Legend of Fu Yao

An hour later.

The cook’s willow-like eyebrows were crossed as she grabbed on the wanton skin. Frustrated, she stuck her hands to her waist.

Billows of smoke wafted in the kitchen, as though someone had set fire to it, or the burning of a murdered corpse had just happened.

Under the stove and behind the pile of firewood, there was a moment of rustling before a person with distinct facial features crawled out, and he coughed while he dusted off his expensive light purple robes. Those robes were so black the original color could no longer be seen. That person held a piece of firewood in a dignified manner, and he frowned gracefully as he investigated why he could handle his inner energy and war situations, but not control a simple fire in the kitchen?

Meng Fuyao looked up dejectedly.

‘Look at how bad his life skills are. If someone were to disguise as him and replace his position, how will he survive in the wilderness?’

But as she looked on, she felt happy – she finally found something that the Crown Prince couldn’t do. Meng Fuyao thought that he could handle anything from destroying a nation to sewing.

Looking at her expression, Zhangsun Wuji knew what she was thinking of, and he walked over to pull her away. “It’s hot by the stove, you might be overwhelmed by the steam. I’ll cook the wanton, and you can light the fire.”

Meng Fuyao gave him a look of despise. ‘Some people just have to act lovey-dovey even when they’re manipulating others,’ she thought.

Moments later.

“Zhangsun Wuji are you cooking wanton or porridge… Ah, where’s my wanton? Even the skin is gone…”

An hour later, after finishing up the rotten wantons, Meng Fuyao climbed onto her bed. As she climbed, she complained to the guinea pig. “What a painful life I have. I have to go to war soon, which is sucking away my strength, energy and good spirits, and I still have to cook, clean up and make supper at midnight. Who am I indebted to…”

The guinea pig answered, “Squeak squeak (you brought it upon yourself).”

The ill-fated one indeed lived a tough life. She had just laid down when there was a sudden and thundering nose from afar that caused the ground to vibrate. The golden hooks on the bed dangled erratically, producing clicking bell sounds, and then, there were loud bangs on a door. Meng Fuyao sat up and wore her robes, and was just in time to see an enormous fire at the western side of the city.

“The Black Dragon Army is invading the city-”

Meng Fuyao dashed to high ground and looked at the crimson color in the horizon, muttering, “He came so quickly. Does he not care about his life!?”

Almost instantly, there was a sharp shrill as an arrow shot straight towards the clouds amid the fire, with such a strong piercing force that it resembled a rocket tearing the heavens into two parts. A moment later, the gigantic arrow burst in mid-air and a banner miraculously appeared in the explosion. It showed a black dragon that swerved among the lightning bolts and layers of clouds, with sharp fangs and dramatic claws. The dark red banner was distorted as it flowed in the blast, causing the black dragon to seem as if it was ready to trample the ground with a suffocating force!

There was an uproar in the city as the people were taken aback by the powerful and impending Black Dragon army. Countless people dashed onto the streets and gazed at the sky in a daze.

Only Meng Fuyao stayed at high ground, and with her amazing eyesight, she caught sight of the banner that appeared for a moment before it disappeared into the darkness. There were a few gigantic characters written on the banner in large globs of ink.

“Here I am!”

“Here I am!” He used to shout.

This was the one-and-only Zhan Beiye’s style of communication – especially used to inform Meng Fuyao.

Meng Fuyao looked up at the sky that was dyed a crimson shade because of the fire, and at the black dragon that faded into the center of the clouds, and her eyes shone as she smiled.

From the True Martial Arts Meet to the drama on the court, it took her half a year of diligent work to slowly pave her way up. Today, she had finally captured the core of Heaven Demon’s strength – a third of its military power – and became a close confidante. The pledge that she had made when Zhan Beiye left was going to be realized!

But she had more important things to do now. How could she let the lack of the last effort spoil the mountain that she had built until now?

She walked down and changed her clothes, ready to leave. Behind her, someone called out. “I’ll accompany you.”

It was Yun Hen’s voice.

Meng Yao turned around. Against the backdrop of the distant blaze, his eyes were clear and bright. Looking at Meng Fuyao, he said, “The Crown Prince is injured, and it isn’t suitable for his identity to be exposed. Mr. Zong is not free either. Let me go with you.”

Seeing that she stayed quiet, Yun Hen added, “I received many letters from my family in Taiyuan asking me to go back. But I didn’t, because I have been waiting for this day. I’ll wait for your plan to succeed and then leave in peace.”

Meng Fuyao looked at him, and she was speechless. She thought about how each of them belonged to different nations and had their own careers, but gathered together because of the True Martial Arts Meet. Once this matter was settled, they would probably leave, such as Zong Yue, who stayed until now likely because he was worried about this last fight. Ever since he saw Xuanyuan Yun, he acted even more mysterious and kept sending messages. Sometimes, he would even go out at night, though no one knew what he was preparing. Life was full of gatherings and separations, and in the end, everyone had their own path to walk, though anyone would inevitably feel lonely while traversing.

As she did not speak, Yun Hen quietly turned his head away, and the two of them remained quiet amidst the chaos outside. Moments later, Meng Fuyao gave a long sigh. “When you leave, don’t do so secretly. You have to let me send you off.”

Yun Hen agreed and went off to change into a guard’s uniform. While Meng Fuyao waited for him, she asked Tie Cheng who had intended to follow her to go back and then called Yao Xun over to give him a few instructions.

After that, she led Yun Hen to the palace. According to Heaven Demon’s law, as there were no orders yet, generals only had the authority to command their armies, but not mobilize them. When Meng Fuyao hurriedly reached the palace to meet Zhan Nancheng, she met a eunuch who looked very worried while he dashed out of the entrance with a team behind him.

Upon seeing Meng Fuyao, the eunuch grabbed onto her sleeve as though she was his savior. “Captain Meng, please come into the palace quickly…”

Meng Fuyao stared at the flustered eunuch, and there was a gleam in her eye. On the surface, she acted as if she was even more anxious and pushed him away. “Is this the time to enter the palace? Has the Emperor not given his orders to mobilize the troops? If there’s no order, I’ll go to the city gates and fight!”

After finishing her sentence, she turned to walk away. This made the eunuch even more anxious, and he quickly grabbed onto her. In his hurry, he spoke as though he was about to cry. “Captain Meng, the Emperor, the Emperor, he…”

“Hmm?” Meng Fuyao looked back. “What’s wrong with the Emperor?”

“My noble Captain Meng, please follow me to take a look, I beg of you!” The eunuch tugged on her sleeve, and Meng Fuyao nodded. Yun Hen started to follow, but the eunuch instinctively wanted to stop him. Meng Fuyao said, “You dare to stop my trusted guard? Who are you to do that?”

The eunuch kept his hand and immediately apologized. Hurriedly, he brought Meng Fuyao into Zhan Nancheng’s room. As Meng Fuyao stared at the dark and solemn room, she frowned. “Where are the three main Ministers?”

The eunuch lowered his head and didn’t answer. Heaven Demon’s noble officials had always disliked eunuchs, as they were afraid that these people would manipulate the Emperor and disrupt court proceedings. Every time they met, the officials would look at them in disgust and find faults in them, sentencing them to death easily. Now that the Emperor was not well, he would definitely be ordered a death sentence if he informed the main Ministers, as he was the eunuch in charge of the Emperor’s residence. In his anxiety, he thought of Meng Fuyao, the young and favored Captain who was always friendly and generous when she entered the palace, and well-liked by other officials. If she was the one present, he might have a chance to live.

Meng Fuyao smiled as she understood the eunuch’s intentions. ‘Very well, luck is on my side.’

She walked briskly into the palace and crossed the candlelit outer room. Thick layers of silk curtains reached the floor, covering up every streak of light in the inner room, while the bright yellow carpet was so thick that one’s footsteps could not be heard. Meng Fuyao brushed away the maze-like curtains, which resembled nightmares that could not be swatted away.

Behind the last layer of curtains, Zhan Nancheng could be seen lying on the bed, with a very pale skin complexion, blood-red eyes, and ragged breathing. When he saw Meng Fuyao sweeping away the curtains to enter, causing a trace of candlelight to be seen, he immediately waved his hand in annoyance. “Quickly put it down, quickly put it down!”

Meng Fuyao put down her hands and surveyed the surroundings. Two tall, silent, mighty and loyal guards positioned themselves beside Zhan Nancheng’s bed. They were the slaves that were raised by the Zhan family, and they were loyal and brave but dumb. In the past, Zhan Nancheng used to find them too troublesome and foolish, so he didn’t bring them with him. Ever since he was held captive, these slaves had never left his side. If Meng Fuyao’s hunch was right, there were probably trap mechanisms on Zhan Nancheng’s bed too.

She was Zhan Nancheng’s highly-favored official, but up until now, she had never been able to stand within three steps of them. Now that Zhan Nancheng was ill, would he be more cautious or let down his guard? Meng Fuyao took a step forward to test the waters, and Zhan Nancheng instantly looked over as he panted. “Step back, step back…”

Hence, Meng Fuyao stopped moving, and she stepped back respectfully to greet him. Zhan Nancheng asked, “Outside… what’s the situation outside?”

Without a change in her expression, Meng Fuyao replied, “Zhan Beiye is attacking the city.”

Zhan Nancheng trembled and tried to sit up with all his might. “Send my decree… my decree…”

Meng Fuyao looked back and cued for the eunuch to bring the materials. The eunuch wanted to call for the official on duty for writing decrees, but Meng Fuyao stared at him with an icy expression. “Is this the time to further delay orders? Don’t I know how to write?”

Zhan Nancheng spoke in an annoyed tone. “Don’t make noise… Stop making noise… Send my orders… you and Xie Yu… will lead the Imperial Army to guard the city… let the three main Ministers come… then send someone to contact Prince Pingjing…”

Meng Fuyao wrote down in large strokes. “Your Majesty, please use your imperial stamp, and bestow the tiger tally to command the armies.”

As his hands shivered, Zhan Nancheng took over his stamp and was about to chop, but he suddenly saw the words and exclaimed, “You… why did you write this…” The fingers on the stamp were about to move away, but Meng Fuyao smiled and grabbed his hand to chop on the decree.

Zhan Nancheng trembled from head to toe. He pointed at her, and his eyes bulged out. “You, you-”

The two slaves looked over sluggishly. Meanwhile, Zhan Nancheng’s other hand discreetly crept under his pillow. Meng Fuyao looked on in smiles, and neither stepped forward nor backward, causing the slaves to stop moving as well.

Then, Meng Fuyao took out a small cup and a bottle of alcohol. Gently, in front of Zhan Nancheng, she slowly poured the contents into the cup.

There was the sound of water.

The alcohol flowed in a straight line and patterned against the cup, producing a calm and peaceful sound that had no murderous aura.