"A'Ji, you're finally back," Nage Aila smiled with bright eyes.
Su Xiaonan, "Uh…my respects to Queen, I'm Su Xiaonan, you can just address me by my name." He saluted grievously, which made him look weird since he was putting his hands in front of him and saluting in the way that the Han people did.
Nage Aila smiled and lowered her head slightly, "I don't dare, I am not actually any sort of Queen now, there's no need to be so formal." She looked at Xue Ranmei and asked, "A'Ji, this is…"
Xue Ranmei didn't bother to explain at all, "Oh, a good friend!"
Miao Xiaoxian beamed cheerfully, introducing herself as if she has been waiting forever to do it, "I'm Xiaoxian, clan disciple of the Jinyue Sect from the central plains. I can't really count as Prince's friend, but we won't fight each other for now." She smiled relaxedly and naturally.
Nage Aila put her hand to her mouth and laughed tenderly, "A'Ji, this new friend of yours is quite lively. A'Xin, go pour some water for the guests."
"Yes, Queen," A'Xin walked towards the other side of the room and poured water into four cups. Xue Ranmei wondered why it wasn't tea and suddenly remembered that they were in the Cold Palace right now. Ha, they would be lucky enough already if they can find drinkable water and breathable air.
"A'Ji, everyone, please sit down first," Nage Aila motioned towards the tiny round table in the center.
Xue Ranmei just remembered that they ran into this room without thinking at that time, but Nage Aila didn't seem to care. 'It seems like, there really isn't 'my room' or 'your room' when it comes to the Cold Palace,' he thought.
There were exactly four stools around the table and everyone took their places. Xue Ranmei had to sit next to his 'Queen Mother,' and Su Xiaonan always stuck close to Xue Ranmei. Xue Ranmei started to wonder why Nage Aila even invited them to stay. What was she going to talk about? 'Is she planning on giving those two a reality show on 'The Queen's Life in the Cold Palace'?'
A'Xin walked over and placed a cup of water in front of everyone. Then she bowed and took her leave. She wanted to close the doors behind her but found that there weren't any doors, recalling that Xue Ranmei had already kicked it down.
"Queen, is there something that you would like to say?" Miao Xiaoxian asked first.
Nage Aila, "Yes, thank you so much for staying to listen. I actually want to ask Maiden Xiaoxian for a favor. To put my words here first, I promise on behalf of the Nage Clan that I will return your kindness."
Miao Xiaoxian seemed curious, "Queen, what kind of favor do you need to ask from me?" Xue Ranmei wanted to ask the same thing. 'Does Nage Aila want Miao Xiaoxian to help her restore that King's favor? No offense, that's going to be quite an impossible and not-very-smart wish.'
Nage Aila was just about to open her mouth and continue speaking when she saw Su Xiaonan waiting for the conversation to be done with a blank face. "Uh…you are Su Xiaonan, right? I apologize for not being able to let you stay right now, could you please…?"
The smart Su Xiaonan who was good at picking up cues (trained by his Sect Leader Xue Ranmei before and now) gave a easing chuckle, "Ha…I'll go take a walk outside if Queen doesn't mind, just now my legs are kind of numb from sitting."
Nage Aila nodded gratefully and Su Xiaonan went ba-da-ba-da-ba-da[1] out of the room.
"Maiden Xiaoxian, I didn't hear wrong, you are a visiting cultivator from the central plains, right?" Nage Aila stared at Miao Xiaoxian, waiting for an answer.
Miao Xiaoxian smiled awkwardly, "Yes, Queen…anything wrong?"
Nage Aila quickly reassured her, "No, nothing's wrong, don't worry. I just…to be honest, lately I am in trouble."
Xue Ranmei and Miao Xiaoxian's brows both raised in interest and surprise. Nage Aila continued, her hands fidgeting slightly, "I hate to make things sound so ugly, but I'll be quick and straightforward. Just now I realized that the King—Handi Ge—has deceived me to hand over the military right of the Nage Clan. He told me that I was his beloved Queen and shouldn't worry about worldly affairs, that he would take good care of everything while I manage the harem and enjoy a woman's life.
"But right after I handed him the token, the next day he never visited me again and started switching women as he wish. Even worse, he grounded me and A'Ji in our palace and cut off my connection with the outer world. I tried pleading the Queen Dowager with a blood letter, but she refused to see me either, finding all sorts of excuses to sweep me away. My soldiers wrote secret letters to me, telling me that my whole clan was exiled and they were forcefully recollected into the Royal Immortal Army. Even if they don't want to obey and be subject to his commands, with the command token, he can behead anyone who refuses to listen. In addition, I also gave him the key to all of the Nage Clan's valuable books. Just these days while A'Ji was away, my prison was moved to here…I—I can't imagine what Handi Ge is going to do next..."
Xue Ranmei, "…" Now that he knew more details, he realized that fixing things would be hard enough now. He didn't know that there was such a big fight for power involved in Nage Aila's situation and felt kind of angry at how his script was changed and added onto so far. If everything was going as he predicted, then Xue Ranmei would try to become Bai Qian'e's husband, but would obviously be defeated by Qing Qingxian. That character would also be convinced by Bai Qian'e to stop his wrongdoings and demonic cultivation, living a regular cultivator's life while literally being happy for the main couple due to his true love for her. 'Even that seems better than what I have to deal with now...'
Miao Xiaoxian inquired in a soothing tone, "Queen, it seems like you are in immense danger right now, forgive me for being too blunt. From my perspective, I think you should find a way to leave. I would be willing to help, of course. But what is it that you are asking from me?"
"A'Ji needs to leave."
Xue Ranmei's eyes widened. "Queen Mother, are you not g—"
"Listen to me, A'Ji." Nage Aila's countenance was painful and decisive. "If Handi Ge can do things to this step, he can go further. It's hard enough for one person to escape successfully, let alone adding a sickly and useless old woman like me. I don't want to make him suspicious."
Xue Ranmei couldn't help thinking, 'How are you old? What kind of murderous standards do they have for women here?!' "Queen Mother, it's not impossible for the two of us to go together. Handi Ge would find out and god knows what would he do to you?"
Nage Aila and Miao Xiaoxian were both surprised that Xue Ranmei just addressed his biological father by his name like that. Miao Xiaoxian understood Nage Aila's meaning, which explains why she had a sullen face too and didn't want to correct Xue Ranmei.
"A'Ji, you have always been obedient. Actually, Queen Mother wouldn't blame you if you were a little naughty or playful when you were young, but this…you have to listen on matters like this," Nage Aila stared at him, waiting for Xue Ranmei to say something like, 'Yes, I will listen to Queen Mother's plans and leave first,' but that didn't happen. The reason? Definitely not because Xue Ranmei was worried about Nage Aila! Her fate was already sealed and this was only her memory, or put more clearly—imagination. But this was Xue Ranmei's chance to fix things. If he leaves the situation here, then how will he ever go back? Nage Aila will be imprisoned until she gets ordered to drink the poison like in the original script. Then Xue Ranmei would be stuck as Handi Ji and wait until all the events leading up to Nage Aila's death to be played to receive her malefic punishment that was supposed to be for Handi Ge. He knew that this was all thanks to him angering her back in the Dark Yard and counterproductively deceiving her into believing that he was Handi Ge.
It was a big mess, Xue Ranmei knew that he was Xue Rui, people in reality (Qing Qingxian, Su Xiaonan, Qin Conglin) know him as Xue Ranmei, people in Nage Aila's memory know him as Handi Ji, and the present ghost of Nage Aila knows him as Handi Ge. All of this was enough to make Xue Ranmei's head grow big.
"A'Ji?"
Xue Ranmei hasn't really lied before (well, if you can forgive the times that he was forced to make up things after he supposedly transmigrated), since he rarely found himself in situations that he needed to lie to do something, nor did he have any desires for things that can only be got through deception. He didn't know what to think of it as this time, but he had to lie to Nage Aila (and perhaps Miao Xiaoxian too). "Fine, I'll wait for Queen Mother's good news when I reach Yao Nation."
Nage Aila nodded and faced Miao Xiaoxian, "Maiden Xiaoxian, please—"
Miao Xiaoxian held her hands out in front of her in a salute, "Don't worry, Queen. Xiaoxian is glad to help. The King is truly too outrageous on this subject, I will send Prince back to our sect safely, then I can help steal back the token with some loyal subordinates. Don't worry, I'm doing all this voluntarily, you can just think of it as my weak point, always minding someone else's business."
Xue Ranmei wondered, 'How come she's so willing to help? Could she have any ulterior motives? Never mind, maybe she's just really a little nosy like she said. I'll lay my cards on the table for her to see and if she doesn't believe me, I'll have to trick her…'
Nage Aila stood up and knelt on the ground, frightening Xue Ranmei and Miao Xiaoxian. "Queen! Queen, I don't dare to accept this, please rise." Nage Aila really didn't know how to thank Miao Xiaoxian for such a big favor, but since she wouldn't want to scare her benefactor to death, she stood back up.
"I'm really thankful for your willing to help, I promise, the Nage Clan will thank you in any way we can," Nage Aila bowed. Xue Ranmei saluted to show his thankfulness too.
Miao Xiaoxian, "But please remember, Queen, to not show any signs that something is different, or else it might arouse suspicion and be detrimental to our plan."
Nage Aila, "I understand, I will definitely not do anything out of the ordinary. How will A'Ji be sent to Yao Nation?"
Miao Xiaoxian smiled as if a plan was in her mind the whole time. "It's simple. But Prince will have to hold it for a little while. He will hide in the carriage when we return to Yao Nation. They won't dare to search too vigorously due to fear of displeasing anyone from the Yao Nation. After all, Handi Kingdom owes Yao Nation a lot and is a subject establishment to His Majesty."
Xue Ranmei couldn't wait any longer and suggested, "Maiden Xiaoxian, could we please talk outside? Queen Mother, don't worry, rest well." He tried to look innocent and simple-minded, which really did placate Nage Aila. She looked a little dazed at first, then the corners of her lips curved up a little, and she said in an overly sweet tone, "Uh, of course, Queen Mother understands that you two need some…privacy. After all, A'Ji is not a child any—"
"Thank you!" Xue Ranmei called, himself already outside, dragging Miao Xiaoxian along. Since the door couldn't be closed, he made sure to go somewhere even further than where A'Xin was. A'Xin nodded once, seeing that they already came out, and returned to Nage Aila's room to check onto her Mistress. Xue Ranmei let go of Miao Xiaoxian midway, "Sorry, we just need to be far enough…" They were now just near the front gates, so Nage Aila should not be able to hear anything, or else she would've been convinced that her son has gone mad.
Miao Xiaoxian tiled her head a little in interest, "What's wrong? Why can't Queen hear about this?"
Xue Ranmei said concisely like paper cutting through air, "I can't leave." He corrected himself, "I won't."
"Why not?" Miao Xiaoxian looked around, also understanding that this can't be heard by Nage Aila or A'Xin. "Is Prince concerned that it will be too dangerous?"
"No," Xue Ranmei swallowed, trying to explain himself. He thought, 'Well, it's actually a thing in my script for people to be trapped into another person's memories, since I wrote a Xuanhuan[2] story. She won't completely take my word as nothing, so I guess I'll just say what happened.' He opened his mouth, "Maiden Xiaoxian, the story's complicated. I actually…I am someone else who was accidentally caught in a ghost's memories." This was actually quite a complicated concept, since it sounds like him saying, 'Guess what? Everything here and everyone—including you—is actually only dream...'
But Miao Xiaoxian understood, since she was a real cultivator. In fact, they were actually in two different spaces that coincidentally revolved around the same setting. While Xue Ranmei was in someone's memory bound, Miao Xiaoxian was in the real-world Handi Kingdom back in time. Since both were about the same place (the kingdom) and timeline, one would definitely not be able to detect anything.
Miao Xiaoxian's mouth remained slightly open for a while, confirming with herself that she wasn't hearing things. "You are saying…that you're in memory bound?"
Xue Ranmei nodded and introduced his real identity after transmigration, "I am Xue Ranmei, former disciple of Qingmeng Sect of Yao Nation. To say the truth, I'm actually in Queen Nage Aila's memory bound. Like I said, the story is complicated, but please believe me."
"I know, I believe it," Miao Xiaoxian muttered slowly, then she seemed like she was recovering to her lively state. She chuckled, "Ha…I just didn't expect to actually run into such a situation in my life. Another good story to tell," Miao Xiaoxian smiled, shaking her head. "So…what you need is…forgive me, I don't know a lot about getting our of memory bounds."
Xue Ranmei was very grateful as long as Miao Xiaoxian believed him. He explained in a good-temper, "The ghost of Que—"
The gates of the yard suddenly opened and a young man entered. The first person was wearing plain gray robes, a slim sword clutched in his hand.
"Sect Leader, this should be the right place," the first person reported to whomever outside. A simple 'hm' sounded from outside, followed by a handsome adolescent man carrying a placid and noble aura, also dressed in light gray robes. His hair was ink black, with soothing and charming eyes and a high-bridged nose on his alabaster face.
It took quite a moment for Xue Ranmei to snap into reality and realize that it was Qin Conglin and Qing Qingxian that he was looking at. He wasn't clear if they had really become so unrecognizable in different dressing or he was just too dreadful of their arrival that he was in a short moment of denial. Since the Plague God has already descended, escaping or hiding was not a way.
Despite all a-hundred-percent-negative senses, Xue Ranmei forced an apathetic and polite manner. It could be said that after being in society and dealing with people from pushy directors to haughty actors and actresses, Xue Ranmei knew quite well how to be a diplomat.
[1]A SFX, literally 吧嗒吧嗒吧嗒 in pinyin, describing his fast footsteps. I kind of wanted to create one of those scenes in which a person is walking in fast motion lol.
[2]Xuanhuan (玄幻) is the name for fantasy genre.