Coming out of Chongling Valley, it was already noon the next day. The fine wine sent by the Fox clan seemed quite strong—Zhen Hongsheng had drunk two jars by himself last night and was still too drunk to get up today. Xin Mei had no choice but to bid farewell to Zhang Dahu, mount Lie Yunhua, and take her leave.

She flew like lightning all the way to Meishan’s residence at Whitehead Mountain to deliver mooncakes to Lord Meishan, only to be told by the spirit ghost guarding the gate that he had gone out with no expected return date. Xin Mei left two boxes of egg yolk filling for him, mounted Lie Yunhua again, and headed back toward the Imperial Tomb.

“Xiao Yun, what do you think Lu Qianqiao is doing right now?”

The journey was a bit boring, so Xin Mei hugged Lie Yunhua’s neck and chatted idly with it. If only Qiuyue were here—although it couldn’t speak, it would react to whatever she said, unlike this horse that just stared ahead and ran forward.

“You’re much dumber than Qiuyue, you don’t even acknowledge me.”

This was slander! Lie Yunhua snorted forcefully. It was a horse, not a human—what household’s horse would start talking? That would be seeing ghosts!

“Oh? You’re saying Lu Qianqiao must be thinking of me? Missing me so much he can’t eat or sleep?” Her eyes brightened.

I never said that! Lie Yunhua neighed loudly.

“You mean he’s reflecting on his mistakes, preparing to apologize to me?”

I really didn’t say that! Lie Yunhua began to cry.

“You’re saying he’ll come tearfully begging me to return?”

…Brother Qiuyue, you are truly great. Lie Yunhua gazed forlornly at the distant clouds, developing the highest respect for Qiuyue from the bottom of its heart over this completely mismatched conversation.

Suddenly, a large mass of clouds ahead broke apart, and several giant birds of paradise sang melodious tunes as they flew against the wind, pulling behind them a magnificent golden carriage. Pale golden light transformed into ancient script, swaying and scattering—truly an extraordinary sight.

Lie Yunhua nimbly moved aside, respectfully lowering its head and stopping in midair to wait for the long carriage to pass.

Spirit beasts had an instinctive submissive response to this kind of pure and noble aura.

The long carriage slowly approached and stopped beside Xin Mei. A slender hand rolled up the white bamboo curtain, and the young man in black robes inside poked his head out, giving her a friendly smile.

This person… seemed to be some great monk from the Fox clan? Xin Mei looked at him curiously, and he curiously looked back. After staring at each other for quite a while, he finally smiled again.

“Hey, beautiful young lady.” He spoke with a gentle voice but a frivolous tone. “I’m hungry, could you give me a box of mooncakes?”

…An extraordinarily magnificent carriage, extraordinarily magnificent birds of paradise, and then, stopping just to ask her for a box of mooncakes.

Xin Mei handed him a box with nut filling in bewilderment, but he shook his head, his eyes glowing green: “I want meat filling.”

…What kind of monk was this, actually eating meat!

She switched to a box of meat-filled mooncakes, the bamboo curtain was lowered again, and the person’s voice came from inside the carriage: “Thank you, you’re both beautiful and kind-hearted.”

The birds of paradise began singing again, and the long carriage continued flying against the wind. Xin Mei scratched her head and patted Lie Yunhua’s neck: “Alright, let’s go too, quickly now, to the Imperial Tomb.”

Ever since Lu Qianqiao had awakened, the Yunwu Array at the Imperial Tomb had been restored. The large and small demons had evacuated the underground palace and returned to the green mountains and clear waters above ground. The Imperial Tomb had shed its former decay and restored its past beauty of peach blossoms and willows, with birds singing and flowers blooming.

Si Lan was nowhere to be seen, Yinglian was napping in the pond, and Tao Guoguo was playing hide-and-seek with her little brother in the ghostly apricot blossom forest—it seemed Lu Qianqiao hadn’t come here yet.

Xin Mei tied Lie Yunhua outside to graze and quietly snuck into Scholar Zhao’s small cave. Sure enough, he was wearing a white headband again, writing furiously with his brush, crying as he wrote, tears dripping down along his beard.

“Oh, young lady, you’re here!” He blew his nose and looked up to see Xin Mei, his tearful eyes immediately brightening. “Come quickly! I’m just writing about your first meeting with the General—heavenly thunder igniting earthly fire, unstoppable!”

Uh, her first meeting with Lu Qianqiao? It seemed… it seemed to be on a quiet night when she had knocked out Tao Guoguo, and then Lu Qianqiao had struck her with his palm… Indeed, it was heavenly thunder igniting earthly fire.

Taking the opera script Scholar Zhao handed her, she saw written in flowing script: [That one glance was like a thousand sails passing, great waves washing sand, all for you; that one glance was like weak water three thousand li, I take but one ladle, only you; that one glance was like fate written on the Three Lives Stone, you and I…]

She silently put the script back, looking at Scholar Zhao’s earnest gaze with difficulty. After thinking for a long time, she finally spoke: “That one glance, actually I didn’t see anything clearly…”

She only knew it was a man, and this man had hit her and stolen her spirit beast. She only wanted to knock him flying.

Scholar Zhao sighed repeatedly: “How can this be! Love at first sight followed by deep devotion—that’s what makes it interesting!”

“…Anyway, there’s nothing interesting between him and me. Lu Qianqiao always treats me like a child, right? I’m not his daughter.”

Her words carried deep resentment, completely different from her usual lively brightness. Scholar Zhao observed her expression and immediately adopted the manner of a caring uncle, sitting across from her and asking gently: “Miss Xin, did you have a quarrel with the General?”

Xin Mei placed the mooncakes on the table: “No, I came to deliver mooncakes to everyone.”

“If you’re uncomfortable inside, you should speak up, otherwise small matters become big matters, and the more you quarrel the more out of control it gets.”

She thought for a moment, then pouted: “We’re not at all like a real married couple. Every time I touch him, he ties me up with the demon-binding rope. And clearly we’re already married, but he refuses to acknowledge it and wants to do it all over again, wasting time and deliberately making excuses.”

…General! The War Ghost clan may be clumsy in matters between men and women, but you can’t be this clumsy!

Scholar Zhao shook his head in frustration.

“Miss Xin, although the General holds the title of general, he himself is from the War Ghost clan and has no real loyalty to that emperor of Qiong Kingdom, so the imperial marriage decree means about as much as dog shit to him. His refusal to acknowledge the decreed marriage and insistence on personally proposing and marrying you again actually proves he has you in his heart and treats you properly as a woman who deserves respect.”

Xin Mei fell silent. After a moment, she said quietly: “I know.”

“There’s also something you don’t know. The War Ghost clan has served the heavenly gods since ancient times and has always been conservative and rigid. To engage in intimate relations between man and woman before marriage is considered improper. His not touching you is respect, not contempt.”

She continued her silence.

Scholar Zhao cleared his throat: “The General may seem quite considerate and meticulous on the surface, but he’s actually quite crude. Since childhood, his father didn’t love him and his mother didn’t care for him, and no one taught him how to get along with young ladies. Usually it’s either a cold face or walking away. The demon-binding rope and such—he just didn’t think of that aspect. Find an opportunity to have a proper talk with him, and the General will surely understand. People have mouths for speaking—what misunderstanding between two people can’t be cleared up by talking? Keeping it bottled up inside, isn’t that wronging your mouth?”

Xin Mei silently broke apart a lotus paste mooncake, eating and drinking tea without saying another word.

Scholar Zhao knew when to stop and immediately picked up his brush to continue writing furiously, crossing out everything he’d written before while asking her: “Young lady, what was it really like when you and the General first met? Tell me again?”

Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly heard Lie Yunhua’s long neigh from outside the cave, followed immediately by someone roughly pulling aside the large leaves covering the cave entrance. Lu Qianqiao, whom she hadn’t seen for two days, strode in with large steps, and upon seeing her, grabbed her and walked away.

Scholar Zhao swallowed a mooncake with tears streaming down his face. General, this is how it should be done!

Xin Mei’s feet didn’t touch the ground the whole way as she was pulled along like a kite. In her dizziness, she felt him toss her onto Qiuyue’s back, and when she came to her senses, they were already in midair. Qiuyue leisurely flapped its wings, deliberately flying slowly, while Lie Yunhua very perceptively followed far behind—everyone didn’t want to disturb the two of them.

Xin Mei looked up at him. His face was dark and gloomy, silent, turning his head away to avoid meeting her eyes.

“Um… Lu Qianqiao,” she spoke first, “where… where are we going?”

He still wouldn’t look at her. After a long while, he finally said: “Taking you back to Xinxie Manor.”

At the mention of Xinxie Manor, she noticed he was still wearing the same clothes from that day he came to Xinxie Manor, only now the white garments were dusty gray, with dirt and grass stains marking the hem. His hair also seemed a bit disheveled. Although his face showed no signs of fatigue… had he been searching for her non-stop for two days?

Xin Mei thought for a moment, then said softly: “Lu Qianqiao, do you want to sleep for a while?”

He ignored her.

“…Don’t be angry, I was just delivering mooncakes to everyone.”

He finally moved, raising his hand to rub his temples.

“Lu Qianqiao.” Xin Mei moved closer, carefully grasping a section of his sleeve. When he didn’t shake her off, she boldly moved even closer, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Say something, anything at all.”

Her voice was soft and gentle, and she herself was soft and gentle—any anger, no matter how great, would dissipate like smoke.

Lu Qianqiao hesitantly raised his hand and gently embraced her shoulder, saying quietly: “…I’m sorry, it was my fault.”

She smiled, showing her teeth: “We both made mistakes, alright?”

His gloomy expression finally gradually softened. His five fingers slipped into her thick hair, helping to straighten her small braids: “Where did you go?”

“Delivering mooncakes to everyone.”

“Xin Mei.”

“Mm?”

“In half a month, I will personally come to fetch my bride. You’re not allowed to run away then.”

“Mm.”

His fingers slipped out of her hair and gently caressed her delicate cheek. Suddenly lowering his head, he planted a kiss on her full forehead. So close together, skin touching skin, waves of extremely unpleasant aura emanated from her body. He couldn’t help but lower his head further, carefully sniffing her hair.

“Lu Qianqiao, I’m going to kiss you, and you’re not allowed to tie me up with the demon-binding rope.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled at him.

His face instantly flushed red, and he obediently closed his eyes. After waiting for a long time, two soft lips finally landed on his cheek.

He seemed… a little disappointed.

Xin Mei brushed his disheveled hair back behind his head and said seriously: “The rest will have to wait until next time.”

“Mischievous.”

He flicked her forehead with his finger, then immediately lowered his head to sniff her hair twice more, frowning.

Her entire body was faintly tainted with an extremely unpleasant aura that could only be detected when very close. Had she encountered someone?