endless disputes
The situation was chaotic, with arguments raging on all sides. In the distance, the Emperor and his entourage were using the main hall of the Mountain and Sea Academy, where the disciples gathered, as their imperial court.
Elegance transformed into desire, selfishness, and a thirst for power, which were born from sin.
Xu knew this all too well, and she told herself that it was just a scheme, nothing more.
A scheme to give her hopes a foundation; to turn those hopes into reality, she needs to pay some insignificant price.
“A-niang.”
Now she is caught in the middle between the two, torn between them, both of whom are her mothers who raised her.
"You've been busy for a long time, you don't need to worry about this." Sui He said softly, "Zi Rong and Xiao Kai take A Xu downstairs. Don't meddle in adults' affairs."
"It's alright, I'll talk to her. After all, she's your mother by blood." Jiang Li stroked Sui Zhixu's face and said reproachfully, "Look how cold your face is, go inside and warm up."
Jiang Li and Sui He occasionally met each other's eyes, both wearing expressions of disdain. Jiang Li was not as good at hiding her feelings as Sui He, and her attitude was obvious. Sui He, upholding his position as the head of the Sui family, restrained himself and decided not to stoop to her level.
Chu Feixuan was unaware of the situation and knew that saying too much would only make things worse, so he remained silent for the time being.
Seeing this, Puyang Kai whispered something to the small parrot in his hand, and it shouted at the top of its lungs, "Come inside! Come inside! It's cold! It's cold!"
Sui He laughed and said, "The birds are all inviting you in. We're not going to fight, so there's no need for you to be so nervous."
"Cousin, I haven't seen you in so long!" Sui Chengyu said coquettishly, holding Sui Zhixu's hand.
“That makes sense. You should change your clothes too, otherwise you’ll catch a cold in this freezing weather. A-Ling will have to hibernate indoors like Xiao-Qing.” Fan Lingzhang put his arm around Sui Zhixu’s shoulder and pretended to push her inside.
"I am not a snake, I do not hibernate."
"That's why you should get some rest."
"Stop, stop, stop." Sui Zhixu stopped them, her expression calm and indifferent. "I'm not a child. There's nothing I can't say to my face. Besides, you only have a superficial understanding. If I leave, you'll make a mess of things again."
"I won't mess it up!" Jiang Li feigned displeasure.
I don't believe it.
Jiang Li: "?"
Sui He's brows relaxed, and his every smile revealed his joy. "After all, the Holy Maiden has lived in the Miao region, which is isolated from the outside world, so it is understandable that she is not familiar with Chang'an."
"the same as you."
"Huh? Me?" Having served as the head of the family for many years, cultivating his character and temperament, he had never been speechless before.
Jiang Li glanced at Sui He, "Tch, aren't you the same?"
The provocation was obvious to everyone, but before Sui He's smile reached his eyes, the gentle warmth in his eyes had already turned to ice.
"What did you say?" Her voice remained gentle, with a soft, soothing tone at the end.
The atmosphere appeared calm on the surface, but undercurrents were turbulent.
Do you need me to repeat it?
"Don't fight, don't fight." Fan Lingzhang and Puyang Kai each pulled one of them, while the "culprit" looked up at the sky and rubbed his forehead.
"It was my fault; I didn't choose my words carefully. I apologize to you all. Please don't fight, okay?"
She raised her bright eyes to meet theirs; the peach blossoms seemed to be immersed in water, holding two pools of clear spring water, sparkling and radiant. Her tail lifted, dispelling her indifferent expression and leaving behind an unconscious softness.
"Mother."
She softened her voice as well, and sure enough, Jiang Li and Sui He turned around. Although they disliked each other, they ultimately did not leave.
A cunning glint flashed in her eyes from the shadows; she knew this trick always worked.
Sui Zhixu took their hands in hers and said, "I just want you to be safe and sound."
She set her sights on the powerful families in the distance, determined to drag them down with her at all costs, not so that her own family members would be sent to their deaths.
"One who eats the king's food must serve the king faithfully." A dark glint flashed in her eyes, and deep within, a barely perceptible evasion lingered.
Many powerful families used their influence to annex and control land, shifting the burden of taxes onto the common people.
“I know you have a grudge against each other. The matter of Jingzhou is Sima Xian’s fault. Ah Niang is just like that by nature. If you have to blame someone, blame me. I will take her to atone for the innocent people who died tragically in Jingzhou.”
"As for Zirong, it's his own fault for being careless." Sui Zhixu pretended to hit him, but Fan Lingzhang grabbed his hand and held it in his palm, blowing on it.
"Please don't be angry anymore. I can only feel at ease if you're all doing well."
"She's one thing, but my martial arts, while not as good as Xin Yi's, are not bad either. You're not allowed to act alone. Do you think I'm stupid enough not to understand what you're up to?"
Jiang Li grabbed Sui Zhixu's arm with her other hand. "You must know how many people are in Chang'an. The Prince Wei you mentioned is tyrannical and unreasonable. If he really wants to kill you, he won't stop even if Gu Qingyi pleads for you in front of him."
“I didn’t know that the Prince Wei you’re talking about was him. You’re too young to know. Back then, this marriage was originally between Ye Taoyao and Chu Ye. Ye Taoyao was unhappy with the marriage arranged by Prime Minister Ye and ran away. Chu Ye initially met with Sima Xian in secret with the intention of breaking the alliance. If it weren’t for Gu Qingyi and me keeping him calm, the Xuanping Prince’s Mansion would no longer exist.”
"Could it be a love potion?"
"Uh, no, that's not it." Jiang Li pinched her cheek in annoyance. "You little rascal, always thinking about frivolous things. I rarely use Gu worms to deal with people."
Sui Zhixu nodded frantically, while Sui He stepped forward and slapped Jiang Li's hand away, "You're so rough, Ah Xu's face is all red, how are you going to raise a child?"
“She was well-fed and healthy in my care, and her clothes were made of the finest materials, with patterns embroidered by me personally. We were getting along very well. Unlike you, your clan rules and regulations seem to outlive you. Ah Ling was so happy traveling the world with me. You kept her confined to the cramped Chang'an and still have the nerve to say I can’t raise a child well.”
Sui He: "Happy? How can she be happy when she's been forced step by step like this?"
Sui Zhixu: "Oh dear, oh dear."
The two started arguing again, and Puyang Kai and Fan Lingzhang stepped forward, each getting slapped away by Jiang Li.
Xu Fei quickly grabbed them, preventing them from falling into danger.
"Thank you, junior sister."
"Senior brother, are you alright?"
Puyang Kai smiled and shook his head, then circled around in front of Sui Zhixu to indicate that he was alright.
"I'm fine too!" Fan Lingzhang patted his chest and smiled broadly.
As Xu Zhixu was amused by him, her heart had been in her throat for a moment. She pressed her hand to her chest, as if the thoughts from her past life were constantly pulling her, amplifying her emotions.
"Ah Ling, what's wrong?" Jiang Li caught a glimpse of Sui Zhixu clutching her chest out of the corner of her eye. Ignoring Sui He, she quickly helped her up. "Did I just hurt you?!"
Sui Zhixu shook her head and sighed slightly, "The problem with mortals is that they are blinded by a single song and obscured by the greater truth. You are all right, and it is not appropriate to talk about these things now, but I still want to say that no matter which mother or what kind of life, the most important thing is people."
“I love you all very much. I know you have concerns and distrust of each other, but please believe me, okay? I understand my feelings. Every bit of love I feel from you is real. I love the carefree life of the martial world because Ah Niang protects me, and I can protect myself within the clan rules because my mother stands in front of me. There is no better one than the other. To me, you all hold the most important place in my heart.”
"They are all my family, please don't hurt them." This was said to Jiang Li.
"My sweetheart." Jiang Li hugged Sui Zhixu. Sui He was a step behind and didn't say anything.
"Don't call me that, I'm all grown up now."
"No matter how old they are, they are all Ah-niang's good sons."
Puyang Kai smiled, but was glared at by Sui Zhixu. Fan Lingzhang, sitting upright on the other side, was also glared at by her.
Fan Lingzhang touched his nose. Fine, anything he said at this point would be wrong, and he shouldn't have heard anything.
“People have different habits and should not be compared. This was my mistake, and I hope the Holy Maiden will forgive me.”
"Same as above..."
Xu Taohua smiled and poked Jiang Li's waist. "Continue."
"I just had Xiaoqing hang him up. I didn't expect that such a strong man would be afraid of snakes. Sima Xian was afraid that he would cause trouble for me, so he quickly let me run away. I didn't expect that he would fall deeply in love with Gu Qingyi later. So the marriage fell to Gu Qingyi."
As Xu Zhixu's eyes darted around, she roughly guessed what was going on.
Gu Qingyi...
"Chu Ye is no good person. I just heard that he is ruthless in dealing with foreign prisoners while guarding the northern lands."
"But I'm going to Chang'an."
The four of them spoke in unison, "No!"
"Not only are the flowers red and the willows green, but there are also many people, even Yueling is still in Chang'an. I have my own plans. I still have old grudges with the Sima family, which can only be resolved by me, so that this disaster can end sooner."
Sui He: "You want to get involved yourself?"
“Junior Sister has already gathered the members of the aristocratic families. Although they are not yet of one mind, the defeat of Prince Xuanping is inevitable. He cannot possibly fight against the entire aristocratic family of Daqi alone. Why should Junior Sister risk her life?”
"Let them do the work, why does my cousin have to do it?"
Jiang Li nodded in agreement, while Fan Lingzhang, unusually, remained silent.
"We cannot make hasty judgments." Sui Zhixu remained vigilant at all times. "He has been lying low for many years and is very shrewd. He also has the Prince of Wei and his fierce generals. The Prince of Wei is not from a prestigious family. He served in the army from a lowly soldier to a general and followed the late emperor in establishing the dynasty. He may not be afraid of aristocratic families. I brought up aristocratic families not for this reason."
"And he alone is fighting against Uncle Chu and General Zhonglang, which is not to be underestimated."
Chu Feixuan was finally able to speak. He pondered for a moment and said, "Indeed, the Prince of Wei is born with superhuman strength and has many military strategies. In addition, Lady Gu is a brilliant strategist. We cannot underestimate the enemy."
"Mother, I have things to do."
Jiang Li was most vulnerable to her, but it always happened too coincidentally; whenever she was away, her child would always disappear.
"Take it." Sui He took the token from his waist and handed it to her.
The scenes were so similar. Not long ago, she had just received the order to become the head of the family from Xiao Furong, and now she had received the order from her mother.
"Having made up your mind, then take the family head's order with you. The pinnacle of power may well be a barrier."
“I’ll go with you, but Liu Lu and Wen Ke won’t be there for you. How can I leave you at ease?”
Xu said sternly, "No way!"
"You're afraid they'll come after me? I'll just throw some bugs at them."
"no!"
Jiang Li raised her voice, "As you wish!"
"No means no." Sui Zhixu would never change her mind. She knew Jiang Li; once the other party used her as a scapegoat, Jiang Li would lose his mind.
“I know every blade of grass and every tree in the Xuanping Prince’s mansion. No one is more suitable than me, and Ye Taoyao is there. What I didn’t finish back then, I must finish myself.”
"Cousin..." Sui Chengyu wanted to speak up to dissuade her, but Puyang Kai stopped her.
"Why are you stopping me? Chang'an is so dangerous right now. If it weren't for the secret passage that Duke Pei created on a whim back then, how could we have gotten out? Besides, now that Lord Chu and the General are fighting with him in the streets, Chang'an must be heavily guarded. They still need Dan Hong's medicine. What if my cousin is found out alone? What if she gets hurt?"
"Junior Sister's heart..."
Sui Chengyu shook off Pu Yangkai and walked up to Fan Lingzhang. She was furious and couldn't say anything harsh to her own sister, but she was naturally unrestrained towards him. "Why didn't you say a word? Did you just watch your cousin jump into the fire pit? Humph, as expected of the loyal and righteous Master Fan, he still cares about Madam Lu and the Sima family."
"Chengyu!"
Her words were so forceful that Sui He and Chu Feixuan turned and glanced carefully at the Emperor in the distance to make sure they hadn't heard.
Sui Chengyu realized he had made a mistake, lowered his head and said in a muffled voice, "I'm sorry, I misspoke."
"It's alright." Sui Zhixu stepped forward and patted her head. "Go find Awan and the others to play, or ask Sui Chuke for help. Prince Wei can't beat me."
"real?"
"Of course it's true, why would I lie to you? People always have to work harder when they get to middle age. My cousin is more talented than them, and she's younger than them, so what's wrong with that? Listen to me, go find them."
Chu Feixuan: "..."
After coaxing Sui Chengyu away, Xu grabbed Fan Lingzhang's hand and ran away, saying, "Just like that, I took the token."
Finding a secluded spot, she stopped and turned to look at him, saying, "Finally, some peace and quiet."
"Why are you looking so sad? Are you going to try to persuade me like they do, to tell me not to go, saying how dangerous it is there? You yourself said that I'm going on a journey alone."
"I know, so there's no need to comfort me." Fan Lingzhang slipped his hand from hers and sighed softly.
"I was just thinking that you've taken on a lot of responsibilities since you became the young master of the Sui family. You're calm, composed, strong, and reliable... I shouldn't be causing you trouble at this time."
“I only used this to appease my two mothers, why did you take it to heart?” Sui Zhixu found a clean place and pulled him to sit down.
Fan Lingzhang didn't say anything, he just hugged her. The fragrance of jasmine wafted from the sachet, lingering around them.
“Okay, I’m a little unhappy.” Sui Zhixu hugged him back. “I can save Mother, I can save them, but I can’t save Thirteenth Sister.”
Thirteen Sister is her yesterday, something she can never forget. She can change everything today, but everything yesterday is in the past, residing only in her memory.
“I have to go eventually. Yueling stayed at the Imperial Preceptor’s Hall because she wanted me to go.”
"Are you leaving tonight?" Fan Lingzhang sniffed, his voice slightly hoarse.
"Yes, don't worry. I've asked A-Lian and San-Lang for help; no one will bully you."
She believed Ah Lian's words.
Fan Lingzhang scoffed, "Am I that fragile? Why would anyone bully me?"
"It's certainly useful for me to let you buy grain, but we can't let them order you around doing the work."
"I know."
Sui Zhixu nestled in Fan Lingzhang's arms, thinking that once everything was resolved, they could be together forever.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com