Chapter 134: Chosen Scapegoat
Chapter 134: Chosen Scapegoat
The birds chirped happily as they enjoyed the warmth of the late morning sunlight along with a light breeze. After the light rain during the night, the weather and nature both appeared refreshed as the morning arrived.
Sitting under the pavilion in the outer courtyard, Xiang Ling was enjoying the herbal tea with Fairy Liying who had finally made an appearance to fulfill her part of the agreement.
Placing her cup down on the stone table, Xiang Ling turned her attention toward the Fairy and questioned, "Are you here just to enjoy the tea?"
Fairy Liying also put down her tea cup and let out a deep sigh. Her attention shifted toward the pond next to the pavilion and to the Lotus flowers that had been in full bloom ever since Summer arrived. Their sweet, floral smell filled the air and made the atmosphere even more lively.
"Thank you for everything you did to save the Lin Family’s Village. If not for your help, I would have landed in deep trouble. I wasn’t being purposely negligent in my duties as the Fairy official of Nanxia and Qinghua County. I just thought that everything was going fine in my areas and decided to go into closed-door cultivation. Little did I know that a decade of my absence would create so many troubles. Not only have demons succeeded in creating troubles here but the economic growth of these two counties has also dropped a lot, bringing the wrath of the Earth Immortal."
Fairy Liying let out another sigh before she turned her gaze toward Xiang Ling and continued, "I will tell you everything I have been able to find out about the secrets that have been kept from you."
Xiang Ling’s ears immediately became sharp as she focused her full attention on the Fairy, waiting to finally find out exactly what secret had been kept from her by the Heavenly Empress.
Taking in a deep breath, Fairy Liying launched into her story - "That day I heard the Heavenly Empress telling Supreme Immortal Hua the story behind the popular punishment case of yours that has been making a buzz throughout the Upper Realms. That’s when I learned that..."
Liying stopped speaking and quickly looked around to make sure that the two of them were the only ones there before whispering the rest of the words. "... the Crown Prince Li disappeared from the Heaven Realm during his closed-door cultivation of nirvana."
"Ssh!"
Xiang Ling immediately placed her hand over Fairy Liying’s mouth to stop the woman from speaking. This time, she was the one hurriedly looking around to make sure that no prying ears or eyes were focused on the two of them. Once she was sure that there was no one there except for the two of them, she finally removed her hand from Liying’s mouth and quickly placed a spell to keep their conversation confidential.
"You seem to already know." Fairy Liying said a moment later once she was done observing the shift in Xiang Ling’s expression. There was no sign of shock on her face at all.
"Of course, I know. Or why do you think I received such a heavy punishment? My Heavenly tribulation disturbed His Highness’ nirvana and he suddenly disappeared from the Heavenly Realm. His mother was so furious that she didn’t even give me a chance to explain or redeem myself, and just shove me down into the Mortal Realm to undergo my punishment." Xiang Ling confessed with a sigh only to see Fairy Liying shaking her head in disappointment. "What?"
"I seriously can’t believe that you end up being part of whatever is this. You know why you were punished, but do you know that you are unjustly punished?" Fairy Liying asked and before Xiang Ling could have said anything, she continued, "You might not like to hear this but the truth is, Crown Prince Li didn’t disappear because of the disturbance that your Heavenly tribulation caused. He had left the Heavenly Realm long before that night."
Xiang Ling let out another sigh before she replied, "I know."
"You know?" Fairy Liying was surely at a loss and stared at Xiang Ling with her wide eyes filled with confusion and shock.
Nodding her head, Xiang Ling replied, "I found out about it through my sources but it was already pretty late as I was already in the Mortal Realm undergoing my life tribulation. There’s nothing that I could do about the unfair punishment at that point."
Fairy Liying was silent for a few seconds before she asked, "What more do you know?"
Xiang Ling shook her head while answering, "Nothing more. Nothing less."
"Then let me give you another shock. The Heavenly Empress knows the truth as well."
"What do you mean?" Xiang Ling almost felt afraid to hear the answer as a part of her already knew what was coming.
"She knew that her son didn’t disappear during the night of the nirvana. She still punished you as she needed a scapegoat to cover the truth of Crown Prince Li’s disappearance." Fairy Liying finally dropped the biggest secret that left Xiang Ling shocked to her very core.
The silence that followed next was so scary that Liying felt like fleeing from the place. It felt just like the silence before a scary storm. "Are you alright?" She asked when Xiang Ling stayed like a statue for way too long.
"How sure are you about this?" Xiang Ling asked and her voice was way too calm for someone who just felt the ground slipping from right under their feet.
"More than a hundred percent sure. I heard it from my very own ears. Heavenly Empress confessed to Supreme Immortal Hua that she found out about the Crown Prince’s disappearance a week before, the very next morning of the night of his disappearance. She kept the news confidential, even from the Heavenly Emperor. The night of your Heavenly tribulation finally gave her a chance to take control of the case. Now, the royal family and few of the Supreme Immortals know about the Crown Prince’s disappearance and you are the chosen scapegoat."