Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Xie Qingfeng thought the cub hadn't heard clearly and was about to change the subject when the latter grabbed his sleeve.

Looking down, Xie Qingfeng was startled to see the exposed wrist, thin and bony with bruises. He grasped it and pushed up the oversized clothes the cub was wearing, revealing a mix of new and old injuries.

Having followed his master for two years, Xie Qingfeng had learned to be calm, but now his chest heaved with anger: "Who hit you? The head eunuch of the cold palace?"

How could someone bear to harm such a small child?

The cub lowered his eyes again, quickly withdrawing his hand and covering his injuries, not answering Xie Qingfeng's question but not denying it either.

Xie Qingfeng suppressed his anger for the moment: "I'll apply the medicine first, and then we'll go find the person who hit you. I'll stand up for you. Don't worry, I'll take care of it. If not, I have my senior brothers, and my master is the national master, very powerful. I've only been learning for two years and haven't mastered it yet. I even misread your fate just now, I'll have to study harder..."

At this time, Xie Qingfeng hadn't yet grown into his more reserved future self and, seeing a child of similar age, couldn't help but talk more.

He had just returned to the palace, and his senior brothers were much older than him, making conversation difficult.

His junior nephews were about his age, but as their elder, he had to act like one.

The cub didn't shy away this time, allowing Xie Qingfeng to apply the medicine, listening to his somewhat aimless talk, which seemed more like an attempt to distract him from the pain of the wounds.

He wanted to say he didn't care but couldn't help but sneak glances at Xie Qingfeng, who was seriously applying the medicine with a stern little face. His dark, clear pupils were gentle in their movements, making the cub's eyes feel warm.

Only after finishing did Xie Qingfeng breathe a sigh of relief, meeting the bright, shiny eyes of the cub crouched there, looking like a little wolf cub but incredibly endearing.

"You... aren't afraid?" Xie Qingfeng could only guess what the cub was saying.

Crouching in front of him, Xie Qingfeng gestured at their height difference: "Afraid of you?"

The cub shook his head, speaking words even harder to understand: "I have the fate of a 'heaven's scourge, doomed to bring misfortune to parents.' Anyone close to me will suffer bad luck."

Xie Qingfeng: "What? Although I misread your fate as something else, it definitely isn't the fate of a 'heaven's scourge.' Who told you that?"

The cub frowned deeply: "They said so."

Not knowing who 'they' were, Xie Qingfeng patted his chest in assurance: "Don't worry, you definitely aren't that."

Later, Xie Qingfeng took the cub back to the cold palace, revealed his identity, and found the head eunuch who had been bullying the cub. After intimidating him, he secretly attached a bad luck talisman before leaving.

This was his first time doing something bad, but the head eunuch was so wicked. He couldn't bring trouble to his master openly, but he couldn't tolerate it in secret.

Having just arrived at the palace, Xie Qingfeng knew that people in the cold palace couldn't leave at will. He wanted to take the cub with him but couldn't, planning to discuss with his master about possibly moving the cub to be a page boy near him.

Before leaving, he gave the cub a protective amulet from his master, telling him to seek help at the national master's temple if needed.

Upon returning, Xie Qingfeng intended to ask his master about the fate of an emperor, but his master hadn't returned to the palace that evening, so he had to wait.

That night, he felt something was wrong with the protective amulet he had given away. Fearing for the cub's safety, he sneaked out of the national master's temple to the cold palace at midnight.

He arrived just in time to find someone attempting to kill the cub under cover of darkness.

Outnumbered, Xie Qingfeng rushed forward and set off a life-saving signal flare given by his master.

That night, the good news was that he and the cub were rescued by the imperial guards just in time.

The bad news was that the midnight flare went off with a bang in the palace, startling the Emperor and the entire palace.

His first major act upon entering the palace was to become famous overnight with his own efforts.

The second major event was bringing the cub to an audience with the Emperor, inadvertently exposing the Empress Consort's act of changing the fate of her son four years ago.

Four years earlier, the Empress Consort and a palace maid were pregnant at the same time. With the national master away, a Taoist outside the palace divined for the Empress Consort, predicting that her soon-to-be-born prince would be a heaven's scourge, doomed to bring misfortune to his parents, while the palace maid would give birth to an heir with the fate of an emperor.

The Empress Consort refused to allow this possibility. On the night they both gave birth, the palace maid had a difficult delivery and bore a son, who ended up with the fate of a heaven's scourge.

The child born to the Imperial Consort was destined to be an emperor.

The fates of the two children were switched at birth, but changing one child’s destiny was easy. The other, being an imperial destiny, was too strong to be altered. He was to be abandoned in the Cold Palace before the National Master’s return, left to his own fate.

Thus, in addition to being labeled as one who would bring misfortune to his parents, it was also said he would bring harm to his siblings. This caused unrest among the consorts with children.

Fortunately, the child was born to a palace maid. The Emperor, annoyed by the constant reports and fearing for his own fate, confined the child to the Cold Palace under the care of a few palace servants, forbidding him from leaving.

Over time, with the Emperor’s indifference, the child inevitably suffered neglect and bullying.

Fearing the National Master might discover the truth upon his return, the Imperial Consort had a Taoist priest use the child’s blood to create talismans each month for her own son to wear, creating a perfect illusion of the imperial destiny.

After the National Master returned to the palace, he rarely saw the Imperial Consort’s son, and believing him to be of imperial destiny, he detected nothing amiss.

Moreover, after leaving the palace to travel and cultivate for two years, the National Master inadvertently gave the Imperial Consort an opportunity.

Tonight was supposed to be an ideal chance – perfect timing, location, and people. The child’s death would have ensured a complete change of fate, but Xie Qingfeng unintentionally thwarted the plan.

Xie Qingfeng single-handedly exposed the Imperial Consort's schemes, and the National Master, protective of his disciple, demanded severe punishment upon learning the whole truth.

Although the Emperor favored the Imperial Consort, he valued his throne and the Jing family’s empire more.

The Imperial Consort's attempt to extend her influence into imperial succession and state affairs was a grave transgression. Coupled with the National Master's unprecedented fury, the Emperor, to set an example for the court, banished her to the Cold Palace and demoted her son to a mere prince, sending him to a distant fief.

When Xie Qingfeng awoke again, it was Hao Jixin nudging him awake. Rubbing his forehead, he felt groggy from the deep sleep.

It was strange how clearly he remembered events from so many years ago, perhaps due to revisiting them in his dream.

However, thinking back to that situation, Xie Qingfeng knew he would do the same again, even though he was "punished" by his master afterwards, confined to closed-door cultivation for three months to focus on his training.

By the time he emerged, the cub had become a legitimate prince.

He watched from a distance a few times and seeing that the boy was doing well, he felt reassured. Later, his master, fearing retaliation from the Empress Consort’s faction, restricted him from leaving the national master’s temple much.

Years passed, and when he saw the cub again, he was nothing like the obedient, endearing child he once was.

Xie Qingfeng himself had become more composed and disciplined.

The two gradually grew apart, and their interactions became distant, except for the time when his third senior brother casually mentioned that the cub, now the Crown Prince, used to come to find him every day while he was in confinement, waiting from dawn till dusk, silent and steadfast, and then one day just stopped coming.

By then, Xie Qingfeng was already deeply immersed in cultivation and had become more detached, so he just listened without much reaction.

Moreover, he thought that the brief connection they had as children was probably long forgotten by the other party.

Upon arriving in B city, Xie Qingfeng and Hao Jixin first found a hotel to stay, waiting for the Zhang family to send a car the next morning to take them to the old house.

Then they would meet Old Master Zhang along with a few other experts.

Seeing that Xie Qingfeng had not slept well on the plane, Hao Jixin hurriedly urged him to rest and conserve energy for a grand performance the next day.

Xie Qingfeng, feeling obliged, returned to his room, washed up, and instead of sleeping, began to meditate.

Whether it was an illusion or not, he felt the efficiency of his meditation that night was exceptionally high, even sensing an increase in the surrounding spiritual energy.

Xie Qingfeng didn’t give it much thought, assuming it was due to the hotel's proximity to the mountains, which might have stronger spiritual energy.

Meanwhile, in the Imperial Study of the Great Jing Dynasty.

The Emperor finished writing and looked towards the head eunuch holding the imperial seal, extending his hand.

The head eunuch was trembling all over, his eyes red and teary, trying hard to hold back his sadness. He didn't want to hand it over, knowing that once the abdication edict was stamped, there would be no turning back.

Moreover, the Emperor was planning to...

The Emperor, without looking at him, took the seal and stamped the document.

From that moment, he was no longer the Emperor of the Great Jing Dynasty, but a leisurely royal prince.

The head eunuch, pale-faced, eventually looked at the edict placed on the tray he held, then suddenly knelt down and bowed deeply: "This old servant... bids farewell to the Emperor!"

This was probably the last time he would call him Emperor.

Ever since the national master sacrificed himself for the country four years ago, the Emperor had been off balance. When Daozhang and the others returned to the palace, the situation didn't improve but worsened, even affecting the Empress Dowager.

With time, he came to know about the agreement between the Empress Dowager and the Emperor.

Even though the head eunuch knew the Emperor was affected by the national master's death, he never imagined the Emperor would risk his life for the national master.

What's more, the current national master, formerly Daozhang, not only didn’t stop him but even joined the other Daozhangs in searching for the national master’s whereabouts.

The head eunuch found it unbelievable. The man was dead; how could they possibly find him?

He even thought that after five or ten years, maybe they still wouldn't find him, and the Emperor's thoughts would fade.

But who would have thought that with two months left to the four-year mark, Daozhang and the others actually found a clue.

Daozhang, who had been the national master for four years, was going to resign from his position after the Emperor’s abdication. Whether successful or not in their quest, Daozhang planned to leave the palace and pursue cultivation.

This was also because the Emperor feared that if anything happened to him, it would implicate the Daozhangs. Hence, he chose to become a wandering prince, his whereabouts and fate uncertain.

The Emperor glanced at him: "Rise, I have already arranged a future for you. You may leave the palace in the days to come."

The head eunuch remained kneeling, his forehead pressed to the ground, long after the sound of footsteps had faded away, without getting up.

When the Emperor arrived at the treasury, the aunt from the Empress Dowager's side hesitated before finally kneeling down: "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager said if you change your mind... it’s still not too late."

Even though the new Emperor ordained for abdication was chosen by the Empress Dowager, it was undeniable that none compared to the current Emperor.

The Emperor ignored her and walked straight to the palace door. As he stepped in, numerous black-clad guards appeared, securing the area around the treasury tightly.

As the palace doors closed, the Emperor turned to face the formation in the center and Daozhang and the others.