Volume 3, Chapter 369 – Setting the Rules

“The Chi family is already under suspicion. If we use our real identities, we will not even have a chance to be written onto the candidate list.”

Chi Xiyan let out a wry smile. “The moment our name card is submitted, we would likely be arrested and escorted back to Beihe Commandery.”

“The Cheng family is only a stepping stone. We will borrow the identities of the Cheng daughters to enter the selection. Once I have an audience with the Human Empress, I will explain everything.”

Lu Zhuxin was quiet for a moment.

“But that is very dangerous, isn’t it?”

“Fabricating an identity to enter a consort selection. If the Human Empress pursues it, that is the crime of deceiving the sovereign…”

Chi Xiyan’s gaze dropped slightly. “I know.”

“That is why one person entering the selection is enough. Me.”

“Little Xue’er, I will not drag you into this.”

Lu Zhuxin’s brow furrowed. She wanted to say something more. “But Sister…”

“Do not worry, Little Xue’er. The Human Empress is not a cruel or unreasonable person.” Chi Xiyan smiled. “I am the one behind this. Even if it truly comes to that, only I will be held accountable.”

“Besides, it is not entirely without hope.”

“As long as I can persuade the Human Empress… none of these problems will matter anymore…”

Lu Zhuxin pressed on. “But what if you cannot…”

“…” Chi Xiyan was quiet for a moment. “If the Chi family is truly branded with the charge of conspiring with the demon clan, our fate will be far worse than deceiving the sovereign.”

“When that day comes, none of us will escape.”

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“Little Xue’er, unless we leave the human realm right now and flee to foreign lands, we have no other choice.”

The girl stared at her for a long moment.

A complicated look surfaced in her eyes. “Sister, is there not another way?”

“What?”

“What if we… actually went to the demon clan?”

Chi Xiyan blinked. “Go to the demon clan?”

“Yes.” Lu Zhuxin bit her lip. “Leave everything behind. Leave this place. I do not want to be the young miss of the Chi family. I do not want any great fortune… I only want to be with Sister.”

“In the Demon Territory, no one knows who we are. No one will have any hold over us…”

“Sister, that would be true freedom, wouldn’t it?”

Chi Xiyan looked at her with surprise, then laughed softly and reached up to ruffle the girl’s hair. “Silly child. It is not that simple.”

“Setting aside how two people on their own would even get through all the barriers at the border to reach the Demon Territory.”

“The Demon Territory and the human realm have been at war for years. The hatred between them runs deep.”

“Two girls on their own. How would we survive in a place like the Demon Territory, where people are swallowed whole and not even the bones are spat out?”

“Little Xue’er… the Demon Territory is no place for humans. There is no law there. No sense of right and wrong.”

“And no one will spare you a shred of pity just because your circumstances are hard.”

“…” Lu Zhuxin scratched at the hair Chi Xiyan had just messed up.

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Fair enough. Chi Xiyan was not like Song Shiyuan. She had grown up in a settled, peaceful commandery, far from the threat of outside enemies.

Everything she knew about the Demon Territory came from hearsay, and a great deal of it had been embellished by storytellers along the way.

So fleeing to the Demon Territory was not something she would ever seriously consider.

The thought settled it for her. Lu Zhuxin lowered her head slightly. “I am sorry, Sister. I was being too naive.”

Chi Xiyan smiled and did not dwell on it.

“From here, we only need to wait for Cheng Zhuo to submit my name, pass through the selection, and then wait for the Human Empress to summon me.”

Chi Xiyan’s fingers curled into a quiet fist.

This selection had been opened to eligible noble family members across the entire commandery.

Standing out from that many people would not be easy.

But the Fairy Xiyan of Beihe Commandery had no reason to come out worse than any of Shuyuan Commandery’s most gifted.

She was confident in herself.

Lu Zhuxin hugged her own arms, hesitated for a moment, then called out softly. “Sister.”

Chi Xiyan turned to look at her. “What is it?”

A quiet resolve showed in the girl’s eyes. “I want to enter with you…”

Lu Zhuxin had not yet finished speaking when a sound from outside the room cut her off.

“Two misses, the mistress wishes to see you.”

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Chi Xiyan’s brow furrowed. She exchanged a glance with the girl beside her.

“Trouble found us faster than I expected.”

“Sister.” Lu Zhuxin’s voice was a little worried. “What do we do now?”

“It is fine. Let us go see.” Chi Xiyan said. “Since Cheng Zhuo truly intends to have us enter the selection, his wife is unlikely to do anything to us at a time like this.”

“Though some small trouble is probably unavoidable.”

Lu Zhuxin took hold of Chi Xiyan’s hand. “Do we still have to go?”

“Of course we do. Why wouldn’t we?” Chi Xiyan smiled. “If we cannot even handle a little trouble like this, what business do we have entering the selection?”

Chi Xiyan had no intention of backing down from whatever this Cheng mistress was planning.

When the housekeeper who had come to collect them caught sight of two young women of such striking beauty approaching together, a flash of startled suspicion crossed her eyes.

She had heard the master had quietly brought two daughters home, but the girls standing before her bore no resemblance to what she remembered.

Those two scrawny little things who had lived outside without enough to eat or wear, and they had grown up this beautiful?

They were a match for young miss Ayin without even trying.

Surprised as she was, the housekeeper kept it to herself. “Misses, please follow me.”

She led the two of them through the mansion and brought them before the door of the Cheng family’s first wife, Madam Qian.

Chi Xiyan looked at the closed door, and before she could say anything, the housekeeper spoke first. “The mistress only just returned home and has not yet had time to wash off the dust of the road. Misses, please wait here. The mistress will come see you once she has freshened up.”

With that, before either girl could react, the housekeeper turned and hurried off.

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A cold, biting wind swept through the courtyard.

There were no chairs, no tables, no stone benches set out for anyone to rest on by the door.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lu Zhuxin spotted several maidservants lurking in the shadows at a distance, watching them.

With her sharp hearing, she could also catch the quiet, contemptuous laughter passing between them.

Lu Zhuxin tugged on Chi Xiyan’s hand. “Sister, what do they think they are doing?”

Chi Xiyan gave a light laugh. “They are trying to put us in our place before we even get started. Setting the rules for us.”

After all, Chi Xiyan had once been the eldest daughter of the Chi family.

She had seen plenty of the uglier games played in noble households.

There was no way she would fail to see through Madam Qian’s petty scheming.

“Tiresome inner household tactics.”

If she were truly those two helpless Cheng daughters, with no backing and no cultivation to speak of, perhaps she would have been cowed by this.

But Chi Xiyan was another matter. She cultivated both the sword and elixir arts, and her cultivation had already reached the Fourth Realm.

If she made her move, even the Cheng family head would not last a single round against her.

Some nobody named Madam Qian wanting to put her down and set rules for her. Why should she tolerate it?

“Come, Little Xue’er. It is cold out here. Let us go inside.”