FID – Chapter 1049

Chapter 1049: Be My Rogue

The hall assigned to the Saintess Tribe was called the Palace of Longevity. Those staying there included Liu Yusheng, the lead elder of this trip, Qian Fang, and two other maidens, Qian Xue and Qian Lan.

While outside, saintesses were not allowed to lift the veil from their faces outside, so during that time she could go without a mask.

Now, living here with these people in the Palace of Longevity, she had to wear the mask, or her true identity would be exposed.

The mask Xue Honglian had made carried a pretense of status. It belonged to someone of slightly impure bloodline, married off early, essentially invisible in the community.

Having appeared before others rarely, most of the younger generation in the tribe weren’t very familiar with her. Only the elders could barely remember her face, and recalling her name would take a moment.

In the village, saying the name Qian Mei usually required some thought before anyone could recall the person.

Liu Yusheng had no idea how Xue Honglian had found such a perfect person for her disguise—it was ideal.

Now, here she was, accompanying the group escorting the saintesses to the palace. The tribe back home certainly had records, so the real Qian Mei could not appear in the Saintess Village during this time.

As for where Xue Honglian had taken her, Liu Yusheng was not worried; she trusted Xue Honglian would not harm the innocent.

After everyone was settled, they did not wander around. With the perverted old eunuch pressing them day and night during the journey, everyone was already exhausted. Now that they finally settled down, they had no energy to go anywhere.

Liu Yusheng couldn’t even wait for news from the saintesses’ side. She collapsed and slept so deeply that she lost track of day and night.

When she woke up, night had already fallen, and she was roused by someone.

The saintesses had returned. As temporary attendants for them, before the newly assigned palace maids could settle in, Liu Yusheng and the others still had to take care of them, giving the maidens some time to adjust.

She got up and walked to the main hall of the Palace of Longevity. Lead elder Qian Fang and the six maidens were seated, speaking quietly among themselves.

The atmosphere wasn’t good; especially the expressions of the six maidens, which looked very grim to Liu Yusheng.

She moved silently to stand behind them, straining to listen.

“Elder, we must—”

“What nonsense!” One of the maidens was cut off by the elder before finishing. “This is the mission of our Saintess Tribe. Since we are already in the palace, we will stay properly! Stop thinking about irrelevant things!”

“But the emperor is already… already ninety years old! We…” The maiden trailed off, lowering her head as if about to cry.

The others also looked grim.

Hearing that the emperor was already ninety startled Liu Yusheng.

She had always heard that the emperor was old, but she hadn’t expected him to be ninety.

At this age, he still selects several sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girls every year? Isn’t he afraid of shortening his own life?

Birth, aging, sickness, and death are natural laws; going against them is impossible.

Throughout history, there have been emperors who sought immortality, but which one ended well in the end? All of them still could not escape the fate of death.

How could anyone avoid aging and dying when they are born humans?

Liu Yusheng’s gaze swept across the six beautiful maidens, and she lowered her eyes in silence. They were all victims of imperial power.

Girls at the bloom of youth were selected to enter the palace, and from this day on, their lives would wither away within its walls.

A single mission bound an entire tribe. Even knowing the fate that awaited their women in the palace, they still sent them in, never imagining resistance.

What is truly tragic—the world, or people themselves?

“Elder, saintesses, the night is deep. Perhaps it’s better to rest for now and discuss this tomorrow?” Liu Yusheng gently suggested, glancing at the night outside.

Elder Qian Fang looked at her in surprise, then nodded. “Go rest first. Don’t think about things you shouldn’t. If you must think, think of our Saintess Tribe.”

Think of what would happen to the tribe if the maidens resisted.

The maidens lowered their heads, rose in silence, and Liu Yusheng, along with the other two attendants, led them back to their rooms to rest.

Liu Yusheng had originally intended to take advantage of the opportunity to be alone with the holy maidens to ask about the Xiliang Emperor. But seeing them in this state, she realized that even if she asked, they probably wouldn’t be in the mood to gossip.

She would have to take it slow and not rush.

After having slept for half a day, when she returned to her room, Liu Yusheng no longer felt sleepy. She walked to the window, pushed it open, and tried to organize her thoughts.

Outside, palace lanterns cast shifting shadows, illuminating the surroundings in a soft, blurred glow. Overhead, the night sky hung a bright moon with few stars scattered about.

At this hour, in this atmosphere, nostalgia and longing seemed to rise more easily.

She missed home.

And she missed Feng Qingbai, even though they had only been apart for half a day.

She wondered where he had been assigned now, what he was doing, and whether he even knew she was in the Palace of Longevity.

Just as she was thinking this, he appeared.

Bathed in moonlight, he suddenly appeared outside her window, dressed in black, meeting her gaze directly.

“Brother Axiu, did you come down from the moon?” she asked blankly, staring at the corners of his mouth. She couldn’t hide the delight in her eyes, which seemed to twinkle with stars.

The man leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Those who come down from the moon are immortals,” he murmured. “Immortals are cold and detached. Do you think I’m one of them?”

Someone who flirts with women like this is not immortal.

He’s a charming rogue.

She laughed and reached out, wrapping her arms around his neck across the window sill. “Then don’t be an immortal. Just be my charming rogue.”

“As my lady commands,” he whispered close to her ear, his low laugh warm.

Then he flipped into the room and closed the window behind him.

Fortunately, the palace treated the Saintess Tribe generously. Even the attendants who came along had separate rooms. Small, but independent.

“How could you sneak over here? Wasn’t anyone watching?” she asked eagerly as soon as she sat down.

The palace should be full of spies. For him to appear outside her window, and then enter her room, if anyone had seen, it could have caused serious trouble.

“I checked. The Xiliang Emperor trusts the Saintess Tribe,” he explained. “Perhaps he believes the clan would never do anything against him. There are no hidden guards around the Palace of Longevity. But the imperial guards still patrol the area several times during their rounds.”

“And you and Honglian, where were you assigned? You’re palace guards now. You don’t have to be on duty?”

“Guards rotate shifts. They don’t stay on duty twenty-four hours a day…”

“Wei Zi stays with you twenty-four hours a day,” the girl shot back. She had even worried at one point that with Wei Zi watching him nonstop, he might suddenly collapse from exhaustion.

Feng Qingbai rubbed his brow. “He does rest.”

“I’ve never seen it.”

“Shengsheng, if you dare sneak off to check, I’ll assign him to the border.”

“……”

“So don’t go causing trouble for other people.”

“……”

Other people, meaning anyone except him.

Liu Yusheng quickly promised, “I absolutely won’t bother anyone!”

Her Axiu was normally perfectly reasonable, but when he got possessive, there was nothing he couldn’t do.