"Your Majesty, under no circumstances must you enter into an alliance with the Li Kingdom."
"We believe, Your Majesty, that this is undoubtedly a conspiracy by the base scoundrels of the Li Kingdom."
"Your Majesty must never forget the tragic manner in which the late Emperor met his end."
...
Yan Xiao'er did not know how long she had been unconscious in the darkness. When she opened her eyes again, she saw a group of people kneeling below.
The man in the front, wearing battle armor and sporting a thick beard, had an expression of extreme agitation.
"If a simple marriage alliance could dissolve three hundred years of hatred, then all the blood shed by the previous generation would have been in vain."
A resonant female voice rang out: "The ancestors’ final wish was merely for peace. As for how to achieve it, that is for the next generation to decide for themselves."
*Strange*, Yan Xiao'er thought, *why does it feel like this voice is right beside my ear?*
"We would rather die in battle than watch Your Majesty go astray."
"My hands are stained with the lowly blood of the Li Kingdom—how could they ever forget? This is surely a trap."
"I offer my life as a protest."
"And I, as well."
...
Who were these people? Enemies of the Li Kingdom? Were they from the small border states that occasionally harassed the Li people in the north? Had she traveled that far?
A slender, white, jade-like hand waved before Yan Xiao'er’s eyes. Upon closer inspection, it was marked with uneven scars and thick calluses.
"We shall end the discussion here for today. The court is dismissed."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Your subjects withdraw."
The men in their strange attire filed out of the ornately decorated hall.
A soft sigh echoed.
Yan Xiao'er’s perspective suddenly shifted higher. As she turned, that same hand reached out again to draw back a beaded curtain. She rounded a corner and passed through a doorway into a long corridor where two rows of women, dressed as military generals and wielding golden blades, stood at attention.
They stood perfectly straight, calling out in unison, "Greetings, Your Majesty," yet their bodies remained as still as mountains.
Turning another corner, the view suddenly opened up to a gallery overlooking distant mountains. In the center stood a mirror-stone, two people tall. Its surface was exceptionally smooth, reflecting the approximate image of the person before it.
With a phoenix crown and a vermillion collar, the woman’s face was as smooth as lard. Yet, this delicate beauty wore not soft robes, but exquisite, lightweight armor—outfitted for war from head to toe.
Yan Xiao'er’s first reaction was, "She looks so imposing," rather than, "She is so beautiful."
The heroic woman leaned closer to the mirror-stone, gazed into it for a moment, and said, "Who are you?"
Yan Xiao'er felt a tightening sensation around her head. Was she being asked?
"Speak!"
What was this? A technique for viewing things from afar?
Was this an illusion within the Blue Abyss?
She had once been controlled by an Inner Demon Soul and had warned herself never to let her mind be clouded.
"You—you won't even tell me who you are, so what right do you have to ask me?"
A soft chuckle followed.
Even when filled with disdain, the woman in the mirror possessed a heart-stopping beauty.
"You have some nerve. You have trespassed into my spirit realm, yet you do not even know who I am."
...
"The thirty-seventh generation Empress of the Wulian Clan, Wu Huang."
"Long live, long live, long may she live."
In a vast, solemn hall of mourning, Wu Huang received the mandate to take up the Imperial Seal.
The thirty-sixth Empress, Wu Yu, had been ambushed during negotiations. Falling victim to the Soul-Sucking Array of the Li Kingdom's Lingshi Clan, she had been tragically drained of her soul and spirit. Of her thousands of Golden Female Guards, only one had managed to fight to the death to reclaim the Empress's body and return it to the capital.
"Avenge her!"
"Blood for blood! The Xu Kingdom shall not be bullied!"
...
Dizzy and overwhelmed, Yan Xiao'er felt her mind buzzing; she couldn't process it all.
Was she now in the spirit realm of Wu Huang, the fallen Empress of the Xu Kingdom?
And what of the scene she had just witnessed?
That wasn't right. In her childhood classes, her teacher had recounted the history of the Li Kingdom's annexation of the Xu Kingdom, claiming that Wu Huang, the last Empress, had attempted to seduce the Great Emperor Li Xi. When the plot was exposed, she had flown into a rage and gathered the nation’s strength for a counterattack, only to be destroyed by the backlash of a forbidden art.
But why did the officials of the Xu Kingdom claim that the marriage alliance was proposed by the Li Kingdom, and that they would rather die than have the Empress accept it?
"I have answered your question. I give you only one chance. Those who lie to me—die."
Yan Xiao'er was suddenly enveloped by an immense pressure. What should she say? That she was a person from the Li Kingdom who had accidentally stumbled in? She might be crushed into dust by the Empress's spirit realm in an instant.
If she were to become a wandering ghost and be captured by Yu Changmian in a Soul-Refining Bag, she would die before ever revealing her true name.
*Oh, wait,* she thought, *I would already be dead by then.*
"Three, two..."
"I'll tell you, I'll tell you," Yan Xiao'er said, with extreme reluctance, admitting a truth she herself could hardly believe. "I am a descendant of your Wulian Clan. I might be the last of our kind."
She nearly burst into tears, her words sounding quite sincere. "Although this is one hundred years in the future, I don't know how I ended up like this."
"Oh? You seem very displeased. Is joining our Wulian Clan such a shameful thing?"
*You have no idea,* Yan Xiao'er thought. *Those three words alone are enough to condemn an innocent person to death.*
"You come from a hundred years later?"
"Has the Xu Kingdom fallen, or has the Wulian Clan simply died out?"
Yan Xiao'er dared not make a sound, thankful that Wu Huang could not read her memories.
No sooner had she felt relieved than she sensed a strange aura entering her mind, like a soft, pliable thread that could curve and wind.
"If I were to sign a contract with you, and you surrender your secrets, I could grant you one wish. Are you willing?"
Why had Wu Huang’s voice become so seductive?
*My wish... ah, I want to see my parents again, even if just for a moment.*
Just as Yan Xiao'er thought this, the world before her turned to darkness. Two figures approached from afar, their every gesture truly resembling her father and mother.
*But my parents were murdered by Empress Cheng. Even if I see them with my own eyes, could they be mere phantoms?*
As her ears were tempted by the demonic lure, Yan Xiao'er’s mind cleared slightly.
*I must not be deceived by illusions.*
Something seemed to rise within her mind, blocking that incredibly thin, probing thread.
Wu Huang displayed an expression that was not surprised, but intrigued.
"It seems you were not lying. Being able to barely block even my mental energy... you truly are of the Wulian lineage. It is a pity that I have not used my full strength. Do you truly wish to pit your meager power against mine? If I were to force my soul into your mind, I doubt you would be able to guard any secrets."
"Don't, please! If I die, it won't do you any good. Before you kill me, I'll make sure to shatter my own memories. As a descendant of the Wulian Clan, I can at least do that much."
"Are you threatening me?"
"No, no, that's not it. We’re just negotiating, aren't we? How about this: whatever you want to know, ask me first. If I think it's something I can endure, I’ll answer you. I promise not to lie."
Yan Xiao'er had nearly succumbed completely to the pressure of Wu Huang’s soul. If the woman were standing right in front of her, she would surely have knelt before her armor long ago.
It was only because they were in a state of mental communication that she dared to resist so boldly.
——————————
In the Tianjian Abyss, on one side of the creek bank at the "Thread of Sky."
The words "coward" made Yu Changmian’s shoulders tremble slightly.
Outside the rock crevice on the other side, the tracking threads entwined between those large, green fingers, which had previously been rising and falling quite steadily, suddenly snapped with a loud "bang," creating a tremendous commotion.
Yu Changmian could sit still no longer. With firm resolve, he turned and walked back into the rock crevice.
——————————
"Mian'er, remember: it is not worth putting yourself in danger for anyone."
"Master, today, your disciple is willing to risk it all."