Abandoned Princesses
The Rise of the Dragon's Tread Ring

Shen Haofeng had just led Qiao Rong gently to the gate of Yun Pavilion. But just as he was about to say goodbye to the girl, he felt a familiar aura.

Qiao Rong was perplexed as Shen Haofeng hugged him abruptly, then the man put his robe on him, to avoid the coldness of the winter temperature. In the next instant, the man had already disappeared from before him. Qiao Rong was very confused, but whatever it was the man must have had his own reasons.

Qiao Rong could only sigh and enter the Yun Pavilion, greeted by an excited Chu Yue. It seemed like the girl had already heard what was happening in the palace that day.

"Your Majesty! So you decided to choose the Moon King over the man in Nanshan Village??" Qiao Rong patted his forehead as Chu Yue returned to discuss the matter.

Seeing Qiao Rong's response, Chu Yue felt puzzled. Did he speak wrong?

Qiao Rong was already unconcerned at the thought of the girl. He ended up only going inside his room to continue his cultivation which had been delayed by a few days.

*****

Shen Haofeng had just arrived at the other side of the palace. He sees something that looks familiar, but also unfamiliar. He had felt it, but never saw it.

Black smoke.

It was like someone had just performed a teleportation technique from that location. Black smoke.

Shen Haofeng twisted his brain hard. Black smoke reminds me of what?

The forbidden technique of the demon sect that had long since become extinct due to the thousand year war. The smoke is typical of the king of the demons. Black Madness Smoke. The smoke caused by the madness of the Demon King while losing his Empress in the hands of the cultivators of the three sects.

"Jiang Junwei!" Shen Haofeng shouted. This time the tone was very different from usual. His steady and flat tone had already been replaced by a panic tone.

"Yes!" A male figure immediately appeared from behind Shen Haofeng. Jiang Junwei looked at Shen Haofeng curiously. Does the master look so worried?

"Prepare the messenger, Sun King, the great meeting of the two sects!" Shen Haofeng was like a person who was being chased. He was in a hurry, impatient. Because if what he saw today was true, then the history of the three great sects was currently being threatened.

*****

Qiao Rong was now focusing and concentrating on cultivating, but he had just felt like he was about to level up, a radiant light from the ring embedded in his ring finger.

The Dragon Tread Ring seemed to be reacting to the flow of his qi that was about to level up. For some reason, Qiao Rong did not know either.

"Here we go. Here we go.." Suddenly Li Junyan's voice appeared. Qiao Rong was confused.

Suddenly his ring finger felt very hot and heavy. It's getting heavier and hotter.

"Li Junyan's? What's the matter?!" Qiao Rong was a bit panicked, but still tried to maintain his mental stability.

"Quick! Drain your qi properly around the ring! Cover the ring completely, always pay attention to your blood flow, lest it cannot flow smoothly!" Li Junyan issued instruction after instruction which Qiao Rong directly did carefully.

He felt his strength drained by the ring, while also being burned and sucked. Qiao Rong was already sweating very badly right now. His entire body felt numb, he could feel his blood flow being restrained.

"Don't let the blood flow go smoothly! Come on, you can do it!" Hearing Li Junyan, Qiao Rong refocused on the condition of his body, also trying his hardest to drain every qi present in his body to envelop the ring.

Suddenly the Dragon Tread Ring gave off a very strange light and was more dazzling than the previous luminescent light. This time the light forced Qiao Rong to close his eyes and could not see the state of the ring.

After a while, the condition finally ended. Qiao Rong who was now out of breath was finally able to droop helplessly on the bed.

Qiao Rong's breathing began to stabilize, slowly becoming blurry.

"Master! Don't get to sleep! Open your eyes!" Shouted Li Junyan many times.

The last thing Qiao Rong heard was Li Junyan's vague shout.

*****

"Your Majesty.. have you come to your senses?" After several hours of burning incense prescribed by the court physician, the Emperor finally woke up.

"I believe you've handled this well." Said the Emperor to Eunuch Head Qi. Although his voice was clear, his voice was still very weak.

Head Eunuch Qi simply nodded, then helped the Emperor sit down. The Emperor's little finger was bandaged and given a wooden brace.

"What about the Moon King?" Ask Emperor.

"Your Majesty can rest easy, the Moon King has already left because there will be an emergency meeting." Replied Eunuch Head Qi with a calming tone.

"Qi Hu's.." Call the Emperor lirih.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" Replied Eunuch Head Qi while telling some of the maids to take the medicine with a hand gesture.

"Nobody is allowed to see me at this time, at least until my condition is somewhat restored. No one should know, not even the Empress." The Emperor tried to speak as firmly as possible. But his current condition did not seem to allow it.

Eunuch Qi's head nodded slightly, then fed the medicinal Emperor who had already been brought by one of the palace's maids.

"I will not be attending daily meetings as usual, ordering Prime Minister Huang and Secretary Chen to send royal documents to my study every day. Tell everyone that I'm not well." The Emperor again.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Again Eunuch Head Qi could only nod. Although he was curious about what happened, but what could be done, he was afraid to offend the Emperor, or interfere in the affairs of the Emperor.

Head Eunuch Qi immediately came out to deliver his message to the other eunuchs, who would immediately deliver the message to the residence of the Prime Minister and Secretary Chen.

"Remember, don't let anyone see me, not even the Empress." Said the Emperor firmly after Head Eunuch Qi entered back into the Emperor's room in a hurry.

"I understand, Your Majesty." Reply Eunuch Head Qi.

*****

Concubine Shu immediately ran over quickly when she heard the news that had just been whispered by her ladyboy head.

Princess Rong will be engaged soon.

Concubine Shu couldn't believe it. The only thing he was worried about was that the Emperor would sacrifice his daughter for the sake of a political marriage.

He did not expect his daughter to attract the attention of the Moon King. Concubine Shu could also understand why the Emperor could agree to the engagement. Of course for the benefit of the government. That way the Moon King would be connected to the Wen Kingdom.

Concubine Shu hastened her pace, she had already not had the time to prepare a stretcher to go to Yun Pavilion. After all his pavilion and Yun Pavilion were not so far away.

As soon as Consort Shu reached the gate of Yun Pavilion, she instead saw Chu Yue who was pacing around anxiously in front of Qiao Rong's room.

Concubine Shu naturally immediately ran in a hurry towards Chu Yue.

"Y-Your Majesty!" Chu Yue who was shocked to see the arrival of Consort Shu instantly bowed to pay her respects.

"Where is Qiao Rong?" Concubine Shu asked impatiently.

"Yes-Your Majesty.. Her.. Is cultivating, but not yet.." Chu Yue was at a loss as to what to say. He was also confused about having to go in to ascertain the state of Qiao Rong, or wait outside for fear of messing with his non concentration.

"Since when has he been cultivating?" Consort Shu asked worriedly.

"Since this afternoon, ta-but His Majesty has always advised that he will cultivate behind closed doors." Chu Yue replied anxiously.

Concubine Shu did not think anymore and directly opened the door of Qiao Rong's room just like that.

"Your Majesty!!" Chu Yue shouted hysterically when she saw Qiao Rong's body lying unconscious on the bed.

Seeing the helpless body of her daughter, Consort Shu's heart was shattered.

"Qiao Rong!!!" Shouted Consort Shu. And her crying broke.