With Gu Suying bringing her mother into the argument, Patriarch Gu had found himself unable to counter—yet he still wasn’t about to let Jiang Chen off the hook.
Originally, the two of them would have had to stay obediently in the main hall to be lectured, but Master Situ’s arrival had, without question, rescued them.
The moment they found a free moment, the two of them hurried over to the Bai family’s quarters.
On the couch, Bai Feiyao had just regained consciousness. Though the fight had left him unharmed physically, his fury had struck him harder than any internal injury could have.
The moment he saw Jiang Chen and Gu Suying brought in, he immediately hurled his medicine bowl at them, shouting furiously, “Get the hell out, you useless wretches, all of you get out!”
Jiang Chen wouldn’t dare simply leave, groveling like a lackey. “It’s rare enough that we get to see you—even if we’re meant to get out, we should be getting further in, not out!”
Only then did Bai Feiyao look at him properly, pursing his lips and snorting coldly. “Fine then, get in here.”
“Yes, sir! If young master Bai says get in, then get in it is!” Jiang Chen said cheerfully, actually dropping to the floor, head first, crawling and rolling all the way to the edge of Bai Feiyao’s couch.
“Absolutely shameless!” Gu Suying snorted coldly, arms crossed over her chest, watching with clear disdain—she truly couldn’t understand how Gu Meiting could have fallen for a man like this.
Reaching Bai Feiyao’s couch, Jiang Chen crouched there, meeting Bai Feiyao’s cold gaze, not daring to rise.
“Second Miss Gu, and you?” Bai Feiyao asked, raising an eyebrow.
“If you’d prefer, I could fetch you a dog on a leash instead,” Gu Suying snorted coldly, finding a seat and sitting down herself, then adding lazily, “How about it, Miss Bai?”
Far from angering Bai Feiyao, this remark actually provoked a burst of laughter—no longer in that low, masculine voice, but in a clear, crisp feminine one.
“Second Miss, your words remain as pleasing to the ear as ever!” Bai Feiyao said, lazily sitting up.
Indeed, she—not he.
The Bai family patriarch, much like Patriarch Gu, had no son—only this single daughter, raised as a boy from childhood, never even granted the right to bear a woman’s name!
Still, she’d grown accustomed to disguising herself as a man!
Tall and striking, blessed with extraordinary talent, aside from her personal attendants and closest confidants, no one knew she was actually a woman—this secret would be kept hidden forever.
Rather than calling Jiang Chen her lackey, it would be more accurate to call him her kept man, while Gu Suying was her true partner in crime.
Jiang Chen hoped to one day marry into the Bai family; Gu Suying, meanwhile, wanted exactly what Bai Feiyao had—to one day sit as the head of the Gu family herself!
“Second Miss Gu, why didn’t you make it clear from the start that Han Ziqing could produce wind blades with her fingers?” Bai Feiyao asked, raising an eyebrow, leaning forward with both hands pressed against the armrests on either side of Gu Suying’s chair—having been raised as a boy since childhood, her mannerisms and speech remained entirely masculine.
Gu Suying showed no fear, snorting coldly. “I did mention it—if you were too arrogant and careless to take it seriously, what could I have done?”
At these words, Bai Feiyao, who had still been smiling, suddenly grabbed Gu Suying by the throat, saying coldly, “Are you here to gloat over my misfortune, then?”
Gu Suying immediately struggled, but unable to match her strength, had no choice but to yield. “Let go… I… I didn’t mean it that way!”
Only then did Bai Feiyao release her, snorting coldly and sitting back down. Jiang Chen immediately scrambled up to stand at her side.
“My father will invite the two Qinse elders to see Jun Beiyue the day after tomorrow. We only have today and tomorrow,” Gu Suying said, getting straight to the point, not wanting to linger here too long.
Bai Feiyao toyed with a vine seed, saying coldly, “That Xuanyuan Lige today seemed rather taken with Han Ziqing!”
“Indeed—her Wuzheng zither was a gift from him. I heard the Wuzheng and the demonic zither both originally came from Qinse Valley!” Jiang Chen quickly reported.
“Shut your mouth. The sight of you disgusts me. Han Ziqing turned out to be that formidable, and you didn’t even think to warn me!” Bai Feiyao said, displeased. Jiang Chen immediately turned away, keeping his mouth shut.
Seeing this, Bai Feiyao couldn’t help but laugh, amused—Jiang Chen, aside from being a mole planted within the Gu family, served only as her source of entertainment.
Such a spineless wretch—she had no use for anything more from him.
An image of Xuanyuan Lige’s quiet, cold face unconsciously surfaced in Bai Feiyao’s mind, a calculating glint flashing in her eyes. She immediately pulled Gu Suying close, whispering something into her ear.
Gu Suying immediately broke into a smile, thoroughly sinister.
Unable to win by open means, they would naturally resort to underhanded ones instead!
While Bai Feiyao and Gu Suying plotted whatever scheme they had in mind, Ziqing sat alone in a daze on the empty viewing platform of the zither stage.
She had already had a taste of Jun Beiyue’s domineering nature before, yet somehow, today, he’d been especially insistent on interfering with her cultivation of poison.
That feeling—she couldn’t quite describe it—was almost exactly like the sensation of the song “Sorrow’s Parting” reaching its climax, a feeling of utter loss of control.
That Fusang tree—she needed to obtain it as soon as possible, and that isolated island—she needed to find it as soon as possible!
“Little Qingqing, what are you spacing out about?” Baili Weisheng’s voice suddenly came from behind her.
Ziqing didn’t turn around, her chin resting on her hands, brow furrowed.
Baili Weisheng quickly sat down beside her, smiling. “You cost me such a huge sum of silver, and you’re still not happy?”
Ziqing said nothing.
“Little Qingqing, when are you coming back with me to meet my parents?” Baili Weisheng teased.
Ziqing said nothing.
Baili Weisheng suddenly lowered his voice. “Little Qingqing, look, Xuanyuan Lige is here!”
Ziqing immediately looked up, only to find the space ahead completely empty. She shot Baili Weisheng an annoyed glance and lowered her head again, saying nothing.
“Little Qingqing, I just had a chat with the two Qinse elders—they seem quite interested in your musical skill. Xuanyuan Lige must have told them, right?” Baili Weisheng remained his usual frivolous self, yet a flash of displeasure crossed his eyes.
Helpless, Ziqing still didn’t answer.
But this wretched scholar, if nothing else, had considerable patience, continuing, “Little Qingqing, did Xuanyuan Lige teach you ‘Sorrow’s Parting’?”
Seemingly accustomed to Ziqing’s silence by now, Baili Weisheng mused aloud to himself, “When will you play it for me sometime? If it’s good, when we go back home, you can play it for my parents too, all right?”
Yet still, Ziqing said nothing.
Baili Weisheng laughed helplessly, lowering his voice. “Little Qingqing, shall I tell you who my parents actually are?”
Would he really tell her? He’d probably claim the sky was about to fall!
Ziqing didn’t believe him at all, turning her head away, annoyed.
Baili Weisheng was genuinely discouraged, feeling thoroughly defeated. But he refused to give up, continuing quietly, “Ziqing, look, Jun Beiyue is here!”
“Liar, stop bothering me!” Ziqing shoved him away. But just as… just as Baili Weisheng toppled backward from the push, she truly did see Jun Beiyue—standing not far away, though she had no idea when he’d arrived.
This fellow had actually managed to slip away!
Baili Weisheng, entirely unprepared, was pushed over. Once Ziqing withdrew her hand, he immediately sat up, having no idea someone was behind him, continuing to smile. “Whatever’s troubling you, tell me about it.”