What Can You Do?

A gust of chilly wind swept past the tent flap, carrying the swirling snowflakes drifting down from the sky into the tent. Floating half a foot above the ground, the maiden in palace attire glared fixatedly at the black-clad woman seated at the head of the table, her tiny fists clenched tight. The black-clad woman's expression remained unchanged, regarding the Saintess of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion before her with keen amusement. Locked in silent eye contact, a dead silence spread. "Heh..." Seated at the head of the table, Li Qingyan leaned forward slightly, resting her elbows on the desk and propping her chin on her laced fingers, unhurried. "Though women can cultivate as well, the army consists almost entirely of men. Marching with the troops year-round, if I didn't bind my breasts and don men's attire, for one, I fear it would be difficult to establish authority in the ranks, and for two, I fear it would send the soldiers' imaginations running wild." At that, she paused, her gorgeous eyes curving into two crescents. "Judging by your gaze, Your Holiness seems unconvinced. If that's truly the case, you could simply ask Changtian." The strong simply had to ruthlessly humiliate the weak. Xu Yuan turned his gaze straight away, staring up at the ceiling at a forty-five-degree angle. Noob, absolute noob. Completely outclassed, blown out of the water as always... Hm? Wait. As always? Xu Yuan frowned slightly, but before he could ponder it, a sudden gaze from his side sent a shiver through his entire body. Her canine sank into the corner of her lip, and Tianyan's dainty, sculpted nose involuntarily twitched, but her eyes remained locked on him. What seeing what lay beneath the chest wraps implied, she knew all too well. The light in her golden pupils contracted into a dazzling halo, her voice trembling: "Say something!" Xu Yuan's eyelid twitched. For some reason, that look gave him chills, as if he habitually knew it was the precursor to Tianyan throwing a tantrum. Taking a deep breath, Xu Yuan prepared to intervene and play favorites to defuse things. Seeing his little movements, Li Qingyan showed no tension at all. Instead, an ambiguous smile flitted across her eyes. "Changtian, are you preparing to lie to comfort her?" Whoa, the chest-binding princess was ready to take on both of them at once. Glancing at Tianyan, who was on the verge of bristling, Xu Yuan sighed inwardly and replied with a casual smile: "Why would I need to lie? A truthful answer will suffice. When we were trapped in that aberrant ghost underground palace, forced by the circumstances, it wasn't as if this young master hadn't seen it." The meaning was crystal clear: He had indeed seen it, but hadn't actually done anything with it. Pausing for a fraction of a second, Xu Yuan glanced around and gave an equivocal, calm answer: "Pretty faces are a dime a dozen, but an interesting soul is one in ten thousand." "..." Li Qingyan lowered the hands propping her chin, a contemplative look in her eyes as she kept quiet. It seemed this Saintess's feelings for this scoundrel were truly deep, but pushing things to this degree should be enough. Everything required a sense of propriety and restraint. Giving this reckless, naive girl a minor reality check was enough. There was no need to push her to a total breakdown; after all, they might still need to cooperate later. The thought flashed by. The blazing fire in Li Qingyan's eyes extinguished, and she cast Xu Yuan a deep, enigmatic look. Seeing that look, Xu Yuan's heart tightened slightly, and he immediately began preparing his mental script for what to say next. He had finally managed to keep the bowl level; if this princess stirred up trouble again, hell lay right ahead. But seeing that she didn't speak for several breaths, Xu Yuan realized Li Qingyan didn't intend to keep playing, and he allowed his heart to settle back into his chest. The chest-binding princess's level compared to Tianyan was an absolute rout. As a Soul Condensation realm expert, even if he tried to pull the scales in Tianyan's favor with verbal gymnastics, he might not succeed. Fortunately, the princess knew her limits and understood that serious business came first. Turning to Tianyan, Xu Yuan smiled slightly and was just about to ask a question when he saw a smirk slip across Tianyan's dainty, vermilion lips. She seemed to have grasped the meaning behind his words just now, and the gaze she directed at Li Qingyan carried a hint of mocking amusement. "It seems... Your Highness still doesn't understand Changtian well enough." "..." Xu Yuan's cheek twitched. *Sister, you're terrible at this, yet you just can't resist trying.* He immediately looked back at Li Qingyan on the main seat, only to see her spirited, captivating brows furrowing bit by bit. Trouble. Tianyan, her translucent, bare little feet treading on empty air, walked right up to Xu Yuan and smiled at Li Qingyan with curved eyes: "After all, you've only been together for less than half a year. If only you had also spent over a decade together... Mmph (let) mmph (go) mmph (of me)!" *Ahem.* Xu Yuan reached straight out and clamped his hand over Tianyan's little mouth, clearing his throat and hurriedly asking: "Uh, Tianyan, why do you have... Hiss!! Were you born in the year of the dog?!" Tianyan effortlessly pried Xu Yuan's hand away, glaring back at him. "Did I give you permission to touch me?" "You—never mind, business first!" Xu Yuan sent via intent-soul voice transmission. "What business? Clearly this vixen provoked me first!" "She provoked you? Weren't you the one who provoked her first? Right off the bat bringing up the illusory realm! Even if you brought it up, can you actually out-argue her? With your clumsy mouth, if I hadn't stepped in, you'd have been bullied to death!" "I... I... You... I—" A flash of fluster crossed Tianyan's eyes. Biting her red lower lip with pearl-white teeth, standing suspended in the void, she kicked Xu Yuan's knee with a bare foot. "It's all because of you, you bastard!" The familiar sensation welled up in his chest again. Wincing from the pain, Xu Yuan was exasperated to the point of laughter. "Tianyan, can you stop being unreasona—" "Quite a close relationship, isn't it?" a teasing voice suddenly drifted over. "..." Xu Yuan's hairs stood on end. Tianyan looked back at her on the main seat and scoffed coldly: "At least better than with Your Highness." "Oh?" Li Qingyan's eyes were playful, showing no embarrassment or irritation. Her fingertips brushed across the desk's leather surface, and she suddenly asked with a smile: "Then shall I concede to you?" "..." Tianyan bristled at those words, a gust of wind pressure radiating outward centered on her petite figure suspended in midair. Her long dark locks fluttered in the breeze. Li Qingyan's fingers caressing the leather paused slightly, and she sighed: "Tianyan, it seems your temperament and composure still need much more tempering. I merely provoked you with a few words and you react like this. If I were to do... this..." With that, Li Qingyan gracefully rose to her feet, her figure appearing before the two in a flash. Under Tianyan's dazed gaze, Li Qingyan lightly tiptoed, hooked her hand behind Xu Yuan's head, and pressed her plump red lips directly onto his. Their lips parted. Xu Yuan licked the corner of his lips. Li Qingyan cast a sideways glance at Tianyan, who stood at equal eye level suspended in the air: "...what would you do then?" *** The Imperial Capital. The imperial palace, the Hall of Great Celebration. Two figures sat across from each other with a weiqi board between them—one in yellow, one in black, both clad in dragon robes. The Imperial Dragon held black; the Black Dragon held white. The board was intricate and dense, waves of incense wafted through the hall, and for the moment, victory remained undecided. *Clack!* A white stone fell. The white hourglass beside the board flipped automatically, most of its sand still remaining. Xu Yinhe looked at the old man before him, his voice flat yet carrying natural majesty: "Regarding the disappearance of Changtian and Qingyan, has Your Majesty uncovered who was behind it?" "..." Li Yaoxuan did not answer. With a hunched back, he stared intently at the board. After studying it for over a dozen breaths, he pinched a black stone from the bowl, played it, and only then replied thoughtfully: "This matter isn't easy to investigate. Still, the goal of whoever moved against both Qingyan and Changtian must have been to fracture the alliance between us, wouldn't you say?" With those words, the black hourglass likewise flipped, but very little sand remained in it. Xu Yinhe's deep, hawklike eyes watched the old man for several breaths. He casually pinched a white stone from his bowl and set it down without hesitation: "An alliance destined not to last—who would take the risk to sabotage it?" "Tsk... Can't you slow down? A critically ill man like Us can barely keep up." Li Yaoxuan sighed and continued staring at the board, holding a black stone hesitantly in his fingers. "Still, you make a good point, Yinhe. Indeed, there was no need to sabotage it. However, those with a motive to plot against Qingyan, Changtian, and that Barbarian King all at once are few; those with the capability to pull it off are even fewer." Xu Yinhe picked up the porcelain teacup beside the tea table and took a light sip: "Plotting against the Barbarian King could be considered for the sake of the country. Plotting against Qingyan was perhaps driven by self-interest. Such a person is likely not from the sects." "Mm... likely so." Li Yaoxuan murmured as he gently placed his stone, then lifted his eyes. "So, Chancellor, how would you have Us deal with that person?" The two dragon-robed elders exchanged a momentary glance. Xu Yinhe lowered his gaze, pinched a stone, and placed it. "Your Majesty's domestic affairs are not for this minister to meddle in." Li Yaoxuan grinned, the dark age spots covering nearly his entire face trembling, lending him a somewhat sinister air. "In that case, let it drop." Xu Yinhe pinched another stone. This time he did not place it immediately. After studying the board for a dozen breaths, he pointed at several intersections and remarked leisurely: "Your Majesty, your play today is too scattered. Here, here, and here—you want to place stones everywhere. "That is hardly a sound approach." "Oho, the Chancellor can even instruct Us in weiqi now." Li Yaoxuan teased, then sighed and looked at his old friend with a smile: "Once a stone is placed, there are no regrets. You know Our style of play; going all-in is hardly a good approach either." As the words fell, a crane's cry drifted in from outside the lakeside pavilion. Li Yaoxuan glanced back toward it and said: "Having raised these cranes for so many years, We never noticed before, but now that the dusk of life draws near, they seem rather noisy every single day." Xu Yinhe lowered his eyes and chuckled: "Back then, Your Majesty treasured them dearly. If you find them noisy, why not move to another hall for some peace and quiet?" "This Hall of Great Celebration is where the Empress Dowager gave birth to and raised Us. We have grown accustomed to living here; We cannot move." Li Yaoxuan's tone held a touch of helplessness. Watching the flock of cranes wheeling through the sky, he shook his head: "In any case, Our days are numbered. Let them stay here." "Your Majesty is merely in poor health; there is no grave affliction." A flicker of complexity passed deep within Xu Yinhe's downcast eyes. "At the very least, you must live to see the royal army return in triumph." "Heh." Li Yaoxuan chuckled dryly, glancing northward. "Counting the days, it should have begun by now. Actually, we should thank whoever plotted against Qingyan and Changtian. Without them, the Barbarians' hundreds of thousands of troops wouldn't have been wiped out so easily, and We might never have lived to see Our royal army return in triumph." *Buzz—* A soft drone resonated. The two dragon robes, one imperial yellow and one black, fluttered in the draft. Facing the pressure of the wind, Li Yaoxuan looked at Xu Yinhe, chuckling word by word: "The Chancellor is so preoccupied with chatting, it seems you forgot to play your stone." "This old minister indeed forgot." Xu Yinhe's voice was deep. He casually slapped the white stone between his fingers down toward the board with immense force, but right before it touched down, an invisible hidden force caught it. Li Yaoxuan's blackened lips curled into a bizarre smile: "Chancellor, on this board, you hold the advantage. If this stone flips the board, all your effort in this match will become a joke." With those words, *clack.* The white stone fell gently onto the board. "Now that's more like it." Li Yaoxuan leaned back slightly, bracing himself against the jade floor as he gazed up at the pavilion's vaulted ceiling: "If you want to win, you must endure what ordinary men cannot endure." Pausing for a moment, the old man lowered his eyes and suddenly laughed: "By the way, We instructed you to receive the emissaries of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion. How stands the matter currently?" Xu Yinhe lifted his eyes, his gaze already calm as an unruffled well: "Eunuch Hou accompanied the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion's arrival the entire way. Does Your Majesty really need to ask what you already know?" "Tsk, that useless wretch was almost cleaved in two by your brother-in-law's sword. What intelligence could he possibly have?" "At the time, he was mistaken for a sect spy trespassing on the Prime Minister's Manor's restricted grounds. I ask Your Majesty's pardon." "The fact that he held back until after the talks before striking is already quite satisfying to Us." Li Yaoxuan was noncommittal, chuckling softly: "However, We did hear that fellow Feng Jiuxuan gave his medallion to that little girl. Would the Chancellor care to enlighten Us?" "Eunuch Hou should know the specifics." "And so We are asking *why* that girl was given the Sword Saint's medallion." "..." Xu Yinhe said nothing. He tapped the board—*tok, tok, tok*, three times. Seeing this gesture, Li Yaoxuan's expression turned somewhat peculiar: "That third son of yours is certainly romantic by nature. Not like you at all, Chancellor." At that, he paused for an instant, then smiled playfully: "First the Imperial Preceptor's precious disciple, then the Saintess of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion, mm... and seemingly the Young Celestial Master of the Celestial Master Sect. Heh... Why do We feel that your Xu household is closer to the sects than Our imperial family?" "This minister trusts that Changtian and Changge know their boundaries." "It's just a pity for Our daughter." "This minister assumed Your Majesty did not care in the slightest." "Heh heh..." Li Yaoxuan chuckled lowly, remarking leisurely: "The imperial family knows no familial warmth, but after all, We are human too. Furthermore, that daughter of Ours is the only child of Ours who commands military authority." As he spoke, Li Yaoxuan casually placed a stone, then rose to his feet and walked to the window, gazing toward the north: "The Saintess was willing to carry that medallion and travel all the way north. Doesn't the Chancellor find that fishy?" The diplomatic mission from the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion had already been in the capital for a month, ostensibly to receive titles from the imperial court, but the court naturally had no desire to confer them. Using the Imperial Preceptor's absence as a pretext, they stalled on the grounds that the ceremony could not be held, while simultaneously refusing to approve Ran Jianli's petition to enter the capital. Stalling the bureaucratic procedures, they kept the people of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion stuck in the Imperial Capital. Yet to break the stalemate, the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion had offered the Saintess traveling north as an exchange to secure the court's immediate conferral of titles. This was exceedingly strange. The imperial court's stalling was merely an expedient measure. After all, the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion was no ordinary sect; its sheer scale was undeniable, and its affiliated sects across the southern border had already been officially titled. Even without new conferrals, their power would not diminish in the slightest. The imperial court compromising and granting the titles was only a matter of time. And the Saintess traveling all the way north to visit various sects—on the surface, she was promising benefits to rally their support at court, but in reality, it served to lull the various sects of the three northern provinces into complacency. "Fishy indeed. With that girl going to the three northern provinces, in the eyes of the realm's sects, the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion has practically thrown its weight behind our imperial court." Xu Yinhe's voice was steady and impassive: "However, this could also be a calculation by those sects; after all, the three northern provinces have already been abandoned by the realm's sects." Li Yaoxuan slowly turned his eyes back, speaking with a sinister chuckle: "You truly love playing dumb when you understand full well. The Overseeing Heaven Pavilion Master has accurately calculated Our appointed day of death, wishing for us to wipe out the northern sects as quickly as possible so that our internal strife may begin..."