TSFLIP Chapter 1015

“This is a good story. Thank you, Feng Guang,” he said at last, offering his praise. With a strange new understanding, he lay down and closed his eyes.

Yes—before someone could even figure out what kind of new idea he had just learned, he had already fallen asleep.

Feng Guang really wanted to wake him up and explain that the story was meant to praise kindness and goodness. But when she saw how peacefully he was sleeping, so obedient and innocent that her heart melted, she gave up.

Forget it. Let it be.

She smiled and lay down as well. Even though she didn’t feel tired, her human habits still told her that it was time to sleep.

Outside, the rain continued to fall, and the roof continued to leak.

The next morning, Feng Guang sat in the corridor, passing the time by braiding tassels out of red thread.

Feng Yan watched quietly as the red silk cord seemed to weave itself through the air.

Finally, Feng Guang finished. A neat tassel dropped into Feng Yan’s hand.

“This is for you,” she said. “In the future, if you ever get a sword, you can hang it on there as a sword tassel. Though the one I made is pretty ugly. It might be embarrassing to hang it on a sword. Haha.”

“I like it,” he said softly, gripping the red tassel tightly.

“I’m glad you like it. But it has another use too. Do you remember what I told you?”

“Mm.” He nodded seriously.

Outside, the sound of the rain softened. The heavy downpour turned into a drizzle. Feng Guang looked at him and suddenly felt a trace of regret.

“I don’t know whether pushing you toward the emperor is the right thing or the wrong thing. Once you go there, there’s no turning back. In the future, you might get caught up in complicated palace struggles… Maybe living in hardship now, without schemes and conspiracies, would actually be better.”

He lifted his head. The once lifeless eyes gradually filled with determination.

“I’m not afraid. I need power.”

With power, what happened to Eunuch Li would never happen again. With power, he could protect the people he wanted to protect. And power—just like in that story—would give him the ability to change other people’s fates.

He had already endured enough days of being bullied.

Feng Guang fell silent. She had been the one who proposed carrying out this plan, and now she was also the one trying to persuade him not to go. Her mind was full of contradictions, and she didn’t know what to do.

He stood up, holding the tassel, and for the first time walked toward the outside world. After a brief pause in his steps, his still somewhat childish voice drifted back.

“I’ll go alone. I’ll come back. Feng Guang, wait for me.”

Before Feng Guang could figure out why those words sounded strangely unsettling, his figure had already disappeared from the courtyard.

“Hey! What do you mean ‘Feng Guang’? I told you to call me sister! No manners at all…” She stood up and shouted toward the doorway, though that brat probably couldn’t hear her anymore.

Among the crumbling palace walls, a distinguished visitor arrived that day.

Xian Rang had brought only one eunuch with him. The light rain was still falling, and Ma Yuan dutifully held an umbrella over the emperor’s head, willing to soak himself like a drowned rat rather than let even a drop touch His Majesty.

The farther they walked into the Western Palace, the more desolate it became.

Xian Rang frowned as he looked at the increasingly dilapidated buildings on both sides.

“I had no idea the palace had such run-down places,” he said coldly.

“Your Majesty,” Ma Yuan replied, bowing slightly, “this used to be the Cold Palace during the previous dynasty, where concubines who made mistakes or fell out of favor were confined. Later, the late emperor took pity on them and allowed them to leave the palace. Since then, this place has served no purpose, and the buildings have fallen into disrepair.”

“Hmph. No matter what, it’s an eyesore,” Xian Rang said. “When we return, issue an order to tear down all these courtyards. Plant flowers and grass here—it would look far better.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Ma Yuan replied, lowering his head.