Return of the Immortal Emperor Daddy

Chapter 594 - 595 Royal Family, No Kinship [2nd update, please subscribe]

Si’er was very cute, but an incident in her youth had made her timid and afraid at the sight of blood. At King Xiuyuan’s command, this incident was covered up, and any eunuchs or palace maids who knew about it were killed to preserve the young princess’s reputation. Si’er herself never spoke of it, keeping it a secret. Even Yi Ren didn’t know.

"When you were four years old, palace maids were hanging themselves in your royal palace every day. When you were five, the sounds of wailing specters often came from outside your palace. They said you had harmed them and that they wanted revenge. During those years of your childhood, there were night after night of ghostly howls, and in the morning, the ground was covered with the carcasses of chickens and ducks, wasn’t it?" Wu Tian said indifferently.

"This..." As if recalling the shadows of her childhood, Si’er’s face turned pale with fear, and her body couldn’t help but tremble. Looking back on it now, she still felt frightened. She had once been lively. She remembered that when she first started practicing the Great Penetrating Fist, she grasped its essence in just half a day, while her elder brother and Sister Yi Ren had both taken a full day. But after that incident with the haunted palace, she was so terrified that she couldn’t bring herself to eat meat anymore, fearing the animal carcasses would appear before her again. Although she was a princess, she tried to do things herself as much as possible, not wanting to trouble the palace maids, afraid the incident might reoccur—that at night, the specters of the maids would wail outside her palace, accusing her of causing their deaths.

"You still don’t know the truth of that incident," Wu Tian chuckled.

"The truth? Isn’t it that I loved to eat meat, so the little animals died and sought revenge? Or that the palace maids died with a grievance while playing games with me?" Si’er asked, unable to stop herself.

"Did your sister go through the same thing? How come she’s fine?" Wu Tian asked coolly.

"This..." Si’er’s pupils constricted as if she understood something. "Big Brother Sect Leader, are you suggesting this was done on purpose?"

"Yes," Wu Tian nodded. After a moment’s thought, he continued, "This was the doing of your elder brother. You and Yi Ren are different. Yi Ren listens to him, but you don’t. Your talent surpasses his, so he had to do this to turn you into a mediocrity."

"How could that be?" Si’er was in disbelief. Then, as if struck by a thought, she said, "But my father, the king, said he exorcised all the specters. There really were specters, right?"

"No, no, no." Wu Tian, knowing the true events from the Investiture of the Gods, realized this would be a blow to Si’er, but he had to tell her. "Your father loves you, but he loves your elder brother more. After all, your brother is the man, the heir to the River and Mountains of Xiuyuan Country. He will naturally protect him. Moreover, he also wants you to be weak-hearted. You will eventually become a tool, perhaps married to a powerful minister to win his loyalty, or to a foreign prince as part of an alliance. As for the Great Penetrating Fist, how could he possibly allow you to achieve Great Achievement? Wouldn’t that just be giving it away to someone else for free in the future?"

"This..." Si’er was shocked, finding it difficult to accept. How could things be this way? How? She felt weak all over, never having expected that her father, who used to dote on her, would harbor such intentions. She felt completely drained of strength.

"With me here, you have nothing to fear!" Witnessing this, Wu Tian walked over and patted Si’er’s small shoulder, making a promise.

"Big Brother Sect Leader... thank you, thank you so much," Si’er’s heart filled with gratitude. She cherished freedom and dreaded being bound. Originally, her father and elder brother had both promised to make her happy for a lifetime, but the Si’er of today no longer believed them. Clearly, she was not foolish. She had already guessed that her father and brother planned to use her as a tool, to marry her off to someone when it became advantageous.

Si’er resisted the idea in her heart. She also felt that her father and brother were wrong. But why? The previous King of Xiuyuan had actually been a soldier, not a descendant of Wuliang. He had staged a mutiny and donned the yellow robe to seize the throne. After passing the throne to his son, he feared his son’s claim was illegitimate. Thus, he arranged for his son to marry a descendant of Wuliang. In other words, Si’er’s mother was the one with the true Wuliang bloodline. The current King Xiuyuan, who was now in seclusion, was the son of a usurper. If he still intended to treat Si’er as a mere tool, how could he face her mother?

"Should you encounter any difficulties, you can come find me." Having read the Imperial Family’s historical records, Wu Tian understood the current situation with the royal bloodline. He naturally intended to help a descendant of Wuliang.

"Thank you," Si’er nodded happily.

"You can go now. Remember to have that mad monk come here."

"Okay," Si’er replied, hopping and skipping on her way out.

「Outside the grove.」

"Alas, they’ve been in there for quite some time. A lone man and a single woman, in the grove... engaging in debauchery in broad daylight, is this really alright?" the wine-and-meat monk, Dao Feng, babbled in his usual madcap way. Dao Feng had always wanted to leave this place. He was terrified of death.

"Aren’t you overthinking it?" Hong Ji, one of the two sisters, couldn’t resist saying. "The Sect Leader seems gentle and refined, not the sort of person you describe."

"Why would I speak nonsense?" Dao Feng laughed and snorted. "You don’t believe me, but just wait until Princess Si’er comes out. You’ll see. You’ll find her walking unsteadily, either because the Sect Leader had his way with her and she’s too elated to contain herself, or because he had his way with her and she’s crying from sorrow! Or maybe she likes the Sect Leader and he took advantage of her, but she values propriety, so she reveals her sadness through her happiness, and her happiness through her sadness!"

TAP! TAP! TAP!

Si’er emerged from the grove, a strange expression on her little face—a mix of sadness and joy. Sad that her father and brother could actually treat her like this, scheming against her in such a way. Happy, because she had a big brother in the Sect Leader.

Watching this scene, Hong Ji and Lan Niang both shuddered.

"You see? Look! It’s just as I said," Dao Feng laughed.

Hong Ji and Lan Niang grew anxious. What if Wu Tian called them into the grove, too? What would they do? Should they consent? Or refuse? And what if he called both of them in at the same time? Should they consent? Or refuse?

"Mad monk, the Big Brother Sect Leader is calling for you," Si’er said. After relaying the message, she stood obediently to one side, lost in thought.

"Me? Why me?" Dao Feng exclaimed in surprise. "I’m not his type! Logically speaking, it shouldn’t be me he calls for! Heavens, my flower... my chrysanthemum, are they no longer safe? Should I protect my chastity or my chrysanthemum?" Dao Feng hesitated.

"Are you not coming in?"

Wu Tian’s stern voice descended from the Nine Heavens and entered Dao Feng’s ears. The monk shuddered and had no choice but to enter the grove, his face marked with the desolation of a man going to his doom. "The wind howls bleak over the Yi River; a warrior departs, never to return."

Upon seeing this, Hong Ji grasped Lan Niang’s hand. "Sister, I’m scared."