Reign of the Phoenix

Hearing the soldier’s report, Chiyun Yuexuan was furious. “This Yao thief is truly a shrewd fox. He’s very difficult to deal with. If your plan doesn’t work out, just how many people will die by his hand? I can’t stand it.”

With a confident smile, Murong Zhining comforted the worried Chiyun Yuexuan, “General, go arrange a delicious meal for General Huyan and the soldiers tonight. Don’t let anxiety come over you, I’m worried just watching. Can’t you believe Ning’er for once?”

Chiyun Yuexuan still paced anxiously. “You say, should I expect your plan to work or hope that it wouldn’t? Even a battle-hardened general like me is at my wit’s end in this situation. If my wife really wins the city, how am I going to face people?”

Murong Zhining gave his chest a light punch. “Is this the time to care about something like that?”

Chiyun Yuexuan grimaced. “Goodness! I’m just worried that Ning’er will despise me for being useless, alright?”

Murong Zhining hugged him. “Of course I won’t. General has plenty of stratagems, only that the person on the spot is baffled while the onlooker sees clear. Besides, how can a woman despise her own husband?”

The camp was especially lively during dinner that night. Cai Sang and Luo Siyao directed the cook and produced several pots of delicious chicken soup, then personally distributed them to each tent and filled a bowl for each soldier.

Murong Zhining scooped half a bowl of soup for Chiyun Yuexuan and carefully blew it. “General, drink when it’s still hot and have a good sleep tonight. Ning’er assures you that taking Wuzhou City will be as easy as flipping your hand tomorrow morning.”

Chiyun Yuexuan stared at her with those devilishly charming eyes of his. “Why do I have the feeling that my wife is scheming something on me?”

Murong Zhining laughed. “You don’t like it, General? Ning’er has poisoned your soup. I want to poison you unconscious and pass you over to Yao Shilei.”

Chiyun Yuexuan laughed heartily and drained and the bowl. “Even if it’s poisoned, I’m willing to drink it all. Goodness, since I’m the one who caused this conflict, if bad blood arises between the two countries and my father-in-law refuses to marry his daughter to me, what am I to do?”

Murong Zhining’s face sank. “So Ning’er and General aren’t married yet? Then you’re not allowed to call me ‘wife’ in the future, or people will laugh at me when they hear.”

Chiyun Yuexuan glared, “Who dares? I had you betrothed to me when you were four, five years old. What’s wrong with calling you my wife?”

Murong Zhining shyly lowered her head. Looking at her rosy peach blossom cheeks, Chiyun Yuexuan didn’t even taste the food in his mouth.

In the middle of the night, strange noises echoed from the city along with the faint shouting of the soldiers guarding the city gates. Awaken by the sounds, Chiyun Yuexuan hazily opened his eyes and walked out of the tent, only to see the soldiers in their own camp mumbling to themselves as if they were possessed, some were even dancing and wriggling their bodies.

Chiyun Yuexuan rubbed his eyes, thinking something had gone wrong in his head. He went to Murong Zhining camp. “Ning’er, you asleep?”

Murong Zhining put on a robe and walked out. “You were woken by the noise? There are still two hours before dawn. When it’s bright, we can break through the city.” She gave him a push and said, “Go rest. After daybreak, there will be many things waiting for you to deal with.”

Chiyun Yuexuan wondered, “What’s wrong with these soldiers?”

Murong Zhining dragged him away. “They are fine, only possessed. I will have Cai Sang boil some blessed water for them, they’ll be cured right away. You just hurry and rest.”

Chiyun Yuexuan grabbed Murong Zhining’s hand. “I’ve never believed in ghost stuff. Can Ning’er tell me what’s really going on?”

Murong Zhining impatiently urged, “The answer will be announced at daybreak. Just go to bed for now.”

Chiyun Yuexuan helplessly shook his head and entered his own tent. He fell on the bed but found it impossible to fall asleep again.

When the sky was yet to brighten, Chiyun Yuexuan was already unable to wait any longer. He got up and got armored. When he walked out of the tent, Murong Zhining was standing outside waiting for him.

Seeing him, she excitedly ran over. “Ning’er has arranged a group of drummers at the foot of the city wall. After the drums sound, you will do this…” she whispered a few words in his ears.

Chiyun Yuexuan’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wifey, are you sure this will work?”

His response was a witty smile from Murong Zhining.

At this moment, Wuzhou City was dead quiet. After an entire night busying about, the gate guards fell asleep at their posts, their mouths still mumbling a bunch of incoherent words.

Yao Shilei was sleeping like a log in his room dreaming. In the dream, he met his beloved concubine who had been killed by Bai Xianwu. She hugged him tight, crying as she narrated her longing. The two were getting intimate when a drumbeat jolted him awake.

Yao Shilei tried to focus his hazy sight and saw his beloved concubine lying next to him. For a moment, he couldn’t tell whether it was still a dream or reality. He absently followed the commotion to the city wall where he could vaguely hear the drumbeat was coming from mid-air.

All of a sudden, a thunderclap erupted from the sky, cracking open a rift in the clouds. A golden light shot out of the rift, accompanied by a high and majestic, yet faint and illusory voice, “I am the Jade Emperor[1], leading the Four Great Heavenly Kings on a patrol of the world. Why aren’t you mortals welcoming my entourage?”

All of the people in the city were awakened by the drumbeat. They gathered and looked up into the sky. At the four corners of the city wall, there stood the Four Heavenly Kings – Moli Shou holding the lute in the east, Moli Qing wielding the Cyan Wind Sword in the south, Moli Hong with the Origin Umbrella in the west, and Moli Hai cradling the Flower Fox Mink in the north.

The Four Heavenly Kings had ferocious appearances and were so tall that they hit the clouds, the high wall was only below their knees. As waves of drumbeat resounded from the sky, the Four Heavenly Kings glared intently down at the people in the city, the divine instruments in their hands vibrated and flashed with blinding light.

Moli Shou began to play the lute, and music so deafening it could split the heavens and earth flowed out. The soldiers on the wall frantically covered their ears and fled. Moli Qing waved his sword, sending out light blades amidst roaring thunder, leaving cuts and cracks on the city wall. Moli Hong spun the umbrella which then shot out golden lights that captured people’s souls. Everyone felt dizzy and squatted on the ground hugging their heads. Moli Hai tossed out the Flower Fox Mink, and this live instrument transformed into numerous firebirds that set everything on their wakes ablaze.

In their terror, the soldiers opened the city gates and fled in all directions. Countless heavenly soldiers who were already standing wait outside the city tied them up one by one with magical ropes.

Chiyun Yuexuan gawked with his eyes wide in disbelief. In front of him, Yao Shilei’s soldiers had suddenly acted like they were possessed. As if being chased by some horrifying monsters, they rushed out from the gates and obediently let the Huayan soldiers tie them up.

Chiyun Yuexuan glanced back at Murong Zhining. She stood behind him with a calm and confident smile, a pair of dimples playing on her cheeks.

More and more people, including both Yao Shilei’s soldiers and the citizens, fled the city. Murong Zhining took Cai Sang and Luo Siyao to stand outside the entrance and distributed blessed water to the citizens who ran out.

Chiyun Yuexuan was puzzled. “Wifey, what hex did you use? How can it make Yao Shilei’s soldiers let themselves be captured so obediently?”

Murong Zhining laughed. “Go seize Yao Shilei. He will tell you what he saw.”

Yao Shilei squatted on the wall with his head in his hand, shivering uncontrollably. Chiyun Yuexuan strode over and gave him a violent kick.

Yao Shilei knelt on the ground and repeatedly banged his head towards Chiyun Yuexuan. “Grandpa Jade Emperor, please spare me! Four Great Heavenly Kings, Buddha, please spare my life!”

Chiyun Yuexuan grabbed Yao Shilei’s back collar and dragged him down the wall like dragging a dead dog. In the cheers of the soldiers, he dragged Yao Shilei out of the gate. The expression on his face was cold-blooded and savage, his tall figure looked like a judge from hell.

While being dragged by Chiyun Yuexuan, Yao Shilei still mumbled to himself, “Grandpa Jade Emperor, please forgive my sin! Please take that old thief Bai Xianwu… and return my beloved concubine to me…”

Murong Zhining ran up to Chiyun Yuexuan. “Do you believe in Ning’er now? The civilians were only poisoned at a very light degree. They will recover soon after drinking the soup brewed from wormwood. You don’t need to worry.”

Chiyun Yuexuan embraced her in one arm. “How did you do it? Is my Ning’er really capable of immortal magic?”

Murong Zhining nudged him. “Have you seen someone capable of immortal magic lose their memory? If I really knew immortal magic, I definitely wouldn’t have let myself suffer amnesia. Let’s go back to the camp, I’ll slowly explain it to you.”

With their hands sweetly intertwined, the two headed for the camp.

On the way, both sides of the road were crowded with people who had fled the city. They noisily discussed what happened.

“My goodness, how frightening! I just saw the Jade Emperor and the Four Great Heavenly Kings.”

“Me too, I saw it too! The Four Heavenly Kings are so scary!”

“Scary where? They clearly looked so kind.”

“Woah! They were tall up into the clouds, so mighty!”

“Tch! Nonsense! Their height is just normal human height. But their magic instruments are formidable.”

“This old man has lived for so many years, but this is the first time I got to see the immortals. I even saw a goddess just now! Ohh, she was beautiful!”

Chiyun Yuexuan listened in on their conversation with interest and even asked curiously, “What other strange things did you see?”

An old woman said, “I saw the Four Heavenly Kings in the city. And when I ran out of the city, I saw the maid of Queen Mother. She handed out blessed water to us. After drinking it, we immediately felt light and the immortals also disappeared.” The old woman glanced at Murong Zhining next to Chiyun Yuexuan. “The maid of Queen Mother looks very much like this young miss beside you. Exactly the same.”

Chiyun Yuexuan grasped Murong Zhining’s hand, unable to wait any longer for the answer. “How did you let them see all this? Quickly tell me.”

Murong Zhining teased him, “If you hadn’t drank the soup last night, you could have seen the Jade Emperor too.”

Chiyun Yuexuan’s eyes widened in shock. “I can understand that our soldiers were poisoned, but how did you do that to the people in the city as well? What kind of poison is it?”

Murong Zhining pulled him by the hand and explained from the beginning as they walked, “Didn’t I tell you that I’ve been having strange dreams lately? Later I learned that those dreams are actually my memories. I remembered something from childhood a few days ago. When I was in the bandit lair with my nanny, she never stopped thinking of ways to escape. One day, she picked a bunch of mushrooms from the mountain and told me that she would soon be able to take me to escape.”

In a soft voice, Murong Zhining narrated about her experience that year.