty."

It seems that Prime Minister Shen is fully aware of what happened in Changyang Palace last night, and based on Yun Tianjiao's understanding of Shen Hengzhen, he would never take the initiative to tell Prime Minister Shen these things.

Yun Tianjiao lowered his eyes, suppressing all his emotions, and said to Prime Minister Shen, "No matter what, Qiongzhi is still my sister. She is not my biological sister, but she is better than a biological sister to me. I will set off for the Ghost Realm now to chase after her soul and seek justice for her death."

Upon hearing that Yun Tianjiao was going to the Ghost Realm, Prime Minister Shen was horrified. "Your Highness, you must not! The Ghost Realm is not a place for the living! Your Highness is a thousand years old; you cannot risk your life for a mere girl."

"My mind is made up, Prime Minister Shen, there's no need for further words. However, once His Majesty departs, he will have no one to rely on and will depend on Prime Minister Shen's care and supervision. The Yun and Shen families have always been as close as family, and this will not change because of anything, wouldn't you say, Prime Minister Shen?"

"Your Majesty, I dare not." Prime Minister Shen hurriedly kowtowed deeply, his forehead touching the ground. "As the Imperial Tutor and a subject, I should serve Your Majesty with all my heart and soul. The ancestors of the Shen family have been loyal to the Yun family's empire for generations, and the descendants of the Shen family will certainly keep their duty and devote themselves to the Yun Chi Kingdom!"

"Very well, I will remember Prime Minister Shen's words." Yun Tianjiao nodded, then asked, "I wonder if Lord Shen is at home?"

Prime Minister Shen sighed slightly and said, "My son went to Wanxi Mountain before dawn today. Although he is usually strict with Qiongzhi, if we are talking about who dotes on Qiongzhi the most in this mansion, it is still him, as her older brother."

...

Returning to the palace from the Shen residence, Yun Tianjiao felt quite heavy-hearted and even lost his appetite for dinner.

Chunxi and Fuman had painstakingly prepared a table of delicacies, but Yun Tianjiao didn't even bother to look at them. Instead, he asked Zhiwei, "I remember before we went to the Ghost Realm last time, you drew a peony on my ankle, saying it would cover up my living aura. Are you going to draw one on me this time too?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Then what are you waiting for? Hurry up and draw!" Yun Tianjiao was in a hurry to get to the Ghost Realm, afraid that if he delayed any longer, Shen Qiongzhi's soul would cross the Bridge of Helplessness, drink the Meng Po soup, and be reincarnated.

As she spoke, she kicked off her shoes and socks, only to find a red peony blooming on her ankle.

"Huh? When was this drawn?" she exclaimed in surprise.

"Last night, while His Highness was asleep," Zhiwei said, having already prepared a red silk ribbon, just as she had done before.

Thinking of the scene where he described peonies last time, Yun Tianjiao couldn't help but feel a little hot-faced.

"Your Highness?" Zhiwei folded the red silk and gestured to blindfold Yun Tianjiao.

Yun Tianjiao stared at the red silk for a moment and said, "No, I don't want to be blindfolded this time, Zhiwei. I want to see how you lead me into the Ghost Realm."

Zhiwei's eyes flickered slightly, "Your Highness, is it true?"

Yun Tianjiao nodded seriously, "Yes, since this trip is to the Ghost Realm to find someone, not to have fun, we naturally need to get used to the various aspects of ghosts in advance. Besides, my ability to endure is not that weak. They are just some ghost spirits. Even if they look scary, they were just like me when they were alive."

Zhiwei seemed to think that Yun Tianjiao's words made sense. She put away the red silk and smiled, "Well, then we'll listen to Your Highness."

He seemed to be in a good mood, and when he took Yun Tianjiao's hand, there was a slight smile on his lips.

The Yellow Springs Road leading to the Ghost Realm was far smoother than Yun Tianjiao had imagined. Apart from a few fleeting, strange shadows, she saw almost nothing frightening.

This time, the two did not go to the Ghost Market, but went straight to the Bridge of Helplessness.

The Bridge of Helplessness spans the River of Oblivion.

The River of Oblivion flows beneath the Bridge of Helplessness with eerie, dark blue waves, reflecting a similar blue hue onto the surrounding trees and rocks.

Beside the Bridge of Helplessness stood an old woman with gray hair, wrapped in a tattered brown-gray robe, her large hood casting shadows over her face. She was hunched over, serving soup to passersby.

Yun Tianjiao never expected that Zhiwei, who was joking yesterday about introducing her to Meng Po, would actually meet her in person today.

The legend of Meng Po is well-known in the mortal world, and Yun Tianjiao was a little scared for a moment, not daring to go up and talk to her.

Zhiwei suggested, "Why don't we wait at the bridgehead for a while? It shouldn't be long before Meng Po finishes her work, making it easier to talk then."

Yun Tianjiao was dumbfounded. "Get off work...? Meng Po can get off work?"

Zhiwei was amused by Yun Tianjiao's appearance. "That's natural. The Ghost Realm isn't the Heavenly Realm."

Yun Tianjiao pondered it carefully and felt that the gods of the heavens had been scolded by Zhiwei again.

The two stood by the River of Oblivion, and sure enough, it didn't take long before two ghost messengers blocked the Bridge of Helplessness at one end, telling the ghosts who wanted to cross the bridge that the Bridge of Helplessness was closed for the day, and that if they wanted to cross the bridge to be reincarnated at the Rebirth Boundary Marker, they would have to come back tomorrow.

The ghosts waiting to cross the bridge formed a long queue. Those at the end of the queue were alright, but those who were about to cross the bridge all cursed and swore when they heard that the Bridge of Helplessness was closed today. Some of the bolder ones even planned to force their way through.

"There's no soup left today, come back tomorrow." Meng Po's voice was hoarse, like the rattling of a broken bellows. She was already carrying a carrying pole and a soup pot on her shoulder, slowly walking towards the bridge.

Those troublemakers still wouldn't give up. Seeing that the two ghost messengers were about to lose control and let them rush onto the bridge, the trembling and withered Meng Po walked up to them and casually swung her carrying pole, lifting up the big guys and throwing them into the River of Oblivion.

The River of Oblivion was icy cold, and suddenly a series of ghostly wails and howls echoed from below.

The onlookers retreated in unison and scattered.

Meng Po, however, continued to move slowly, as if she needed someone to help her at any moment, carrying the soup pot and walking forward unsteadily.

"This is my friend. He wants to ask you about someone." Zhiwei led Yun Tianjiao straight up and asked without any formalities.

Meng Po tilted her head slightly under her hood, seemingly glancing at Zhiwei, but said nothing and continued on her way.

However, it is quite obvious that Meng Po and Zhiwei are quite familiar with each other.

The two followed Meng Po, and Yun Tianjiao took out a portrait of Shen Qiongzhi that he had prepared in advance. "Old lady, have you ever seen this person cross the Bridge of Helplessness?"

Meng Po glanced at it and shook her head. "Never seen it before."

Yun Tianjiao was not giving up. "Perhaps she died a tragic death and her appearance has changed. She is not as beautiful as she was when she was alive. Please take a closer look."

Meng Po, however, showed impatience, saying, "I've already said I've never seen them. As long as someone has drunk my Meng Po soup, no matter what they look like before or after death, I will not mistake them."

Seeing Meng Po speak with such certainty, Yun Tianjiao felt a glimmer of hope rise in his heart and asked Zhiwei expectantly, "Could it be that Shen Qiongzhi is not dead yet?"

Meng Po sneered and immediately poured cold water on the idea, saying, "That's not necessarily true. Maybe this little girl doesn't want to be reincarnated and has chosen to stay in the ghost realm."

Yun Tianjiao also realized that he had been too concerned and made a mistake. But the Ghost Realm was so vast, and there were so many ghosts, how could he possibly find Shen Qiongzhi? He couldn't just search for a needle in a haystack.

At this moment, Meng Po turned into a secluded alley, far away from the bustling streets, and the surroundings instantly became quiet.

She straightened up, no longer hunched over like an old woman. Then, she tore off her tattered robe, the wrinkled human skin on her face, and the gray wig on her head, transforming herself into a handsome, fair-skinned young man with red lips and white teeth.

Yun Tianjiao: "..."

She looked at Zhiwei.

Isn't that Meng Po? Where is she?!

The young man ignored Yun Tianjiao's surprise, tidied up his clothes haphazardly, and then, looking annoyed, pulled out an official robe and an official hat from the broken basket containing the soup pot, and put them on carelessly.

Zhiwei watched coldly, waiting for the young man to finish his work before clearing her throat and introducing him to Yun Tianjiao: "This is Xiao Yan, the judge of the Ghost Realm, who also serves as Meng Po."

Yun Tianjiao: "..."