Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 456 Harsh and Ungrateful
Xue Sui's carriage had just left Yiyuan when it encountered Yao Guang galloping towards it.

He rode a jet-black steed, his brow furrowed with an unusual anxiety. Upon seeing Yiyuan's carriage, he immediately pulled on the reins and stopped.

"Seventh Senior Brother." Xue Sui pushed open the car window and leaned out half his face.

"Are you here to find me?"

Yao Guang's gaze swept across her face, and instead of answering, he asked a question.

"Little Thirteen, are you going to the Mulberry Courtyard?"

Xue Sui smiled slightly: "Senior brother guessed it. I have urgent business to discuss with my eldest senior brother..."

“Perfect timing, I’m going too.” Yao Guang nimbly dismounted, tossed the reins to his attendant, and said, “We’ll talk on the way.”

The carriage started moving again—

Yao Guang squeezed into the carriage, bringing with him a chill, but didn't say anything of particular importance.

Xue Sui sensed that something was wrong with him, as if he was hiding something he couldn't say. She didn't press him for details, but just waited quietly.

As they approached Sangliu Courtyard, Yaoguang took a deep breath.

"Master is here."

Xue Sui was taken aback: "Master?"

"Hmm." Yao Guang's expression was solemn as he stared at her and instructed, "I just arrived. My eldest brother told me to make sure you know this, so you... can be prepared. Master is furious about your marriage to Li Zhao."

Xue Sui responded softly, not surprised.

The carriage stopped at the back gate of Sangliu Courtyard.

The two got out of the car and quickly walked across the courtyard.

Today, the Sangliu Courtyard is quieter than usual.

In the dark room, an old woman dressed in a dark blue cotton robe sat upright at the head of the table, holding a smooth ebony cane in her hand.

She was slender, and her features still hinted at the beauty and elegance of her youth, though the years and hardships had etched deep marks on her face...

Especially those eyes, covered with a layer of grayish-white, clearly unable to see.

Yet, this blind old woman, sitting there quietly, exuded an aura that made people afraid to look directly at her. It was as if she were born with nobility, or perhaps it was an aura forged through suffering and long-lasting hatred.

Xue Sui paused at the doorway, subconsciously glancing at Tian Shu, who stood silently to the side.

The Heavenly Pivot point was almost imperceptible, and the person frowned.

Xue Sui straightened his clothes and stepped forward to bow respectfully.

"Disciple is well and pays respects to Master."

Master Jingshan did not immediately tell her to get up.

His greyish-white eyes seemed to see right through people's hearts. He stared in her direction for a long time before slowly speaking.

"You're going to marry into the Eastern Palace? To become Crown Princess Li Zhao?"

Xue Sui's heart tightened.

The master's lifelong wish was to clear his name and make his enemies pay the price.

She would never be happy to see herself getting too involved with the Li family's descendants.

But now that things have come to this, she can't avoid it.

"This disciple shares the same sentiments as Li Zhao..."

"Foolish!" The cane slammed heavily on the ground, making a dull thud, interrupting her.

Anger surged across Jing Shan's face, her chest heaving slightly.

"The Li family is cruel and ungrateful, the mortal enemies of the two hundred thousand heroic souls of the Old Mausoleum. You are my envoy from the Old Mausoleum, a disciple I personally trained, yet you are to marry the son of our enemy? Do you know what the Eastern Palace is? And who is Li Zhao? He is the son of Emperor Chongzhao. He has the blood of the Li family flowing in his veins!"

Xue Sui pursed her lips.

From the time she could remember, although her master was strict with her, he was introverted and calm, and rarely lost his temper like this.

"Master came all the way to the capital just to stop my marriage?"

"It's to stop you from going astray and suffering eternal damnation!" Jing Shan said sternly.

The air seemed to freeze.

Tian Shu silently lowered his eyes, his face expressionless.

Yao Guang nervously opened her mouth, wanting to say something in defense of Xue Sui, but the heavy atmosphere made her afraid to speak.

Xue Sui slowly knelt down, straightening his back and tilting his head back.

“Master, your disciple has never forgotten the blood feud. The injustice suffered by the Old Mausoleum Swamp will not be forgotten for a single day until it is redressed.”

"So you still want to marry him?"

“It is precisely because I want to avenge him that I am even more determined to marry him.”

Xue Sui's gaze was calm and unwavering. "Master, revenge must be taken, but how? To kill Li Zhao with my own hands? Or to overthrow the Li family's empire? To plunge the world into chaos once more, with war raging everywhere, and to let more innocent people become the victims of power struggles, just like those in the old marshland? That is not what I wish for, nor is it what the two hundred thousand heroes of the old marshland wished for..."

Jing Shan suddenly took a deep breath.

"You still dare to quibble?"

"Master..." Xue Sui said earnestly.

"Disciple remembers Master's words: those who undertake great tasks must distinguish between what is important and what is not, and must not lose their benevolence for personal grudges. Only when there are no more wrongful deaths in the world can justice be truly served..."

"Absurd!" Jing Shan rebuked sharply, "Has power and wealth blinded you, or have men's sweet words made you lose your mind? Li Zhao needs you now, so naturally he's showering you with praise. Once he ascends the throne, the first thing he'll do is erase all past transgressions that are detrimental to him... What will you do then?" "Master, this disciple doesn't entirely trust him..."

"Thirteen, wake up." Jing Shan gasped for breath, interrupting her with heartbreaking indignation: "You're nothing but a pawn used by Li Zhao to win over Xiz and seize imperial power. That brat Li Zhao is no more merciful than his father..."

"Master..." Xue Sui wanted to argue further.

"No need to say anything more." Jing Shan waved her hand abruptly, her tone resolute. "If you still acknowledge me as your master, then give up on that idea. I have my own plans for the blood feud in the Old Mausoleum Swamp. There's no need for you to spend your life begging for mercy from your enemies."

Just then, a hurried report came from outside the door.

Jinshu rushed in after receiving the order, her breath still ragged: "Miss..."

Upon seeing Jing Shan sitting upright inside the room, she abruptly stopped speaking.

Jing Shan said coldly, "Speak."

Jinshu stepped forward nervously, first bowing to Jingshan, then glancing at Xue Sui.

Seeing her nod slightly, he then spoke, “This servant received news that His Majesty has decreed that Xie Yanzhan’s daughter, Xie Weilan, be named Crown Princess and ordered her to move into the Yuxiu Pavilion in the palace immediately, where she will be taught the wedding ceremony by the palace matrons… When this servant returned, I saw that the palace carriages… had already gone to the Xie family to pick her up.”

So anxious?
Tian Shu suddenly looked up at Xue Sui.

Yao Guang also gasped.

Inside, the atmosphere was as tense as a fully drawn bowstring.

Jing Shan pondered for a moment, then the anger on her face turned into a cold mockery.

"Thirteen, did you hear that? This is the man you so deeply believe in, this is the path you've chosen. You're here arguing your case, even defying your teacher. Yet he can't even decide his own marriage, and in the blink of an eye, he's going to marry another girl..."

Xue Sui knelt on the spot, her eyes lowered, her emotions hidden by her long eyelashes...

Jing Shan paused again with her cane, letting out a low, cold laugh, her voice desolate and grating.

"This is the Li family, these are the men of the Li family. How long will you remain so stubborn?"

Xue Sui was quite puzzled by his master's reaction.

When she left the Old Mausoleum, she was only seeking personal revenge. Later, her senior brother spoke of the blood debts of the Old Mausoleum, repeatedly mentioning the hatred in his master's heart, saying that they wanted a just justice that could prove their innocence to the world.

But listening to this today, it seems that Master's hatred for the Li family far outweighs his obsession with the injustice of the old mausoleum...

“Master, I have not strayed from my original intention. I hope you will allow me to continue on this path.”

Xue Suichao kowtowed deeply to Jingshan, his forehead pressed against the cold ground, and remained motionless for a long time.

Tian Shu looked at her pale face and the calm she was trying so hard to maintain, and his fists clenched silently.

Jing Shan glanced at him and sighed helplessly.

"Think about it yourself."

After saying that, she raised her hand and asked Yuheng, who was standing by, to help her up.

"Come back to me when you've thought it through..."

Only Xue Sui, Tian Shu, and Yao Guang remained in the room.

Xue Sui remained kneeling, motionless, as if he had turned into a stone statue.

After a long while, Tian Shu slowly walked forward, knelt down in front of her, and said in a low, almost inaudible voice, "Peace..."

Xue Sui raised her head, her eyes meeting his, showing no sign of vulnerability.

All he saw was coldness and silence.

"Elder brother..."

"I'm here." Tian Shu felt a pang of pain in his heart and reached out to help her up.

Xue Sui, however, straightened up on his own, smoothed his clothes, and spoke in an unusually calm voice.

"Master, you must be tired from your journey. I will trouble you to take good care of me, Senior Brother. I will handle my own marriage matters carefully."

Tian Shu wanted to say something, but in the end, he could only silently step aside.

"Senior Brother..." Yao Guang leaned closer to Tian Shu and whispered urgently, "This is a golden opportunity for you to express your feelings. Thirteen needs comforting right now..."

"Shut up." Tian Shu glanced at him coldly, his tone more stern than ever before. "Go to the inner room and see. Master is in a bad mood, and Yu Heng might not be able to handle it alone."

“But senior brother, you…” Yao Guang wanted to persuade him again.

Tian Shu's gaze had turned to the direction Xue Sui had left, cold and profound.

"Whatever choice she makes, she will always be our junior sister. We'll be there for her if she needs us. We'll pave the way for her if she wants to take risks."

Yao Guang stood there, stunned, looking at her senior brother's cold profile. Suddenly, she understood something and sighed heavily.

The eldest brother hasn't changed.

He was protecting Thirteen in his own way.

Thirteen has not changed.

He is still Xue Ping'an, struggling to survive in chaotic times and never admitting defeat.

This time, however, she faced an even more dangerous enemy.

　Li Zhao: Ping An really loves me very much...

　　Reader: Stop trying to win me over, even Black Eighteen has more prestige than you... If you don't hurry, your wife will run away...

　　(End of this chapter)