Volume 1: The Initial Appearance of Beauty Chapter 11: Bloodline Guardian

  "The Emperor has arrived!"

  The crowd was shocked again and hurriedly went out to welcome him.

  "Hmm, calm down. Is this Seventh? Come here and let me take a look."

  Ruo Chen stood up and walked to the front of Long Teng Emperor, looking up at him and calling out "Father". Long Teng Emperor nodded his head and smiled, saying: "Good child, you look quite similar to your mother." Long Teng Emperor kindly pulled Ruo Chen down to sit beside him. This was the first time in six years that she had been so close to her father, but she didn't feel anything, only noticing that her father's eyes seemed sinister. She smiled faintly in her heart, thinking that it was useless to hope that he had come for familial affection. Fortunately, she had never yearned for such a thing as family love. Therefore, when it came to Qing Huan's death, she didn't feel much sadness, but rather anger - after all, someone had silently and stealthily killed her mother on her own territory... truly impressive.

  As Long Teng Emperor was sizing up Ru Chen, he too was being sized up by this daughter. This daughter was probably the one he had paid the least attention to. Back then when he brought Qing Hui back to the palace, he only liked her beauty and innocence, but unfortunately, he soon threw her to the back of his mind, not even giving this daughter a proper look, until Shen Yu chose her, he only took a glance from afar, knowing she was his daughter, that's all. However... thinking about Ru Chen's gaze, Long Teng Emperor seemed to be lost in thought, although it was just for an instant, she quickly lowered her head, but he saw it, she wasn't afraid of him, in her eyes, he didn't see any fear or intimidation, only pure calmness. Such composure, not even the Crown Prince could achieve!

  "Qī ér, your mother empress has passed away. You live alone in the Qingning Palace with no one to take care of you. Is there any imperial concubine in the palace that you like?" Emperor Longteng asked.

  Ruò chén dī zhe tóu yáo yáo tóu.

  Translation:

  Dust lowered his head and shook it.

  "Since that's the case... you can go to the Empress Dowager's place, right? In a few more years, you should also get married into the Shen family. For these two years, just live in the Empress Dowager's palace." Ruochen said softly: "I will follow Father Emperor's arrangements." Longteng Emperor nodded in satisfaction, that's good. After your mother's funeral is over, go to the Empress Dowager's place. Hmm... Qinghui... let's bury her according to the rank of a proper empress and posthumously confer on her the title of Qingfei.

  "The son of the emperor's concubine thanks the emperor for his kindness on behalf of his mother."

  "Her Majesty the Queen has arrived!"

  Ru Yan frowned, today people are really coming in droves. Just thinking about it, someone outside said: "Lan Guifei has arrived!"

  Two groups of people came in, one after another, their faces not looking good. Seeing Dragon Emperor sitting in the hall, they hurriedly went forward to pay their respects, "We have seen Your Majesty!" Dragon Emperor saw that his empress and concubine's faces were also somewhat gloomy, and calmly said: "Empress and Concubine, what brings you here?" The Empress stepped forward and said: "I beg to report to Your Majesty, Qing Hui has left. As the mistress of the harem, I naturally came to see if there was anything not in order. Is Little Seventh still well?" Yu Chen smiled slightly at her and said: "Thank you for your concern, Empress."

  "Poor child, losing his mother at such a young age."

  "Yes. The little princess is still so young." Lan Gui Fei took over, gently pulling Ruo Chen to her side and gazing at her with affection, "Your Majesty, I have an impertinent request."

  "Speak." The Dragon Emperor said, having spoiled his beloved imperial concubine for over a decade.

  "The young princess is still young and needs someone to take care of her. Why don't she just move into my palace? She can also keep company with Ruo Lan." The Empress's face sank upon hearing this, and she glanced at Concubine Lan. Stepping forward, she said: "Your Majesty, Concubine Lan already has the Crown Prince and the Eldest Princess to care for, if she takes on Little Seventh as well, it will be hard to avoid neglecting her. It's better for me to take care of her instead. I didn't manage the harem properly before, and even when Qing Bin's sister was ill, I didn't know about it. Now, no matter what, I must take good care of Little Seventh."

  "Your Majesty..." Blue Noble Consort said with a pout.

  "Alright, you don't need to say anything more." Long Teng Emperor stood up, "I have already entrusted Qi'er to the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager living alone in Shou Ning Palace is also lonely, and having Qi'er as a companion is also a good thing. Just now Shen You also came to the palace to ask me to take Qi'er to Jiang Jun Fu, but it's not in accordance with etiquette. From now on, Qi'er will live with the Empress Dowager. She can leave the palace once a month to go to Jiang Jun Fu, and she can get married when she turns 13."

  "This... your servant obeys." The two of them stood up and said, with some reluctance in their eyes. But they were also clever enough to understand that the Emperor arriving at Qingning Palace ahead of them was already a warning not to try to take military power from Shen Yu again.

  If Ruoxi remained silent, she secretly admired Shen Yuerong's intelligence. If she were to be adopted by either the Empress or Consort Lan, as long as their engagement was not annulled, she would inevitably be drawn into their conflict, and even if she wasn't, the Emperor might still harbor suspicions. Although Longteng Emperor did not grant his request, he suggested that the Dowager Empress raise Ruoxi instead, thus avoiding any entanglements with the imperial consorts and princes. The Dowager Empress was, after all, Longteng Emperor's own mother, and she would naturally want what was best for her son, so raising Ruoxi was not something she would refuse to do.

  Long Teng Di finally smiled and said, "This is good. Pass down the imperial edict to posthumously confer the title of Qing Fei on Qing Gui, and let the Empress and Lan Fei handle other matters together. I will leave first."

  "Long live the Emperor!"

  "Long live the Emperor!"

  The aftermath of Qingfei's death was naturally not something that Ruo Chen needed to concern himself with. He didn't bother with it either. In his past life, Ruo Chen had never seen his parents and as an assassin, he hadn't had much extra emotions to spare. Having experienced the betrayal of Ye Ling and Ye Ying, he had become even more indifferent to people. As for Qingfei's death, he wasn't particularly heartbroken. It was just that in his heart, he felt a little sorrow for this queen mother who had foolishly waited for a man all these years, only for that man not to even enter her room to take one last look at her after she died.

  The empress and Consort Lan saw the emperor leave, and Yu Chen's departure was also arranged. Staying any longer would be pointless, so after comforting Yu Chen a few words, they left as well. The empress still said that she wanted Yu Chen to visit her palace often when he had time.

  Finally, a young life, nearly ten years of devotion was exchanged for only a grand funeral. From afar, Ruo Chen watched as Qing Fei's coffin was carried towards the imperial mausoleum. "Princess... Elder Sister should be buried in the Palace of Falling Flowers." Ruan Cui said softly beside her.

  "She is an imperial concubine and can only be buried in the imperial mausoleum."

  Ruo Ci said in a low voice: "If the princess agrees, we can... take away the young lady."

  "What nonsense!" Yu Xuan gazed into the distance, her eyes far-off. "This is her own choice, let her be." Having loved that man for a lifetime, perhaps being buried beside him after death was her wish.

  "What about the princess?" The other side, Qing Hong, silently wiped away tears from the corner of her eyes and gazed at Ruoxuan with a hint of sadness: "Is the princess also going to make the same choice as Big Sister? Will she be buried in the depths of the imperial palace or will she go to the General's Manor?" Ruoxuan looked into the distance with a faint smile, "My future... I should head to the Empress Dowager's Palace." Suppressing her unfinished words, Ruoxuan turned around elegantly. Ruan Cui followed quietly without saying a word; she had never been one to think too much, but she always felt that Little Princess was somehow different, and now she began to understand. The little princess had already grown up, perhaps... soon they wouldn't need to protect her anymore.

  "Light red, soft green."

  Arriving at the Shou Ning Palace, Ye Chen stopped in his tracks.

  Princess.

  "The queen mother has passed away, your mission is now complete."

  The two exchanged a glance. Qing Hong said: "What does the princess mean?"

  "You are free. If you don't want to stay in the palace, you can go back to Luohua Palace." Ruo Cui stepped forward and asked, "Does the princess not need us anymore?" Yu Chen shook her head and said, "You were trained by the master of Luohua Palace as guardians for the empress. Your duty is now over. Don't you want to do something you want to do?" The two lowered their heads, and after a long time, Qing Hong finally raised hers and smiled, saying, "Princess, I don't have anything I want to do." Ruo Cui added, "Neither do I."

  Ru Yan frowned at them.

  Hong smiled lightly: "Moreover, the princess is wrong. We are not the old palace master's guardians trained for the young lady, but rather the guardians of the future heir of the old palace master's bloodline, the Luohua Palace. The young lady lost her qualifications, so when the princess was born, she became our new master. We guard not the young lady, but the bloodline of the Luohua prince on her body." Yu Chen couldn't help but feel curious about this Luohua prince, her maternal grandfather by blood. What kind of person could inspire such loyalty in guarding his bloodline?

  "What if I'm also a useless person like Mother Empress?"

  It's hard to understand what Ah Dou is. Qing Hong slightly frowned, and roughly understood Ye Chen's meaning, "No way." When the princess was three years old, Qing Hong already knew that the princess wouldn't just be another big sister, but would also surpass most people. The princess... really doesn't seem like a child at all. Ye Chen pouted, she didn't know her acting skills were so bad.

  "What if I am?"

  Qing Hong smiled wryly, "As the great elder said, we can only apologize to the old palace master after we die and go underground."

  Ru Xuan turned around and headed towards the Empress's palace, "Suit yourselves. Anyway, I won't be going to that Luohua Palace."

  "Why? Princess?" asked Rong Cui.

  "People drift in the world, who can avoid being stabbed?" She had already experienced enough of that life in her previous life. Now it's an era of cold weapons and she was certain that she would rather be shot than be hacked to pieces until bloody and mangled. Rufeng smiled wryly, it seemed like she wasn't suitable for being an assassin anymore. Fortunately, she was now a princess.

  The empress dowager was a very kind and gentle old lady, nearly sixty years old, who took good care of herself. The late emperor had passed away more than ten years ago, and the empress dowager lived in Shouning Palace, surrounded by luxurious clothes and delicious food, with many palace maids and eunuchs attending to her needs. However, she often felt lonely in her heart, so when she saw Ruoxuan, she was overjoyed. She personally instructed the palace maid to prepare a place for Ruoxuan to live, and took Ruoxuan's hand, chatting non-stop: "Little Seventh is so well-behaved! From now on, Empress will take care of you. No one dares to bully you. Your mother was also a good child, when she first entered the palace, she would come to pay respects to me every day. Later, I fell ill, and she also fell ill, and somehow she stopped coming. Alas... my body is very weak, and I can only leave Shouning Palace twice a year."

  Facing the empress dowager's benevolent face, Ruoxuan felt a bit uneasy and shifted her body. No one had ever spoken to her like this before. The queen, Consort Lan, and many others would be kind to her, speaking softly and gently. But she could see the coldness and calculation behind their gentle words. Only this old woman's warm eyes held wisdom tempered by time. Her gaze at Ruoxuan was filled with only compassion and love. This feeling made Ruoxuan feel very strange and uncomfortable.

  Everyone knows that the most favored prince and princess in the palace are not the eldest princess or the crown prince, but the seventh princess who has just lost her mother. The emperor visits the empress dowager every day to pay his respects and also takes a look at her. The empress and Consort Lan also send all good things to her, now she is the empress dowager's treasure and heart's desire. Fortunately, this little princess is very easy-going except for being quiet and not liking to talk, never causing trouble for the servants, and the palace maids and eunuchs in Shou Ning Palace all like her.