ah?The palace fighting system can also cultivate immortality

Chapter 250

Consort Ji was somewhat uneasy when she received the message from her brother.

Today was the day the Imperial Preceptor had promised to let her maid retrieve medicine from the headquarters of the Samsara Academy. Ever since the Imperial Preceptor examined her pulse and prescribed a box of divine pills, Consort Ji had felt her health had greatly improved after taking them.

The symptoms of weakness, splitting headache, and even palpitations disappeared, but she found herself somewhat addicted to the elixir. Every day she thought about the box of elixirs that she hadn't finished, and she longed to take another one at the appointed time.

Presumably, all highly effective elixirs possess the power to captivate and haunt the body, so Consort Ji did not suspect anything. After all, she was a favored concubine and quite familiar with Emperor Xuan's daily life, so she knew that Emperor Xuan also took the divine elixirs produced by the Reincarnation Academy every day.

She had also handled divine pills while serving Emperor Xuan his medicine. Consort Ji was certain that the divine pills Emperor Xuan took had a similar fragrance to the ones she took. She had never smelled this fragrance on any other pills, not even on top-grade pills.

Thus, from the moment the maidservants who were sent to fetch the medicine left the palace, Consort Ji began to eagerly await their return with the medicine.

However, her brother, the head of the Ji family, had sent a message a few days earlier instructing her maid to come to the Ji family before fetching the medicine, as he had some things he wanted to entrust to the maid to deliver to her in the palace.

After entering the palace, Consort Ji became accustomed to receiving gifts from her brother in this way. From childhood, her brother had doted on her, and even made a big scene at home over her entering the palace, but in the end, he could not win against the then head of the Ji family.

At that time, Consort Ji knew that her fate was not in her own hands. She could only try to survive in the cracks, to protect her own life and the wealth and honor of her family.

She felt she had done a good job all these years. She served Emperor Xuan carefully, and Emperor Xuan also doted on her, this beautiful and gentle water-spirit root.

With her presence, the Ji family's influence in the Xuan Dynasty continued to expand, and to this day, they seem poised to dominate the aristocratic families.

This was all the result of her and her brother's hard work, Consort Ji thought.

So where does this unease come from?
Is it because the maid has not returned in time?

Or was it because her brother's message vaguely told her to take care of herself and be careful?
Consort Ji fidgeted with the letter with some irritation. She looked up, wanting to ask where the maid who had gone to fetch the medicine was, but she swallowed the words back down.

No, she couldn't so obviously reveal her negative emotions. In the harem, she needed to restrain all her feelings within a reasonable range and never let others see her true thoughts.

Consort Ji put down the letter and decided to go for a walk in the courtyard to bask in the sun.

Just then, the maid who had gone to fetch the medicine returned.

Consort Ji instinctively wanted to step forward, but when she saw the unfamiliar look in the maid's eyes, she froze.

"This servant has brought the medicine back."

One of the maids spoke softly in a tone familiar to Consort Ji, and handed her a brocade box: "The elixir is precious, Your Highness, please be careful."

Consort Ji held the brocade box in her arms. As soon as she opened it a crack, a torrent of steam rushed out from the gap, startling her so much that she immediately slammed the box shut.

"You, you guys..."

The maids remained silent and motionless, simply standing there staring intently at her.

Consort Ji composed herself and dismissed the rest of the people in the hall: "Does the Imperial Preceptor have some secrets about taking medicine that he wants to tell me privately? You may all leave, and let me listen alone."

One of the maids stepped forward, and once only the three of them remained in the hall, the hall doors slammed shut, and the expressions of the two maids changed.

Du Xinghe and Ji Wuhuo arrived in front of Consort Ji, their expressions solemn.

Even if Consort Ji were slow-witted, she should have realized that something had happened, let alone someone as shrewd and perceptive as her, a survivor in the harem.

She handed the brocade box containing the Cangming Bell back to Ji Wuhuo, calmed her wildly beating heart, and asked in a low voice, "What happened? Is my brother alright?"

"Father is alright. Aunt, please listen to me."

Ji Wuhuo helped Consort Ji sit down again and carefully recounted everything they had seen at the Samsara Academy.

Upon learning that she was carrying a stillborn fetus destined to become medicinal material, Consort Ji's hands gripping the armrests of her chair bulged with veins. Her face was deathly pale, and she opened her mouth to vomit, but nothing came out.

"I—I'm pregnant—"

She reached out to touch her belly, but was too afraid to do so.

Ji Wu Huo felt a pang of pity and tried to comfort her, saying, "Xing He has already pressured the Reincarnation Academy to refine a non-harmful abortion pill for you, Aunt. Please don't get angry, Aunt. The most important thing now is to take care of your health—"

"It was him, it was His Majesty who wanted to do this, wasn't it?"

Consort Ji raised her head, her beautiful eyes already bloodshot: "He treated me like a furnace, a tool that could be used and discarded at will, like livestock to give birth to medicinal herbs for him. He confined me to this palace for the rest of my life, and will continue to give birth endlessly! In his eyes, I, and the entire Ji family, are nothing more than a bundle of firewood!"

Ji Wu Huo was stunned by his aunt, who had always been gentle and kind in his childhood memories. Consort Ji gripped his collar tightly and asked through gritted teeth, "What about my brother? Does he know?" "Father... Father already knows. He gave the Cangming Bell to Xinghe and told us to rescue you..."

Consort Ji gave a bitter laugh, raised her hand to wipe the corner of her eye, and quickly straightened her back and turned to Du Xinghe.

“Fairy Xinghe, you have gone to great lengths to plan for me and even risked your life to enter the Samsara Academy. The Ji family and I will certainly repay your life-saving grace.”

Du Xinghe nodded calmly, acknowledging the credit: "The Xuan Emperor has taken too many lives. You are right in front of me, so I will save you if I can."

Consort Ji slowly exhaled, her eyes glazed as she stared at the air before her. After a moment, as if she had made up her mind, she raised her head again.

"Star River Fairy, I only have one question for you."

Du Xinghe said, "Feel free to ask."

Consort Ji stared at her expression and asked, word by word, "Do you want to kill him?"

Ji Wu Huo pursed her lips, while Du Xing He, ignoring the reactions of the others, gave her answer very frankly: "I want to, and I'm about to do it."

"Alright, I'll lend you a hand."

Without hesitation, Consort Ji walked to the small table, ground the ink, picked up her brush, and wrote a few lines on a piece of fragrant floral paper. Then, she used her spiritual power to fold the paper and send it flying out through the crack in the door.

“I sent him a message that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, he will come to my palace tonight.”

Ji Wu Huo's expression changed: "Aunt! If something happens to him in your palace, then you too—"

Consort Ji, supporting her already protruding belly, sneered: "Do you think my life is safe now? I've long been meat on his chopping block. What difference does it make whether he cuts me a day earlier or a day later?"

"Rather than being penned up like a pig or sheep and slaughtered after giving birth, I'd rather take a knife and chop him down first!"

Du Xinghe smiled upon hearing this and clapped his hands with great appreciation: "Your words are very pleasing. Once this matter is settled, I would like to become good friends with you."

Consort Ji smiled brightly, not minding at all, and said, "It's not too late now. My maiden name is Suhua. When I was a child, my brother and I practiced swordsmanship together. Actually, my swordsmanship is better than his."

Du Xinghe suddenly realized: "So that's how it is. So Wu Huo likes sword cultivation because...he has a family tradition of it?"

Ji Wu Huo never expected the topic to veer back to him. A blush crept onto his fair face as he anxiously tried to explain, "It has nothing to do with my aunt! I like sword cultivators because—"

“It has nothing to do with me.” Ji Suhua smiled even more brightly. “It’s just that people like us have a vague sense of being deprived of freedom from birth, and the older we get, the more we realize this and the more resigned we become.”

"But there is a story circulating in our family that every child has heard when they were little. It was originally just used to scare children and make them go to sleep. The story says that there is a daring swordsman in this world. One day, this swordsman will descend from the sky, kill all those who stand in his way, kidnap the young master and young lady in the many courtyards, and fly away to a great distance, so that the young master and young lady can never return to the gentle land of Xuandu."

Ji Wu Huo's eyes sparkled as she looked back at Du Xing He. Ji Su Hua took a gold hairpin from her hair and carefully placed it in Du Xing He's hand.

"Wu Huo met the swordsman who took him away, and I was really happy for him. But I didn't expect that this swordsman would say that she also wanted to take me away."

Du Xinghe grasped the golden hairpin, and Ji Suhua leaned close to her ear and whispered:

"More than a decade ago, he started wearing a sachet at his waist, inside which was a jade pendant. He always carried it close to his body and wouldn't allow anyone to touch it. Once, I secretly touched it and saw something extremely horrifying..."

Du Xinghe almost immediately thought of the jade pendant that had been lost from the dragon vein.

“What did you see?” she asked.

Ji Suhua sneered and said:
"I saw countless souls staring at him with open eyes, but they dared not approach because of the barrier surrounding him. Only a little girl with bloody tears emerged from the jade pendant, broke through the barrier, and was gnawing on his heart!"

“From that day on, I became especially wary of that jade pendant, and I dared not touch the sachet even a little bit when serving him. About five years ago, when I was tidying his clothes while he was bathing, I accidentally touched the jade pendant again…”

Five years ago, Du Xinghe had already regained his memories and began to wreak havoc in the cultivation world.

Ji Suhua said, "The number of souls watching him has decreased rather than increased, and they have all formed a barrier. But the little girl with blood and tears in the jade pendant is gone, and I don't know where she went. If you have the chance, you can steal that jade pendant. I think his weakness must be related to this jade pendant."

Du Xinghe laughed easily.

“It’s alright, no need,” she said. “I know where the little girl inside that jade pendant went.”

Ji Suhua was taken aback: "You know? Then, then she..."

Du Xinghe pointed to himself: "Right here."