Chapter 471: A Royal Decree 16

‘Exactly which part of me is not worthy of you, you little widow?

‘I’m the State Preceptor!

‘Even if I’m blind in one eye, I’m still the handsome State Preceptor!

‘Qi Qingyao, oh Qi Qingyao, how dare you be so dismissive of me.

‘And how dare you be so aloof?

‘You’re clearly nothing more than a bug on the ground.

‘You’re worse than an earthworm.

‘You were played by a man that was not willing to take responsibility. Now you don’t even know who the biological father of your children is. I, the State Preceptor, am willing to act as your children’s father, yet you’re still unwilling.

‘You really can’t tell what’s good for yourself…’

Li Ruoxuan felt very angry, absolutely irate—but when he looked at the fried sugar cake in his hand, all his fury turned into an inexplicable feeling.

‘Why did you so kindly give me fried sugar cake when we first met…

‘At the time, I was merely a stranger to you.’

Qi. Qing. Yao!

Fury, anger, and longing. All of these emotions coursed through his chest.

In a fit of anger, crumpled up the oil paper holding the sugar cake in his hand, causing all the syrup from the sugar cake to ooze out and make his hand sticky.

He felt something between his brows and heard a ‘pop’.

It was as if something had broken through the clouds and mist…

Li Ruoxuan’s mind was suddenly clear.

“Your Excellency, the rain is getting heavier! You should get in the carriage!” Zhu Shen could not help but urge worriedly.

Li Ruoxuan got up and waved at Zhu Shen, signaling for him to stand aside.

He stood alone in the heavy rain.

Just like a bamboo shoot.

“Your Excellency…” Zhu Shen urged again.

Li Ruoxuan looked at the mist on the surface of the lake for a while, then suddenly turned his head to look at Zhu Shen. He said with clear eyes, “Zhu Shen, I broke through.”

“Huh?” Zhu Shen, dumbfounded, looked at the man in the heavy rain.

Li Ruoxuan, “I broke through!”

He repeated these three words once more.

…

…

Meanwhile,

Whether it was the one at Yunwu Mountain, the one at Junlin City, the one near the sacred tombs at Yinzhou City, the one in Guling Pagoda, or Shang Li who had only just left Qingzhou City…

Every one of them was shocked.

A rank-nine had broken through the limit!

Someone on the mainland had reached the realm of a grand master!

Who was it?!

Who the hell was it?!

Everyone was now on guard for any eventualities.

After a moment of silence, he quickly began to write a letter to the empress.

The empress had to be notified about this matter as soon as possible to formulate a new plan for the future.

…

Si Jin had long turned into a small koi fish and was now swimming happily in a spirit fountain somewhere in the upper reaches of Jiuli River. It was just then that those beautiful golden eyes suddenly snapped.

‘Someone broke through rank-nine?

‘How interesting.

‘There have always been many talents on this mainland.’

The old man sitting by the riverbank also sensed it. Several images flashed before his eyes simultaneously. It was a premonition… everything in the images was about the Harbinger.

The grandpa closed his eyes. After digesting those few images, he turned around so his back faced Si Jin. He counted with his fingers, then relaxed his brows.

It was normal for the Harbinger to be surrounded by turmoil.

Her life would not be in danger.

Hence, there was no need to tell Si Jin that it was the State Preceptor who had broken through the boundary.

This was that man’s destiny.

…

When Li Ruoxuan boarded the carriage, Zhu Shen followed his every step. He was still mildly dumbfounded.

“Your—Your Excellency, what did you mean when you said… you ‘broke through’?” He asked as he could not believe it.

Li Ruoxuan pursed his lips and smiled.

He sat on the carriage and started meditating, ignoring Zhu Shen’s question.

Some time passed.

The carriage arrived at the residence.

Li Ruoxuan opened his eyes, held his hands together behind his back, and got off the carriage with a very leisurely expression.

Zhu Shen followed behind him. They entered the hall.

He quickly asked someone to retrieve a change of clothes for His Excellency, then prepared a cup of ginseng tea.

Once Li Ruoxuan changed out of his clothes, the flame in his eyes grew brighter.

Zhu Shen stood before Li Ruoxuan.

“Your Excellency…you…” He did not understand, His Excellency had only said that he had broken through, then proceeded to shift to a decadent attitude. It was as if he had walked out from the light, looking on top of the world.

Li Ruoxuan glanced at the rain outside and the corner of his lips lifted into a very ambiguous smile.

“When I said I broke through, I mean I broke through.”

“…” Zhu Shen still looked confused.

“Zhu Shen.”

“Yes, Your Excellency?”

“From today onward, the State Preceptor right in front of you is a brand-new person.”

“…???” Zhu Shen was still confused, but he did not dare to ask questions.

“There’s now one more grand master on this mainland.” Li Ruoxuan smiled very calmly.

“???” Zhu Shen’s eyes suddenly widened. He instantly analyzed Li Ruoxuan from head to toe, but he could not believe what his Excellency had just said.

This was because those words had two possible meanings. The first being that it was about Si Jin. The other, that he was talking about the breakthrough of his Excellency himself…

‘Ah.

Don’t tell me.’

Zhu Shen knelt on the ground gingerly, cupped one fist in the other hand as a means of paying respect then spoke

“Congratulations, Your Excellency!!”

“Thank you.”

Li Ruoxuan said those two words in a very bright tone.

Only then did Zhu Shen believe that his Excellency had really been ascended to the rank of grand master.

He was shocked as he looked at the man before him in disbelief.

“It’s just that, since I’ve only just ascended to the level of grand mastership, I’m still a fledgling. I’m afraid I’ll end up like Pang Juan if I go against the other grand masters now, so keep this matter a secret for the time being. Keep it to yourself,” Li Ruoxuan ordered.

Zhu Shen said yes repeatedly.

Although Li Ruoxuan said that he had just ascended to grand mastership, he was already starting to ponder how he would deal with Si Jin and the good-for-nothing Qi Qingyao!

Now was a good time because Si Jin was not around.

It was expected that he did not get an answer when he killed Qi Qingzhu last time. So, how many chess pieces could there be left?

Li Ruoxuan stroked his chin and came up with a new idea.

…

…

A few days later.

As soon as Qi Qingyao got up in the morning, Steward Zhang hurriedly said that a visitor had come to see her.

Qi Qingyao’s heart skipped a beat when she heard this.

She asked who it was.

Steward Zhang hurriedly explained.

“It’s not the State Preceptor.”

Qi Qingyao breathed a sigh of relief.

Steward Zhang continued, “He said he came from the capital, that he was sent from the imperial palace… There’s a royal decree that Missus must receive in person.”

Qi Qingyao, “…”

Someone from the imperial palace?

A royal decree!

Her heart sank to her stomach.

She had previously guessed that Si Jin’s existence would garner the attention of a big shot from Qingzhou City. However, she did not think that the royal decree would come so fast.

Qi Qingyao quickly changed into some decent clothes.

Steward Zhang had led the gentleman into the side hall.

Upon seeing that the person was a neatly dressed official, Qi Qingyao promptly knelt down.

“This common woman, Qi Qingyao, accepts the decree.”

The official immediately opened the royal decree and began reading it aloud.

“Her Majesty’s edict: ‘I have heard of Qi Qingyao’s deeds, such as being an architectural master and medical genius. I am very relieved. Northern Liang is fortunate to have such talents. Therefore, I especially summon Qi Qingyao to the Capital City to see me.’ End of the decree.”

Qi Qingyao, “…”

‘How come I was summoned instead of Si Jin?

‘What’s the use of summoning me?

‘What could this empress be thinking?

‘Is the focus on me?’

Qi Qingyao was so dumbfounded she forgot to accept the decree.

The official responsible for delivering the decree spoke.

“Qi Qingyao, express your gratitude and accept the decree.”

Qi Qingyao quickly abided by him and expressed her gratitude. Upon accepting the decree, she retrieved a piece of paper money from her arms and handed it to the official who had delivered the decree, in accordance with common etiquette.

‘Many thanks to my lord for coming all this way to help deliver the decree to this civilian girl. Please accept this civilian girl’s token of gratitude.”

The official on duty had been an official for many years, so he knew how to respond.

He knew whom this mansion belonged to.

So, he accepted Qi Qingyao’s token of gratitude.

“My Lord, I’m sure you must be weary from your lengthy traveling. Why don’t you rest in my house for a day or two?” Qi Qingyao quickly said.

That official said, “There’s no need to rest. Thank you, Lady Qi, for your kindness.”

“…” Qi Qingyao nodded with a smile. Pretending to be nonchalant, she asked, “My Lord, since you came from the palace, this civilian girl is a little curious. What’s the purpose… of the empress summoning me?” Should it not be Si Jin who should be summoned?

The official glanced at the young and beautiful girl. He did not know the empress’ intentions, so he could only shake his head and say, “This official does not dare to speculate on the empress’ thoughts.”

Qi Qingyao nodded and bowed, then sent the official who delivered the decree out of the gate with Steward Zhang.

They happened to run into Lu Yan who had just returned from a trip outside.

The official approached him excitedly and took the initiative to greet Lu Yan.

Lu Yan nodded unenthusiastically.

They exchanged pleasantries.

Then, the official took his leave.

Lu Yan asked what the matter was as soon as he walked through the door.

Qi Qingyao showed Lu Yan the royal decree. Lu Yan frowned and said,

“This empress is still as cunning as always.”

“What do you mean?”

“She wants to summon Si Jin, but didn’t dare to.”

“She didn’t dare to because Si Jin’s skills are above that of a grand master’s?” Qi Qingyao said as she suddenly realized.

“That’s why she chose a different approach by summoning you…” She just likely did not expect Si Jin to have already left.

The corner of Lu Yan’s lips curled up into a helpless smile.

If the empress had not seen Si Jin at the Capital City, she would still have Qi Qingyao as her trump card. If Si Jin still did not show up, Qi Qingyao would be used as bait in the hands of the empress!

Waiting to catch the big fish named Si Jin..

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep