Chapter 20
Although her past impressions had been shattered, Ming Jian Su believed that she was still the person who understood Feng Chiyue the best in the entire Immortal Realm.
Feng Chiyue was arrogant and self-centered. She would never get along with the other immortal officials. The Heavenly Court was full of pompous old fools. If Feng Chiyue encountered one, she might humiliate them mercilessly—or rather, she might make them disappear from her sight. After all, she wasn’t hiding anymore, and she had Undefeated to protect her.
Ming Jian Su channeled her consciousness into the Chaos Mirror and carefully searched for the announcement from the Heavenly Mechanism Department.
It wasn’t a rumor. The Star Monarch had promoted Feng Chiyue from Morning Sun Emissary to Minister of the Celestial Feather Ministry. Within the Heavenly Mechanism Department, apart from its main office, there were three major departments: the Celestial Feather Ministry, the Four Seas Ministry, and the White Tiger Ministry. They managed the promotions of non-human immortals from the feathered race, the aquatic race, and the beast race, respectively, and had a high degree of autonomy. The Ministers held a position second only to the Star Monarch and his deputy, the Junior Monarch. It was a coveted position, often leading to power struggles and infighting. For the past thousand years, the position of Celestial Feather Minister had always been held by a Heavenly Immortal from the Vermilion Bird lineage. The Star Monarch promoting Feng Chiyue to this position was clearly a malicious act.
He wasn’t senile. He was deliberately being cruel! Damn him! Why were there so many villains in the Heavenly Court?
She had to return.
But if she went back like this, Feng Chiyue would definitely mock her. And the Heavenly Court might force her to write a ten-thousand-word report explaining her absence. It would be different if the Heavenly Court came looking for her. She could arrange a suitable location, and the officials would understand what had happened without her having to say a word. But they all believed she was dead and wouldn’t bother searching for her. She needed to leave a clue on the battlefield between the Immortal and Demon Realms.
After a moment of contemplation, Ming Jian Su took out a brush and paper and wrote five characters.
She infused the paper with several layers of magical power and embedded numerous formations to protect it from the elements.
In South Vermilion Mountain.
Chang Li sat on her jade throne, her gaze fixed on the center of the hall. Nine lamps burned silently, their flames flickering in the wind, casting long, distorted shadows of the figures seated behind the bronze table, making them look like monstrous creatures lurking in the darkness.
“The Heavenly Mechanism Department has already made the announcement. Both the Star Monarch and the Heavenly Emperor have stamped their seals. The matter is settled and cannot be changed,” Chang Li said calmly.
However, the Vermilion Bird elders weren’t as calm. “Didn’t we agree that the position of Celestial Feather Minister would be reserved for Zhu Yuan Yuan?” one of them asked through gritted teeth. They had swallowed their pride when Zhu Huai Xuan was kidnapped because mere insults were harmless. But this was different. Feng Chiyue’s existence threatened their interests in Danxue Mountain!
“I can’t interfere with the decisions of the Heavenly Mechanism Department,” Chang Li said, opening her eyes slightly.
“What if Feng Chiyue can’t take up the position?” another elder asked, looking up suddenly. His face flickered in the dancing candlelight.
Chang Li chuckled briefly, leaning forward slightly. “Are you confident that you can intercept her in Dong’e Mountain or Kunlun Mountain?” she asked.
The Vermilion Bird elders fell silent. They had been waiting to watch the show, but the Morning Sun Assembly had turned out to be so useless, wiped out by the Emperor’s Daughter alone. It made them, who had always feared the Morning Sun Assembly, seem incompetent.
“She has Undefeated,” Chang Li murmured.
The very name “Undefeated” reeked of arrogance, but Ming Jian Su truly had the skills to back it up. Among all the Human Immortals who had ascended to the Heavenly Court, perhaps only one could compare to her. Distant memories flooded back, a recurring nightmare haunting her mind. Chang Li’s expression hardened. She massaged her forehead and said, “You all know what happened on the Morning Sun Continent. Feng Chiyue broke the unspoken rules, and the other gate emissaries couldn’t tolerate her, so they transferred her to the Celestial Feather Ministry.” She suspected that the Star Monarch was trying to get back at her, but she didn’t need to tell the elders that.
“So you’re saying that if the officials in the Celestial Feather Ministry refuse to cooperate, we can kick her out?” one of the elders asked, an idea forming in his mind.
“Why not try?” Chang Li said.
“The Junior Minister of the Celestial Feather Ministry is from the Bifang lineage.”
“Phoenix Mountain has no significant officials in the Celestial Feather Ministry. It’s all our people from Danxue Mountain. We can just isolate Feng Chiyue and leave her with an empty title.”
…
The Vermilion Bird elders discussed their plans, while Chang Li’s figure, like a dying flame, slowly faded away.
In Danxue Mountain, within the territory of the Bifang lineage, they were also discussing the new Minister of the Celestial Feather Ministry. Bi Feng, their leader, was the Junior Minister, the deputy to the Minister. He had assumed that with the position vacant, he would be promoted, but the Vermilion Birds had other plans, intending to install one of their younger members. Bi Feng was unwilling to be subordinate to a junior. The Bifang had joined the Vermilion Birds in their rebellion, but they hadn’t become their servants. It wasn’t until the Vermilion Birds offered him a sufficient quantity of “Fire Li Stone” that he relented.
Who could have imagined that Feng Chiyue would suddenly appear, ruining the Vermilion Birds’ plans?
But compared to being under the thumb of the Vermilion Birds, having a Phoenix as his superior was even more unbearable. The word “betrayal” was etched into their souls. Seeing a Phoenix made them feel inferior. The shame and guilt that had festered for a thousand years, mixed with hatred and envy, had slowly transformed into ruthlessness and killing intent. Only by crushing the Phoenixes could they, as victors, truly find peace.
“Senior Brother, I believe you have the Minister’s seal?” a young Daoist priest, who looked no older than thirteen or fourteen, approached Bi Feng and asked.
Bi Feng nodded, his narrow eyes half-closed, a shrewd glint hidden behind his lazy demeanor. Since the previous Minister had been promoted, he had been handling all the affairs and keeping the seal, waiting to hand it over to the new Minister.
“Are we going to give it to her?” the young Daoist priest asked.
Bi Feng smiled but didn’t answer.
The position of Celestial Feather Minister had become a focal point of intrigue and hidden agendas.
Feng Chiyue, the new Minister, slept soundly until dawn, listening to Ming Jian Su’s voice.
Zhu Wan, however, hadn’t slept a wink. She was filled with unease. It was said that “the tree that stands out in the forest will be the first to be struck by the wind.” The Immortal Monarch’s rapid promotion from Emissary to Minister was unusual. If she had achieved some great feat, it would be understandable. But what had she done as the Morning Sun Emissary? She had obliterated all ascending cultivators from the Morning Sun Continent and gone around filing complaints against the other gate emissaries… Technically, she hadn’t violated any laws, but blending in and avoiding trouble was the way to survive.
Seeing Feng Chiyue walk out of the Dharma Hall, a confident smile on her face, Zhu Wan couldn’t help but offer some advice. “Immortal Monarch, ‘water that is too pure has no fish*,’” she said earnestly.
“Fish? What fish?” Feng Chiyue looked at Zhu Wan in surprise. “I don’t like fish. You can keep them.”
Zhu Wan: “…”
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Water that is too pure has no fish*: this idiom might suggest that a relationship or situation that is too perfect or too idealized can be unrealistic or unsustainable.
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