She turned over, saying, “I’m going to sleep. You should leave. I’m not in the mood to talk right now.”
Xiao Jingchen stood up, and before leaving, he left her with two words: “Wen Shuyu, I will protect you. What happened with the blood talisman must not happen again, and the accident in the pool will not occur a second time.”
“As for what you instructed me to handle tonight, I will see to it.”
Wen Shuyu, lying on the couch, watched Xiao Jingchen’s retreating figure and frowned.
How could she not remember what she had just told him to do?
She had only pretended to be pitiful and taken the chance to confess her feelings, hoping to win him over in one move—but she had failed.
She hadn’t actually instructed Xiao Jingchen to handle anything at all.
At that moment, far from the Eastern Palace, in a beggar’s camp.
Determined to prove his worth, the Demon Heart had been diligently serving porridge all night, moving between six different beggar camps. In front of his stall, a sign had been placed: “Wen Shuyu sent me…”
He chuckled “heh heh heh,” occasionally slipping into the evil grin of a villain: Once Your Majesty regains your memory, we will command the world and destroy the Celestial Way! Hahaha!
The beggar standing nearby, waiting for his bowl to be filled, looked on confused: Why would the princess, who is kindhearted, send someone clearly mentally unstable, who laughs for no reason, to serve porridge?
The beggar could not comprehend it.
After finishing the porridge at this camp, the Demon Heart was about to move to the next when a sound-transmitting talisman floated over.
The voice of his master sounded from within: “I will assign others to serve porridge. Return to the Eastern Palace. I have other matters to discuss with you.”
The Demon Heart immediately burst into loud, ecstatic laughter.
Finally! His master remembered him! This time, surely he would be entrusted with a great mission!
It must be something related to destroying the Celestial Way!
A surge of demonic energy enveloped him, and he vanished, heading toward the Eastern Palace.
Inside the Eastern Palace study, Xiao Jingchen’s fingers lightly traced the scroll in his hand as he leafed through it page by page, searching for something.
The Demon Heart appeared and knelt: “I pay my respects, Your Majesty.”
Xiao Jingchen lifted his eyelids, set the scroll aside, and approached him, personally helping him to his feet.
His voice was gentle, a smile softening his expression: “You’ve worked hard these past days.”
The Demon Heart, overwhelmed by this personal attention, was ecstatic: “Not at all! Serving Your Majesty is my honor.”
For countless millennia, the Demon Heart had never received such treatment—being helped up by his master’s own hands. That someone who had lost their memory could still be so courteous filled him with excitement.
Xiao Jingchen’s lips curved faintly: “I have a task I need you to handle.”
The Demon Heart, now practically bursting with energy, knelt even deeper: “It is my duty, Your Majesty! Please instruct me!”
Xiao Jingchen’s gaze was gentle: “You, having lived countless millennia, must have seen much. Help me find a way for mortals to remain forever youthful and immortal, just like cultivators.”
The Demon Heart hesitated: “Your Majesty, why do we need this?”
The corners of Xiao Jingchen’s lips lifted further: “Haven’t you always wanted to destroy the Celestial Way? Think about it—The Celestial Way maintains the order of the Three Realms. If mortals were immortal, the laws of the Three Realms would be disrupted. The Celestial Way will surely appear, and then we will strike her down.”
“Everything I do is, of course, for the grand plan of our Demon Clan’s revival.”
The Demon Heart suddenly understood, excitement igniting further: “Your Majesty is brilliant! Such a cunning plan, only you could conceive it. You truly are the supreme of the Demon Clan! Leave it to me! I will immediately return to the Demon Realm and Celestial Realm to find it!”
He hesitated for a moment: “But Your Majesty, one day in the Celestial or Demon Realm equals one year in the mortal realm. If I am away from your side for a year, I fear…”
Xiao Jingchen’s voice was clear and pure, like jade: “It matters not. You do this for our grand plan; what are a year or two? When I’ve defeated the Celestial Way, restored my demonic body, and unified the Three Realms, you will be my most trusted aide, granted high rank, above all others.”
The Demon Heart’s eyes lit up; he could not contain his joy: “Yes! I will go immediately!”
He turned and dashed toward the Demon Realm, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
He had no idea he had been completely duped. His master had rambled on, and it was all for the sake of a woman—there was no grand plan at all.
By the time the Demon Heart returned, he found that the woman was, in fact, their arch-enemy: the Celestial Way.
He had been serving porridge under the name of the Celestial Way, seeking the secret to immortality for her, and he could barely stop himself from strangling himself in regret, wailing with heart-wrenching remorse.
……
Meanwhile, over the next two days, Wen Shuyu rested in the Plum Garden. Aside from visits from Chancellor Wen and Empress Gu, she spent the time quietly recovering.
Xiao Liu, still pondering matters of Daoist essence, noticed Wen Shuyu flipping through her Forty-Two Stratagems. He leaned over and caught sight of the first two stratagems.
The first: “Prove True Intent with One’s Life,” referring to the blood talisman. The second: “The Plight Stratagem to Attack the Heart,” presumably the drowning incident and feigned misery.
Xiao Liu scratched his head, curiosity piqued: “Master, what is the third stratagem?”
Following Wen Shuyu’s gaze, Xiao Liu saw a bronze incense burner on the nearby rosewood table, a crane holding a lingzhi mushroom in its beak. Smoke rose from the incense, drifting like soft, delicate gauze throughout the hall, permeating every corner.
Based on his understanding of his master over recent days, Xiao Liu’s heart skipped a beat: “Master… you’re not thinking of putting a love potion in the incense,