A Figure on Jade Steps in the Wind and Snow 94

Chapter 94: A’Chu

The sun was gradually setting in the west, and the Imperial Study was silent.

The Emperor had just experienced an assassination attempt and was still in shock.

She had shouted “Protect the Emperor” at that time, but no one had come. The imperial guards were nowhere to be seen.

Her personal eunuch had protected her with his life, but Jiang Chu had pushed her away and told her to find a place to hide. The assassins’ target was not the eunuch, and she could not fight a group of people with her two fists. Being here would only affect her performance.

Forget it, she thought.

The only ones who could send the imperial guards away were those few people: the imperial princesses, or… Jiang Yu.

Was it Jiang Yu? If it was, she would die willingly. After all, she owed her a lot in this life.

At this moment, the civil and military officials were all in the imperial garden, and all the palace servants outside had been sent away. She was probably powerless to turn the tide.

Oh, in the end, it was all a matter of fate.

Jiang Chu gripped her sword with a heavy heart and watched as the assassins surrounded her. Just as she was about to fight, she suddenly heard someone shout from outside:

“This minister is late to save Your Majesty!”

Along with it came a flurry of footsteps.

Jiang Chu’s hand, which was holding the sword hilt, trembled and loosened. She felt that her back was already wet with sweat. She asked in pleasant surprise, “How did my dear minister know that I was in danger?”

Shen Zhishu’s aura was fully open, and her sword was shining brightly. She defeated the villains in a few moves. She took the time to answer Jiang Chu’s question, “Sixth sense. It’s probably a telepathic connection with Your Majesty.”

She squatted down, neatly tied up all the villains, and handed them to her trusted subordinate who had followed her, “Take them to the side hall, watch them closely, and don’t let anyone escape.”

Jiang Chu let out a long sigh of relief, pursed her lips, and said with some emotion, “I really didn’t expect that you would be the one to save me in the end. It wasn’t A’Yu who sent someone to take my life?”

Shen Zhishu was surprised, “Why would Your Majesty think so? Her Highness Huai’an respects and loves Your Majesty so much, she would never have such a thought! But speaking of which, is Her Highness Huai’an not here? This minister heard that Her Highness had entered the palace early in the morning, but I have not seen her.”

Just as Jiang Chu was about to say, “It’s a good thing she’s not here,” she suddenly heard a leisurely sound of footsteps from outside, and then a certain person’s voice came into the hall gracefully.

“Why am I not here?” Jiang Yu said.

Jiang Chu was visibly anxious, “What are you doing here? The assassins may not be just one wave. Isn’t it just adding danger by being here?”

“They won’t be,” Jiang Yu said.

“What won’t be?” Jiang Chu did not understand.

“The assassins won’t come again.”

As Jiang Yu spoke, she suddenly called out, “State Preceptor.”

The two words were spoken half-lightly and half-heavily, but the sound lingered. However, the State Preceptor did not appear.

Jiang Yu turned around in a small circle and let out a clear sigh. She paused and said in a faint voice, “Come out, Feng Li, don’t hide anymore.”

…Feng Li was indeed the State Preceptor’s name, Shen Zhishu said in her heart.

But Jiang Yu shouldn’t be familiar with the State Preceptor. This “Feng Li” sounded as if they had known each other for a long time.

Shen Zhishu was very confused at this moment.

The two “hallucinations” that had come out of nowhere before were already beyond her comprehension, and now Jiang Yu’s “Feng Li” was even more unreasonable.

So, after thinking about it and eliminating all the reasons, the remaining impossible also became possible—

Jiang Yu had already remembered her previous life.

Shen Zhishu’s pupils suddenly shrank, and the corners of her lips trembled slightly, but she had no other reaction.

She looked very calm and seemed to have digested this sudden fact very well.

The wind and clouds were surging outside, and new buds suddenly grew on the withered trees.

The State Preceptor suddenly appeared under a tree from afar.

She was very far from the hall, but her voice came in clearly, “How did you find out?”

“Me?” Jiang Yu said. “A long time ago.”

“So you knew about the past a long time ago?”

“Mm,” Jiang Yu said, and then added. “It’s not that early. It was just the night Youshu returned to the capital.”

Her voice was very calm, as if she were talking about having eaten rice cakes for lunch.

The State Preceptor let out a “Tsk” and said, “Wuya, you are really deep.”

Jiang Yu said, “Likewise.”

“So you and A’Shu teamed up to deceive me?”

“Not really,” Jiang Yu glanced in Shen Zhishu’s direction. “She probably doesn’t know.”

“What a ‘doesn’t know’…” the State Preceptor smiled and continued. “But you and I are the same kind of person, aren’t we? Little Chu has hurt you so deeply, why do you still want to help her?”

“This life is this life’s business,” Jiang Yu said in a faint voice. “Although she owes me, I also owe her.”

“Besides, A’Li,” she paused and continued. “You’ve made a mistake. Jiang Chu has no resemblance to your little immortal, so her heart’s blood is useless.”

The State Preceptor frowned, “How do you know?”

“The First Imperial Princess was really sorry yesterday and told me your entire plan.”

“I’m not asking about this,” the State Preceptor said. “I’m asking, how do you know that Little Chu’s heart’s blood is useless?”

The State Preceptor was clearly anxious, and her words were resounding. Jiang Yu raised her eyebrows upon hearing this.

“Who am I, have you forgotten?” she said. “I am a person of the Rebirth Sect and can see souls. I have seen your little immortal once, and her soul is pure blue, while Jiang Chu’s soul is pure red.”

The State Preceptor lowered her eyes and brows, suddenly flashed, and came to stand in front of Jiang Yu.

She suddenly grabbed Jiang Yu’s arm and said in an almost pleading tone, “A person’s soul is the same no matter how many times they are reincarnated, right? You remember A’Chu’s soul, right? You can help me find A’Chu, right?”

Jiang Yu nodded, and after a moment, she shook her head again.

“What does that mean?” the State Preceptor asked hurriedly.

“I do remember what A’Chu’s soul looks like, but…” Jiang Yu shook her head and said. “I have no spiritual power in this life, and I can only barely see the color of souls. I can’t see any more specific details.”

The State Preceptor nodded, as if she had made a decision.

In an instant, the sky and earth became dark, sand and stones flew, the grass and trees were bent to the ground, and the pearl curtains were rolled up. The State Preceptor suddenly raised her arm, formed a seal in a few moves, and then pushed forward—

The moment the spiritual energy left her body, the State Preceptor suddenly aged a little.

“Now?” Her voice had the unique hoarseness of an old person. “Can you see now?”

“It’s still a little off,” Jiang Yu closed her eyes and felt for a while, then said. “You should stop. If you transfer any more to me, I’m afraid you won’t live long.”

The State Preceptor shook her head, her palms facing each other, and formed another seal.

Her speed of forming the seal was clearly a little slower.

Jiang Yu still shook her head, “It’s still a little off.”

So the State Preceptor transferred her spiritual power again.

The wrinkles on her face were deeper, like the rugged ravines in the mountains and fields.

Jiang Yu only said, “Forget it.”

The State Preceptor seemed to have not heard, and her hands did not stop moving. The sound of the wind was noisy all around, and Jiang Yu’s sigh was almost inaudible.

The State Preceptor’s appearance changed from thirty to sixty, then seventy, eighty, and finally, she was almost half-dead.

After an unknown amount of time, she finally heard Jiang Yu say, “I see it.”

The State Preceptor suddenly raised her head, but found that she no longer had the strength to raise her head.

She coughed hoarsely and asked anxiously, “Where is A’Chu?”

“A’Chu is…” Jiang Yu pursed her lips and still said. “In the south of the city. She was just buried a few days ago.”

The State Preceptor said, “Ah.”

She said with a bitter smile, “I’m still too late.”

Jiang Yu suddenly said, “Not necessarily.”

“Hmm?”

“She has not yet been reincarnated and is floating by your side. She is talking to you. Do you want to hear it?”

The State Preceptor should have been pleasantly surprised, but at this moment, she was inexplicably a little nervous, for some unknown reason.

She asked tremblingly, “Can I?”

“Mm,” Jiang Yu nodded and drew three circles in the air with her hand.

So the echoes of the soul came in waves, like the wind passing through the pine waves.

Her voice was a little different from the childish and crisp voice of the young girl in the mountain sect tens of thousands of years ago, but the State Preceptor recognized it at first listen.

“Sister Li,” A’Chu said. “I’ve seen you when you’re old.”

“After a person dies, they will remember all their previous lives. I met you in my first life, and this is my eighth life now.”

“It is said that a person only has nine lives, so I probably can’t be with you for too long. But it’s alright, I’m content to be able to see you.”

“Sister Li,” she said. “Don’t cry, it’s alright. I’m not suffering. I haven’t suffered much in my first eight lives.”

“I sometimes think that my luck is not very good. You haven’t been reincarnated once, but I only have one life left. But then I think, it’s probably because I spent all my luck meeting you.”

“I have to go now. I’m already dead, so I can’t stay in the mortal world for too long. Otherwise, I will have attachments, and I will have to have the people of the Rebirth Sect to enlighten me, which is too much trouble for them.”

“Sister Li has heard my voice now, and I am already content. But I want to be a little more greedy—I really hope that I can meet Sister Li again in my next life.”

“I’m leaving now. Take care, Sister Li.”

When the voice dissipated, the State Preceptor was already in tears.

“So be it,” she said. “I should go and find A’Chu.”

“Now?” Jiang Yu asked.

“Mm,” the State Preceptor replied.

She also said, “I am not a qualified older sister. I have been looking for A’Chu for more than three hundred years, but I let her die under my nose. I am even less of a qualified State Preceptor. I actually wanted to secretly take the heart’s blood of the current emperor to satisfy my selfish desires. If A’Chu knew, she would definitely be unhappy.”

“In this life, I have owed too much, and I have wronged too many people and things.”

“Forget it…” she let out a deep sigh. “What I owe in this life, I will repay in the next.”

She did not respond to Jiang Yu’s request to transfer her spiritual power back, but instead solemnly thanked Jiang Yu and resolutely transferred the last bit of her spiritual power to Shen Zhishu.

And then she went to her death, to rebirth.