It seemed everyone had already concluded that she was the one who had orchestrated everything.

Xuan Yi couldn’t be bothered to explain. She walked over and sat down across from him, turning her wrist as she began concentrating on sculpting flowers from the white snow once more.

“Senior Brother Shao Yi certainly handled this matter quite beautifully.” Gu Ting’s praise was so excessive that even she found it nauseating.

Shao Yi smiled, his long lashes interweaving, then reminded her with complete seriousness: “Everything I said came straight from my heart.”

What did this have to do with her? Xuan Yi casually traced the patterns on the petals with her fingernails.

When she remained silent, Shao Yi also fell quiet, lazily reclining against the ice table as he watched her slowly sculpt the white snow into a camellia. Her slender fingers, the proportionate flesh and bone of her palms and wrists, the nail polish applied so refreshingly and beautifully to her fingernails—that fiery color against her fair complexion created an indescribable and ineffable allure.

“Little loach,” he suddenly called out to her with an almost bewitching tone, “why did you do this?”

Xuan Yi stared at the snow camellia in her hands and said lightly: “Senior Brother Shao Yi, you are all more than twice my age and are outstanding among the young gods. Can you not take responsibility for your own actions? Insisting on finding someone else to blame—this logic I truly cannot understand.”

Shao Yi looked at her with a smile: “I don’t believe you.”

She brushed away the excess snow: “Both senior sisters cried and made such a fuss over Senior Brother Shao Yi that their hairpins even fell off, yet you come here to interrogate me. Don’t you feel even a little guilty?”

His face was full of bewilderment: “Why should I feel guilty?”

Xuan Yi thought for a moment: “They both genuinely like you. Isn’t there a common saying that true feelings are the most precious?”

Shao Yi sighed, his expression becoming tender as he said softly: “I also genuinely like them. Young, beautiful, and passionate goddesses—I love them the most.”

It sounded as though his affections weren’t limited to just Fu Luo and Yan Xia.

“There are so many lovely goddesses—how could I bear to disappoint or sadden any of them?” Shao Yi rested his chin on his hand with a light smile. “Time is so long; one must find things to do to keep life from becoming boring. I’m happy, they’re happy—why not? But if being together doesn’t bring happiness and instead makes us view each other as enemies, it’s better to separate cleanly and decisively.”

Xuan Yi understood: “Senior Brother Shao Yi makes such good sense. So that’s how it is.”

Shao Yi said gently: “Clever and quick-witted—I like that very much too.”

Xuan Yi held up the partially formed snow camellia in her palm to examine it closely, saying as she did: “Many thanks for Senior Brother Shao Yi’s deep affection.”

With that, she glanced at him with a smile, her autumn-like eyes flowing with charm.

Shao Yi couldn’t help but sigh slowly: “Master rarely grants such a long vacation of three months. Now that I’m suddenly free, I find myself quite bored. By the way, the eldest princess of the Eastern Sea Dragon God is about to celebrate her fiftieth thousandth birthday. Invitations have been sent out widely to all the divine clans. Little loach, would you like to accompany me to the Eastern Sea for a few days? It’s bound to be lively and interesting.”

“Is she that legendary eldest princess of the Eastern Sea Dragon God whose beauty is said to surpass all others?”

Shao Yi gazed at her: “Whether her beauty surpasses all others, I don’t know, but she certainly cannot compare to the princess of the Zhuyin Clan, supreme among all dragons.”

Xuan Yi raised both eyebrows: “If she can’t compare to me, why should I go see her? Senior Brother Shao Yi, you go. If anything interesting happens, don’t forget to tell me about it afterward.”

Shao Yi was finally momentarily stunned—she had actually set a trap for him. He smiled bitterly: “What if I say she surpasses you in beauty?”

“Then I definitely won’t go.” Xuan Yi found the snow camellia insufficiently refined and simply crushed it gently. “If she’s prettier than me, seeing her would upset me. I won’t create unhappiness for myself.”

What a little troublemaker full of schemes.

Shao Yi wasn’t angry either. He stood up and said: “I’ll do as you wish. Whenever you’re bored, come find me, and your senior brother will help you pass the time.”

Xuan Yi waved her hand to see him off. After returning to her chambers for a brief rest, she opened the thick volume that Baize Dijun had given her and began reading it page by page.

—

Now, as for Fu Luo and Yan Xia having a huge fight over Shao Yi, and Gu Ting’s golden crown turning entirely green—Tai Yao and the others had originally planned to suppress the matter and pretend it never happened. Who knew the immortal attendants would gossip so much that ultimately paper cannot contain fire, and Baize Dijun found out about it.

After Fu Luo and Yan Xia were reprimanded by the dijun, each was sent home to reflect on her mistakes for three months.

However, adding insult to injury, after Gu Ting returned to Hua Huang’s immortal island and remained silent for five or six days, a piece of news suddenly exploded through the divine realm: Hua Huang Yao Clan and the Snake Sovereign Clan of Tuxiang Mountain had dissolved their betrothal.

For a time, all the gods were in an uproar, with various gossip and rumors flying everywhere.

While dissolving betrothals wasn’t exactly rare, there was always some scandal to be dug out—inevitably, either the male or female party had made some kind of mistake to cause the betrothal to be dissolved.

Hua Huang Yao Clan had always enjoyed a reputation for virtue and integrity. In comparison, Tuxiang Mountain’s reputation was far less flattering. The Snake Sovereign herself had numerous romantic debts from her youth, and now there were rumors of countless male consorts serving her. That Princess Fu Luo had inherited her mother’s ways didn’t seem particularly surprising to the gods.

Regardless, this marriage was now ruined. According to rumors, Princess Fu Luo had rushed to Hua Huang’s immortal island overnight and lingered outside the gates for a full day and night. Yet Hua Huang’s son Gu Ting could steel his heart enough to completely ignore her, ultimately causing Princess Fu Luo to depart in dejection.

With the marriage ruined, Tuxiang Mountain had lost tremendous face, and even Baize Dijun’s side felt somewhat embarrassed. The Snake Sovereign wrote a letter to the dijun, the gist being that Fu Luo was dull in aptitude and insufficiently skilled in her studies, and so forth. She summoned her daughter back to Tuxiang Mountain to find another famous teacher, so she wouldn’t have to remain in this sad place continuing to suffer.

Baize Dijun silently granted permission.

Compared to the tremendous upheaval surrounding Gu Ting and Fu Luo, Yan Xia’s situation was much quieter.

Chi Di was strict yet protective of his own. After his daughter returned home in tears and he had clarified the situation, he reflected that he had originally sent his daughter there out of regard for Baize Dijun’s illustrious reputation. Who knew that after several thousand years, not only had she made no substantial progress, but she had instead gotten entangled with her senior brothers and created such an absurd and laughable incident with her fellow students. For a time, he felt deeply embarrassed, while simultaneously couldn’t help but suspect that Baize Dijun, advanced in years, was no longer taking his teaching seriously.

When he learned that the object of his daughter’s affections was Shao Yi Shenjun of the Nine Heavens Phoenix Clan’s Qingyang Clan, Chi Di became even more displeased. This Shao Yi Shenjun, young in years yet considerable in his abilities, especially enjoyed dallying among flowers and was famously fickle and heartless.

Chi Di deeply detested such behavior, let alone that this wayward youth was actually his daughter’s classmate. He immediately issued strict orders for his daughter to remain at home without leaving, and casually wrote Baize Dijun a brief letter of withdrawal.

Baize Dijun again silently granted permission.

When this news reached Xuan Yi’s ears, more than a month had already passed. It was Qi Nan, bored with nothing to do, who told her. He always felt she would cause trouble, so he couldn’t help but probe when telling her.

“Princess Fu Luo and Princess Yan Xia were said to have quarreled irreconcilably over Qingyang Clan’s Shao Yi Shenjun… Your Highness is also classmates with Shao Yi Shenjun. How do you get along?”

Qi Nan felt he had expressed his meaning quite clearly—no matter how desperately he wanted her married off, Shao Yi Shenjun was absolutely impossible!

Xuan Yi was eating preserved plums while flipping through the volume their master had left them. Although the contents were quite dry, once she got absorbed in it, she couldn’t put it down.

“It’s alright, I suppose.” She responded perfunctorily.

“What about… Fucang Shenjun?” Qi Nan’s heart leaped into his throat.

Upon hearing that name, Xuan Yi immediately frowned: “Why bring up that annoying thing?”

Qi Nan sighed deeply: “No… nothing…”

It seemed Fucang Shenjun was completely hopeless. This was the first time he had seen the princess show such strong negative emotions toward anyone. But they were both disciples under Baize Dijun’s tutelage, constantly running into each other. If their accumulated resentment grew deeper and deeper, what could be done?

Speaking of Baize Dijun, Qi Nan wanted to sigh again.

Baize Dijun was the aspiration of so many divine clans. Wangshu, Xuanming Dijun, Hua Huang, even the Heavenly Emperor’s crown prince—all had studied under him. The disciples he had taught were almost all formidable divine beings whose names resounded throughout the divine realm. Not only were they of noble birth, but their various deeds and achievements were brilliant and glorious.

That the princess could become his disciple made Qi Nan immensely proud.

But observing these past days, things seemed slightly different from what he had imagined. What kind of chaotic atmosphere did his current disciples have? The princess was already troublesome enough—what if she was influenced to become even worse?