I Trust You

Ye Qingyu chuckled upon hearing that. She had indeed considered that possibility, which was why she dared to come here so openly.

"I suddenly feel that having someone like you protecting me, Sister, really gives me a great sense of security," Ye Qingyu said with a beaming smile.

However, seeing her like this, Su Qing just curled her lips and said, "You say that... but if you really felt that secure, why would you be so cautious?"

Ye Qingyu gave an awkward smile. "With you by my side, Sister, I'm naturally full of security. But when you're not around, I have none. So, I must be extra careful. After all, if I die, I'll never see you again, and I won't be able to fulfill our agreement. I have to be prudent. Besides, our opponent is a Prime Minister whose thoughts are completely inscrutable."

There was truth and falsehood mixed in Ye Qingyu's words, but Su Qing didn't care much about that.

She simply gave a light laugh and said, "So that's how you feel? Well, your caution isn't a mistake... I support you being careful. After all, the Prime Minister hasn't truly made a move yet, and I don't know what he's planning. Of course, no matter what he plans, it won't affect me. Under the Buddha-light of the One-Leaf Bodhisattva, no demon can stir up trouble."

Su Qing didn't forget to boast about the One-Leaf Bodhisattva as she spoke, maintaining her persona. Her role in front of Ye Qingyu was that of the Bodhisattva's Earthly Manifestation, someone meant to increase her Incense Power. Therefore, she naturally had to praise her Bodhisattva.

Hearing Su Qing's words, Ye Qingyu couldn't help but say, "Yes, I really wonder what the Prime Minister is planning... It's been so long, and he hasn't once acted in earnest. I have no idea what he's plotting."

Ye Qingyu was actually quite worried about this. The situation was simply too strange.

Su Qing nodded. "Who knows?"

After a pause, Su Qing continued, "Right now, the most important thing isn't what he's planning, because no matter what his plans are, I can cover for you. What matters most is your plan! I assume you didn't come here today just for a casual chat. You're here to explain your next move, aren't you?"

Su Qing didn't want to continue the small talk, so she took the initiative to bring up their business.

Ye Qingyu understood Su Qing's thoughts and nodded with a smile.

"I am well aware that you'll be backing me up, Sister," Ye Qingyu said. "As for my next plan... I intend to attack the city directly. Although it's a bit reckless, it's the simplest and most efficient method. It's also the easiest way to figure out exactly what the Prime Minister is planning. However... I'm afraid I'll need your assistance for this process."

Su Qing wasn't surprised by this at all. Her expression remained unchanged, and she continued to lean back in her chair with a smile, pressing her hands together. "Assisting you is no problem. I promised from the beginning to help you properly! However, you'd better tell me the details of the plan. Otherwise, I won't know how to help you."

Ye Qingyu nodded slightly and then slowly began to explain the details of her plan to Su Qing.

As Ye Qingyu spoke, Su Qing listened intently. She didn't offer any opinions, mostly playing the role of a listener.

"Does Sister feel there's anything in this plan that needs to be supplemented or changed?" Ye Qingyu asked for Su Qing's opinion.

However, Su Qing just shook her head and said, "Just follow your plan. I will cooperate with you... I trust your plan."

If Su Qing really put her mind to it, she could certainly refine the plan to be more perfect. But she was too lazy to waste that much brainpower. Su Qing knew very well that no matter how detailed Ye Qingyu's plan was, it would eventually come down to a head-on clash between her and the Prime Minister. So the plan didn't really matter—as long as it achieved the necessary goals, it was enough. Everything else was secondary.

Faced with such trust from Su Qing, Ye Qingyu was happy but also felt a bit helpless. She had hoped Su Qing would offer some revisions because she knew her own plan wasn't perfect. She wanted Su Qing's input to make it flawless.

She hadn't expected Su Qing to simply intend to cooperate without offering any changes, trusting her completely.

"Sister Su... do you really have no suggestions?" Ye Qingyu asked one last time.

Su Qing narrowed her eyes and shook her head, looking completely confident in her. "I told you, I trust your plan!"

"..." Seeing this, Ye Qingyu could only nod helplessly. "Alright, I understand. I... I certainly won't let you down, Sister."

"You've never let me down... that's why I trust you like this," Su Qing said with a tilted head and a playful smile.

Ye Qingyu let out a deep breath. She suddenly felt the pressure increase. However, she didn't say anything more to Su Qing; she just nodded with a smile, thanking Su Qing for her trust.

Afterward, Su Qing and Ye Qingyu chatted for a little while longer, but not for long. Ye Qingyu took the initiative to suggest it was time for her to leave.

Su Qing didn't try to make her stay. She simply nodded and said, "Since you're leaving, I'll see you off."

"See me off? If you leave the city with me, Sister... won't you be spotted?" Ye Qingyu was stunned for a moment and asked.

Su Qing shook her head. "Don't worry. As long as no one sees us, it's fine, right? Don't forget, I am the Bodhisattva's Earthly Manifestation. I have magic power... so a bit of flying is no problem for me."

Ye Qingyu stared blankly at Su Qing for a moment before it clicked. "So you mean, you're going to fly me out, Sister?"

Ye Qingyu had thought Su Qing would cast a spell to make them both invisible and then walk out slowly. She hadn't expected Su Qing to choose such a direct method. While surprised, she was also quite excited. After all, she had never been up in the sky before! She really wanted to experience what it felt like to fly.

However, she quickly calmed herself down.

"If we fly out... won't the Prime Minister notice?" Ye Qingyu asked.

Su Qing shook her head. "No need to worry. He isn't powerful enough to detect us all the way from the palace. Besides... spells to conceal oneself aren't difficult."

Su Qing's words were clear enough—she was telling Ye Qingyu to put her heart at ease and stop overthinking. Hearing this, Ye Qingyu relaxed. "Since you say so, Sister, I'm relieved. There's no time to lose, let's head out now! To be honest, I'm quite looking forward to seeing what it feels like to fly in the sky!"

Ye Qingyu didn't always maintain a facade. She knew that showing her true feelings appropriately was the right way to build a friendship. She was a very smart person who knew how to handle social boundaries.

Su Qing shook her head slightly. "It's nothing special... you'll know once you're up there."

Su Qing said no more. She pinched a secret seal and summoned an Auspicious Cloud.

"Come up!" Su Qing stood on the cloud and reached out her hand. "Stand firm."

Ye Qingyu nodded and stepped onto the Auspicious Cloud. Stepping on it didn't feel like anything special; it felt just like ordinary ground. This gave her a sense of unreality, as if she hadn't actually stepped onto a cloud at all.

However, in the next moment, that feeling of unreality vanished. The scenery before her eyes suddenly shifted. She began to rise rapidly, and her field of vision grew higher and higher. Without realizing it, she felt as if she were standing on a high mountain, and everything around her seemed exceptionally tiny.

The once-massive Xingyang City no longer seemed so large. As for the pedestrians walking on the ground, they were as small as ants.

"Is this... the perspective from the heavens? So we look so tiny from above?" Ye Qingyu muttered to herself as she watched the people coming and going below.

Hearing her, Su Qing didn't know what she was thinking. She simply said calmly, "Things look small from a distance; that's the natural law of the world. There's nothing strange about it. If you like the view from the sky, I'll take you for a spin!"

Su Qing could see that Ye Qingyu was just like anyone else who went into the sky for the first time—extremely curious about everything around her. So, Su Qing decided to satisfy her interest.

She would just accompany her for a bit. She had nothing else to do anyway and was feeling quite relaxed. She had plenty of time to play along.

Ye Qingyu turned to look at Su Qing. "Is that really okay? Doesn't flying consume a lot of magic power?"

"It's just a quick tour, how much power could that take? To satisfy my sister's curiosity, this little bit of consumption is nothing," Su Qing said with a graceful smile.

Ye Qingyu was stunned for a moment, then thanked her sincerely.

Su Qing chuckled and said nothing more, simply nodding.

For a short while after that, Su Qing took Ye Qingyu around, fully satisfying her curiosity. In the blink of an eye, half an hour had passed. By then, Ye Qingyu's curiosity was mostly sated.

Having satisfied her, Su Qing lowered the cloud and sent Ye Qingyu out of the city. They landed in a deserted forest.

"I'll leave you here. You'll have to walk the rest of the way yourself. You can find your way, right?" Su Qing asked.

Ye Qingyu nodded. "This isn't far from the meeting point with my subordinates. I can get there on my own. You don't need to worry, Sister."

Su Qing nodded trustingly. "Since you say so, I'm at ease. Alright, it's about time I head back... I look forward to the day you tell me we can begin the operation."

Ye Qingyu smiled. "Yes! When the time comes, we'll take everything in one fell swoop!"

Seeing the determination in her eyes, Su Qing also smiled. She nodded and said, "I believe in you!"

With that, Su Qing said no more. She pinched a secret seal and departed on her cloud. Compared to the slow pace when they arrived, Su Qing's speed when leaving was significantly faster. In an instant, she had vanished from sight.

Such speed left the Commandery Princess stunned. When she finally snapped out of it, she could find no words other than to marvel at the sight.

"Is this the power of an immortal? What an enviable ability! No wonder... no wonder those emperors were always obsessed with cultivation. If one could have such power, who wouldn't be obsessed?"

Ye Qingyu looked toward the direction where Su Qing had disappeared in the sky and spoke to herself. After a long moment, she gave a helpless smile. "Unfortunately, those emperors don't know that an emperor can never successfully cultivate... and it's absolutely impossible for them to achieve immortality."

Su Qing had once told her a bit about this, so she knew very well what she would gain and what she would be forced to give up by becoming an empress. However, she didn't regret it. She knew she had no talent for cultivation, so rather than wasting her life chasing the Dao, she would rather become an empress and do more for the common people.

Ye Qingyu exhaled a breath of turbid air and shook her head. Then, she went to reunite with her subordinates.

On the other side, Su Qing quietly returned to her home.

"It's getting late. I might as well skip the clinic entirely today." After returning to the backyard, Su Qing lay back in her chair, looking lazy. She had originally planned to go to the clinic after seeing off the Princess, but now she was too lazy to move. She simply decided to stay put.

Time ticked by. Before long, night fell, and Ao Yiyi and the others returned home together.

As soon as Su Qingyu returned, she walked up to Su Qing and said, "Master, you really didn't show up at all today! So, what were you doing all day? You weren't researching something incredible again, were you?"

Su Qing lightly tapped Su Qingyu's head. "I wasn't researching anything incredible... I just went to talk to someone about future matters."

"Eh? Can you tell me about it?"

"What do you think? Go play somewhere else!" Su Qing gave her a sidelong glance.

"Ehhh..." It was the expected answer, and Su Qingyu was a bit speechless. Su Qing ignored her and turned to Ao Yiyi. "Yiyi, come to the study with me for a moment."