Reign of the Phoenix

Chapter 85 – The General’s Illusion Land
Feng Wenbin cupped his fists, “Reporting to General Chiyun, Madam’s plan worked wonders. The city has collapsed in on itself. We’re all waiting for you to handle the judgement on Yao Shilei.”

Chiyun Yuexuan slapped his forehead, “I actually had too much fun and forgot the main business. Help me invite General Huyan to my tent.”

A little later, Huyan Qi came in long strides. “I’m waiting for Princess and General Chiyun to punish those rebels of Shangxia. After handling this matter, I will have to rush to Songyang County to deal with that Bai Xianwu.”

Chiyun Yuexuan’s face reddened. “My apology for nearly delaying your job due to my own curiosity. Since those rebels are Shangxia soldiers, they should be handed over to you for punishment.”

Half serious, half joking, Huyan Qi said, “Since you’re going to be our Shangxia’s son-in-law, there’s nothing wrong about it. The matter must be deferred to Princess as well.”

Chiyun Yuexuan enjoyed those words very much. “I’ll invite Princess over, please wait.”

Murong Zhining walked into the camp, still rubbing her eyes sleepily. “General Huyan, what do you plan to do with Yao Shilei?”

Huyan Qi cupped his hands. “Thief Yao committed a heinous crime. He burned, killed and plundered during his occupation of the city. There was no evil thing that he didn’t do. I request Your Highness’ permission to execute him in public so as to appease the citizens’ ire.”

Murong Zhining nodded. “In addition to executing Yao Shilei, all the soldiers under him who took part in the crimes should be tied up for a public trial meeting in the city. Any person identified by the citizens as guilty will be punished according to Huayan’s law without any delay. Those who have committed minor crimes shall be punished by whipping. Then, General Huyan can take them back to Shangxia and deal with them according to military regulations.”

Chiyun Yuexuan nodded approvingly. “Princess handles this well. If you were to be a general, there’d be nothing for us to do!”

The capital city of Wuzhou.

The entrance of the County Office was completely surrounded by citizens in heated discussions.

Chiyun Yuexuan raised his arms, gesturing them to be quiet. Everyone stopped talking and looked at him attentively.

Chiyun Yuexuan stated solemnly, “Huayan and Shangxia have been friends for generations without any conflict. This time, however, a dispute arose because of me. Fortunately, Princess Fengyi of Shangxia was resourceful and cleverly resolved the disaster, which minimized the impact on the citizens. Today, General Huyan of Shangxia and I will publicly execute the culprit who started this all, and if any of his soldiers have done harm to you, you can come out and identify their crimes. This will be recorded by the county clerk and the sinners will be punished accordingly. Now, General Huyan of Shangxia will announce the execution.”

Huyan Qi bowed to the crowd and cupped his hands in shame. “I, Huyan Qi, am terribly ashamed to have such a vile traitor as Yao Shilei in Shangxia. Not only will Thief Yao be severely punished, but the other soldiers involved in the evil deeds will also be implicated. In addition, if any property damage has been caused to you, please go to the County Office to file a registration. Once verified, we will take from Yao Shilei’s property to compensate you. If this still isn’t enough to compensate for the losses, I will report back to my emperor and give you a satisfactory result.”

All of the citizens applauded.

When Yao Shilei was hauled to the execution ground by Huayan soldiers, the crowd grew furious. The families of the victims amongst the present tearfully denounced him of his crimes. There was an old woman who almost fainted from crying. She said that her grandson was a Huayan soldier guarding the city, his arm was brutally cut off by Yao Shilei and he then bled to death. Yet, Yao Shilei even cut off his head afterwards and hung it on the gate.

For a while, the public denunciations emerged without end. Some identified him to be guilty of rape, some accused him of murder. The Huayan citizens shouted that Yao Shilei must be tortured to death by a thousand cuts.

The “death of a thousand cuts” punishment had been abolished in Huayan for many years, which greatly troubled Chiyun Yuexuan. Facing the people who had lost their minds to hatred, he, after much deliberation, tacitly handed Yao Shilei to the citizens’ disposal. He took Murong Zhining and withdrew from the crowd, not wanting her to witness the bloody and violent scene that ensued. Huyan Qi didn’t say anything about this and quietly left the crowd as well.

Huyan Qi had arranged for manpower to take care of the aftermath. He bid goodbye to Murong Zhining and Chiyun Yuexuan, “It’s time I bid farewell to Princess and General Chiyun. It’s thanks to you that the incident didn’t continue to deteriorate. I will go to Songyang County to hunt down Bai Xianwu and his henchmen in order to eliminate the evil of the region.”

Chiyun Yuexuan personally sent Huyan Qi out of the camp. “Then we’ll count on you. After you’re done with all of this and returned to Nanjin, please let the emperor know that I will take good care of Princess. Oh, I almost forgot, Bai Xianwu’s son-in-law Xu Jiantao is a man of conscience. He once helped me rescue a hostage.”

Huyan Qi nodded. “The queen orders that no one can cause trouble for General Chiyun, otherwise, you wouldn’t have been able to take Princess out of Shangxia so easily. I found out from some Wuli people that Princess’ poison isn’t fatal. If she has only taken one Exquisite Heartwash Pill, she can recover her memory slowly in two months at the longest. But if two or more, then the memory is likely to be gone forever. As for Xu Jiantao’s case, I’ll deal with it accordingly, please rest assured.”

Chiyun Yuexuan couldn’t hide his delight. “I’ve been suffering for a long time in worry and fear every day. I’m greatly gratified to learn that the poison is not fatal. There should be no need to worry, General Huyan, her memory is slowly recovering.”

Huyan Qi also nodded in acknowledgment and finally took his leave.

Chiyun Yuexuan rushed into the tent in ecstasy. He picked Murong Zhining up and spun around twice on the spot, then tightly hugged her to his chest as if she was a lost treasure that he had just recovered.

Murong Zhining struggled in the overly tight embrace. “General, are you trying to strangle Ning’er? What’s the matter?”

Without a word, Chiyun Yuexuan bent down for a gentle kiss on her cherry lips, which lasted for a long time as he couldn’t bear to let go.

…

After finishing with the official affairs, Chiyun Yuexuan arranged the army to leave Wuzhou. Riding on horseback on the way back to the camp, Murong Zhining inquired Chiyun Yuexuan, “You still didn’t tell me what you saw in your hallucination.”

Chiyun Yuexuan pressed his lips on her ear. “The mushroom was amazing. I really got to see my Little Tabby from back then. Goodness, I have to say that Ning’er was quite ugly as a child.”

Murong Zhining smiled sweetly as she elbowed him on the chest. “Then can you explain why I heard you mumble ‘Little Tabby is so beautiful’?”

Chiyun Yuexuan nibbled her earlobe. “Did I really say that when I hallucinated? You can’t trick me okay? In my Illusion Land, there was nothing I couldn’t do. I even visited the Heavenly Palace and the Emerald Pond Abode of Queen Mother of the West. The scenery there was beautiful and the buildings floated amid the clouds. Between the heavenly mist, many fairies and goddess were flying around and rainbow clouds were everywhere. There were all kinds of flowers and animals that I’ve never seen before. I even saw the legendary beasts like Taowu and Taotie. It was truly incredible.”

Murong Zhining quipped, “The fairy sisters must have been beautiful? Were you entranced by their beauty?”

Chiyun Yuexuan whispered, “Yes, they were so beautiful, so graceful that I forgot my existence when I saw them. That’s right, I also visited the Moon Palace. Sister Moon even performed the Jinghong dance for me herself. Her beauty is really matchless, so beautiful that I almost forgot to breathe.”

Displeased, Murong Zhining banged the back of her head on his chest. “Aren’t you being too straightforward here?”

Chiyun Yuexuan squinted his phoenix eyes and leaned close to her ear. “I didn’t lie to you. Sister Moon is like a lotus growing from the purest water, her naturally beauty truly had me captivated. But you can’t blame me for this, it’s not my fault she grows up to look exactly like you without permission.”

Murong Zhining leaned against his chest with a shy smile. “General really knows how to amuse me. How old am I? Sister Moon has been staying in the Moon Palace for thousands of years. How can she grow up like me? It should be the other way around.”

Chiyun Yuexuan’s voice was as tender as water, “Not only Sister Moon, all the goddess in my Illusion Land have your face. I now believe that what those civilians said was all true – people see things according to their own imagination. Since my heart is full of you, what I saw in my hallucination was all you.”

His sweet nothings had her face burn and her heart throb. “If you saw only me in your hallucination, wouldn’t you lose out?”

Chiyun Yuexuan tightly clasped her waist and said, “Why would I lose out? I got to see all kinds of ‘you’ dressed in all kinds of beautiful clothes and acting in all kinds of manners. You really took over all the words there is to describe beauty in this world. I even witnessed our grand wedding ceremony. Your striking beauty was absolutely unsurpassed in the phoenix coronet and the fine rainbow raiment.”

In the carriage, Cai Sang and Luo Siyao were peeking at Murong Zhining and Chiyun Yuexuan.

Cai Sang scratched her head. “Is General Chiyun sick or something’s wrong with his head? He wasn’t this… cheesy before? Look how he’s coaxing Princess to be all smiles and sunshine. I think something’s wrong with both of them.”

Luo Siyao gave her a good flick on the forehead. “Can’t you hope something nice for others? Isn’t it great like this? Their love is really to envy and admire. I told you before that General would treat Princess very well, but you just didn’t believe it. Feeling like you’ve slapped your own face now?”

Cai Sang covered her forehead. She was actually more worried. “Siyao, have you ever considered that this is only because Princess doesn’t have her memory? What if one day she suddenly remembers the past? All this sweetness will only deepen her pain in the future.”

Luo Siyao disdained, “Just stop sticking your nostrils everywhere and being over-worried all the time, Cai Sang. Look at Princess now, she’ll forgive General even if he committed a crime worthy of death.”

Cai Sang burst out laughing so hard she fell back. “Sticking my nostrils? Hahahaha…”

Meanwhile, Chiyun Yuexuan hadn’t stopped with his coaxing. “Ning’er, that mushroom is good stuff, too bad it’s too rare. Why don’t we look for more on the mountain again?”

Murong Zhining pouted. “Although it can make people happy, it still affects people mentally. If taken for a long time, your mind will be messed up. There is a balance to everything in this world. The rarity of the mushroom is enough proof that it’s dangerous.”

Chiyun Yuexuan kissed her hair. “You’re right. It’s enough that I got to experience it once.”

Murong Zhining laughed. “You can look for it though, maybe it can be used for other purposes. After all, it has such fantastic effects.”

“Alright, I’m a soft-eared who always listens to my wife.”

When they reached the camp, Chiyun Yuexuan and Murong Zhining dismounted and immediately ran to the grave site behind the mountain hand in hand.

Cai Sang jumped out of the carriage and shook her head in bewilderment. “See, I said they were possessed and you didn’t believe me. It’s all fine until now, but they actually run to the graveyard for no reason. What kind of bewitching potion did General give Princess?”

Luo Siyao poked Cai Sang’s waist with discontent. “My goodness! How do you know that it wasn’t Princess who gave General bewitching potion? See how she has him all head over heels.”

Cai Sang angrily rubbed her waist. “Luo Siyao, you’re Princess’ maid. Just who are you siding with?”

Luo Siyao didn’t dare to argue about this. She bowed her head. “Of course I’m all for Princess.”

——

Stopping at the hillside on the mountain back. Chiyun Yuexuan and Murong Zhining split up to search for the mushroom.

Chiyun Yuexuan knelt on the ground and parted a pile of weeds. His eyes suddenly lit up, “Ning’er, come and have a look. Is this that mushroom?”