Lady Huachi
Chu Yuan's words insulted the Empress's reputation, which was tantamount to humiliating the Shangguan family's century-old honor. Shangguan Jin's act of slaying one of her eyes was a minor punishment. Strictly speaking, this insult not only targeted the Shangguan family but also the dignity of the imperial family. According to palace rules, the tongue should have been removed as punishment. Therefore, given Shangguan Jin's high position as Grand Secretary of the Great Huan Dynasty, it was not excessive for him to punish her with his sword.
However, the fact that Chu Yuanyi was subsequently severely injured caused the other three to change color.
Rong Yuexian was the first to step forward, first helping Chu Yuanyi up to check her meridians, then setting Chu Yuanyi down, slowly standing up, her eyes flashing coldly, her folding fan snapping open, and she said in a deep voice: "The Four Stars of Tianji are bound together by fate, advancing and retreating together. Yuanyi only spoke a little too harshly, yet you not only blinded one of her eyes, but also severely injured her heart and lungs, showing that you completely disregard the four of us."
Seeing Shangguan Jin's expression, he was also surprised, but that surprise was only fleeting. Then he glanced at Chu Yuanyi with disgust and said coldly, "Sima Yan's arrogance and debauchery are probably due to the poor upbringing he received from Feng Lei. It is not unjust for her to end up like this."
For some reason, when A Qiu heard Zhongli Wuyan repeat Shangguan Jin's words, something suddenly came to mind.
She suddenly realized and said, "So the fact that Aunt Yuan Yi was stationed at Qiwu Palace was something that the Grand Secretary knew about long ago, regarding the matter of Feng Lei cutting off the hand of the Four Constellations."
Otherwise, he wouldn't have instructed Su Jinlan, who was by Yanxiu's side, to be on guard and poison Chu Yuan so early on.
Upon hearing her words, Zhongli Wuyan was surprised and said, "Men and women are different, and the imperial court and the harem are also divided. The Grand Secretary has never entered the harem. How did he know that the head maid of Qiwu Palace who raised Sima Yan was the Wind and Thunder Executioner from our Four Constellations? Even we only found out after this incident—Yuan Yi lost an eye and her mind became abnormal. We also knew that she worked in Qiwu Palace. These characteristics combined make it clear."
A Qiu, sensing the unspoken connection, interjected, "Empress Shangguan. She is an extremely intelligent person and would surely be able to discern from Aunt's behavior that she is the 'Wind and Thunder Slayer' who entered the palace in the previous generation."
Empress Shangguan did not know martial arts, but she could recognize people who practiced martial arts, even if the martial artist might have long forgotten the skills they practiced.
Zhongli Wuyan murmured, "Actually, over the years, when I recall what happened that night, there's always been one thing I can't figure out."
A-Qiu asked, "What is it?"
Zhongli Wuyan looked on with a look of reminiscence and said, "As you know, the reason why we, the Four Stars of Heavenly Mystery, were selected by our sect to enter the palace is because none of us are mediocre. Among the four of us, Yuan Yi's martial arts may indeed be the weakest, but her internal strength is fierce and sharp, and her palm techniques are exquisite and extraordinary. She is definitely not so weak that she cannot even withstand a single sword strike from Shangguan Jin."
She continued, "He so easily blinded one of her eyes, and then her meridians were in chaos, showing signs of qi deviation. We later experienced Shangguan Shisan's swordsmanship, which was indeed the way of heaven and man, and the talent of a sword immortal. He deserved the title of 'mastery of the sword.' But no matter what, Yuan Yi should not have been so easily defeated at the first encounter."
"But at the time, my senior sister was so angry that she didn't have time to investigate."
A-Qiu listened silently, a thought coming to mind, and stammered, "That's probably because... when Aunt Yuan Yi rushed over, she was already suffering from the poison. She knew she was no match for them, but she still risked her life to keep her appointment with the four of them."
Zhongli Wuyan's eyes suddenly lit up, and she asked, "What kind of poison?" Then, as if remembering something, she said, "Yes. It was common knowledge that Yuan Yi was poisoned. No matter how skillful Shangguan Jin's sword was, it couldn't possibly have caused her to lose her mind and turn her hair white overnight. It's just that at the time, none of us thought of it."
She remembered and added, "Logically speaking, no one knows the truth of that sword strike better than Shangguan Jin. The reason Yuan Yi was seriously injured was not because he attacked too fiercely, but Shangguan Jin seemed only slightly surprised and did not explain. However, his lack of explanation almost caused a major disaster of fighting in front of the Golden Palace."
A Qiu thought that the reason Shangguan Jin didn't explain was because he knew very well that Chu Yuanyi's current condition, although not caused by his sword today, was also due to his concern that Chu Yuanyi would harm Shangguan Yanxiu over the long years, so he ordered Su Jinlan to lie in wait and poison her for a long time.
Therefore, when Rong Yuexian tried to pin the blame on him, he didn't feel wronged and accepted it readily.
But she couldn't, and dared not, tell Zhongli Wuyan again, because Su Jinlan, who had poisoned her, was now under Zhongli Wuyan's protection. And Su Jinlan had never been a bad person.
Because that is what she saw in her dream.
The Immortal Rongyue was known as the "elegant scholar." Decades ago, he was known as the "number one master of the righteous path" and was a force to be reckoned with in the martial arts world. This reputation was certainly not undeserved.
Zhongli Wuyan had not witnessed her senior sister's actions for over thirty years, but Rong Yuexian's extraordinary demeanor—challenging heroes from all over the country with just a folding fan and never suffering a defeat—was deeply etched in everyone's heart.
Her eyes shone brightly, and her bamboo folding fan was fully unfolded, with several plum blossoms in the snow outlined on the front in ink. With just a few strokes, one could see their proud and dignified spirit in the face of snow and frost.
Shangguan Jinping held up the ice bamboo and calmly asked, "'Elegant Scholar,' have you no regrets about your actions today?"
Zhongli Wuyan had witnessed Binghuang's fully unleashed sword energy, which could only be described as terrifying. Coupled with Shangguan Jin's current determination to go all the way, she understood that if Shangguan Jin went all out, the five of them would perish together today.
Shangguan Jin did not come here to kill the Four Stars of Tianji, but today he has no choice but to fight them to the death. It is a helpless situation.
Upon hearing his question, Rong Yuexian actually swayed slightly.
If Zhongli Wuyan wasn't mistaken, even in her current state of furious rage, the usually unruly senior sister showed a clear trace of regret and pain on her face.
However, what Zhongli Wuyan could not have imagined was that Rong Yuexian's regret at this moment was not for facing Shangguan Jin's Ice Bamboo Sword today.
Her regret had been building up in her heart for decades. And that regret stemmed from her two junior sisters, who had entered the palace at a young age and spent their entire lives there.
Their former classmates and peers have all passed away, and their era is long gone. The four of them are now each other's closest and most familiar acquaintances in the world.
The youngest of the four, Chu Yuanyi, was once the spirited "Wind and Thunder Slasher," but now she has become an old woman with disordered meridians, a confused mind, and blind in one eye.
The person Rong Yuexian resented was not Shangguan Jin, but herself.
Zhongli Wuyan and An Shihe, who were watching from the sidelines, may not have known what she was thinking, but Shangguan Jin, who was facing her directly, saw her changes in expression clearly.
He sighed inwardly, but it was for Rong Yuexian, not for himself—because he probably understood Rong Yuexian's feelings at this moment better than anyone else.
He came to storm the palace with the same tragic sentiment, demanding an explanation.
But now that things have come to this, there's no going back.
When Rong Yuexian unleashed the "Heavenly Secret Unparalleled" move with all her might using the Qiankun Fan, a move capable of destroying jade and stone, Shangguan Jin's eyes suddenly lit up. He focused his mind and waited. He first lifted the ice bamboo in his hand upside down, drawing an arc in the void to deflect the incoming force, and then used sticky force to directly crash into the "Heavenly Net and Earthly Net" formation created by the fan shadow.
Zhongli Wuyan felt as if time and space had suddenly frozen.
The clash between the "Elegant Scholar," the leader of the Four Mansions of Tianji, and the Shangguan family's extraordinary "Gentleman's Sword" would have been a stunning battle in the martial arts world at any time. However, it happened during an assassination attempt before the emperor at the end of the Great Huan Dynasty, which is truly regrettable.
Before her eyes, sword energy and fan shadows swirled, black and white, a luminous chaos. Zhongli Wuyan suddenly felt a strange sensation, and then, almost instinctively, she leaped forward, crashing into the swirling light and shadow of swords and fans clashing and yin and yang shifting.
Because she could sense that the 'Ice Bamboo' was about to break through the endless layers and turbulent entanglement of the Qiankun Fan, and at the moment the fan broke, Rong Yuexian, who was already working at full power and nearly exhausted, would suffer a fatal injury.
It wasn't that Shangguan Jin's skill was far superior to Rong Yuexian's, but rather that the Gentleman's Sword, under Rong Yuexian's fierce and unparalleled offensive, had no choice but to use the mental technique of "different paths lead to the same destination, better to be broken than not."
Rong Yuexian's fan strike, imbued with the power of her decades of profound skill, forced Shangguan Jin to exert all his strength.
Zhongli Wuyan's last thought was:
"Of the four, Yuan Yi is already in such a state, so Senior Sister cannot be allowed to get into trouble as well."
At the same time, An Shihe, who was watching from the outside, also moved, but Zhongli Wuyan eventually got there before him and rushed into the battle.
She felt someone catch her, a gentle, spring-like force lifting her up and pulling her away, but then a sharp, needle-like pain pierced her left rib.
A beam of azure light, like a green waterfall, flashed before her eyes and then vanished without a trace.
Rong Yuexian tumbled back, her face pale, and she stumbled back three steps, supported by her.
Shangguan Jin steadied himself and remained motionless, a flash of red light appearing on his refined and aloof face.
This red light may seem insignificant, but for a Qi cultivator, it is a sign of serious internal injury.
Before Zhongli Wuyan could understand what was happening, she heard Shangguan Jin shout, "Madam Huachi! Are you going to interfere in my personal grievances too?"
Lady Huachi.
Finding the origin of this name from Zhongli Wuyan's mind is not difficult.
Because Lady Huachi, Mo Yi Bishuang, was once a very famous figure in the former Huan court.
Although she crossed the river late, she surpassed others, gaining entry into the imperial court with her beauty and eloquence. At the same time, she was the sole heir of the Mo Yi clan, a prominent family of criminal law in the Central Plains. This noble lineage alone, along with the Mo Yi family's widespread influence and its numerous disciples, made her highly sought after in Jianzhang. Her prestige was almost comparable to that of the Shangguan family, from which Shangguan Jin came.
The only difference is that the Shangguan family is a truly powerful clan with nearly a century of accumulated strength, and has been operating in Jiangdong for almost a hundred years. In contrast, Mo Yi Bishuang is now completely alone.
The Mo Yi clan of the Central Plains had already sacrificed their homes to relieve the suffering of the people when Luoyang fell.
The fact that she was the descendant of such a loyal minister, who was almost a "one-of-a-kind" individual, further enhanced the mystery and nobility of her bloodline.
After Empress Dezong's death, Mo Yi Bishuang was arguably the most powerful woman in the Da Huan court, able to get whatever she wanted. Her title of "Lady" was bestowed upon her by Emperor Dezong. At that time, Zhongli, as a former imperial concubine, was living a secluded life of cultivation in the Baozhu Garden, and was somewhat known to her.
However, Lady Huachi's complexity lies in the fact that she did not serve in the palace, nor was she, like the other concubines in the harem, a woman of the emperor in the clear sense. She moved freely between the court and the harem, and had a large following both inside and outside the court. Her residence was named Shuanghua Garden, and her social circle was so extensive that her room was always full of distinguished guests, and her wine cups were never empty.
Zhongli Wuyan felt that the reason why Lady Huachi failed to enter the harem and be made a concubine was not so much because she failed in palace intrigue, but because she was not a fish in a pond. Lady Huachi's vision was never set on the emperor's harem.
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