Chapter 172
A thing that the Shan royal family had been searching for so bitterly was actually right by their side?
At this moment, even the Empress of the Shan Kingdom, who had held power for so many years, couldn’t help but feel impatient, and countless associations appeared in her eyes.
She only wished she could take the place of her granddaughter, whom she had never met, and become that cultivator herself.
After a few breaths of excitement, the Empress suddenly clenched her hand. The pain from her nails digging into her palm brought her back to a bit of rationality, and she knew that the most important thing to do now was to ask this third daughter of hers clearly what was going on with that cultivator.
Their Shan Kingdom’s Lu family was, after all, the descendant of a great cultivator. It didn’t make sense that only that little girl who was stranded in the Chaoying Kingdom could embark on the path of cultivation, while they, the legitimate direct descendants of the royal family, couldn’t even touch the edges.
“Is what you just said true?” The Empress sat up straight, her hands tightly gripping the sides of her chair. Her well-manicured nails were almost digging in, but she tried her best to remain calm.
Her two eyes were like a hawk’s, sharply looking at Lu He.
Lu He, in the past few decades, in front of her mother, the Empress, had always been well-behaved and obedient, and had even shown a bit of weakness.
But after being away from the Shan Kingdom for so many years, today, standing in front of the Empress, she dared to look directly into the other’s eyes and said with a righteous tone, “My daughter is talented and intelligent. It was only by a fairy’s favor that she was able to embark on the path of cultivation. How could your daughter treat this matter as a child’s game?”
The Empress fell into silence. The air was so quiet that even a pin drop could be heard.
After a long moment of contemplation, she suddenly spoke.
“Why is Qingqing not here? She is a descendant of our Shan royal family. She should have come back with you.”
Compared to her previous indifference towards that granddaughter, the Empress of the Shan Kingdom had changed her attitude. She even squeezed out a few traces of a benevolent smile and walked over to personally help Lu He up.
“Ai, if I had known earlier that my granddaughter was so accomplished, I would have sent for you long ago. How could I have let you be stranded outside for so long?”
“You must have suffered a lot these years. Now that you are back, you don’t have to worry about anything.”
The Empress’s hands were also warm. When she patted Lu He’s shoulder, she looked very earnest.
It seemed that she had never been so amiable even to her most favored Crown Princess in the past.
Lu He, however, did not feel the warmth of being valued in her heart. On the contrary, she was full of a sense of irony and felt that it was very absurd.
She was being looked upon with favor in front of her mother, the Empress, not because of blood kinship, but because of her own daughter’s status as a cultivator.
In the past, she had longed to be looked at more by her mother, the Empress, but now that she had really gotten it, her heart was, on the contrary, relieved and calm.
That feeling was truly complex. On the contrary, she had lost the pure joy of her initial expectation.
In the end, perhaps the only ones she should really treat as family were her daughter and husband.
Lu He also curved her lips into a smile and said to the Empress, “Mother, the Empress, you’re being too kind. Your daughter is able to share the burden for the Shan Kingdom and does not feel tired at all.”
“It’s just that we have something to report on our return this time. Qingqing and the heir of the Chaoying Kingdom have a very deep relationship now. The two of them have embarked on the path of cultivation together, and they will probably be coming to look for us soon. At that time, they will choose those with talent among the royal family and also teach them the cultivation method. It is better for you, Mother, the Empress, to prepare early.”
She said everything she had to say in one breath and was too lazy to talk about anything else.
In the end, all of her mother, the Empress’s, attitude changes were based on the fact that her Qingqing had strength.
“Your daughter has finished what she has to say. I won’t disturb you, Mother, the Empress, any longer. I’ll be taking my leave.”
Lu He saluted and then left the bedchamber.
On the contrary, the Empress of the Shan Kingdom raised her hand and clearly felt the distance from her third daughter. She wanted to mend the rift and say something, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
In the end, watching Lu He walk out of the bedchamber, she sighed and turned her head back. Looking at her own aged face in the bronze mirror, she felt that her white hair had grown a few more strands in an instant, and she could no longer hide the passage of time.
To have sent Lu He away as a hostage back then was also a helpless move.
The Shan Kingdom’s national strength was declining, and it was not as strong as the Chaoying Kingdom in terms of troops and horses. How could it be her fault?
She had only made such a move to protect the bigger picture and to adapt to the situation.
In the end, her third daughter had grown distant from her and had a grudge against her.
The Empress sighed with displeasure in her heart, but she knew that today was different from the past.
Before, because of the heir of the Chaoying Kingdom, she could not be too harsh on Lu He.
Now, her granddaughter, Lu Dieqing, who was in the Chaoying Kingdom, had actually become a cultivator.
Then Lu He was even more someone she could not afford to offend.
The Empress quickly changed her thinking, thinking about how to mend the rift with her third daughter.
It was not a big problem. After all, that was her own daughter. How could there be any overnight grudges?
The Shan Kingdom was her granddaughter’s maternal family.
The Empress quickly summoned her most valued prime minister, and after a discussion, she had the other draft a decree.
“Lu He’s old garden, have someone clear it out first and return it to her. Then grant her a prince’s mansion, hmm, a thousand taels of gold, and the silk and pearls from the Jiao Kingdom should also be taken out of the storeroom and counted, and more should be given to the Third Princess.”
“And ennoble my granddaughter Lu Dieqing as the Jade Goose King. Just grant her the separate courtyard I just built last year, and also grant her another garden, hmm, let me think, grant her the fourth son’s garden as well…”
The Empress of the Shan Kingdom was actually not generous. In fact, because the country was limited, she was always stingy when it came to rewards, and would give a little less if she could.
This character trait could be seen from the fact that she had given Lu He’s garden to someone else after she had left the Shan Kingdom.
Today, however, she was willing to bleed a lot, giving both Lu He and her daughter the title of king and granting them gardens and separate courtyards in one go.
Lu He and her daughter had received a total of four gardens as a reward, and this didn’t even count the other gold and silver utensils, along with exquisite porcelain and all kinds of jewelry.
In short, the prime minister was writing these rewards. While she had to grind the ink, she also had to write neatly, and her hand was almost sore.
But this long reward had not yet reached its end. Even though she had already expected that the reward for the Third Princess and her daughter this time would definitely be generous, this imperial edict was almost full, and the things His Majesty wanted to reward had not yet been said to the end.
The prime minister had to wipe the cold sweat from her forehead and said softly, “Your Majesty, I’m almost out of space to write.”
Only then did the Empress of the Shan Kingdom pause and cut her short.
“Then let’s leave it at that for now. We’ll add more in the future.”
Hearing this, the prime minister’s heart pounded.
As the Empress aged, the situation at court was changing rapidly. Among the several imperial daughters, there was already a trend of fighting for power and profit.
Anyone who received a little more of the Empress’s attention and rewards would become the target of public criticism.
Now, this Third Princess and her daughter, who had returned from the Chaoying Kingdom, had not even shown their faces much, yet they had already received such an honor and favor.
If this imperial edict were to be spread, who knew how much of a storm it would stir up?
How could those imperial daughters sit still?
The Empress of the Shan Kingdom glanced at her and saw what the prime minister was thinking in her heart, and she snorted coldly.
“You are all short-sighted. How can you know the great cause and what I am planning in my heart?”
The matter of the appearance of a cultivator was of great importance. The Empress had not even shared this news with the prime minister, whom she had valued for half her life.
So the prime minister was even more confused about what the Empress was up to.
Could it be that, seeing that the dispute between the several imperial daughters was becoming more and more obvious, His Majesty was displeased, which was why he had also brought the Third Princess and her daughter, who had returned from the Chaoying Kingdom, to the table, to reprimand and deter the others?
…
When Lu Dieqing and Zheng Xuening arrived above the imperial palace, it was at the time when the Empress and the others were attending the Second Princess’s birthday.
The two of them descended from the sky from afar and were seen by the guards at the palace gate. The guards personally saw a heavenly maiden descend, and their legs trembled with fear.
“An… an immortal!” The guard’s words were stuttering.
The other palace staff in the imperial palace, who had seen this scene, also widened their eyes and wanted to come closer to see, but they did not dare. So when Lu Dieqing and the other really stood in front of them, everyone knelt on the ground in a row.
Lu Dieqing looked at these palace staff with curiosity and found that the women here were mostly a little taller, and seemed to have a bit more of a heroic air than the women of the Chaoying Kingdom.
She didn’t know if this was related to the fact that women in the Shan Kingdom had a revered status, and so they were raised well and were taller.
“Where is your Empress?”
Lu Dieqing’s crisp voice broke the palace staff’s panic.
The palace staff said, one after another, “Immortal, please be informed, our His Majesty is not in the palace at this time.”
“His Majesty has gone to attend the Second Princess’s birthday banquet.”
“The Second Princess is also not in the palace, but at her own residence.”
Seeing that Lu Dieqing was approachable when she spoke, and her face was also delicate and beautiful, and her voice was even softer, these palace maids couldn’t help but peek at her from the corner of their eyes.
With one look, they couldn’t help but exclaim in their hearts.
What a beautiful immortal!
So the rumors in the streets and alleys before, that an immortal had appeared, were true.
No wonder those imperial relatives had been searching for traces of immortals everywhere a few days ago.
It was just that none of them had actually run into an immortal, but a fairy had taken the initiative to descend to their Shan court and had specified that she wanted to see their His Majesty.
Did this mean that their Shan Kingdom was also going to rise?
All the palace staff in the imperial garden were filled with all sorts of fantasies. They all suppressed their excitement and secretly raised their eyes to look at Lu Dieqing and the other.
Compared to Lu Dieqing’s gentleness and closeness, Zheng Xuening, on the other hand, appeared cold, with a kind of otherworldly and cool aura that made one not dare to speak when they saw her.
Speaking of which, Zheng Xuening’s aura was actually more in line with these palace staff’s stereotype of an immortal.
An immortal, naturally, had to be high and mighty, appearing unattainable, different from them, the mortals. One look, and they would not dare to have any improper thoughts.
Unlike that immortal who spoke to them gently, who was beautiful and charming, but easily made people covet her beauty. This was a great disrespect.
Realizing what they were thinking in their heads, those palace staff who had been secretly looking at Lu Dieqing immediately buried their heads, for fear that the two immortals would see their disrespectful thoughts.
Too profane.
In their hearts, they had even compared the famous beauties of the Shan Kingdom with these two immortals, and in the end, they found that none of them could compare.
Zheng Xuening’s eyes suddenly turned cold.
Among the palace staff present, there were those who knew how to restrain their gazes and not stare at them, and there were also those who stared blankly.
Especially her little rabbit, who was like a beautiful treasure exposed in front of people, attracting many admiring and covetous gazes.
Zheng Xuening’s heart felt stifled.
Lu Dieqing, however, seemed to have sensed something in time. She took her small hand and took the initiative to hold her hand.
Her warm and toasty palm was soft, without a single callus, a complete contrast to Zheng Xuening’s palm, which had been tempered by years of practicing swordsmanship.
The girl, under the Shan Kingdom’s sun, slightly turned her head and gave Zheng Xuening a bright smile.
Her fingers, which were gently holding her hand, also hooked hers, as if to tell Zheng Xuening with her actions.
—Don’t be jealous, Ningning. I will always be yours.
