In the small courtyard, a little girl who looked no more than three years old ran back and forth in a red little dress. Her tiny feet bounced as she chased butterflies without end, the hem of her skirt lifting lightly with each hop. She looked unbelievably happy.

Not far away, Yu Yunwei watched it all with a smile, a gentleness in her eyes that had not appeared in a very long time. Ning Wei stood to the side, staring at Sister Yunwei like that, and before she knew it, she was dazed. Sister Yunwei was only smiling faintly, but in Ning Wei’s heart, she could not remember how many years it had been since she last saw her this happy.

After a long while, Yu Yunwei finally withdrew her gaze from Blood Specter and said slowly, “Ning Wei, what do you plan to do? Are you going to the Central Lands, to Zhou, to take a look? Or do you want to go to the Ten-Thousand-Li Great Wall to temper yourself? The fighting there has been tight lately. It would be good for you to kill some demon-race as well.”

Hearing that, Ning Wei’s small hand clenched instinctively. She looked at Yu Yunwei with bright expectation. “Sister Yunwei... is Senior Brother’s reincarnation really in Zhou?”

“It should be,” Yu Yunwei said, nodding. “That Sili is lazy to death, and she never moves without profit. If Senior Brother’s reincarnation weren’t in the Zhou imperial palace, she would have left long ago. She wouldn’t have stayed there this long.”

As her words fell, Yu Yunwei glanced at Ning Wei and let out a soft sigh. “The Western Region hasn’t been peaceful lately. And for some reason, the actions of quite a few sects recently seem aimed at our Myriad Dao Sect. As the sect master, I can’t leave right now. I have to guard this foundation for Senior Brother. Otherwise, I would have gone to the Central Lands already.”

“So, Ning Wei, I’m leaving this to you. That Sili cannot be relied on. If you discover any trace of Senior Brother, send word back to the Western Region immediately.”

“When the time comes, our Myriad Dao Sect will bring Senior Brother back. Then our peak can finally be together again.”

“Mmm!” Ning Wei nodded hard, her expression solemn. “Sister Yunwei, don’t worry. If I meet Xiao Mo’s reincarnation, I’ll tell you the moment I can!”

“Good. Since you’ve decided, we shouldn’t delay. Leave now,” Yu Yunwei said. “Remember—once you’re in the Central Lands, do not stir up trouble. But if something happens, you don’t need to be overly afraid either. Behind you stands the Myriad Dao Sect. We are not made of mud. Understood?”

“Understood, Sister Yunwei.” Ning Wei answered firmly.

Yu Yunwei gave Ning Wei a few final instructions and handed her several spell arts for protection. Ning Wei then took her leave and walked out of the Myriad Dao Sect.

When she reached the foot of the sect’s mountain, Ning Wei turned around and looked back once. Then, nervous and jittery, she squeezed her fists and forced herself to breathe.

“Ning Wei! Go and finish the task Sister Yunwei gave you! You have to find Xiao Mo! Believe in yourself! You can do it!”

After a deep breath, Ning Wei—who had never traveled far from home—headed toward the Central Lands.

......

At the same time, in Zhou, at the residence of the Minister of Rites.

An extraordinarily noble carriage came to a stop in front of the gates. When the curtain lifted and a maid helped her lady down, the women waiting at the entrance all bent and saluted together, calling out in chorus, “This servant welcomes Consort Xue back to the residence.”

“There’s no need for so much ceremony. All of you, rise,” Bai Ruxue said gently. Her gaze turned to Yan’er, her mother’s close attendant. “Yan’er, are my mother and father in the residence?”

“Replying to Consort Xue: Madam is currently receiving that gentleman from the Confucian Academy in the reception hall,” Yan’er answered respectfully. “As for Master, he still has official matters to handle and has not yet returned.”

“I understand.” Bai Ruxue nodded and walked into the courtyard.

When she reached the reception hall, she saw her mother seated in the main chair, speaking warmly with that Confucian Academy gentleman.

“Mother.” Bai Ruxue stepped inside and offered a proper salute.

“Ruxue, you’re back.” Madam Yan rose at once and hurried to her daughter, taking her slender hand and examining her carefully. “Good. You haven’t gotten thin, and your complexion looks fine. Have you been used to life in the palace?”

“Replying to Mother: Her Highness the Empress Dowager and His Majesty have both treated me very well. I’m used to it,” Bai Ruxue answered with a smile. Her eyes flicked toward the guest. “Mother called me back today—this is...”

“Oh—right.” Madam Yan looked as if she had nearly forgotten the main matter. “Come. Let me introduce you.”

She drew Bai Ruxue forward. “This is Jinche, the personal disciple of Kong Sheng, head of the Confucian Academy. The academy has heard that you are exceptionally talented, so he came specifically to see you today. Young Master Jinche says the Confucian Academy hopes you can go there to study for a period of time.”

Jinche bowed with great respect. “Jinche of the Confucian Academy pays respects to Consort Xue.”

Bai Ruxue returned the greeting with a calm nod. “Young Master Jinche.”

“All right, you two talk,” Madam Yan said, looking at her daughter. “As for whether you go to the Confucian Academy or not, you can decide yourself. If you wish to go, I will speak to the Empress Dowager.”

Madam Yan knew her daughter loved books and was the sort who would naturally admire the Confucian Academy. If Bai Ruxue truly wanted to study there for a time, Madam Yan would help persuade the Empress Dowager. After all, this was the Confucian Academy—how ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) could an ordinary person ever get such a chance?

“There’s no need to rush, Mother. I may not go,” Bai Ruxue said with a light smile, settling her mother’s worries.

“Whether you go or not is up to you. I support you either way.” Madam Yan pinched her daughter’s cheek, said no more, and left the reception hall.

Once Madam Yan had gone, Bai Ruxue sat in the main seat and casually set a spell formation that cut off the outside. Jinche’s expression turned even more reverent. He walked to the center of the hall, cupped his hands, and bowed deeply.

“Jinche of the Confucian Academy pays respects to the Lord of the Four Seas!”

Bai Ruxue took a quiet sip of tea, glanced at him, and spoke with calm authority. “Spare me the courtesies. Why has the Confucian Academy come looking for me? What is it—don’t tell me you truly want to invite me to go study.”

“Of course not,” Jinche said, straightening. “The so-called invitation for a senior to study is only a cover.”

“Previously, the Literary Temple showed abnormalities. My teacher said a sage had emerged in Zhou, stirring a phenomenon between Heaven and earth.”

“After several rounds of deduction, the Confucian Academy calculated that the one who triggered the phenomenon was the ruler of Zhou.”

“So the headmaster sent me here to invite the ruler of Zhou to the Confucian Academy to study.”

“The ruler of Zhou has such natural talent. To remain an emperor within a small dynasty is a waste. It would be better to study Heaven and earth and use Confucian learning to testify to the Way.”

“But I did not expect that this ruler is your husband. So I have come uninvited to request your permission.”

When Jinche finished, silence filled the hall.

After a long while, Bai Ruxue spoke. “How much of what happened back then has Kong Sheng told you?”

Cold sweat rose on Jinche’s forehead, but he forced himself steady. “A great deal...”

“Then do you know who the current ruler of Zhou is?” Bai Ruxue asked.

“I do.” Jinche nodded, guilt clear in his eyes. “It is the Confucian Academy... that wronged Teacher Xiao.”

“The Confucian Academy?” Bai Ruxue let out a cold laugh.

Her eyes turned into golden, vertical slits. A terrifying dragon might at the perfected completion of the Ascension Realm pressed down on Jinche.

It felt like a mountain had crashed onto his shoulders. Sweat poured from his brow. His heart hammered until it hurt. Even his breathing seemed to stop, as if the distance between him and death was no more than a single thought from her.

“Remember this.”

In the blink of an eye, Bai Ruxue was no longer in the chair. She stood right in front of him.

Jinche’s fear finally broke through. He dropped to one knee, the other leg shaking as it struggled to keep him from collapsing completely.

“It wasn’t the Confucian Academy that failed him,” Bai Ruxue said, her golden slit pupils looking down at him. “It was the entire Ten Thousand Arts world that betrayed him.”

“And you—the Confucian Academy—don’t even have the right to say you’re sorry.”

She withdrew her gaze, folded her hands before her, and walked toward the doors. One word came from behind her, shaking Jinche to his bones.

“Get out.”

......

After leaving the reception hall, Bai Ruxue told her mother she had decided she definitely would not go to the Confucian Academy.

“Hm? Ruxue, you truly won’t go?” Madam Yan visibly relaxed. To her, the Confucian Academy was simply too far away. She only had this one daughter—if her daughter went there, she did not know how many years would pass before she could see her even once.

But if her daughter stayed in the palace, it was different. She could visit often, and she would not feel so lonely.

And to speak plainly, even if Madam Yan did not care much about fighting for favor, she still did not want her daughter to return from the Confucian Academy only to find that the Qin princess had already borne several children. Would her daughter not be neglected to the end then?

Unless, of course, her Ruxue cultivated, left to study on the mountain, never returned to Zhou, and became an immortal.

“I won’t go,” Bai Ruxue said with a soft smile, shaking her head. “Where you read is still reading. Zhou is very good. And what could the Confucian Academy possibly compare to Mother? If I’m in Zhou, I can visit you often.”

“You little girl...” Madam Yan sighed lightly, but joy still rose in her heart. “Fine. If you won’t go, then you won’t go. It’s nearly noon anyway. Eat lunch, then return to the palace.”

“Okay, Mother.” Bai Ruxue nodded, hooked her arm through her mother’s, and went to the rear courtyard.

Bai Ruxue ate lunch with her mother and only then left the Yan Residence to return to the Zhou imperial palace. As for Jinche, even though Madam Yan politely invited him to stay for the meal, how could he possibly keep his face and remain? He hurriedly found an excuse to take his leave.

By the time Bai Ruxue returned to the palace, it was already afternoon.

She entered the Hall of Nourishing the Heart again, intending to send spiritual power into Xiao Mo to nurture his spirit meridians.

But as soon as she stepped into the room, she saw that Xiao Mo was already awake.

He lay on the bed, a book floating in midair before his face. With a movement of intent, the pages turned one after another.

“Your Majesty is reading?” Bai Ruxue smiled gently as she approached. Her posture was graceful, her expression tender—nothing like the cold authority she had shown at the Yan Residence.

“Mhm.” Xiao Mo nodded and said lightly, “There’s nothing to do. I can’t cultivate today anyway, so I might as well read more. Maybe I can even cultivate righteous qi.”

This time, he was not actually joking.

Ever since he achieved foundation establishment, that sage’s heart within him had finally unlocked a little. Though his current Foundation Establishment Realm could only draw out a tiny fraction of it, it could still accumulate righteous qi for him over time, improving his innate talent and his spirit meridians.

And by reading Confucian classics and studying Confucian learning, he could better bring that sage’s heart into play. That way, it would not be wasted.

“To cultivate righteous qi is indeed not easy,” Bai Ruxue said softly. “But if it’s Your Majesty, this consort believes you can do it.”

She sat at the bedside and reached out, taking down the copy of The Great Learning that hovered in the air.

“But reading like that is far too tiring. How about this consort reads for Your Majesty instead? Your Majesty can close your eyes and rest your spirit, and recover as quickly as possible.”

“That works. Then I’ll trouble you, my lady,” Xiao Mo said, not refusing.

“It isn’t trouble.” Bai Ruxue opened The Great Learning. With spiritual power threaded into her voice, she read each word and phrase clearly.

As she read, she also nurtured Xiao Mo’s divine sense and spirit meridians.

Xiao Mo’s memories of his second and third lives were far blurrier, but he had still read for two lifetimes, and the Confucian classics carried a strange familiarity for him.

Yet he had forgotten too much. There were many places he could not understand. Whenever Xiao Mo did not understand something, he asked Bai Ruxue. Bai Ruxue patiently explained and annotated, offering her own understanding.

The more Xiao Mo listened, the more he felt that Bai Ruxue’s reputation as Zhou’s greatest talent truly lived up to its name.

Half an hour later, Xiao Mo opened his eyes and asked, “Were you going to the Confucian Academy?”

“How did Your Majesty know?” Bai Ruxue smiled.

“Si Li heard it from Spring Swallow and told me,” Xiao Mo said. “She said the Confucian Academy wanted to invite you to go there to study.”

“I see.” Bai Ruxue rested the book on her smooth, full thighs. “This consort isn’t going anymore.”

Xiao Mo shook his head. “It’s said the Confucian Academy has the most formidable Confucian scholars under Heaven. It’s the sacred place in the hearts of Confucian students. With your talent, not going there is still a pity.”

“But the most formidable Confucian scholar under Heaven isn’t there,” Bai Ruxue said, smiling.

“Not in the Confucian Academy?” Xiao Mo asked. “Then where is he?”

“Yes,” the woman said, her smile turning playful. “Where is he?”

Her peach-blossom eyes looked at him for a long time.

And she did not answer.