Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress novel Chapter 1373

Chapter 1373: Chapter 1368: Paying the Price for a Gamble

"Yes!" Wei Zhong accepted the order and left with Jing Zhaoyin.

Bai Qingyan waved her hand, and Chun Tao, understanding her gesture, took Chun Zhi and left as well.

Only Bai Qingyan remained in the grand hall. She took out the jade cicada she always carried with her and placed the two jade cicadas side by side, leaning closer to scrutinize them.

The two jade cicadas were almost identical...

Although, Zhou Dynasty officials who heard the story of the jade cicada considered it a baseless rumor.

In fact, Bai Qingyan once told Li Zhijie that the tale of the jade cicada’s time reversal was rhetoric by the childless Queen of Tianfeng Kingdom to stabilize her regime. Yet... Bai Qingyan herself was indeed someone who had been reborn.

At that time, she carried the jade cicada that Xiao Rongyan gifted her, telling her to escape with it...

Holding the jade cicada gifted by Xiao Rongyan in her right hand, she watched it gleam with faint golden light under the candlelight. Her brows furrowed, and when she moved closer, the glow vanished.

When Bai Qingyan was reborn, she had never seen the jade cicada in Sal Khan’s hand.

She attempted to combine the two jade cicadas, yet nothing extraordinary happened.

After fiddling with the two jade cicadas for half an hour in the grand hall, Bai Qingyan suddenly came to her senses, feeling as though she had become obsessed.

She actually wanted to find a way to make the jade cicada reverse time. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Such an event is rare and fleeting. Her rebirth was already a heavenly favor to the Bai family, and she shouldn’t covet more.

If, as legend suggests, every time reversal demands a price, none of her relatives is someone she could bear to lose.

"Miss, Hidden Guard Weisu has come to report." Weisu’s voice came from one side of the grand hall.

Bai Qingyan looked towards the shadow behind the pillar: "Speak..."

"The Emperor’s tomb is intact, and I have stationed guards at the posthouse; not even a fly can escape."

"Good, well done... you may go!"

After the light flickered, Bai Qingyan was alone in the grand hall once again.

She wrapped the jade cicada given by Xiao Rongyan in paper and casually placed Sal Khan’s jade cicada in a corner of the table, steadying her mind to review documents.

"Let us not forget, during the Southern Border War, the grandfather, father, uncle, and most brothers of the Emperor of Zhou perished in the south. Having obtained the jade cicada, wouldn’t she try to manipulate time to change the outcome?" The Great Shaman bowed respectfully to Sal Khan, "Now that you’ve sent the female jade cicada to the Emperor of Zhou, naturally, if she has the male jade cicada, she will try to combine them, and failing that, she will undoubtedly come to consult you."

Sal Khan straightened his back, his fingers tapping the table: "We must prepare Aksai for a potential battle. Underestimating our enemy before, now aware of Zhou’s might, with summer favoring our Elephant Army, whether to fight or negotiate, it depends on the Emperor of Zhou."

"With Zhou and Yan Kingdom soon competing for supremacy, Zhou likely won’t want to confront our Tianfeng Kingdom," the Great Shaman considered Sal Khan’s previous words, feigning softly advising him, "And... if the Emperor of Zhou might become the mother of this land’s future ruler, you, My King, might seize the opportunity. If you have a child with the Emperor of Zhou, our Tianfeng Kingdom could compete for this world’s leadership without needing to marry our Princess abroad."

Sal Khan lowered his gaze, took a sip of tea without speaking, leaving the Great Shaman and other accompanying Tianfeng officials unable to fathom his thoughts.

As Wei Zhong emerged from the courtyard of the "house-arrested" Sal Khan’s entourage, crossing through cloistered paths and rocky landscapes, he encountered Xiao Rongyan leaning against a rockery. Pausing, he respectfully greeted Xiao Rongyan before leaving with his men.

"Master, I’ve confirmed; it is the Monarch of Tianfeng Kingdom!" Yue Shi landed gracefully outside the pavilion, kneeling on one knee as he reported to Xiao Rongyan.

"Tianfeng Kingdom..." Xiao Rongyan tapped his palm with a folded fan, "Ah Li secretly sent people to contact the Dongyi Kingdom, and now Tianfeng’s people have come to Zhou. Interesting."

No one knows who will win this final contest for the nation.

Regardless of whether Kid or Ah Li wins, Xiao Rongyan’s task is to do his utmost to assist the Yan Kingdom and, once the outcome of the nation’s contest is settled, ensure that both parties will honorably accept the result without sparking war.