"This matter was led by you from the start. We'll do whatever you say; we'll follow your arrangements." Wei Ming agreed readily, then his tone shifted, "But don't ever again say things like 'you can use me however you want to achieve your goal'. Emperor Cangze didn't go through all that hardship to raise you just so you could trade your own pain and suffering for his resurrection."

Chi Lian: "..."

Gui Heng: "...He didn't go through that much hardship, did he."

He couldn't understand why Wei Ming, who was perfectly fine last night and seemed to have calmly accepted his identity, was today acting as if he had just been entrusted with Emperor Cangze's orphans, his tone of voice towards the two of them resembling that of a stern yet loving uncle.

Chi Lian, fearing that the truth was too shocking and had overwhelmed him, helplessly consoled Wei Ming: "Your Highness only needs to be Your Highness. If it weren't for this useless bungler Gui Heng interfering, you shouldn't have known about your past life at this time, and now you are burdened with many more worries. Your Highness, please be at ease. No matter how difficult matters in the mortal realm are, they can't be harder than ascending to the heavens, which is a common affair for immortals. With this subject here, you need not worry too much."

How could Wei Ming dare to tell him, 'It's precisely because of you that I'm worried'? With a heart full of melancholy he couldn't voice to anyone, he felt even more anxious, but in the end, he just nodded: "Don't push yourself too hard."

Chi Lian smiled faintly. "You too, Your Highness."

"You two, you two." Gui Heng's eyes nearly rolled into the back of his head. He crossed his legs and tapped the table. "While you two are gazing at each other affectionately, have you forgotten that I'm still here?"

Chi Lian's smile immediately turned cold. "Ah, so you are here. I thought there was just a breathing decoration sitting here."

Gui Heng said with no small amount of mockery, "This Immortal Lord went through great trouble to descend to the mortal realm and save your wretched life. It's one thing not to be grateful, but to endlessly make sarcastic remarks here, aren't you afraid your teeth will fall out from the cold?"

Chi Lian retorted, "If me telling the truth has frostbitten Your Excellency's fragile self-esteem, then I am truly sorry. I hope you will quickly leave this desolate mortal world and scram back to your Heavenly Court of singing birds and fragrant flowers."

"Why don't you go look in a mirror? A mere Flower Spirit, stop thinking you're so important, alright?" Gui Heng shot back coldly. "You've already run aground once. I was magnanimous enough to fish you out. Don't tell me you want to drag His Highness into the ditch with you next time?"

Chi Lian scoffed in return, "If His Highness hadn't acted in time last night, you wouldn't even be a pile of ash right now. Who was it that ran aground, and who is dragging everyone down? Don't you have even that much self-awareness?"

"Both of you, that's enough!" Wei Ming's heart full of sourness was made even more unpleasant by their bickering. He threatened grimly, "If you dare to start another pointless fight, I'll draw a special spiritual formation for you that you can't get out of without holding hands for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. I'd like to see what kind of irreconcilable hatred you two have!"

This threat was more deafening than a heavenly tribulation. Chi Lian backed down as fast as lightning. "I'm sorry, Your Highness... It won't happen again."

Gui Heng buried his head in his arms and groaned, "Help me, how has he lost his memory but not forgotten this trick..."

Just as they were speaking, a "knock, knock" came from outside. Jiang Hai spoke from behind the door: "Prince, breakfast is ready."

Wei Ming instructed, "Gui Heng, go tell him to serve the meal in the East Hall. The Grand Preceptor and I will be there in a moment."

Gui Heng knew he wanted to speak with Chi Lian alone and obediently took his leave. After he was gone, Wei Ming didn't speak for a long while, hesitating for a rare moment. Just as Chi Lian was beginning to suspect he had zoned out, he suddenly heard him ask softly, "To save him, what price did you pay?"

Chi Lian didn't understand what he was asking at first. "Hm?"

"Preserving Emperor Cangze's remains, piecing together the remnants of his soul to reconstruct it, sending him into the cycle of reincarnation... None of these are things that could be done casually." Wei Ming's voice unconsciously became very low and soft, as if he were afraid of startling someone. "Gui Heng said you also forced your way out of the Heavenly Prison. Even if you are an immortal, you couldn't have escaped completely unscathed in that situation, right?"

"So that's what Your Highness was worried about. I thought it was something serious."

Chi Lian laughed, his attitude very natural and nonchalant, speaking as if he didn't care much. "After all, it was a Heavenly Emperor who had fallen. Perhaps even The Great Dao itself sensed it. If I had rescued you so smoothly without shedding some blood, I'm afraid I would have suspected I'd been tricked myself."

"There are no free lunches in this world, but if you find the right method, you can achieve twice the result with half the effort."

"The only fortunate thing in this disaster was that I was the first to arrive. Under the circumstances at that time, besides me, no one could have saved the Emperor."

Chi Lian's appearance was indeed, as Bai Hua had said that night, one of natural beauty. But most of the time, it was overshadowed by his own aura, the type that was beautiful at first glance but would prick you if you got too close, like a poisonous plant. But at this moment, as he looked at Wei Ming with calm tranquility, a smile rippling in his eyes, revealing undisguised and complete trust in him, his pearl-like features became radiant, like a flower that would only bloom under his gaze.

"So Your Highness, rest assured. This price is almost not worth mentioning compared to you. Since I did it, I can bear the consequences and will never regret it."

Wei Ming had to use all his strength to control his hand from trying to press down on his heart, which felt like it was about to leap out of his chest. It was as if his entire being had been split in two. The rational half was thinking, 'This kid really doesn't have a single truthful word in his mouth, I can't believe a single word of what he just said'; the insane half, as if having a seizure, kept raising the same question over and over: 'He really doesn't like me... no, he really doesn't like Emperor Cangze?'

Last night, he had learned from Gui Heng not only about Emperor Cangze, but also an answer to a doubt that had been hidden in his heart for a long time: Chi Lian's hair color was unlike any mortal, spirit, immortal, or even member of the Demon Clan. The top half was black, turning silver-white from the shoulders down. Was this hair color natural, or as had been speculated that one day, a precursor to an immortal's fall into demonhood?

Although Gui Heng seemed frivolous and flighty, he was very reliable when it came to serious matters. He pondered for a moment before saying with extreme caution, "He used to have black hair. This change must have happened after he left the Celestial Realm. As for falling into demonhood, if the Emperor had truly perished, I'm afraid it would be far more serious than just half his hair turning white; since you are still standing here, I don't think someone with Chi Lian's disposition would do such a thing."

Wei Ming had not yet fully exhaled his sigh of relief when he heard Gui Heng say gravely, "With his appearance, I can only think of one possibility—"

"Spiritual power exhaustion."

"Unless an immortal is born with white hair, they do not go grey like mortals—that's what it means to be ageless and immortal. But if they are severely injured, or suffer a drastic loss of spiritual power, this situation is very likely to occur. If left unchecked, they will sooner or later reach the point where their Divine Soul perishes."

Gui Heng, with a straight face and while studying Wei Ming's expression, said as calmly as he could, "To be honest, if it were Chi Lian at his peak, Bai Hua's sneak attack with the sword wouldn't have been able to harm him at all. But his cultivation was already damaged, and in the mortal realm, he is further suppressed by the Heavenly Dao. I'm afraid he can only use twenty to thirty percent of his strength now."

"Emperor, in the White Jade Capital, there are hundreds and thousands of Immortal Attendants transformed from plants and trees. The vast majority of them are too weak to stand against the wind and might not even lift a sword once in a thousand years. But Chi Lian is the only Immortal Attendant to have made a name for himself through military achievements."

"He's the type of stubborn person who endures immense hardship in private but would never let a hint of it show on his face. Getting him to show weakness willingly would probably be more painful than killing him. So, if I may say one more thing behind his back, you used to dote on him the most. In the future, no matter what happens, you must, must never forget about this head of white hair of his."

The bright summer sun passed through the window lattice, falling upon the long hair on Chi Lian's shoulders, like white snow glinting with fine silver light under the sun.

It was hard to imagine that such a beautiful person could have such a hardened heart.

Wei Ming remained noncommittal. He got up and walked to Chi Lian's side, casually tucking the loose strands of hair that had fallen over his chest behind his shoulder as he often did. Then he leaned down slightly and whispered close to his ear, "Remember what you said today. No matter what happens in the future, you'd better not regret it."

At first listen, the words seemed like a threat, yet the tone was not too stern. Moreover, spoken so close and in a soft voice, it added an unexpected hint of tender subtlety.

Chi Lian was stunned by his words, unable to figure out which sentence he had said wrong to provoke this reaction. But Wei Ming didn't continue, smoothly retracting that strange attitude and returning to his familiar self. He reached out a hand to him and said, "Let's go, it's time to eat."

Chi Lian, in a daze, was pulled up and led away by him. And because his mind was wandering, he found the breakfast tasteless, being fed by Wei Ming the entire time. Finally, Gui Heng could not bear to watch any longer and slammed down his chopsticks, at the end of his rope. "That's enough out of you! Don't you have hands? You even need His Highness to pick up food for you?!"

Before his voice had faded, a small white bird shot in through the half-open window, swift as an arrow. But it misjudged its landing spot, lost its footing, and plunged headfirst into Gui Heng's bowl of congee.

Gui Heng: "..."

With great disdain, Chi Lian pinched it by the tip of its wing between two fingers and transformed it into a paper slip. After a quick glance, his expression darkened. He said to Wei Ming, "The Emperor summons me. It seems what happened last night has come to light."

In Guanfeng Palace, Emperor Qiansheng was speechless for a long time after hearing Chi Lian's report. Shang Heng, watching the Emperor's face, quickly had a palace maid fan him from behind to calm him down. After a long flurry of activity, Emperor Qiansheng, with a dark face, waved away the attending palace staff and struggled to digest the ins and outs of the whole affair.

"What demon have We offended for these things to come to Our door one after another!" The moment he spoke, he completely lost control of his anger, slamming his hand on the armrest of the throne. "It's all the Empress's fault, being bewitched and bringing this scourge upon Us! If this continues, will We ever have a day of peace? That Chou Xinwei is now running rampant in the palace as he pleases. In the future, if he sets his sights on the borders, on the imperial examinations, on the farmlands, who will be able to stop him? Is the Great Zhou Dynasty going to be ruined by his hands, huh?!"

In the face of the Son of Heaven's great fury, it was not convenient for Chi Lian to explain further. He only said, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger."

"We cannot calm Our anger!" Emperor Qiansheng waved his hand in vexation. "We finally made it to Longshan, thinking things would finally quiet down, but something like this happens before We've even been here a full day! How do you expect Us to calm Our anger!"

As if impervious to his fury, Chi Lian said calmly, "Anger harms the body. I implore Your Majesty to take care of your dragon body."

The calmer he was, the more Emperor Qiansheng's inner fire blazed. Fear and fury intertwined, and in his rage, he snatched the cup beside him and threw it, tea and all, at Chi Lian.

Chi Lian didn't even move his feet. With a slight tilt of his head, the cup grazed past his temple and smashed to pieces on the ground.

The crisp sound of shattering only accentuated the dead silence in the grand hall. Everyone held their breath, saying nothing, with only Emperor Qiansheng's ragged panting, like a bellows.

Only then did Chi Lian finally raise his head. He said nothing, merely giving him a single, placid look.

That look was so calm it could be called indifferent, yet the pressure it contained instantly sobered Emperor Qiansheng from his rage, even as he sat upon his high dais.