Chapter 850 (2): Leverage

Before dawn broke, with not even a stitch of clothing on, Cui Yuanyang was unceremoniously flung all the way to the capital by a furious Piaomiao. Wrapped in the power of the mountains and rivers, she crashed with a resounding thud directly onto Tang Wanzhuang.

Tang Wanzhuang had been sleeping peacefully. Startled awake by the impact of the falling girl, her first instinct was to grumble at Baoqin for playing pranks again. “Baoqin, quit messing around. What time is it even... Wait, why aren’t you wearing anything—

huh?

”

Fwhoo~

A pile of clothes materialized out of thin air, a dudou flopping lazily over both their faces, along with a Demon Suppression Bureau jade token.

Tang Wanzhuang blinked. The situation was so absurd she had no words.

Cui Yuanyang cautiously climbed off her and gave a sheepish grin. “Big Sister, you’re so soft, and you smell so nice...”

Tang Wanzhuang yanked the dudou off her face and stared, stunned. “Cui Yuanyang? What exactly did you just leave on my leg?”

Cui Yuanyang backed away, still smiling nervously. “Nothing much. Just something you’ve, uh... had before too.”

Tang Wanzhuang instantly turned livid. “So this is how he makes me feel included now, huh?!”

“It wasn’t his fault!” Cui Yuanyang quickly covered her head, anticipating a smack. “It was a new sister...”

Tang Wanzhuang paused. “Who could be that powerful? They were able to send you across thousands of li with such pinpoint accuracy? Even he can’t pull that off.”

“What if I told you it was the god of the land, the god of the mountains and rivers? Would you believe me if I told you that the entire world is as familiar to her as her own skin and blood?”

Tang Wanzhuang: “???”

Cui Yuanyang picked up the jade token and grinned. “Big Brother Zhao said I should go train in the Demon Suppression Bureau, so here I am.”

Tang Wanzhuang eyed her flatly for a long moment. “And I am to handle the arrangements?”

Cui Yuanyang patted her chest. “Of course! I’ll follow your lead completely.”

“Then go see your father first. He’s here in the capital. After the morning assembly, report to the bureau.”

* * *

That very morning, as the doors to the bureau opened, passersby noticed a new janitor sweeping the steps—a cute, round-faced girl with a mournful expression. Curious onlookers asked around and learned that it was none other than the former heiress of the Cui Clan of Qinghe, now King Zhao’s officially betrothed bride. Word was that she had offended Prime Minister Tang and was being... disciplined.

No one knew if this was an instance of King Zhao favoring concubines over the main wife, or the prime minister asserting total dominance. Either way, it gave the capital something juicy to gossip about over tea. After all, even if he was a tyrant, there was much to debate about what that “tyranny” really meant.

What people could see was that the Great Han Empire was thriving. Autumn harvest was near, and golden fields of rice and wheat stretched as far as the eye could see. This year promised to be a bountiful one. The chaos of past years was fading into memory at a surprising speed.

“No wonder the weather’s been so favorable and the crops so rich this year; it turns out that someone’s seduced the goddamn god of the land,” Tang Wanzhuang muttered to Baoqin. “Who even needs a harvest festival anymore? We can just have him offer his devotions in bed.”

Baoqin replied, “Why would we stop holding a festival? We have to. If she hears what we say during the offering, just tell her to ask King Zhao to keep his hands off vixens. It’s the god’s business, after all.”

Piaomiao, elsewhere, was speaking with Zhao Changhe. “Someone offered a private prayer to the land, requesting that King Zhao entangle himself with fewer vixens. I think it’s a valid request. For instance, certain chambermaids could be moved a little farther down the list.”

Zhao Changhe cleared his throat. “You really hear all their prayers? Even the private ones?”

“What do you mean? I am the god of the land. So long as they’re a true officiant, I hear everything they tell me. And that includes the prime minister, yes.”

Xia Chichi muttered, “Thinking back on what I used to say during the festivals... I want to die of embarrassment.”

The group was gathered by the river, eating breakfast, which was pastries that Zhao Changhe had brought back from Chang’an. Piaomiao found them curiously endearing. They had all reached the Profound Control Realm by now and had no need for mortal food, yet each one of them still ate with gusto. She thus joined them and, oddly enough, found the experience quite pleasant. They were like a large family huddled around for a warm morning meal.

The biggest change after last night’s mortifying ordeal? Piaomiao no longer had any reason or ability to stay aloof. Everyone looked at her now with these strangely gentle, almost doting smiles... like aunts looking at a bashful niece. It was downright bizarre.

Shouldn’t you all be jealous, or at least mocking me for being a cheap fox? Why do you look so... indulgent? Have I lost so much face to you that you now see me as one of you?

Leaning closer, Piaomiao whispered into Xia Chichi’s ear, “About what you said at the festival... I’ll help you.”

Xia Chichi’s face lit up. “Really?”

“Of course. It is a matter of my duty. I’m obligated to help. Besides...” Piaomiao gave a helpless sigh, rubbing her temples. “You’re the only one I can help. I can’t even help myself. When it comes to my own wishes... I can only leave it to fate.”

Xia Chichi looked at Piaomiao with a hint of sympathy. It seemed this big sister’s powers were vast and mysterious, but her limitations were just as great. The greater part of her abilities existed for others, not for herself. From another angle, if she ever managed to break free of that constraint, she might reach a level past even the third layer of the Profound Control Realm, but whether that opportunity existed was anyone’s guess.

In any case, now that Zhao Changhe had truly “won” her, this was perhaps the most tangible manifestation of power aligning with destiny.

While the two whispered in private, Zhao Changhe was speaking aloud to everyone. “The Rankings of Troubled Times have finally appeared again. I thought someone ghosted the world so thoroughly they weren’t even updating the rankings anymore.”

Piaomiao gave him a sideways glance. “Why do you sound almost... happy about that?”

“I—what? No, just... nostalgic. It’s just that I haven’t seen it in a while.” Zhao Changhe absolutely did not dare admit that he was actually missing the blind woman a little, so he quickly switched topics. “How’s everyone doing with their grasp of the White Tiger’s essence?”

“Fairly well. There have been no real obstacles. As the representative of a hundred weapons, the White Tiger’s path is far broader than pure swordsmanship. I’ve gained a lot. The original Four Idols Formation was always a bit lacking in sheer offensive sharpness, but now that shortcoming has been filled. The next time we face the Sword Emperor, at least I won’t be sneered at.”

“The Sword Emperor set up a false tomb, but the legacy within was genuine,” Zhao Changhe mused. “This means he really was gravely wounded, maybe even near death. But by whose hand? At first, I thought it was Ye Jiuyou, judging by the hostility between them, but her later actions don’t match that.”

“That’s because normal people wouldn’t have a good attitude toward Ye Jiuyou,” Piaomiao said dryly. “Killing her is the righteous thing to do, unless you’re a certain lecher with a mind unlike anyone else’s...”

Zhao Changhe silently stuffed a pastry into his mouth.

Of course, my mind isn’t like anyone else’s. What normal person would dare seduce Piaomiao?

Not that he would ever say that out loud.

Lady Three asked with interest, “Could it have been Ye Wuming who struck him down?”

“Unlikely,” Piaomiao said. “If his enemy were Ye Wuming, he would probably have cooperated with Ye Jiuyou just like I did. At the very least, he would have mentioned something about it.”

Yue Hongling added, “From the lingering sword intent I received, I sensed the aura of a desperate man on the edge of his final battle. He clearly prepared that tomb and inheritance in advance because he was expecting to face death.”

“Then he should have faced a different enemy altogether,” Zhao Changhe muttered. “From the apocalyptic vision I saw, his adversary and Ye Wuming’s were likely the same, even though the two of them had no direct contact. Each of them was simply doing their part.”

Piaomiao sneered. “Ye Wuming doesn’t trust anyone.”

Zhao Changhe glanced at her, thinking silently:

That’s not entirely true. At the very least, Ye Wuming trusted you far more than the Sword Emperor or the others. She may never have worked with them, but she did cooperate with you to protect the mortal realm.

Then again, Piaomiao only represented the mortal realm, which gave her a limited view. Ye Jiuyou, likewise, only ever saw the abyss. Their perspectives were inherently incomplete.

In contrast, those like the Sword Emperor and Lie, those who roamed freely across all three realms, had the widest view and perhaps the clearest understanding. Though they never coordinated, they still shared similar goals.

Meanwhile, in theory, Ye Wuming, Ye Jiuyou, and Piaomiao were the true embodiment of Heaven, Earth, and Man. What they represented far surpassed any single legacy like those of the Sword Emperor or Lie.

Zhao Changhe pulled out the ball of gelatinous energy. “Anyway, since we’re no longer being suppressed by the environment of the abyss, can you understand more of the carving from the pool?”

Piaomiao examined it closely, but in the end, she could only shake her head. “A little more, but not fully. I was thinking, given how your relationship with Ye Jiuyou has changed, maybe you should try asking her directly.”

Zhao Changhe said, “Ye Jiuyou obviously couldn’t decipher it either. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have left it by the pool and brooded over it day and night.”

“Then...” Piaomiao considered things for a moment, then smiled faintly. “I’ll write down what I’ve managed to understand, and you can take it to her. Who knows? Maybe if we piece our insights together, it’ll lead us somewhere. And it could serve as... leverage.”

Zhao Changhe blinked, playing dumb. “Leverage?”

Piaomiao said airily, “She wronged me. I should get something in return, shouldn’t I? I’m curious to see whether a being like Ye Jiuyou can really be won over. Is such a myth-shattering feat truly possible?”

“So, my assignment today is to go see Ye Jiuyou again?”

“Don’t play coy, weren’t you already planning to see her anyway?” Huangfu Qing snorted. “You two already made plans while strolling around Chang’an yesterday. Don’t think we haven’t seen your whole ‘strike while the iron’s hot’ act before. For all we know, you came back last night just to fetch this carving.”

Of course, the main reason that Zhao Changhe had returned was to spend time with his wives. The carving was merely a secondary objective. Yet somehow, all the women had not only sniffed out his next “pursuit,” they were even actively helping him plot it out.

He watched as Piaomiao calmly penned down the translation. His expression was a little strange. If Ye Jiuyou ever found out that the women in his life were not jealous about him going to woo her, but instead even enthusiastically strategizing like it was a team project... He was truly curious as to how she would feel.