Chapter 127: Chapter 127: Linglong’s Lost Her Wits Since Childhood

Jing Zhong withdrew with his men, while the shadow guards retreated to their hiding spots. In a flash, the room was deserted except for Xianzong and Cheng Guan. State Preceptor Xianzong saw that Xianzong looked on the cusp of fainting again and tried, “Your Majesty, are you alright?”

“Can Zhen possibly be alright?” Xianzong snapped back.

The state preceptor sighed. Her Royal Highness is probably perfectly fine right now, but neither I nor His Majesty are doing well.

Unable to sit still, Xianzong stood up and folded his hands behind his back to pace in circles. When he felt his legs going weak, he sat back on the couch and said, “You aren’t lying to Zhen, right?”

What could State Preceptor Cheng Guan say?

Xianzong looked at Cheng Guan with eyes of hope. It would be great if this was all one big joke from the State Preceptor. Then he could keep sleeping and wake up to another beautiful sunrise tomorrow, hehe.

Cheng Guan said, “Your Majesty, deceiving the sovereign is a capital offense.”

“Zhen will pardon you,” Xianzong said immediately.

“……..” said State Preceptor Cheng Guan.

The shadow guards all sighed in their hiding spots. Why do you keep on struggling when it comes to someone like Princess Linglong, Your Majesty? So what if she neared regicide when she took you to jump off a building? The true daring comes from the fact that Her Royal Highness wants to kill the junior master.

Xianzong looked at State Preceptor Cheng Guan and shook his head. “When the empress gave birth to Linglong, Zhen was standing guard outside the entire time.”

“What does Your Majesty mean by that?” Cheng Guan asked. They were talking about Eternal Life Temple now, so what did that have to do with Princess Linglong’s birth?

Xianzong said, “It’s impossible for me to have picked up the wrong child, so Linglong is Zhen’s daughter.”

“…..” said Cheng Guan.

“……….” said the shadow guards.

All of them grew equally despondent. Wasn’t it too late to suspect the princess’s birth origins now?

Just how did this man end up as the sovereign of a nation? the state preceptor wondered as he looked at Xianzong.

Xianzong was still muttering to himself. “Zhen can’t just abandon Linglong, ah. What to do?”

State Preceptor Cheng Guan said, “Your Majesty, how about summoning everyone here to talk it over?”

“No good,” Xianzong refused. “What if they’re afraid of Eternal Life Temple’s vengeance and force Zhen to hand over Linglong for the monks to deal with? Linglong is my daughter by flesh and blood!”

The state preceptor’s mouth twitched. I know you’re Princess Linglong’s father, but do you have to say that again and again?

Xianzong cradled his cheek in one hand to think up solutions. Whether or not Junior Master Fenglin died had nothing to do with him–it wasn’t like he was his father! The problem was his daughter. The empress was already dead after birthing a son, so who was he supposed to talk to about these matters?!

State Preceptor Cheng Guan suggested, “Your Majesty, how about asking the princess to leave the capital city first?”

Xianzong chuckled. His daughter was facing off against Eternal Life Temple. Where could she flee to escape their clutches? “State Preceptor, Zhen has suddenly realized something,” he said.

“What did you realize, Your Majesty?” State Preceptor Cheng Guan asked while privately hoping it wasn’t about the princess’s birthright again.

Xianzong said, “Zhen suddenly realized that Zhuri and the other nations, as well as my Fengtian, are all vassals to Eternal Life Temple, ah. Do you think so too, State Preceptor? Zhen is now perplexed: just who owns this kingdom?”

The shadow guards had already given up all hope for their master. State Preceptor Cheng Guan was none other than a member of Eternal Life Temple himself, so what kind of idiot would tell him such things? Your Majesty, are you planning to revolt? What’s the difference between your words and Princess Linglong wanting to choke Junior Master Fenglin to death?

State Preceptor Cheng Guan stared at Xianzong, at a loss for words. Xianzong stared back before he suddenly burst out, “Heheh, Zhen remembers now, State Preceptor is a high monk of Eternal Life Temple too.”

Unable to bear his idiocy any longer, State Preceptor Cheng Guan blurted, “Stop chuckling and think of what to do instead, Your Majesty!”

“Is State Preceptor angry?” Xianzong asked. “When Zhen heard Linglong ‘heheh-ing’ like this, I felt the same way.”

“……” said Cheng Guan.

“……….” said the shadow guards, who could understand His Excellency State Preceptor’s mood if he decided to kill the emperor right now.

“Huff,” State Preceptor Cheng Guan exhaled to suppress his temper. “Your Majesty, it’s better to call everyone in for a discussion. This matter concerns the fate of Fengtian Country, so the officials of the court need to know.”

Xianzong scratched his head and said, “State Preceptor, did the junior master say anything?”

“Your Majesty means to say?”

“Did he say he’d give his all against Linglong?”

State Preceptor Cheng Guan shook his head. “He didn’t.”

Xianzong then asked, “Does the junior master know that Linglong was only fooling around and joking with him?”

State Preceptor Cheng Guan replied, “Your Majesty, the princess not only closed her fingers around the junior master’s throat, but seriously injured one of the junior master’s attendants.”

Xianzong sighed. “That’s right, Zhen even knows that junior master was poisoned.”

So what’s the point of saying such useless things? State Preceptor Cheng Guan really wanted to blow his top.

“Is there proof?” Xianzong asked next.

State Preceptor Cheng Guan replied, “Everyone witnessed the princess injuring the attendant and choking the junior master.”

“Zhen doesn’t find that to be a problem,” Xianzong said.

“That’s not serious?” State Preceptor Cheng Guan cried.

Xianzong said, “Linglong had a tendency to lose her wits ever since she was a child. Zhen can have the imperial physicians send her medical records to Eternal Life Temple for the head monk to review.”

Lose her wits?

Alright, both State Preceptor Cheng Guan and the shadow guards found this to be a plausible excuse. Nobody could claim to meet a lunatic on the same playing field, right?

State Preceptor Cheng Guan reminded Xianzong, “Your Majesty, Eternal Life Temple has superb medical skills and medical monks. Suppose the head monk sends people to examine Her Royal Highness? What will you do then?”

“There’s nothing to fear,” Xianzong waved a hand, “As Zhen sees it, there hasn’t been a day recently when Linglong wasn’t mad.”

Now State Preceptor Cheng Guan wanted to chuckle too.

“Zhen is thinking like this,” Xianzong went on to explain. “Zhen takes the case of Junior Master’s poisoning very seriously. Although you say this is the princess’s doing, State Preceptor, Zhen doesn’t find it likely.”

“Your Majesty doubts this monk’s words?” State Preceptor Cheng Guan asked.“

“It’s not that Zhen doubts State Preceptor,” Xianzong elaborated, “But anyone capable of switching the soups, whether in secret or under the watch of Junior Master’s high-level guards, must be a bold but cautious fellow in Zhen’s eyes. They’ve got to be intelligent, alert, and resourceful enough to pull it off.”

“So Your Majesty means to say?”

“Zhen believes that Linglong has plenty of guts, but she lacks the brains,” Xianzong said sternly. “It’s impossible for Linglong to be the culprit unless the junior master has proof she did it. State Preceptor, does Junior Master have such evidence?”

State Preceptor Cheng Guan thought over Xianzong’s words before he was left tongue-tied. “Your Majesty means that, that you want…”

“Zhen doesn’t want to act shamelessly,” Xianzong finished for him, “Linglong is Zhen’s daughter and Zhen knows she isn’t capable of such a deed.” He pointed at his brain and added, “State Preceptor, you have to believe it, Linglong’s never had much of a brain.”