Chapter 184: Hello Chang’an
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**Chapter 184: She is Willing to Owe It**
"In your heart, how many masters can I serve?" Wu Jue asked bitterly, full of resentment.
Chang Suining sighed, "At that time, I didn’t even know what that formation was for, how could I do nothing and just wait for someone else to save me?"
To her, having someone to help was luck, but saving oneself in the face of danger was the norm.
Doing nothing would be equivalent to waiting for death, and that was something she could neither do nor learn to do.
Wu Jue's heart ached. "Now I understand. You must have a thousand and one schemes, and probably 799 of them are aimed at me!"
Chang Suining smiled and said, "Not really. I probably only used one."
Seeing that Wu Jue was still upset about her earlier doubts, she became serious. "Think about it. For more than a decade, what has happened to you all, I couldn’t know or even guess. Naturally, I couldn’t trust easily... But now, as we sit here and talk, even though it’s only been a few words and I’ve seen you shed some tears, hasn’t my suspicion already been dispelled? Can’t you say that this is trust?"
Wu Jue’s expression softened upon hearing this.
Then Chang Suining added, "And right now, with my appearance being neither human nor ghost, if I’m to be blunt, I resemble a demonic creature, and the world won’t accept me. To preserve this life, I must keep this secret tightly sealed and be more cautious than before. Don’t you agree?"
Wu Jue’s previously exaggerated dissatisfaction now completely dissipated.
He couldn’t help but think of the example from the Western Regions, where someone had been resurrected by the same formation a century ago, only to be burned to death as a demon.
The Princess’s caution was justified.
After experiencing such a strange event, remaining calm and accepting everything without seeking help from others, and relying solely on herself to figure everything out—perhaps only His Highness could have done this.
For him, these ten-plus years had passed one day at a time, everything was clear and real, including his longing and hopes for His Highness... But for her, it was as if she had opened her eyes after more than ten years, with a new identity. Everything was unfamiliar and absurd. How could she not feel confused, frightened, and on guard?
His Highness had it so hard, and he hadn’t given her any understanding or comfort. Instead, he was acting childish and making her coax him... Oh, was he even human?
Feeling like he needed to slap himself for being so petty, Wu Jue said in a hushed voice, "Your Highness, you’ve had a hard time on this journey..."
The road home wasn’t easy.
And the road before getting home... had certainly been hard for His Highness too.
Seeing him like this, Chang Suining realized that playing the victim was effective, so she relaxed a little—playing the victim among her own people was always effective.
Wu Jue, however, had truly been affected by her sadness, and couldn’t help but ask, "How did you fare in Northern Di these years...?"
"It was okay," Chang Suining replied casually. "Northern Di has vast lands, horses run fast, and lambs roast deliciously."
Wu Jue fell silent for a moment, then held back his tears and smiled, "I’m also good at roasting lamb and making lamb soup... Now that His Highness is home, you won’t have to go to Northern Di to enjoy the delicious roasted lamb."
Chang Suining couldn’t help but laugh at him, reminding him, "But you’re a monk now."
Wu Jue was unconcerned. "I can always return to layman life."
He was just pretending to be a monk. The Dayun Temple wasn’t a proper temple anyway; he had stayed here to handle the formation, but now that His Highness had returned, he no longer needed to stay as a monk.
As he spoke, he wished he could roast three, four, or five lambs right now to satisfy His Highness’s craving!
Chang Suining quickly reassured him, signaling for him to calm down. She wasn’t so desperate for lamb, and there was no need to roast it so soon. She told him to let the lambs live a little longer.
Wu Jue sighed.
He couldn’t be hasty. Even though he wanted to roast the lamb, he still had to stay at the Dayun Temple to continue the act to prevent Holy Emperor from becoming suspicious.
Chang Suining then asked him more about the Heavenly Maiden Tower, wanting to understand everything that had happened inside.
She suddenly remembered, "Since this is a resurrection formation, now that the formation has been destroyed, I shouldn’t face any harm, right?"
"What are you thinking? If that were the case, would I have allowed Grand General Cui to destroy the formation? Don’t worry, Your Highness. Your soul is stable now. The destruction of the formation won’t affect you."
Chang Suining felt reassured. "Very good. Then let it be destroyed. The sooner, the better."
That way, she wouldn’t have to worry about Holy Emperor trying to use the formation to test her in the future.
"But I’ll still have to try and fix the broken parts of the secret passage," Wu Jue continued. "At least it should look intact on the surface. Otherwise, if Holy Emperor remembers and orders someone to check if the formation is intact, it will expose us."
Chang Suining nodded. "Better safe than sorry. Please be careful, and thank you for your efforts."
After asking about the formation, she became curious about something else. "I saw a jade box beneath the Heavenly Maiden statue. It seemed very important. Do you know what treasure is inside?"
Upon hearing this, Wu Jue fell silent.
Chang Suining looked at him. "Is it something you can’t speak about?"
"It’s..." Wu Jue hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "It’s your bones."
Chang Suining: "...I thought it was some kind of treasure."
So it was just this.
Wu Jue was dissatisfied. "What do you mean by that? Naturally, that’s the most precious thing in the entire Heavenly Maiden Tower!"
Chang Suining couldn’t help but hide her disdain, thinking about the small box. "It’s impressive that you were able to find and bring it back. In this way, I suppose I have returned to my roots."
"It was Old Chang who brought it back..." At the mention of this old matter, Wu Jue’s tone still carried suppressed bitterness and heart-wrenching pain. "Those beasts from Northern Di... Because of this, Old Chang disobeyed the Emperor's orders and insisted on personally cutting off the head of that beastly Khan."
That brute had desecrated her body in retaliation after the Princess's self-inflicted wound...
In the end, Old Chang could only recover a small fragment of her remains.
Wu Jue didn’t want to say more, and Chang Suining could easily imagine the rest.
In fact, she had already mentally prepared herself for the possibility of having no remains left when she decided to kill the Northern Di general.
Seeing Wu Jue lowering his head in silence, she spoke up, "Before the two armies met, the enemy lost their leader. It’s a common practice to do so in order to stabilize the morale of the army. Everyone is born naked, and we grow from just a small piece of flesh and bone. Our bodies are merely vessels—during life, we use them fully; after death, they return to dust. How we return doesn’t matter much; it’s all the same. There’s no need to overthink it."
Wu Jue still didn’t speak.
The girl continued her comfort, "And look, I’m back now. See, I’m still whole, with arms and legs intact."
Wu Jue couldn’t help but raise his tear-filled eyes to check her arms and legs.
She took out a soft handkerchief, handed it to him to wipe his tears, and smiled, saying, "Wu Jue, thank you for bringing me home."
She was serious, adding, "I owe you a life."
Wu Jue took the handkerchief, embroidered with a crane, and gently pressed it to his eyes, choking up as he sighed, "Owe? I’m like a narrow stream, and Your Highness is the sea. If the sea ceases to exist, where would the stream return to?"
He continued, "A narrow stream can only return to the sea to survive. The sea never rejects the stream; they complement each other. There’s no question of owing or not owing."
"Too philosophical. I don’t quite understand," Chang Suining smiled and replied. "I’d rather owe you. I’m happy to owe you."
She didn’t want to be in debt to anyone else, as that kind of debt felt like a thorny net, suffocating her with every turn.
But the debt to Wu Jue was different—it was a comforting bond that allowed her to feel rooted in this world once again.
Bonds and attachments are different, and in this life, she was fortunate to be bound only by kindness and sincerity.
Chang Suining leaned forward, gently hugging the man who had called himself a fake monk but seemed more like a savior to her than any deity.
She smiled again, saying, "I’ll just owe you, then."
Wu Jue wiped his tears and smiled in return. "Since Your Highness truly wants to owe me, I’ll gladly accept."
"Yes, take it," Chang Suining released him.
Wu Jue smiled with restrained pride. "Your Highness, there’s something I’d like to ask."
Chang Suining, aware of her debt to him, generously replied, "Ask away."
"I remember you buried several jars of Feng Zhi wine. You had promised to drink with us... Where exactly did you bury it?"
Chang Suining blinked. "Oh... I think I drank it."
Wu Jue stood up in shock. "When did you sneakily drink it?"
"Before I went to Northern Di," Chang Suining said, slightly embarrassed. "At that time, I thought there’d be no chance to drink together, so I simply dug it up and drank it myself."
She had gotten very drunk and slept under the apricot blossom tree where she had buried the wine.
Wu Jue’s face was full of pain, and he nearly stomped his foot. "I’ve been craving it for so many years!"
Chang Suining asked, "Why didn’t you go find Ah Zeng to brew some more?"
Only A Zeng could make Feng Zhi wine.
"He would have agreed!" Wu Jue sighed. "Since you left, he refused to brew it again. I nearly knelt down and begged him."
Chang Suining teased, "Just like Old Chang begged you to make lamb soup for him?"
"Exactly..." Wu Jue’s eyes suddenly lit up. "But now that you’re back, he’ll have to brew it, even if he doesn’t want to! You’ll have to make up for me with a few jars!"
Chang Suining’s smile faded slightly as she asked, "After I left, did you notice anything unusual about Ah Zeng? Has he had any contact with anyone worth mentioning?"
Wu Jue froze for a moment.
After thinking carefully, he slowly shook his head. "Since Your Highness left, his temperament has become increasingly distant. He also works in the palace and rarely leaves. Our contact with him has been minimal, so we don’t know much about him. I haven’t noticed anything unusual."
Among the four of them, plus the secretive Meng Lie, Ah Zeng had been the least involved over the years.
But...
"Why do you ask this suddenly? Could it be..." Wu Jue looked at the girl still sitting on the ground, his expression growing serious.
"I was poisoned before I killed the Northern Di general."
Wu Jue was stunned. "Do you know who did it?"
"It was Yu Xie," Chang Suining said. "She was instructed by someone. She claimed that the events from back then were a result of being deceived, and the one who deceived her was Ah Zeng. She had received a letter bearing Ah Zeng’s private seal..."
She then explained the details of Yu Xie’s testimony to Wu Jue.
Wu Jue frowned deeply. "How could he…"
Chang Suining didn't express much surprise or anger. She simply said, "The truth is still unknown, but he is now in charge of the Imperial Palace Affairs Division and working closely with Ming Hou. It’s not going to be easy to investigate. Over these past few days, I’ve thought of many ways, but none of them seem feasible. This matter requires careful planning, and until we get to the bottom of it, we must both be extra vigilant and cautious."
Since she had now shared the information with Wu Jue, it became a matter they would tackle together, just as soldiers would never conceal things from each other in battle.
Wu Jue nodded with a complicated expression. "Your Highness, don’t worry. I will keep an eye on him."
Though their interactions with Ah Zeng had been limited in recent years, their old friendship had not diminished. He never imagined Ah Zeng would betray the Princess.
Now, Wu Jue also understood why the Princess had been so cautious of him, an old acquaintance, from the start.
He sighed deeply in his heart.
Chang Suining stood up and dusted herself off.
"Father, let’s go. Brother should be finished eating by now."
The title of "Father" made Wu Jue’s legs tremble slightly. "Your Highness, this... this is inappropriate..."
"If I were your biological parent, calling you 'Father' would be an honor for you. Besides, whether it's appropriate or not, the act must continue, right?" Chang Suining called again, "Father, you’ll have to get used to it."
Wu Jue could only nod, smiling with forced restraint. "Yes, I’ll get used to it. For now, I’ll shamelessly accept this small favor."
The two of them exited through the secret passage.
Chang Sui'an had finished all the food on the table, not leaving a single grain of rice or vegetable.
When he saw them come out, Chang Sui'an approached with surprise. "Master Wu Jue, what happened to your eyes?"
It looked like he had been crying. How could one discuss Buddhist teachings while crying?
It couldn’t have been his sister who hit him—though she enjoyed hitting people, she would never act disrespectfully toward her elders without reason.
Wu Jue sighed and rubbed his swollen eyes. "Some dust got into my eyes just now."
Chang Sui'an quietly looked him over. Given how swollen his eyes were, ordinary dust couldn’t have caused this. It had to be something larger, maybe even a brick! Both eyes seemed equally affected, as though the brick had been generously shared with both.
Adults always cared about their face. Since Master Wu Jue didn’t want to admit he had been crying, Chang Sui'an decided to pretend to believe him.
He kindly suggested, "You should rest for a while and not walk around too much."
After all, even he, who was easy to deceive, could tell something was off. It would be much harder to fool others.
Wu Jue nodded, looking like his eyes were hurting badly. He found a chair to sit down and continued rubbing his eyes.
The Chang siblings were preparing to leave.
"By the way," just before they left, Chang Suining suddenly recalled something she had seen earlier and asked, "Father, do you know which young lady went missing on the back mountain yesterday?"
Ordinary people might not know, but since monks from the temple were involved in the search, Wu Jue, as the temple’s abbot, should have known something.
Since her reputation had spread in the capital, there were many noble ladies who treated her kindly, whether out of genuine friendship or concern. She felt it was worth asking.
Wu Jue lowered his voice and replied, "It was a young lady from the Changsun family."
Chang Suining was stunned for a moment before asking, "From the Changsun family… which young lady?"
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(End of Chapter)
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