After Provoking the Mad Beautiful Deity - Chapter 21

Morning is her, and evening is her as well.

Winter had arrived in the mortal realm. Though it had not yet snowed, the biting chill was inescapable. Hongchen, adapting to local customs, changed into a cotton-padded robe and stepped into the main hall. The Empress was currently teaching the Prince his lessons. Hongchen glanced at the ungrateful young boy, the corner of her lips twitching slightly.

Upon seeing the guest, the Empress dismissed the Prince and beckoned to Hongchen. “How did the young lady find the time to sit with me today?”

“The weather is dreadfully cold; I came to see you.” Hongchen sat down in a lower seat with practiced familiarity, her gaze fixed on the Empress’s plain, composed face. Faced with those calm, unruffled eyes, any words Hongchen had prepared seemed to lose their meaning. She didn’t know where to start, but the Empress smiled faintly. “It seems the lady has something she wishes to say.”

“Nothing at all,” Hongchen said, swallowing her words and forcing a smile.

The Empress stole another glance at her. “You certainly have something to say. I know you are a person of great ability; you must know something.”

“Empress, you are very clever.” Her thoughts seen through, Hongchen asked quietly, “Do you believe in the afterlife?”

“Does the lady intend to send me to one?” the Empress joked.

Hongchen was dissatisfied. “You are too smart—it’s almost unseemly.” She let out a sigh. It wasn’t as if she could simply say: Empress, go to your death in peace; I have arranged a beautiful next life for you, where you and the Noble Consort will live happily together.

Would the Empress even believe it? Hongchen asked herself; she didn’t even believe such a story herself.

The Empress continued to smile, her expression gentle yet elegant. “You are a straightforward person; you might as well speak plainly.”

“Empress, a great disaster is approaching,” Hongchen blurted out, unable to hold it back any longer. “I hope you make your preparations early.”

“Oh, is that all…” the Empress sighed softly. “It is no great matter. My body has long ceased to belong to me; I have no attachment to it.”

“Why no attachment? You are the Mother of the Nation, with power in your hands. How can you not crave it?” Hongchen was baffled. To sit in such a high position and not crave power—was her mind broken?

The Empress replied, “When you are in a cage and can find no way out, death becomes your only exit.”

“And the Noble Consort? Do you not want her anymore?” Hongchen pressed anxiously.

The Empress shook her head. “She is still young. As time passes, there will come a day when she moves on.”

“That thought is a bit selfish,” Hongchen blurted out. For some reason, her heart began to ache—a strange, inexplicable pain. “Your Majesty, you would abandon the Noble Consort for a moment’s selfish desire? Where does that leave her?”

“Young lady, can you find a second path for me?” The Empress was not angered by the questioning, though her brow furrowed. “I do not wish to hear you raise problems; solving them is what must be done. Otherwise, I shall act as if you said nothing at all.”

Hongchen was stunned. Indeed, she could not find a second path. They could not leave, they could not love, even meeting was a struggle—every day was a form of torture. If caught by the mortal Emperor, their families would be implicated. A cliff ahead and thorns behind; they could neither advance nor retreat. It was too difficult.

She said helplessly, “If I say you will be happy in your next life, would you believe me?”

“If you say it, I believe it.” A smile of relief touched the Empress’s lips. “Your relationship with that Lady Yan seems… unique.”

Mentioning Yan Lai made Hongchen’s mood inexplicably bright. “Her? The union of the two of us is beneficial to both.”

“Do you like her?” the Empress asked directly. “If you do not love her, why harm her for the sake of mere interests?”

“Love?” Hongchen fell into hesitation. What was love? She asked the Empress, “What does love taste like?”

The Empress looked at her, hiding a smile behind her sleeve. “Is she in your heart?”

Hongchen nodded. The Empress asked again, “Morning is her, and evening is her?”

Hongchen had recently been protecting Yan Lai during her meditation; every morning and evening were spent with her, and her heart was full of concern for Yan Lai’s injuries. Thinking of this, Hongchen nodded without hesitation.

The Empress chuckled. “If you were separated, would you feel lost?”

Without Yan Lai? Hongchen’s gaze turned cold. She shook her head and said, “We will not be separated.”

I will make her the Demon Queen!

The Empress couldn’t help but laugh aloud. “Very well. You are quite overbearing. I understand your thoughts now.”

“What did you see?” Hongchen rolled her eyes. “Your Majesty should think about your final arrangements first. Is there anything I can help with?”

“No. You are no ordinary mortal; there is no need to get entangled in mortal affairs and bring trouble upon yourself.” The Empress spoke gently, flatly refusing Hongchen’s help. Why involve an outsider in a vortex from which she herself could not escape? She added, “I hope you can stay true to your original intentions and not force things.”

Hongchen huffed in dissatisfaction. “You were born with the heart of a Bodhisattva yet met a demon. I don’t know if it’s your misfortune or the demon’s luck.”

With that, she got up to leave. Just as she was about to cross the threshold, the Empress suddenly called out, “Young lady.”

“Speak, what is it?” Hongchen stopped.

“I ask that after I am gone, you go and see her. Make her forget me.”

“An Oblivion Pill? You want one? I have many.” Hongchen rummaged through her person, pulled out a box of pills, and tossed it to the Empress. “Take it, and the past will be forgotten. She will be herself, and you will be yourself.”

The Empress caught the box, a smile of immense relief appearing on her face, incredibly tender. “I shall remember your kindness for all eternity.”

Hearing this made Hongchen sad; she didn’t want to listen anymore and hurried out of the main hall.

Oblivion Pill? In her dreams. If such a thing truly existed, there wouldn’t be so many immortals and demons trapped by love.

Hongchen had played a trick on the Empress. She strolled back to her quarters, but before she could even sit on her lounger, a distress message arrived via flying letter from the Demon Realm.

She blinked, glanced toward the inner hall, burned the letter, and lay down anyway.

She hadn’t been lying down for half an hour before Yan Guang sent another plea for help. She glanced at it; if her disciple still had time to send letters, nothing truly catastrophic could have happened.

She ignored it and kept lying there.

The winter sun vanished in an instant, and darkness fell. Just as she closed her eyes to rest, a light flared in the sky—it was Yan Guang again.

Three distress signals in a row suggested an urgent situation. Hongchen slowly got up and looked toward the inner chamber. Her gaze fell on the prayer beads on Yan Lai’s wrist. She quietly performed a hand seal, and the bracelet flew out, landing obediently in her palm.

The bracelet was sentient and had saved Hongchen from danger many times. After some thought, she instructed the bracelet: “You guard her. I will go and return quickly. If anyone blind enough to interfere shows up, kill them.”

The bracelet flared with fire as if in agreement. Satisfied, Hongchen placed it at the hall’s entrance, muttering, “I’ll be back in a day. Hold the fort.”

The Demon Realm was in peril; she could not be reckless. With Yan Lai in seclusion and the Bodhi bracelet guarding her, she shouldn’t run into trouble.

Hongchen looked back reluctantly, gritted her teeth, and left. On the way, she tried to summon the Qilin, but despite her efforts, the beast did not return.

She cursed under her breath, “When I get back, I’ll strip your bones and skin you to feed the demon soldiers.”

Princess Yu Ling of the Flower Clan had disappeared. The Clan Leader flew to the Nine Heavens to see the Heavenly Empress.

Outside the Empress’s palace, an immortal attendant blocked him. “Her Majesty is in seclusion and sees no one. If you have business, you may see His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor.”

The Heavenly Empress had been in seclusion for years; even the Emperor could not see her. The Clan Leader stamped his feet in anxiety and turned to find the Emperor instead.

It wasn’t just Princess Yu Ling who was missing; the Crown Prince of the Heavenly Tribe had also vanished. The Emperor had already dispatched troops to find him; at such a time, no one cared about a minor Flower Clan princess.

A scout reported that the Demon Clan had abducted Princess Yu Ling, and the Crown Prince had chased them into the Demon Realm, his fate unknown. The Heavenly Emperor personally arrived at the border of the Demon Realm, attempting to force the demons to hand over Prince Qing Feng.

Yan Guang and Yan Heng stared at each other and spoke simultaneously: “You captured the Celestial Prince?”

With the Heavenly Emperor personally present, the power gap was too great. While the demon soldiers stalled for time, Yan Guang rushed back to the house in the mortal market. Finding her master absent, she had no choice but to send another distress signal.

Hongchen arrived upon receiving the message. Her disciples were as anxious as ants on a hot griddle. Hongchen snorted coldly, “You don’t practice usually, and in the critical moment, you cry for your parents.”

The disciples looked at each other. For all these years, they hadn’t seen their Master practice either. Like teacher, like student—it was the simplest of truths.

They didn’t dare speak. Hongchen counted her disciples like one counts chicks. When she reached “nine,” there was no one left. Surprised, she asked, “Where is the Grass?”

“Little Ten has been missing for a long time. We’ve searched many places but couldn’t find her.”

Hongchen slapped her forehead, remembering the Great War three years ago when the Immortal Sanmeng had abducted the Condensed Immortal Grass in exchange for the High Goddess Yan Lai.

She said guiltily, “Little Ten is in the Nine Heavens. Find some time to look for her. The priority now is to drive away the Heavenly Emperor. Come, let’s look at the map.”

Her guilt lasted only a moment before she forgot her youngest disciple. Meanwhile, chaos erupted for the mortal Empress.

A tiger had broken into the inner palace. The palace was filled with unarmed, defenseless women. The tiger trampled several maids and knocked down palace walls, its power far exceeding that of a normal animal.

The tiger charged inward, breaking into a side hall in the northwest that was rarely visited. The Empress was horrified and hurriedly ordered a rescue.

Before she finished speaking, the hall doors were smashed open as the tiger leaped inside. The Empress, losing her dignified composure, screamed for the maids to save the person inside. However, with the tiger having mauled so many, who dared provoke it?

The Empress rushed to enter the hall herself, but her personal maid stopped her. “Your Majesty, we must close the doors, or it will hurt more people!”

“Presumptuous! How can I put her in danger for my own safety? if you won’t save her, I will!” The Empress pushed the maid aside, but the maid clung to her desperately, refusing to let go.

Inside the hall, the tiger suddenly stopped. It was enveloped in a sphere of light. A figure emerged from the prayer beads; the tiger crouched on the ground, its limbs pinned down by spiritual energy.

At the same time, Yan Lai sensed the commotion and couldn’t help but open her eyes. She looked toward the phantom figure in the air.

The figure wore a white veil, her long hair flowing, her features exquisite. Her elegant brows bore a striking resemblance to Hongchen’s. Yan Lai, startled, felt her internal energy become turbulent. She didn’t speak, but the figure seemed to sense her plight and slowly released a stream of spiritual power. The energy surrounded Yan Lai, helping her regulate her breath.

After a moment, Yan Lai struggled out of her trance and suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

“You are not Hongchen,” she whispered.

She had always thought the soul within the bracelet was Hongchen’s.