Legend of Fu Yao

The royal members of Xuanji, as well as all the officials, rushed over, along with a large group of imperial guards.

“King Meng! Are you trying to assassinate the Emperor?” the Eldest Imperial Princess screamed.

“King Meng… This is far too disrespectful!” The Prime Minister pointed a trembling finger at her, giving off an “I have never seen such disrespectful and shameless behavior in front of a nation’s king” expression.

“Can King Meng please explain herself!” The Twelfth Prince’s voice chimed in angrily.

Emotions were running high as everyone squeezed forward together, yet they remained a distance of one zhang away, pointing angrily and shouting at the shameless, disrespectful and vicious yet formidable King Meng.

Representing the nation and the hundreds of officials, the Eleventh Prince announced calmly and resolutely, “Your actions have severely hurt the feelings of the people of Xuanji!”

“We demand retribution for such behavior!”

However, someone suddenly pushed through the crowd and walked forward calmly to Meng Fuyao. He ordered the guards to retreat, then personally supported the Emperor, who had been frightened by the commotion and had fallen to the ground, then conveniently picked up the Empress who was cowering at one corner because she thought she was about to be attacked. After sitting both of them down in a dignified manner, he turned and bowed to Meng Fuyao, saying, “I believe this is a lack of planning on Xuanji’s part, inciting King Meng’s wrath. I apologize on Xuanji’s behalf, it’s just that Father is gravely ill and does not take to scares well. Hence, may King Meng please explain her actions to His Majesty, such that he may be relieved.”

Beautiful!

Meng Fuyao narrowed her eyes and looked at the poker-faced Third Prince. He truly lived up to his reputation, his every action respectful and filial without any fault. His words were beneficial to both sides; clearly, he was on a level several tiers higher than his royal siblings!

“None of that.” Meng Fuyao smiled slightly, dragging her voice as she said slowly, “Xuanji has good governance, good scenery, beautiful and respectful rulers, as well as talented princes and princesses. As an uncouth person, I can only look on enviously, how could I get angry?”

She smiled sincerely and reached behind her back. She pulled out something and waved it in front of everyone.

“I’ve merely discovered a little rat.”

Lord Yuan Bao lolled its head and extended its claws, cooperating with Meng Fuyao as it pretended to be dead in her palm.

“Ah—rat!” Before even looking at the thing in Meng Fuyao’s hands, upon hearing the word “rat”, the Empress’ face paled as let out a screech and retreated a step back.

“Look, the Empress has gotten a fright now, hasn’t she?” Meng Fuyao stuffed the “dead rat” back into her sleeve as she waved a hand at the multiple glares in front of her. “I knew that Her Grace would be frightened.”

“Tell me.” Meng Fuyao said dramatically, “When I discovered a vicious rat suddenly scuttle into the honored throne of Xuanji and slip behind the screen, clearly intending to frighten the elegant and noble Emperor and Empress, making them lose face in front of everyone—how could I let such a thing happen? How could I not take action and seize this godforsaken creature, and squeeze it to death! Cut it up! Burn it into ashes! Throw it into the sea!”

All the representatives of Xuanji stared dumbstruck as King Meng continued to lambast the rat so viciously.

‘Why did she have to be so cruel to a rat? Did she have some animosity with this rat in her previous life?’

Only the Third Prince and Ninth Princess remained unperturbed as they smiled slightly and bowed, one of them praising, “How thoughtful of King Meng!” and the other even clapping and exclaiming, “Many thanks to King Meng for extending a helping hand and saving our Emperor and Empress from danger!”

Meng Fuyao returned the bow and responded, “It’s nothing much, you’re too kind.”

‘Oh, it seems like this Third Prince is on an even higher level than the Ninth Princess—his skin is even thicker.’

“I’m so tired…” Meng Fuyao “wiped” her “sweat”, glancing at the Empress who was glaring at her from the throne. “I’ve suffered from some injuries just a little while earlier and have yet to recover. This move has sapped my body of energy, ah…” She swayed slightly, and upon spotting a stool, she sat down immediately and started massaging her legs, looking “extremely weak and unable to walk”.

The Xuanji representatives’ mouths twitched.

‘Just now, when you rushed over, you were filled to the brim with energy and ferocity, even a guard wearing the special enhanced golden armor was no match for you after one blow, so why are you suddenly “extremely weak and unable to walk”?’

Although they felt extremely dubious, they didn’t dare to say anything; if they said anything, it was hard to guess what this person, who was within the ranks of the top ten martial artists, would do, perhaps even using them as a “practice target” on the spot.

Anyway, it was extremely clear to everyone now; under the heavens, there were only things that King Meng didn’t want to do, and nothing that she did not dare nor felt embarrassed to do.

“May the Crown Prince and King Meng please rest in the palace tonight,” the Third Prince said after receiving stares from the rest of his siblings. “Actually, if not for the fact that we were afraid that the two of you wouldn’t be used to it, Father originally wanted to invite the two of you to stay in the palace.”

‘One night is more than enough, any longer and one would start erupting in rashes,’ Meng Fuyao thought as she smiled superfluously, using her eyes to express her approval of the Third Prince. “Many thanks to Your Majesty for understanding, many thanks to the Third Prince…”

“I disapprove!”

The Empress suddenly stood up and screeched, “I do not agree!”

Her entire body was trembling with anger as she pointed at Meng Fuyao and continued, “This person… this wretched b*tch… how is she fit to enter the Imperial Palace of Xuanji!”

Immediately, the Xuanji officials’ faces darkened as they glared at the Empress. ‘Haven’t you made enough mess! How dare you still say such things out loud!’

“It has already been quite a while since I traveled around various nations,” Meng Fuyao said calmly. Her back was facing the Empress as she added slowly, “I’ve always thought that although each of the countries I’ve visited was good, they were too law-abiding and had no personality, no surprise, nor did they have anybody as spectacular as Xuanji…”

“May Her Grave please return to her palace!” An official couldn’t stand it any longer and stepped forward, bowing at the Empress. “The front of the palace is for His Majesty to make the decision. Your control is over the harem!”

Meng Fuyao smiled as she looked at the courageous fellow. ‘Not bad, not bad, it is indeed rare to find such a brave official. I’ve already said before, for someone as extreme as the Empress of Xuanji, it was enough that she was unreasonable in the harem, but how could the court tolerate her in the front palace?’ she thought.

“May Her Grave please return to her palace!” All of the Xuanji officials bowed together, their voices solemn and cold, reverberating around the hall.

The Empress had always been an unpopular figure, using the Phoenix Tribe as a shield. As long as she hadn’t tried to interfere with matters of the imperial court, whatever she had done in the harem had grudgingly been overlooked. However, today, she had chosen to suddenly appear in the front palace, and the Xuanji officials knew that Meng Fuyao wasn’t easy to deal with; they didn’t need someone creating additional trouble for them. Sensing that the Empress was probably going to create even more trouble, they might as well chase her away first. Besides, everyone was responsible in some way or another. If everyone asked her to leave, then the Empress wouldn’t be able to do anything about it either.

Indeed, the Empress was helpless in front of the officials’ request. Even members of the Phoenix Tribe had to listen to them, much less herself, She stood up angrily, the jewels on her headpiece sparkling brightly as she glared at them. After a moment, she flicked her sleeve forcefully and turned around to leave.

“The Empress is leaving—”

Meng Fuyao chuckled and waved merrily at the Empress’ retreating figure.

‘It doesn’t matter whether you’re willing or unwilling, even if you Xuanji officials have sent the Empress away, I am definitely staying here tonight.’

‘I must figure out who that damned shadow belongs to!’

The Xuanji Imperial Palace was exquisitely beautiful under the moonlight, filled with elaborately designed gardens and buildings. It was very different from Dahan or Xuanyuan, with not many tall buildings, but instead filled with winding pedestals and pavilions. It was very special.

The consequences of it being extremely special was that… Meng Fuyao nearly lost her way.

Although she and Zhangsun Wuji were staying in the Palace that night, they had been separated; she was staying in the Qixiu Room, while Zhangsun Wuji was staying in the Duanchang Room. Indeed, she couldn’t request to stay in the same room as Zhangsun Wuji—it wasn’t like she could waltz up to the palace officials and tell them that she was used to staying in the same room as Zhangsun Wuji, right?

If word got out, adding onto a certain person’s jealousy, it would become huge news in the Five Regions Continent.

Hence, Meng Fuyao could only head to the Qixiu Room herself, but the damned place was so elaborately designed that it felt like she was in a maze, walking past room after room and garden after garden, unable to find her way as she wandered about cluelessly.

After walking around the place three times, Meng Fuyao still couldn’t find the bedroom. She was rather familiar with arrays, yet she was completely clueless when it came to Xuanji’s palace layout. In the end, she could only squat helplessly under a flower shelf and sigh at Lord Yuan Bao, saying, “Don’t talk about finding the person, I’ve lost myself already.”

Lord Yuan Bao looked at her with a speechless expression when someone said from up ahead, “I knew you would get lost, that brain of yours always seems to get muddled up when it shouldn’t.”

Meng Fuyao raised her head in pleasant surprise to see the corner of a light purple robe above a flower shelf. Smiling, she said, “Why did you come here? Infiltrating a woman’s room in the middle of the night… Mn, a woman’s private room, aren’t you afraid of becoming the joke of the Five Regions?”

“Not infiltrating a woman’s private room in the middle of the night, should I be waltzing in during the day instead?” Zhangsun Wuji retorted. “Don’t tell me you didn’t want me to appear? Not at all?”

Meng Fuyao chuckled and crossed over the flower shelf, sitting down lightly beside him and saying honestly, “Yes, I want, but I don’t really want to spend the night sitting under this flower shelf.”

Beside her, Zhangsun Wuji smiled and looked at her—there were many good things about her, and the best thing about her was that she didn’t beat around the bush; she was as transparent as the clearest jade.

Meng Fuyao looked up at the sky, knowing why Zhangsun Wuji had come. It was very well possible that Epsilon was in the palace, and the two of them couldn’t be apart for him to take advantage.