Chapter 261: Oda Rei
Zuo Qiu Gatehouse, having hosted and won the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival, had no path of retreat.
Either become the Lord of Lingxiao Life Realm, or face clan annihilation.
So.
The Hidden Dragon’s allegiance could not have any mishaps.
What Zuo Qiu Gatehouse wanted was not only the support of Du’e Temple, but also momentum.
Just like what Tang Wan Qiu had sighed back then, “Destiny’s Mandate,” if everyone under heaven believed destiny was with Zuo Qiu, they would flock to pledge allegiance and attach themselves, and the forces would grow like a snowball.
Hidden Lord said: “Actually, Zuo Qiu Gatehouse only wants a reputation, and you currently need this reputation as well, adding a layer of protective golden light. I think there’s nothing wrong with it… Don’t look so glum, taking advantage and still acting innocent. Zuo Qiu Hong Ting’s talent, ability, and appearance are all unmatched in the world; countless people under heaven envy and are jealous of being able to marry her.”
Li Weiyi said: “I’m not troubled because of the marriage alliance! It’s that we had already decided to actively step down from the limelight and hide in the Valley of Waves. Now, aren’t we being pushed into even higher winds and waves?”
Hidden Lord said: “Afraid of being dragged by Zuo Qiu Gatehouse into the struggles under heaven?”
Li Weiyi said: “Not exactly afraid, just… Sigh, forget it, can’t blame others for one’s own misdeeds. The matters in the cave mansion earlier were indeed improper. Zuo Qiu Ting, or Zuo Qiu Hong, both acted openly and uprightly toward me and were very sincere, never with malice, and helped a lot. Shouldn’t have teased her like that; women and men are always different, lacking that carefree and magnanimous breadth.”
Hidden Lord patted his shoulder and laughed: “Just based on these words, I think Zuo Qiu Hong Ting should look at you with even greater favor. Actually, having her, this stunning Young Son of Heaven, standing in front, can greatly block the outside world’s gaze from you.”
Li Weiyi and Hidden Lord returned to the council hall, first expressing his inner guilt and apology to Zuo Qiu Ling, then promising to certainly take responsibility for Zuo Qiu Hong Ting, and so on.
The exchange of words was completed.
The engagement was thus finalized.
Hidden Lord and Zuo Qiu Ling discussed the specific details, while Li Weiyi exited the council hall.
Outside, the sun was setting in the west, with rosy clouds brilliant on the horizon.
Li Weiyi descended the Third Heaven along the winding stone steps.
Zuo Qiu Hong Ting had restored her true appearance, wearing a green Daoist robe, tall and slender, graceful as a startled swan, waiting on the necessary path back for Li Weiyi.
She stood at the edge of a cliff protruding like a duck’s beak, below which stretched peach blossom branches like a pink ocean. Her hands were clasped in wide sleeves, head adorned with a wooden hairpin, waist bearing a Dao Ruler.
Just a back view, yet it gave a tranquil and ethereal immortal charm, an otherworldly beauty hard to describe in words, as if in the next instant she would ride the wind and fly to the heavens.
Li Weiyi gazed at this back view for a long time, knowing she was waiting for him, so he walked over.
Zuo Qiu Hong Ting did not turn around, gazing at the evening clouds on the horizon: “About fourteen years ago, that year I was nine, under such skies, the bad news of my father’s death due to the Small Field Edict came from Lingxiao City.”
“After that, I was filled with hatred, entered Zuo Qiu Hidden Sect to cultivate, presenting myself in the guise of a boy, deliberately opposing the Small Field Edict.”
“When I grew older and women’s clothing could no longer hide it, I could only cultivate the Disguise Art. I knew I was no match for the Great Palace Mistress, might never avenge it, but… it seemed that presenting as a man was like fighting her in the arena, only then could the hatred from childhood subside a bit.”
Li Weiyi listened silently and sighed: “Sorry! Actually, Jiang Ning had already told me your secret long ago.”
Zuo Qiu Hong Ting’s face, illuminated by the evening glow, was fair and jade-like, her side profile with extremely beautiful lines. She said: “So, all that ‘gazing at the sky at dawn and clouds at dusk, walking thinks of you, sitting thinks of you’ nonsense was just teasing me?”
Li Weiyi smiled bitterly: “Not entirely! Among the men under heaven, whoever has seen your world-toppling beauty, who would dare say it’s not beautiful? Who wouldn’t want a taste of your fragrance?”
“A taste of your fragrance? You talk so directly to other women too? Like Jiang Ning?” Zuo Qiu Hong Ting’s dark brows slightly raised.
Li Weiyi said: “I swear to heaven, only in front of you can I speak so recklessly. Because, I still see you as a brother to this day; in front of you, there’s no need to pretend or restrain myself, I can laugh, curse, joke, and tease. If it were Jiang Ning, I’d definitely be proper, at most exchange a few curses with her, how dare I tease her like this?”
“Yeah, it would have been so good to always be brothers!”
Zuo Qiu Hong Ting sighed, then continued: “The chaos under heaven is inevitable; Qilin Zhuang’s return has further escalated the turmoil and danger, making the situation even more complex.”
“Zuo Qiu Gatehouse wants to seize under heaven, so it must gain the support of Du’e Temple.”
“Li Weiyi, our engagement—I don’t know if you’re truly willing or forced. But rest assured, it’s just these few years; the chaos under heaven won’t last forever.”
“After Zuo Qiu Gatehouse unifies the Twenty-eight Prefectures, you can come to break the engagement anytime. If you don’t want to break it, once under heaven is stable, we can fully become Dao companions and truly marry.”
She continued: “From a brother’s perspective, actually, if this opportunity can cut off your ties with Jiang Ning, it’s a good thing.”
“Never seen a brother like you breaking up a loving couple! No, now I should call you fiancée… Headache, really can’t face you with a normal mind anymore…” Li Weiyi rubbed his temples; this fiancée came too suddenly.
Zuo Qiu Ting and Zuo Qiu Hong Ting were completely different personalities.
At this moment, she was just as she evaluated herself: “outwardly warm, inwardly cold.” After restoring her true appearance, she was truly aloof to the extreme, not smiling lightly, still as an orchid, with an aura that kept people thousands of miles away.
Zuo Qiu Hong Ting said: “From the fiancée’s standpoint, I would stop you two even more.”
Li Weiyi restrained his smile: “You mean, even with Qilin Zhuang’s return and the Demon Race gaining power, the Human Race’s major powers still can’t unite as one? The contradiction with the Imperial Court can’t be resolved?”
“Why? What threat is greater than the Demon Race?”
Thinking of something, Li Weiyi said: “Could it be because of the Small Field Edict? What exactly is the Small Field Edict? Everyone seems so taboo about it, not daring to even mention it.”
He had only heard Yin Twenty-Four say that the “Small Field Edict” seemed to be its literal meaning.
Zuo Qiu Hong Ting’s gaze was profound, her thoughts drifting back fourteen years: “Take the bottom of ‘kill,’ the top of ‘male,’ that is Small Field.”
“Kill Males Edict?”
Li Weiyi was so shocked his scalp numbed.
He instantly understood why righteous armies were everywhere under heaven, why the contradiction between the righteous armies and the Imperial Court couldn’t be reconciled, why everyone said the Great Palace Mistress had gone mad… This was absolutely madness, and not mildly so.
No wonder the Imperial Court, with such powerful strength, could only control eight prefectures.
No wonder even Jiang Ning, a core member of the Imperial Court, had bluntly said the Great Palace Mistress had become dark and paranoid, lost herself, fallen into an inner vortex, committing a great mistake.
No wonder those Human Race forces would rather join the Demon Race.
Zuo Qiu Hong Ting said: “Objectively speaking, a thousand years ago, the Great Palace Mistress indeed carved out a piece of sky in Lingxiao Life Realm through slaughter; without her, there would be no current Twenty-eight Prefectures.”
“Over the thousand years, she has indeed been diligent, loving the people as her own children; the people under heaven can feel that.”
“No one knows what exactly she encountered.”
“First she found the legendary ancient Mother-Child Spring, then encouraged large-scale planting of Benevolent Rice. Up to fourteen years ago, the Small Field Edict was finally issued.”
“Lingxiao City suffered the calamity first; all who refused castration were to be killed. Overnight, winds changed, the dead uncountable. Of course, those who complied were also uncountable; eunuchs and castrated men were thus mass-produced.”
“Fortunately, after the Great Palace Mistress issued this edict, she seemed to have a major problem, locked in the palace without emerging, and hasn’t appeared to this day.”
“So, once the Small Field Edict left Lingxiao City, its power greatly diminished, extremely difficult to implement in the various prefectures. Plus, male youths under heaven hid en masse, so it didn’t truly turn Lingxiao Life Realm into a land of women.”
“But this one edict became a tool for those with ulterior motives to attack enemy forces, also igniting massive opposition. In those years, slaughter was constant, contradictions endless.”
“One Small Field Edict, a thousand li in white mourning clothes.”
“Midnight grave-weepers, all widows.”
“Some like me lost fathers. Some lost husbands, some sons or brothers…”
“A few years later, warfare finally erupted, rapidly sweeping under heaven; righteous armies in various prefectures rose one after another, even the Imperial Court internally in turmoil.”
Zuo Qiu Hong Ting looked at Li Weiyi: “Tell me, under such circumstances, who can join hands with the Imperial Court? The Small Field Edict, though long a name without substance, as long as it’s not canceled, is a sword hanging over everyone’s head.”
“What if one day the Great Palace Mistress steps out of the palace gate, with her prestige and cultivation, re-implementing this edict—what cataclysm would that be?”
“Now you understand, right? If you really get recruited by Jiang Ning to the Imperial Court, when the Small Field Edict reignites from ashes, you’ll surely be among the first to suffer.”
Li Weiyi hadn’t experienced that era, hard to empathize, but just from her telling, he could feel the uncertainty and danger the Small Field Edict caused.
The problem was far more serious than he imagined.
The survival of under heaven, all the knots, entangled on one person.
Was this the power of the Number One Person under heaven?
Every word and action deciding countless lives and deaths.
Could Zen Sea Observing Mist untie this knot?
Originally, Li Weiyi was extremely opposed to Zen Sea Observing Mist going to Lingxiao Palace; now, his heart began to waver.
If she succeeded in making the Great Palace Mistress issue a decree of self-blame and cancel the Small Field Edict, then the Human Race’s major powers would have the possibility to unite against the Demon Race.
Conversely, if the Great Palace Mistress emerged herself, re-imposed the Small Field Edict, even becoming more dark and paranoid… Lingxiao Life Realm would undoubtedly turn into a purgatory of the Mortal World.
After parting with Zuo Qiu Hong Ting, Li Weiyi returned to the Jiu Li clan’s place where the martial cultivators were healing injuries.
The Silver Feather Demon King’s flesh had already been cooked.
Perhaps due to top-grade ingredients, the taste was actually not bad.
After eating their fill, everyone felt their bodies heating up, vitality surging fiercely within, so they all practiced martial arts moves together, tempering their physical bodies.
At the same time.
Li Weiyi and Zuo Qiu Hong Ting’s engagement invitations were sent like snowflakes to all corners of the city.
Due to Transcendent’s large-scale magic battle, the major powers attending the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival were still lingering in Qiu Prefecture City.
The engagement banquet was set for three days later, on the twenty-fifth of the first month.
Zuo Qiu Gatehouse was very urgent, wanting to settle everything before Transcendent’s magic battle ended.
