During the days when Ji Keci lay unconscious, Yin Xi, emperor of the Yidu Dynasty, completed the imperial sacrificial ceremony of the Yidu Dynasty. At the same time, he secretly buried Fei Qingyan’s remains, interring her in the royal mausoleum.
Ji Keci slowly opened her eyes and found that she had been sleeping on her stomach. She shifted slightly by accident, and the pain in her back instantly filled her eyes with tears. Mansui, her eyes red and swollen from crying, walked to Ji Keci’s bedside and sobbed, “Young Mistress, you’re finally awake.”
“Mansui, it’s not that serious. Tell me, how many days was I unconscious?” Ji Keci looked, her features somewhat contorted, at her body wrapped up like a rice dumpling behind her, and let out a long breath.
Mansui cried even harder and choked out, “Young Mistress, you were unconscious for three whole days.”
Three days. Ji Keci vaguely remembered that the day after her father had been beaten was Yin Xi’s enthronement ceremony. She wondered whether his ascension had gone smoothly.
“Young Mistress, His Highness ascended the throne smoothly. Stop thinking about him and think about yourself!” Mansui wiped away her tears and handed a token to Ji Keci.
Seeing that token made Ji Keci almost forget that the Qiansha Sect had been founded by her own hand. That token was the sect master’s token of the Qiansha Sect.
Ji Keci looked at Mansui in shock. Could it be that when she came to this world, after Ci’er tried to take her own life, she had not handed this token over to Yin Xi? Could it be…
Ignoring whether her body could even rise, Ji Keci took the token and, gritting her teeth, sat sideways on the bed. Fine beads of sweat seeped from her forehead. “What is going on? Why is this token here?”
The two personal guards outside the door walked straight to Ji Keci’s bedside, knelt on one knee, lowered their heads, and said in unison, “When Young Mistress fell into misfortune, the Qiansha Sect was left without a leader. Everyone in the Qiansha Sect knew that Young Mistress was on good terms with Chu Heng, master of Tiandi Xing—who is now His Majesty—so they asked him to take charge of the Qiansha Sect.”
Kule swept his hands together in a fist salute, lowered his head, and said in a resonant voice, “Please, Young Mistress, take back the Qiansha Sect. This subordinate will serve you loyally unto death.”
If that was the case, then Yin Xi had seized power. And if so, had Princess Xintong not died unjustly? Yin Xi, oh Yin Xi, just how many wicked deeds have you done, pinning them all on the Qiansha Sect? What clever methods indeed!
Ji Keci clutched the wound on her back, holding the token in one hand, and said to Mansui, “Mansui, do you think I should take back authority over the Qiansha Sect?”
Mansui hurriedly nodded, but the joy that had just appeared on her face sank again. “Of course I hope Young Mistress can take it back. It’s just that Young Mistress is injured.”
The Qiansha Sect had gone unmanaged for several years, and now its authority was in Yin Xi’s hands. Yin Xi would not let go so easily. After all, the Qiansha Sect was even larger in scale than Tiandi Xing, the organization he had founded himself. Ji Keci asked her three subordinates, somewhat puzzled, “Do you know why Yin Xi wanted to kill Princess Xintong?”
Mansui might not know, but those two subordinates certainly did. Both lowered their heads and did not dare speak. Enduring the pain, Ji Keci slapped the wooden board of the bed. “Speak!”
Kule cupped his fists and stole a glance at Ji Keci before lowering his head again. “If Kule speaks, Young Mistress must not be angry.”
Ji Keci nodded slightly, indicating that she would not be angry for the time being. She would hear what Kule had to say first.
“Young Mistress, in truth, His Highness—no, he should be called His Majesty now—when His Majesty took over the Qiansha Sect, he once misappropriated the sect’s hidden forces to seize control of the Sheng Kingdom. Princess Xintong was one step ahead. She found the Qiansha Sect’s hidden location in advance and personally destroyed one-third of the documents in the Qiansha Sect’s archives, forcing His Majesty to relocate the sect’s hidden base. After that, an assassin raised under His Majesty used the Qiansha Sect’s poison to kill Princess Xintong. What happened after that, Young Mistress already knows.” After Kule finished speaking, he stole a few more glances at Ji Keci. Unable to read her expression, he stopped looking.
Ji Keci’s expression had already turned extremely dark. Her hand tightened around the token, and her fury grew by several degrees. “Yin Xi is truly this despicable?!”