Crush's Cold Senior Sister is Actually Childhood Sweetheart - Chapter 44

Chapter 44: She is My Daughter’s Lover.

She had resented her master, Divine Sovereign Fei Ling, in the period shortly after Yuan Shunhua disappeared.

She knew more than anyone else, yet she always maintained an attitude of “not telling you is for your own good,” and when asked, she was told to stay at home and not go anywhere.

In the end, she even locked the main gate of Jiu Yang Palace and sent many immortal attendants to watch over her.

No one likes to be kept in the dark, and no one likes to have their freedom of movement restricted, even under the guise of “protection.”

Ling Qi was only occasionally able to get some news from the immortal attendants, learning that the outside world was in chaos. Not only had the Emperor died suddenly and the Vermilion Bird disappeared, but the White Tiger had also perished, and even the Black Tortoise’s whereabouts were unknown… At that time, Ling Qi, in the Jiu Yang Palace, was indiscriminately suspicious of everyone, and she naturally suspected her master was the mastermind, with some other motive.

She didn’t even spare herself.

Ling Qi spent a long time suspecting herself, seriously analyzing the possibility that she had erased her own memory to cover up her crime. After all, to deceive others, one must first deceive oneself.

It sounded quite plausible.

When she realized that her thoughts were becoming more and more skewed, she decisively escaped while her master was away. The Jiu Yang Palace couldn’t hold her, but she deliberately caused a huge commotion, getting herself covered in bl00d and bruises and circling the various immortal sects before finally going to find Cen Xiyao.

She just wanted to solidify the rumor of their falling out, so that everyone in the Upper Realm would know that from now on, every action she, Ling Qi, took, would only represent herself and would have nothing to do with anyone else.

“Yang Chongguang could have protected you too. I shouldn’t have insisted on you staying,” Divine Sovereign Fei Ling’s face was still without much emotion, but her voice was a little lower.

She looked a little sad.

“How can you say that?” Ling Qi shook her head and smiled helplessly. “With so many Divine Sovereigns and Upper Immortals in the Upper Realm, and several immortal sects, what if I had a sudden whim and went to the Tian Mo Palace? You would have had to come and rescue me in the end.”

She said: “You didn’t know I was going to find Yang Chongguang. There’s really no need to say these things now.”

“I knew.”

“…What?”

Divine Sovereign Fei Ling said: “I have always known.”

…

Divine Sovereign Fei Ling’s room was only half the size of the pink-themed princess room opposite. The projector filled all four walls, creating a 360-degree surround experience.

Divine Sovereign Fei Ling stood leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, her shoulders tense, looking a little nervous.

Ling Qi stood with her back to the window, not quite understanding why her master would suddenly want to drag her to watch a video in the middle of their conversation. The moment the play button was pressed, she let out a soft sigh.

The projection flickered twice, and then a lazy female voice sounded in the room:

“This should be recording now… Sorry, it’s my first time doing this, and I don’t have much time.”

The camera suddenly zoomed in, right up to Emperor Qing Yuan’s face, filling the screen with half of her face. Then it was hastily pulled back, showing that the operation was very unskilled.

Finally, the focus was adjusted, and the woman in the projection smiled with satisfaction: “It seems I have a talent for this after all.”

Ling Qi couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.

In the video, just as Emperor Qing Yuan had finished fiddling with the camera and hadn’t even sat down properly on the chair, the door was pushed open with a “bang.”

The person who came in rushed straight in and knelt down on the ground without a word, kneeling quickly and heavily.

Off-screen, Divine Sovereign Fei Ling spoke without warning: “The movement is quick, and the sound quality is good too.”

There was a hint of sarcasm in her tone, as if she despised this kind of behavior.

In contrast, Emperor Qing Yuan was much gentler.

She leaned forward slightly, her eyes curving into a smile: “I’m the one with a favor to ask, so why are you kneeling to me?”

The person acted as if she hadn’t heard, keeping her head bowed very low, but her back was straight.

“Don’t be nervous. Get up first,” Emperor Qing Yuan walked down the steps, actively reaching out to help her up. “You don’t need to kneel to me. Everyone should just relax a little. The little brats in the Upper Realm are practically riding on my head. You being so polite makes me a little uncomfortable.”

Her voice was very gentle. Although it was a tone of discussion, it made it impossible to refuse. The person on the ground took her hand and stood up. As she rose, her face briefly flashed across the camera for a few seconds.

Ling Qi’s pupils slightly widened.

It was Yang Chongguang.

Emperor Qing Yuan pulled her to sit on the chair together. The long bench was made of wood, covered in clear varnish, with a beautiful grain and was very spacious. It could have fit two more people.

“Do you know why I’m looking for you?”

Yang Chongguang shook her head in silence.

She sat right next to Emperor Qing Yuan, yet she didn’t even dare to look up, her eyes fixed on the floor. Her body was so stiff she couldn’t move. Her hands were folded on her lap, and she looked nervous and constrained.

“Do you want to ascend?”

Emperor Qing Yuan said it very casually, resting her right hand on her chin, tilting her head to look at her, with a hint of a smile in her eyes.

Yang Chongguang’s previously downcast eyes suddenly lit up, and a sharp glint flashed in them, but it quickly disappeared without a trace. When she looked up again, her eyes had returned to their previous timidity and nervousness, with a hint of cautious longing.

She seemed afraid of hearing it wrong and repeatedly confirmed: “Emperor, are you talking about me?”

“Of course. Is there anyone else in this room?” After saying that, Emperor Qing Yuan quickly winked in the direction of the camera.

Yang Chongguang turned her face to the side, deep in thought. She didn’t know why a windfall had suddenly fallen from the sky, but even if it was a trap, she wouldn’t let go of this opportunity easily.

She knew that the person in front of her truly had the ability to grant her wish.

And she also knew that if she missed this chance, it would be another several thousand years.

Her originally complex and hesitant eyes were instantly replaced by determination and ambition. She closed her eyes to adjust her breathing, and when she opened them again, they shone with a light of absolute resolve.

“Is there anything I can do for the Emperor?” she asked.

“There is indeed a very important matter I need to entrust to you.”

Hearing this, Yang Chongguang’s body relaxed instead. The corners of her mouth slightly lifted, revealing her first smile since entering the room: “Please, Emperor, command me. Chongguang will not hesitate even to the point of death.”

“Don’t be nervous. It’s not that serious,” Emperor Qing Yuan slowly stood up. Her back was to the camera, so even Ling Qi outside the video couldn’t see her expression.

She said: “One day in the future… I don’t know which day, someone will come to find you. I need you to do me a favor and give this Su You Flower to her.”

Ling Qi’s breathing hitched. It was as if the air had been paused.

The camera was completely blocked by Emperor Qing Yuan’s back. The four walls were pitch black, as if the lights had been turned off, and all that could be heard were the voices of the two people in the video.

“Roughly when will that be?”

“It should be a very, very long time from now. I’m not too sure.”

The conversation in the video paused for a moment. Neither of them spoke, and all that could be heard in the room was a “shh” of white noise.

“Who should I give it to?” Yang Chongguang asked again.

“I can’t tell you that now…” After saying it, Emperor Qing Yuan seemed to realize that she was being a bit ridiculous. She chuckled at herself and then said, “She is my daughter’s lover, which makes her another one of my daughters. You will meet.”

“What else?” Yang Chongguang didn’t believe that everything would be so easy. “Does the Emperor have any other requests?”

“Other than that…” Emperor Qing Yuan thought for a while and then curved her eyebrows. “I think green is a particularly beautiful color. When you take on a disciple in the future, if you don’t have a color you particularly like for their uniform, you can consider this one.”

“I probably won’t live much longer,” Emperor Qing Yuan smiled again and said. “I know you have the ability, so don’t be afraid.”

She winked at the camera for the second time, “Because the future of the Upper Realm belongs to you.”

…

Off-camera, Ling Qi had been frozen in place ever since she heard the words “my daughter’s lover.” The video was paused, and the room was still pitch black.

Ling Qi thought, in a daze, So that’s how it was.

No wonder, the moment the red clouds ignited in the Ninth Heaven, Yang Chongguang’s lightning tribulation followed.

No wonder, Yang Chongguang had two of the rare Su You Flowers in the heavenly realm by herself.

Everything finally fell into place. Ling Qi leaned against the window, slowly crouching down on the floor. She wrapped her arms around her knees, burying her head in them.

At this moment, her hurried breathing was especially clear in the darkness.

With a soft click, the projection on the four walls slowly disappeared, and the room became bright again.

“That’s what happened. The Emperor gave this video to me and specifically instructed me to give it to you only after you entered the Chongguang Palace. Although I still don’t understand why she was so certain you would go to the Chongguang Palace… but since it’s Emperor Qing Yuan, I’m not surprised by anything she might have known.”

Divine Sovereign Fei Ling looked down at Ling Qi, who was crouching on the floor, and sighed: “I’m sorry. I’m only giving it to you after all this time.”

“No, the timing is just right.”

Ling Qi shook her head. She leaned on the window sill behind her and slowly straightened up. Her legs were a little numb from squatting for too long, so she could only lean against the wall and speak in a very soft voice.

So that’s how it was. It was actually like this.

She had spent eight hundred years trying to understand why Yang Chongguang’s lightning tribulation came with the red clouds and if it had anything to do with Emperor Qing Yuan’s death. She never once thought that the answer would be herself.

After returning from the Wu Xu Secret Realm, she crushed the Su You Flower and, for the first time, entered the illusion to see her own memories. She thought it was a failed regression. With an attitude of “since I’m already here,” she let herself indulge in it, but by a strange coincidence, Emperor Qing Yuan’s gaze fell upon her.

Separated by the barrier of the illusion, separated by a millennium of time, Emperor Qing Yuan saw her but then calmly looked away, making her think it was just her imagination.

At that time, Emperor Qing Yuan probably didn’t know her yet. She might have thought this person was a little strange and then quietly kept the matter in her heart, not mentioning it to anyone. It wasn’t until everyone got a little older that she gradually matched the face in her memory with Ling Qi, who had grown up by her side.

She might have still been a little confused… why a disciple her own junior sister had taken in had gone to the Chongguang Palace in the blink of an eye. But she still didn’t ask a single question. Instead, when she felt that she might be in danger, she took the initiative to find Yang Chongguang and paved this path.

And then she used this video to tell her:

I already know about you and Xiao Jin. Be happy. Oh, and there’s another Su You Flower in the Chongguang Palace. Remember to go get it.

Emperor Qing Yuan from eight hundred years ago saw the future Ling Qi, and so many years later, she gave this opportunity to Yang Chongguang, who was a half-step Divine Sovereign. And Ling Qi, because of this opportunity, found her way here.

Such is the nature of coincidence.

“What do you mean, the timing is just right?” Divine Sovereign Fei Ling asked her with a frown in the room.

Ling Qi didn’t answer and instead asked: “Then you tell me first, what kind of formation was Shen Tianmo setting up? What was she trying to do, and what does it have to do with you?”

“If you’re not going to tell me, then forget it.”

Divine Sovereign Fei Ling shrugged. She got up from leaning against the wall and walked toward the door, apparently not wanting to answer her question. Ling Qi quickly followed, smiling helplessly.

“Where are you going next?”

Divine Sovereign Fei Ling didn’t look back, and her pace didn’t slow down. Only her voice clearly reached Ling Qi’s ears behind her.

Although she couldn’t see her expression, Ling Qi could still detect a hint of tension in this seemingly casual question. She said, with a bit of deliberate provocation: “The Chongguang Palace.”

The person in front of her stopped as she expected, then turned around, her voice returning to its previous icy tone: “Go back if you want to.”

“Master, why don’t you ask me why I’m going back?”

“…Why?”

Ling Qi’s eyebrows curved: “Because boarding school is over, and it’s time to pack up my things and go home.”

Divine Sovereign Fei Ling was stunned, and then she smiled softly just like her: “Then come back. It’s just that the immortal attendants have left, and I need a helper to water the flowers and trim the bushes all by myself.”

“Even if I learn very slowly, is that okay?”

“Just learn slowly. You can’t rush things,” Emperor Fei Ling waved her hand and continued to walk forward. “You’ll learn it eventually. There’s still a long way to go.”

The two of them walked, one after the other, with a short but not too short distance between them.

Yes, Ling Qi thought.

There’s still a long way to go.