Blind and Bereft

Chapter 16 | Mercy

Zhanying listened as Jingrui's hurried footsteps faded into the distance. He sighed and pushed himself to stand. "Yuansong," he called, and Yuansong quickly rushed from beneath the shadow of the shelves.

"Your highness, you are letting her go just like that? She clearly broke the rules, why are you not punishing her?" Yuansong asked as he ran to follow Zhanying.

Zhanying took a seat in front of the floor table that stood amidst the room. He waved his hand, summoning a tea set. "Pour me tea. My head is aching."

Yuansong grumbled before plopping down and pouring him a cup. "Please don't avoid my question, Your Highness. That Jingrui girl clearly trespassed into the restricted area. Your Highness is normally very wary of souls that come near the archive. Even when birds fly past, Your Highness would kill them without mercy, so why are you letting her go?"

Zhanying placed his teacup down louder than he normally would, and his bodyguard sealed his mouth shut. He stretched his arm out to the side, and the jade lucky charm knot, along with the scroll on the floor, flew into his palm. He laid the scroll down, and his fingers ran over the jade knot. 

"That little Earthly Immortal barely has any cultivation. Her immortal scent is still stained with mortality. She must have cultivated for only a few centuries." Zhanying placed his elbow onto the table and rested his chin on his hand.

Yuansong scratched his head as he lit the incense burner on the table. "Even if she has low cultivation, that doesn't mean she does not have any motive. I don't want to say this, Your Highness, but you are normally more careful than this. Who knows if she is a part of his schemes. . ."

Zhanying spun the knot around his finger. "That's why I am keeping her in the inner courtyard."

With those words, Yuansong immediately understood and he smiled. "Of course, of course. How could I doubt Your Highness' caution? Since Jingrui took the initiative to enter this archive where you kept the supreme decree hidden, in my opinion, I think she must harbour ill intentions."

Zhanying dropped the knot and picked up the scroll. "Since when are you allowed to voice your opinion?" He traced his fingers across the ink imprinted on the scroll Jingrui had last read.

Phantom Sect . . . His eyes grew cold and he grimaced. "Who are you, Bao Bao?"

Yuansong nodded slowly upon hearing Zhanying's question. "That little immortal . . . I really admired her for having the audacity of the four seas and eight deserts. She pushed Your Highness, stood over Your Highness, and paid Your Highness no respect. This Yuansong doesn't understand how Your Highness can still take it." He paused and looked up. "Or is this act of mercy because she saved Your Highness that night?"

The scroll fell from Zhanying's hand and clattered against the lacquered tabletop. The sound echoed throughout the room, making Yuansong stiffened.

"Why are you so noisy today?" Zhanying ran his hand over the rim of his teacup. "Speaking of that night, I told you to guard the archive. The supreme decree was stolen in the middle of the night, where were you?"

The chill in Zhanying's voice cut through Yuansong's skin, and he dropped to his knees. "Your highness, someone poisoned my immortal meridians that night, and I was drugged to sleep."

Zhanying massaged his temples. "A hundred thieves entered the compound to steal the decree on the day you lazily slept around. And that day was also the day I happened to be visiting the Heavenly Emperor Yihuai. . ." He chuckled as he tilted his head back. "That day, Yihuai poisoned my drink, it heated my flow of Qi while my magic was cold in nature. Although I retrieved the decree, it left me paralysed in a maid's room for five days."

Yuansong banged his fist against the table. "The Heavenly Emperor is getting more and more unbearable. Your Highness is sensitive to smell, you would have known that drink was poisoned, yet you had to swallow it down because within this palace, what voice has the Floating Abyss ever had?"

Zhanying grabbed the filled teacup with both hands, and poured it horizontally across the floor. A smile came over his lips. "That fate will soon change. Call for my Third Uncle."

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