TCPM 6

 

Chapter 6

Xu Jianyou had no choice but to bring Wei Zai along with her because the latter refused to leave. Since she was a spirit who could effortlessly walk through walls, Xu Jianyou couldn't chase her away and was forced to let her tag along. Remembering how Hikaru and Sai in Hikaru no Go were able to converse within their minds, she decided to try it out and was amazed to find that it actually worked. After practicing for a short while, she grew quite proficient at it. Since she had to attend classes, she and Wei Zai couldn't afford to engage in any bizarre behavior if Wei Zai insisted on following her. She drew up three chapters of ground rules with Wei Zai, and Wei Zai agreed to all of them. From then on, Wei Zai followed Xu Jianyou everywhere: she attended lectures with her and visited the library alongside her. Although she couldn't physically touch anything there, she would wander around the library, following along whenever she spotted an interesting book on someone's desk.

"What is your major?" Wei Zai's understanding of this modern world was progressing rapidly, and she had already grasped that university studies were divided by majors.

"Political science. Uh... can you even understand that?"

"The principles of governance and managing a state—hmm, it suits you very well."

"How does it suit me?"

"Xu Qingchu was exceptionally skilled at statecraft and possessed immense political leverage."

"I told you, I am not Xu Qingchu, I am Xu Jianyou!" Xu Jianyou said, growing somewhat irritated.

Wei Zai fell silent.

Indeed, she was nothing like Xu Qingchu. Xu Qingchu's heart was both hard and ruthless—ruthless toward her enemies, ruthless toward Wei Zai, and even more ruthless toward herself. She had incited Wei Zai to fight for the throne because Wei Zai's older brothers were locked in a bitter succession struggle that paralyzed the entire imperial court, leaving no one to attend to actual state affairs. When the great dykes of the Feng River burst, inundating over a dozen counties—including Xu Qingchu's own hometown—her entire family of ten was wiped out overnight, leaving her as the sole survivor. She needed revenge. And that hatred was immense; whom should she target? Was it the corrupt river administration officials? The derelict prefectures and commanderies? The factions of various princes who treated people's livelihoods as mere bargaining chips? Or perhaps Wei Zai's foolish and muddled father?

Wei Zai figured that if it were her, she probably would have resigned herself to fate, but Xu Qingchu did not. She had observed coldly from the capital for a long time, selecting Wei Zai as an unpromising hearth, and with single-minded firewood and kindling, she managed to spark a roaring blaze. Yet Wei Zai was a clueless blockhead who somehow fancied such a person; Xu Qingchu let it happen, even manipulating Wei Zai's affections right in the palm of her hand. She was a cunning hunter, while Wei Zai was the foolish roe deer that willingly walked straight into the snare. By the time Wei Zai figured it out, Xu Qingchu already held an unshakable weight in her heart. Stripping away the emotional component, Xu Qingchu was also the most vital among all the retainers from her days in the prince's manor.

When Wei Zai interrogated her about it, Xu Qingchu answered with total candor, detailing her profound hatred, her calculated scheming, her ulterior motives, and how she had lured Wei Zai into her trap. They were still lying on the couch when she confessed all this, the lingering allure of intimacy not yet fully dissipated. Wei Zai had hurt terribly, her heart clenched in a tight grip—how could it not hurt?—as she cried and asked, "Then do you not like me even a little bit?"

Xu Qingchu had replied, "That's not it either. I do genuinely like Your Highness; Your Highness is truly, wonderfully good."

Wei Zai was utterly dumbfounded; this was even more wounding than pure exploitation, as Xu Qingchu had her completely figured out. This person simply had no heart! Wei Zai cried a torrential flood, and Xu Qingchu didn't even try to coax her, merely staying by her side to accompany her. Until finally, after Wei Zai had cried her fill and thought things through, she asked Xu Qingchu, "Then why did you choose me anyway? I am also my father's child; shouldn't you have wanted to overturn the entire Wei clan instead?"

Xu Qingchu said that her hatred could only be resolved by clearing the rivers and pacifying the seas, and that simply overthrowing the Wei clan to crown herself king would do nothing more than throw the entire realm into chaos—making her no different from those rival princes. She chose Wei Zai because Wei Zai was different from her father and brothers; Wei Zai was a living, untainted soul. Thus, Your Highness was truly, truly good.

What could Wei Zai possibly do? She could only accept her fate, seeing as she couldn't keep her own heart under control! She asked again, "Then how can you guarantee that I won't change?"

"I will watch over Your Highness, always and forever." When she spoke those words, her gentleness was absolute, leaving Wei Zai unable to tell whether it was a threat or a promise.

Such was the kind of person Xu Qingchu was.

Xu Jianyou was entirely different; she was as innocent as a little white flower. In this lifetime, she ought to live a very happy life free of major hardships, without needing to scheme with calculated meticulousness, to the point that Wei Zai sometimes even found her a bit foolish.

For instance, she had once again allowed herself to be coaxed by her senior peers into taking on tasks that didn't belong to her in the first place.

Wei Zai threw a fit: "Can't you tell they are exploiting you? They should be doing their own work; otherwise, whose name is going on the final paper?" She had grown so familiar with the people and things around Xu Jianyou that she spoke almost without any trace of a person from over a thousand years ago.

"To suffer a loss is a blessing, you know," Xu Jianyou muttered offhandedly, keeping her head down as she worked.

"You really are... Ah, you're driving me crazy! An honest person gets bullied to death—grow some wits, will you!" Furious, Wei Zai reached out to tug at her hair.

"Ow, let go, let go!" Snatching her precious hair back from Wei Zai's grip, Xu Jianyou had no choice but to explain, "I know, I'm not just agreeing to everything. I'm actually a bit interested in their research project; if I don't help them do the work, where else am I supposed to look at their survey records?"

Wei Zai stopped being angry; this underhanded determination to achieve her goals bore a faint resemblance to Xu Qingchu.

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