Legend of Fu Yao

“Do what has to be done,” Meng Fuyao said as she patted Cunzhi on his shoulder. “Brother Cunzhi, we’ll rely on you. If it is a success, we will definitely have the chance to thank you in the future.”

“Prince is famous in all of Heaven Demon. He treats the tribes well, chases away our enemies, and protects the citizens living on the borders. Such a virtuous Prince like him should not be treated this way.” He bowed and said, “It is my honor to be of use to the Prince.”

Meng Fuyao glanced at him and looked into his clear and sincere eyes. Her eyes slightly darted, and she exhaled. “Go,” she said, as she gave him a small bottle.

He walked out carefully with the bottle in his hands. Zhan Beiye and Meng Fuyao were afraid of bumping into anyone using the toilet, so they hid in the corner of the ceiling that was shadowed. This place was already very close to the interior of the Palace so they did not dare to speak.

Zhan Beiye slowly wrote on the wall: What do you intend to do?

Meng Fuyao scribbled “If possible, rescue her.”

Zhan Beiye glared at her with sharp daggers in his eyes. He reached out in an attempt to grab Meng Fuyao, but she avoided his hands and pointed downwards. Zhan Beiye gave up and stared at her while writing: Don’t you think of anything weird in your brain!

Her reply was: My brain has never thought of anything normal.

Zhan Beiye flipped. Just as he was wondering whether he should subdue her and take her away, a palace maid suddenly rushed in the toilet, with her head hung low and her hands clutching her stomach.

Meng Fuyao smiled and dashed in after her.

Zhan Beiye immediately understood her plans. Feeling anxious, he wanted to chase after her, but Meng Fuyao suddenly turned back to give him a stare in mid-air. The stare was so sharp that it stunned the fearless Zhan Beiye.

In that instant, Meng Fuyao had already ducked into the female toilet. With a raise of her hand, she subjugated the palace maid who was having a stomachache.

She took off the maid’s clothes and changed her appearance according to how the maid looked like. Hearing the slight movement of wind behind her, Meng Fuyao slid away with agility.

While she changed her clothes in the small space, she nimbly avoided Zhan Beiye’s continuous strikes to stop her and said two lines.

The first line was, “She won’t be able to hang in there any longer.”

The second line, “Trust me.”

The movement of wind ceased as Zhan Beiye dumbfoundedly stopped his strikes. Meng Fuyao had already changed into her clothes, and she gave a radiant smile to Zhan Beiye, who was in a dilemma. She pointed towards the male toilet and walked out without turning back once.

Once she exited the toilet, she walked briskly into the palace while hunching her body and clutching her stomach, as though she had diarrhea.

Cunzhi, who was somewhat intentionally patrolling in front of the palace, raised his finger that was holding on to his pike and pointed towards a hidden room in the Inner Palace.

Meng Fuyao gave him a thankful look – she had asked him to, while he was patrolling in the Inner Palace, scatter the bottle of powder into the room that the palace maid lived in. He was very smart and completed her request quickly.

She stepped hurriedly into the Inner Palace. With a sweep of her eyes, she saw two eunuchs who both knew martial arts.

Seeing that she was back, one of them asked, “Orchid, you had a stomach ache? Remember to shut your windows, in case you catch a cold.”

Meng Fuyao gave a muffled reply and walked over. That eunuch looked up, and surprised, he said, “Eh? You’re not… ”

He had yet to complete his sentence when Meng Fuyao had already subdued them one by one. She dragged them behind the curtains, before walking quickly into the inner room and repeating the same routine, thrashing all the palace maids. She did not know who was a trustworthy confidante of Consort Dowager; out of safety concerns, she could only subjugate all of them.

The shadow of the bead curtain swayed while the silk curtain slightly drifted. A light, aromatic scent wafted from the bronze incense burner that had the Eight Treasure patterns. Amongst the pale-white smoke, the lady was in a deep sleep.

Meng Fuyao gently squatted in front of her bed and looked at her. Zhan Beiye had similar facial features, and both of them had an unwavering aura around them. But she was pale and thin, and her sideburns had started to gray. Though her facial features still looked beautiful, her air of magnificence as an Empress had long gone. What remained after many chaotic and blurry years, was only endless sadness.

Meng Fuyao hesitated. She had braved many risks to be here, but she could not be sure whether the mother would follow her plans and successfully meet the son. After all, she had gone berserk for so many years…

The hourglass made no noise, as the fine golden sand quietly signaled the passing of time. Meng Fuyao thought of how anxious Zhan Beiye must have been waiting for them, so she resolutely unsealed Consort Dowager’s acupuncture points.

Consort Dowager slowly opened her eyes.

She saw Meng Fuyao and blinked her eyes in confusion. But she did not immediately scream.

Meng Fuyao heaved a sigh of relief. Leaning forward on the bed, she said, “Zhan Beiye asked me to be here. Zhan. Bei. Ye.”

Her enunciation was very clear, and Consort Dowager’s eyes lit up. She spoke softly, “Little… Ye?”

“Yes, Little Ye,” Meng Fuyao answered in tears, touched by how clear the mother was at the moment. She pointed to the toilet outside the window and informed her, “Female toilet, he’s waiting for you there.”

“Waiting… for me?”

“Yes,” Meng Fuyao responded as she started to take off Consort Dowager’s clothes, who flinched in fear. Meng Fuyao gently patted her back and gently persuaded, “You can meet Little Ye after changing your clothes.”

Hearing that, Consort Dowager stopped avoiding and cooperatively raised her arms for Meng Fuyao to exchange clothes with her. After that, Meng Fuyao changed her appearance to that of a palace maid’s and brought her to the window. Meng Fuyao secretly pointed the direction again and said, “There’s the female toilet. Walk in with your head down, and you will see Little Ye inside. Don’t say a word.”

“Don’t say… will kill Little Ye,” Consort Dowager suddenly said in a clear voice.

A lump came to Meng Fuyao’s throat, and her eyes turned red. She nodded encouragingly and agreed, “Yes, don’t let him kill.”

“He cannot be killed.” Consort Dowager giggled, her expression full of joy. In that instant, she shone with the radiance and beauty of a teenage girl.

Meng Fuyao nodded and gently pushed her to the door.

She watched how Consort Dowager lowered her head and very carefully, stepped out as per instructed and how she pulled her clothes together and slowly headed towards the correct direction of the toilet. She also watched how Cunzhi intentionally blocked the vision of others while Consort Dowager was walking, step by step, into the female toilet without any interruption.

Everything went so unbelievably smooth.

Meng Fuyao quietly stood by the window and witnessed Consort Dowager’s figure fading into the darkness of the female toilet. The tension in her body slightly released and she wondered how happy Consort Dowager would be once she saw Zhan Beiye’s face in the window of the male toilet. Zhan Beiye would also be relieved to see his mother safe as sound. She thought hard of how Consort Dowager, although having gone berserk for so many years, became magically clear-minded at the mention of her son, as well as her own experience with Zhan Beiye. When she was around them, she had always witnessed these few noble values that many would not understand or possess – loyalty, faith, respect, and ties.

With tears in her eyes, she smiled and thought with fascination.

Then, Meng Fuyao retreated and laid down on the bed, wearing the clothes of Consort Dowager, waiting for her to come back, or not.

Personally, if possible, she wished that Zhan Beiye would take his mother away as she could protect herself better than his mother could. However, realistically, she knew that Zhan Beiye would not leave her behind.

She laughed, placing her hands behind her head, thinking that she had accomplished a wonderful deed.

But her smile suddenly froze.

Outside the palace, a eunuch’s sharp and powerful voice rang in her ears.

“The Emperor has arrived-”

Meng Fuyao immediately sat up with her jaw dropped, and looked towards the entrance.

‘Why would Zhan Nancheng leave and return?’

‘What went wrong?’

She was on the horns of a dilemma. ‘What to do now?’

Meng Fuyao thought hard as she zoned out for a second on the bed, before making a Meng Fuyao-style decision – she was going to murder that Zhan Nancheng.

The eunuchs and palace maids in the Outer Palace had all been hidden behind curtains, but two palace maids lay in front of her bed. Since it would be very suspicious to not have any servants around, Meng Fuyao unsealed their acupuncture points and immediately slept, back-facing them.

The two palace maids rubbed their eyes as they woke up, confused over why they had suddenly slept beside the bed. Seeing that “Consort Dowager” was sleeping soundly, they carefully retreated.

Zhan Nancheng stepped in at that moment.

He was very troubled, walking into the room with furrowed eyebrows and his hands behind his back. He just received news that Zhan Beiye’s corpse was found in the Changhan mountain range, awakening him from his sleep. After thinking for a long while, he could not help but walk over to Xihua Palace.

Meng Fuyao slept on her side and stared at the faint silhouette reflected on the pearl-white wall. She was all ready to attack him, as long as he took a step nearer.

However, Zhan Nancheng stopped at a foot’s distance.

He stared at the curvy figure on the bed in a daze. A strange emotion flashed by his eyes, as he waved his hand for the palace maids to leave.

Very soon, there were only two people left in the room, both breathing gently and not moving. At the bedside, layers of smoke drifted from the incense burner and hovered in the air, resembling a translucent and beautiful silk curtain that draped between the two people.

Meng Fuyao laid stiffly, feeling the passionate and powerful gaze behind her. His eyes were darting up and down her body, but he refused to take a step closer. Meng Fuyao was getting anxious waiting for him, yet she was scared that Zhan Beiye would dash in out of concern, and she could not help but curse in her mind.

‘If you don’t come over now for me to catch you, I will curse your son to have no genitals!’

Zhan Nancheng suddenly spoke.

His first line was a call that seemed like a sigh.

“Consort Jing… ”

Meng Fuyao was momentarily stunned before realizing that it was probably Consort Dowager’s previous title. But why would Zhan Nancheng call her Consort Jing instead of Consort Dowager Gongjing?

“I received news… I can finally put down my worries.”

‘What news?’

Zhan Nancheng sighed again, “… Only you left.”

‘Huh?’

There was a moment of silence as Zhan Nancheng suddenly took a step back. Meng Fuyao almost jumped, but she vaguely saw Zhan Nancheng dragging over a chair and sitting down on it.

‘Sh*t! You even want to engage in a long-term battle!’

Meng Fuyao felt very itchy and uncomfortable under his sweeping glance. While she wished for him to come close, she was also scared of Zhan Beiye dashing in. She was filled with apprehension, but she could not move. The anxiety was as though her entire body was filled with louse, and yet she could not grab or scratch it.

Zhan Nancheng sighed, yet again. Meng Fuyao listened and felt goosebumps crawling on her skin. ‘This is one old man who entered menopause early!’

“… I still remember how you looked like when I first met you… ” said Zhan Nancheng, as he abruptly switched the topic and started reminiscing. “I was the first to attack into the Palace of the Jin Dynasty, and I first headed to Shengyi Palace. When I opened the door, I saw you sitting in a dignified manner on the floor in plain clothes. You slowly raised your head, smiled to me, and said, ‘General, it must have been tiring for you to travel for such a long distance’.”