Chapter 163: Not the Best Partner

　　Cough!

　　After a while, Yu Chen managed to stand up straight.

　　“Do you wish to continue?” Lu Mingshu asked.

　　He shook his head. “I still have the strength, but since I’m not as skilful, then so be it.”

　　Lu Mingshu nodded and got off the stage.

　　“Miss Lu.”

　　She stopped in her tracks.

　　“Could you tell me what skills you learned?” Yu Chen looked at her with curiosity. There were only a few seconds before he was about to win; why did the tables turn so suddenly? He was well aware of her abilities, yet she was able to accumulate more mystic energy than theoretically possible for her within a split second. Yu Chen had trained for so long, yet this was the first time he had seen such a skill that enabled one to increase their amount of mystic energy in such a short time.

　　“Yes! What did you do?” the spectators shouted.

　　They also didn’t know what was going on. Yu Chen was the one who should’ve been winning.

　　“Sir is much more powerful than me, so it’s true that I should’ve lost.”

　　“I know. So?” Yu Chen hurried her.

　　“So I kept a bit of mystic energy every time I attacked.”

　　“Kept?” Yu Chen scratched his head. “Kept where?”

　　Lu Mingshu kept quiet. She couldn’t possibly reply that it was all because of her strengthening seal, which allowed her sword to resonate with her mystic energy, or that she had learned a special meditation technique from the Heavenly Wheel.

　　When Yu Chen used the Five Morning Sun Summit, Lu Mingshu used the mystic energy she had stored to increase her power by double. That’s why she could overcome Yu Chen’s strong skill.

　　Yu Chen understood the idea soon. “Oh, so it’s like that….”

　　The method was logical and easy to think of, but the difficult part was… where did she store the mystic energy and how did she ensure that she didn’t lose it in the process? That wasn’t something that a normal person could do. Even though Yu Chen was unsatisfied with the result, he couldn’t find anything else to doubt Lu Mingshu on.

　　“Okay, I concede defeat. Miss is indeed surprising. I hope we get to go against each other another time.” He bowed and went back to his tent.

　　On the other hand, Qi Sheng heaved a sigh of relief. “See, I told you he’s an idiot. A free win for Lu Mingshu.”

　　Kou Wei shook his head. “Yu Chen didn’t really lose anything either. It’s his first match. No big deal if he lost.”

　　“But he’s injured….”

　　“A minor matter. He will still be able to defeat others.” Kou Wei pointed to the name list. “The only downside is that he didn’t get to take advantage of Lu Mingshu’s huge amount of points.”

　　Kou Wei said while jotting down an opponent’s name and passing it to the clerk.

　　After the interesting match between Lu Mingshu and Yu Chen, the rest of the matches of day four were all dull. It was nothing but elites getting easy points from the fat lambs.

　　Lu Mingshu joined in the contest too.

　　Now, it was her turn to challenge others. After defeating Yu Chen, she went on winning the subsequent matches and swept away everything before her.

　　…

　　Night arrived. In the main palace, a name list with points recorded was placed in front of the queen.

　　Lu Mingshu: 58 points. She was in the first row.

　　Followed by Wei Chunqiu: 42 points and Kou Wei: 40 points.

　　After so many Qilin festival, this was only the third time such a thing had happened.

　　The first two times was because there was a very talented martial artist that was stronger than all other competitors. Lu Mingshu was also a talent, but there were plenty of competitors stronger than her.

　　Ding Qingqing came in with a bowl of soup. “Your Highness, please take a rest first.”

　　The queen sighed and placed the name list aside.

　　“It’s been a long time since this has happened,” she commented

　　“Yes.” Ding Qingqing smiled. “The previous time… was about sixty years ago?”

　　“Yes! We weren’t even born back then.”

　　“But this won’t last long. Kou Wei and Wei Chunqiu still haven’t gone up against her yet.”

　　The queen finished her supper silently and washed up before continuing. “Have you asked about Wei Chunqiu yet?”

　　“Yes.” Ding Qingqing nodded. “It was said that when State Master Jia Yan got in the way of Miss Lu, Wei Chunqiu was there, and Lu Mingshu did something that made him happy, so he promised to go easy on her.”

　　“I see. Hmm.” Instead of happiness, worry could be seen in the queen’s eyes.

　　Seeing her reaction, Ding Qingqing asked carefully, “This makes you worried?”

　　“I’m in a dilemma.” The queen sighed. “It’s obvious that this child has a lot on her mind, and she’s unhappy with her life.”

　　“Do you think this is bad for Young Master?”

　　The queen nodded. “Xing’er… he’s unhappy too. Since Master died, he has never smiled genuinely. After I forced him to be the Alioth Star Lord, it’s as if he’s always wearing a mask. He’s always Xie Lianzhen, never Xie Xingchen. Even in front of me….”

　　“Young Master just needs more time….”

　　The queen smiled bitterly. “It’s fine, Qingqing. He does not need more time to think things through when he has already seen it all. Before he turned twelve, I could feel his hatred toward me. After twelve, I couldn’t feel anything from him.” Her eyes turned as dark as the night. “Sometimes, I would rather he hate me, because at least that would show that he still has feelings toward me. But… he never calls me mother, and that’s because I’ve never felt like his mother. He has always felt like he’s an orphan….”

　　“How could this be Your Highness’ fault? You are unwilling too.”

　　“It’s not about having no choice, it’s just me pushing away responsibilities.” The queen sighed. “I don’t blame him; I’m the one that gave up on having him as my son, and he’s totally aware of that too. That’s why he never comes and I never ask him to.”

　　At times, the queen felt that she was the biggest failure. She was able to control all of Zhongzhou, yet she was unable to control her own son. To him, she was nothing but another stranger that he could use for his own benefits.

　　The queen fidgeted with the paper. “Even though I have failed as a mother, I still want him to live happily. This girl has too much unhappiness; she can’t be together with Xing’er.”

　　“But that’s what Young Master wants.”

　　“Yes. What he wants….” The queen lowered her head. “I feel like I am getting further and further from him. I can’t tell what it is that he wants from this girl. And seeing Lu Mingshu’s performance… I’m shocked, and I don’t dare to force her anymore.”

　　“Your Highness….” Ding Qingqing looked at her in shock. “You think marrying Xing’er is not good for her?”

　　“She’s so hardworking only because she’s unwilling to marrying Xing’er, and since she’s just as pessimistic as Xing’er, how will they benefit from being with each other?”

　　“But, Young Master…”

　　The queen closed the name list. “Let’s wait then. Hopefully, Xing’er will change his mind.