Ruyi’s head was buzzing from his scolding.

It had been a long time since she’d seen Shen Qiyuan this angry. She couldn’t help asking: “Are you unhappy that I found him good-looking, or unhappy that I touched him?”

Then she muttered, “He’s naturally not as good-looking as you. I’m not blind, and you’ve always been confident—you wouldn’t get angry with me over this. As for touching him, there were feathers in between. When did Lord Shen become so petty?”

A few sentences left him struggling to breathe. Shen Qiyuan angrily hung the cage on a roadside tree branch and turned to walk away.

“Hey!” Ruyi clicked open the cage door herself and flapped her wings to catch up. “Why are you abandoning me? Can’t we talk properly?”

How could they talk properly?

Shen Qiyuan felt his emotions were very strange. Seeing her getting involved with others made his heart flare with anger, and he wanted to grab her feathers and ask why she couldn’t just look at him alone.

—As she said, both lacking confidence and petty, completely unlike his former self.

Shen Qiyuan didn’t know why he had become this way. He also wanted to maintain the bearing an immortal should have, but things went against his wishes. If he said everything, he feared she would show a disappointed expression, feared she would think that the person she had admired for three thousand years was just an ordinary mortal after all.

Taking a deep breath, he stiffly changed the subject: “Let’s go back and rest. I’m somewhat tired.”

The magpie landed on his shoulder, tilting her small head in confusion as she studied him. Her pitch-black little eyes moved, and after a long while, she said: “Alright.”

Lin’an had much spring rain. After one night, petals covered the ground everywhere from Divine Worship Street to the city gates, all scattered with mottled peach colors.

He Zeyou led his horse outside the city gates, his expression quite impatient: “Mother, this is a good opportunity for me to achieve merit. Why must you cry all the way?”

Old Lady He looked haggard and followed him step by step. Hearing this, tears fell again: “What good opportunity for merit? Since ancient times, how many who go to war return alive? Moreover, everyone knows our Great Qian has suffered repeated defeats. His Majesty sending you to Nine Rivers at this time—isn’t he just asking for your life!”

She tugged at He Zeyou’s sleeve and kept looking back: “I’ll have someone go to the palace again to plead. You can leave a few days later.”

He Zeyou brushed away her hand and said irritably: “The marquis’ manor is already in precarious danger. If I don’t fight now, what fine clothes and delicacies will mother still enjoy?”

“I can live without fine clothes and delicacies! But can you still live if you go?” Old Lady He said urgently. “You’re the flesh and blood I carried for ten months and gave birth to. On the day of delivery, the pain nearly killed me. Later, I suffered hardships for nearly twenty years before watching you establish a family and career. If you just leave like this, I don’t want to live either!”

She spoke herself hoarse, and even the servants nearby couldn’t help wiping their tears. Wen Zhenxue listened from not far away but looked mockingly at He Tinglan beside her.

Both were flesh and blood carried for ten months and born—the difference between flesh and blood was quite significant. She didn’t know what He Tinglan felt hearing these words, but if she were in her position, she definitely wouldn’t have come today.

Sure enough, seeing she couldn’t keep He Zeyou, Old Lady He turned to look this way and her eyebrows shot up: “One is a senior minister’s daughter, one is an important person who can call upon Lord Shen as reinforcement—quite impressive when you talk about it, but when trouble comes, you stand aside with arms folded.”

“It’s His Majesty’s decree. What can they do?” He Zeyou brushed away her hand and mounted his horse. “Zhenxue, take care of the household. Mother, I bid you farewell.”

Old Lady He sat on the ground crying loudly, but He Zeyou didn’t look back and spurred his horse to join the long military procession ahead.

“Damn them all! The ones in the palace are damned, and you few outside the palace are damned too!” Old Lady He kicked and threw a tantrum, her foot landing right on He Tinglan’s ankle.

He Tinglan stepped back half a pace and looked at her expressionlessly: “Old Lady used to often tell me to be careful with my words and actions, saying I might implicate family members. So only big brother counts as family—in Old Lady’s eyes, I probably don’t even count as human.”

Old Lady He continued crying to herself without acknowledging her.

She suddenly smiled, her eyes reddening: “When I was little, I thought being sensible and capable would make people like me. When I grew up, I thought being able to bring money home would make people like me. Later at Prince Yong’s mansion, I thought working hard for the family would surely make people like me. None of it was true.”

“Old Lady’s heart is made of stone—cold and hard. You’ve always been hard, which is fine, but you’re ridiculously soft toward big brother. This finally made me understand—I was wrong from birth.”

She took out a bundle and threw it beside Old Lady He: “Consider it my soft-hearted charity. But after this, if you dare make trouble at Moon Gazing Pavilion again, I will beat the Heavenly Hearing Drum to accuse you, making the entire marquis manor lose face and ruining your beloved son’s reputation.”

“You!” Old Lady He wiped her tears, wanting to scold her, but glimpsed silver glinting in the bundle.

She suddenly shut her mouth, her eyes rolling as if calculating how much silver was in the bundle.

He Tinglan walked away without looking back.

She indeed couldn’t be as carefree as the shopkeeper, but she wasn’t too bad either. From now on, she would live her own life and stop looking backward and forward.

Many soldiers rode past on Divine Worship Street, their iron hooves trampling the bustling marketplace and somehow flattening some of the trading excitement. The air gradually filled with a tense atmosphere. He Tinglan looked back and happened to see Song Zhenshan rushing back, travel-worn and dusty.

His horse ran very fast, his eyes not even glancing toward the roadside as he charged straight toward Shen Manor at Chaotian Gate.

“Lord Shen!”

Shen Qiyuan had just gotten dressed when he saw someone burst in. His brow jumped as he quickly stepped forward to support him: “What happened?”

“This subordinate has fulfilled his mission and completed the city wall construction at Nine Rivers.” Song Zhenshan said breathlessly. “But there’s something strange about Great Xia’s side. They received news of our wall construction several days ago and showed no movement, but yesterday they suddenly gathered over a thousand demons, calling them a demon army, stationed in village camps across Nine Rivers.”

War was about to break out. Even with city walls as barriers, Great Qian would likely face more misfortune than fortune.

Shen Qiyuan calculated the days and nodded lightly: “I’ll depart immediately.”

Song Zhenshan was stunned: “You’re going personally?”

“If I don’t go, what will they use to deal with demons?” He stood up and took his clothes from the cabinet to pack in a bundle.

Song Zhenshan pondered for a moment and nodded: “True. Demon clan methods are both treacherous and brutal—ordinary people are no match for them. I’ve also sent word to the Ninth Heaven to summon some familiar immortals to help—oh, my lord, you have no more entanglements with Miss Liu, right?”

Shen Qiyuan’s hand paused. Before he could answer, the man quickly continued: “Having no entanglements is good. She is a demon after all. When you return to heaven, there will be plenty of fairy maidens lining up to give you their handkerchiefs.”

Song Zhenshan wasn’t looking down on Liu Ruyi, but felt that since these two had already reached the point of fighting each other, saying good things about Liu Ruyi wouldn’t help. Better to let Shen Qiyuan focus on facing the enemy with peace of mind.