Cherry Blossoms Upon a Wintry Sword

Chapter 61: Killing to Exterminate their Hearts

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Edited: 10.18.2021

The two of them hadn’t seen each other for a long time and when they finally looked at each other again, it was with a different meaning in their eyes. However, there were too many people present and Lin Rufei wasn’t able to talk much with Gu Xuandu. In the end, he could only look at him for a few more moments before moving away and returning his eyes onto the third princess who was currently bawling in Bai Jinglun’s arms.

The shadow was finally detached from the third princess’s body and she was able to wake up. However, after waking up, she started crying in Bai Jinglun’s arms.

If this was someone else, they probably would have long been scolded by Bai Jinglun. But in the end, this was his most beloved third princess. The words of scolding gathered at the tips of his tongue, but in the end, they did not dare come out. Instead, he just stroked her head and softly comforted her for a long time and only then, did this little girl calm down.  

During that period, Bai Tianrui and Xuan Qing stood on the side watching quietly, not daring to interrupt.

When the third princess had finally cried enough, Bai Jinglun took out a handkerchief and carefully dried his daughter’s tears: “Moumou no more crying, everything is okay now. Exactly what happened, quickly tell daddy.”

When Lin Rufei heard this on the side, he thought it was actually quite funny. In his heart, he said to him that this Bai Jinglun was very biased. In the eyes of others, he was “father,” and in the eyes of the third princess he became “daddy.”

The third princess was a bit confused from crying. Her eyes and nose were red, plus, her delicate face indeed looked pitiful and suffering. Lin Rufei remembered what Xuan Qing had said before, this third princess looked very similar to her mother, in that case, no wonder Bai Jinglun never forgot her.

“I……I can’t remember too well.” The third princess rubbed her eyes and sobbed, “That day, I had a fight with my brothers and was upset, so I went to the Imperial Garden to be alone.”

“And after that?” Bai Jinglun asked.

“I sat for a while with my maids under the plum tree, which was Mother Consort’s favorite.” The Third Princess said, “I like to say a few words to the plum tree when I have something on my mind. Who knew that while talking, there was a gust of wind blowing. The wind was really strong and I couldn’t open my eyes. After that, I don’t know what happened.” She was full of bewilderment and was really like a poor innocent bunny who had suffered a lot.

Bai Jinglun questioned, “Why did you and your brothers get into a fight?”

The third princess forced out a smile: “It’s just that……I had wanted to go out to see the lights and my brothers said it wasn’t safe for girls to go out.”

“Is that all?” Bai Jinglun continued.

The third princess bit her lower lip and held it there for a while before she whispered in a sobbing voice: “They……said I was a bastard.”

“Bastards!” When Bai Jinglun heard this, he instantly became furious and his expression turned hideous to the extreme, “Who said that? Your second brother or sixth brother?”

“It was the second prince who said it first.” The third princess lost her soul and replied, “Father, am I really not Concubine Mei’s biological daughter? Am I really.?…..”

“Don’t say that word!” Bai Jinglun gritted his teeth. He was so angry that his eyes turned red, “Good, ah! My good sons!”

Royalty inherently valued lineage and the word “bastard,” was simply murderous to the heart. From Bai Jinglun’s expression, it was obviously known that those two imperial sons would suffer.

“It’s not their first time saying it, right?” Bai Jinglun suddenly realized something and asked again.

The third princess nodded in a trance, revealing a weak smile: “They said it……many times, only I took it as they were jealous of daddy’s love for me, so did not take it to heart, until……”

Bai Jinglun questioned, “Until what?”

The third princess did not speak again, she just jumped into Bai Jinglun’s arms and started crying again.

Bai Jinglun stroked her head and soothed her for a while before asking, “When Moumou was unconscious, did you feel anything?”

The third princess sniffed. Her cries gradually softened and she looked around the room. When it swept past Xuan Qing, it paused for a moment, but soon, she withdrew her gaze. She lowered her eyes and whispered: “I did feel something, but that feeling I can’t describe clearly……..” She hesitated for a moment and then showed a little apprehension, “Daddy, did something happen at the palace while I was in a coma?”

Bai Jinglun also did not hide the matter from her and said it directly: “Your second brother and sixth brother were almost strangled to death.”

The third princess suddenly turned white and was at a loss for words, “Does this……this have anything to do……with me?”

Bai Jinglun did not say yes or no. He just stroked the third princess’s long hair and asked her to describe in detail what she felt when she was unconscious. The third princess weighed her words and whispered, “At first I was unconscious, but then I seemed to be pulled into a black mire by something, and inside, I could not move until I heard a voice……”

“What voice?” Bai Jinglun asked with a frown.

The third princess shook her head: “I only knew it was a man’s voice. I have never heard it before.”

Once he heard that it was a man’s voice, Bai Jinglun’s frown deepened: “What did he say?”

Third Princess said: “He asked me……why I was unhappy……”

Bai Jinglun continued to listen.

“I then told him about the quarrel with my brothers.” The third princess said with difficulty, “I can’t remember what happened afterward. It was as if I was flying in the sky, and also as if I was seeing many people. It was very vague and messy.”

Bai Jinglun then proceeded asking the third princess some more details about when she was still in the coma but the third princess answered all his questions with very vague responses. Seeing her confused and tired look, it didn’t seem like she was lying. Finally, Xuan Qing opened his mouth and said, “Your Holiness, the princess’s shadow has only returned to its place so she should rest well at this time. Why don’t you come back tomorrow to ask about anything?”

These words were exactly what Bai Jinglun wanted. Between this father and daughter pair, there were indeed some conversations that were not suitable to be overheard by outsiders. So he responded to Xuan Qing’s words and told the third princess to rest well. He then got up and went out.

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After heading out, Bai Jinglun then asked Xuan Qing about the shadow’s whereabouts. Xuan Qing pointed to Lin Rufei, saying that the shadow had been sealed in Lin gongzi’s sword intent, so Bai Jinglun need not worry.

Bai Jinglun nodded his head and sincerely thanked Xuan Qing. Xuan Qing smiled and waved his hand, saying that His Holiness was too polite, such a small matter, no need to be so concerned.

The several of them chatted a few more words before they finally dispersed. Originally, Bai Jinglun insisted that the two of them stay in the palace, but Xuan Qing refused insistently. In the end, he could only prepare a carriage to send them back to the inn. The Prince hadn’t spoken much since a while ago and simply sat in the carriage with his eyes closed. Xuan Qing laughed and teased him, saying, ‘why did the Prince become mute today?’

Bai Tianrui sneered: “Seeing the scene of natural love between father and child, it was mushy.”

Xuan Qing replied, “I think you are jealous. Your brother has a bunch of children and you can’t even get a wife.”

Bai Tianrui glared: “I can’t get one? I just don’t want to——” As he said this, he looked at Lin Rufei with a smile and asked Lin Rufei his age and whether he was married or not.

Xuan Qing tsked and looked at Bai Tianrui with disgust: “Forget it, Lin gongzi has just reached adulthood, you are a decade older than him and can be called uncle. Don’t you have any embarrassment?”

Bai Tianrui spat out in anger.

The carriage soon arrived at the entrance of the inn. Lin Rufei went down first, but Bai Tianrui grabbed Xuan Qing and said there were some things that he wanted to talk about with him alone. The two of them were left in the carriage and Xuan Qing sighed. He asked what Bai Tianrui wanted to talk about.

Bai Tianrui reached out and pulled down the curtain of the car. The light in the carriage was instantly dimmed and their faces became blurred. Bai Tianrui spoke in a low voice: “Say, do you think it would have been good or bad if my brother had not had that incident that year?”

“For Bai Jinglun himself, it is probably good.” Xuan Qing said.

“And for Dajing?” Bai Tianrui asked again.

Xuan Qing replied, “Doesn’t the Prince already have the answer in his heart?”

Bai Tianrui snorted, “Trouble.”

Xuan Qing responded, “This monk will take his leave now.”

“Hey, monk. Why are you in such a hurry to leave?” Bai Tianrui smiled, “Clearly, last night you accompanied Lin gongzi and drank all night, but now with me, you’re not willing to chat for a while longer?”

Xuan Qing sighed, “That’s different.”

Bai Tianrui questioned, “How is it different?”

Xuan Qing stated, “Lin gongzi is a friend of this monk.”

Bai Tianrui asked, “What about me?”

Xuan Qing said, “Just a passerby.”

Bai Tianrui’s expression changed dramatically when he heard that. He reached out and grabbed Xuan Qing’s collar, gritting out hatefully, “Monk, you say you and I are just passersby?”

Xuan Qing calmly looked at Bai Tianrui and his eyes were no different from usual. However, if you said that you could usually see compassion in his eyes, then at this moment, this compassion took on a cold taste. It was as if the gods were looking down on all beings, treating them like ants.

The two of them stared at each other for a long time. Bai Tianrui suddenly let go of his hand and returned to his usual frivolous appearance. He narrowed his eyes and laughed: “Forget it, forget it. Why would I bicker with a poor monk?” After saying this, he hurriedly kicked Xuan Qing out of the carriage and then headed back to the palace alone.

Xuan Qing stood in front of the inn for quite some time. The spot he was looking at had been in the direction of the palace. He continued staring until Fu Hua and Yu Rui, who happened to return from outside, saw him standing at the door and greeted him. He smiled, nodded to them, and then went back into the inn.

That night, a rainstorm fell upon Dajing.

The rain of each season had its own uniqueness. The Summer showers were furious and enthusiastic as it came and went quickly with thick raindrops pitter-pattering down, giving no chance to react.

Lin Rufei couldn’t wait to get back to the inn and as soon as he entered the room, Gu Xuandu revealed his figure.

“Senior, I haven’t seen you for a long time.” Lin Rufei smiled and said.

“What happened to your mouth?” Gu Xuandu had long noticed the two eyesore wounds on the corners of Lin Rufei’s mouth a while ago. But there were too many people present then and it wasn’t good to talk to Lin Rufei so he had to hold it in until now. 

“Oh, this ah, just a small injury.” Lin Rufei waved his hand indifferently and he lightly described the process of how he got his injury. Who knew that even though he had described it lightly, Gu Xuandu’s expression changed drastically. It went from the initial anger to later embarrassment, and finally, as if nothing had happened. He coughed dryly, “Oh, so that’s how it is.”

Lin Rufei took in Gu Xuandu’s expression clearly and then decided to be a little naughty. He pretended to be innocent and asked, “Is that senior’s shadow? How did senior’s shadow appear in Dajing? And compelled the Third Princess to do bad things?”

Gu Xuandu: “……This might be a misunderstanding.”

Lin Rufei questioned, “Misunderstanding?”

Gu Xuandu said, “That shadow of mine has no self-thinking. Fusing with the Third Princess was just an accident. Although the Third Princess said it lightly, in reality, she also has her own thoughts. If her father asks about it, she will certainly shift it onto foreign objects.” 

Lin Rufei asked: “Then her father believes it?”

Gu Xuandu replied, “Do you believe it?”

Lin Rufei pondered, “Fifty percent.”

“Then her father will believe about sixty percent.” Gu Xuandu said, “Those who are emperors are all child prodigy, they are not that easy to fool.” As he said this, he sat down beside Lin Rufei. He inclined his head and carefully observed the wound on the corner of Lin Rufei’s mouth. The wound was not too big, just slightly red and swollen, but on Lin Rufei’s light-colored lips, it was particularly obtrusive. Gu Xuandu became more and more uncomfortable as he continued looking at it. He held back for a while but in the end, he couldn’t help but extend his thumb and gently pressed on the corner of Lin Rufei’s mouth. His fingers were very icy and it didn’t hurt when pressed, but Lin Rufei still involuntarily let out a hiss. 

Gu Xuandu hurriedly withdrew his hand and asked, “Does it hurt?”

“It doesn’t hurt.” Lin Rufei shook his head.

“It really doesn’t hurt?” Gu Xuandu didn’t even believe it.

“It was a little painful when it was stuffed inside. I really couldn’t contain it.” Lin Rufei didn’t even realize what was wrong with his words, “After all, it’s so big and hard……”

A suspicious blush rose onto Gu Xuandu’s ears.

Lin Rufei wondered, “Senior, why are your ears getting red?” 

Gu Xuandu calmly stated, “It’s not, you saw it wrong.”

“Really not?” Lin Rufei pointed out the problem with suspicion, “I clearly saw it.”

Gu Xuandu defended, “I’ve said you saw it wrong.”

Lin Rufei: “I……” He only managed to get out half of the words when Gu Xuandu’s face came closer. Before he could react, he felt a wet thing covering the corner of his lips. When he realized what it was, his whole body was frozen in place: “Senior……”

Gu Xuandu was still not satisfied and licked the corner of his own lips, “Did Xiao Jiu just eat sugar?”

Lin Rufei said, “Yes, I ate some.” There were quite a few candies and pastries in the carriage, and when he left the palace just now, he ate a little.

“It’s sweet.” Gu Xuandu slightly narrowed his eyes and revealed a beautiful smile, “Especially sweet.”

Lin Rufei touched the corner of his mouth and muttered, “Are there sugar crumbs?”

“No.” Gu Xuandu replied, “I mean Xiao Jiu is much sweeter than those sugars.”

Lin Rufei’s eyes widened. He really couldn’t understand how Gu Xuandu could say these kinds of words so frankly. The worst thing was that he actually didn’t feel anything wrong with those words. As he looked at Gu Xuandu’s smiling expression, redness also involuntarily surfaced upon his cheeks and he uncomfortably looked away from Gu Xuandu. 

“Ahem, it’s getting late, I’m going to rest first.” Lin Rufei said, “Senior……should also rest early.”

“Okay.” Gu Xuandu agreed with a smile. 

Lin Rufei washed up and head off to bed. He was probably really tired. Furthermore, one more thing had been let go in his mind and he fell asleep comfortably.

Gu Xuandu listened to the sound of rain outside the window and sighed lightly in his heart. He got up and walked towards the window before disappearing from the room with a flash of his figure.

The rain was a little heavy. It splashed against the eaves and then went all the way down the gutter before eventually converging into a small stream on the ground. After nightfall, the Heavenly Ruler’s temple was lit with a few oil lamps. It wasn’t too bright, but it was enough to see things. This temple was the most beautiful and magnificent temple in Dajing for the Heavenly Ruler, but unfortunately, a few days ago, a sudden thunderstorm ignited a fire and it burned down most of the temple. It would probably take some days to return it to its original state.  

Gu Xuandu’s footsteps stopped at the eaves of the temple. He took in the statue of the Heavenly Ruler in the temple. The statue was vivid and realistic and must have come from the hands of a master since it had quite a few resemblances with Heavenly Ruler. Gu Xuandu jumped into the temple, walked up to the statue, and borrowing the faint light, he carefully gazed at the statue in front of him.

“Heavenly Ruler.” He called out this sentence in a low voice.

No one answered and the sound of rain pattering between Heaven and Earth covered everything. He raised his hand and tried to touch the statue, but his finger passed through it the moment he tried to touch it. In the state of a spiritual body, wanting to touch external objects was not easy. Moreover, it was such a statue of the gods that placed hope on the incense. Gu Xuandu sighed slightly in his heart and was about to give up when he suddenly heard the sound of light footsteps coming from behind him. He turned his head to look, and the monk Xuan Qing, who should have been resting in the inn, suddenly appeared in front of the temple.

In the rain, he only held up a worn-out oil paper umbrella. The rain splashed against his shoulders, adding a dark shade to his gray robe. But Xuan Qing’s look was not wretched. He was still calm and gentle and abided by his beliefs. His footsteps also stopped in front of the statue, just standing next to Gu Xuandu.

“Heavenly Ruler.” Xuan Qing smiled, “Long time no see.”

If he didn’t know that he couldn’t see himself, Gu Xuandu would have thought that the monk was greeting himself. He said lightly, “Long time no see.”

Xuan Qing said, “It’s raining heavily today, unfortunately, the temple broke down a few days ago, so you still have to get wet.” He took out a hand towel from his sleeve and carefully wiped the rain splashed on the Heavenly Ruler’s statue face.

Gu Xuandu folded his arms against his chest and looked at Xuan Qing in silence.

“It’s so fast. Just a blink of an eye and several hundred years have passed.” Xuan Qing started, “So many things are gone, if you pass by the He family, remember to go see the He family’s iron-gold walnut tree. After all, it was planted by you guys back then……and now it has become a big tree and blossomed.” As he said this, the leaky roof on his side let down a few raindrops. Coincidentally, it fell onto the Heavenly Ruler’s statue, like two crystal tears.

Xuan Qing was silent for a long time. He lifted the umbrella off from the ground and hung it directly in mid-air. He did not use the umbrella on himself and instead, lifted it to the head of the statue. 

“When will you be back?” It was as if he was asking a question to someone and also as if he was talking to himself. Xuan Qing murmured under his breath and his gaze penetrated Gu Xuandu’s body.

Gu Xuandu replied, “Soon.”

“Come back soon.” Xuan Qing said, “Everyone misses you.”

“Okay.” Gu Xuandu smiled, “Definitely……come back sooner.”

The rain did not stop completely until the early mornings.

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When the temple keeper woke up, the temple was already devoid of life. He yawned and took a rag, intending to first dry the drenched statue of the Heavenly Ruler. However, when he went to the statue, he scratched his head and muttered a “strange.” The Heavenly Ruler statue was actually clean. There were no water stains on the head, as if it was carefully dried once.

It rained last night, but today it was still sunny. The warm sunlight came in early through the window and fell onto Lin Rufei’s face. He opened his eyes blankly and saw Gu Xuandu sitting on the edge of the bed. His hand was propped up on his chin and he was taking a nap, giving off a feeling of tranquility. 

Lin Rufei sat up from the bed and the slight movement woke Gu Xuandu up. He yawned slightly and muttered, “Xiao Jiu, good morning.”

“Good morning.” When Lin Rufei finished greeting him, he noticed something different. He reached out and pointed to the ground, “Senior, you have a shadow now?”

Gu Xuandu responded, “Isn’t this because Xiao Jiu helped me get it back.”

Before, Gu Xuandu had no shadow. But Lin Rufei was not surprised then, after all, Gu Xuandu didn’t have a physical body. However, now, it was rather strange to have a shadow.

“Can the others see senior?” Lin Rufei asked hurriedly. 

Gu Xuandu shook his head: “No.”

Lin Rufei asked, “Then……what should be done in order to see you?”

Gu Xuandu replied, “There are still some more important things needed to retrieve.”

Lin Rufei let out an “oh,” and calculated, “We retrieved an eye and a shadow.” Then he looked at Gu Xuandu, “It seems that there are still a lot of things missing.”

Gu Xuandu smiled at his words, “You.”

He didn’t know if it was because of Gu Xuandu’s return, but Lin Rufei’s mood was much better and he even ate a few more bites of breakfast. But who knew that when the maids saw Lin Rufei’s appearance, instead of being happy, they looked sad and miserable.

Lin Rufei thought carefully and understood what the maids were worried about—since Gu Xuandu returned, his problem of talking to himself came back. This time not only did it happen, but it was also very serious since he had talked all morning.

As he thought of this, Lin Rufei hurriedly sent a letter to Wan Yao. He subtly explained his recent situation, saying that he didn’t have hysteria and to let Wan Yao never again prescribe medicines for his maids. He really feared that if he drank medicine again, he would really become stupid.

On Xuan Qing’s side, he had headed off to the palace again. Originally, Lin Rufei thought that the matter no longer had anything to do with him, but who knew that he insisted on taking Lin Rufei. He said that he was afraid Lin Rufei would be bored if he was in the inn alone.

God knew Lin Rufei did not feel bored at all. Since he was busy with the palace matters, he didn’t even get to finish shopping around Dengxiao City. Such a pity. 

But Xuan Qing refused to let go and pulled Lin Rufei into the carriage. Lin Rufei could not twist out of his grasp and could only give in as they headed off to their destination.

At this time, the culprit that victimized the princes had been found and the security inside was not as strict as the previous days. However, the atmosphere in the palace was still not too good. Lin Rufei still felt that it was very strange and when Xuan Qing noticed that he did not understand, he could only let out a sigh before he gave Lin Rufei a wake-up call.  

He said, “If you were the empress and knew that the emperor had found the murderer, but you did not know who the murderer was, would you be willing?”

Lin Rufei muttered, “It seems that I’m not that willing.”

“Exactly, exactly!” Xuan Qing said. He shook his head and sighed, “This imperial family matter is really troublesome.” It seemed he didn’t want to get involved either, but he really couldn’t get out of it. That was probably why he desperately dragged Lin Rufei and asked him to accompany him so that they could be be bored together.

Today, when they arrived at the palace, they did not see Bai Tianrui. Lin Rufei asked this question in passing and Xuan Qing also casually replied, but Lin Rufei was stunned after listening to his response. 

Xuan Qing said flatly: “Maybe he was dumped by some girl and became a monk in a fit of anger.”

Lin Rufei only thought he was joking at first.

The murderer was found and the palace also became lively once again. From the roadside, they could see a lot of palace maids dressed in beautiful clothes walking around, it was very pleasing to the eye.

Lin Rufei and Xuan Qing arrived at the Imperial Garden where they had agreed upon with the emperor. However, they did not see the emperor himself and only saw the princess sitting alone in the gazebo eating chilled purple grapes. She looked quite sickly and from her face, they could see traces of tiredness. It really made her look pitiful. 

But Lin Rufei had seen a lot of beauties. Just Gu Xuandu alone, he had never seen anyone more beautiful than him. Thus, at this time his expression did not change. He followed Xuan Qing and walked to the opposite side of the princess.

“Good day Master Xuan Qing.” The third princess smiled and greeted Xuan Qing.

“Good day, Third Princess.” Xuan Qing responded, “Why haven’t I seen His Holiness?”

“His Holiness has been called by the Empress.” The Third Princess said, “Say, do you think that Father will blame me?”

Xuan Qing responded, “Naturally, he won’t.”

The third princess propped up her chin and said, “That would be really great.” She chewed the grape seeds in her mouth with some boredom, not minding the bitterness at all, “If I had known, then I should have been more ruthless.” She narrowed her eyes, “Don’t you think so, Master Xuan Qing?”

Xuan Qing was not surprised by the change in the third princess’s demeanor and continued to gently say Amitabha Buddha. Lin Rufei, on the contrary, only now realized that this third princess was no good either.

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