Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 26: Position Card

Zhao Changhe did not know how to respond.

With such hatred in her heart, if First Seat Tang were to bring this “prince” back to the capital to become the crown prince, then forget about Zhao the Manslayer; the one that would throw the world into chaos was the one in front of him.

Indeed, whether it was Zhao Changhe or other people, nobody had really ever cared about what Luo Qi thought.

“As for the Luo family...” Luo Qi laughed mockingly. “Luo Zhenwu was older than me, but not by much. He’s only older than me by about two to three months. While the emperor’s people were not around, Village Lord Luo began to scheme. When the emperor sent people to inquire about the matter, the village lord used all kinds of ambiguous language to obscure the truth and make them think that Luo Zhenwu was the prince.”

Zhao Changhe said, “He had guts for being able to pull that off. He even hoped that one day his son would be able to sit on the throne? He, a mere regional lord, wished to vie for the throne. Just how many lives did he think he had?”

“He didn’t need guts to do what he did. All he wanted was to take advantage of the situation to give his son a brighter future. Since the emperor believed Luo Zhenwu to be his own offspring, he naturally looked over them somewhat, even going as far as to send a few masters from the interior to protect him. It’s a shame that Luo Zhenwu couldn’t rise to the occasion. Otherwise, how could his achievements have remained so insignificant?”

“Indeed.”

“However, this manufactured misunderstanding is a little interesting—whether or not Luo Zhenwu was actually the prince, everyone now thinks that the emperor bore a son at the Luo Family Village. No one ever thought it might be a princess.”

Zhao Changhe said, “Given the circumstances, Village Lord Luo should have killed you.”

“You think he didn’t want to? He was too much of a pussy. He didn’t dare to. To kill a princess—the daughter of the number one man under heaven—even if he had such an intention, he didn’t have the gall to go through with it. Instead, he made me pretend to be a man. The problem was, once he’d done all this, it was impossible to just stop halfway and he didn’t know how he would be able to get himself out of this situation.”

“...how worthless.”

Luo Qi broke out in laughter. “If he wasn’t worthless, I wouldn’t be standing here today.”

Zhao Changhe nodded. “After that?”

“He threw my mother and me into the outer sect. Before she passed away, she didn’t know what the emperor had intended, and was afraid the emperor may have misunderstood something, so she also didn’t dare to contact him. Those days were especially difficult for us. Changhe... I thought the only person that would leave food for me in this world was my mother. I never thought that there would be someone like you in this world. All that hesitation I felt before stemmed from this.”

Zhao Changhe: “...”

Luo Qi sighed. “After my mother passed away, Village Lord Luo became less apprehensive. He gave me good food and drink, started taking care of me, and even gave me my own personal courtyard... Right, did it never occur to you that this was not something an outer sect disciple was supposed to have?”

Zhao Changhe answered, “You’re the one that called me an idiot.”

In response to Zhao Changhe’s non-response, Luo Qi smiled lazily and said, “To be honest, what he did was insurance for the future. If one day I was to accept my identity as a princess and return to the Imperial Clan, he needed to make sure that I’d owe him something for his kindness of taking care of me. It was truly a good scheme.”

Zhao Changhe shook his head. “This type of person thinks too much. He’s scared of the slightest thing. It’s hard to accomplish great things if you always scheme and never make firm decisions.”

“That’s why he’s worthless.” Luo Qi said unhurriedly. “However, I needed to guard against this worthless person. My mother passed down to me the divine art of the White Tiger, another one of the Four Idols. I didn’t dare let anyone find out. As long as I played the part of an outer sect disciple proud of breaking through to the first heavenly layer... nobody would bat an eye. In reality, with my Divine White Tiger Art, I already reached the fourth layer of the Profound Gate at the start of the year. Now, I’m almost at the fifth layer.”

Zhao Changhe said, “Fuck. You damn little...”

Luo Qi laughed and replied gently, “I already told you I’ve been lying to you all this time.”

Zhao Changhe tilted his head, miffed. Do you think you’re so awesome for being able to trick people? I also know how to lie.

I saw it last night. You’re certainly a white tiger, alright[1]. Not that I’d ever tell you that.

“Just before my mother passed away, she always warned me not to trust anybody and to never tell anyone what I truly felt. She told me to kill anyone who stood in my way... I did what I did following her teachings... But... I met you.” Luo Qi gently continued, “Changhe, I’ve thought of killing you many times. I was wrong... In this world, the special one is actually you.”

Zhao Changhe was displeased and said, “I’m special... I’m special. However, until now, you haven’t told me why you wanted to kill me in the past. I feel like we’ve strayed quite far from the topic at hand.”

Luo Qi answered unhurriedly, “Have we gone off-topic though? Without all this background information, how are we supposed to tackle the question?”

“We still can’t get to the heart of the matter?”

“The emperor regards all his heirs with great importance and gave my mother a token before she died as a remembrance. I didn’t dare to divulge the existence of this token to the village lord... It’s a good thing he didn’t dare to search through my things either.”

Zhao Changhe was at a loss and his expression changed slightly.

I might have seen what this token looks like...

Luo Qi continued, “You asked me why I wanted to kill you at the start. It’s because Luo Zhenwu didn’t have this token, obviously. First Seat Tang must have found out he wasn’t a prince after searching his body and went back to search the other corpses at the Luo Family Village. If none of them had it, what does this imply?”

Zhao Changhe’s heart skipped a beat. “It means that she knows that one of us, the two lucky survivors, is the real offspring of the emperor..”

“Correct... But she believes this offspring to be a prince. If she finds me, then she’ll naturally see that I’m actually a girl. So who will she think the prince is?”

Zhao Changhe’s eyes widened.

Luo Qi calmly pointed out, “Indeed, that would be you.”

“What the fuck... But my age doesn’t line up!”

“Looking older than you actually are is very common. Didn’t Luo Zhenwu also look to be about the same age as you... As long as you don’t tell anyone, who would know your actual age? But you just had to tell Yue Hongling that you are two months older than her, like an idiot.”

Zhao Changhe: “...”

“Of course, you can just say you lied to her. This isn’t important.” Luo Qi said indifferently. “What’s actually important is that even though they know very well you aren’t the prince, they’ll pretend that you are. Because as long as there is a crown prince, the empire won’t crumble. They might not even require you to have the token. It’s possible they’ll just help you make one.”

“...” Zhao Changhe only had ellipses in his mouth right now. He felt like he had gone to university for nothing. He could not find the words to describe his feelings.

This was all very strange to him, but after careful thought, her logic made sense. Indeed, there was a real possibility that things would go in that direction.

“It’s highly likely that, as far as other people are concerned, you are me. I bet this never crossed your mind.” Luo Qi laughed. “Even though I don’t like this identity of mine one bit, I hate having what’s mine stolen from me even more. If you were in my position, wouldn’t you also want to kill the person who took this away from you?”

Zhao Changhe sighed. “Maybe I really would... That’s a very interesting reason for wanting to kill someone, although it’s a bit hard for me to acknowledge. At least it’s better than wanting to kill me over some treasure. Come to think of it, the Four Idols Cult and Blood God Cult went to exterminate an entire clan to kill the emperor’s heir who turned out to be one of the outer sect disciples they spared. Venerable Vermillion Bird might vomit blood if she finds out about this.”

Luo Qi laughed. “The Four Idols Cult wants to kill the prince. I’m a girl, so there’s no need to kill me. Not to mention, I’m even descended from the Four Idols Cult and all I feel for the emperor is hatred. I have absolutely no intention of accepting him as my father.”

Zhao Changhe thought for a moment and nodded. “Yes. The one that wants to join the Four Idols Cult the most is you. You’re also the most suitable person to join them.”

Luo Qi said, “You say that this reason for killing you is better than killing you over scrambling for some treasure. But it’s all the same, really, whether it’s scrambling for treasure or some identity... Since this treasure is now mine, then...”

She paused, then suddenly smiled as she took out a jade pendant and threw it over. “I am honored to make your acquaintance, Your Highness. Well, whether you want to make use of this identity is up to you to decide.”

Zhao Changhe felt a shiver. “Hey!”

Luo Qi shrugged. “The Four Idols Cult and the Imperial Clan are opposed to each other. I can only choose one or the other. Since I’ve chosen the Four Idols Cult, this token will only be a burden to me. If, by any chance, the Four Idols Cult discovers it, there are bound to be some problems. That’s why I can’t hold on to it. If you don’t want it, then just throw it away.”

Zhao Changhe stared blankly at the round jade pendant engraved with the image of a dragon.

It looked exactly the same as the jade pendant on the position card.

What the card actually was had never once crossed his mind, much less that it would come into his possession.

Come to think of it... Since the Back Eye on the card was his now, were the things on the other cards supposed to belong to him as well?

With this, the mystery of the position card had been solved. Zhao Changhe, however, felt none of the thrill of solving a mystery that he had expected. On the contrary, he felt somewhat dreadful. How is it that my fate is fixed... Don’t tell me that these are all events that have happened before and I’m just reliving these events?

Or could it be that there is some hidden master controlling things behind the scenes?

But everything that’s happened so far has been the result of choices I’ve made after thinking things over by myself. Was it all an illusion?

Zhao Changhe remained silent for a while before settling on a plan.

He needed to keep the jade pendant. It was highly likely that it was crucial for solving the mystery of his transmigration. However, no matter what, he could not use it. He would wait and see to what extent this “fate” controlled everything.

But as he thought this, the jade pendant began faintly glowing. This scene was incredibly similar to Luo Qi and the inheritance of the Azure Dragon Seal, and Zhao Changhe felt a strange power slowly crawling through his meridians.

Zhao Changhe was dumbstruck, and Luo Qi’s eyes widened.

After a moment, Luo Qi burst out laughing. She laughed so hard that she had tears in her eyes. “I see, I see. This jade pendant contains Xia Longyuan’s inheritance. However, it was meant for his son!”

1. White tiger is slang for hairless female genitalia. ☜