Chapter 147

Ling Qingxiao had not been in power for long, and he was still very young. The various dragon clans did not respect him, especially the royal family of the former emperor, headed by the Kunshan Yi clan. Ling Qingxiao had wanted to return quickly, but was delayed by matters involving Kunshan. It was already deep into the night before he managed to break free.
The moment he was done, he rushed to the sleeping quarters. Would Luo Han be suspicious after not seeing him for so long? She had been waiting in the palace all day by herself—wasn’t that unbearable?
Ling Qingxiao used his fastest speed to reach the chamber. The place was quiet, the immortal maids all waiting outside. When they saw him, they were about to salute, but he stopped them.
“Where is she?” he asked.
“Miss Luo said she’s fine on her own and told us to tend to our own business. She didn’t need anyone to keep her company.”
Ling Qingxiao immediately felt tense. He signaled the maids to withdraw and personally opened the door, walking into the hall. Inside, Luo Han was lounging on a soft couch, tapping away at something. She heard footsteps and looked up. Seeing it was Ling Qingxiao, she immediately sat up.
She naturally opened her arms toward him. Ling Qingxiao hurried over and carefully caught her, asking, “What are you doing?”
“Reading the sacrificial texts from the other day. Recently, several mortal regions have been holding rituals to honor the heavens,” Luo Han said as she pulled Ling Qingxiao to sit beside her. Leaning against his shoulder, she grumbled affectionately, “The wording in these sacrificial prayers is so convoluted. I’ve been reading for ages and still haven’t finished.”
The last time Ling Qingxiao had any kind of physical closeness with someone was four hundred years ago. Now, with Luo Han leaning on him, it took him a long time to adjust to this unfamiliar proximity. Sitting stiffly upright, he said, “If it’s difficult, you can transfer the prayers into a jade slip. I’ll help annotate the obscure terms tonight.”
“No need,” Luo Han waved it off. “When we look over them tomorrow, I’ll just ask you if I come across anything I don’t understand.”
Ling Qingxiao paused slightly. Based on her words, she clearly intended to join him in handling court matters tomorrow. That meant she planned to stay, and not only that, stay with him. He had thought that, given he had essentially confined her to the Jade Purity Palace, she would be furious or resistant. After all, this could be seen as imprisoning her without her consent.
But Luo Han was so calm, so completely unaffected. Not only was she unconcerned about her freedom, she was even affectionate toward him, the one responsible.
Ling Qingxiao’s emotions were complicated. “Did you feel bored being alone all day?”
“Not at all.” Luo Han leaned against him, eyes half-closed. “I’m provided food and shelter, my time is free, I’m surrounded by beauties, I don’t need to deal with anyone’s mood swings. If I run into a problem at work or in my studies, I get free private tutoring. If I’m in a bad mood, I can go on vacation, fully funded. What’s not to love?”
Her perspective was so unusual that Ling Qingxiao was briefly stunned. After a pause, he said, “If there’s anything that makes you uncomfortable, feel free to command the maids. Don’t put up with it.”
“I know.” Luo Han was already getting sleepy. She leaned more heavily on Ling Qingxiao and whispered, “In three months, let’s go together to Ye Zinan and Feng Yujia’s wedding, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Great. I’ll send Yujia a message tomorrow. It’s been so long since I saw them, I kind of miss them.”
Ling Qingxiao didn’t respond. Luo Han noticed and smiled, opening her eyes to hug him around the neck: “Of course, I missed you the most.”
Ling Qingxiao sat upright, dignified and graceful. At her words, a soft smile appeared on his lips. He gently caught her. “Enough. It’s getting late. You should go to sleep.”
Luo Han instantly agreed. “What are we eating for breakfast tomorrow?”
Ling Qingxiao paused again. Her words assumed they would be dining together. Without giving it away, he replied smoothly, “That’s for you to decide.”
“Okay, I’ll plan it then. If your preferences have changed over the years, let me know.”
Ling Qingxiao nodded slightly, feeling a surreal sensation. It had been so long since he had heard such everyday conversation. It reminded him that the world wasn’t just about plowing and harvests, disasters and war, economy and population, there was also food, clothing, daily life, and quiet intimacy.
Luo Han knew he had much to do and didn’t delay further. She bid him goodnight and went to bed. Even after leaving the sleeping quarters, Ling Qingxiao couldn’t shake the feeling that none of this was real.
The wind swept past his sleeves. He looked around. The ancient lanterns glimmered faintly, leaves drifted gently in the breeze, and the palace roofs stretched far into the night, majestic and silent, just as they had always been. Everything looked the same. But tonight, something felt different.
It was as if a single drop of cinnabar had fallen into a black-and-white landscape painting, suddenly, the entire world had come alive. Even the cold, desolate Jade Purity Palace now seemed to glow with warmth.
—
The next morning, not long after Luo Han woke up, Ling Qingxiao arrived to have breakfast with her. His timing was perfect just as Luo Han finished dressing, he appeared.
She acted as if it were nothing, happily going to eat with him. Today, she had asked the maids to arrange a refined hairstyle. All her hair was gathered up into an elegant bun, adorned with silver and pearl ornaments. To secure it, she’d inserted two white jade combs, with pale glass beads hanging down that chimed softly with each movement. To match the accessories, she wore a light blue dress with a sheer silver shawl, faint in color, but extravagantly crafted.
Ling Qingxiao walked in with his usual solemn dignity, his presence alone enough to command respect from all who saw him. But the moment his eyes landed on Luo Han, the cold ice within them melted, and the high walls around him seemed to part without him even realizing it.
Luo Han walked toward him, the glass tassels on her hair ornaments clinking softly. Ling Qingxiao took her hand and asked gently, “Why are you up so early? Didn’t sleep well?”
“No,” Luo Han replied as she sat at the desk and took a sip of tea. “We agreed to start work today. I couldn’t oversleep.” She blinked, surprised. “Wait, the tea’s different?”
Without a change in expression, Ling Qingxiao said, “The old one tasted terrible. I replaced it.”
Terrible? Luo Han was puzzled. The Iceland Jade Leaf tea was priceless and highly sought after, and yet Ling Qingxiao called it terrible? He’d used it for thousands of years without changing.
She figured he simply wanted a new flavor and didn’t think too much of it. After breakfast, the two of them walked to the Hall of Governance together. When Luo Han sat down and instinctively reached for the paper and ink in the correct drawer, Ling Qingxiao suddenly asked, “Have you been here before? How did you know where the ink and brushes were?”
Luo Han paused, then covered smoothly, “I guessed. You said most palaces in Heaven are laid out similarly. I just tried, and it happened to be right.”
Ling Qingxiao said nothing in response, but then asked again, “Why did you suddenly feel like coming to the Hall of Governance?”
She wasn’t usually this diligent.
Luo Han thought to herself: It’s your fault. Back in the first era, he dragged her here every day to read and review her progress. Her biological clock had practically been reset. But she couldn’t say that out loud. Instead, she said, “You work so much and still take it so seriously. I can’t just slack off. Coming here keeps me disciplined.”
How did she know he had such a heavy workload?
Ling Qingxiao didn’t press further. “There may be a lot of people coming and going in the next few days. If it gets too noisy, let me know.”
“Okay.” Luo Han took another sip of tea to stay alert and energetically began her day’s work. She opened one of the sacrificial texts and kept scrolling through, five, six times and still couldn’t see the end.
Her energy vanished on the spot. Nope. She still didn’t like working.
She forced herself to read the obscure and archaic phrasing. Half the characters in each sentence were unfamiliar. Did those mortal priests even consider whether Heaven could understand what they wrote?
It was hard for them to write, hard for her to read, why bother?
Struggling through one line, she asked Ling Qingxiao, “Where is this place?”
Ling Qingxiao glanced over. “Xianggu. An old name for Xiangzhou.”
“And this one?”
“That’s the ancient form of Wu River—it means the Ming River.”
Luo Han stared at the scroll and asked sincerely, “What’s wrong with just writing Xiangzhou and Ming River? Why do they insist on these weird, obscure ancient names?”
Ling Qingxiao explained, “Rituals are a very ancient tradition, heavily based on bloodlines. To showcase their knowledge and legitimacy, priests avoid modern names and try to emulate archaic or Middle-Age speech patterns.”
“That’s ridiculous. People in the Middle Era didn’t talk like this either.”
Ling Qingxiao could only shrug. “But they think it’s authentic.”
Luo Han was speechless. She trudged on through the document, occasionally asking for help. Not long after, someone came to meet with Ling Qingxiao. He left for the front hall to attend a meeting. The moment he left, it felt like a teacher leaving the classroom or a boss stepping away from the office. Luo Han instantly relaxed and generously granted herself a break.
Ling Qingxiao returned after his meeting, only to find Luo Han lying on the chaise, fast asleep. Not only that, there was food laid out on the desk. Ling Qingxiao sighed helplessly. He walked over, bent down, and gently shook her.
“Wake up. If you want to sleep, go back to your room. You’ll catch cold here.”
Luo Han opened her eyes blearily. Seeing it was him, she struggled upright. “I wasn’t sleeping. Just resting my eyes.”
She couldn’t even open her eyes and still claimed she hadn’t slept. Ling Qingxiao smiled faintly and sat beside her. “Alright. How much of the text is left?”
Luo Han said nothing. Ling Qingxiao understood and tactfully changed the subject. “I should be working on the heavenly sacrificial address too. It’s been a while, and I’ve forgotten some of the vocabulary. Why don’t you let me borrow the one you have? I’ll read it aloud to help me review.”
Luo Han nodded and summoned the long scroll in paper form, handing it to him. Ling Qingxiao took the complex text and began translating it into plain speech, reading it slowly and clearly to her. Luo Han lay against his leg, listening to his calm, crystalline voice. She thought: If work was always like this, who needs coercion? I’d cling to him and never leave.
When he finished reading, Ling Qingxiao asked, “Is there anything else you don’t understand?”
“Nope,” Luo Han sat up from his lap and said, “You go write your memorials now. I’m good.”
Ling Qingxiao had helped her complete her task, but his own documents were still piled up. Luo Han didn’t want him staying up too late. He returned to the desk and began writing. Every time he looked up, he saw Luo Han nearby, scribbling something on her own paper. He watched her for a moment, then looked away. The official reports under his pen suddenly didn’t seem so cold anymore.
Compared to Ling Qingxiao’s workload, Luo Han had it easy. After finishing her tasks, she went to read. Over the past three months, taking advantage of Ling Qingxiao’s position, she had read many books in Heaven. Records about heart demons were wildly varied, differing case by case. There was no universal method. As for dimensional barriers...barely any mention, almost nonexistent.
As Feng Yujia and Ye Zinan’s wedding approached, Luo Han and Ling Qingxiao left the palace quietly to attend the banquet in the Sixteenth Province of Wuyun. Ling Qingxiao didn’t bring his emperor’s entourage, only his personal artifacts. To them, this was already low-profile, but to the people of Wu and Yun provinces, not quite.
The king of Yunzhou had been restless since receiving the news three months ago. This past month, he barely slept. His court had never moved with such efficiency, within just three months, law and order in Yunzhou had been revitalized. Every shabby building was repaired, and not a speck of dust could be found on the roads.
Ling Qingxiao had said not to make a big fuss, so the King of Yunzhou didn’t dare to hold a welcome ceremony. All he could do was repeatedly warn his subordinates to behave, and on the day of Ling Qingxiao’s arrival, he personally waited at the city gates to greet them.
Ling Qingxiao was the first to step out. When he saw the city gate, his brows furrowed slightly, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he turned to help Luo Han down.
The King of Yunzhou came forward with his retinue, preparing to perform a full kowtow. Ling Qingxiao stopped them and said, “This is a personal trip, not an official visit. There’s no need for formalities.”
The king halted, even more nervous than before. A private inspection by the Celestial Emperor was far scarier than a public one. Luo Han spotted Ye Zinan in the crowd and quietly waved at him.
Ling Qingxiao saw this and said, “The heir’s wedding is soon. This trip is to offer congratulations, not to burden the bride and groom. You may all return to your duties, don’t let us disrupt the preparations.”
The king quickly agreed. Behind him, the Prince of Yunzhou glared harshly at Ye Zinan as they left, the warning in his eyes unmistakable. Ye Zinan sighed internally. His father always thought he was unreliable. Heaven knew he wasn’t that careless, how could he mess things up with the Celestial Emperor present?
Still, Ye Zinan didn’t act like his father expected. As soon as everyone was gone, he dashed to Luo Han, eyes brimming with tears. “Luo Han, you’re finally back! Where have you been all these years?”
“I don’t know either,” Luo Han replied, equally at a loss. She looked him over in surprise. “It’s only been a short while, and you’re already getting married? Is everything ready?”
“Everything’s going smoothly. The banquet, music, and betrothal gifts are all prepared—just the venue decorations left.” He hesitated, then asked earnestly, “You haven’t suffered these years, have you?”
Ye Zinan knew how to win favor. Pleasing Ling Qingxiao directly was pointless—no matter what you did, he would treat you the same. But if you took a roundabout route and pleased Luo Han instead, the outcome might change.
Sure enough, Luo Han was touched. Compared to someone like Zou Jibai, Ye Zinan really had the art of speaking sweetly. No wonder he was getting married. Luo Han said, “I’ve been doing well. What about Feng Yujia? Why isn’t she here?”
“It’s bad luck for engaged couples to meet before the wedding. But she’s thrilled you’re coming. She’s been looking forward to it for three months now, but it’s inconvenient for her to appear today.” Ye Zinan handed over a token. “This is my pass. The guards at the palace will recognize it. You can go visit her and please say hi for me.”
Luo Han accepted it. “No problem. I’ll be sure to tell her. I’ll head out, then?”
Ye Zinan noticed that Ling Qingxiao didn’t object and was honestly surprised. His instincts were right: when it came to anything involving Luo Han, Ling Qingxiao was incredibly easygoing.
The wedding between Wuzhou and Yunzhou was set to take place at the border between the two territories, and Feng Yujia was temporarily staying at the border palace. She had been waiting since morning, already informed that Luo Han would arrive today.
“Princess, the heir’s guards are escorting a young lady to the palace,” a maid announced.
Feng Yujia jumped up. “Let her in, hurry!”
She lifted the hem of her long red gown and hurried outside, just in time to meet Luo Han at the door. Luo Han spotted her familiar silhouette and excitedly lifted her skirts to run over. “Feng Yujia!”
“Luo Han!” Feng Yujia stepped forward and grabbed her hands. She looked her up and down with amazement. “You haven’t changed at all, it’s like looking at the same person from four hundred years ago.”
For Luo Han, it had only been a year, so naturally, she hadn’t changed. She returned the look, saying, “You’ve become even gentler and more beautiful. Ye Zinan is a lucky man. Congratulations.”
Hearing Ye Zinan’s name, Feng Yujia smiled softly. “Thank you. We hope to attend your wedding soon.”
Luo Han paused for a moment. Feng Yujia tugged her hand and led her inside. “Let’s not stand out here. Come in.”
The bridal chambers were festively decorated in bright red silk and embroidery, showing just how much the bride-to-be looked forward to her future. Feng Yujia led Luo Han to a seat and poured her tea before asking, “Where have you been all these years?”
The maids had been dismissed, so with no outsiders present, Luo Han didn’t hold back. “I went to another timeline. I had some things to deal with there, and when I came back, the time flow was off, I arrived four hundred years too late.”
Feng Yujia was stunned. “So that’s what happened.” She studied Luo Han’s expression and quickly understood. “You saw him there too?”
Luo Han nodded faintly, unsure how to explain. Feng Yujia understood immediately. “No wonder. So what are you planning now?”
She had always found it strange that someone like Luo Han, who cared so much for Ling Qingxiao, would just vanish without a word. Now it made sense, she’d been entangled by another version of him. And if anyone could pull Luo Han away from Ling Qingxiao, it could only be another Ling Qingxiao.
Emotions between women were always different from those with men. No matter how close Luo Han was to Ye Zinan, she could never talk about these things with him. But with Feng Yujia, she could.
Luo Han sighed deeply. “I don’t know either. I’ve been trying to find a solution that works for everyone, but I still haven’t found one.”
Feng Yujia hadn’t experienced anything like this, so she couldn’t offer advice. She said gently, “He’s done a lot these years, all to find you. A man who ascended to Immortal in a thousand years, who defeated every other dragon clan member alone, he was injured in an illusion, all because someone in that illusion resembled you.”
Luo Han fell silent.
Feng Yujia knew not to push too far, even as a friend. “Only the people involved can understand their own feelings. As an outsider, I won’t try to advise too much. But I have to speak up a little for His Majesty. His injury in the illusion caused quite a stir in Heaven. You know how the dragon clans value strength. I heard that some of them privately say, ‘If Ling Qingxiao can’t even break free from a mere illusion, how can he be called a top-tier cultivator? How is he worthy of being Celestial Emperor?’”
“Who said that?” Luo Han’s expression turned cold. “Every step he took to get here, he earned with his own strength. Who’s spreading baseless slander behind his back?”
“Don’t get upset, I only heard it in passing, it might not be true,” Feng Yujia quickly comforted Luo Han. “But...his inner demons all started because of you. I heard from Ye Lang that once, His Majesty even saw a scene of your wedding at Zhongshan in a dream realm. Maybe...when the two of you are truly married, his inner knots will be untied, and illusions like that will never sway him again.”
Luo Han lowered her eyes and said nothing. After a while, she softly replied, “I don’t know either. I need to think it through.”
Seeing this, Feng Yujia no longer pressed the matter. Luo Han had come to attend a wedding banquet, not to be lectured. So she shifted topics and took her to see the wedding dress. As a phoenix and the future queen of the Phoenix Clan, Feng Yujia’s wedding gown was exquisitely intricate, the pinnacle of luxury.
She personally changed into the dress to show Luo Han, and Luo Han was stunned into silence at the sight. For this wedding dress alone, maybe marriage wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
The two talked late into the night. After four hundred years apart, and with Feng Yujia about to be wed, once they started chatting, it was hard to stop. Eventually, Luo Han called for the maids and asked them to deliver a message to Ling Qingxiao that she wouldn’t be returning tonight and that he should rest on his own.
When Ling Qingxiao received the message, his expression didn’t change, but the pressure in the room immediately sank. Ye Zinan rubbed his arms and, sensing the dangerous shift, quickly made an excuse: “Your Majesty, I suddenly remembered some wedding matters I haven’t finished, I’ll take my leave.”
He bolted, leaving behind only a roomful of guards. Zou Jibai, now commander of Ling Qingxiao’s personal guard, had accompanied him to Yunzhou for the banquet. The other guards all looked to Zou Jibai to speak up, but he glared fiercely at the lot of them before reluctantly stepping forward: “Your Majesty, the King of Yunzhou has arranged a banquet tonight and invited Your Majesty. What shall I reply?”
“No time,” Ling Qingxiao said blandly. “Decline.”
“Yes, sir.”
Zou Jibai took the opportunity to flee the pressure-filled room as he passed on the order. The others, seeing even the closest attendant retreat, grew increasingly anxious. Ling Qingxiao had no patience left for them. Pressing his fingers to his brow, he waved the rest away. “Leave.”
“As you command.”
Once the room emptied, Ling Qingxiao went to the study to work. But for some reason, the ink wouldn’t flow right, the wind outside was annoyingly loud, and even the aides delivering memos seemed especially incompetent.
He finally couldn’t take it anymore and got up to get some air. Standing by the window, he stared at the lush trees of Yunzhou and realized it wasn’t the wind that was noisy. It was just that his attention kept drifting outside.
No matter how long he looked, though, Luo Han wouldn’t appear. She wasn’t coming back tonight. She had only been gone a few hours, and yet Ling Qingxiao already felt completely out of sorts, too irritable to focus on anything. But Feng Yujia was the bride, and the next Queen of Wuzhou. As Celestial Emperor, Ling Qingxiao couldn’t exactly barge into her palace just to see someone else’s guest.
All he could do was sigh deeply.
—
That night, Luo Han finally parted ways with Feng Yujia and returned to her own room to read. Without Ling Qingxiao around, she could move more freely. Her reading speed increased greatly. She was never one to study diligently, yet tonight, she read so long she didn’t even realize how late it had gotten.
A sudden crash of thunder outside finally jolted her back to awareness. Wind swept in through the window, rattling the pages of her book. She stood up and went to shut the window.
As her hands touched the windowsill, she felt something strange. Yunzhou’s climate was usually warm and humid, rarely prone to storms. The last time it had rained like this was during Ling Qingxiao’s tribulation, he had drawn heavenly lightning so intense that it nearly destroyed Yunzhong.
Was it happening again? She looked up. Storm clouds were churning above the city wall, right in the direction of Ling Qingxiao’s residence. Her heart dropped. Not even bothering with an umbrella, she grabbed a cloak and flew out.