The Empress’ Livestream

What? Jiang Pengji did not understand a word. Why couldn’t ancient people speak more straightforwardly?

Meanwhile, Master Liaochen provided a load of clues for the livestream viewers, and the interface was soon filled with comments.

Jingming Wonanshen: “Did the monk just hint that the host will become a king?”

Xuebi Xinfeiyang: “Has the channel changed its theme? I thought this was about court intrigue against other women.”

Nide Yida: “Oh my god! Will this end up in our host killing the king and becoming a ruling queen like Empress Wu? What a complicated story that would be!”

Nongfu Shanquan Youdianxuan: “What the heck? That would be a snake against court setting. I’m talking about that game, you know?”

Jiang Pengji could not respond. Empress Wu? Snake? What did it have to do with the court?

A viewer explained as though he had heard her thoughts.

Kele Leyile: “Congratulations! You have eaten Beauty X. Level up! You have eaten Beauty Y. Level up again! Consort Z is dead. You are now on Level Three. The Queen and those under her are all gone. You have reached a higher level!”

“…”

As Jiang Pengji engaged in another dimension, Liu She said indignantly, “Master Liaochen, you told us…”

The monk made a hand gesture to show respect and repeated some Buddhist sayings. Finally he replied, “Things did not go as expected. Your daughter is from a most peculiar background, so it is better that we tell her now. Otherwise, she may take the wrong steps later due to the lack of warnings. I understand your worry for her, but this is for the best.”

Fed up with their riddles, she ventured to ask, “May I know what you mean by ‘the air of emperor’? I can make a guess from the literal meaning, but… would I be mistaken?”

Liu She confirmed her guess without much expression on his face as Master Liaochen smiled. “My little lady, dignified and ambitious as you are, you are not born to submit.”

Liu She stared at him angrily, but the old man turned his prayer beads and added, “Am I right?”

Jiang Pengji was silent. She wondered where this unusual monk came from.

Other monks would tell her to give up the blade and become a peaceful follower of Buddha. On the contrary, he was encouraging her to pick up the weapon boldly. He was an unusual monk among his people.

Before she answered, Master Liaochen turned to her father. “May I have some private words with your daughter? You may like to visit the adjoining space, where the afterlife stones of your beloved wife and two sons are resting.”

After a moment of hesitation, Liu She stood up with dissatisfaction. Before he left, he placed his hand on Jiang Pengji’s head again as an attempt to comfort her.

When his footsteps could no longer be heard and there were only two of them, Jiang Pengji frowned impatiently.

Master Liaochen, on the other hand, carried more warmth in his smile. “Your mother was about your age when I met her 29 years ago.”

“Did you know her?” This drew her interest to the topic.

“I do. She came to ask for an afterlife stone for a girl called Gu Min.”

Jiang Pengji almost crushed the cup in hand; Gu Min was the name of her mother.

“Are you quite sure? It makes no sense!” She carefully observed the old monk.

“She was nothing like the others. Her soul was on the brink of leaving the corpse, and I could sense the air of death around her.” He spoke like an aged person recalling the past with a friend. “The child had died in early June, and her features were lifeless. Yet Gu Min came to me, and I saw a living girl.”

To Jiang Pengji, the room seemed to become colder. He knew who she really was. There was no doubt about that.

He said, “Gu Min had heard about me and begged me to continue her life. She kneeled on the steps on the hill and bowed to me. I should not have saved her, for it would defy destiny to help a soul seize another person’s body. But she was also blessed with happiness in life, and my mind was changed by her sincere plea…”

Jiang Pengji interrupted with certainty. “They say the followers of Buddha do not lie, but you just lied to me.”

Master Liaochen paused and sighed. He met her eyes for a long time. “I wish not to say too much.”

“Hmph! I simply do not believe your excuse. If it is so easy to further one’s life, those kings and emperors who pursue immortality would have succeeded a long time ago. I say that you agreed only because her fate was already written, and it was in favor of her wishes.”

She grinned at him, her teeth shining white. “I suppose you did it because all this– the girl dying of an accident and my mother’s possession of her body–were meant to be, were they not?”

Instead of being provoked, as she expected, the master plainly admitted it.

“You are a wise girl, indeed! Everything in life is meant to be. The child was doomed to leave her body early, your mother was destined to stay in the corpse, and you, too, my young lady, were meant to become Liu Lanting.” He resumed turning his beads.

Then Jiang Pengji heard the System, which had been silent for a long time. “Aw, boring stuff.”

But its host did not feel the same. “Perhaps he wants me to figure out something.”

“For example?”

“How do I know? We are on different channels. I don’t get him,” she answered, half-joking.

“Well, what a disappointment.”

After rubbing her forehead, Jiang Pengji directly raised her question. “I am not interested in history. I just want to know how you and my mom deceived my dad and his second wife. Other ancient people would have had me chopped into pieces and burned if they realized the corpse was possessed by another soul. But my parents did not. Why?”

Liu She and the stepmother had been keeping the secret from her, but she could find the clues for herself.

She stated, “It is a dead body that I am occupying. The moment I woke up in this world, Liu Lanting was gone forever.”

It confused and irked her that her parents treated her as if nothing had changed. She had thought they were trying to create a fake world in which their child was still alive, but she realized now that the monk was the key to finding out the truth.

“I have deceived no one. You are Liu Lanting and are destined to become Liu Lanting. I never lie.”

She retorted, “Yet another lie!”

“…”