Through casual conversation, Gu Qingfeng learned that this imposing, majestic young man shared his surname—Gu, with the given name Zhenyuan.
He had initially thought it was this Gu Zhenyuan who had kindly taken him in, but it turned out that wasn't the case. It was said to be their young mistress.
Hearing this, Gu Qingfeng was quite surprised.
This Gu Zhenyuan possessed both the Immovable Mountain Treasure Body and the Vajra Great Dharma Form—both were great fortunes of the Buddhist path. If there were any Buddhist temples or monasteries in this world, they would surely enshrine this fellow like a living Buddha. Even without temples or Buddhist cultivators, entering any major sect would at least earn him a position as a direct disciple. So how, after all this, was he merely a household servant here?
What in the blazes kind of place was this?
And who exactly was this young mistress?
Her status seemed a bit too lofty.
"Little brother, our young mistress is no ordinary young lady. She is Princess Royal Tang Manqing."
"Princess Royal? Which kingdom's princess royal?"
"Yanluo Kingdom, of course. Little brother, haven't you heard of our mistress's name?"
Who Princess Royal Manqing was, Gu Qingfeng truly hadn't heard of.
But Yanluo Kingdom—he knew it. Not only did he know it, but he had also stayed in that country for a very, very long time.
Thinking of Yanluo Kingdom, a name involuntarily surfaced in his mind: Yanluo Empress, Tang Hengxi.
Back then.
He was not yet the Lord Chixiao, but a criminal newly fled from the Great Northwest into the Divine Land, hunted by the Immortal Court.
Back then.
Tang Hengxi was not yet the Yanluo Empress, but the noble princess of Yanluo Kingdom.
In his memory.
She was a gentle, moving woman, a peerless and matchless woman, and also a woman deeply concerned for her country and its people.
Back then.
The two had met after barging into an ancient cave abode.
They became acquainted after both fell into the cave abode's trap formations.
They became indebted to each other through mutual acts of kindness.
They grew to understand each other through mutual admiration.
Back then.
The Yanluo emperor suddenly died, throwing Yanluo Kingdom into chaos. Internal strife and external threats arose: within, princes slaughtered each other vying for the throne; without, major sects and clans rebelled; above, the Immortal Court watched like a tiger eyeing its prey. And Gu Qingfeng, for that chance encounter and acquaintance in the ancient cave abode, and for the understanding and debts that followed, single-handedly helped Tang Hengxi quell the struggle within the imperial family, eradicate the clan rebellions, and put an end to the Immortal Court's covetous gaze upon Yanluo Kingdom.
It was an act of aid without compensation.
Gu Qingfeng back then was not repaying any debt of gratitude to Tang Hengxi.
Because the debt incurred in that cave abode had long been repaid.
The reason for helping without compensation was perhaps that abrupt encounter, perhaps his admiration for a gentle, moving woman like Tang Hengxi, perhaps entirely due to male chauvinism, or perhaps because he was already a criminal hunted by the Immortal Court at the time and didn't fear attracting more trouble.
As for why he helped Tang Hengxi back then, Gu Qingfeng could no longer clearly remember.
He only remembered.
That after he left Yanluo Kingdom, Tang Hengxi searched everywhere for him, even going so far as to abandon the throne.
But by then, Gu Qingfeng was already mired deeper in the quagmire of the Immortal Court, struggling to protect himself—how could he see her?
If Gu Qingfeng hadn't been hunted by the Immortal Court back then, he felt he might truly have stayed in Yanluo Kingdom. Because he truly admired that gentle, agreeable feeling Tang Hengxi exuded—perhaps it should be called liking. At the very least, back then, the ideal immortal Dao partner in Gu Qingfeng's heart was a woman like Tang Hengxi: beautiful without being gaudy, gentle yet not lacking fortitude, decisive yet not devoid of tenderness.
Unfortunately.
This world had no 'ifs'.
Regret?
Not really.
Just a bit of sentimentality, that's all.
What made him even more sentimental was that he never expected, after so many years and his Silent Extinction Rebirth, to appear within Yanluo Kingdom's borders, and in the residence of a princess royal, no less.
Princess Royal?
Wait!
Gu Qingfeng carefully recalled. Tang Hengxi seemed to have eight brothers. Four of them had died in that struggle for the throne back then, while the other four were princes who had supported Tang Hengxi. He not only knew them all but was familiar with them.
Since she was a princess royal, she must be the daughter of one of those four princes.
Thinking of this, Gu Qingfeng asked, "Whose daughter is this Princess Royal Manqing you speak of?"
"This is Yunhao Royal Manor. Princess Royal Manqing is naturally the daughter of Prince Yunhao."
Gu Zhenyuan stared with tiger-like eyes, as if unable to comprehend why this little brother before him would ask such an idiotic and ignorant question.
"Yunhao Royal Manor? Tang Yunhao? Hahahaha!"
Hearing 'Yunhao Royal Manor', Gu Qingfeng couldn't help but burst into laughter. While strolling earlier, he had been wondering why this place felt so familiar. So it turned out to be that fellow Tang Yunhao's royal manor.
Tang Yunhao was a prince of Yanluo Kingdom back then, and also Tang Hengxi's elder brother.
True to his name.
He was a forthright and generous man.
One could say he and Gu Qingfeng were birds of a feather. Back when Gu Qingfeng was in Yanluo Kingdom, Tang Yunhao would drag him over to drink at every opportunity.
Speaking of this Tang Yunhao, in Gu Qingfeng's memory, he was a crude fellow—so crude he hardly resembled a noble prince, more like a knight-errant roaming the jianghu.
After quelling the internal and external troubles back then, Tang Hengxi originally wanted Tang Yunhao to ascend the throne. But that fellow absolutely refused to become emperor, saying being emperor meant no freedom. He'd rather die than be emperor. In the end, Tang Hengxi, left with no choice, could only ascend the throne as a princess, becoming Yanluo Kingdom's first empress.
"Is Tang Yunhao here at the manor?"
"This..." Opposite him, Gu Zhenyuan looked at Gu Qingfeng with a peculiar expression.
"What's wrong?"
"The prince and his consort have been traveling abroad for many years... they rarely return..."
Traveling?
Gu Qingfeng smiled wryly. That certainly fit Tang Yunhao's temperament. That fellow couldn't stay idle. If it weren't for that, he wouldn't have given up the throne back then.
The more he thought about it, the funnier it seemed. Gu Qingfeng truly never expected to be taken in by Tang Yunhao's daughter, and to wake up in the very Yunhao Royal Manor where he used to come drink so often back then. This really was...
Gu Qingfeng hadn't much believed in fate before. Now, he was coming to believe more and more in this existence called fate—something so ineffable, so mysterious and wondrous, so profound and subtle.
"Little brother, you're not from our Yanluo Kingdom?"
"Me? I'm not..."
"Then you are..."
"I suppose... I'm from the Great Northwest."
"So you're from the Great Northwest borderlands."
Just now, Gu Zhenyuan had been wondering why this little brother kept asking such common-knowledge questions. Both Prince Yunhao and Princess Royal Manqing were famous figures under heaven—at least, in the Divine Land, one would be hard-pressed to find someone who didn't know them. Even if one wasn't from Yanluo Kingdom, they should know Princess Royal Manqing was Prince Yunhao's daughter. However, upon hearing Gu Qingfeng say he was from the Great Northwest, Gu Zhenyuan understood.
The Great Northwest, after all.
Borderland territory.
Not being familiar with the situation in the Divine Land was only to be expected.
Gu Qingfeng hesitated for a moment, then asked again, "Brother... is Tang Hengxi still the emperor of your Yanluo Kingdom now?"