Cherry Blossoms Upon a Wintry Sword

Chapter 57: Night Daze

In this way, Bai Tianrui took Xuan Qing and Lin Rufei around the palace for a day. They also incidentally had dinner together with Bai Jinglun before heading back to the inn.

On their way back, Xuan Qing sat in the carriage with his eyes closed. It seemed that he was thinking about something so Lin Rufei did not dare to disturb him. Instead, he lifted the carriage curtain and gazed at the night scenery outside.

Because of the curfew, the originally lively night scene of Dengxiao City disappeared. The streets were lined with closed shops and there were no visitors to be seen. He could only see, from time to time, heavily armored and serious-looking guards patrolling back and forth with a neat and uniform pace. When going back, the carriage was also stopped several times by the guards. Only after seeing that the driver had a palace token, did they let them go. 

When they arrived at the inn, Xuan Qing and Lin Rufei each said goodbye and went back to their rooms to rest.

In such hot weather, Lin Rufei was indeed also a little tired from walking outside all day so Fu Hua and Yu Rui brought him boiled medicine and chilled Tremella soup, urging Lin Rufei to drink.

When Lin Rufei saw the medicine, he frowned. He said that he had recovered from his cold, so why did he still need to drink the medicine?

Fu Hua explained that this was a medicine to help calm the mind. Drinking it at night would ensure a good night’s sleep and she also said that the effect of this medicine was really good since so far it seemed to have been quite effective.

Lin Rufei asked curiously, “Effective, how do you know if it’s effective?”

Fu Hua and Yu Rui were silent but their expressions looked to be a bit strange.

Lin Rufei simply sent the two out and just as he was about to find a random place to pour out the medicine, he remembered something and stared intently at the brownish-black medicinal juice in his hand. Suddenly, realization sunk in and he understood what the effect meant, as mentioned by Fu Hua and Yu Rui.

Recently Gu Xuandu had been getting weaker and weaker and had rarely appeared in front of him. Because of this, in Fu Hua and Yu Rui’s eyes, his self-talking hysteria had improved greatly. The maids rightfully attributed this change to the calming medicine working, which was why they urged Lin Rufei to continue taking the medicine prescribed by Wan Yao.

Lin Rufei was helpless, after all, medicine also had its side effects. If he drank too much he didn’t know whether it would have other effects. In the end, although he appreciated Fu Hua and Yu Rui’s good intentions, he still quietly poured out the medicine and then lay back on the bed.

Today, when they walked around in the palace, Lin Rufei also noticed some means. Although Bai Tianrui said he would help, the truth was that he never put this matter into his heart until a few days ago when someone directly moved under his nose—directly provoking him.

At present, Bai Jinglun had not yet established the heir apparent, plus the first prince was not the son of the first wife so the various forces within the palace were treacherous. In the words of Bai Tianrui, any methods they used were not a surprise to him. Bai Tianrui was not interested in the friction between these forces and as long as they do not scheme against him, he would not intervene. After all, if a sword cultivator at the eighth level wanted to destroy a city it was a piece of cake. Although he lived in the mortal world, living things in his eyes were as small as ants.

Would you care exactly which ant won in the end? For Bai Tianrui, it was the same meaning.

Of course, Bai Tianrui hid this attitude of his very well. If not for Lin Rufei’s deep understanding of the swordsman’s nature, most likely he would not have noticed either.

Bai Jinglun was also probably aware of his brother’s nature so he had zero suspicion and understood well that Bai Tianrui did not intervene in this bizarre thing. After all, if he really wanted to do so, why would he choose such a tactful method? Directly forcing the Palace was more convenient than this.

But Bai Tianrui was really interested in Lin Rufei that even Xuan Qing felt it. On the way back, he also advised Lin Rufei to pay a little more attention and that this Prince’s nature had no inhibitions. His hostility would change faster than flipping a book. If he really started to fancy, then it was definitely not a good thing. 

Lin Rufei was naturally also clear about this matter. Although Bai Tianrui was not his second brother, Lin Bianyu’s, opponent, Lin Bianyu was inevitably far away on Kunlun. If he waited until the real accident happened to rush over, it would probably be too late. But unlike Xuan Qing’s feelings, he felt that Bai Tianrui’s interest in him was not that of a man and woman, but more like a vague test to see if Lin Rufei was as harmless as he appeared to be.

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A million thoughts passed through his head and sleepiness gradually enveloped his mind. Just as Lin Rufei closed his eyes due to the drowsiness, he suddenly heard a subtle creaking sound. The sound was very light and small, as if the breeze had accidentally blown against the window. However, in the silence of the room, it was particularly abrupt. The candles lit on the table had been extinguished and the room was dim, so he could not see clearly, but Lin Rufei’s eyes opened abruptly and he sat up from the bed alertly, “Who’s there?”

No one answered.

“Who’s there?” Lin Rufei asked again

However, there was still no answer, as if the sound Lin Rufei heard just now was just his imagination. Yet although he could not see, he clearly felt that there was something in his room, maybe by the window, maybe in the corner, maybe……it was hiding under his bed.

Lin Rufei was startled by his own thoughts. He calmed himself down and reached out to hold Gu Yu hanging on the side of the bed. He pulled out the sword blade and then sloppily got up, wanting to light the candle placed on the table.

The room was quiet and Lin Rufei carefully observed the surroundings. He stumbled to the table and finally touched the fire torch. He was about to pick it up and light it when there was a sudden burst of force from behind him.

Lin Rufei was unaware for a moment and was directly pressed down onto the table. The person who attacked him was so strong that he only used one hand to directly cover his cries for help, while the other hand choked his neck and pinned him to the table.

Lin Rufei’s first reaction was that this person wanted to kill him. So the next moment, he swung out Gu Yu that was wrapped entirely in sword intent. He felt as if he had cut something since the hilt of the sword slightly stopped in place, however, the cold sword intent seemed be sinking into the sea, like a stone, as the sound directly cut off……If he knew this would happen, he would have used the shield. That was the thought that suddenly emerged in Lin Rufei’s head. 

The person who restrained Lin Rufei let out a soft laugh. He slowly leaned down towards Lin Rufei’s ear and opened his mouth.

But as soon as his voice came out, Lin Rufei revealed an incredulous look.

The man spat out two words: “Heavenly……Ruler……” He spoke softly and slowly, like a breeze, but those words pierced through Lin Rufei’s eardrums that it started to hurt. What stunned him the most were not the words “Heavenly Ruler,” but this person’s voice. It sounded exactly the same as Gu Xuandu’s, who had disappeared after entering Dajing.

The person who wanted to kill him was Gu Xuandu? No, that was impossible. If Gu Xuandu wanted to do it, he could have done it long ago, why would he wait until now? But if it wasn’t Gu Xuandu, what does this person have to do with him? Lin Rufei’s mind was extremely confused and countless thoughts flashed through his mind one after another. He wanted to ask questions but his mouth was covered by the man so he could only make a feeble whimpering sound.

The man felt Lin Rufei struggling with all his might and let out another soft laugh, as if Lin Rufei’s feeble appearance pleased him. He lowered his head and with a burning gaze, he surveyed Lin Rufei struggling under him. He lowered his head and dropped a soft kiss on the back of his hand.

The only thing that separated Lin Rufei’s lips from his was a hand. Logically speaking, at such a close distance, Lin Rufei should be able to see clearly what the person opposite him looked like. But no matter how hard he tried, there was only darkness in front of him. It was as if this person was just a piece of nothingness and it was impossible to recognize the appearance of the person in front of him with the naked eye.

At the same time, the hand around his neck was slowly locking up, gradually isolating Lin Rufei’s ability to breathe. Lin Rufei’s eyes widened and his hands tried desperately to push back against his assailant but his hands that were waving in mid-air touched nothing. He was obviously behind him holding him down, but he couldn’t touch him. Lin Rufei was incredulous and thought to himself, Where is this man’s body? Could it be that he has no body? But since there is no body……how could he hold me down?

Because of the strong feeling of suffocation, Lin Rufei’s eyes started overflowing with tears. Another gentle “Heavenly Ruler” resounded but to him, the man’s voice was like a thunderstorm exploding in his ears. As the suffocation time grew longer, Lin Rufei’s vitality began to fade. His consciousness gradually drifted and some messy patterns began to appear in his darkening vision.

Was he going to die?……But if he died like this, wouldn’t it be a bit ridiculous? As Lin Rufei thought so, he reluctantly closed his eyes. However, just at the moment he closed his eyes, a deafening roll of thunder suddenly fell outside the window. Bright yellow blinding lightning followed and instantly struck a building not far from the inn. The building was directly struck by a blazing fire and the bright-colored firelight shot up into the sky projecting through the window into Lin Rufei’s room. The person holding him down suddenly let go of his hand and fresh air once again rushed into Lin Rufei’s lungs. He covered his neck in pain and started coughing violently.

After he finally recovered, Lin Rufei hurriedly looked around but the murderer, who had just attacked him, was nowhere to be seen.

Where was he? How could there be no one? Lin Rufei staggered a few steps and went to the window, which was half-covered, and he couldn’t see anyone’s figure when he looked out. If it wasn’t for the severe pain in his throat, most likely Lin Rufei would have suspected that what had just happened was just a nightmare he had.

Lin Rufei casually wiped away the cold sweat spilling from his forehead and looked out the window towards the blinding fire. The fire came suddenly and went rapidly since it was very quickly extinguished by the guards, causing no other damage.

Lin Rufei did not dare to sleep again. He re-lit the candles in the room and just sat in the room all night. Even after such an incident, Gu Xuandu still did not appear causing Lin Rufei to be a little worried about his condition. Gu Xuandu was right, this matter in Dajing was more dangerous than the Xiliang Mountains.

The next day, it was a clear day. The building that had burned last night was still emitting a scorched black scent. Lin Rufei originally thought that the building was a house. However, when he came out after dawn to take a look, he found out that it was actually a temple in the city set up for the Heavenly Ruler. He had even been to this temple when he had just arrived at Dengxiao, Xuan Qing even praised it and said that the red-clothed statue was very similar to the Heavenly Ruler. When Lin Rufei heard this he curiously asked: “Listening to Master Xuan Qing’s tone, does that mean you have seen the Heavenly Ruler before?”

Xuan Qing smiled and did not say anything. He just folded his hands and said Amitabha Buddha.

The legend of the Heavenly Ruler had been around for hundreds of years, had this monk Xuan Qing been alive for hundreds of years? Lin Rufei felt very strange but when he noticed that Xuan Qing wasn’t going to say more, he also didn’t ask any further.

After all, who doesn’t have a few secrets when traveling through Jianghu?

Now that he realized that it was the temple that was suddenly burned, Lin Rufei felt some regret in his heart. 

“Lin gongzi, did something happen last night?” Just when Lin Rufei was sighing, monk Xuan Qing came down from upstairs and noticed Lin Rufei sitting in the lobby drinking tea. He asked this with a frown and his expression was somewhat grave as his eyes fell upon Lin Rufei’s neck.

Only to see that at this time, the white slender neck had a pair of black handprints that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The more he looked at the handprint, the more familiar they felt. But looking at Lin Rufei’s calm look made Xuan Qing think that he was thinking too much about it. 

“Oh, that thing came looking for me.” Lin Rufei’s throat was a little sore and along with it, his voice was a little hoarse. He took a sip of tea and continued, “It wanted to strangle me.”

Xuan Qing stared.

“But it didn’t work.” Lin Rufei joked, “If it had succeeded, it seems I wouldn’t be here right now……”

Xuan Qing hadn’t mumble a single word as he talked on. His face was sullen as he sat next to Lin Rufei, deliberating his words, “Lin gongzi, the invitation from Kunlun has been delivered, it doesn’t seem safe for you to stay in Dajing any longer, why don’t you leave earlier?”

Lin Rufei asked, “You want me to leave now?”

Xuan Qing smiled bitterly: “After all, if Lin gongzi is not joking, that thing should have come to the inn last night. However, I was next door to Lin gongzi and did not feel the breath of that thing, so……I’m afraid I can’t protect Lin gongzi.”

Lin Rufei playfully fondled the teacup in front of him and said, “How come Master Xuan Qing is suddenly so unconfident?”

Xuan Qing replied, “If I still advise Lin gongzi to stay, then that is not confidence but conceit.” He let out a sigh, “After all, human life is the most fragile thing in the world.”

Lin Rufei inquired, “Then Master Xuan Qing himself is not afraid?”

Xuan Qing said: “Monk’s life is not worth anything.”

Lin Rufei’s gaze burned: “I’m afraid that the lives of ordinary monks are not worth much, but how can the masters in the Nanyin Temple compare with ordinary monks?”

Xuan Qing’s expression turned helpless. He didn’t expect this seemingly harmless Lin gongzi to be so eloquent when he got serious, making it quite hard for people to fight back.

Lin Rufei continued on, “Besides, is Master Xuan Qing not afraid of missing any key clues if he just lets me go without asking about last night’s events?”

Xuan Qing muttered an Amitabha Buddha and troubled Lin Rufei to tell him the details of last night’s events.

Lin Rufei then told the story of his attack and the sudden fire that broke out in the Heavenly Ruler temple outside his window when he was being suppressed and nearly killed.

He carefully told Xuan Qing about the incident. But he deliberately omitted the “Heavenly Ruler” that the thing mentioned. For some reason, he always felt that this phrase was better to not let others know. There seemed to be something terrible hidden inside but Lin Rufei still had no clue about it.

Xuan Qing asked, “That thing disappeared after the Heavenly Ruler temple caught fire?”

“Yes.” Lin Rufei nodded.

“Strange.” Xuan Qing pondered over it, “What exactly is this thing afraid of?……”

If it was afraid of the Heavenly Ruler, then tere were so many temples and statues of the Heavenly Ruler in Dengxiao City, why wasn’t that thing afraid at first? But if it wasn’t afraid of the Heavenly Ruler, why would it suddenly leave when the Heavenly Ruler temple was on fire and spared Lin Rufei’s life?

Xuan Qing narrowed his eyes and seemed to be thinking about something.

Lin Rufei, on the other hand, was sitting on the side and slowly sipping his tea.

The two were silent as the time passed one, but soon, outside the inn came another carriage from the palace, saying that His Holiness had requested their presence. Originally, Xuan Qing had wanted to go alone this time but the servant in the carriage said that His Holiness had also invited Lin gongzi.

So under Xuan Qing’s sighing gaze, Lin Rufei also got on the carriage.

The carriage drove towards the palace and soon reached its destination.

Lin Rufei and Xuan Qing were met by the palace staff and soon led towards a building resembling a study. However, before they could even enter, they heard the angry scolding voice of Bai Jinglun coming from inside and it seemed that he was reprimanding someone. The palace staff, seeing this scene, showed a nervous look. He raised his hand and carefully knocked on the door, after a few moments, he heard an indifferent “come in” from inside.

Lin Rufei and Xuan Qing entered the room in a line and they saw the livid Bai Jinglun with the two princes kneeling in front of him. Prince Bai Tianrui was also present, but apparently he was not interested in the scene of the old man reprimanding his sons, so he sat on a wooden chair on the side, leisurely drinking tea. When he caught Lin Rufei and others coming in, he gave them a warm smile.

“What’s going on here?” Xuan Qing had clearly guessed what had happened, but still blinked in feigned innocence, “Why is His Holiness so angry.”

“It’s all because of my good sons.” Bai Jinglun gritted his teeth, “Speak for yourself! The day the Third Princess fell into a coma, what kind of stupid things did you do!”

The sixth prince was still young and after being scolded so severely by his father, he had been crying for quite some time. The second prince still clenched his teeth and held on, but his eyes were already red, and with a trembling voice, he retold what had happened that fateful day.

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It turned out that the third princess had intended to go out with the maids to see the city lights, but met the second prince and the sixth prince halfway. The princes already found this sister of theirs, born from a concubine, very disagreeable, so the second prince relied on his brother’s identity and scolded the third princess. He also didn’t forget to punish the third princess’s maids. The third princess cried and headed back in the opposite direction, but who knew that after returning, an accident would befallen upon her. Not only did her personal maid die, but she had also fallen into a coma. The princes felt that if His Holiness knew about this, he would be angry, so they desperately tried to hide it. But who knew that another accident would happen later on? The two of them nearly had their life taken by that thing and then regretted that they should not have hidden the truth……

Although the words were said as such, Lin Rufei felt that yesterday when the second prince was lying, he didn’t have a hint of hesitation.

Bai Jinglun sneered a few times after hearing this. He raised his foot and kicked the second prince on the shoulder that he started staggering hard. He pointed at the second prince’s nose and cursed: “Dispute? You clearly slapped your sister twice and you call this a dispute? Who gave you the right to hit her? Your mother?!”

When the second prince heard the word “mother,” his face turned white. He knelt on the ground shivering and not daring to refute anything at all. The sixth prince cried breathlessly, “Father, don’t blame brother, it’s all because of that bastard[1]…… that bastard scolded brother first!”

When the words “bastard” just left his mouth, the sixth prince received a slap on the face. Only it was not His Holiness who struck him, but the brother he had wanted to protect. The second prince’s face turned livid, “Guanlan, shut up!”

The sixth prince wailed and cried out.

Bai Jinglun narrowed his eyes and surveyed the two kneeling sons, “Bastard? Good, calling your own sister a bastard.”

The second prince finally couldn’t help it and burst out into tears as well, and for a while, the scene in the room was chaotic to the extreme.

In the end, it was Bai Tianrui who opened his mouth and advised in an indifferent manner, “Brother, children follow the example of others. If they can learn the word ‘bastard,’ it must be that the servants beside them are not qualified. What are you bickering with two children for?”

Bai Jinglun uttered coldly, “Someone, take their personal servants down and give them two hundred sticks[2].”

The sixth prince’s eyes widened at his words but his own brother harshly covered his mouth.

If the emperor ordered two hundred sticks, then this person was as good as dead. Even if their physical fitness helped them survive, their lower half of the body would definitely be disabled. The emperor’s move was clearly killing the chicken to warn the monkeys[3]. The one he was killing was the servants and the one he was warning was the “mother” that came out of the prince’s mouth.

After all this, Bai Jinglun asked for people to take his sons away. In the end, the sixth prince was still a half-grown child and he didn’t have much thought in his head. When it was the time to leave, he broke free from his brother’s hold and shouted at Bai Jinglun: “Father is biased! That demon girl is not worthy of being my sister at all!”

Bai Jinglun’s face sank and just as he was about to get angry again, the sixth prince added: “Father does not know, she is proficient in the art of Loathing Victory and has hidden many dolls in the Imperial Garden. If you search carefully, you will definitely find them! Although she is unconscious, her life is not in danger. As a result, the only people who were nearly strangled to death were me and my second brother, this must be her ploy!”

“Take them away!” Bai Jinglun waved his hand.

The maids then harshly pulled the princes out of the room.

As soon as the princes left, the room was quiet and the atmosphere seemed to be quite a bit awkward. Bai Tianrui then invited Lin Rufei and Xuan Qing to sit down with a smile, but the smile froze for a moment when he noticed the abrupt bruise on Lin Rufei’s neck. Bai Jinglun also noticed this abnormality and his brows furrowed, asking Lin Rufei what had happened last night.

Lin Rufei then told them what happened last night and just when he started talking about the lightning that struck the Heavenly Ruler’s temple and saved his life, Bai Tianrui glanced at Xuan Qing and showed a thoughtful look, “Lin gongzi really is blessed with great fortune and great life.”

“Mnn. My luck is pretty good.” Lin Rufei nodded his head.

Bai Tianrui came up to Lin Rufei’s side and carefully observed the marks on his neck. He suddenly let out a hiss, “Strange. This handprint, it seems to be a little different from the one on the neck of the prince.”

“Where?” Xuan Qing asked.

“Isn’t this a circle bigger?” Bai Tianrui said while making a gesture, using two hands to vainly circle Lin Rufei’s neck, “On those two boys’ necks, it was only half a circle. Only this one on Lin gongzi’s neck is a whole circle, could it be……”

“Could it be what?” Lin Rufei asked.

“Could it be that that thing likes you more?” Bai Tianrui faintly smiled. As he said this, he folded his hands together and his hot palms covered Lin Rufei’s neck.

Lin Rufei frowned and before he could say anything, Bai Jinglun already sternly scolded, “Tianrui, don’t be rude to Lin gongzi!”

“Just kidding, just kidding.” Only then did Bai Tianrui finally release his hand. However, his face was still smiling, looking very pleasing to the eye and when Lin Rufei looked at his appearance, he really felt his hands itch a little.

“I was just thinking that the princes’ words might really have some truth to them.” Bai Tianrui said, “Why is it that the second and sixth princes were the ones who were in trouble? Could there be some hidden pattern? But now that Lin gongzi is also in trouble, the words of the princes are meaningless.”

“That’s not necessarily true.” Xuan Qing, who hadn’t said much from the start, suddenly spoke.

“Oh, how is it not necessarily true?” Bai Tianrui said, “Master Xuan Qing, what insight do you have?”

Xuan Qing said, “Since the two princes swore that there are many Loathing Victory items in the Imperial Garden, why not send someone to check it out?”

Bai Tianrui seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he held back the words.

Bai Jinglun agreed with Xuan Qing’s proposal and waved his hand, instructing the guards to search carefully in the Imperial Garden and to not let go of any corner where something could be possibly hidden.

********

The author has something to say:

Lin Rufei: The third day that senior has been offline. 

Gu Xuandu: Missed me?

Lin Rufei: How dare you sneak on a vest to pinch me.

Gu Xuandu: ……………….

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[1] In this case, he is referring to her as an illegitimate child because she is from a concubine, but putting “illegitimate child” is a mouthful so I will be using “bastard.” 

[2] Not actual sticks, this means spanking with a paddle.  

[3] Idiom: to punish an individual as an example to others.