Chapter 313: Exorcising Demons

Outside the rear hall, Princess Yongchun was hopping around in the courtyard, chasing butterflies.

Inside the rear hall, Zhu Lingyun was hiding under the blanket, trembling.

In the corner of the side hall, Bai Li remained silent, quietly protecting the steamed bun in her arms as fists and feet landed on her. It hurt terribly, but someone had told her that everyone gets tired, even officials.

In less than the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, Xuan Su, with her obese body, stopped breathlessly.

She said menacingly:"Considering you've been obedient in the past and this is your first offense, I'll spare your life. If there's a next time, it won't be just a beating."

"Clean up this mess of food for me. If I see any grease on the floor when I come back tonight, I'll beat you again."

The Taoist nuns left cleanly. Bai Li leaned against the wall and struggled to stand up.

As she stood, the movement pulled at her wounds, making her gasp in pain.

She raised her hands and meticulously tied up her disheveled hair before slowly moving to clean up the food on the floor.

Bai Li left the side hall, and Zhu Lingyun rushed out from the rear hall, crying as she examined her:"Sis, are you okay? Don't fight them—they'll beat you to death."

Suddenly, Princess Yongchun in the courtyard said:"She won't die. She won't die."

Bai Li looked at her:"Why?"

Princess Yongchun laughed foolishly:"The moment we stepped into Jingyang Palace, we were already dead. We're just remnants left in this world. Once you've died once, you can't die again."

Bai Li was slightly startled. She walked over to Princess Yongchun and gently fixed her messy hair, asking softly:"Are you hungry? I have a steamed bun here."

Princess Yongchun lowered her head and looked at the butterfly on her fingernail.

She raised her hand, bringing the butterfly close to Bai Li:"Look, Brother Zhuoyuan has come to see me! Go on, say hello to Brother Zhuoyuan."

Bai Li hummed in response and smiled as she waved at the butterfly:"Nice to meet you."

Princess Yongchun laughed wildly:"He flew back from Lingnan to see me. Isn't that amazing?"

"Very amazing." Bai Li pulled a steamed bun from her embrace and placed it in Princess Yongchun's hand, then handed another to Zhu Lingyun. "Eat up."

Zhu Lingyun glanced at her cautiously:"Sis, are you okay?"

Bai Li smiled:"I'm fine."

She helped tidy Zhu Lingyun's hair as well:"Don't let your hair get messy, or they'll think we've given up."

Bai Li returned to the rear hall and sat quietly on the bunk bed, watching the daylight gradually fade. First, the orange-red sunset shone on the golden roof, then night fell over the earth.

At the hour of you, Qipan Street outside the palace gates was bright as day.

Palace lamps hung high at Daming Gate, red silk lanterns adorned the eaves of wine shops and teahouses, green lamps hung from the eaves of bookstores, and vendors selling midnight snacks carried white paper lanterns.

For a moment, the flickering lights sparkled like stars, which is how Qipan Street earned its reputation for the lantern market.

Meanwhile, in Jingyang Palace, it was time to extinguish the lights.

Xuan Su sat at the edge of the bunk bed and glanced sideways at Bai Li:"Aren't you going to fetch water for washing feet?"

Bai Li sat still.

Xuan Su pulled a ruler from under her pillow and sneered:"It seems you've really grown rebellious. I'll have to pull out that rebellious bone in you today."

Bai Li nodded:"No need—I'll go right now."

She turned and went to the side room. When she returned, she was carrying a basin of boiling water, which she threw straight at Xuan Su.

Xuan Su was startled and quickly pulled a Taoist nun in front of her to block it.

Even so, her two arms were scalded by the hot water.

The nun who was splashed screamed in agony.

Xuan Su let out a pig-like shriek. As she watched the skin on her hands turn bright red, the burning pain spread through her:"You're all mad! Beat her—beat her hard."

As soon as she spoke, Bai Li had already ducked into a corner of the rear hall, crouching down as they punched and kicked her. Xuan Su shouted shrilly:"Drag her out."

The group of Taoist nuns pulled Bai Li from the corner. She could only curl up to protect her vital organs and head. At one point, she felt a rib might have broken. But someone had told her that as long as a broken bone didn't pierce the heart or lungs, it wasn't too bad—at least better than a broken leg or arm.

Amid the beating, Xuan Su turned to glance at Zhu Lingyun, then looked down at Bai Li and taunted:"You're so willing to protect her, but has she ever protected you?"

Bai Li gritted her teeth and said nothing.

At some point, Bai Li fainted.

Someone said cautiously:"Have we beaten her to death?"

Xuan Su was alarmed but pretended to be calm:"If she's dead, so be it. Jingyang Palace has seen deaths before—who's one more? Enough—go get some ointment for me."

When Bai Li woke up, she was lying on the bunk bed.

The candles in the rear hall had been extinguished, and the air was filled with the scent of jinchuang medicine.

In the darkness, she heard soft sobbing. Turning her head, she saw Zhu Lingyun lying nearby, wiping her tears.

Zhu Lingyun choked out:"Sis, I'm so useless—I didn't dare help you."

Bai Li took a deep breath. As the air entered her chest, the broken bone caused excruciating pain.

She exhaled shakily and whispered:"It's okay. Fear is only natural."

Zhu Lingyun quickly said:"Sis, I won't cause you any more trouble. From tomorrow, I'll study the Dao scriptures properly, work hard, and stop being spoiled."

Bai Li didn't respond.

Zhu Lingyun added:"Sis, let's not fight them anymore. Let's just submit—they really will beat you to death."

Bai Li still didn't respond.

In the long silence, Zhu Lingyun whispered:"Sis, do you think anyone will save us? The Liu family is gone, and the Empress Dowager has never come to Jingyang Palace... Didn't you and Brother Di meet that Jianghu knife-wielder named Liang Gou'er? And there were all those Jianghu heroes Father helped back then—will they try to clear his name?"

Bai Li endured the pain and said:"Probably not."

Zhu Lingyun asked, puzzled:"Why?"

Bai Li said softly:"Lingyun, there's no Jianghu anymore."

Zhu Lingyun asked:"Didn't you and Brother Di meet that apprentice from the medical hall? What was his name—Chen Ji? If he ever joins the Imperial Medical Bureau in the capital, could he come to Jingyang Palace to help us?"

At the mention of that name, Bai Li froze.

She felt as if someone had punched her in the heart—the pain was etched into it, throbbing with every beat.

Bai Li whispered:"Lingyun, we can only rely on ourselves."

Zhu Lingyun pleaded:"Sis, then let's not fight them. Let's just live quietly in this palace."

Bai Li gazed at the dome and beams of the rear hall:"Lingyun, either we get out alive, or we die here. I don't fear either."

With that, she painfully propped herself up and pulled out a pair of chopsticks she had hidden at noon. She used both hands to snap one in half, leaving a sharp wooden splinter.

The next moment, ignoring the stabbing pain in her ribs, she stepped over the dozen or so Taoist nuns on the bunk bed and charged at Xuan Su.

Cries of pain came from the bunk bed as the nuns she stepped on curled up like shrimp. Xuan Su groggily opened her eyes and saw Bai Li's figure approaching, exclaiming in panic:"You..."

Bai Li lunged forward, driving the half-chopstick straight into Xuan Su's right eye.

But the chopstick, which should have pierced through, was blocked by Xuan Su's hands and couldn't go further.

Bai Li jumped off the bunk bed, flung open the rear hall's vermilion doors, and ran barefoot into the night.

Under the moonlight, she stepped on the cold blue bricks and fled through Jingyang Palace's main hall.

But this time, no one would hold the reins for her and lead her through the narrow passage.

Just as Bai Li was about to cross the main hall's threshold, the side hall door suddenly flew open, and a Dao scripture book flew out, hitting her leg squarely.

Bai Li fell to the ground, her old and new wounds tearing at her with pain.

She lay there and turned to look at the open door.

Xuan Zhen, holding a fly-whisk, walked out gracefully and stood beside her.

Only then did Xuan Su and the others catch up.

Seeing Xuan Zhen, they all paled and knelt down together:"We didn't mean to disturb your quiet cultivation, True Person. Please forgive us."

Xuan Zhen looked down at Bai Li, who lay unable to rise, and said with pity:"The sages say, 'To those who are good, I am good; to those who are not good, I am also good.' This means we should treat the good with goodness and the wicked with goodness as well. Xuan Su has been unfair, failing to treat others with goodness or respond to grievances with virtue. She must dispel the unkindness in her heart and clarify herself."

Xuan Zhen said calmly:"Slap yourself."

Xuan Su, ignoring the blood on her face, endured the pain and slapped herself until her cheeks were swollen before daring to stop, with blood splattering everywhere.

Xuan Zhen looked at the bloodstains on the blue bricks and said indifferently:"You've brought filth before the Three Pure Ones—slap yourself again."

Xuan Su gritted her teeth and slapped herself again. Suddenly, she spat out a mouthful of blood into her palm, mixed with a back molar.

She instinctively glanced at Xuan Zhen, saw her cold expression, and quickly swallowed the tooth along with the blood.

At this point, Xuan Zhen stopped tormenting her and turned to Bai Li:"The County Princess is incorrigible, with great evil in her heart, as if possessed by external demons. We must remove it."

Xuan Su trembled and asked unclearly:"How should we remove it?"

In the main hall, before the statues of the Three Pure Ones, Xuan Zhen said calmly:"The mouth and tongue are the gates of speech, the roots of right and wrong. Let's remove the tongue."

Xuan Su froze and subconsciously turned to look at the statues of the Three Pure Ones.

Xuan Zhen looked at her:"What is it?"

Xuan Su quickly said:"We'll remove the external demon's root right away."

Xuan Zhen turned and walked back to the side hall without looking back:"Xuan Su, this is the last time. If it happens again, you know the consequences."

"I know." Xuan Su stood up, wiped the blood from her face with her sleeve, and ordered the others to drag Bai Li back to the rear hall. But just then, a voice came from outside Jingyang Palace:"What a lively scene."

Xuan Zhen suddenly stopped at the side hall door, and Xuan Su whipped around to see a woman in black entering with her hands behind her back.

The woman glanced at Bai Li on the ground and exclaimed in surprise:"How did Jingyang Palace end up like this? You all don't look like you're cultivating at all."

Xuan Su froze:"Jiao Tu."

Jiao Tu smiled and stepped into the hall, casually pulling a silver needle from her sleeve and stabbing it into Xuan Su's chest. Xuan Su groaned and collapsed, convulsing.

Xuan Zhen turned back and asked softly:"The Twelve Zodiacs have honored us with your presence—forgive me for not welcoming you properly. But I don't think the matters of Jingyang Palace fall under the Twelve Zodiacs' jurisdiction."

Jiao Tu didn't explain that she was no longer part of them and feigned surprise:"Has the reputation of the Secret Service reached such lows? Where do you get the nerve to speak to me like that?"

As she spoke, she took out over a dozen silver needles from her sleeve and flicked them at the Taoist nuns.

In an instant, they all fell to the ground, sweating profusely in pain.

Xuan Zhen frowned:"What are you doing?"

Jiao Tu smiled:"Someone asked me to look after County Princess Bai Li. I took his payment and just got promoted, so I have to do my job well."

Bai Li froze.

Jiao Tu leaned against the doorframe and looked down at Bai Li with interest.

She noticed the bloodied half-chopstick in Bai Li's hand, reminding her of that night when Chen Ji held a bloodied shard of porcelain:"You two are quite alike."

Xuan Zhen frowned:"Do you know what Jingyang Palace is? How dare you act so wildly before the Three Pure Ones?"

Jiao Tu ignored her and looked up at the statues:"Let me think—what is Jingyang Palace? Hmm, this is a place of harm. Xuan Zhen, you escaped being buried with the late emperor by hiding here with the Empress Dowager's help, enduring all that suffering. Princess Yongchun was locked up here out of unrequited love and driven mad. Xuan Su was exiled here just for accidentally breaking a favored consort's treasure. By rights, you should all support each other, but instead, you torment others even more."

Xuan Zhen said calmly:"In Jingyang Palace, we are all women without virtue. I'm merely disciplining them."

Jiao Tu laughed:"Xuan Zhen, I'm not one for reasoning or debates. Just remember one thing: Not a single hair on County Princess Bai Li's head can be harmed in your Jingyang Palace, or I'll make sure you're all turned into files. Do you understand? If you're not convinced, say no right now and try me."

Xuan Zhen said nothing.

Jiao Tu turned away from her and squatted in front of Bai Li, smiling:"County Princess Bai Li, you're truly beautiful. It's a waste for you to suffer in a place like this."

After a moment of hesitation, Bai Li whispered:"Why are you helping me?"

Jiao Tu thought for a moment, then teased:"I have no connection with you, so it's not out of sympathy."

Bai Li said softly:"Chen Ji."

Jiao Tu chuckled:"That boy may say heartless things, but he can't escape a woman's eye. I used to think he betrayed King Jing, but now I wonder if there's more to it. After seeing so much deceit in Wunian Mountain, it's refreshing to encounter something pure. County Princess, live well—I want to see if he can save you."

Bai Li said nothing.

By now, Xuan Su and the others' pain had subsided. Xuan Zhen glanced at them:"Get back to the rear hall."

Jiao Tu pointed at the group of Taoist nuns and asked Bai Li with interest:"Who bullied you the most? I'll break one of her arms as a little punishment."

Xuan Su's face changed, and she stepped back subconsciously:"True Person, save me."

But Xuan Zhen, holding her fly-whisk, remained silent.

Jiao Tu looked at Xuan Su and laughed:"So it's you."

Xuan Su cried out:"County Princess, we have no mortal grudge."

As Bai Li silently gazed at the red palace walls outside Jingyang Hall, Xuan Su's cries of pain echoed behind her again.