Chapter 277 Zou Qian is simply vicious
This brief scene didn't reveal much. Zhong Lique rubbed her aching forehead and said to the snow squirrel that had flown back onto her shoulder, "Go outside and keep watch. If anyone comes, wake me up."
She pointed her index finger at the snow squirrel's head.
The snow squirrel obediently went outside to guard the gate.
Zhong Lique took a deep breath, and after calming down, picked up the sacred wooden divination stick again, attempting to divine the future once more.
She tried several more times, but could only see overlapping and distorted shadows on the ground. Something was moving within that dark mass, but unfortunately, Zhongli Que knew too little about the various schools of martial arts, so even if she saw it, she wouldn't know what it represented or where the problem lay.
When Zhong Lique changed to gripping the sacred wooden talisman tightly with both hands, the snow flying rat flew back and pecked her forehead, signaling her to look outside.
The maid has returned.
Zhong Lique put away the sacred wood token and rubbed his slightly dizzy head.
"Miss," the maid returned and saw her looking unwell and asked anxiously, "Is something wrong? I'll go and call the doctor right away!"
Zhong Lique was feeling dizzy and couldn't stop her.
The maid went to find Zhong Li Ci, and soon Zhong Li Ci returned with the physician.
When Zhongli Ci arrived with his men, Zhongli Que had already obediently sat back down on the bedside. After the physician took her pulse and examined her, he whispered to Zhongli Ci, "General, Miss's energy is depleted. Her injuries have not yet healed, and her strength has not fully recovered, which is why she is dizzy."
The general dismissed the physician, leaving only the father and daughter in the room. Zhongli Ci then stared at Zhongli Que and asked, "What were you doing just now?"
Zhong Lique knew she couldn't hide it from her father, and somewhat afraid, she lowered her head and answered softly, "...Qi cultivation and meditation."
Zhongli Ci could sense his daughter's fear, and without a word, he reached out and touched Zhongli Que's head.
When she was a child, she only picked up a feathered arrow that had fallen to the ground, which alarmed the palace and led to her being punished. This incident left a deep shadow in Zhongli Que's heart.
Zhongli Que was afraid of the Qingyang royal family after being punished for picking up the feathered arrow. Later, after Jinzhi saw him holding a sword, he developed a fear of swords.
She was afraid of many things, but she couldn't show it at all, and even Yu Sui couldn't tell her these things.
Everyone in this world has their own secrets.
Zhong Lique couldn't be sure whether her father would protect her after she told Zhong Lici about the abilities she had acquired, or whether he would make her consider the family's interests and completely disable her abilities as a precaution.
After all, even she herself was afraid of implicating other members of her family.
But for Madam Sun's sake, Zhongli Que had no choice but to speak.
“Father.” As Zhong Li Ci walked over, Zhong Li Que reached out and grabbed his sleeve, just like when she was a child and she would act coquettishly towards her father. However, she did not dare to look up at Zhong Li Ci. “When I meditate, I see many strange images.”
Zhongli Ci froze upon hearing this. Zhongli Que didn't dare to look up, so he squatted down to look at Zhongli Que's face and asked in a deep voice, "What did you see?"
“I saw my mother slip and fall into the water, so I told her to avoid the water disaster.”
"On the night that the Sage Changsun came, I saw her come to the General's Mansion again the next day. Later, she talked to people about my talent in military strategy, which aroused His Majesty's suspicion, and he summoned me to the palace for questioning."
"That's why I left the General's Mansion and went to Shuiyang Mountain, hoping to avoid meeting Sage Changsun."
Zhong Lique spoke each word with great difficulty, her hand gripping Zhong Lici's sleeve tightening as she forced herself to continue: "Just now... I saw Mother go to see Chu Jin again. She and Chu Jin stood together, without the slightest hint of animosity."
She mustered her courage and looked up at Zhong Li Ci. Seeing that her father's expression remained calm and he did not blame her, she continued, "But I saw something strange about my mother's shadow, but I didn't know what was strange about it. It was as if something was hidden in her shadow. The way she looked at Chu Jin... was as if she regarded Chu Jin as her own child."
Before this, she had told Madam Sun that Chu Jin was somewhat suspicious, but she didn't have any concrete evidence. Madam Sun would verbally agree each time, but in practice she still favored Chu Jin.
Zhong Lique thought that it was because Chu Jin had saved her mother before and had performed perfectly in front of her mother, without making any mistakes in her actions or words, that her mother liked her very much.
Zhong Lique was also troubled by her mother's favoritism towards Chu Jin, but now it seems that this favoritism was not entirely Madam Sun's original intention.
"Will Mother be alright?" Zhong Lique looked at Zhong Lici anxiously. "You can blame me for hiding this ability, but please, you must protect Mother... she..."
Before Zhongli Que could finish speaking, Zhongli Ci grabbed her and hugged her tightly.
"Don't be afraid." Zhong Li Ci's calm voice rang out above her head, instantly soothing her heart. "Since you possess power, you must learn to tame it."
Zhong Lique leaned against her father's chest for a moment, then realized the meaning behind his words and her eyes welled up with tears.
She told Zhong Li Ci about the pre-planned events of the past years, but concealed everything related to Yu Sui.
After Zhongli Ci waited for her to calm down, he asked her again about the divination related to Madam Sun. Knowing that Zhongli Que couldn't distinguish between the various schools of divination, he patiently explained the three arts of witchcraft, sorcery, and poison to her.
This was the first time her father had explained the world of the Nine Schools of Swords to her. Usually, she could only listen to sword techniques from the sidelines. Zhongli Que was truly flattered and took it very seriously.
After Zhongli Que calmed down and fell asleep from exhaustion, Zhongli Ci went back to see Madam Sun.
The doctors were all there, not leaving, but they were also helpless with Madam Sun's condition, unable to find anything unusual. When Zhong Li Ci returned, he reported the results: "We couldn't find any signs of poison on Madam Sun. If it were a pupil technique, I would have been able to detect it within six months."
Zhong Li Ci then asked, "How is her physical condition?"
The army medic replied, "There's nothing seriously wrong, she's just been a bit distraught lately because of Miss's situation."
Zhong Li Ci gazed at the bedroom behind the screen and said in a low voice, "Continue to monitor the Madam's condition until the problem is found."
"yes."
Zhong Li Ci walked around the screen and saw Madam Sun sitting at the table. After all the commotion today, she knew something must have gone wrong. Upon seeing Zhong Li Ci, she asked, "Have you found anything?"
Zhong Li Ci shook his head.
Madam Sun was both worried and frightened. She stood up and said, "Have I caused you and Que'er any trouble?"
She seemed a little anxious: "Why didn't you tell me anything? No, no, it's better if you don't tell me, lest they hear from me and think, 'Did I do something bad?'"
Zhong Li Ci took her hand, helped her sit down, and comforted her, "Nothing's wrong, don't overthink it."
Meeting Madam Sun's worried and self-reproachful gaze, he calmly said, "I told you a long time ago, don't be afraid of making mistakes, and don't take the blame for other people's mistakes."
"If someone uses underhanded tactics to manipulate you or do something to you, then they deserve to die."
Madam Sun listened in silence for a long while before softly saying, "Even if you say that... how can I forgive myself if I really harm you or the children?"
Zhongli Ci said, "If I and the children get hurt because of you, it is because of my incompetence. If the Zhongli family can be completely destroyed because of you, then everyone in the Zhongli family is incompetent. Incompetence is destined to be like this, so who can we blame?"
Madam Sun's eyes widened upon hearing this, feeling both amused and exasperated. She said helplessly, "Don't let me go out anytime soon. I'm genuinely scared. Even now, I don't want to hear a single bad word about Chu Jin from you."
“Okay.” Zhongli Ci had originally planned to keep her from leaving the General’s Mansion until the matter was clarified.
As for Chu Jin and the Nangong family, they will also behave themselves for a while.
Therefore, Lady Sun claimed to be ill and refused all the visiting cards that were sent to her.
Zhongli Ci was busy with official duties, leaving early and returning late. He was either in the palace or at the military stronghold. After returning to the general's mansion, he would spend time with his wife and daughter.
For various reasons, both the Zhongli family and the Nangong family chose to take a break for a period of time.
News from the capital of Qingyang will not reach Taiyi in the short term.
After learning that Zhongli Que would be alright, Yu Sui focused on training the mountain spirit, allowing it to corrupt and infiltrate the Listening Wind Rulers of the people from the other countries. Once they returned, the spirit would then enter the mountains of those countries and continue to spread.
The palace servants frequently visited the General's residence under the guise of delivering medicine. Just in case, Zhongli Que hadn't prepared a new Wind-Listening Ruler. In the evenings, Yu Sui would have a brief chat with Su Feng, learning about Zhongli Que and the Nangong Prince's residence from him.
Su Feng said, "If your third brother knew what happened in the capital, he would definitely rush back immediately."
Yu Sui: "You can't hide this from him."
After hesitating for a moment, Su Feng told Yu Sui that Han Bing had known about Qing Kui's existence for a long time.
Yu Sui had more or less guessed it, so it wasn't surprising.
Su Feng asked, "If Sheng Fei insists on coming back once the news reaches Taiyi, what about you?"
“I won’t be going back for now,” Yu Sui replied. “If Third Brother insists on going back now, then he can only go back on his own.”
Unless Nangong Ming insists that she go back.
Su Feng thought it was better if she didn't come back for the time being, so as to avoid seeing Madam Su taking such good care of Qing Kui.
Before the news reached Taiyi, Sheng Fei knew nothing about it. He found it absurd that Mei Liangyu liked Yu Sui and was trying to find a way to cause trouble for Mei Liangyu.
Unexpectedly, because of the matter of the ancient stele forest and the fragments of the pagoda, people came to him every day wanting to cooperate with him to decipher the ancient inscriptions, which made Sheng Fei have no time to cause trouble for Mei Liangyu.
Yu Sui spent her days tinkering with the wind-listening ruler in her residence, and Mei Liangyu would bring her food every day without fail.
Mei Liangyu couldn't help but say, "I feel like I'm visiting someone in prison."
Across the table, Yu Sui, biting into a meat bun, looked up at him in surprise.
Mei Liangyu said irritably, "Eat yours."
Yu Sui said, "I can't go out and wander around, it would be troublesome if I were suspected."
Mei Liangyu: "Master will be back tomorrow."
Yu Sui immediately said, "Then I want to go to the Ghost Path Holy Hall."
Mei Liangyu glanced at her sideways: "Didn't we say we couldn't run around outside?"
Yu Sui said seriously, "If a disciple goes to see his master and you still doubt me, then there is a problem with the instructors. It is definitely not my problem."
Mei Liangyu smiled upon hearing this.
Before leaving, he asked, "It's been quite a few days, and there's still no news from Qingyang reaching Taiyi?"
"Didn't Zhonglishan receive the news either?" Yu Sui asked.
Mei Liangyu replied, "No."
Perhaps Zhongli's family didn't want Zhongli Shan to worry, so they didn't send him a message, only saying that Zhongli had returned to the capital, which actually put Zhongli Shan at ease.
The Nangong family, however, felt that the scandal should not be leaked.
Before returning to the academy, Saint Changgen first went to the Mirage Sea.
The mirage of Red Island remains, and Liang Zhen and several other saints have stayed on Red Island without leaving, observing Ou Rushuang who is protected by the power of the Earth's core.
When Sage Changgen arrived, Liang Zhen and Yin Ziwu both noticed and turned to look in the direction he had come from.
Hongdao Island is now a ruin. Jiang Shulan has brought many medical instructors to study the remaining orchid poison in the underground secret room, while Ou Rushuang happens to be above the secret room.
"Elder Chang," Liang Zhen said with a slight smile, "how much did you gain from your trip back from Mechanical Island?"
The Sage Chang Gen replied, "Very good."
It sounds like they've found a way to break the mechanism.
Liang Zhen smiled and turned his gaze back to Ou Rushuang, who was wrapped in vines. These vines were full of vitality and growing more and more vibrant.
After hearing Liang Zhen's account of Ou Rushuang and Xuan Kui, Sage Chang Gen asked, "Ou Rushuang and Xuan Kui colluded, which is unforgivable. Even if they were resurrected by the power of the Earth's core, it is still unforgivable. So who is in charge of the affairs of the Agricultural Academy now?"
“The instructors will take over the management,” Liang Zhen said. “Dean Zou contacted the other two deans of the farm, hoping they could return to the academy.”
The sage Chang Gen remained silent.
It's probably impossible to get Shen Tianxue and Pei Daiqing back to manage the academy.
Zou Qian frantically sent messages to the two of them using the Wind Listening Ruler. Pei Daiqing listened to Shen Tianxue and threw the Wind Listening Ruler far away. However, not two days later, a new Wind Listening Ruler appeared near their hut and kept ringing.
Shen Tianxue stood under the tree in the courtyard, staring blankly at the Wind Listening Rulers scattered on the ground. Some of them buzzed, while others made parrot-like calls, shouting, "Shen Tianxue, receive the telepathic message! Pei Daiqing, receive the telepathic message!"
Wei Ren was stunned in the small kitchen and leaned out the window to look down at the tree.
When did the Institute of Communications Technology (ICT) develop such an innovative modification to the wind-sensing scale?
Pei Daiqing raised his hands innocently and walked up to Shen Tianxue: "Axue, I'm innocent! I really threw them all away."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the Wind-Listening Ruler on the ground said again, "Those who don't answer the telepathic messages are the farmer's dogs! Those who don't answer the telepathic messages are the farmer's dogs!"
Pei Daiqing: "..."
Zou Qian is absolutely vicious.
Shen Tianxue sneered, bent down to pick up the Wind Listening Ruler, and answered the telepathic call.
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