The Sealed Beasts of the Divine Realm, Part 10
Xie Guijin explained, "Gathering good people twice in such a short period of time is probably too deliberate. Fortunately, Qiongqi likes to eat not only good people but also the noses of evil people, so this time we'll start with the evil people."
"Let's go find the Empress," Xie Guijin said, glancing at the night sky before hesitating, "It's so late, she must be asleep, right?"
Xue Linchuan looked at Xie Guijin gently and said, "No, His Majesty is busy with official duties every day and only rests late at night. It is not yet time for him to go to bed."
Upon arriving at the palace, the Empress was indeed not yet in bed.
After exchanging polite greetings, Xie Guijin apologized, saying, "I am sorry to disturb Your Majesty by visiting so late at night."
"It's alright," the Empress said unconcerned, then asked with concern, "What happened at this hour?"
Xie Guijin then recounted the events in general terms, concluding with a shameful statement: "It's all my fault."
"Miss Xie, please don't say that," the Empress looked at Xie Guijin with admiration in her eyes. "Although you only mentioned that Taotie was sealed and didn't seem to be injured, I believe you must have paid a great price. On behalf of the human race, I thank you."
Xie Guijin repeatedly declined, saying, "I dare not accept such an honor."
"Actually, we came here to ask Your Majesty for help in capturing Qiongqi." Xie Guijin didn't want to dwell on this topic and changed the subject to the important matter.
Xie Guijin explained her initial thoughts and concluded, "I know there are some inappropriate aspects, but this is a matter of expediency. I hope the court will establish relevant systems and improve the legal framework in the future."
“This will severely damage the prestige of the court,” the Empress said after a moment of contemplation. “Very well, go ahead and do it, but it cannot be done by civilian organizations. This must be changed.”
As the Empress pondered, she said, "Here's what we'll do. Before I set off tomorrow, I'll take the chefs who are participating in the competition to pray for blessings. I'll ask our ancestors to punish evil and promote good, creating the illusion of our ancestors descending to earth. After that, you go to the Minister of Justice, and she'll give you the list. Then it's up to you."
"I'm afraid future generations will follow suit," Xie Guijin said, not revealing his true intentions.
The Empress smiled broadly and said frankly, "Our ancestors expanded the territory and established the Great Zhou for the sake of the common people. If any royal descendant imitates what I do tomorrow, it is fine if she does it for the country and the people. But if she does it for her own selfish desires, she will be punished. Even if she loses her life, it is her own fault. Miss Xie need not worry about this."
Xie Guijin listened, but was not completely relieved. She pondered and said, "Why don't we not create a false impression tomorrow? Your Majesty only needs to issue a secret decree to the Minister of Justice. After we capture Qiongqi, Your Majesty can then use the excuse that the Great Zhou Emperor Taizu appeared to Your Majesty in a dream to change the whole story into a version that can educate the people and announce it to the world."
"You're afraid Qiongqi will sense it beforehand." The Empress nodded and said, "That's fine, let's do it your way."
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty," Xie and Xue said gratefully.
"Ultimately, it's all for the sake of the people. If we let Qiongqi run rampant, the harm will be even greater." The Empress spoke frankly, then asked, "Tomorrow is also the Culinary God Competition. When are you going to the Lieshan Divine Realm?"
"I'll get there before the competition ends," Xie Guijin said with a light smile, "but His Majesty probably won't recognize me then."
"Oh?" The Empress raised an eyebrow, but did not ask any further questions.
After bidding farewell to the Empress, Xie Guijin and Xue Linchuan finally returned to their mountain villa on the outskirts of Luojin City.
Even though they were exhausted, the two did not forget to transform into the siblings of the Marquis of Duanjin's mansion and ride back on horseback.
The servants in the manor were all waiting.
In feudal times, the hierarchy was strict, and it was not unusual for servants to wait for their masters. But it was surprising that the master of the Listening Wind Pavilion was also waiting.
Meeting the puzzled gazes, the leader of the Seeking Pavilion bowed and said, "I was ordered to deliver the person to you two esteemed gentlemen and to pay my respects. I only found out that you were not here when I arrived. I originally intended to come and pay my respects again tomorrow, but a sudden downpour prevented me from leaving, so I had to wait for the rain to stop. However, by the time the rain stopped, the city gates were about to close, so I had no choice but to shamelessly stay here. I hope you two will forgive me."
“There are plenty of guest rooms, so it’s no problem for the Pavilion Master to stay here for the night,” Xie Guijin said upon hearing this. “However, since the Pavilion Master hasn’t returned all night, I wonder if the Lord will be worried? Should we send someone to deliver a message to the Lord?”
The master of Xunzong Pavilion knew that closing the city gates was only effective for ordinary people, and useless for a young lady from a noble family like Xie Guijin. She said that sending someone to deliver a message meant that the message could be delivered.
But what exactly did Xie Guijin mean by those words?
The Master of the Seeking Pavilion is a smart man, and smart men sometimes overthink things.
For example, right now, the leader of Xunzong Pavilion couldn't understand whether Xie Guijin's words were simply well-intentioned or a warning to her not to use Tingfenglou's methods to send messages in her territory. After all, Tingfenglou's spies had indeed followed Xie Guijin and her companion and monitored this manor before.
"Sect Master?" Xie Guijin asked softly, puzzled. "Is this question so difficult to answer? I didn't seem to be distracted. You could have just said something if you needed to. Is it because I don't know any ancient common sense?"
Xie Guijin was thinking about all sorts of random things.
The Pavilion Master of Seeking Traces bowed and said, "I dare not trouble you. The Pavilion Master knows that I came here to see two distinguished guests, and seeing the heavy rain, she will know that I will not go back in front of the city gate. She will not worry."
Xie Guijin noticed the hair ornament on the head of the Seeking Pavilion Master's head, which shimmered slightly in the moonlight with her movements and looked quite beautiful. She thought to herself, "Indeed, our ancestors had the best taste."
“In that case,” Xie Guijin turned to his servants and said, “Take the guests to their rooms to rest.”
Watching the departing figures of the group, Xie Guijin's mind raced as she thought, "If Xue Linchuan and I don't come back tonight, are these people going to have to wait here all night? The newly bought maid isn't very clever."
Despite her thoughts, Xie Guijin had no intention of punishing the servants. Firstly, she was a modern person and didn't have such a strong sense of master-servant hierarchy. Secondly, since they hadn't returned, it was understandable that the servants wouldn't dare to make decisions on their own. Thirdly, even if the servants asked, she doubted that the Pavilion Master and the others would wait for their return before going to rest.
Xie Guijin was exhausted after a long day and had just gone through a life-or-death struggle. She had no interest in sparring with Xue Linchuan, so she said goodbye to him and went back to her room to get a good night's sleep to recover.
Lying on the soft bed, she finally felt like she had escaped death. Although she was very sleepy, her mind was extremely excited, and she couldn't fall asleep no matter what.
The system then asked, "Host, why did you ask the Pavilion Master of Xunzong such a question just now? She's an adult, not a child. Why would the Pavilion Master of Tingfeng Tower worry about her?"
"Sigh, an undisciplined mind is just so effective," Xie Guijin sighed, turning the pages over and over.
"Host!"
"Ah, don't misunderstand, I'm not being sarcastic," Xie Guijin said casually, lying on the pillow with her eyes closed. "I've misunderstood. The ancient times I'm in now are not the ancient times I thought I only knew a little about. I was thinking that the Pavilion Master of Xunzong Pavilion would be worried about a young woman not returning home late at night."
The system calmed down: "Host, you're overthinking it. This is not only an ancient world with an empress, but also a world where six realms coexist and know each other. The human race is not so weak. Tingfeng Tower has stood strong in the martial world for many years, and the dignified Master of Xunzong Pavilion has no problem protecting himself."
Xie Guijin gave a perfunctory reply. Unable to fall asleep even lying down, she was so upset that she sat up and opened the window to look at the moonlight and starry sky.
The system asked curiously, "Host, wasn't your original world like this? In ancient times, women weren't allowed to go out at night?"
"Not entirely. It varied from dynasty to dynasty, but generally speaking, it wasn't 100% safe for women to go out at night," Xie Guijin replied truthfully, gazing at the Milky Way.
After a while, she continued, "Actually, even in my modern world, where it is already very safe, women can still be harmed, and it doesn't necessarily have to be at night. What's ridiculous is that once something happens, people often criticize her for things like not going out at night, not dressing provocatively, or not flirting with men, as if the victim is the real perpetrator."
As Xie Guijin spoke, her eyes widened and her chest began to heave violently.
"Host, what's wrong? Are you alright?" The system, which lacked gender awareness and a concrete sense of personal safety, could only sense that Xie Guijin seemed angry, but could not understand what Xie Guijin was angry about.
Before Xie Guijin could answer, Xue Linchuan gently knocked on the door and said, "Guijin, are you asleep? I made some calming soup, would you like some?"
Xie Guijin got out of bed, grabbed an outer robe and put it on, then opened the door to invite Xue Linchuan in.
As she walked into the house, she asked, "How did you know I wasn't asleep yet?"
After saying that, he slapped his forehead and laughed at himself, "Oh dear, I'm so stupid. This room is so bright, how could you not have guessed?"
"I just came here to try it out. Maybe you'll fall asleep if the light's on," Xue Linchuan said with a smile, as he sat down opposite Xie Guijin and handed her the bowl of soup.
Xie Guijin took a sip and found it wasn't bitter, just a little hot. So she took a spoon and sipped it, saying as she drank, "Now we're like immortals, we don't need to sleep."
When Xue Linchuan saw that she said she could stay awake, but kept drinking the calming soup, he felt a sharp pain in his heart.
He looked at Xie Guijin, who was drinking her medicine with a pained expression, and said slowly, "But you just went through a fierce battle and need to rest. We are human beings, and we should sleep when we are tired."
Xie Guijin hummed in response, took another sip of soup, and then realized what Xue Linchuan had said. She gripped the soup spoon, not daring to look up at Xue Linchuan, and didn't understand why she felt guilty.
Seeing this, Xue Linchuan felt even more sorry for Xie Guijin, but amidst this pity, he also found Xie Guijin's motionless and guilty appearance quite adorable.
He then changed the subject, saying, "Drink it quickly, don't let it get cold, or the medicine won't be as effective."
"Oh," Xie Guijin replied, and obediently finished the calming soup.
Xue Linchuan then brought her a rinsing bowl and asked her to rinse her mouth.
Xie Guijin obediently did as instructed.
Xue Linchuan helped Xie Guijin back to bed and sat down beside her, saying, "Sleep now, I'll stay here and watch over you, don't be afraid."
“I’m not scared,” Xie Guijin quickly clarified, “I’m just a little angry and can’t sleep.”
“Anger?” Xue Linchuan was puzzled. He had thought that Xie Guijin couldn’t sleep because she was still afraid of the battle with Taotie, but he didn’t know where the anger came from.
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