Ji Bozai glanced back toward Mingyi’s small courtyard. The yard was modest, with only a courtyard, two guest rooms, and a main house. It lacked even a rockery or pond. Yet, it was brightly lit, with faint sounds of women’s laughter drifting out.

He stood there for a while, waiting for the door to open, but it remained closed.

Buxiu, noticing his gaze, thoughtfully informed him, “This courtyard connects to the Situ residence, My Lord. I’ve already notified them on your behalf. During the day, when you wish to enter or leave, they won’t use this door.”

“You understand me well,” Ji Bozai said, narrowing his eyes.

“You flatter me, My Lord. I’m merely following your instructions,” Buxiu replied.

Irritated, Ji Bozai glared at him. “Are you finished?”

Buxiu quickly lowered his head. “Why are you angry, My Lord?”

“You know very well why I’m angry and what I want. Why must you always oppose me?”

Buxiu took half a step back and knelt, speaking softly, “It’s not us who oppose you, My Lord, but yourself.”

If he had just admitted his misunderstanding, expressed regret, and wanted to bring her back, everything would be fine. But he insisted on hiding his feelings. Did he expect Lady Ming to come back and apologize?

To My Lord, Lady Ming was a threat, but wasn’t My Lord equally threatening to her? Two people who struggled to be together, yet he kept pushing her away.

If it were any other lady, Buxiu wouldn’t have said a word and let him do as he pleased. But Lady Ming had saved him and Nanny Xun, and she had been wholeheartedly good to My Lord. Why toy with her like this?

Ji Bozai’s face darkened. He turned and stormed into the mansion, slamming the door behind him.

The surrounding ladies were startled by his actions and hurriedly followed to console him.

The chirping voices of the women drifted over the courtyard wall, reaching Xiuyun’s ears.

As Xiuyun served Mingyi some food, she muttered, “I used to think Lord Ji was a good man. I never imagined he’d be such a philanderer. He’s truly unreliable.”

Mingyi, enjoying Xiuyun’s cooking, waved her hand dismissively. “If he has the ability, let him be a philanderer. Look at those spirit beasts in the wild. The fiercest and most powerful ones always have multiple mates.”

Xiuyun blinked. “Are you calling Lord Ji a beast?”

Mingyi choked a bit and flicked Xiuyun’s forehead. “You’re not clever when you should be, but now you’re quick to react.”

Giggling, Xiuyun continued to serve her food. “I’m not used to your pots here, so my cooking isn’t as good as usual. But the vegetables in your courtyard are very fresh, so it turned out quite well. You need to eat more since you’ll be forging a divine weapon tomorrow.”

The bowl was piled high like a small mountain, leaving Mingyi a bit stunned. She realized she had never eaten like this before.

Back in Chaoyang City, her food was tasted by layers of servants before being placed in front of her, with strictly regulated portions. Later, in the inner court of Muxing City, the dancing girls ate only two bites to maintain their slender figures before returning to practice. Even at Ji’s mansion, although Ji Bozai didn’t care what she ate, he rarely served her food.

Xiuyun, who appeared to be only in her teens, fussing over her and urging her to eat more, gave Mingyi an indescribable feeling.

Lowering her eyes, Mingyi quickly finished her meal and cleared the dishes. “You should go rest now.”

Xiuyun looked around nervously. “The guest room is a bit dark. Can I sleep with you tonight?”

“Sure, but I’ll be up early tomorrow. I might wake you.”

“That’s fine. I sleep very deeply. Even thunder couldn’t wake me up,” Xiuyun cheered, immediately bringing her small pillow and placing it next to Mingyi’s.

Mingyi’s pillow was a rough stone pillow commonly used by Dou practitioners. It looked uncomfortable. Xiuyun frowned at it for a moment before her eyes lit up. She took out her hair ribbon and wrapped it around the stone several times, tying it with a butterfly knot.

When Mingyi finished tidying up and came to bed, she was greeted by a strangely wrapped stone pillow in a rosy hue.

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Silly girl, this is for Dou practitioners to train. If you wrap it like this, it’s hard to channel Yuan’s power into the stone.”

Xiuyun pouted. “With your little bit of Yuan power, why bother training even in your sleep? What a waste of a good night. Just sleep like this. It’ll be more comfortable.”

After a moment of speechlessness, Mingyi obediently lay down on the rosy stone pillow.

“When I left the mansion today, they scolded me fiercely,” Xiuyun murmured, eyes closed. “They called me a money-losing commodity, saying I couldn’t even bring back a Dou practitioner, so they wouldn’t let me take a single coin. But I’ll earn a lot of money. I want to go to Feihua City to find him.”

Mingyi’s ears perked up. “Find who?”

“Find him…” Xiuyun mumbled, drifting off to sleep.

Mingyi couldn’t help but smile as she tucked the blanket around Xiuyun.

There were few women in the Qingyun Realm brave enough to run away from home and find their path. In most people’s eyes, such an act was tantamount to gambling with one’s life.

However, she wouldn’t let Xiuyun lose.

Divine weapons were prohibited from being traded between cities in the Qingyun Realm as they were considered military supplies. Back in Chaoyang City, divine weapons were easy to come by because the city nurtured a large number of artificers. Mingyi had thought that forging ordinary divine weapons could barely make ends meet.

But unexpectedly, artificers were so rare in Muxing City that only the inner court had one. Not to mention rare divine weapons, even ordinary ones fetched considerable prices.

Thus, when the first batch of “One Tree of Fragrant Blossoms” was displayed, it attracted people from all over the street.

People gathered around, pointing and discussing, thinking these items looked like divine weapons. But seeing that they were being sold by two young men, they weren’t quite sure.

Mingyi and Xiuyun were both dressed as men. While Xiuyun was a bit nervous, Mingyi was quite at ease, even naturally deepening her voice: “Let me demonstrate for everyone.”

She infused earth-yellow Yuan power into the divine weapon. “One Tree of Fragrant Blossoms” flew back and exploded into a tree-like net of poisonous needles upon landing. Thousands of poisonous needles glittered in the morning sun, creating a spectacular sight.

This item might not be particularly rare, but for commoners, it was a treasure they had never seen before. A wave of admiration swept through the crowd. Seeing that there were only a few dozen pieces on the stall, a wealthy merchant immediately took out a bag of coins. “I want one.”

The bag was heavy, weighing about a thousand coins. Xiuyun quickly accepted the money and handed him one.

Seeing this, others also started to pay, but some were hesitant and stood by discussing with others.

“Is this real? I haven’t heard of any new artificers in Muxing.”

“Isn’t our artificer busy forging divine weapons for the imperial guards in the inner court?”

“But this does seem quite authentic.”

While collecting money, Mingyi announced, “Tomorrow, we’ll have a batch of ‘Fire Trees and Silver Flowers.’ If anyone’s interested, you can come and take a look.”

Hearing this, those who knew about divine weapons finally got excited. A well-dressed servant pushed through the crowd, looked Mingyi up and down, and said, “My young master needs a special divine weapon. Can you forge it? The price is negotiable.”