We Agreed On Experiencing Life, So Why Did You Immortals Become Real? - Chapter 448: Yes, Where Could That Be?
In a small room, a little girl who appeared to be no more than three years old ran back and forth through the courtyard in her little red dress.
Her small feet hopped and skipped as she chased endlessly after butterflies. The hem of her skirt lifted lightly with each leap, and she looked utterly, radiantly happy.
Not far away in the courtyard, Yu Yunwei watched it all with a smile, a warmth in her eyes that had not been seen there for a very long time.
Ning Wei, standing to one side, found herself gazing at Elder Sister Yunwei’s expression, completely captivated by it.
Although Elder Sister Yunwei was only smiling faintly, Ning Wei could not recall the last time, over however many years it had been, that she had seen Elder Sister Yunwei look this genuinely happy.
After a long while, Yu Yunwei finally drew her gaze away from Xue Kui and said slowly, “Ning Wei, have you made up your mind? Would you like to head to the Central Plains, go take a look at that Zhou Kingdom? Or would you rather go to the Great Wall to train? The fighting at the Great Wall has been intense lately. Going there to cut down some demon folk would not be a bad use of your time either.”
Hearing Elder Sister Yunwei’s words, Ning Wei tightened her small hands involuntarily, and looked at Yu Yunwei with expectant eyes. “Elder Sister Yunwei, is Elder Brother Xiao’s reincarnation truly in the Zhou Kingdom?”
“Most likely.” Yu Yunwei gave a nod. “That Sili is bone-deep lazy and never moves without something to gain from it. If Senior Brother’s reincarnation were not in the Zhou Kingdom’s palace, she would have left long ago. She would never have stayed there so long.”
With those words, Yu Yunwei glanced at Ning Wei and let out a quiet sigh.
“The Western Region has not been peaceful lately, and for some reason, a number of sects have recently been conducting themselves in ways that seem aimed at our Ten Thousand Dao Sect. I am the Sect Master, and I cannot leave for now. I must hold this foundation that Senior Brother built. Otherwise, I would have gone to the Central Plains myself long ago.”
“So Ning Wei, I am counting on you for this. That Sili is unreliable. If you find any trace of Senior Brother, send word to the Western Region at once.”
“When that time comes, our Ten Thousand Dao Sect will go and bring Senior Brother home. Then our Blood Peak disciples can be reunited at last.”
“Mm!”
Ning Wei gave a solemn nod.
“Elder Sister Yunwei, do not worry. If I run into Senior Brother Xiao Mo’s reincarnation, I will tell Elder Sister Yunwei at the very first moment!”
“Good. Since you have made up your mind, we should not waste time. Set out now. And remember, in the Central Plains, do not go looking for trouble. But if trouble finds you, there is no need to be overly afraid either. Behind you stands the Ten Thousand Dao Sect, and our Ten Thousand Dao Sect is not made of clay. Understood?”
“Understood, Elder Sister Yunwei.”
Ning Wei answered firmly.
Yu Yunwei gave Ning Wei a few final words of instruction and presented her with some protective spells for her journey. Ning Wei then bid farewell to Yu Yunwei and walked out toward the gates of the Ten Thousand Dao Sect.
At the foot of the mountain at the sect’s entrance, Ning Wei turned and looked back at the sect once more, then tightened her fists with both nervous excitement and determination, giving herself a rallying speech. “Ning Wei! Go and complete the task Elder Sister Yunwei has given you! You must find Elder Brother Xiao! Believe in yourself! You can do this!”
She drew a long, deep breath, and Ning Wei, who had never traveled far from home before, set off in the direction of the Central Plains.
At the same time, at the Minister of Rites’ residence in the Zhou Kingdom, an extraordinarily magnificent carriage came to a stop outside the entrance of the Minister’s residence.
When the carriage curtain was lifted and the maidservant helped her young mistress down from the carriage, the women who had long been waiting at the entrance of the residence all bowed in unison and called out, “Your servants respectfully welcome Noble Consort Xue back to the residence.”
“There is no need for such ceremony. Rise, all of you.” Yan Ruxue said gently, then looked toward her mother’s personal maidservant, Yan Er. “Yan Er, are Mother and Father at home?”
“In reply to Young Mistress, Madam is currently in the reception hall entertaining the Confucian gentleman, and the Master has some official matters to attend to and has not yet returned.” Yan Er answered with great deference.
“I see.”
Yan Ruxue gave a nod and walked into the courtyard.
Upon reaching the reception hall, Yan Ruxue saw her mother seated at the head of the room, engaged in animated, pleasant conversation with the Confucian gentleman.
“Mother.”
Yan Ruxue stepped into the reception hall and gave a bow.
“Ruxue, you are back.”
Madam Yan stepped down from her chair and hurried to her daughter’s side, taking her daughter’s slender hands and looking her over carefully.
“Good, you have not lost weight, and your color looks well. Are you comfortable living in the palace, daughter?”
“In reply to Mother, the Empress Dowager and His Majesty have both been very kind to your daughter. Your daughter has settled in well.” Yan Ruxue smiled, then glanced toward the Confucian gentleman. “Mother called daughter home today, and this is…”
“Oh oh oh, Mother almost forgot what we were here for. Come, come quickly, let Mother introduce you.”
Madam Yan drew her daughter forward.
“This gentleman is the closing-door disciple of Confucian Academy Master Kong Sheng. The Confucian Academy heard that you are a woman of great talent and has come especially to find you today. Master Jin says that the Confucian Academy hopes that you will go and study there for a period of time.”
“This one is Jin Che. I pay my respects to Noble Consort Xue.”
Jin Che stood before Yan Ruxue and bowed with great respect.
“Greetings, Master Jin.” Yan Ruxue returned a courteous nod.
“All right, then daughter, you and Master Jin may speak freely.” Madam Yan looked at her daughter. “As for whether you go to the Confucian Academy or not, you may decide for yourself. If you wish to go, Mother will speak to the Empress Dowager about it as well.”
Madam Yan knew that her daughter was widely read and deeply learned, and surely harbored the same longing for the Confucian Academy that any scholar would.
So if her daughter truly wished to go and study there for a time, she would speak on her daughter’s behalf to the Empress Dowager.
After all, this was the Confucian Academy. How many ordinary people could ever have such an opportunity?
“There is no rush, Mother. Your daughter has not yet decided whether to go.” Yan Ruxue smiled, putting her mother’s heart at ease.
“Whatever you decide, Mother supports you either way.”
Madam Yan pinched her daughter’s cheek affectionately, said nothing more, and walked out of the reception hall.
Once Madam Yan had left, Yan Ruxue took her seat at the head of the reception hall and casually laid down a formation to cut off all outside perception.
Jin Che’s expression inside the reception hall became even more respectful.
He walked to the center of the hall, clasped his hands together, and bowed deeply. “Jin Che of the Confucian Academy pays his respects to the Lord of the Four Seas!”
At the head of the room, Yan Ruxue took a light sip of tea, glanced at Jin Che, and spoke with a quiet authority that carried no anger yet carried natural weight. “There is no need for pleasantries. What business does the Confucian Academy have with me? Surely you did not genuinely intend to invite me there to study?”
“That is naturally not the case. The invitation to come study was simply a pretense on my part.”
Jin Che straightened up and spoke slowly.
“When the phenomenon occurred at the Temple of Culture not long ago, my teacher said that a sage had appeared in the Zhou Kingdom, causing the signs in heaven and earth.”
“After several rounds of divination, the Confucian Academy determined that the one who had caused the phenomenon was the ruler of the Zhou Kingdom.”
“So our Academy Master sent me here to invite the Zhou Kingdom’s ruler to come to the Confucian Academy to study.”
“A ruler of such exceptional natural gifts, serving as the emperor of a minor kingdom, would truly be a waste. It would be far better for him to seek learning between heaven and earth, and attain the Dao through Confucian scholarship.”
“But it was entirely unexpected that this ruler would turn out to be your husband. So I have taken the liberty of coming here to seek your permission.”
When Jin Che finished speaking, the reception hall fell into complete silence.
After a long while, Yan Ruxue opened her mouth and said, “That old creature Kong Sheng, how much of what happened back then did he tell you?”
Hearing this, a cold bead of sweat formed on Jin Che’s forehead. But quickly, he steadied himself and answered earnestly, “A great deal…”
“Then do you know who the Zhou Kingdom’s ruler is, in truth?” Yan Ruxue asked again.
“I do.” Jin Che gave a nod, his expression carrying deep guilt. “It is the Confucian Academy that has wronged Master Xiao.”
“The Confucian Academy?” Yan Ruxue let out a cold laugh.
As her words settled, her eyes shifted into golden vertical pupils.
A terrifyingly oppressive dragon aura, the full might of the peak Ascension realm, pressed down upon Jin Che’s body.
Jin Che felt as though an entire mountain had come to rest on his shoulders.
Cold sweat broke out across his forehead. His heartbeat quickened without stopping, and even his breathing came to a halt.
It was as though the distance between him and death was nothing more than a single passing thought on her part.
“Remember this!”
In the blink of an eye, Yan Ruxue had left her chair and was standing directly before him.
When she came to stand at his side, this Confucian gentleman could no longer restrain the terror in his heart, and his knees gave way beneath him.
The only thing he managed that preserved even a shred of dignity for the Confucian Academy was that only one knee touched the ground. His other leg strained with all its strength to hold him upright.
“It is not the Confucian Academy that owes him an apology. It is the entire Ten Thousand Laws Realm that failed him!”
“And your Confucian Academy, you do not even have the standing to say you are sorry!”
Yan Ruxue’s golden vertical pupils swept downward to look at him for a single moment, then she withdrew her gaze, folded her hands before her, and walked toward the hall’s exit.
Only one word drifted back to Jin Che from behind her, shaking something deep within him.
“Get out.”
After leaving the reception hall, Yan Ruxue told her mother that she had decided not to go to the Confucian Academy after all.
“Ruxue, are you truly not going?”
Hearing that her daughter had genuinely decided not to go, Madam Yan let out a quiet breath of relief.
In Madam Yan’s eyes, the Confucian Academy was simply too far away. She had only this one daughter. If she wanted to go and visit her there, there was no telling how many years might pass between each meeting but with her daughter in the palace it was different. She could go to the palace to visit her daughter often, and would not feel lonely.
And frankly speaking, although Madam Yan had no great ambitions regarding her daughter’s competing for favor, she also did not want her daughter to come back from the Confucian Academy only to find that the Qin Kingdom princess had already given birth to several children in the meantime.
That would leave her daughter utterly overlooked in the palace.
Unless, of course, her Ruxue could cultivate and go to the mountains to study, never returning to the Zhou Kingdom, and simply become a true immortal being entirely.
“Not going.” Yan Ruxue smiled and shook her head. “Where can one not read books? Our Zhou Kingdom suits your daughter just fine. And besides, what does the Confucian Academy have that compares to Mother? By staying in the Zhou Kingdom, your daughter can visit Mother often.”
“You, you girl…” Madam Yan let out a soft sigh, but a quiet joy bloomed in her heart at the words. “All right then, if you are not going, you are not going. It is almost noon now. Ruxue, eat lunch before you return to the palace.”
“Yes, Mother.”
Yan Ruxue gave a nod and walked toward the rear courtyard with her mother’s arm in hers.
Yan Ruxue had lunch together with her mother before leaving the Yan residence and returning to the palace.
As for Jin Che, although Madam Yan politely extended the usual courtesy of inviting him to stay for the meal, Jin Che had no face left to accept. He quickly found an excuse, bid his farewell, and left.
By the time Yan Ruxue returned to the palace, it was already mid-afternoon.
She walked back into the Yangxin Hall, intending to channel some spiritual energy into Xiao Mo to nurture his spiritual veins.
When Yan Ruxue stepped into the room, she found that Xiao Mo was already awake.
Xiao Mo was lying on the bed, a book floating in the air before his face.
Under Xiao Mo’s intent, the pages of the book turned one by one.
“Your Majesty is reading?”
Yan Ruxue smiled warmly and walked forward with graceful ease, her expression full of quiet gentleness, bearing no trace at all of the stern authority she had carried at the Yan residence earlier.
“Mm.” Xiao Mo gave a nod and said in a lighthearted tone, “Nothing better to do. Since I cannot cultivate today, I might as well read more. Who knows, perhaps I could even cultivate the righteous qi.”
In truth, what Xiao Mo said was not entirely a joke.
Since entering Foundation Building, the Sage’s Heart within him had finally unlocked to a small degree.
Although at his current Foundation Building realm Xiao Mo could only draw upon the tiniest fraction of what the Sage’s Heart was capable of, it could still accumulate righteous qi gradually over time, refining his spiritual roots and spiritual veins day by day.
And by reading those Confucian classics and studying Confucian scholarship, Xiao Mo could better bring out the potential of the Sage’s Heart.
That way, none of it would go to waste.
“Cultivating righteous qi is indeed no easy feat, but if it is Your Majesty, your servant believes Your Majesty can certainly do it.”
Hearing that the one she loved intended to read, Yan Ruxue’s eyes curved with warmth. She sat down at the bedside and reached out to take the floating copy of the Great Learning from the air.
“Though Your Majesty reading like this must be quite tiring. Would it not be better for your servant to read aloud to Your Majesty? Your Majesty can simply close your eyes and rest, and recover more quickly.”
“That works as well. Thank you, Miss.” Xiao Mo did not refuse.
“It is no trouble at all.”
Yan Ruxue opened the Great Learning and, infusing her voice with spiritual energy, read each word and every line aloud.
As Yan Ruxue read the Great Learning to Xiao Mo, she was at the same time gently nurturing his divine sense and spiritual veins.
Although Xiao Mo’s memories of his second and third lifetimes had grown considerably hazy, he had by any account spent two full lifetimes as a scholar, and so felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity when it came to the Confucian classics.
Even so, Xiao Mo had ultimately forgotten a great deal of his learning, and there were many passages he could no longer fully understand.
Wherever Xiao Mo did not understand, he would ask Yan Ruxue about it and Yan Ruxue would patiently annotate and explain each passage for him, sharing her own insights and interpretations.
The more he heard, the more Xiao Mo felt that Yan Ruxue’s reputation as the foremost talent in the Zhou Kingdom was thoroughly well deserved.
“Is Miss Yan going to the Confucian Academy?” Half an hour later, Xiao Mo opened his eyes and asked the beauty at his side.
“How does Your Majesty know?” Yan Ruxue asked with a smile.
“Sili heard it from Xiao Chun, and then told me that the Confucian Academy had extended an invitation for Miss to go and study there.” Xiao Mo explained.
“I see.” Yan Ruxue set the book down on her well-proportioned thighs. “Your servant has decided not to go.”
Xiao Mo shook his head. “It is said that the Confucian Academy is home to the finest Confucian scholars in the world, and is considered a sacred destination in the hearts of all who pursue Confucian learning. Given your talent and learning, Miss, not going there would be something of a pity.”
“But the finest Confucian scholar in the world is not there.” Yan Ruxue said with a smile.
“Not at the Confucian Academy? Then where?” Xiao Mo asked.
“Yes, where indeed?”
The young woman smiled playfully.
Her peach-blossom eyes rested on the man before her, and for a long, quiet moment, she said nothing more.
