He knows but still doesn’t fight, take or beg, still holds out his sincere heart without any resentment, still laughs heartily and cheerfully. Helian’s magnanimous heart makes even Zong Chen as a man feel awed.
The rush of emotion caused Zong Chen to suddenly want to share what was in his heart.
“You know I am of the Xuanyuan clan.” Zong Chen smiled and said, “In the early days of Dacheng, Xuanyuan, Zhan and Yan clan all had their own kingdom, as you know.”
Helian nods, “This is precisely what I don’t understand. It would be logical to assume you two are mortal enemies, didn’t Dacheng destroy the Xuanyuan empire?”
“The last Xuanyuan emperor abdicated voluntarily.” Zong Chen explains, “Our first emperor of Xuanyuan, was only on the throne for five years but he was brilliant and wise. The country flourished greatly under his rule but the Xuanyuan emperor was the sort of person who was indifferent about worldly possessions nor was he obsessed with imperial power. The only thing he held dear in his heart was the Empress of Dacheng. When he died in the fifth year of Xuanyuan, he left an iron edict on his death bed which is that his posterity must protect the bloodline of the Empress. Those who violated the vow would be destroyed by the heavens. (This last sentence is a fairly common saying when people make vows to show the severity of the consequences if the vow wasn’t kept. Obviously, most time it doesn’t stop the vow from being broken in real life.) Regarding the continuation of the imperial power for his posterity, he also repeatedly and earnestly left instructions that since the throne was originally a gift from the Empress anyway then it would only be fitting to return it to her so there must not be any violence or resentment towards the bloodlines of Dacheng royalty.”
“The emperor is certainly an example of a man who is broad-minded. Still, even with all that.” Helian asked, “After so many generations have passed, and after the empire was really destroyed, could the iron edict still be carried out faithfully?”
“It is said the emperors of the five continents and five kingdoms were all quite close with the Empress of Dacheng, and all left iron edicts for their future generations to protect and watch over her bloodline. However, just as you said, things change with time. The older generation might be close but that’s not the case for the future generations. It is true that it was unrealistic to think the iron edicts could still be carried out under that sort of circumstance. That’s why when Zhan clan ended up in trouble later on, even though Yan clan didn’t become enemies with Dacheng but they began to ignore and pull themselves away. Only us Xuanyuan clan, due to the first emperor’s chronic illness, the subsequent generations all have less than ideal physical constitutions, which caused us to be extra aware of our mortality and become less focused on worldly things. We are a bit more interested in medical skills than in the affairs of the state.” Zong Chen smiles, “You see, before Dacheng could even come to destroy Xuanyuan, the last emperor promptly abdicated.”
“So that’s how it is,” Helian said sincerely, “It is Zhi Wei’s blessing to have you watch over her.”
“Xuanyuan clan is actually not the one who gave the most.” Zong Chen smiled apologetically, “The Xuanyuan clan’s personality is truly too indifferent to most things. In these six hundred years, we didn’t involve ourselves directly with the mission of protecting Dacheng’s bloodline but only promised that at the most difficult moment we will come forward to protect, so at that time…”
He suddenly stopped and looked at the tent where Gu Nan Yi and Feng Zhi Wei are at, something like a mist appeared in his eyes.
Seeing Zong Chen’s expression, Helian didn’t ask more. He knew that to cause someone with a such royal background as Zong Chen to faithfully follow after someone, there were probably additional reasons than the ones he just listed. However, no matter what those reasons are, his doubts and unease have been cleared so he immediately smiled, “Good brother, let us have a drink together later.”
“Alright.” Zong Chen smiled.
After Helian left, Zong Chen had only sat down and flipped a few pages in his book before he hears a cool and elegant voice out in front of his tent, “Mr. Zong, are you here?”
Zong Chen let out a mocking smile– his tent door was half closed, and anyone could see into it clearly. Helian had strode right in but he had to stand outside and ask. Sure enough, His Royal Highness is not the same as everyone else.
“My place is sure lively today.” Zong Chen smiled, “Your Highness, please.”
Ning Yi lifted the curtain and came in, still looking elegant and refined as usual. He didn’t like wearing armors, most of the time he wore more casual clothing. Sometimes Zong Chen would maliciously wonder if he was deliberately trying to match Wei Zhi so he would appear more compatible with her.
Zong Chen’s eyes looked over, the expression in them was naturally none too friendly but his good manner caused him to extend a hand and let out his seat.
Ning Yi sat down as if nothing is wrong and cut straight to the chase, “I am here to bother you sir because I have a request.” (The Chinese word here if I translated straight across would be beg not request. I chose to go with request because the wording really is not as strong as beg but it is also not as light as request. No matter what, it does show that Ning Yi is asking very sincerely and humbly.)
“Your Highness is soon to be rich with the four seas. It seems there would be nothing a grass-root commoner would have that You Highness would want.” Zong Chen immediately blocked any requests with his words.
Ning Yi didn’t get angry but smiled instead, “I am here to beg you, sir, to give Zhi Wei a pure happiness.” (He actually used the word beg here so that’s pretty significant.)
Zong Chen put down the book he had been reading the whole time.
“Your Highness’ words are strange.” His brows knitted slightly in anger, “Is Zhi Wei unhappy? Zhi Wei is not happy, is it because of me? If Zhi Wei is really unhappy, then this commoner feels that Your Highness should take a closer look at yourself.”
“I naturally should examine myself.” Ning Yi replied calmly, “It’s just that I don’t have your exceptional skill, sir. No matter what compensation I make, I can’t return a clear mind.”
“What do you mean by that?” Zong Chen narrowed his eyes.
“This year in the Capital, there was a time I had nothing to do and read a Secret Book of Dacheng Royal Family that was in the imperial library. There was one thing mentioned in it.” Ning Yi’s fingers lightly tapped on the table surface, “Dacheng’s first empress, she had at one time with the help of Xuanyuan emperor, sealed a portion of her memory.”
Zong Chen fell silent, then let out a sneering laugh.
“Xuanyuan’s medical skills have been passed down from one generation to another, I think this technique of sealing memory must have also been passed down to you sir.”
“So what?”
Ning Yi stopped talking. With smart people, there is no need to say anything more by this point.
After a long time, Zong Chen replied coldly, “Sorry, this matter is too important, I have no right to decide for her.”
“I am not doing it for me nor am I trying to avoid the debt I owe her.” There was actually pleading in Ning Yi’s voice, “I once said, I will wait for her, wait for her to stand in my path with a sword in hand, to give a strike at any time, I won’t hide or run away. But now, I have changed my mind. Since coming here, I began to hesitate…she is suffering too much, she has been filled with hatred, pushing out all the joys of life, because of this hatred, she is pushing herself every moment, forcing herself to do the things she used to dislike and will continue to push herself to keep on doing it. This is too terrible.”
“Isn’t this all thanks to you?”
All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com
Soooo… we have officially arrived at the point of the novel where from this point on you probably won’t find equivalent scenes in the drama. Well, except some parts involving Xin Ziyan (Ning Yi’s right hand man, and the headmaster at the academy).
By the way, the whole memory erasing thing might seem like it popped out of nowhere but like Ning Yi had explained, it is already part of the story in Legend of Fuyao so it makes sense why it would show up here. For those of you who watched Legend of Fuyao and is certain that Fuyao never lost her memory…you are right, because the drama left out that part of the novel.
Thank you Ninja for another chapter. Ning Yin is willing to sacrifice for FZW.
If Zong Chen really thinks s about this, he would understand Ningyi’s point of view here. Our heroine is indeed suffering.