At the Moonlit Pavilion, Qin Luoyi sat atop the Shigong Table, her head tilted back as she gazed at the moon.
Her beautiful eyes shimmered with a faint green glow.
Before her lay several pieces of Osmanthus Cake, freshly taken out from her Qiankun Bag.
As for their origin, naturally, they were the leftovers from the morning that she had packed up.
Her red lips parted slightly as she bit into a small piece.
The sweet yet not cloying flavor exploded in her mouth.
She raised her hand to cover her right cheek, her eyes half-closed, wearing a face full of happiness.
“Your Highness, were you looking for me?”
Behind her, Shangguan Hongzhi quietly approached, standing about five steps away from the pavilion as he cupped his hands respectfully.
The young lady paid him no mind, continuing to eat her cake.
Seeing this, he had no choice but to speak again:
“Your Highness, if you like this Osmanthus Cake, I can send my servants to prepare some for you to take away right now.”
“Are you in such a hurry to see me off?”
“Not at all. I just thought it best to prepare extra so you can take more with you.”
Upon hearing this, Qin Luoyi put down the cake in her hand and turned to look at him with a light laugh.
“Lord Shangguan, do you know there’s a saying among the common people — ‘What rises rapidly must fall, what reaches its extreme reverses, everything has its limits… too much is as bad as too little’?”
“Of course I know. After all, it’s a well-known proverb. But… I don’t quite understand what Your Highness means by this. Please do enlighten me.”
“Heh… You don’t even get that? Looks like you don’t fare well in the Court either. I thought you were like those old fellows who love to guess and speculate, running around like headless flies, only to exhaust themselves like fools in the end…”
Shangguan Hongzhi didn’t reply.
He bowed deeply, burying his head in his hands, his expression not looking good.
If he weren’t in the Court, he wouldn’t bother guessing people’s thoughts.
After all, a careless misstep in understanding a superior’s mind could have disastrous consequences.
Seeing him silent, Qin Luoyi didn’t bother pressing further.
She raised three fingers and continued, her words laced with sarcasm:
“First, I’ve long said I dislike the way people interact in the Court, yet you still put on a show of false sincerity in front of me. It’s understandable if you didn’t know my thoughts before, but now… to still face me with this hypocritical attitude makes me sick.”
“Second, although I don’t know how you found out that I like Osmanthus Cake, I’ve roughly guessed it. The cake you prepared is not bad, I like it, but if you use it solely to curry favor with me in conversation, that just makes me feel disgusted.”
“Third, do you know how long you made me wait? A full incense stick’s time. Although that’s not much for cultivators, haven’t you heard the saying ‘time is money’? Wasting time, especially mine, is utterly disgusting.”
After these three statements, Shangguan Hongzhi finally understood.
Although the young lady’s first two points matched the proverb she mentioned, in reality—
Everything she said boiled down to one sentence:
“I, Qin Luoyi, am only full of dissatisfaction towards you, Shangguan Hongzhi. You make me sick.”
Back when I married Yayue, Qin Luoyi was already quite displeased with me.
Though young, she caused a lot of trouble before settling down.
Looks like she still harbors resentment after all these years.
He smiled bitterly, blaming his being disliked on marrying.
But is that really the case?
Hard to say.
Every matter has multiple sides.
A person’s hatred for another might stem from an incident, personality clashes, or sometimes… no reason at all.
As for the source of the young lady’s disgust towards him?
He didn’t care.
He just needed to frame things in a way favorable to himself.
Even if it meant placing the blame on someone close.
After a slight sigh, Shangguan Hongzhi cupped his hands and responded, “I spent some time earlier coaxing madam to sleep. I hope Princess will pardon me.”
The flowery words earned a scornful smile from the young lady.
“Enough with the act. Stop pretending to be a good husband. Honestly, I don’t think you love Sister Lin that much, nor do you respect me. No need to call yourself ‘your servant’ here.”
“That is not my intention.”
“A two-word answer to two questions—stingy with words, are we? Too bad… my father dislikes that, and so do I.”
Her sharp words left Shangguan Hongzhi speechless.
Noticing the twitch at the corner of his mouth, Qin Luoyi chuckled softly.
She stood up and glanced down at Shangguan Ce’s body by her feet, her tone filled with disdain:
“Actually, there’s nothing else. I only called you here to return something to you, and… ask you one more thing.”
“Return something to me…?”
“Exactly. To be precise, it’s actually garbage.”
With that, she kicked out.
A graceful arc cut through the air, followed by a loud “bang” as the figure clad in brocade armor rolled toward Shangguan Hongzhi until it hit his feet and stopped.
“That is… Ce’er?”
he exclaimed, his face showing rare loss of control.
He bent down and lifted the lifeless brocade-clad youth into his arms, his voice trembling, “Ce’er, what happened to you? Don’t scare me.”
He immediately began channeling his spiritual energy to heal, but it was of no use.
This sudden melodrama made Qin Luoyi laugh out loud.
“Ce’er? Isn’t it… Shangguan Ce? Are you really that close?”
“Your Highness… you don’t know. He is actually the child of my late third younger brother. All these years… I have treated him as my own. But now…”
As he spoke, a few tears slipped down, his sincerity seeming genuine.
The performance was quite convincing—almost more entertaining than the palace dramas I watched as a child.
Recalling those comedies from her youth, unable to find anything more amusing, Qin Luoyi finally asked.
“Seems like you’re very sad, Lord Shangguan. If I told you who killed him, would you immediately rush out to avenge him?”
“Of course.”
“And if I told you… I was the one who killed him, what would you do?”
The young lady sat back on the Shigong Table, propping her chin with one hand while summoning the Yin-green Dagger with the other, throwing it out with a contemptuous smile.
“Would you kill me immediately?”
“This…”
Shangguan Hongzhi looked at the dagger on the ground, sensing the strange aura emanating from it, feigning shock.
He trembled as he placed the body down, knelt, and shakily picked up the dagger.
“Your Highness, why would you do this… He was just a child.”
“A child? What a joke. He’s already grown, isn’t he?”
“But he’s still young!”
“Young? Then all the more reason to kill him! Such a small age, yet full of evil deeds—murder, arson, and every sin imaginable. Living would only harm the people of Li Xun. Isn’t that right?”
“Your Highness… even so…”
“Enough! Shut up! I’ll tell you: I want to kill him because he makes me sick. Is that reason enough?”
“J-just because of that?”
“Just because of that.”
“You… sigh… I clearly remember you weren’t like this as a child…”
“We barely saw each other when we were young. At least come up with a better excuse, Shangguan Hongzhi. Aren’t you tired of pretending?”
Seeing the man before her ready to continue his act and play the feelings card, Qin Luoyi lost interest in playing along.
She shot a clear shot right away.
“As far as I know, your two brothers’ deaths back then must be related to you, right? You could even kill your own kin. Why would you care about their child?”
“Your Highness, what do you mean by that? I don’t quite understand…”
“Shangguan Hongzhi, you really do pretend to be ignorant well. Don’t you understand the literal meaning? Or do you want me to tell you about your other ‘glorious’ deeds?”
Her voice was low but rang like an alarm in Shangguan Hongzhi’s heart.
His face darkened instantly, and the grip on the dagger tightened involuntarily.
“Your Highness, do you know there is another saying among the people… ‘Distant water cannot quench near fire’?”
“Of course I know. What, is that a threat?”
“Not really a threat. I just want to ease the tension between us a bit. After all, things rarely go well when swords are drawn, right?”
“In other words, it’s still a threat. That’s why I hate talking to you Court people. Always speaking with hidden meaning, it’s exhausting.”
She still didn’t take his bait.
Raising her hand, she summoned back the dagger she had thrown moments ago.
“Enough. I don’t want to waste words with you. Didn’t I say there’s one more thing I want to ask? If you can accept Shangguan Ce’s death soon, then we can talk. If not, then you can take his body and leave.”
With that, she picked up a piece of Osmanthus Cake and began eating in small bites, as if discussing the matter casually.
Beneath the pavilion, Shangguan Hongzhi lowered his eyes to his nephew’s body on the ground, expression calm.
He gently nudged the stiffening corpse and shook his head.
Qin Luoyi, oh Qin Luoyi.
You keep complaining about the Court, yet every word you say is using Court rhetoric to force me into a decision.
Born into high rank, you know nothing of the struggles of those below.
Well, that’s to be expected.
Born into privilege, raised listening to state affairs with my father, it’s hard not to be influenced…
Ah well, the cycles of fate turn as always…
Endure a moment of peace, take a step back and the horizon broadens.
A gentleman’s revenge is never too late, even if ten years pass…
He kicked the figure beside him aside, suppressed the so-called sadness, brushed off the dust on his clothes from kneeling, and took a step forward.
“Speak. What else does Your Highness wish to discuss?”
“Heh… I knew it. A scumbag who massacres an entire city for glory couldn’t possibly be saddened by something like this.”
“Your Highness, though this explanation may be impertinent, the people I killed were enemies.”
“Innocent civilians can also be called enemies?”
“As long as their thoughts oppose us, not killing them leaves a root of disaster. I did this for His Majesty’s sake.”
“Your high-sounding excuses. I wonder how Sister Lin ever liked a beast like you.”
“That you’d have to ask Yayue. I don’t think I’m all that charming.”
“Tsk…”
Seeing he still spoke with hidden meaning, Qin Luoyi no longer wanted to continue.
She just wanted to finish her questions and leave before she got sick.
“Shangguan Hongzhi, tell me, do you know Lin Xizhi?”
“Who?”
“Lin Xizhi. Lin, as in Lin Yayue’s Lin. Xizhi as in ‘cherish’ and ‘know’.”
“No, do you have business with her?”
“Really don’t know? You really think I came to ask this without doing any prior investigation?”
“Oh… so you mean Lin Xizhi? I thought you meant ‘know’ as in knowledge. If it’s her, I do know a bit.”
The familiar wordplay didn’t anger the young lady.
She just watched silently.
“You’re asking about this person for some reason?”
“Just tell me what I need to know about her. The rest isn’t your concern.”
“Uh… alright. She’s dead anyway, no harm in telling you.”
Shangguan Hongzhi cleared his throat, lightly tapped the table with his right hand, and began recounting the story of Lin Xizhi.