It was said that Ye Lizhi’s mother had once been a renowned songstress in the region, her voice gentle and lingering, capable of soothing sorrow and easing grief.
Ye Lizhi had inherited that exceptional voice. Her singing was clear and melodious, truly pleasant to the ear. Under ordinary circumstances, Mu Zhaoran would certainly have enjoyed it—but unfortunately, this time she was being forced to listen by the system.
Anything heard under coercion, even music worthy of the heavens, turned into mere noise.
Mu Zhaoran unwillingly endured the entire song, then yawned. Casually, she removed a pearl hair ornament from her hair and tossed it as a reward, saying, “You’ve finished singing. I’m tired. Liuyue, send her back.”
Ye Lizhi had no desire for any reward and said anxiously, “Your Highness! I wish to ask—”
Mu Zhaoran stroked the fur atop Wutuan’s head and cut her off before she could finish, her tone cool and distant. “I don’t like people who push their luck.”
Ye Lizhi’s eyes widened. Her parted lips slowly closed again. Holding the pearl ornament, she lowered her head in dejection and was escorted out of Zhuxi Pavilion by Liuyue.
This time, the brand of sin on her soul did not stir. It seemed her guess was correct—when Ye Lizhi made a clear request of her, refusing it would trigger the system’s punishment.
Annoyed, Mu Zhaoran thought that she really should have Liuyue refine a poison pill to silence that mouth forever.
That thought had barely passed through her mind when a scorching pain flared across her soul once more. Mu Zhaoran’s body went weak; she braced herself against the stone table with one hand, forcing herself to cast Ye Lizhi from her thoughts and think of something else.
Following Mu Zhaoran’s instructions, Yize tied Wutuan under the corridor. He glanced at Ye Lizhi’s lonely retreating figure, then moved over to Nanlü’s side. While rubbing Wutuan’s soft fur, he asked in a low voice, “Sister, you seemed to like Miss Ye’s singing just now?”
Nanlü snorted and shot a glance toward Mu Zhaoran. “Don’t talk nonsense. If Her Highness doesn’t like it, how could I possibly like it?”
Watching his sister, Yize sighed quietly to himself.
…
Ye Lizhi had slipped away to Zhuxi Pavilion while Ye Lingyan was not paying attention. Sure enough, she was punished as soon as she returned.
Ye Lingyan was seated in the main hall. When she saw Ye Lizhi come back, the tension on her face finally eased.
That night when Wutuan went berserk had been a perfect opportunity—she could have eliminated this concubine-born sister who posed a potential threat, and at the same time caused the Holy Maiden to commit a grave mistake upon first entering the Heavenly Dao Palace. Who would have thought that those useless fools would fail? Ye Lingyan had been stewing in resentment ever since.
She ordered the doors shut. At once, a mocking smile curled her lips as she exaggeratedly raised her voice. “Come and take a look, everyone. Who do we have here? Isn’t this my dear little sister? You learned a new song, yet instead of singing it for me, your elder sister, you ran off to curry favor before Her Highness. What’s the matter—did Her Highness send you back?”
Ye Lizhi said nothing.
Ye Lingyan stepped forward and snatched the pearl ornament from her hand, snapping angrily, “A pearl hairpin from Her Highness—do you think you’re worthy of holding it? Father was right. You’re nothing but the daughter of a lowly servant. Even when you try to flatter others, all you can do is sing vulgar tunes. Absolutely disgraceful.”
Stung by her words, Ye Lizhi’s eyes reddened with tears. She reached out to grab the ornament back. “This was given to me by Her Highness…”
Ye Lingyan shoved her to the ground in one swift motion and looked down at her coldly. “Ye Lizhi, so what if Father acknowledges you? I am the legitimate eldest daughter of the Ye family. Don’t even think about stepping over me to climb higher. You’d better behave yourself and stay out of my way. Otherwise, even Father won’t spare you.”
With that, she lifted the exquisitely ornate pearl ornament and admired it in the bright sunlight by the window. Then she ordered the servants beside her, “Since the Second Miss loves singing so much, send her to the woods behind the mountain and let her sing to her heart’s content. Watch her closely. Until I say stop, she is not to stop.”
Back in Zhuxi Pavilion, Mu Zhaoran finished her lunch and took a nap, hugging Wutuan’s soft spiritual body. She slept soundly, without dreams, and only woke when night had fallen.
The servants prepared a light, easy-to-digest dinner for her. While eating, Mu Zhaoran faintly heard a song drifting from the mountain forest behind, distant and indistinct.
She asked in confusion, “What’s that?”
Shuangxu replied, “It’s Miss Ye. After she returned from Zhuxi Pavilion, she was punished by the eldest Miss. She’s been singing nonstop since the afternoon. The eldest Miss even came by earlier to apologize, saying her younger sister had disturbed Your Highness’s peace.”
Mu Zhaoran laughed aloud. Much of the stifled irritation from being forced by the system earlier dissipated, and she said with a touch of schadenfreude, “From this far away, it actually sounds quite nice.”
Of course, Mu Zhaoran had not forgotten that she herself was still “atoning for her sins.” After dinner, she waited for the system to assign her a task—to go rescue the female lead from her suffering.
She waited and waited, until half the candle had burned away and the song drifting from the back mountain had grown hoarse and unrecognizable. Yet the system remained utterly unmoved.
Mu Zhaoran found this strange. Was the system no longer concerned about the female lead at a time like this?
She stood up and summoned Shuangxu. “Come with me to the back and take a look.”
Wutuan stuck close to her feet, nudging her palm with its big head. Mu Zhaoran patted it. “No, you’re too big. You’d be easily spotted. Stay inside and behave. I’ll be back soon.”
Mu Zhaoran and Shuangxu exited through the back door, passed through the phoenix bamboo grove in the rear courtyard, and followed the rasping song to a small pavilion bathed in moonlight.
Several of Ye Lingyan’s servants were stationed in the pavilion. They cracked melon seeds as they kept a sharp watch on Ye Lizhi, who was singing outside.
Whenever Ye Lizhi tried to pause even briefly to rest her throat, the servants would scoop up a handful of seed shells and fling them at her, sneering, “Second Miss, your singing is just lovely. You can’t stop. If the eldest Miss can’t hear the song, she’ll blame us.”
With Shuangxu’s Nascent Soul cultivation, concealing their presence and deceiving everyone in the forest was effortless. They hid in the shadows and watched for quite some time, but Mu Zhaoran couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
Shuangxu’s nose twitched slightly. Her expression changed at once. She pulled out a handkerchief and covered Mu Zhaoran’s mouth and nose, whispering, “Your Highness, be careful. It’s Fox-Enchantment Incense. There’s an illusion spell in this forest.”
“Fox-Enchantment Incense?” Mu Zhaoran took the handkerchief and covered her nose, then rolled her eyes thoughtfully. She retrieved a talisman for dispelling illusions from her pouch and affixed it to herself. The moonlight rippled softly in her eyes, and the scene of the pavilion instantly changed.
The servants guarding “Ye Lizhi” were still cracking melon seeds—but the one they were watching was no longer a person. Instead, it was a bare tree branch, from which hung a straw doll. The hoarse singing was drifting out from the doll’s mouth.
The real Ye Lizhi was standing on the other side of the pavilion, about ten steps away, talking to the man in red in front of her.
Zhu Qinglan waved his folding fan, a charming smile in his eyes. “I was wondering who had such refined taste, singing passionately under the moon, hoping to meet a kindred spirit. I never expected to witness such a fine show of servants abusing their master.”
He lowered his head with a look of sympathy, trying to examine her more closely. “This is far too cruel. Such a beautiful voice—listen to how hoarse it’s become.”
For two people who were not close, this distance felt uncomfortably intimate. Ye Lizhi instinctively stepped back two paces. “I did something wrong. I deserve the punishment.”
Zhu Qinglan took a step forward, curiosity written all over his face. “What did you do wrong? Tell me.”
Ye Lizhi hadn’t expected him to keep pressing. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
She had entered the Heavenly Dao Palace as Ye Lingyan’s attendant. Ye Lingyan punishing her was a family matter. Even if she told others, no one had the right to interfere—and if Ye Lingyan found out, it would only give her another excuse to punish her.
Zhu Qinglan stared at her hair bun and sighed softly, looking helpless. “Even if you won’t say it, I know. I thought the first person you’d come to would be me. I didn’t expect you to go to the Holy Maiden first. Someone born and raised on a pedestal like her—how could she ever see other people’s suffering?”
Hidden in the shadows of the trees, Mu Zhaoran heard this backhanded slander without warning and couldn’t help clicking her tongue in annoyance.
Her villainess instincts stirred. She wanted to step in and cause trouble, but thinking of the brand on her soul and that cursed system, she could only force herself to endure it.
To her surprise, Ye Lizhi actually spoke up for her, her expression serious. “Her Highness is not the way you say she is!”
Zhu Qinglan raised an eyebrow. “What has she done for you, that you defend her like this? A few days ago, you nearly died in that cat’s belly.”
Ye Lizhi shook her head. “It had nothing to do with Her Highness. And she was the one who saved me.”
“She saved you?” Zhu Qinglan laughed. “What she really wanted to save was her cat spirit. If someone had truly died inside that cat, the Heavenly Dao Palace would have punished the cat spirit, not let it off so lightly like this.”
Ye Lizhi pressed her lips together and fell silent for a moment, then said firmly, “No matter what, the only person who pulled me back from the cliff that day was Her Highness. If you only came to speak ill of her in front of me, then I’d rather sing here all night than accept your help.”
Zhu Qinglan was so exasperated that he laughed. He flicked open his fan and covered his mouth, his fox-like eyes filled with mock grievance. “Fine. In your eyes now, there’s only that Holy Maiden. You were even willing to give away the Yan-Gold Token I went through so much trouble to find for you. Looks like you tossed me straight out of your heart long ago.”
After saying this, he pretended to be angry and turned to leave.
Ye Lizhi suddenly looked up. The silvery moonlight lit the shock in her eyes. She hurriedly grabbed his sleeve, so nervous her words tangled. “You—you wouldn’t be…?”
Zhu Qinglan turned back, enjoying her stunned expression, and raised an eyebrow. “It’s me. What, are you unhappy to see me?”
Ye Lizhi shook her head again and again, tears glimmering at the corners of her eyes. Her voice was hoarse. “Didn’t you say you were a dying locust-tree spirit in the荒园?”
Zhu Qinglan caught one of her falling tears with his fan. “You believed everything I said? I was just hiding under that locust tree to heal. You kept coming on the first and fifteenth of every month to burn offerings for your mother under the tree, the smoke nearly choked me. So I made something up to scare you.”
Ye Lizhi asked, “Then what you said about being unable to leave the General’s Residence, and that you’d be chopped up for firewood if discovered—was that also a lie?”
Because of those words, no matter how much Ye Rong had questioned her about the Yan-Gold Token back then, she had refused to reveal its origin.
Zhu Qinglan tapped her forehead lightly with his fan. “I’m standing right here, aren’t I? Of course it was a lie.”
Ye Lizhi cried and laughed at the same time—still a little upset, but more happy than anything. Zhu Qinglan raised his hand to wipe her tears and said gently, “It’s fine even without the Yan-Gold Token. I heard that in the Earth Scroll there’s an immortal herb called Zhuochen. When refined into a pill, it can cleanse one’s roots and help open the spiritual meridians. When I enter the Earth Scroll this time, I’ll definitely find one for you. Once your meridians are opened, you’ll be able to cultivate too.”
Ye Lizhi said happily, “Really?”
Zhu Qinglan lifted his chin. On the ground, the shadow of a fox appeared, its tail swaying smugly back and forth. “Why would I lie to you?”
What followed was nothing more than a tearful reunion between a devoted follower and her patron. Mu Zhaoran yawned and snorted. “So boring. I’d rather go back to sleep.”
Now that Ye Lizhi had found someone new to rely on, she probably wouldn’t come to bother her again.
After three days of rest, a new notice came through the jade token: the Heavenly Dao Palace’s Earth Scroll was about to open.
The reason the Heavenly Dao Palace stood above all other immortal sects, commanding the submission of the four realms and inspiring endless admiration, lay in its two supreme treasures: the Heavenly Book and the Earth Scroll.
The Heavenly Book was enshrined in the Qingtian Hall. It connected to the laws of the Dao, could deliver divine decrees, and grant heavenly blessings. If Mu Zhaoran wanted to obtain the Mandate Mirror for Nanrong, she would need to kneel before the Heavenly Book and pray for fate’s protection.
The Earth Scroll was kept in the academy. It contained maps of all blessed lands, secret realms, and hidden domains in the world—whether already revealed or not. With enough fate, one could find an entrance within it and seize a great opportunity.
Every new disciple of the Heavenly Dao Palace was given one chance to enter the Earth Scroll to seek their own fortune. Even if they gained nothing else, the abundant spiritual energy inside was still extremely beneficial for cultivation.
As a popular saying went: even if you threw a pig in there and let it run around twice, it would come out with its spiritual meridians opened and its cultivation advanced to Foundation Establishment.
That was why even the weakest disciples of the Heavenly Dao Palace were at least at the Foundation Establishment stage. Only after reaching that level did one have enough spiritual power to practice various techniques.
In her previous life, Mu Zhaoran had successfully reached Foundation Establishment inside the Earth Scroll. As for the “opportunity” she encountered…
She vaguely remembered that she had smashed to death an old man who kept chasing after her, trying to force an opportunity into her hands, with a single swing of her hoe.