T/N:
Just a reminder, the Pinyin for ‘Jade Peony’ is ‘Yu Mudan’—where ‘Yu’ means ‘Jade’ and ‘Mudan’ means ‘Peony.’ Nevertheless, I will retain the English name ‘Jade Peony’ since the author specifically highlighted the symbolic importance of ‘jade’ in the original context when the character first appeared.
Chapter 149: Then There is Only One Way
After all, she had been stuck here for so long, and Mingyan had broken through in an instant…
“Young Master Ming has already broken through to the Taiyi Realm, right?” Jade Peony smiled slightly. “What a heaven-gifted talent… this kind of breakthrough speed really makes me a little ashamed.”
“It was just a coincidence,” Mingyan passed it off lightly and asked, “Why have you come to find me this time, Celestial Jade?”
A coincidence… Jade Peony sighed softly in her heart. What kind of coincidence could make Mingyan have such an abnormal breakthrough speed? Even the ancient Great Emperors didn’t have this speed, right?
What level of coincidence was that…
Of course, Jade Peony couldn’t have imagined that while these younger generations were still pursuing the inheritance left by the ancient Saints, Great Saints, Human Kings, and Great Emperors, there was a living Peak Human King Physique by Mingyan’s side…
Mingyan now no longer needed to look for any opportunities. With Wang Qingchu around, he didn’t need to compete with others. Although now, among the younger generation, no one was his opponent…
The top existences among the younger generation, Gu Hanshuang and Jade Peony, were currently still at the peak of the Divine Gate Realm, while Mingyan was already at the Taiyi Realm.
“I was originally going to invite you to be a guest at the Sheng Yuan Dynasty,” Jade Peony came back to her senses and sighed softly. “But now it seems that you are quite busy…”
“Go to the Sheng Yuan Dynasty? Did something happen there?” Mingyan asked with some curiosity.
“It’s not a big deal. It’s just that the old Holy Emperor is abdicating, and the crown prince is succeeding the throne,” Jade Peony smiled slightly. “The crown prince and I are close friends, so I received an invitation. And you also have a great fate with the Sheng Yuan Dynasty, so I wanted to ask you to go with me.”
“The old Holy Emperor is abdicating?” Mingyan was a little surprised to hear this. “Could it be that the old Holy Emperor’s body…”
“That’s not the case. Because of your help, his body is fine. It’s just that he wants to pass the throne to His Highness the crown prince as soon as possible, so as to avoid any accidents,” Jade Peony smiled. “After this, the old Holy Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress will assist His Highness the crown prince.”
“So you and His Highness the crown prince are close friends. Before, I thought your relationship seemed unusual. Could it be that you have feelings for each other?” Mingyan smiled slightly. He still remembered that Jade Peony had once teased the crown prince, and the crown prince’s reaction was also intriguing.
“Young Master Ming, it seems you didn’t see it,” Jade Peony looked at him with a half-smile upon hearing this. “Forget it. My relationship with the crown prince is not what you imagine. Her Majesty the Empress has been kind to me. In my opinion, the relationship between the crown prince and me is like that of sisters.”
Sisters?
Looking at Jade Peony, and thinking of her words just now—that he didn’t see it—he was stunned. Could it be that the crown prince was a woman?
Mingyan thought for a moment and did not ask in detail about the crown prince. Instead, he asked, “Her Majesty the Empress has been kind to you, Celestial Jade?”
“Yes… that’s a past story… but, if it weren’t for Her Majesty the Empress, there would be no me today,” Jade Peony nodded lightly, then looked at him. “Young Master Ming, because the matter of the succession is quite subtle, we did not invite your esteemed master. Please bear with us. As for you, you have been kind to the Sheng Yuan Dynasty. I am inviting you to go with me in a private capacity.”
To put it bluntly, the matter of the succession was not being done with great fanfare. She was inviting him alone as a close friend of the crown prince.
Mingyan thought for a while. In fact, there was no point in going to the Sheng Yuan Dynasty. At the moment, improving his cultivation was the most important thing. But it was not good to always leave Jade Peony on the side. He had, after all, promised Bai Ze to mediate the relationship between Jade Peony and Gu Hanshuang. Although he had been busy with many things recently and had no mind to consider this matter, now that Jade Peony had come to him, Mingyan thought about it and finally decided to go with her.
So, Mingyan finally nodded.
Seeing him agree, Jade Peony’s smile was sweet. “If you don’t mind, Young Master Ming, we can set off now. Of course, if you still have some things to deal with, we still have more than ten days.”
Because the large teleportation gates were damaged, for such a long distance, Jade Peony had naturally left enough time to travel. Their time was still very abundant.
“I do have some things I need to deal with on my side. As for the matter of traveling, you don’t have to worry, Celestial Jade,” Mingyan said. “You can stay at the Moon Shadow Branch for now. After I’ve dealt with the matters at hand, I will inform you.”
Although Jade Peony was a little curious about what Mingyan meant by “don’t worry about the matter of traveling,” she did not ask much. She nodded and said, “Also, about the matter of Gu Hanshuang… Young Master Ming, did my master find you and hope that you would mediate the relationship between me and her?”
Mingyan was stunned. “Why do you ask?”
“It seems my master has indeed told you…” Jade Peony saw his reaction and was thoughtful. She continued, “I know what my master is worried about. It’s not like Gu Hanshuang and I will fight to the death. If you also hope to mediate, then there’s no need.”
Since she had already said so much, Mingyan knew that Jade Peony had most likely already confirmed what he wanted to do. He thought for a while and said, “Since it won’t be a fight to the death, what’s there to insist on? You and Celestial Gu are both like exiled immortals…”
“Some things are not so easy to give up,” Jade Peony smiled and was not annoyed by Mingyan’s persuasion. “I just want to hear her say sorry.”
“…” Mingyan sighed softly. Before, Gu Hanshuang had briefly talked about the conflict between the two of them. In Gu Hanshuang’s words, the reason why the two of them had come to this stage was all Jade Peony’s fault. If Jade Peony now just wanted to hear Gu Hanshuang say sorry, then was Gu Hanshuang, in turn, waiting for Jade Peony to say sorry?
Gu Hanshuang had also been under Bai Ze’s tutelage before. She and Jade Peony should still be senior and junior sisters. This was also the reason why Bai Ze wanted to mediate their conflict. Although now it seemed that neither of them intended to fight to the death, if they continued to fight like this, he was afraid that sooner or later, one of them would lose their reason.
As long as one of them got serious, then it would really be a fight to the death.
“No matter what your purpose was in getting close to me before, I hope that from now on, our relationship will be purer. I also don’t want to drag you into these troublesome matters. I’ve thought it through. I will deal with my matter with Gu Hanshuang on my own. As for you, then it’s fine to just be a simple friend, as long as you don’t despise me,” Jade Peony’s expression was calm.
…
These two women were really troublesome. Mingyan had a headache. To mediate the conflict between the two of them, it seemed there was only one way…
