Chapter 789: Carefree Powder

“Hey, hey, hey! You can eat whatever you want, but you can’t just say whatever you want!” Qingshu said with a frustrated expression. “My… father and the others have always devoted themselves to daoist cultivation. Do you think they wanted to do such a thing? It was all because the Jin people were despicable and shameless, poisoning them and the three princesses with the Yin-Yang Harmonizing Powder! If you think about it from another angle, my father and the others actually saved those three princesses. If the drug had taken full effect, the princesses would have burned to death from their own desires—would that have made you happy?”

“You’re twisting logic!” The yellow-robed woman trembled with anger.

“Yingluo, if you think I have questionable morals, we can discuss that. But my father, Fourth Uncle, and Sixth Uncle are all honorable men,” Qingshu said seriously. “Back then, I could have rescued them right away, but they threatened to take their own lives unless I promised to save your sisters first. To avoid alerting the enemy, they even willingly returned to captivity…”

“Don’t call me Yingluo!” the yellow-robed woman snapped coldly, though her expression softened slightly.

“Fine, I won’t,” Qingshu sighed dramatically. “Honestly, if you think about it, I’m the one who got the short end of the stick in all this.”

The yellow-robed woman and Zhao Fujin exchanged glances. “How so?”

“Think about it—overnight, I gained several new stepmothers, which means I’m suddenly a generation below you two. Isn’t that a raw deal?” He spread his hands helplessly.

“You’re such a scoundrel!” The yellow-robed woman flared up in anger. Zhao Fujin, having endured more hardships, was more composed. She held her sister back and turned to Qingshu with a faint smile. “Seems like you called me ‘Fifth Sister’ by mistake earlier.”

“What mistake?” Qingshu blinked in confusion.

“If my sisters are now your stepmothers, shouldn’t you be calling me Fifth Aunt?” Zhao Fujin’s eyes glinted mischievously as she nudged the yellow-robed woman toward him. “And this one? She’s your Nineteenth Aunt.”

Qingshu froze. Had he just shot himself in the foot?

The yellow-robed woman flushed with embarrassment, tugging at Zhao Fujin’s sleeve. “Fifth Sister, what nonsense are you spouting?”

Zhao Fujin sighed softly. “Yingluo, not all of us are as fortunate as you. Aside from your younger sisters, the rest of us… our bodies are no longer pure. Even if we’re rescued, what man would want us with our past? I’ve heard of the reputation of the Wudang Seven Heroes. If they’re willing to take responsibility, it might be a decent fate for my three poor sisters.”

“Fifth Sister!” The yellow-robed woman’s eyes reddened. “I know the suffering you’ve endured, but you are princesses of the Great Song Dynasty! How can you let three of our sisters become concubines to mere martial artists? This scoundrel’s father and that Yin Liqiu are already married. Zhang Songxi is single, but…”

Qingshu couldn’t hold back any longer. “Ahem… Can I interrupt? Whether your three sisters marry my father and the others should be left to them to decide after we rescue them. Isn’t it a bit premature to discuss this now…?”

“You’re right, Young Master Song. We were getting ahead of ourselves.” Zhao Fujin gazed at the handsome young man before her, recalling their earlier entanglement in Qiuxiang Tower. Her heartbeat suddenly quickened uncontrollably.

Qingshu scooted closer to the two women and deliberately bumped shoulders with the yellow-robed woman. “So you’re the nineteenth among your sisters? Nineteenth Sister… Too bad you’re not surnamed Gan.”

“Why would I be surnamed Gan?” She stared at him blankly.

“Never mind.” Seeing that no one got his joke, Qingshu lost interest. “By the way, all your sisters were taken to the Laundry Courtyard. Why weren’t you…?”

The yellow-robed woman hugged her knees, resting her chin on them as if lost in memory. “Back then, I was also captured and being transported north by the Jin. But during the journey, my master suddenly appeared. Unfortunately, there were too many Jin soldiers, including many experts. Outnumbered, my master could only save me…”

“Your master?” Qingshu was startled. “Who is your master?”

“You’ve probably heard of him. His surname is Huang, given name Shang.” Her face lit up with pride when speaking of her master.

“Huang Shang?” Qingshu was stunned. The Huang Shang, creator of the Nine Yin Scripture? No wonder her mastery of the Nine Yin Scripture surpassed even Zhou Zhiruo’s despite her youth. “He’s still alive?”

“Your master is the dead one!” The yellow-robed woman scowled, eyes blazing with anger.

“I mean—rumors in the martial world say he passed away long ago!” Qingshu quickly apologized.

Her expression eased slightly. “Master has secluded himself from the world for decades. The only time he reappeared was to save me. After that, he returned to seclusion. People just spread baseless rumors.”

“I see.” Qingshu nodded, thinking to himself how many legendary figures were still lurking in the shadows—first the Eunuch of the Sunflower, then the Lotus Master of Ningma Temple, and now even Huang Shang. Amitabha, better not provoke these living legends unless absolutely necessary.

“Anyway, how do you plan to rescue them?” The yellow-robed woman looked at him anxiously.

“First, I need to know how many princesses are still in the Laundry Courtyard and their current conditions,” Qingshu said, flashing a smile at Zhao Fujin. “That’s why I sought you out earlier—not because I’m the lecher someone accused me of being.”

The yellow-robed woman snorted, while Zhao Fujin felt her pulse race at his smile.

‘What’s wrong with me? she wondered. After enduring four men in my life and suffering so much, why does this young man make me feel like a maiden with a crush again?’

Shaking off her thoughts, Zhao Fujin smiled. “Let me explain…”

“Our father had thirty-four daughters. Twelve of them—Third Sister, Sixth Sister, Seventh Sister, Eighth Sister, Tenth Sister, Eleventh Sister, Twelfth Sister, Fifteenth Sister, Seventeenth Sister, Eighteenth Sister, Twenty-Second Sister, and Youngest Sister—died young. In hindsight… perhaps that was a mercy.”

“Aside from Yingluo, the remaining twenty-one were all sent to the Laundry Courtyard.”

“Our elder brother also had a daughter, Princess Rongjia, whose whereabouts are unknown.”

Qingshu knew she was referring to Emperor Qinzong, but Princess Rongjia sounded familiar. Hadn’t he slept with a Princess Rongjia in the Forbidden City—the Jingnan Prince’s consort? But that woman was the daughter of the Qing’s Prince An, Yue Le. Surely it couldn’t be the same person…

“Prince Kang had six daughters. Three died young, and the other three… When the city fell, chaos ensued. Two were taken to the Laundry Courtyard, while the youngest reportedly disappeared among the common folk—though she’s likely dead by now…”

‘Prince Kang? Oh, that impotent Emperor Gaozong of Song.’

Qingshu sneered inwardly. The man who’d been so terrified by the Jin’s relentless pursuit that he’d lost all courage, executed Yue Fei, surrendered humiliatingly, and allowed his own wife to be defiled by the Jin—every one of his deeds deserved contempt.

Distracted by thoughts of Zhao Gou, Song Qingshu missed Zhao Fujin’s mention of the youngest missing princess, which would later lead to unforeseen complications. But that’s a story for another time.

“Most of the captured consorts and noblewomen were divided among the Jin royalty. Now, the Laundry Courtyard only holds twenty-one of our father’s daughters and two of Prince Kang’s—twenty-three in total.” Recalling the past humiliations, Zhao Fujin trembled uncontrollably. The yellow-robed woman quickly took her hand to comfort her.

“Twenty-three?” Qingshu rubbed his temples. He’d expected a challenge, but this was even worse. Rescuing so many would exponentially increase the difficulty.

“Two major problems. First, how to extract twenty-three princesses—no, twenty-two now,” he glanced at Zhao Fujin, who’d already been rescued, “from the Laundry Courtyard. Second, how to smuggle so many people out of Daxing Prefecture safely. Both are extremely tricky.”

“Don’t worry about the second problem. I’ve already bribed the city guards. Once they’re out, I can get them past the gates,” the yellow-robed woman interjected.

Qingshu frowned. “If the Laundry Courtyard is breached, the Jin’s first move will be to lock down the city. The guards you bribed might help with smuggling under normal circumstances, but during a manhunt? They wouldn’t dare. Even if you slip out, Jin cavalry would catch up in no time.”

The yellow-robed woman faltered, realizing she hadn’t considered this. Unwilling to admit weakness, she replied coldly, “That’s my concern, not yours.”

“Fine. If you can truly handle that, it’ll cut the difficulty in half. Now, do you have a plan for rescuing your sisters from the Laundry Courtyard?”

“I originally planned to take the Jin empress hostage to force their release, but the Prince of Wei ruined that…” She paused, eyeing Qingshu strangely. “So you were the one who helped me in Taihe Hall that day.”

“Now that you know I’ve been silently protecting you, are you moved? Feeling the urge to repay me with your hand in marriage?” He grinned teasingly.

“In your dreams!” She flushed angrily, reaching for her sword again. Zhao Fujin stopped her and shot Qingshu a reproachful look. “Young Master Song, why must you provoke Yingluo?”

“She’s always so cold and expressionless. I just want to see some life in her,” Qingshu replied, leaving the yellow-robed woman momentarily stunned.

Seeing her sister’s conflicted expression, Zhao Fujin sighed inwardly before continuing. “There’s another huge problem. To control us, the Jin have been feeding us Carefree Powder.”