Chapter 120: Qin Zhixun

Yet another Spring Festival. It was the first day of the tenth year of Dao'an.

Liang Jiwen had dealt with the winds of fortune in Shejin so many years, and now, she'd finally removed all the old ministers who'd been left behind from the old King of Shejin and her older brothers' time, promoting her own confidants and stabilising the government. In large part due to her recollection of Jiang Changbai's past kindness, this year was the first time she'd sent a delegation to offer tribute. The envoy had arrived in the capital early that morning, and now it was evening, and the Palace was about to put on a Palace Banquet.

The Palace Banquets of now were quite different from those in the past. In the past, the imperial clan had been large, and only officials of first rank and relatives of the imperial family were allowed to attend. But now, the imperial clan had died off in its entirety in the fighting seven years ago, and only a few of the women who weren't blood members remained, and the Rear Court was practically abandoned.

But now, the Palace Banquet allowed officials of third rank or higher to attend. By chance, and recalling the friendship from when Liang Jiwen had been in the Great Li back then, Jiang Changbai had given her favour and allowed the Envoy of Shejin to attend the Palace Banquet.

She hadn't imagined that, as if not knowing propriety, as soon as the Envoy had given obeisance, she'd called out Song Juguang's name in front of the entire gathering, as if alarmed.

The Palace Banquet, which had previously been boisterous, fell silent in an instant, and in a flash, everyone's gazes concentrated on the Regent. It had to be known, four years before, everyone said this Regent's abilities were so great as to terrify a sovereign, and, being despised by the Emperor, would probably on the brink of losing her life. But unexpectedly, after that conflagration in the Palace, not only had the Regent not died, she'd grown far more cherished. And now, it wasn't even uncommon for her to stay a few days in the Palace.

She truly was a Regent who answered only to a single person, standing above everyone else.

The court officials had grown more and more displeased with Song Juguang; even if everything she did was done with an imperial edict, the memorials impeaching her were like a blizzard, falling onto Jiang Changbai's desk. And at this moment, looking at that foreign envoy's expression, it seemed as if she and Song Juguang were old acquaintances.

Everyone stared at her as if she were a comic act.

Yet Song Juguang's expression was baffled. "What does Daren mean? This is the first time that this regent has met Daren, isn't it?"

Shock flashed in the Envoy's gaze on hearing those words, and she strode towards Song Juguang. She'd barely made it far before the imperial guards halted her, but those typically well-trained guards seemed to have turned into paste before the Envoy—with a single shove of her hand, the two imperial guards lost their centres of gravity and fell over.

Everyone's expressions grew apprehensive; even Jiang Changbai's featured couldn't help but sharpening. At the start of the new year, everyone wished for a good beginning.

"Protect her majesty!" someone called out, and the guards on duty outside the hall hurried in, blades raised and protecting Jiang Changbai behind them. The senior ministers, who were sitting in their seats, grew panicked as well, and the more cowardly of them had already risen to flee.

"Impudence!" Jiang Changbai roared, rising from her seat. So, the senior ministers, who'd just been about to scatter apart and flee, could only freeze, trembling, in place, and on the other hand, the imperial guards didn't dare to show the slightest laxity.

"Lower your blades," Jiang Changbai said. "It's New Year's; what are you all doing, growing violent?"

Only now did the imperial guards lower their blades, but their gazes remained fixed on the Envoy. But the Envoy didn't seem to have been intimidated in the slightest, and continued her way towards Song Juguang.

Song Juguang's expression darkened, and she rose, making her way around the table and chairs, and stood before the Envoy. When she spoke, it was quite courteous, and she asked, "May I ask after Daren's name?"

Seeing Song Juguang had come over, the Envoy didn't move any further. Her gaze remained fixed on Song Juguang. But hearing her question, disappointment flashed in her eyes.

"Qin Zhixun," she said, giving her name one syllable at a time. When she spoke, it was in the standard of the language of the Great Li, far better than Liang Jiwen had spoken it, that year that she'd left.

Hearing her response, contemplation showed on Song Juguang's face. Only after a while longer did she sigh, and say, "Qin-daren, we've really never met each other."

Jiang Changbai's gaze flickered between Song Juguang and Qin Zhixun. Inexplicably, she felt there was a similar aura around Qin Zhixun as around Song Juguang. But what, exactly, that similarity was, Jiang Changbai couldn't state clearly.

"Quit pretending," Qin Zhixun said, her voice somewhat agitated, and she pressed sternly, "do you truly not remember me?"

Song Juguang shrugged, an utterly careless expression on her face. "Why would Qin-daren say such a thing? This regent truly has never met you. If you don't believe me, you can go ask—ask whether this regent has left the capital in these past few years. I've never even left the capital, so how could I have gone to Shejin?"

Qin Zhixun was convinced that Song Juguang was acting, but Song Juguang was insistent that she'd never met Qin Zhixun before. For a while, the mood in at the Palace Banquet was somewhat strange—it was clearly supposed to be a joyful atmosphere in the Palace, but there was a bit of a preposterousness of old friends reuniting.

"Ten years ago, Wangjun was involved in the fighting between the Great Li and Shejin at the border, so she may have met Qin-daren at that time," Xie Qianbing, seeing that the banquet's atmosphere had grown awkward, aptly alleviated the embarrassment. "It's just unfortunate that Wangjun has met far too many people—it's normal for her to have no impression of Qin-daren."

These past few years, besides Jiang Changbai, the person in the Great Li who toiled most had to be Xie Qianbing. She'd long since taken the position of Minister of Appointments, but besides the matters of the Ministry of Appointments, other miscellaneous affairs often fell to her as well. As a result, though she was quite young, her temples had already started going white.

"It's just as Xie-daren says," Xu Shuqiao spoke, "these past few years, Wangjun hasn't left the capital, and she must long since have forgotten the happenings of the border."

Though it could be said that, before, there had been a minor disturbance, it was merely that a small portion of the ministers had intended to flee. The others had sat firmly in their seats, and hadn't had the slightest intent to run away. And neither Xie Qianbing nor Xu Shuqiao had moved an inch.

The two of them knew clearly that, in the Palace, there wasn't a single person who could harm Jiang Changbai.

The other ministers, seeing the scene, echoed their agreement as well. One had to know that both Xie Qianbing and Xu Shuqiao were two of Jiang Changbai's favourites. If they were to agree with them, they wouldn't earn merits, but they wouldn't make a mistake, either. And, even if there really was a mistake, the first to suffer calamity would be the two of them.

With the crowd helping to resolve the matter, Song Juguang stopped insisting on clarifying whether or not she and Qin Zhixun knew each other after all. So, having resolved the conflict between word and action, she made a few perfunctory remarks and dodged the matter.

Luckily, Qin Zhixun largely understood the shape of things, and ceased her struggles, apologising for her lapse of propriety of before, and sat obediently back at the furthest seat, which was hers.

After the banquet ended, it seemed as if Qin Zhixun hadn't eaten anything. Her gaze remained concentrated on Song Juguang, as if she find something out like that. But looking at Song Juguang from her position, she could only see a single, tiny shadow.

---

Three days later, in front of the Regent's residence's gates.

Though it was already more than halfway through the New Year's celebrations, the entire street was filled with the ambiance of Ne Year's. Everyone living on the street were major officials, and now, there were countless people who'd come to bring gifts and wish them happy New Year's. Residence after residence had couplets pasted to their doors and red lanterns hung up, a properly lively scene.

Only the Regent's residence was cheerless and bleak. Its gates were no different than usual, lacking couplets or lanterns, to say nothing of anyone coming to give New Year's wishes. There were only two stone lions, which had sat there for ten years without change. But if one were to pay close attention, they would be able to tell that the stone lions were peeling faintly.

This was the tenth time that Qin Zhixun had come to the Regent's residence. The Envoy, who'd come fruitlessly the past nine times, this time finally saw the person she'd wanted to see.

Song Juguang had stayed in the Palace continuously these past few days, and had only left late at night. Actually, if not for the fact that there were matters which needed her personal attention at the barracks in the outskirts of the capital early the next morning, she would have stayed in the Palace today as well.

Now, the Regent's residence was far more unfamiliar to Song Juguang; after all, in a month, she stayed half of that time in the Palace. Today, she'd seen a figure standing, straight-backed, before the Regent's residence's gates as she'd turned the corner of the street. The fine steed beneath her thighs let out a whinny, practically trampling on Qin Zhixun.

"Qin-daren?" Song Juguang said as she dismounted, and only once Qin Zhixun had turned around did she say, "shouldn't Qin-daren be resting in the relay station this late? What have you come to this regent's residence for?"

"Where did you go?" Qin Zhixun, seeing Song Juguang had returned, didn't answer her question, but asked in response.

A smile rose on Song Juguang's face, and she said, somewhat puzzled, "Does this regent need to report her whereabouts to Qin-daren? This regent never met Qin-daren before the Palace Banquet, so I'll ask that Qin-daren return to the relay station to rest, and quit bothering this regent."

Song Juguang spoke with disaffection, and after she finished speaking, without even giving Qin Zhixun a chance to respond, she led the horse towards the Regent's residence. The maid standing guard at the gates took the reins from Song Juguang, and led the horse back.

These past few days, Qin Zhixun had come to the Regent's residence day after day, and even when she'd told her that the Regent wasn't at home, she refused to leave, waiting there. The maid had taken Qin Zhixun for a fool, and wasn't willing to interact with her much.

But Song Juguang had only taken a few steps, when a great force grabbed at her. Shock rose in Song Juguang's mind, but luckily, the next moment, she steadied herself, feigning at having changed her mind, and turned around.

"Qin-daren," Song Juguang's words were exasperated, "the King of Shejin didn't send you to bother me, did she?"

"Liang Jiwen never said that." Qin Zhixun paused, and said, "It was I who wanted to see you."

"This regent isn't feeling well, and can't entertain guests," Song Juguang said, about to close the gates to great doors to the Regent's residence, but unexpectedly, Qin Zhixun called her to a stop.

"Shijie!" Qin Zhixun raised her voice, "Are you really going to pretend you don't know me?"

Song Juguang's pupils dilated, and billowing waves suddenly rose in her heart. Her pace paused for a moment, and then she came to a compromise, turning to give Qin Zhixun a path.

"Come inside, then."

After entering the Regent's residence, Qin Zhixun seemed to have changed into someone else entirely. She looked here for a while, and then there for a while. Only once she sat down did she wrinkle her nose, and say, "Shijie, when I heard the Great Li's officials say you were Regent, I had thought you'd be living marvellously. I hadn't imagined you'd live in such a dilapidated place—it seems as if the Great Li's Emperor doesn't really value you, does she?

"Rather than remaining here, you should simply return to Shejin with me as soon as possible. That way, we can finish our cultivation as early as possible, and return to the Sect—after all, remaining here is improper."

As it turned out, the typical desolation of the Regent's residence had caused Qin Zhixun to misunderstand; she didn't understand Song Juguang and Jiang Changbai's relationship, and had assumed that Song Juguang's situation in the Great Li wasn't good—that she was a Regent whose strong appearance lacked substance.

By chance, she was flourishing in Shejin; right now, she was Liang Jiwen's most trusted official. Her coming to the Great Li this time was something which Liang Jiwen had insisted upon.

But from the instant Song Juguang had stepped through the Regent's residence's great doors, her expression had remained dark. Now, hearing Qin Zhixun's words, her expression grew even darker, practically enough to rain. Before Qin Zhixun could finish speaking, she barked out, "Shut your mouth!"

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