Zanxing

Chapter 92 - King Shenning (2)

Yanxing looked up at Mimi on the bookshelf. Mimi, with its chubby face, lazily sat on the shelf, biting its tail.

Yanxing gathered her thoughts and took the scroll marked with the characters "King Shenning" to Gu Baiying, gesturing for him to take a look.

Gu Baiying was initially puzzled, but after glancing at the small characters on the scroll, he paused for a moment before taking it from Yanxing's hand.

The scroll indeed recorded the life of King Shenning, also known as the old king. It was impressive that the court historian managed to compile such a thick scroll, even though the old king had passed away in his twenties. One had to wonder how many meaningless words were added to fill the volume.

The two of them leaned against the bookshelf and sat down on the floor, beginning to read the scroll.

The life of the old king, King Shenning of Li'er, seemed quite unremarkable. The historian had clearly tried hard to embellish his deeds, but the records mainly consisted of superficial praise, using terms like "learned," "exceptionally talented," "noble," and "brilliant." However, there wasn't a single concrete example to demonstrate these qualities.

During the years of the old king's reign, nothing significant happened in Li'er, so one might attribute the lack of accomplishments to the fact that there were no major events for him to address. It wasn't really his fault.

From birth, King Shenning's health had been weak, and he was frequently bedridden. The nation's best physicians had seen him, diagnosing the issue as a congenital problem that could not be cured, only managed.

Despite the constant flow of medicinal herbs into the palace, King Shenning's condition never improved. As a child, he could still run and play, but by his teenage years, he could no longer engage in strenuous activities. By the time he turned twenty, he was coughing up blood daily and appeared more frail than an elderly person.

At this point, Yanxing whispered to Gu Baiying, "That golden statue by the sea... isn't it kind of ironic?" The statue depicted the old king as a powerful figure capable of defeating ten men at once. A little exaggeration was fine, but this much? The old king would surely be embarrassed if he saw it himself.

Gu Baiying frowned, shifted a bit to avoid her, and said, "Stop talking. Keep reading."

So Yanxing continued reading.

Despite his frailty, King Shenning still desired to marry. On his twenty-second birthday, he wed Princess Lizhu of the Lin Kingdom. Yanxing guessed it might have been an attempt to ward off bad luck, though the marriage didn't seem to help much. King Shenning didn't die from illness but was eventually killed by the demonic merman.

After marrying Princess Lizhu, King Shenning's health improved slightly. Shortly after, the demonic merman began wreaking havoc in Li'er, leading to the old king's eventual confrontation with the creature. The scroll repeated the earlier accounts: King Shenning fought bravely and perished alongside the demonic merman. After that, the record ended.

Yanxing remarked, "...That's it?"

It wasn't that she had anything against King Shenning, but after reading the entire scroll, it seemed the only notable events in his life were his marriage and his battle with the demon.

Just as she was pondering this, Gu Baiying flipped a few more pages. Yanxing noticed there was more writing and leaned closer to see.

It appeared to be a medicinal record attached to the end of the scroll, detailing the medicines prescribed to King Shenning by the imperial physicians over the years. As a child, he was given supplements for vitality, but as he grew older, he was treated with more potent life-preserving ingredients, such as ginseng and lingzhi. The amount of medicine used doubled each year, indicating that King Shenning's condition had worsened over time. Yet, the record suddenly stopped halfway through. Based on the date, the prescriptions ceased about six months before Princess Lizhu's arrival in Li'er.

Yanxing furrowed her brow. Gu Baiying's gaze also lingered on the abrupt end of the medicinal record, as though he found it equally puzzling.

A sudden stop in treatment usually meant the patient had recovered, but according to the current king, Shenning's illness never improved. Had they given up on treatment altogether? Perhaps they figured there was no hope for a cure, so the old king decided to focus on securing an heir for Li'er before his inevitable death?

Yanxing couldn't shake the feeling that there was something strange about this medicinal record.

Just as she was about to speak, voices from outside startled her. Panicking, she grabbed Gu Baiying and pulled him into the narrowest section of the bookshelves.

The space between the shelves was barely wide enough for one person, so the two ended up pressed closely together, with Yanxing's head nearly colliding with Gu Baiying's chest.

Caught off guard, Gu Baiying was pulled into the corner by Yanxing. Once he regained his balance, he glared at her angrily and whispered through clenched teeth, "What are you doing?"

"Someone's coming," Yanxing whispered back, clutching his sleeve. "If we're caught, we're doomed."

Gu Baiying took a deep breath and, glaring at her, whispered harshly, "Yanxing, are you insane? We have invisibility spells for a reason! Why are you hiding?"

Yanxing paused. "...Oh, right."

She had given up trying to learn invisibility spells after failing to grasp them. In the Taiyan Sect, very few people had mastered it, but Gu Baiying was one of them. Yanxing often forgot about that.

"But," she whispered back, "Martial Uncle, aren't invisibility spells only effective for one use per day and for the duration of half an incense stick? We've been reading for longer than that."

Gu Baiying froze for a moment, realizing she was right. He gritted his teeth in frustration. "Shut up."

Yanxing wisely closed her mouth.

Outside, the voices continued. "You may all leave. I'll just take a look around."

"Yes, Your Highness," came the sound of guards departing.

Yanxing and Gu Baiying exchanged glances. That voice... Was it Princess Lizhu?

Footsteps approached, entering the Tianlu Pavilion. Princess Lizhu showed no intention of leaving. Yanxing, feeling nervous, asked, "Martial Uncle, what if we get caught?"

"If we get caught, we get caught," Gu Baiying said nonchalantly after a pause. "So what? What can she even do to us?"

His arrogance was clear as always—typical of someone who had never faced the harsh reality of consequences.

Still, they were in the royal palace, and Yanxing wasn't eager to provoke the royal family. She shrank further into the corner, silently praying that Princess Lizhu wouldn't come any closer and would just leave.

At that moment, a loud "thud" echoed from above. Yanxing's heart skipped a beat as a fluffy white tail swayed above her head.

Oh no, she had forgotten about Mimi on the bookshelf!

The chubby cat, completely oblivious to its size, jumped down, causing the books on the shelf to crash to the floor with a resounding "clang." In the chaos, the scrolls tumbled down, heading straight for Yanxing's head. Gu Baiying, startled, instinctively shielded her, and with the narrow space leaving little room to maneuver, Yanxing lost her balance and fell hard onto Gu Baiying's chest.