Chapter 74

74 Throne of Da Yang will no longer be the crown prince’s! Part I

To explain it simply, Yoknapha was dumped by her boyfriend. Or in another word, ‘broken-hearted’.

Some people when they were heart-broken, they would lose interest in things around them and become withdrawn, while some would cry their eyes out. Yoknapha was one of the latter categories, only a step further. She committed suicide. Without Li Wenrou, her life had no one left.

The day her father revealed that he had a mistress, the day that family was no longer a family, the day her mother died of heartbreak. During those days, she felt as if the whole world had collapsed around her. In the new world, a new woman who came to replace her mother, money took the place of her father’s care.

Yoknapha’s world had only herself and the money her father dumped on her. She grew up alone, amidst the twisted thing called family that was only strangling her.

When Yoknapha was finally strong enough to leave the people who had destroyed her life, she had her grandmother who made her want to continue to live. But her grandmother could not be her every reason...And then, she met Li Wenrou.

The man who was a warm blanket shielding her away from the cold and harsh world.

Yoknapha was scarred by her father, and that made her often skeptical of Li Wenrou’s fidelity. She did not want to be like her mother, who was silent and kind, and was not enough for her father to stay.

Apart from her mother and grandmother, Li Wenrou was her only happiness. Yoknapha could not bear to lose him! She never expected that the blanket that held her was also blinding her sight, making her a fool for three full years.

It was like another stab into the already festering wound. She no longer had any will to heal this wound, so she chose death as her escape. She still loved him, but it also hurt too much. And so, the current Bai Yu chose not to go to meet Ouyang Wenrou.

.....

One reason was that her heart was broken by him once already, in another life. Though he had no memory of it, he still had the same soul and similar face and personality. To prevent herself from creating any karma or bonds binding them together again, Bai Yu decided that from now on, she would evade him. It was time for her to sever all ties like ‘broken-hearted’ people did.

Another reason was that she knew what the gentle Wei Wang wanted to tell her. It would obviously be about the person who had targeted her that time in the woods. She was not letting the matter go, but she already knew who was behind the incident.

Bai Yu was the first miss of the Bai family and the precious granddaughter of the Yue family. Furthermore, she was greatly favored by both the Empress and Empress Dowager. Apart from those two pillars of the inner court, Bai Yu held the highest authority. It was only a matter of time before she married a prince. Bai Yu’s power could threaten Taizi Fei’s phoenix throne, the same way as her future husband would threaten Taizi’s dragon throne.

Though Bai Yu had yet to marry, she was considered a threat by a certain woman nonetheless. A woman who could be above her only in name, Taizi Fei!

Out of all in the capital, there were only a few who would dare to harm Bai Yu. And from the series script, Taizi Fei was the sole person that was brave enough to hurt her to the point of drawing blood. Bai Yu was a villainess perfect in every way apart from her love life, it was not a surprise she was hated by someone.

“Is there any letter?”

After burning the prince’s letter, Bai Yu focused on training for over seven days. This was the day she was going to meet with the anonymous master or Xu Luanle at an inn in the capital. If nothing went wrong, her new friend would send her a letter to confirm their meeting, according to what he had told her before she left that day.

“There’s an invitation from the royal consort, Bai Defei.”

“Bai Defei?” Bai Yu arched a brow.

“It’s the second miss. Miss Bai Xue. She received title Defei two days ago.”

“Bai Xue?”

Bai Yu took the invitation to read. Its content was mainly about how the new royal consort of the rank Fei wanted to see her sisters since she felt lonely in the palace. Bai Yu made a ‘humph!’ sound.

The true intent behind this letter was to invite her and her other half-sisters to mock. Her second sister was not a simple foe like Bai Hua who was straightforward or Bai Yue who was full of wiles but still inexperienced.

This Bai Xue was cold and calculated. That was why Bai Yu and her mother asked her father to send her to the palace in Bai Yu’s place in order to secure the Bai family’s influence, and also to get rid of obstruction in Bai Yu’s life.

Obviously, Bai Xue knew of their plan, though she could do nothing. She had no right to refuse, not even when she knew she could never become the Empress, might not be able to reach the rank Fei, even.

But today, she sent Bai Yu an invitation as Defei. Bai Yu could only assume two things from this. One, she was vicious and capable enough to rise to that rank. Two, there was someone behind her.

Bai Xue becoming Defei meant that she had more power than before, and that could both be a good or bad thing for Bai Yu. To make the matter worse, she never became Defei in the series, so Bai Yu could not predict anything.

If the person who supported her was Empress Dowager Wei, then Bai Xue would never be able to hurt Bai Yu, but at the same time, it would become much harder for her to escape from Ouyang Mingxian.

But if that person was someone else, then Bai Yu could only see this affecting her negatively.

Bai Yu knew how much Bai Xue resented her and her mother for ripping her youth that she should have had away. If Bai Xue now came to power and her benefactor was not on Bai Yu’s side like Empress Dowager Wei, then Bai Yu would effectively have another enemy. But that did not concern her at all. She had both her family’s power and strong magic. Now, anyone who wanted to could come at her. She was no longer the old Bai Yu in the series who was beautiful but weak, evil but stupid.

And so she accepted Bai Xue’s invitation, then ordered Xiao Chang to bring two chests of clothes from the anonymous master’s shop that she had designed, including pieces of jewelry, and give them to Bai Hua and Bai Yue equally.

If she wanted to invite her there to mock, then Bai Yu was unafraid. She was confident she herself was superior to Bai Xue. But her half-sisters who would come with her also could not lose to the new Defei!

“Miss, there’s also a letter from Master Xu.”

“Give it to me.”

“But miss...” Xiao Xi showed a troubled expression.

“What is it?”

“If it’s a letter from Qin Wang or Wei Wang then I won’t say a word about it, but this is from Xu family’s eldest son. If someone knows that miss is exchanging letters with a man that’s not Qin Wang...”

“You’re overthinking.” Bai Yu almost burst out laughing at Xiao Xi’s thoughts. Truthfully, she was correct in her concern for Bai Yu. It was only that Master Xu was not the kind of person Bai Yu would worry that he would taint her reputation.

“The anonymous master contacts me through Master Xu. Don’t misunderstand.”

“Really, miss?” Her puppy maid’s face looked much better now. Bai Yu gave her a smile and a confirming nod. Then, she finally had Xu Luanle’s letter in her hand. Obviously, it detailed the time and place just like what they had agreed on.

Bai Yu happily stepped out of her building to train sword fighting in the afternoon. During these past seven days, Bai Yu trained in hand-to-hand combat with Yue Chen in the morning. It made her body more alert and was also a useful basic skill that she could integrate into her defensive stance against Yue Huiling. Sometimes, Bai Yu would counterattack when she saw the chance.

Though she said nothing, Yue Huiling complimented Bai Yu’s aptitude for learning and adapting. Furthermore, she could excellently combine skillsets she already possessed in fighting.

The most evident result of Bai Yu’s progress was her bruises that became fewer and fewer, to the point that Bai He no longer came to ‘observe’ them like when she had first started. Maybe if Bai Yu practiced the forms until she mastered, she would have her own forms apart from what Yue Huiling had taught her, the same as in some situations when Bai Yu could use her novel forms to attack Yue Huiling.

Clunk!

“Ouch”

A wooden sword in Yue Huiling’s left hand squarely hit her forehead. A trace of red appeared, apparent on her white skin. Her right hand held her training sword against her teacher’s neck, while her left hand was holding the place where she felt was hurt.

“You could defend almost every attack now. You’re doing fine, but you’re too reckless.” Yue Huiling pushed Bai Yu’s sword away and said, panting. She had been attacking her biaomei for two shichens without stopping.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“At least I did great today, time-wise.” Still hurt and out of breath, she contentedly answered.

“From tomorrow on you should bind your hand with a cloth. Before your delicate lady’s hand becomes full of callus.”

Bai Yu said nothing, only rubbing her forehead to alleviate the pain as much as she thought she could. From beginning to end, she maintained her smile despite the sharp words from Yue Huiling. The lieutenant-general saw her reaction as only making a huffing sound before picking up the sword on the ground and throwing it to Bai Yu. Xiao Xi hurriedly came to take it away from her miss, as clever as ever.

“Tomorrow I’ll teach you to attack stances, and I’ll have more time to compensate for today.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Though her words were curt, Bai Yu still sent her cousin off with a smiling face.

“It seems like the lieutenant-general is not as cold toward miss like the first time you met.”

“That’s why I’m smiling at her more than before.”

“Miss too, you’ve become much more beautiful and stronger.”

“You sure can sweet-talk.” Bai Yu walked to the gazebo next to the training ground where Xiao Xi had prepared tea and snacks like always. There was also water for her to wash her face before she could go and take bath after her sweat dried.

“The weather today’s cool and comfortable. Not too cold. Bring me my guqin.”