Jinya Pavilion.
This serene and picturesque place has never lacked scholars and poets. Before such stunning scenery, they compose verses, exchange confidences, and drink cup after cup of fine wine. Whatever sorrows they harbor, they dissolve completely in the flow of spirits.
But Taichua Goddess Yin Weiyin never drinks wine.
Taoist cultivators aren’t all prohibited from drinking. Only the Quanzhen Sect mandates abstinence from alcohol and at. Ordinary Taoists typically adhere to the "four don’ts"—they avoid eating beef, dog at, goose, and black carp.
The Taihua Mountain sect isn’t part of the Quanzhen lineage. Unlike the Quanzhen Sect, which welcos a wide variety of disciples, Taihua Mountain emphasizes severing mortal ties through the practice of the "golden boy and jade girl" path, pursuing hermitic cultivation. Otherwise, Yin Weiyin wouldn’t have spent so much effort searching for a golden boy. Yet in the end, she ended up entangling herself. Not only did she fail to retreat into reclusive cultivation, but she also had her cultivation stolen by that very person.
Yin Weiyin’s brows furrowed tighter, her thin lips pressing into a hard line. mories she couldn’t bear to revisit surfaced unwillingly. That person had left cruel marks on her, leaving her body defiled. When she thought of it, she couldn’t help but shiver. That ti, when she returned to the Prince Mansion, she had inadvertently caught her reflection in a bronze mirror and realized just how pitiful she looked. Panic surged in her belated recognition. She locked herself in her room, terrified that her servants would notice sothing amiss. If they reported it to Prince Jing and Princess Jing, revealing that their eldest daughter had descended into such a disastrous state in her cultivation and had been defiled by soone like Chen Yi, the Prince Mansion would undoubtedly collapse into chaos.
Thinking it over carefully, Yin Weiyin realized that compared to what that situation could’ve escalated into, it might still be tolerable. Ultimately, even the worst scandals are buried. But after calming down, she realized that what truly brought despair wasn’t the incident itself—it was that person’s cold and dismissive rejection afterward.
"Miss Yin, what are you thinking about?" asked a Shangqing Taoist nun beside her, noticing her furrowed brows.
Yin Weiyin snapped back to her senses, offering a faint smile. She lightly shook her horsetail whisk and replied, "What could a cultivator be thinking about?"
The Shangqing nun looked admiringly at her and poured her a cup of tea with a gentle reverence.
Yin Weiyin returned the courtesy with a similar gesture before noticing that the Taoist nun turned her gaze away. Her eyes bypassed the group of erudite Taoists engaged in animated conversation and landed squarely on Feiyuan True Man.
The year was drawing to a close, and the Shangqing Sect should have left the capital long ago. However, during Demon Extermination Day, Feiyuan True Man had been seriously injured, and Feiyuan’s junior, Zhenzhen Daoist, had also suffered grave wounds. Unable to move easily, they had stayed to recuperate. Only now were they departing.
Since the Shangqing Sect was leaving, a farewell gathering was inevitable. As Taichua Goddess, Yin Weiyin had been invited and naturally attended. Unlike scholars penning poetry during their gatherings, the Taoists exchanged discourses on Taoist skills, sharing insights to inspire and benefit each other during their travels.
At the mont, the group of Taoists were deep in their discussions. The Taoist nun fixed her gaze on Zhenzhen Daoist, her eyes bright with youthful admiration. Despite the season of swirling snow, her gaze was shy yet overflowing with affection, carrying an ineffable aning.
Yin Weiyin couldn’t help but smirk at the sight. Just as the nun, belatedly realizing her impropriety, snapped back to herself,
the female crown softly remarked:
"In the season of drifting snowflakes, who dreams of spring?"
The Taoist nun’s cheeks flushed bright red, overwheld with embarrassnt. A long silence passed before Yin Weiyin chuckled and said:
"Why let yourself be so flustered? It’s just a young girl’s private feelings."
The nun slowly cald herself and whispered, "I understand the practice of keeping a heart devoid of desires... but when I see Senior Brother Zhenzhen, I lose my composure."
"Ah, ultimately, it’s just a lack of cultivation," Yin Weiyin teased gently, given their acquaintance.
Emboldened by this, the Taoist nun hesitated before asking, "Well then... has Miss Yin never had the tender thoughts of a young girl?"
Back during the incident at Huaisui Village, both the Taoist nun and Zhenzhen Daoist had been present. Coupled with the camaraderie gained from frequent interactions among fellow Taoists, their conversations were franker, with fewer reservations.
"...Never."
When Yin Weiyin spoke, her gaze lowered, her thoughts wandering.
You speak of tender thoughts?
A married woman’s weary reflections... never mind.
It would’ve been better not to dwell on such things. Yet as her thoughts reached this point, Yin Weiyin’s expression grew lancholic and distant. Was her current predicant not sowhat akin to the plight of a wife striving in vain to reclaim her husband’s affections? She longed for immortality, but he wouldn’t allow it, nor would he grant her a choice. Thinking back to their initial encounter—if only she’d accepted her mistaken impression and recognized him as the golden boy—would it have changed the outco? As she mulled over her past regrets, the female crown asked herself whether hindsight would truly make a difference. She wasn’t sure. After all, she had never experienced the naive flutterings of a young girl’s heart.
Enough, enough. No point in dwelling further. What bond did she even share with him? After all, it would amount to nothing more in the end.
From a distance, she caught sight of soone approaching. Upon recognizing Lu Ying, Yin Weiyin rose to offer a respectful bow. But as she straightened, she stiffened montarily. She’d noticed a pair of bright, curious eyes staring wide at her.
Dong Gong Ruoshu!
At the sight of this young girl, a surge of frustration rose within Yin Weiyin.
Still, she managed to suppress it. After all, this Miss Donggong had kept her promise not to expose her secret.
"What brings you here?"
Yin Weiyin greeted them with a restrained smile, her tone calm, lightly lifting her horsetail whisk.
"Miss Yin... we heard Zhenzhen and the others discussing the incident at Huaisui Village," Dong Gong Ruoshu inquired earnestly. "Could you tell us what really happened that day?"
A flicker of unease crossed the female crown’s face, but when she failed to detect any suspicion in Lu Ying’s expression, her tension eased. Nevertheless, inwardly, she ground her teeth in irritation at Dong Gong Ruoshu.
Let this Donggong girl be captured one day by that man, locked away in a dark cell for ten days or eight, left limp and hollow-eyed in the aftermath. Then let’s see who the real furnace girl is, Yin Weiyin thought darkly.
Yet outwardly, her expression remained serene. Calming her turbulent emotions, she flashed a faint smile and said:
"What else could it have been? That day, it was nothing more than Chen Qianhu cutting down ghosts."
"But I heard he kissed Min Ning."
"...A minor incident."
"And it happened right in front of you."
"..."
With a half-smile that didn’t reach her eyes, Yin Weiyin replied:
"...My heart is as calm as still water."
Dong Gong Ruoshu studied her peaceful expression and secretly admired her. Even knowing the truth about her relationship with Chen Yi, Donggong couldn’t help but feel impressed.
Still, admiration aside, Donggong wasn’t here for this. She sought information about Chen Yi.
She wanted the Li Pearl in his possession. Without maintaining good relations with him, she feared she’d remain stuck in the sixth or seventh ranks for the rest of her life.
"That... why exactly was he at Huaisui Village?" Dong Gong Ruoshu pressed.
Yin Weiyin thought for a mont before answering, "It seed to be because of... imperial edict."
"And the demon empress?" Dong Gong Ruoshu arched a brow.
"Ruoshu!" Lu Ying cautioned nervously.
"It’s fine. We’re all on the sa side here," Yin Weiyin replied nonchalantly. As the daughter of Prince Jing, she naturally shared a disdain for Empress An, who ruled from behind the curtain.
With Yin Weiyin’s assurance, Lu Ying didn’t insist further.
Dong Gong Ruoshu persisted, "Is he really one to blindly follow imperial orders? I heard the Ghost General of Huaisui Village was particularly ferocious. Why would he take such a risk?"
How should I know why he went? Yin Weiyin thought. It couldn’t possibly have been just to summon spirits. Lowering her gaze as though in thought, she recalled sothing and smirked coldly before replying:
"Indeed, why would he take such a risk?"
Dong Gong Ruoshu’s eyes lit up. "There’s more to it?"
"Why would he risk it? In the end, isn’t it always because of a woman?" Yin Weiyin remarked, her tone indifferent.
Lu Ying and Dong Gong Ruoshu both paused, their thoughts turning over, then nodded in agreent.
"Which woman?" Dong Gong Ruoshu asked.
"The one in the heavens," Yin Weiyin said aningfully.
The two girls froze, their minds racing, before they gasped in unison.
"The demon empress?!" Dong Gong Ruoshu exclaid in shock.
Yin Weiyin gazed deeply at them and sighed lightly. "Why don’t you consider it? He was a nobody before, yet he rose to the rank of Qianhu seemingly overnight. Why? Heaven is generous, but it does not nourish rootless grass. That demon empress took a fancy to him, made him her paramour, indulging in nightly revelries, granting him office in secret. Naturally, he reciprocated... serving her diligently."
The two were stunned, speechless for a long mont. The reason was simple—such words bordered on treason. At worst, it was outright slander. Even at best, it was scandalous gossip. Yin Weiyin, as a noblewoman of the imperial lineage, could afford to say such things. They, however, weren’t sure whether they were free to hear them. Fortunately, they were inside the confines of Jinya Pavilion with no outsiders around.
Tilting her chin slightly, Dong Gong Ruoshu carefully committed the female crown’s words to mory. After turning it over in her mind, she found that it could explain many oddities and, unexpectedly, fit Chen Yi’s image rather well.
He dared to turn princesses into cultivation furnaces. So what if he served as the demon empress’s lover? It didn’t seem like much of a stretch...
Taichua Goddess observed this scene with a deepening smirk.
To speak candidly, she wasn’t entirely certain her speculation was true. At best, it was a calculated guess.
But when it ca to whether this constituted a lie, Yin Weiyin avoided examining the matter too closely. If she didn’t contemplate it, then it wasn’t a lie.
Moreover, the prohibition against lying among cultivators stemd from the principle that the higher one’s cultivation, the closer one was to the Way, and the Way held no lies. Thus, the more one lied, the more one’s cultivation would stagnate, even to the point of being rejected by the Way itself.
But Yin Weiyin had already lost ten years of her cultivation to soone harvesting her Taoist practice. From the late Core Formation Stage, she’d plumted to the early Core Formation Stage. Having hit rock bottom, she no longer cared about lying...
This particular deception had only one goal: to slightly mislead Dong Gong Ruoshu. If this Donggong girl entangled herself with Chen Yi and stumbled into his clutches, then Yin Weiyin would...
She tried imagining the scene: Chen Yi’s sinister grin as he captured Dong Gong Ruoshu, while she stood on the sidelines, lightly waving her horsetail whisk, calmly watching. Then they would see who was truly the furnace girl.
The re mory of Chen Yi’s mocking grin made the emotions stirring in her soul’s Heart Lake abruptly swell.
She inadvertently recalled Chen Yi’s words:
"You’re too restless."
The white-robed female crown shivered.
Glancing at the naive Donggong girl, she felt a strange pang of fear.
Panic-stricken, she quickly ford a hand seal and discreetly cast a divination.
Six in the fourth place: Bag the ga. Neither bla nor praise.
It was a neutral hexagram, signaling neither disaster nor fortune. She exhaled in relief.
Safe... for now...
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