Chapter 598: Your Majesty’s Hair Has Been Dyed White—You Look Like an Old Man

Inside the water pavilion on Ten Thousand Carp Lake, Si Li, Spring Swallow, and the other maidservants had already brewed tea and brought over pastries and fish food.

Beyond the pavilion, snowflakes drifted down onto the lake and melted into the water.

Thanks to the formations surrounding the imperial palace, Ten Thousand Carp Lake had not frozen. The fish within seemed untouched by the cold as they darted briskly through the water.

Whenever a maidservant scattered fish food from her pale, tender palm, the fish crowded together in a frenzy, competing for it as they churned up splashes and circles of ripples.

“Your Majesty has now entered the Cave Dwelling Realm. Each cave dwelling requires an anchoring treasure. I happen to have a few things here. They are nothing especially precious, but I hope Your Majesty will not disdain them.”

Yan Ruxue, kneeling on a meditation cushion inside the pavilion, spoke slowly. She then took five objects, corresponding to the five elements, from her storage pouch.

Jiang Qingyi and Qin Mujiu both stiffened slightly when they saw what Yan Ruxue had brought out.

Setting everything else aside, the pearl and the piece of wood alone were extraordinarily valuable.

The blue-green pearl was a Water-Spirit Pearl—and one of the finest. It contained the purest essence of water, without the slightest impurity. Fewer than five such Water-Spirit Pearls could be found in all the Four Seas.

As for that piece of wood—

It looked utterly unremarkable, even a little weathered, but they recognized it at once as the legendary World-Supporting Tree.

It was something even Ascension Realm cultivators could only dream of obtaining. By all reason, it should have disappeared from the world long ago. No one knew from what ancient ruin Yan Ruxue had found it.

“Since Sister Ruxue has been so generous, I may not be as wealthy as she is, but I have a few things of my own. Brother Emperor, see whether there is anything you like.”

Qin Mujiu’s eyes curved as she smiled sweetly and produced five more objects.

The treasures she brought out were no less remarkable. That golden horn alone came from Bian, one of the ancient Ten Fierce Beasts, a strange beast that had long since vanished from the world.

And the flame burning in the lamp Qin Mujiu offered was an exceedingly rare chaos flame.

“Just pick whatever you want. If nothing catches your eye, then forget it.”

Jiang Qingyi also “casually” tossed out five anchoring treasures, each one no less valuable than the objects Yan Ruxue and Qin Mujiu had presented.

“Thank you, all three of you. In that case, I will not stand on ceremony.”

Xiao Mo had no idea just how precious the items they had brought out were.

He only knew they represented their goodwill. It would not have been proper to refuse them outright.

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Mo selected one item from each woman’s offerings. “These three will be enough. I have already prepared other anchoring treasures for the rest.”

“Your Majesty may take more. There is no need to be polite with us,” Yan Ruxue said.

“What good things could your Great Zhou possibly have?” Jiang Qingyi asked, frowning.

“They truly are enough.” Xiao Mo smiled.

In Xiao Mo’s eyes, accepting their goodwill was enough. If he took too much, it would be difficult to repay them later.

Seeing how insistent he was, the three women said nothing more. The three items were enough to anchor three of Xiao Mo’s cave dwellings. For the remaining two, almost anything would do.

Besides, once he reached the Dragon Gate Realm, such anchoring treasures would no longer serve much purpose.

The group continued drinking tea in the water pavilion, feeding the fish, playing chess, and discussing cultivation methods for the Cave Dwelling Realm.

For a while, Xiao Mo felt that this sort of life was not bad at all.

Near dusk, Xiao Mo and the others left Ten Thousand Carp Lake. He escorted the women back to their sleeping palaces one by one.

“Would Your Majesty care to take a walk with me?”

When Xiao Mo saw Yan Ruxue to the entrance of the Hall of Congealed Snow, she turned and smiled at him.

“Of course.” Xiao Mo nodded.

“Your Majesty, please.”

“After you.”

The two walked onward from the Hall of Congealed Snow, leaving side-by-side footprints in the pristine snow.

“Your Majesty has only just entered the Cave Dwelling Realm, but you have already opened five cave dwellings. The caliber of your realm is beyond anything ordinary cultivators could match. Moreover, most records of cultivators defeating opponents above their realm occur after Foundation Establishment and before the Golden Core Realm.”

Yan Ruxue spoke slowly as she walked beside Xiao Mo.

Xiao Mo immediately understood what she meant. “What does Miss mean?”

Though they were husband and wife in name, their marriage had never been consummated. In Xiao Mo’s eyes, their relationship was still transactional, and the women had entered the palace for reasons of their own. When no one else was present, he sometimes addressed Yan Ruxue simply as Miss.

“I know Your Majesty is unwilling to remain a puppet forever. You wish to kill Yan Shanao, reclaim your authority, and restore order to the court.”

Yan Ruxue raised her head and gave Xiao Mo’s profile a soft glance.

“Your Majesty can begin preparing now.”

“Yan Shanao may be a Dragon Gate Realm cultivator, but he has neglected his cultivation for years, consumed by worldly power. His realm has likely grown unstable. In my view, once Your Majesty reaches the middle stage of the Cave Dwelling Realm, you will be able to defeat him.”

Xiao Mo did not answer, but he had already begun weighing the matter in silence.

“I know what else worries Your Majesty. But please rest assured. After Your Majesty kills Yan Shanao, I believe the Empress Dowager will say nothing. Her heart still leans toward you. As for my father, he will take charge of the Yan clan’s affairs.”

Yan Ruxue calmly laid out Xiao Mo’s remaining concerns.

“Furthermore, the Great Zhou imperial house has favored the Yan clan for two hundred years. There are many among the Yan clan who remain loyal to the imperial family. They have merely been suppressed by their own clan.”

“I will carefully consider what you have said, Miss,” Xiao Mo replied seriously.

Yan Ruxue nodded lightly and did not say anything more. She had already said enough.

The two continued walking. Xiao Mo asked Yan Ruxue which members of the Yan clan were trustworthy and could be recommended.

Yan Ruxue held nothing back. She even told him about some of the contingencies Yan Shanao had planted in important positions.

Before they realized it, Xiao Mo and Yan Ruxue had become absorbed in their conversation. They circled the courtyard again and again until snow clung to both their hair.

Gradually, Xiao Mo’s thoughts drifted away from Yan Ruxue’s words.

As he watched the woman walking through the snow beside him, he could not shake the feeling {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} that he had lived through this moment somewhere before.

“Your Majesty... the snow is falling harder. We should go back...” Yan Ruxue stopped and looked at Xiao Mo with gentle eyes. Then she teased, “Your Majesty’s hair has been dyed white by the snow. You look like an old man.”

Xiao Mo smiled and shook his head. “You are one to talk, Miss. You do not look much better yourself.”

“Then, Your Majesty...”

Yan Ruxue turned toward him and looked up. Her soft lips released a warm breath into the cold air.

And a scene surfaced in Xiao Mo’s mind.

It was also a day of heavy snow. A woman in a plain dress had turned around to look at him.

The woman in Xiao Mo’s memory gradually overlapped with the woman before him.

“Your Majesty, tell me... (Xiao Mo, tell me...)”

“Does this mean our dark hair has turned white together...? (Does this mean we have grown old together...?)”