SWHCBB 90

Chapter 90: Consort Chen’s Origins

Speaking of the sins committed by his own ancestor, Bai Yuan’s eye twitched slightly. He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, he wanted to curse, but didn’t dare.

Wen Jue fell into thought for a moment, then asked as though he had come to a realization, “Is it related to my mother consort?”

Jiang Chuang said, “Mother consort? Don’t tell me she really was, as the rumors say, a reincarnated fox spirit? Or was she possessed by one?”

Wen Jue shook his head, but he had only just woken up, and the motion made his head spin. He nearly collapsed into Jiang Chuang, but shrank away and curled up against the headboard instead.

Jiang Chuang lowered his hands, eyes dim, looking deeply wronged but not daring to complain.

“If Mother Consort was a fox spirit, then what are Royal Sister and I?” Wen Jue murmured. “I’ve never felt that there was anything unusual about me… Divine Physician, my mother consort was human, wasn’t she?”

As he spoke, even he began to waver. There had always been so many rumors about his mother. How such a beautiful woman perished before her time, how she became the stuff of legend, how countless fantastical tales were crafted about her.

Bai Yuan leisurely opened his medicine box, searching for something as he said coolly, “She was… mostly human.”

“What do you mean, ‘mostly’?” Jiang Chuang asked, confused. Wen Jue was also taken aback, could she have been half-human, half-demon?

Bai Yuan seemed to recall something, raising an eyebrow. “Speaking of past and present lives, whether they are truly the same person. Wen Jue, you might want to ask your mother about that.”

Then, without dragging things out, Bai Yuan briefly laid out the history:

“Several hundred years ago, the ancestor of our fox clan once received great kindness from Consort Chen, that is, from Li Qingci in her past life. It was foretold that when she turned sixteen in this life, she would face a deadly calamity. Our ancestor came out of seclusion early, hoping to repay the favor by helping her avoid death.

But he was too late. Li Qingci had already fallen from the temple steps while offering incense and died instantly. The ancestor was filled with remorse. Hoping her soul had not yet fully dissipated, he rushed to retrieve it and possibly revive her.”

“But… in a careless moment, he accidentally pulled over the soul of Li Qingci’s future incarnation, from a completely different time and world.”

Jiang Chuang followed along up to that point, but that last part lost him completely.

“A different world? Her future soul? Didn’t she just die? How could she reincarnate so quickly?”

Bai Yuan ignored him and looked at Wen Jue instead.

Wen Jue paused, then cautiously voiced his own guess,

“A different world… is it a world completely unlike ours? Maybe there are countless worlds out there, and only by shedding the physical body can the soul travel between them.”

“As for past lives… present lives… future ones…” Wen Jue murmured, thinking aloud. Suddenly a light sparked in his eyes.

“Maybe it’s like those storybooks say, ‘a day in Heaven is a year on Earth’? What if, in that other world, decades had passed, but in ours, only the time it takes for an incense stick to burn had gone by. Is that right, Divine Physician?”

Bai Yuan nodded. “Pretty much.”

“You’re so smart, Zhiyu!” Jiang Chuang praised sincerely.

Wen Jue’s lips curled faintly at the compliment, but the smile quickly faded.

Bai Yuan pulled out an item wrapped in mystical cloth from the bottom layer of his medicine box and continued,

“Sadly, Li Qingci’s future self had no memory of her previous life. To her, that other world was her true home.”

“At the time, our ancestor’s cultivation wasn’t strong enough to return her to her world, so she was forced to live in this foreign place. And then… the man who saved her turned out to be the new emperor of Daling. He fell for her at first sight, found her extraordinary, and forcibly brought her into the palace as a consort.”

Wen Jue was stunned. “So that’s how it was… Did Royal Sister know?” He never imagined his mother had such a past.

“At that point, our ancestor knew he’d messed up badly,” Bai Yuan said with a cold smile. “Not only did he fail to repay a debt of gratitude, he ended up ruining her life instead. But since she was now the emperor’s consort, he couldn’t interfere. He could only vow to grant any request she made from then on.”

Wen Jue looked a bit lost. He had never seen his mother. Hearing so much about her all at once left him unsure how to react.

Jiang Chuang, on the other hand, was clearly displeased. Though he’d never met her, she was still his mother-in-law.

“If your ancestor owed Consort Chen so much, why did he let her be harmed by traitors and killed?”

If she hadn’t died, maybe Wen Jue wouldn’t have suffered so much.

Bai Yuan shook his head. “I don’t know. That wasn’t within my control. What I do know is that after she died, our ancestor issued a command regarding her two children: every generation of Yousu fox clan leaders must protect them for a lifetime, no matter what. If they fail, they’ll face clan punishment, struck down and reverted to their original form.”

“Unfortunately for me, all the promising fox descendants either ascended or died, leaving only me to inherit the position of clan chief. That’s how I got stuck with this damn responsibility.”

“I suppose… it was Consort Chen’s final wish before she passed. So if either of you is ever in danger, even if I have to break our taboo and get involved in human karma, I must help you.”

“My mother’s final wish…” Wen Jue’s eyes turned red with emotion. Tears nearly fell, his mother, even at death’s door, had still been thinking of him and his sister. Then a thought occurred to him, and he quickly asked Bai Yuan,

“After she died… was her soul free? Was she able to return to her world?”

Bai Yuan replied, “She returned. Her path in that world wasn’t finished yet.”

“That’s good.” Wen Jue sniffled and smiled through tears. “She went back to where she always longed to be. Maybe… in this world, death was a kind of release for her.”

Jiang Chuang reached up to wipe his tears, coaxing gently,

“Exactly. She left peacefully. If she saw how amazing you’ve become, she’d be so proud of you!”

He completely forgot they were still in the middle of a fight.

Wen Jue froze for a moment, then turned away, letting Jiang Chuang’s hand fall empty. A long pause later, he responded softly,

“Mm…”

Jiang Chuang withdrew his hand, but couldn’t stop smiling. Wen Jue was still sulking, but couldn’t bear to truly push him away. He was too adorable like this, it made Jiang Chuang want to melt.

Still… he turned back to question Bai Yuan,

“Since that’s the case, then why, in my previous… no, I mean the first time I lived through this world, why didn’t you show up? Didn’t you swear to protect them? Do you know what he went through that time?!”

He didn’t dare call it a “past life” again, afraid Zhiyu would get upset and separate himself into two people once more.

Bai Yuan knocked on the table, half-smiling.

“That’s exactly what puzzles me. The ‘first time’ you speak of, only you remember living this life twice. I didn’t sense anything unusual. But there were some strange things.”

“For instance… after Consort Chen died, our fox clan’s ancestor vanished without a trace. And not long after, many of our fox descendants experienced explosive growth in their powers. The Heavenly Dao of this world couldn’t contain them. They either ascended, or self-destructed.”

“Then why are you still here?” Jiang Chuang asked.

Bai Yuan gave a frosty smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“Because I’m the most useless one. Happy now?”