The "musician of the emperor" truly referred to Chen Kuang.
Chen Kuang was dead.
Dead? How could Chen Kuang be dead?
He was clearly alive, had helped her and her mother escape from the imperial prison, escaped the capital, and fled all the way to the Eastern Court Lake.
How could he have died back in the imperial prison?
She was so stunned she froze, her small mind couldn't make sense of it.
Could it be... she was dreaming a nightmare?
That was the only explanation she could think of for everything she was seeing.
"Gurgle, gurgle..."
Her stomach growled loudly. As full awareness returned, so too did the hunger.
She clutched her belly in horror.
She already had to suffer hunger when awake, and now even in a dream?!
This nightmare was far too terrible, and far too real!
Chu Wenruo, of course, heard her daughter's stomach growling and immediately stuffed the remaining half of a steamed bun into her hands, gently saying, "You little glutton, you really woke up from hunger."
"Quick, eat."
She was famished. She grabbed the bun and gnawed on it with all her strength, then suddenly paused, asking:
"Mother, did the musician give us this bun?"
Chu Wenruo patted her head, frowning slightly. She suspected the child had gone silly from hunger and asked with some surprise, "Ying'er, what nonsense are you talking about? This bun was given to us secretly by General Huo."
Chu Wenruo glanced at the cell across from them and whispered:
"Ying'er, General Huo has done us a great kindness. You must never forget it."
The little girl looked across to the other cell. Sure enough, the bony old man was sitting in meditation, his arms and legs still amputated.
Her gaze grew more vacant.
Huo Hengxuan, who had died, was now alive.
Chen Kuang, who had been alive, was now dead...
When would this strange dream end?
With that thought, she drifted off again and woke up three more times in the cell, consuming three whole steamed buns.
Huo Hengxuan had been dragged out and tortured twice more, and each time he came back, he would chat and joke with her.
During this time, she saw many familiar faces.
That scholar who had once insulted her mother and been beheaded on the spot by Chen Kuang. The jailer who had brought Huo Hengxuan the golden acupuncture needles. And even the veiled Qingcuo.
This time, the scholar hadn't died.
Without Chen Kuang around, she was bored stiff, and only learned through the other prisoners' gossip that the man was actually a student of Liberty Mountain, and quite a famous one.
Liberty Mountain... she had heard that name before. Her father had always said she was dumb and needed to be sent there to study.
The teacher there was a mortal, but could instruct cultivators.
He must've been very capable.
But she didn't want to go to school.
She didn't know what school was like, but she had seen what those court ministers were like after attending school.
She didn't want to become one of them.
The jailer had been arranged by Qingcuo but arrived several days late. Huo Hengxuan was already a wreck. She even heard some of the prisoners call him a "human swine."
Everything felt unfamiliar.
Every day, she would secretly talk to the corpse of Chen Kuang in the neighboring cell, hoping he would suddenly leap up and tell her it was all a joke.
But he never did.
Chen Kuang's corpse had begun to rot. One day, his already dull eyes dropped out of their sockets.
She reached out and caught one of the sunken eyeballs, and then suddenly burst into tears.
She cried the entire day. No matter how Chu Wenruo tried, she couldn't calm her down.
She asked Chu Wenruo with a desperate stubbornness, "Mother, don't you know him? You wore a green dress when you saved him once."
Chu Wenruo froze, confused, and shook her head. "I've never seen him before."
She added nervously, "Did someone tell you nonsense?"
In that instant, the little girl understood, she had already woken up long ago.
Huo Hengxuan returned once more.
This time, he asked her the same strange arithmetic question, but having had his tongue cut out, his words were slurred.
"Your Highness, please answer: If you were stranded on a deserted island and someone brought you five apples..."
He hadn't finished when she interrupted him.
"If someone is asking me such a question, they must harbor evil intent. They likely aim to replicate the 'two peaches killing three men' scheme."
"Therefore, I need only kill the person who brought the apples, and then everyone else gets one."
Word for word, this was Chen Kuang's standard answer the last time.
She looked him dead in the eye and repeated it without missing a beat.
The old man stared, stunned, at the four-year-old girl who had answered so calmly and precisely. He remained silent for a long time.
Eventually, he burst into hearty laughter: "Good! Excellent! That Her Highness possesses such insight is the great fortune of Liang!"
Meanwhile, in the cell across from them, the scholar who had first sensed the actions of the sage slowly opened his eyes, and smiled.
Cangyuan, 1135. Ninth month, first day. Liang was destroyed by Zhou.
On the ninth day of the ninth month, Black Armored Guard Qingcuo rebelled and perished alongside Li Hongling.
Grand General Huo Hengxuan broke through the encirclement with the Madam Liang and her daughter. In a duel with the Eastern Saint, he inflicted a serious injury but died from exhaustion.
He had already endured too much torment. The golden needles had failed to unseal him. This was his limit.
Amid the raging flames of war, Chu Wenruo, protected by cultivators from Lingtai Mountain, fled the capital with her daughter, only to be blocked by a towering wall of iron.
Fifty thousand Black Armored troops stood outside the city, banners fluttering like a mountain.
Behind her, the injured saint cast his gaze toward them.
Wolves ahead, tigers behind. There was no escape.
"Madam, please follow me."
A voice emerged from within the Black Armored ranks. Calm and composed.
Chu Wenruo froze and saw a disheveled, scholarly man step out from among the soldiers and bow to her.
Strangely, no one else seemed to notice his presence.
The scholar gestured toward a gap in the soldiers' ranks.
The Black Armored troops parted neatly to form a passageway, as if welcoming her.
Chu Wenruo had no choice. Swallowing her fear, she walked forward.
Trepidation filled her heart, but as she passed through the steel corridor, a soft glow appeared ahead.
She stepped into the light, and the world spun around her.
When she came to, she was standing in a peach blossom grove. Petals floated gently around her and her daughter. In the distance, scholarly recitation echoed through the trees.
The scholar said, "Zhang Zhizhou of Liberty Mountain welcomes Her Highness to begin her studies."
Chu Wenruo eyed him warily. She vaguely remembered this man saying, "Liang is ruled by women, what a tragedy for loyal ministers. The kingdom is doomed."
It was that statement which had nearly incited a prisoner revolt at the end.
The scholar asked, "Why does Your Highness look at me that way?"
She said, "You're not a good person."
The scholar was taken aback, then laughed. "That's true. But me not being a good person, should be a good thing for Your Highness."
"To vie for kingship and the fate of the nation, one cannot be too kind."
He knelt before her in solemn salute. "May I ask, my lady, what is your name?"
Chu Wenruo realized something. Her eyes widened, and she immediately fell silent. She set the girl down and gave her a little push, whispering:
"Ying'er, do you remember your name?"
Stupid mommy, I'm not stupid!
She stepped forward and said clearly:
"Su. Huai. Ying. My name is Su Huaiying."
...
Lin Eryou and Zhou Yanwei, replacing Di Wu, escorted the Zhou Enlightenment Envoy from Guandu Port to the prefectural governor's manor.
With Lin Eryou's wealth and Zhou Yanwei's status, the envoy merely expressed brief regret upon hearing the news of the Wind and Rain Tower's destruction. He didn't press the matter.
Besides, who in all of Jishao Prefecture hadn't seen that terrifying sword ray that day?
Such matters among great figures were far above his paygrade...
For now, the matter was shelved. But eventually, others from the Martial Saint Pavilion would come to clean up the mess.
Zhou Yanwei had originally planned to part ways with Lin Eryou, but somehow found himself once again a guest aboard one of the latter's other ships.
He looked around at the ornate interior and couldn't help but say:
"Do all Liberty Mountain disciples live this freely?"
Lin Eryou shook his feather fan. "Of course not."
Zhou Yanwei exhaled in relief, until Lin Eryou added, "There are plenty freer than I am."
Lin Eryou sighed wistfully.
"For example, my senior brother Zhang Zhizhou. A genuine lunatic."
"A year ago, he told me he was looking for a truly one-of-a-kind ruler. Then I watched as he first found a rooster, said it was born with a crown and could be a wise king. Then he found a frog, said it had a sense of injustice and could speak for the common people."
"Our master scolded him, but he said, 'There are too many foolish kings in this world. A rooster and a frog may well rule better than them!'"
"Later, he said destiny rested with Liang. So he planned to start from scratch, enter Liang's court as an official."
"He's still missing to this day..."
Zhou Yanwei was speechless. "But... Liang has already fallen."
Lin Eryou clicked his tongue. "So do you think he'll still find that one-of-a-kind monarch?"