"A'Zhi, A'Zhu, there's one thing that has been bothering me for a while now. You've been by Xinzi's side the longest, so I thought you could enlighten me." While passing her hand through a Mini-Overlord's fur, Dong Ling chatted with the Zhi-Zhu twins, who by Xinzi's orders, directed the tweaking and management of the new Liberation Temple.
"Depends on what you want to know."
"Without the abbot's permission, there are certain things we will not share," the Zhi-Zhu twins said in perfect sync, making Dong blink in awe of their mental teamwork.
"It's that thing, the Haoyue scandal that occurred 1.5 years ago. Back then, many believed that it was connected to Xinzi. After all, Haoyue is said to have been driven insane by a Lianist monk, and Xinzi was the White Immortal Sect's only male monk.
Shui Haoyue is the only princess of the Dongli state. Though in the White Immortal Sect, that status cannot shake the world, background-wise, it still put her at the upper echelon. Yet, instead of giving Haoyue justice, the great elders personally suppressed the matter. Even my father couldn't give uncle Jiankang a satisfying explanation, and we all know how he dotes on his relatives. Xinzi aside, who could have forced the sect's high level to make such concessions?
Which is why I don't understand. Haoyue was so sweet, I can't believe that Xinzi would harm her—at least not without good cause." The Dongli king, Shui Jiankang, was Guang Fanghu's maternal cousin, which also made Shui Haoyue Dong Ling's cousin. Though their bond wasn't as deep as the sister-rivalry that Dong Ling shared with Chun Xu, the snakegirl was very fond of that cousin, and for a while, begrudged Xinzi for driving her out of the White Immortal sect.
"Sweet? I suppose you could say that."
"Why not just ask the abbot?" Again, A'Zhi and A'Zhu followed one another, their minds drifting to the events that Dong Ling mentioned. Back then, though they already worked in the Liberation Temple, they had yet to become Xinzi's initiates—basically acting as his maids.
"It will annoy him, he doesn't like talking about Haoyue," Dong Ling said, reminiscing the last time she mentioned Haoyue's name next to Xinzi.
"Mhm...it's actually not that much of a secret. The abbot doesn't mention it out of consideration for past feelings, but if you asked, he'd likely start with something along the lines of 'In the profession of chasing gals, even for elite skirt-chasers like myself, the occasional mistake is unavoidable. Men of culture have no room for regret, preferring to learn and grow from their mistakes. But one time, a woman did make me feel more regret than growth—so much so that I wished I'd never laid my eyes on her. That woman...is Haoyue."
To understand Xinzi's story with Shui Haoyue, we have to go back to one and a half years ago, back when our monk had just become a black-grade Formation Master. Actually, let's go a bit further back, to the day preceding Xinzi's breakthrough.
...
"Did you hear? A prince of the first rank was just sentenced to death by 10,000 cuts!"
"How could I not hear? It's the only thing the country is talking about. To think that a first-rank prince would suffer such a slow and torturous death. How terrifying...and humiliating! Now the royal family's prestige sweeps the floor, and the Shui don't know where to hide."
"Huh? Wasn't he sentenced by the Dongli king himself? How can this damage the royal family's prestige?"
"You really believe that Shui Jiankang would sentence one of his most promising royal juniors to death for this nonsense attempted rape? If you know, you know. If you don't, don't dig deeper! We're only small fries, let's not discuss topics way above our pay grade!"
The White Immortal Sect disciple shivered as he recalled the ins and outs of this matter. One year ago, this same prince overflowed with momentum, and while celebrating his promotion to inner court prime disciple, announced that he'd soon take two well-known inner court beauties as his concubines.
He wasn't Shui Jiankang's son, having received the title solely due to his outstanding cultivation potential. A bright future lay ahead of him. Alas, he forgot the most basic of cultivation world principles: "There are men above men and Heavens beyond the Heavens!"
In his lust, that unfortunate prince offended one he shouldn't. One that even the Dong and Zi clan juniors trod carefully with: Abbot Xinzi!
A'Zhi and A'Zhu, the twin sisters that the lustful prince was about to coerce into becoming his concubines, received the protection of Abbot Xinzi, overnight becoming out of reach.
But unlike the persona that his gentle face and merry demeanor portrayed, Abbot Xinzi was beyond cruel, and after leaving the prince in limbo for an entire year, still had him sliced to death on trumped-up charges!
Not many knew that Xinzi was behind the execution. And those who did shivered in silence.
This was Xinzi's anniversary gift to the Zhi-Zhu twins, his way of celebrating the conclusion of their first year in the Liberation Temple.
The two found it somewhat over the top, but one girl, who knew the ins and outs of this story, found it rather endearing. That girl now stood at the Liberation Temple Abbot's gate, dressed in a long blue dress, with cascading black hair tied by a jeweled hairpin. Her upturned eyes shone like a phoenix's gaze, and as she waltzed into Xinzi's study, her red lips flashed a gentle and mesmerizing smile.
"Mhm...wide hips but compact breasts. Your body looks strange. Tell me girl, how did you inflate those hips? Not that I mind, I'm a hip and butt man myself. But it's still strange to see such failed proportions." Barely had Haoyue made her entrance that Xinzi's voice echoed, leaving the Dongli princess speechless.
"Impressive. In broad daylight, you don't even bother with the 'hi' or 'how are you' and directly go for harassment."
"Did you not come to get harassed? There is only one girl across the Dongli state that doesn't respect the White Immortal Sect's dress code: Dong Ling. You, Shui Haoyue, have always abided by the rules, always dismissing rouge and jewelry. But, here you are with four golden hairpins, a jeweled headdress, rouge on your lips, and a tight blue dress that perfectly highlights your curves.
More importantly, your choices just so happen to reflect my tastes. Seems like someone that did her homework. If not to seduce me, why would you go through all this trouble? Since you're here to seduce me, I'm here to harass you," Xinzi replied with a disarming candor, making Haoyue not know how to counteract his logic.
"You know me?"
"We've met several times. But back then, I wasn't abbot Xinzi."
"I know, but I didn't think you'd noticed me. Whenever you visited the royal palace with your master, you always maintained the same disinterested look, as if all across Purple Wind City was just a waste of your time. As if no one...deserved your attention."
"Actually, I was just putting on an austere front so that my master wouldn't beat me up with a broomstick..."
"Pff...Chun Xu was right. Trying to trick you is no different from asking for humiliation," Haoyue said, and brushing her hair to the side, tilted her head to the left. Her smile, as relaxing as the moon's glow, made Xinzi's heart skip a beat.
"But still, I have to play the part and sell you my swagger. Otherwise, Xinzi, would I ever get your attention? Would your heart...demand my presence?"
