Book 1: Winds Begin to Blow in Tai Yuan

Chapter 16 - Each With Their Own Plans

Take responsibility for you?

You saved me, and now you want me to take responsibility?

Meng Fuyao blinked her eyes. Why did the logic of this

sentence sound so strange?

This Yuan Zhaoxu, his ability to use his words to disguise

the false as true, and reverse common sense, was truly at an expert's level.

Fuyao admitted that she was not his opponent, and so could

only retreat a step, leaving that radius of entrancing fragrance. Rubbing her

nose, she changed the topic, "I actually have an idea, only it will be

slightly dangerous ..."

"Then let's follow your idea then." Yuan Zhaoxu

didn't even inquire about her plan, only carelessly replying.

Meng Fuyao stared at him. "Do you know what I am

thinking of?"

"You're thinking of planting incriminating evidence and

framing someone else, giving them a taste of their own medicine." Yuan

Zhaoxu's smile was confident and detestable.

Fuyao twisted the corner of her mouth while staring fixedly

at him. After a while she cursed him. "Tapeworm!" --------------

Inside the deep mountains of early autumn, there were

already some signs of winter's coming. Maple leaves held the early colors of

frost red, the red in the cold moonlight looking beautiful yet eerie.

The Profound Origin village's "Wind Listening Small

Pavilion", today held some special guests. The guest's status was lofty -

Tai Yuan Empire's Third Prince Qi Xunyi [1]. Pei Yuan's wounding, according to

normal proceedings, shouldn't have moved a prince to personally come. However,

Qi Xunyi was different. His mother, an imperial concubine, was Pei Yuan's aunt;

he was Pei Yuan's closest cousin.

Qi Xunyi resided in a single courtyard. The other esteemed

guest who had come with him lived in the east courtyard of the "Wind

Listening Small Pavilion". That person had entered his room very early,

not allowing anyone to attend to him, seeming a little unusual.

Lin Xuanyuan had welcomed the guests during the day, and

first accompanied them to visit Pei Yuan at the Orchid Pavilion. Then he had

stayed at the Wind Listening Small Pavilion for half the night, before finally

saying farewell. Treading on the night frost of moonlight, he walked towards

his own rest chambers, his expression containing some worry.

After he left, the Wind Listening Small Pavilion returned to

stillness, and lamps were snuffed out one by one. No matter what would happen

tomorrow, sleep was still a necessity.

A silent, still night.

The rising crescent moon coldly hung above the cloud tops,

the lunar glow like distant flowing water.

"Whoosh."

In the chilly luminance, a streak of black shadow, like a

kite with a broken string, drifted past the courtyards; drifted past the patio;

drifted past the entrance hall; and drifted up onto the second floor of that

small building with flying, painted eaves.

The dark shadow was like a falling leaf, hanging for some

time on the eaves of the second-floor. Swaying a little underneath the eave,

the figure transformed into a streak of black smoke, swinging into the highest

western loft of the Wind Listening Small Pavilion.

So light, so swift, so silent.

Even a closed-eyed, dozing little bird on a Banyan tree next

to the building, was not alerted.

The black shadow floated into the bead curtains, penetrating

into the inner room. Underneath a black mask, there peeked out a pair of

resplendent pupils - Meng Fuyao's eyes.

"Who!"

The black shadow had just flashed through the door, before

in the dimness instantly came a deep, icy shout.

The voice of the man inside the room was cold and clear,

completely unlike the drowsiness of someone who had just been awakened.

With a sharp glint in her eyes, Meng Fuyao noiselessly

sneaked in like a monkey. With a fling of her sleeves, a dim dark dagger

silently shot out of her sleeve. Like a venomous snake, in a flash it had

already arrived in front of the heart of the person on the bed.

The man only sneered, and flicked his sleeves. What clearly

was soft, thin sleepwear, turned as hard as steel and smooth as jade in one

motion. With a screeching sound, when the dagger met the robes it actually slid

off, directly deflecting towards the edge of the bed.

Meng Fuyao also reacted to the change in situation with

extraordinary speed. The moment the dagger was deflected, she immediately did a

backwards somersault, like a large hawk flipping over the man's head with a

"hu" sound. Landing on the other side of the bed, without even

turning her head, she backhandedly sliced towards him, directly piercing

towards the opponent's back.

The man now seemed to become angry, and suddenly leaped

horizontally from the bed. Folding like a piece of snow white soft satin, he

twisted his body in a bizarre manner, and avoided Fuyao's fierce blade. Then a

streak of white sword light came slicing out from his waist, rising like the

bright crescent moon. In that instant, the bedchamber was brilliantly covered

in the glow, completely illuminating every detail of Meng Fuyao's figure.

Her slender, feminine body was intricately outlined by the

sword qi, her contours flowing like liquid waves. Her small chin was like an

exquisite brook; her fullness swelled like billows of ocean waves; arriving at

the waist, the curves swirled into an enchanting vortex that made one's heart

jump and want to immerse inside, throwing caution to the winds.

The man was counter-attacking with his sword when, seemingly

shocked by this beautiful scene, he slightly hesitated.

Meng Fuyao, bathed in the sword light's glow, immediately

took this opportunity to cover her head and directly sprint towards the window,

as if she didn't dare to fight face-to-face with the opposite side. A grim

laugh, containing a sharp, murderous aura, suddenly erupted behind her.

"Where do you think you're going?"

The sound was slower than the action - in that instant, sword

light formed a razor-thin line. Like a streak of flas.h.i.+ng lightning that split

apart the air, it raced directly towards the back of the Meng Fuyao currently

fleeing in a hurry.

The power behind the sword was swift, and if she continued

to sprint in a straight line she would definitely be skewered. Without any

choice, Meng Fuyao instantly executed an iron plate bridge, the back of her

head hitting the ground [2]. The sharp sword point rubbed the tip of her nose

as it flew past, and suddenly, her face strangely and noiselessly split apart,

neatly dividing into two and falling onto the ground.

That person started, then waved his hand in a beckoning

gesture. The sword light flipped around, the hilt impacting Fuyao's shoulder

and smas.h.i.+ng her down onto the floor.

Moonlight shone through the window's gaps, falling on the

gray-colored "face" on the ground. The two halves of the face mask

lightly rocked in the night breeze.

Meng Fuyao, whose mask had been cut apart by the sword qi,

glanced back in panic at the person inside the room.

The moon's glow illuminated her face.

It shone on a face with an enormous scar that, because of

her shocked expression, twisted hideously.

That scar was something could give rise to horror deep

inside a person's heart; with only a glance it would become hard to forget,

making one unwilling to continue to look.

If it was only a scarred face, then perhaps it wouldn't be

as horrifying. Yet, the ruined face was paired with such a poetically

contoured, entrancingly beautiful figure - this type of top and bottom

contrast, could only have people lamenting at the world's unjustness. Truly,

the heavens did not permit such a thing as a perfect beauty to exist.

The man narrowed his eyes as he looked at her, his

expression revealing some shock and pity.

In this moment of surprise, 

Meng Fuyao immediately shot up like an agile leopard. With a point of

the tip of her foot, she flipped out of the long window like a dark, elastic

spring, in an instant pa.s.sing through to the outside of the window.

She escaped through the ends of the banyan tree, causing

thousands of small branches to sway and dance in the air, and soft "hua la

la" sounds to rustle out.

A loose leaf floated very high, drifting past the burst

opened, still slightly oscillating window, and fell towards the man's sword

tip. But a few chi before it landed,

it suddenly shook, then disintegrated in mid-air, transforming into a small

pile of dark green powder.

The man didn't move throughout.

His sword light coagulated into rippling waves, and thousands

of dazzling light beams lit up his appearance. He had dark hair like ink, and

his tall stature stood straight like jade. A pair of upturned phoenix eyes

brilliantly flickered, containing hints of both malevolence and n.o.bility. [3]

He dusted his sleeves, immediately brus.h.i.+ng that pile of

dark green dust into a cloud of green mist that slowly rose in the silent

stillness of the room.

The wind fluttered the pearl and jade hangings. Behind the

man, a door that connected with the eastern side of the pavilion noiselessly

opened all of a sudden.

Within the doorframe, a vague, white figure was sunk inside

the blurry darkness.

Noticing the white figure, the man's eyes immediately

radiated a sinister expression. Yet after turning his head, he had already

recovered to his usual calm, unexpressive face. His voice also held some

measures of respect and deliberate intimacy. "Sir Zong, my apologies for

disturbing you."

"The Third Prince has no need to be so polite."

The white-clothed man walked out of the darkness. With a far-away gaze, he

looked out of the window at the still swaying tree branches, a pondering expression

in his eyes. "I had not slept yet."

He turned his gaze towards the table surface, a little

hesitant. Qi Xunyi immediately said, "This tea set I have not touched yet,

feel free to use it."

Smiling apologetically, the white-clothed man used the set

to pour himself a cup of tea. His movements were dexterous and steady, his palm

slender and clean. There was no light inside the room. Under the moon's glow

his side profile was gentle, his eyes and lips seeming paler than normal,

making one think of early spring's newly blossomed cherry trees.

Lightly sipping some tea to wet his lips, he thoughtfully

stared at the fallen tree leaves in the mud below. Faintly, he spoke. "These

leaves ... originally they should not have fallen ..."

Qi Xunyi disapprovingly glanced outside the window with an

extremely minute furrow of his brows. Then he laughed, "Sir Zong is a

medical pract.i.tioner and has a parent's heart, even having pity for flora.

Xunyi completely admires you." [4]

"You can just call me Zong Yue." Lightly smiling,

Zong Yue put down his tea. "Ever since I was born, I have liked plants.

Seeing flowers and leaves fall before their time, I cannot help but feel a little

sadness. Third Prince must think me foolish."

"You can also just call me Xunyi." Qi Xunyi

generously laughed, "Names are given so that people can use them, Sir

needs not be so troubled."

His laughter was forthright, but his eyes never stopped

darting around. Zong Yue averted his gaze, faintly smiling but not speaking.

Qi Xunyi stared at his eyes, slowly saying, "That scene

just now, you must have seen as well."

Zong Yue's expression had little change, only shallowly

nodding his head.

"Which sect did that person come from? Looking at their

techniques, it seems like ..." Qi Xunyi's words were hesitant, his eyes

s.h.i.+ning brilliantly.

Zong Yue fell silent for a short while, then spread his face

in a smile. "The Prince is known to be number one under the heavens in

terms of knowledge, your research and studies covering all topics. This wicked

guest's actions, in your highness' heart, must have long been seen through.

Unfortunately, Zong Yue is too unperceptive and cannot discover much, otherwise

I would have also helped your highness in solving this case."

Qi Xunyi's stare deepened, then he smiled and waved his

hand. "Sir Zong is too modest. Actually, this small prince is not bold

enough to bother Sir with such meaningless, mundane affairs either. How about

Sir rest early, my younger sister's wounds still have to rely on Sir." [5]

"Princess Yuan's wounds are not light, especially since

inside them still remain corroding bone powder that will cause the wounds to

deepen. Curing will not be a problem, but completely recovering her original

appearance will be very difficult." Zong Yue's eyes showed some regret,

"However, I will do my best."

"Then it will be all up to Sir." Qi Xunyi lightly

bowed.

Zong Yue silently returned the favor, then drifted away.

Right after his figure vanished inside the side door, Qi

Xunyi's agreeable and cool expression immediately disappeared without a trace.

He fixed his eyes on where Zong Yue had left, with a deep gloominess in his

vision. After some time, he spat towards the ground with loathing, and softly

cursed: "b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"

1. Qi Xunyi = "齊尋意", Qi is surname, Xun

yi means "seek meaning"

2. Using your body to create a bridge. In Chinese it's

called "Iron Plate Bridge", English doesn't really have a specific

phrase, it's just called "doing a bridge"

3. If you've ever come across the "upturned phoenix

eyes" phrase before and wondered what it looked like, here are some

examples. Male: 

Female: 

It's considered an attractive trait in both genders

4. A parent's heart = a gentle heart, compa.s.sionate

5. Pei Yuan is not actually his younger sister but his

younger cousin, but "sister" can be used to refer to female relatives

besides just an actual sister.