Unintentional Kiss
Yuanli glared at him, unceremoniously withdrawing the laces from his grasp and pulling the quilt over his upper body. "Stop messing around and get down to business. Have you found any clues regarding Qinghui Immortal Lord's identity? Tianshu Xingjun isn't at the palace, so I had no choice but to ask the Emperor."
"We've found some relevant information, but we haven't found any conclusive evidence to prove that Tianjun is the culprit who prevented Yuemangshan from submitting the memorial."
"What did the Emperor find out?"
The forced smile on Heng Jin's face faded. After hesitating for a long time, he took out a scroll from the secret compartment between the beds. When he opened it, he saw a painting of a faceless man.
There is a poem inscribed on the scroll:
Fortunately, I have longing to accompany my dreams.
Express your thoughts with your heart and the rhyme is melodious.
The clear light shines on my shadow, and I am heartbroken.
It is difficult to write down the thoughts of my distant hometown with Hui ink.
"This is an acrostic poem. When you put it together, it means 'Lucky to be Pure'. I saw this painting a long time ago, but when I saw it, there was no poem on it. After returning from Yuemang Mountain, I began to search for evidence. When I took out the painting again, I found the poem on it, but the ink was old."
His fingers rubbed back and forth across the scroll. "Ever since I was brought back by the Heavenly Monarch, I've noticed he often paints. It's as if he has no other hobbies; all his joys, sorrows, anger, and happiness are poured into his paintings. I didn't understand it before, until I saw this poem and re-examined his paintings. Then, I discovered the words hidden in his early paintings. Those words were hidden so haphazardly, seemingly without any order, but in reality, they were his way of sharing his joys, sorrows, anger, and happiness with someone. Gradually, the most common words in the scrolls became apologies, regrets, and nostalgia. The only constant was love."
"Since Qinghui has feelings for Xingyi, why would...?"
"I don't know either. This matter needs to be thoroughly investigated."
Yuanli cast a spell to recreate Su Yang's memory of when he appeared with Qing Huixing and Youyou's appearance, and told him everything that happened that day in detail.
"I've heard some rumors about the Heavenly Sovereign. They say he's fond of Long Yang, that he's the instigator of the chaotic world, and that he has a child outside who he doesn't want to see in public. Don't lie to me and tell me you don't know. When these rumors spread, they spread like wildfire."
"Back then, I lied and said I didn't know at Yuemang Mountain because rumors can't prove anything, but they can half-confirm the accusation. Even if I'm not the real murderer, I'll still be accused of it. I've also suffered from rumors before, so I lied that day and looked for an opportunity to find evidence."
Yuanli joked, "Is there any reason for being partial?"
"Of course I do. It was the Heavenly Monarch who made me what I am today. He brought me, a frail orphan, home and raised me, treating me like his own son. In my heart, I've long considered him my father. Until I find proof, it's hard for me to believe outsiders' words. Perhaps you think I'm so biased, ignoring the injustice and suffering of Yuemang Mountain and blindly favoring the Heavenly Monarch, that I'm unworthy of being an immortal."
"Your thoughts right now are similar to mine when I saw Youyou's striking resemblance to Xiaobai. Who am I to criticize you? I'm in the same boat as you. I asked Heqi to keep it a secret because I was afraid that if I didn't have time to investigate the evidence, Xiaobai's situation would become extremely difficult. Of course, since you saw Youyou's appearance today, I also want you to keep it a secret."
"Husband and wife keep secrets, not to be told to outsiders. I understand the rules very well."
"If you keep talking nonsense, I'll make you mute with medicine when you come back to my house next time."
"Even if you drug me and make me mute, I can still communicate with you, write you love poems, and cast spells to make you write. I have many tricks up my sleeve, so I'm not afraid of your drugs. But you only have one chance to drug me. If you fail to kill me completely, I will have someone carry me to the gate of your immortal palace and put me there."
Hearing this, the scene described by Heng Jin emerged in Yuanli's mind.
"You're carrying me outside the gate of my immortal palace... You want to extort a large sum of money from me? And then let your bunch of rotten peach blossoms eat me alive to avenge you? You don't have money, and you won't give me your life."
"Why would I extort money from you? Isn't everything mine yours? I want you to be responsible for the rest of my life. As for why I had to be kicked out of the immortal palace, it's because I want all the immortals to know so that you can't deny your debt."
After hearing this, Yuanli unconsciously blurted out her true thoughts: "You might as well blackmail me for money."
"You love to hoard gold, silver, and treasures so much, but you'd rather be blackmailed by me than accept me into your family? I brought quite a bit of dowry, but you wouldn't consider the monk's face, nor the Buddha's face?"
"I love gold, silver, and treasures, but there's no reason for me to sell myself for them. Emperor Hengjin, you're nothing, so how can you be a trader?"
Heng Jin sat up, the quilt slipped off her body, exposing her chest again. He pretended to be shy and embarrassed, pulling up the quilt to cover it.
He leaned closer to her, looked at her curiously, and asked, "Why do I find that after your second life of tribulation, you have become particularly articulate? From time to time, your words contain hints of cursing me."
"To survive, to live thoroughly, to throw away one's life, to eat when one is ready, to drink when one is ready, to sleep when one is ready, to scold when one is needed, to have no oppression in one's heart, to be joyful and free. Naturally, one will live a long and happy life year after year. Besides, isn't it the Emperor who is asking for the scolding? Again, I advise the Emperor, if you don't like it, stay away."
"That's fine. I like being scolded by you. That's fine. I should live my life so freely and put myself first."
He tilted his head and looked at her with a sly smile, then leaned forward again, closing the distance between them.
"Heng Jin, you're such a weird person. You just love being abused?"
"I don't like being abused, but I love you."
"You're so slick and disgusting." Yuanli pretended to be disgusted and took a few steps back.
"Why are you getting off topic again? You're always distracted. Let's get back to the point. Have you told Tianshu Xingjun about the scroll?"
"I haven't done that yet because of personal feelings. I want to wait until I have thoroughly uncovered the person and evidence behind the cover-up of the truth about Yuemang Mountain. If it is indeed the Heavenly Monarch, then I will tell him the truth and apologize. However, if the Heavenly Monarch simply has a crush on Xingyi and has committed no other crime, then I want this matter to remain buried in obscurity."
"I understand. If it's just a matter of who's right and who's wrong in love, then that's just a matter between Qing Hui Xing Yi, and they should handle it themselves. Gender shouldn't be a reason for others to criticize."
After a moment's thought, Yuanli said, "Su Yang said he submitted all his reports through memorials. There are so many mountain gods, so the memorials he submitted shouldn't be any worse than those submitted by humans, right? Since there's a process and someone to investigate, it must be possible to investigate."
"Once a memorial is submitted, it will go straight to the Revelation Hall. No one, except the Revelation Hall and the mountain gods, can stop it. Once submitted, it will be immediately kept and sealed by the Revelation Hall. The Revelation Hall also houses other documents from the celestial realm, which are extremely important, so they are strictly guarded. I tried to sneak in, but there are celestial soldiers guarding the Revelation Hall every hundred meters, and the shift changes are staggered, making it easy to be discovered. Furthermore, the Revelation Hall is composed of twenty immortal halls, large and small, each with a dedicated person responsible for their own duties, and they do not interfere with each other. It would be extremely difficult to rely on luck to find the storage of the memorial, so I had to find another way to enter."
"There's no such thing as a perfect loophole. As long as we find the right loophole, there's no place we can't get into. Going it alone is too risky. We must work together. Everyone sees the truth from a different perspective, and their understanding is also different. We need to find Tianshu."
As she spoke, Yuanli got off the bed, looked around, and began to search for her shoes. While she was putting on her shoes, Hengjin knelt up and reached out to pull her.
"Looking for it? Looking for it where?"
"Of course it's safest here." Yuanli glanced at his naked upper body as he lowered his eyes, then looked back at him. "Either get dressed or stay naked. It's up to you."
"Of course, my place is the safest, but how can we let outsiders into our bedroom? Wait for him to come and sit in the courtyard. I'll let Xiang Yao go, and you just stay here and wait."
Heng Jin didn't give her any chance to object, immediately mumbling a spell and silently sending the message out. After watching the light pierce through the wall, he said, "I've sent the letter to Xiang Yao. Yuan Li will just wait here."
He wanted to talk more with Yuanli so that he could spend more time with her, and naturally he didn't want her to leave his side for such a small matter.
"What do you mean by our bedroom? This is your bedroom. Don't go out and say anything that will ruin my reputation."
She pretended to look contemptuous and pursed her lips, looking him up and down as she said, "You don't have a man who wants you, but I do have a man who wants me."
"I know my limits outside. This isn't in the bedroom, so there's nothing to hide. I said, what's mine is yours."
"Okay, does your bedroom have many visitors?"
"Not much, you, Xiang Yao, the Lord of Heaven."
Yuanli nodded with satisfaction and began to look around the furnishings in the room, her gaze finally landing on a pair of cold jade stools on his couch.
She put on her shoes and went straight to Pingji. Then she took out the spiritual silver bell, took Pingji in front of Heng Jin and left.
Seeing that his smile had not faded, he pointed with interest at the wooden lamp with a phoenix pattern in his room and said, "That's made of Guanghan wood, not bad. It's worth taking that one."
Hearing this, Yuanli looked at the beautiful furnishings in the hall and began to select them lavishly. She bought about half of the furniture from him without him saying a word of objection.
She glanced at the furnishings and picked up some, but what really caught Yuanli's attention were the ancient books and tomes on Hengjin's bookshelf. She randomly picked out a manuscript that contained records of hundreds of common formations and enchantments in the six realms.
She was gradually absorbed in flipping through the book until Heng Jin squatted on her right side. When he reached out to take the book, Yuanli caught a glimpse of his sleeve and subconsciously turned her head to look. By chance, she kissed Heng Jin who tilted his head to speak, and she instantly leaned back and moved away.
Heng Jin also had her eyes wide open in shock.
In the awkward atmosphere, Heng Jin pretended to be sentimental and aggrieved, covering her mouth with one hand and pointing at her with the other, exclaiming, "You're destroying my innocence!"
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