Chapter 320
Chapter 320
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: [Unknown]
Chapter Title: Escape from the Capital
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Yan Xizhi stood on the second-floor windowsill of Wenyuan Pavilion, watching the two people and one dog draw closer and closer. His face was ashen pale.
He knew that at this moment, he and the twelve high officials behind him, along with the entire court of civil and military officials, had all become Chen Shi's hostages.
As long as they didn't target Chen Tang or harm Chen Shi's people, they would remain safe, still acting as lofty cabinet ministers, still ruling over the Xijing court.
But if the Thirteen Great Houses moved against Chen Tang or did anything unfavorable to Chen Shi's people, then he and the cabinet ministers behind him, along with the entire court, would all perish in a Calamity-Level Disaster, reduced to utter oblivion!
"Outrageous impudence!"
Yan Xizhi watched as Chen Shi led the white-clothed immortal woman through the collapsed Meridian Gate and up the shattered stone steps of the Supreme Harmony Hall. He clenched his fist tightly, yet an overwhelming sense of powerlessness welled up inside him.
Even if Chen Shi was outrageously impudent, what could he do about it? Their lives were still entirely in the enemy's hands—they could only survive by relying on Chen Shi's mercy.
Chen Shi led the white-clothed immortal woman through the Supreme Harmony Hall, which was under repair, and entered the range covered by the True King's Nine Palaces.
"Perhaps I never should have taken the Chief Minister position back from Zhang Fuzheng!"
Yan Xizhi inwardly regretted it, thinking, "If I resigned now and returned to my hometown in retirement..."
Xia Canghai said from behind him, "Cabinet Elder, now that he's between the Nine Palaces, can we use this chance to activate them and blast them all to death?"
Yan Xizhi hesitated, then shook his head. "If the Nine Palaces unleash their full power to the degree needed to eliminate this Calamity, the blast would surely level Xijing—we wouldn't survive either!"
Xia Canghai was quite reluctant. "Are we just going to watch him strut around like this?"
Yan Xizhi said woodenly, "Then watch him."
Chen Shi's heart was pounding with anxiety at that moment, fearing that the Thirteen Great Houses and Chen Tang would completely fall out. He thought to himself, "Now, the Thirteen Great Houses of Xijing should have a clear view of my situation. I'm right under the power of the Nine Palaces—they could take my life at any moment—so they won't lay a hand on Chen Tang or Mother.
He felt moved by his own selflessness, thinking, "I've fulfilled my filial duty!"
He led the white-clothed immortal woman on a tour of the nine immortal palaces, but each one was heavily guarded by soldiers. As soon as they approached, the guards moved to act.
Eunuchs immediately rushed over, sternly rebuking the soldiers and telling them to be polite to Attendant Reader Chen.
"Attendant Reader?"
Chen Shi was stunned. Attendant Reader was a rank-six official position, mainly for accompanying the True King or crown prince in reading books and reviewing memorials.
Of course, with no True King now, no crown prince, and even the young lord beaten to death publicly by Chen Shi himself, the attendant reader role had become an empty title with no power or chance to whisper in anyone's ear.
But he'd only recently been appointed as a historian compiler—how had he been promoted a rank in just a few days?
The eunuch smiled. "Lord Chen is devoted to scholarship, with a body of works that shines throughout the capital region for all to see. The cabinet has only provisionally assigned you the attendant reader post today; tomorrow's court session will bring the official appointment."
Hearing this, Chen Shi finally relaxed completely. He thought, "The cabinet is promoting me to appease me. They're too embarrassed to outright say they're accepting me as a hostage, so they're signaling it through the promotion. Looks like Chen Tang and Mother are safe."
He let out a long breath, his previously stern face softening considerably as he chatted and laughed with the white-clothed immortal woman. Well, he chatted and laughed; she could only listen, occasionally murmuring "aba" to indicate she didn't understand.
The Thirteen Cabinet Ministers saw the smile creep onto his face and all breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Chen Shi led the white-clothed immortal woman around the Nine Palaces. Two of them were pavilions: one was the East Pavilion, the other Wenyuan Pavilion. As Chen Shi passed Wenyuan Pavilion, he casually looked up, spotted Yan Xizhi at the window, and gave him a friendly smile.
Yan Xizhi's heart skipped a beat at the sight of that smile, but he managed to force one of his own in return.
Chen Shi led the white-clothed immortal woman away.
"Aba, aba!" The white-clothed immortal woman's face grew serious as she said to Chen Shi.
Blackie Pot told Chen Shi that she found the nine great halls somewhat familiar. Seeing them made her uneasy, her heart uncomfortable.
Chen Shi summoned his little shrine. The white-clothed immortal woman hurried inside, sat on the divine pedestal, but still seemed restless. She ended up curling up on the divine pedestal, which finally made her feel a bit better.
"This girl's mind really must have been smashed up by me."
Chen Shi looked troubled, thinking, "If she never recovers her memory, won't I have to take care of her for life? How much money would that cost me?
He returned to the Chen residence. The craftsmen were still repairing the buildings, and the maids were tidying Chen Tang's room. Now that Chen Tang was gone, the master bedroom became Chen Shi's.
Chen Shi had never been in Chen Tang's room before. The bedroom was divided into inner and outer chambers: the inner one for the master to sleep in, more private; the outer for the maids, so they could attend to daily needs.
That night, Chen Shi slept in the inner chamber, the two maids in the outer.
Chen Shi wasn't quite used to it. The two maids in the outer chamber kept trying to sneak into his inner one, reluctant to leave, which annoyed him. He barked, "Are we sleeping or not? If you don't want to sleep, give the outer bed to Blackie Pot!"
The two beautiful maids exchanged glances and quickly retreated to the outer chamber.
Only then could Chen Shi close his eyes, thinking, "Maybe tomorrow I should kick the two maids out and let Blackie Pot sleep inside. Having two women in the room is pretty inconvenient."
He drifted off to sleep in a daze.
Early the next morning, Chen Shi woke up, dressed, and stepped out of the room. He saw three maids sleeping on the outer chamber bed—the white-clothed immortal woman had somehow slipped out and squeezed in between the two maids.
The two maids were facing each other, and she was nestled right in the middle, curled up in their arms.
Chen Shi shook his head and opened the door to cultivate his morning routine.
The sound of the door woke the three girls. The maids finally noticed the extra woman on the bed and cried out in surprise.
The two maids then realized this woman had delicate skin, a soft figure, and was far more beautiful than they were. Her voice even had a charming lilt. They thought, "No wonder young Lord Chen ignores us—he's hiding a beauty."
The white-clothed immortal woman panicked and zipped away in a flash, diving into Chen Shi's little shrine.
After finishing his morning routine, Blackie Pot had the meal ready. Chen Shi called the white-clothed immortal woman out to eat.
The girl shook her head, indicating she wouldn't eat.
"How do you live without eating?" Chen Shi was puzzled.
Blackie Pot barked twice. A fragrant breeze swept in, and the white-clothed immortal woman sat at the table, picking up chopsticks properly to try human food.
"Blackie Pot's words still work best."
Chen Shi thought, "Today I still need to go to the Hanlin Academy. The cabinet's promoting me—gotta go through the motions."
After breakfast, he headed to the Hanlin Academy to report for duty and wait for his promotion.
The girl ran out again, very interested in the books from the various academies in the Hanlin. She picked them up and flipped through.
Shi'ao Niangniang grew bolder too, emerging from Chen Shi's little shrine with her enormous head, wandering between the bookshelves.
Her head was ten feet across, her body the same—quite the shocking sight.
"A top-tier demon god has appeared by Champion Chen!" A scout rushed to Wenyuan Pavilion and reported to the Thirteen Cabinet Ministers. "According to the Wenyuan Pavilion's classics department in the Records of Gleanings, this demon is called Shi'ao, a Disaster-Class demon god from the True King era. Even before her revival, she was suppressed by cultivators under the True King!"
Silence fell over the cabinet.
Yan Xizhi waved his hand weakly. "Keep scouting." The scout withdrew.
Xia Canghai couldn't hold back his anger and slammed the table. "We've already promoted him—what more does he want? Now he's dragging out a Disaster-Class demon god to pressure us!"
Fei Zhong probed, "Is the position we gave him too low?"
Gao Quan sneered. "Rank-six attendant reader—is that low? Historically, even top scholars never got higher than that. Promoting him further would violate ancestral precedent!"
Gu Yanshan said, "Ancestral precedent is made to be broken! In my view, we need to satisfy his appetite first, or tomorrow he'll probably unleash those hundred-plus demons in his head too! Better to go all in—promote him straight to Left Assistant Minister of Revenue, give him whatever he wants, so things don't spiral out of control!"
"You're pandering! If he becomes Left Assistant Minister of Revenue, even Minister Cui got played into a fool! He'd empty the Great Ming treasury, and we'd all end up fools too!"
Xia Canghai was furious beyond measure, slamming the table as he stood. "Today we cede five cities, tomorrow ten, for one night of peace. Look up at the borders—thieves are already here!"
Gu Yanshan couldn't hold back either. He slammed the table and stood, locking eyes with him. "Then what brilliant plan does Brother Xia have? When war breaks out with the Calamity, will Brother Xia lead the charge and sacrifice himself heroically?
The two grew hotter-tempered by the second. Yan Xizhi coughed once, and they immediately stopped bickering, turning to him in unison.
Yan Xizhi said, "Has Chen Shi's attendant reader promotion gone through?"
"The eunuchs have already delivered the decree to the Hanlin Academy," Cui Baihe replied.
Yan Xizhi said leisurely, "Then issue another decree. Promote Chen Shi again, to from-rank-five Attendant Reader Scholar. It's just a sinecure. Even if we keep promoting him to proper rank-five Hanlin Academy Scholar, it's no harm."
Xia and Gu fell silent and sat back down.
In the Hanlin Academy, Chen Shi had just received the decree and was about to leave when another eunuch rushed up, proclaiming loudly, "Lord Chen, Lord Chen, hold on! The cabinet has a decree—you've been promoted again!"
Chen Shi had no choice but to receive the decree once more. Hearing it was only to from-rank-five Attendant Reader Scholar, he shook his head. "Couldn't they combine the two promotions into one?"
He took the decree, called for Shi'ao Niangniang and the white-clothed immortal woman, grabbed Blackie Pot, and left straight away.
The decree eunuch returned to Wenyuan Pavilion and relayed Chen Shi's words to the Thirteen Lords. Xia Canghai and the others exchanged stunned glances.
"Is he complaining the rank is too low, or that we're too slow?"
"It was a bit slow, but seems he barely accepted it."
Yan Xizhi looked around. "We've promoted him three times now—no more. If word gets out, not only will the cabinet lose face, the court's authority will suffer too."
Everyone nodded.
Yan Xizhi thought, "Unless tomorrow he pulls out over a hundred demons, no more promotions."
Over the next few days, Chen Shi behaved much more obediently, but he was always darting around Xijing.
When Chen Tang was around before, he'd restrained himself a bit. Now with Chen Tang gone, he roamed Xijing with the black dog, the big-headed Shi'ao and the prehistoric immortal woman at his side, wandering everywhere.
The cabinet was on edge every day, especially Yan Xizhi, who even lost interest in frolicking with his thirteenth concubine and got an earful for it.
"Chen Shi has left the city—headed to Gaoshan County!"
The cabinet ministers received the news and looked delightedly at Yan Xizhi.
"He's still a Chen family hostage after all. Looks like he wants to run. Should we stop him?" Gao Quan asked.
"Stop him for what?"
Yan Xizhi laughed bitterly in exasperation. "We're the hostages! Let him run! Why stop him? Lord Gao, you go stop him?"
Gao Quan mumbled assent, insisting he wouldn't dare.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, waiting for the outcome.
Chen Shi visited Red Sandalwood Hall in Gaoshan County, consulting Granny Sha on spells to enter the Yuan Chen Palace and studying maps of the Nine Districts of the Underworld with her.
The Underworld was incredibly perilous. He didn't want Granny Sha, Qingyang, or Hu Xiaoliang coming along, planning to go down with just himself and Blackie Pot, so he came to learn her spells.
After all, with Granny Sha reunited with her son, he didn't want her risking herself for him. Granny Sha knew his purpose in learning the spells and felt touched. She said, "I'll teach you one more, called Soul Substitution—it'll keep you safe. I won't even teach it to him!"
Chen Shi stayed in Gaoshan County two days, mastering the Soul Substitution spell. He bowed to Granny Sha. "Qiu Tong, tomorrow I'll head to the Underworld to find Mother. You and Uncle Qingyang must leave Xijing quickly—we'll meet again at Qianyang Mountain in the new village!"
Granny Sha nodded solemnly.
Chen Shi handed her the Fox Grape Mirror. "Qiu Tong, take this mirror immediately, head east a thousand li, and wait for me in the mountains."
He returned to Xijing.
Yan Xizhi and the others got word of Chen Shi's return to Xijing. Their heads swelled like buckets, brows furrowed in worry.
The next day, Chen Shi quietly found the boat auntie's rented house and said to her, "We're leaving the capital today for Xiandu. Get ready."
The boat auntie said calmly, "Will Xijing let you leave?"
"I have a secret method to pass through the Minor Heavens to a spot a thousand li away. Today I'll teach you the spell!" Chen Shi gave her a Heavenly Court Token and taught her how to use it to open the Minor Heavens. "Half a shichen after I leave, immediately follow what I taught: inspect the jade pendant and open the Minor Heavens. I'll wait for you inside. Once you're there, I'll take you to the exit a thousand li away! Don't delay—remember, remember!"
The boat auntie was extremely nervous. "Can't we go through the Underworld?"
Chen Shi shook his head. "Everything that happened in Xijing's Underworld is crystal clear to Still Void Realm and Great Vehicle Realm beings—they know it like the back of their hand. Going through the Underworld, we'd be detected for sure and die without burial!"
The boat auntie grew even more tense and hurriedly practiced opening the Minor Heavens to ensure no mistakes.
Chen Shi left and returned to the Chen residence, acting completely normal, showing no trace of tension.
Blackie Pot's hind legs trembled nonstop from nerves, its tail unsure where to go—held high, hooked, dragged, clamped, none felt right.
It was so nervous that seeing Chen Shi so composed filled it with admiration for its young master's calm.
Back at the Chen residence, Chen Shi entered the bedroom and told the maids, "I didn't sleep well last night—I need to rest and catch up. Don't disturb me."
The maids obeyed and left the bedroom.
Chen Shi closed the door, his hands shaking uncontrollably. Blackie Pot saw this and realized Chen Shi was extremely nervous too.
One man and one dog waited in the bedroom. Chen Shi steadied himself, waited a bit, then pretended to snore, starting loud, then softening it after a while.
Gradually, the snores grew lighter and lighter.
After an unknown time, Blackie Pot suddenly perked its ears and looked at Chen Shi, signaling time was up!
Chen Shi immediately took out the Heavenly Court Token, opened the Minor Heavens, and entered with Blackie Pot.
He closed the portal and waited quietly. Soon, the portal in the Minor Heavens opened, and the boat auntie appeared.
Chen Shi wasted no words, immediately leading Blackie Pot and the boat auntie out of the Minor Heavens and emerging from the Fox Grape Mirror.
The boat auntie looked around and saw they were far from Xijing, surrounded by verdant mountains with a great river rushing through them. They'd already entered the Huangyan Mountains!
Granny Sha had set up an altar with the God-Transformation ritual ready. The Five Ghost Kings stood guard around it, with Xiang Tianyu by the altar too.
Everyone was intensely nervous—even Xiang Tianyu was affected, his face grave.
Granny Sha saw the two people and dog fly out of the mirror and sighed in relief. She immediately activated the God-Transformation spell, turning Chen Shi and the boat auntie into two blue-faced, fanged ghost gods. "Little Ten, no time to waste—head to the Underworld now!"
Chen Shi said, "Qiu Tong, return home and await my news! Blackie Pot!" Blackie Pot roared, whipping up a阴风, and plunged into the Underworld with Chen Shi!
Granny Sha immediately stepped down from the altar, ordered the Five Ghost Kings to dismantle it, and hurried away with little Tianyu.
Xijing.
The Thirteen Cabinet Ministers watched the scene from afar. Suddenly, Wenyuan Pavilion erupted in thunderous cheers.
Everyone cheered, embracing, tossing their hats in celebration, eyes brimming with hot tears of excitement. "He's gone! He's finally gone!"
Yan Xizhi seemed to collapse with exhaustion onto the grand chair, a long-lost smile on his face.
"Good riddance, good riddance! Finally sent this plague god packing! We're safe!"