Cuddling with the Cold Female Protagonist – Chapter 106

Volume 4: The Perils of the Jianghu

The Priestess

Su Yi carefully sized up the person before her. Seeing the phoenixes and lotuses embroidered on her white robes, her fair skin and red lips, Su Yi was instantly reminded of the dream she had before coming to Changsheng Valley and the words of Hua Wuying.

“You are… the Priestess of Huachen Kingdom?”

“I was.” The woman smiled faintly. “But not anymore.”

Her gaze drifted to the side of the palace, where Su Yi noticed a large, neat stack of items adorned with red ‘double happiness’ characters¹.

In a flash of insight, she remembered. “You’re the Priestess who was chosen to marry the Crown Prince of Huachen Kingdom?”

The woman smiled and nodded. “That part is true.”

“Ah… Thank you so much.” Su Yi didn’t know what to say. Hua Wuying had told her that the Priestesses of Huachen Kingdom were even more powerful than the imperial family. To fall from a respected Priestess to an imperial dependent who had to constantly watch her words—this Priestess must surely be heartbroken.

The woman chuckled. “It wasn’t I who discovered you. You appeared inexplicably in the lake outside my palace, and my attendants found you and informed me.”

The lake outside the palace?

How did the hidden river in Changsheng Valley connect to a palace lake in Huachen Kingdom?

Su Yi didn’t quite understand and hesitantly asked.

The woman smiled faintly. “This isn’t my palace either. It originally belonged to a male priest. He had a very crazed admirer who tried every possible means to get close to him. I imagine that hidden river is a product of her efforts.”

Su Yi immediately understood she was talking about the Valley Master and Feng Lin’s father.

The Valley Master truly was mad, to go to such lengths for a man.

But then again, “Why are you living here, then?”

Not living in her own palace but in one that belonged to a dead person… it felt a bit unlucky.

The woman shook her head. “I am to be married to the Crown Prince. This is the rule.”

The Priestesses held a noble status, and the palaces they lived in were in the best locations—the palace complex high up in the imperial palace was their residence.

Nestled by mountains and water, it overlooked the entire imperial palace from above. The interiors were warm in winter and cool in summer, and the palaces themselves were built to be magnificent, perhaps even rivaling paradise. Whenever they went out, they were followed by a large retinue of servants and attendants. Even the imperial family had to bow their heads and salute them.

Priestesses could live there, but if she were to marry down, she would have to move out and into an ordinary palace within the imperial grounds.

This place was less a palace and more a prison.

The number of servants was cut by more than half, the hall was cramped, stuffy in the summer and freezing in the winter. It was like falling from heaven straight into the depths of hell.

Most people could not accept such a drastic change.

Listening to the woman’s explanation, Su Yi thought, No wonder.

Since Feng Lin’s father had been gifted to the Valley Master by the High Priest of that time, he must have lived here before heading to Changsheng Valley.

He certainly couldn’t have endured such a fall from grace. It was only natural that he would later resist desperately, even seeking death.

At this thought, Su Yi looked at the woman with renewed concern. “Then you…”

“Don’t worry, I don’t have any strong feelings about it. A place to live is a place to live,” the woman said magnanimously, smiling.

“Miss, you are truly open-minded,” Su Yi said with admiration, glancing around. “Where is the general who was with me?”

Speak of the devil. Yue Ling clutched her forehead and rushed over from a corner of the palace. “Miss Su, are you alright?”

“I’m fine. General Lin, why are you holding your head? Did you hit it?”

“No…” Yue Ling hesitated, wondering if she should say it. But seeing Su Yi staring at her, she gritted her teeth and lowered her hand to avoid suspicion.

On her temple was a small, crescent-moon-shaped birthmark. Normally, she kept it hidden with her official’s hat, but now that the hat had been washed away in the river, the birthmark was exposed.

Su Yi smiled. “What a cute mark. Is it a birthmark?”

Yue Ling breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, Su Yi didn’t know anything. She rubbed her temple. “It is.”

The woman, who had been listening to them in silence, suddenly spoke. “I heard that when the Fourth Princess of Dongli Kingdom was born, she had a crescent moon birthmark on her temple. The national surname of Dongli is Yue, and the princess’s birthmark corresponded with it. The Emperor of Dongli was overjoyed, believing the princess to be an incarnation of an auspicious omen. He therefore showed her special favor, permitting her to study and practice martial arts like an imperial prince, hoping she would ensure the long and prosperous reign of Dongli.”

“…”

As her words fell, a silence descended upon the three of them.

Su Yi stared at Yue Ling in astonishment. She and Ji Qingchi had both agreed that Yue Ling’s skills were extraordinary and that she was quite resourceful, definitely not an ordinary person. They had guessed she might be the daughter of some powerful noble from Dongli or Huachen, but they never imagined she was the Fourth Princess of Dongli.

Yue Ling’s embarrassment was palpable. She had not intended to reveal her identity, only to be exposed so directly.

As if not noticing her awkwardness, the woman gave her a slight smile. “Fourth Princess of Dongli Kingdom, I have long heard of your fame. My name is Xue Zhining². I was once a Priestess of Huachen Kingdom, and in the future, I will be the Crown Princess.”

Her words only made Yue Ling more embarrassed.

So after she fled the marriage, this was the woman who was taking her place to marry the Crown Prince of Huachen.

She had escaped, but this woman had clearly fallen into a pit of fire, with no telling if she could ever get out.

In a way, it was as if this woman was acting as her scapegoat³.

“What a coincidence, haha.” Seeing that the two had been silent for a long time, Su Yi quickly laughed to break the awkward tension. “The Fourth Princess didn’t want to marry that Crown Prince. Miss Xue, are you willing to marry him?”

Xue Zhining smiled faintly. “What do you think, miss?”

“Hmm…” Su Yi put herself in her shoes for a moment and shook her head like a rattle. “I wouldn’t be.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Xue Zhining looked toward Yue Ling. “The Fourth Princess is unwilling to marry for the sake of the throne, and I am unwilling to marry for the sake of my position as a Priestess…”

She then looked at Su Yi.

Su Yi quickly raised her hand to absolve herself. “I am Su Yi, the legitimate great-granddaughter of Marquis Su Ban of Pingyang from the Yanxue Kingdom. I am to inherit the title in the future. Besides, I already have a lover, so it’s even more impossible for me to marry him.”

“This Miss Su is also unwilling to marry for the sake of her title and her lover. I’ve asked the others in the palace, and they are unwilling to marry the Crown Prince for the sake of their own lives… So many people are unwilling to marry him. He must be a scourge. There’s no need for a scourge to exist. In that case, we must get rid of this Crown Prince.”

After a pause, she continued as if talking to herself, “However, if one Crown Prince is eliminated, another will take his place. All Crown Princes must take a wife. But so many women are unwilling to be the Crown Prince’s wife. Instead, all those men are clamoring, urging me to become the Crown Princess. They are so passionate, they must like the idea of being the Crown Princess Consort. But what to do? The Crown Prince doesn’t like men… Ah, I have an idea. Instead of letting a prince be Crown Prince, we just make a princess the Crown Prince. That way, those men will have their chance to be the Crown Prince Consort.”

She spoke of these matters so calmly that Su Yi felt this Priestess of Huachen was truly formidable.

Her thinking was even more thorough than her own, a modern person’s. It was truly remarkable.

Something that had troubled her for a long time was finally clear at this moment.

Xue Zhining was very pleased. She smiled at Yue Ling and said, “Fourth Princess, do you wish to be an Empress?”

Yue Ling nodded. Her brothers were fighting to the death over the throne, and she wanted to compete too. Unfortunately, people always said she wasn’t qualified.

“I hear the ruler of Yanxue Kingdom is a woman. I also wish for the next ruler of Huachen Kingdom to be a woman. Since you also wish to be an Empress, Fourth Princess, I believe we can join forces.”

Yue Ling was skeptical. “Can you help me?”

Su Yi quickly interjected, “If her reach is too short, I can help too.”

Xue Zhining smiled and raised her hand. Su Yi clearly saw a fiery light flowing at her fingertips.

Yue Ling was astonished. “You—”

Su Yi, however, frowned. That light was the same as the light she had seen on the phoenix in her dream.

“Imperial Sister-in-law, I’ve come to play with you~”

Before she could finish, a child’s voice suddenly echoed in the hall.

Before the two could hide, a three or four-year-old little girl burst in.

Seeing the two strangers, Su Yi and Yue Ling, the little girl wasn’t afraid. Instead, after getting a clear look at Su Yi’s face, she curiously ran up to her, waved a chubby little hand in front of Su Yi’s face, and then tentatively touched her hand. Feeling its warmth, her eyes widened in surprise. “Wow, you’re a real person!”

Su Yi was speechless. Of course, she was a real person.

Xue Zhining smiled and pulled the girl over, stroking her fluffy baby hair. “Twelfth Princess, why would you say such a thing?”

The little princess was the Crown Prince’s full-blooded younger sister. Princesses were ranked separately, and she was the twelfth among them, the youngest daughter of the Huachen Emperor. As he had her in his later years, she was deeply doted upon by the Emperor.

After learning that her future imperial sister-in-law was living here, she had been running over to play with her every day.

The little princess leaned against her leg, her eyes still fixed on Su Yi. “There’s a painting hanging in Imperial Brother’s palace, and it’s of this big sister. She’s so pretty. I asked Imperial Brother who she was, and he said she was a Nine Heavens Fairy⁴ who descended to the mortal realm. Fairies live in the heavens, so I thought she wasn’t a real person.”

The fact that the Crown Prince had obtained a painting at the border of Yanxue Kingdom over half a year ago and had since lost all appetite for food and drink was something everyone in the imperial palace knew.

Su Yi’s face burned with embarrassment, while her heart seethed with anger. Which bastard was so bold? It was one thing to buy and sell my portrait in the capital, but to sell it all the way to the border? If I ever catch him, I’ll skin him and break his bones.

Yue Ling sneered. “So that’s how it is. The Crown Prince is truly a man of deep affection.”

To want to marry someone else while having another person in his heart—what deep affection indeed.

Xue Zhining didn’t seem to care about any of this. She combed the little princess’s small braids and poked her chubby cheek with a smile. “Does the princess want to be the Emperor?”

“Big Brother Crown Prince is the future Emperor.” The princess was too young to understand the meaning behind their words. After whining coquettishly for a bit, she grew sleepy and fell asleep on Xue Zhining’s lap.

Xue Zhining had a palace maid carry her back, then turned to the two people staring at her and smiled. “The Twelfth Princess is young, innocent, and kind. She is good stock.”

The Priestesses of Huachen Kingdom were like the state preceptors in Journey to the West, capable of turning clouds and stirring rain. As long as a Priestess deemed an imperial child fit to be the ruler, she could help them ascend the throne. That Priestess would then be honored as the High Priestess, enjoying power that was below one person and above ten thousand.

Su Yi and Yue Ling looked at each other, not knowing what she meant.

Xue Zhining didn’t explain, still maintaining her serene smile. “It’s boring sitting around here anyway. If you two don’t mind, why don’t I give you a proper tour of the Huachen Imperial Palace?”

Of course, the two would not refuse. And so, after nightfall, Xue Zhining led them out of the palace.

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The guards immediately notified Feng Ruoqing and the others who had remained at the fire scene about Ji Qingchi’s capture.

The group rushed to the site, where traces of the fight and a ground littered with uncleaned corpses remained.

Feng Ruoqing and Feng Qing stayed to help treat the injured guards, while Hua Wuying wandered around with a frown.

And as she wandered, she truly discovered some “goodies.”

Feng Lin’s human skin was still on the ground.

And the Valley Master, her hands reduced to white bones, was curled up on the ground, twitching occasionally from the pain. She was drenched as if washed with water, and blood pooled beneath her.

“Yo, isn’t this the Valley Master? Why so miserable?” Hua Wuying had no good impression of this Valley Master and disliked Feng Lin, who had harmed them, even more. However, they were ultimately from the same sect as Feng Ruoqing, so she played the good person for once and called Feng Qing and the others over.

The two were startled when they came over and saw the tragic state of the mother and son.

Feng Qing carefully inspected them and sighed. “It was the King Gu that injured her.”

Feng Ruoqing immediately looked around. “Isn’t the King Gu on Miss Su? Right, where is Miss Su? Logically, with Her Highness missing, she should be the most anxious one right now.”

Hua Wuying circled around again and saw the message Jing You had secretly left on a tree trunk. “Stop looking. They’re both in Xuanji Tower now.”

A sarcastic smile appeared on her face. “In the hands of my dear brother and that undying old man of a father.”

The message left by Jing You clearly stated how Su Yi and Ji Qingchi had been captured.

Hua Wuying shaved off that piece of bark and tossed it to the ground. “We have to go save them.”

She cracked her knuckles, a fierce flame burning in her eyes. “It’s about time Xuanji Tower had a new master.”

“I’ll go with you,” Feng Ruoqing said at once. “They might be injured. I can help with treatment if I go.”

Feng Qing also started to speak, but Hua Wuying quickly cut her off. “Senior, you should stay here.”

“But…”

“The Valley Master’s life is currently uncertain. You, elder, are the most respected person in the valley and possess superb medical skills. You must hold down the fort here. The aftermath of the fire has yet to be sorted out.”

Hua Wuying gave her a charming smile. “Old Senior, congratulations. You’ll soon be able to take her place and become the Valley Master.”

Feng Qing understood her meaning. She originally had no intention of taking over, but her junior martial sister had truly gone too far. Such a massive fire had occurred in Changsheng Valley, yet she hadn’t even been willing to show her face.

She took a long, deep breath and patted her disciple’s shoulder. “Be careful.”

“Don’t worry, Master.”

Looking at her disciple who was now much taller than her, Feng Qing nodded, feeling very gratified. She might be old, but she wasn’t muddled. The position of Valley Master… her junior martial sister had schemed for so long to trick their deceased master into passing the position to her.

And after becoming the Valley Master, she had indulged her son in so many wicked deeds. Any discerning person could see that the Valley Master position was a good thing.

While she herself had no interest, her disciple was still young. For now, she was here to protect her, but what would happen after she was gone?

The best way was to ensure she had something to rely on.

And the best thing was power—the position of Valley Master.

If Feng Lin hadn’t died, her junior sister would have definitely given this position to him. Feng Lin was only in his teens, yet his mother was already planning for his future.

Her own disciple, however, was already grown, yet she had failed to secure any inheritance for her. She had truly let her down. Now that the opportunity was right in front of them, only a fool would not take it.

She stood on her toes and smilingly patted Feng Ruoqing’s head, just like when she was a child. “My good disciple, when you return, Master will have a grand gift for you.”

Feng Ruoqing thought her master was just speaking casually and didn’t take it to heart. Only Hua Wuying knew that when they returned, this Changsheng Valley would be hers.

She smiled, leaving a dozen of her shadow guards to help Feng Qing “consolidate” Changsheng Valley, while she and Feng Ruoqing rode off at top speed toward Xuanji Tower.

Xuanji Tower.

Although Ji Qingchi was a prisoner, due to her special status, she was held separately in a wooden house on a mountain.

Outside the room was a small lake, and the window of the wooden house faced it directly. Beyond, vast fields of poppies and datura flowers grew.

When the gentle breeze blew, the flowers dipped their heads one after another, shy and demure, vying with each other in beauty.

Paired with Ji Qingchi’s peerless face, the scene was breathtakingly beautiful.

Hua Wushang, carrying a bowl of medicinal soup, stood frozen in place, utterly entranced, unable to regain his senses for a long time.

As the person locked in his infatuated gaze, Ji Qingchi leaned against the door, sneering inwardly as her fingers pressed three deep dents into the wooden frame.

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The author has something to say:

They’ve split up, so the two storylines will be written in parallel.

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