Green Mountain
Chapter 391 - 316, White Jade Leaf

Chapter 391: 316, White Jade Leaf

Jiao Tu left.

In the desolate deep palace, only Xuan Su’s sobs remained.

Xuanzhen, holding a horsetail whisk, calmly scanned the surroundings, his gaze finally settling on Bai Li: "I didn’t expect that even when the Commandery Princess falls into Jingyang Palace, there would still be someone thinking of her, truly fortunate."

Bai Li ignored her, struggling to get up and headed towards the rear hall.

Xuanzhen chuckled: "Why don’t you take over Xuan Su’s responsibilities? If you are willing, I can give you a Taoist name today, Xuan Ji."

Bai Li stopped in her tracks, silent with her back to her.

Before she could respond, Xuan Su, disregarding her eye and hand pain, crawled towards Xuanzhen’s feet: "Master, I have served you for so many years, doing whatever you asked. You can’t just ignore me now!"

Xuanzhen looked down at Xuan Su at her feet with compassion and said, "You have repeatedly disturbed my tranquility. I see you are already afflicted with upper corpse gnawing the brain, disrupting the Niwan Palace, making your Divine Sense unclear; middle corpse gnawing the heart, blocking the Scarlet Palace, making it difficult for the heart fire to descend; lower corpse gnawing the abdomen, clogging the Dantian, causing true Qi to disperse. Plagued by the three corpse worms, there is no cure."

Xuan Su, with her remaining eye, turned to look at the Daoist nuns behind her, who stood in the dim hall, their expressions shrouded by shadows.

She turned back eagerly: "Master, I still have one good eye, my arm will soon heal. I can serve you tea and water, no one else serves you as well as I do! I promise not to disturb your cultivation anymore. Save me! I’ve suppressed them too long for you, if you don’t intervene now, they will tear me apart! Master!"

Xuanzhen asked curiously, "When did I ever ask you to oppress them?"

Xuan Su quickly replied, "No, no, I’m the one who acted as the villain of my own accord."

Xuanzhen sighed lightly: "Born to be killed, such is the way of the Tao, it’s your calamity to endure."

With that said, she looked up at the Daoist nuns: "Take Xuan Su back to the rear hall and let her rest."

The nuns swarmed up, grabbing Xuan Su’s right arm, dragging her forcibly back to the rear hall.

Xuan Su’s piercing wails gradually faded: "Xuanzhen, you are the real demon in this Jingyang Palace, you wicked demon will not die a good death, the Three Pure Ancestors will surely punish you!"

Xuanzhen remained indifferent, then looked towards Bai Li’s back: "Commandery Princess, have you made up your mind about taking over Xuan Su’s duties in managing Jingyang Palace affairs?"

Bai Li remained silent.

Xuanzhen spoke in a light tone: "You haven’t been here long, so you don’t know what you need to manage. Apart from the daily morning class and scripture recitation, you will also allocate meals, manage the monthly salary, officiate rites and ceremonies, write the annual ’Merit and Demerit Record,’ inspect others’ homework, and liaise with the Inner Court Eunuchs... These are rules, and every rule holds immense power."

She then pointed at the offerings on the altar with her whisk, smiling: "Even these offerings—apples, bananas, oranges, grapes, peaches—who gets to eat them and who doesn’t after they’re removed is a matter of great significance. As long as you’re willing to listen to me, all this power can be yours."

Bai Li softly replied: "I can’t do it."

Xuanzhen slowly withdrew her smile: "Commandery Princess, currently the palace is guarded by the Jiefan Guard, not the Spy Department. The Inner Court has already divided its power, the Jiefan Guard belongs to Wu Xiu, and the Spy Department belongs to the Prime Minister. Now that the division is still fresh, everyone maintains surface civility. But in time, the whole Jiefan Guard will become Wu Xiu’s people, and Jiao Tu’s zodiac as the head of the Spy Department won’t be able to move about freely anymore."

Xuanzhen continued leisurely: "I’ve been in this Jingyang Palace for over thirty years, and those who have come in and gone out can be counted on one hand. Commandery Princess, we will still be here together for decades, why insist on creating enmity?"

Bai Li remained silent for a long time, finally looking up at the imposing statue of the Three Pure Ancestors before her: "Master, I have no desire to make enemies, but my father taught me from a young age ’Do not impose on others what you do not desire for yourself,’ and ’Discern right from wrong, and judge people and matters clearly.’ Sometimes I question, in this place, why be a good person, as good people rarely meet good ends? Yet, while I don’t want to be a good person any longer, I also don’t want to become a complete villain, so let’s keep out of each other’s way."

"I’m afraid it’s not up to you to say ’let’s keep out of each other’s way,’" Xuanzhen gripped the horsetail whisk tightly: "Commandery Princess, maybe you think having Jiao Tu as backing is enough, but you don’t understand the ways of this world — sometimes killing doesn’t require a blade, and killing doesn’t necessarily spill blood... No matter, I’ll wait and see, perhaps in a few days you’ll change your mind."

With that, she turned and walked deeper into the side hall, the doors closing thunderously behind her.

...

...

Bai Li returned to the rear hall.

She stood barefoot outside the threshold, looking into the hall where Xuan Su was being forcibly held down by several Daoist nuns and pressed into a toilet bucket.

Inside the hall, no candles were lit, only the moonlight from above illuminated the blue tiles at the door.

The threshold of the rear hall resembled a wall, or the teeth in a gaping bloody mouth, inside was darkness, outside was moonlight.

The nuns glanced at her return, then continued their fierce words towards Xuan Su: "Xuan Su, today it’s your turn! Do you remember last winter when you made me stand in the snow and recite Taoist Scriptures?"

Another shouted angrily: "Do you remember, you made me eat buns picked from the slop bucket?"

Yet another added in rage: "Do you remember, you made me wash your feet every day?"

Those Daoist nuns, usually accustomed to silence, were no longer silent.

Bai Li stood outside the threshold for a long time, then finally stepped inside. She climbed onto the shared plank bed, sitting against the wall without saying a word.

Zhu Lingyun approached her with enthusiasm: "Sister, does it feel good?"

Bai Li hugged her knees, watching Xuan Su reap what she had sown, but she felt no joy.