“Jiang shi?” Shen Zaiye paused. “What did you two talk about?”
“Nothing much. I just told her I was going to steal you away,” Lu Zhilan turned her head, narrowing her eyes. “But she didn’t get angry or excited at all. She didn’t even jump up to slap me. You’re useless.”
Narrowing his eyes, Shen Zaiye snorted coldly, “She’s like a stone, unmoved by wind or rain. Trying to get any reaction from her is as difficult as climbing to heaven.”
“That’s not right,” Lu Zhilan frowned, muttering softly, “Any normal woman wouldn’t be this calm unless she felt you didn’t belong to her in the first place. Otherwise, if someone was trying to steal you away, she should at least get a little angry.”
Shen Zaiye was taken aback, thinking to himself that perhaps he indeed didn’t belong to her in the first place.
“Forget it,” he said. “I don’t understand women’s thoughts, and I don’t have the energy to deal with all this. Let her do as she pleases.”
“With your attitude, what if she runs off with someone one day?” Lu Zhilan said. “You’ll regret it then, but it’ll be too late.”
Run off with someone? Shen Zaiye scoffed, “A woman like her, who else would dare to like her besides me?”
“Don’t be so sure,” Lu Zhilan warned. “You might end up shooting yourself in the foot.”
Shen Zaiye remained unconvinced. Seeing the carriage return to the Prime Minister’s residence, he got off and entered.
“My lord, please go to Zhengchun Pavilion,” Lu Zhilan yawned. “I’m tired and will retire to rest.”
“Alright,” Shen Zaiye glanced at her. “Don’t overthink things. Sleep well.”
“Mm.”
The mansion was exceptionally quiet tonight, probably because Shen Zaiye wasn’t around. People in each courtyard were eating mooncakes behind closed doors. Taohua didn’t feel like gathering them for a reunion dinner either, so she just sat on the steps with Qing Tai, holding two mooncakes.
“I wonder how they’re celebrating this holiday this year,” Taohua mumbled, taking a bite of mooncake. “Changjue should be on his way already. It’s questionable if he even has mooncakes to eat tonight. As for Master…”
Without her and Changjue as burdens, Master should be reveling among beauties, right?
Every year when visiting them in the palace, Qianbai Mei always wore a worried expression, reluctantly placing mooncakes and pastries before them, sighing, “For you two little ones, I’ve turned down so many invitations from beauties. How do you plan to compensate me?”
Changjue, being too honest, would always frown and seriously consider this question. But she knew Master was joking, and would just stuff a mooncake in his mouth.
Thinking about it, she missed them. It had been over half a year since they last met. She wondered how they were doing now.
Her eyes suddenly blurred. Taohua quickly looked up at the moon in the sky, blinking hard. Master had said that sooner or later, she would have to stand on her own. There was no one to spoil her out here, so she had to be stronger.
Just as she was comforting herself, a voice suddenly sounded above her head:
“How many times has Master told you, to save your tears for dealing with men? Don’t waste them when you’re alone.”
For a moment, Jiang Taohua thought she was hearing things. She stared blankly at the dark sky and asked Qing Tai in confusion, “Did you hear something?”
Qing Tai, with an uneasy expression, looked towards the roof, “I did.”
In this world, Xu Yangui was the second person who could approach her silently without her noticing. Qianbai Mei was the first.
Taohua was stunned. She followed Qing Tai’s gaze to the roof and saw a man in a large red peony robe, still wearing his proud snow-white long hair, his clothes fluttering as he flew down.
“Little one, did you miss me?” Qianbai Mei teased, coming closer and pinching her cheek. “Are you too excited to speak?”
“…” Indeed, she couldn’t speak. Taohua stared wide-eyed, her eyes reflecting the man’s extremely handsome features, frozen in place like a stone statue.
Was she dreaming? Wasn’t Master supposed to be in Zhao? Why did he suddenly appear here?
Qianbai Mei was from the jianghu world, but he was favored by the new empress and was forcibly recruited to teach Jiang Suhe the art of seduction in the palace. However, this man had a world-destroying temperament. Whoever dared to go against him would face his wrath to overturn the entire world. So the first time Taohua knew about him was when he held a knife to her father emperor’s throat.
At that time, she was hiding in a corner with Changjue. She saw the palace in chaos, countless guards pointing long halberds at him, yet he stood on the table, tall and straight, his cold sword pointing at the emperor, sneering, “What use is your imperial edict for things I’m unwilling to do? Move the sword an inch closer, and you’re nothing but a dead man. I can break in once, I can break in twice. If you have the ability, kill me. If not, don’t presume to order me around!”
Jiang Taohua was stunned by these domineering words at the time. Seeing her father emperor’s frightened expression, she thought this person might be a god.
Perhaps it was her intense gaze, but Qianbai Mei suddenly turned and looked in her direction, pausing slightly before smiling.
Later, Taohua asked him, “What were you smiling at then?”
Qianbai Mei said, “Because everyone else was looking at me with wariness and fear, but you were the only one with admiration in your eyes. I thought you had potential then.”
Taohua: “…”
This was how the master-disciple bond was formed. Later, her father emperor, feeling uneasy, sent many people to assassinate Qianbai Mei. However, even when surrounded by thousands of troops, Qianbai Mei could easily escape. After a year, the emperor finally compromised, granting him a leisurely official position, and allowing him to do as he pleased.
Jiang Taohua felt there was no man more arrogant than Qianbai Mei in the world. Yet, this unyielding man was most skilled in the art of captivating souls.
The wind blew through the courtyard. Taohua blinked, seeing the person before her still hadn’t disappeared. She finally reached out and pinched him.
“Master…” her throat tightened as she forced a smile. “Why are you here?”
Qianbai Mei was taken aback. The smile on his face disappeared as he stared at her expression for a while, asking displeased, “Have you been wronged?”
“No,” Taohua pouted. “I just missed you a bit.”
“You can deceive anyone else, but there’s no point in deceiving me,” Qianbai Mei reached out, his slender finger touching her brow, his eyes full of tender light. “I know best what you’re thinking, little one.”
Her nose stung as she grabbed his sleeve. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, Qianbai Mei suddenly stiffened, quickly pulling her into his arms and swiftly retreating to the side.
A sharp wind swept by. Taohua was startled. Holding onto her master, she looked back and was almost scared enough to fall.
“My lord?”
Shen Zaiye had just stepped into Zhengchun Pavilion when he saw an additional man with a sinister aura. He immediately drew his sword and thrust. Seeing the man directly embrace Taohua and take her away, his face darkened even more. Without a word, he attacked.
Qianbai Mei was surprised for a moment but quickly reacted. With one hand holding his disciple, he used his other hand to sweep his long sleeve, directly wrapping around Shen’s sword.
“Oh? A trained fighter?”
“Who are you?” Shen Zaiye reached out to grab Taohua, but Qianbai Mei retreated, holding her tightly. With a smile in his eyes, he said provocatively, “Of course, I am her person.”
Shen Zaiye narrowed his eyes. Seeing that Jiang Taohua didn’t refute at all, anger rose in his heart. He coldly used more force in his attacks.
Zhanlu watched from the side, wanting to help, but was firmly blocked by Qing Tai.
“What are you doing?” Zhanlu frowned. “I want to help the master catch the assassin.”
“He’s not an assassin,” Qing Tai said seriously. “If you want to gang up on him, you’ll have to get through me first!”
Zhanlu gritted his teeth and turned back to shout, “Master Xu!”
Both Qing Tai and Taohua’s faces changed. Qing Tai cursed him for being shameless, while Taohua quickly turned to Shen Zaiye and said, “This is my master, my lord. Don’t attack!”
Master? Shen Zaiye’s movements stiffened, and then his attacks became even more fierce. He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her entire person out of Qianbai Mei’s arms.
“Tsk, young people don’t know how to cherish the fragrant and delicate!” Qianbai Mei frowned, turning to put Taohua aside. With a sweep of his long sleeve, he locked Shen Zaiye’s wrist and narrowed his eyes. “Knowing I’m her master, you still want to kill me?”
“It’s exactly you I want to kill,” Shen Zaiye smiled coldly. “What kind of things have you been teaching her?”
“Quite the big talk,” Qianbai Mei flung him off with a sweep of his sleeve and smirked. “I’m standing right here. If you can kill me within ten moves, I’ll consider you the winner. If you can’t kill me… then I should take my disciple away.”
Shen Zaiye’s expression turned grim. He was about to attack with his sword when someone rushed up from behind and grabbed him with a serious expression. “Zai Ye, wait.”
Turning to look at Xu Yangui, Shen Zaiye frowned. “Wait for what?”
“This person… you probably can’t kill him,” Xu Yangui looked at Qianbai Mei. “Even if we joined forces, it would be difficult.”
Pausing slightly, Shen Zaiye narrowed his eyes. “Is he that formidable?”
“He is, after all, the Immortal One,” Xu Yangui bowed slightly to Qianbai Mei. “It’s an honor to meet you.”
Qianbai Mei blinked in surprise. “There are jianghu people here too? What a coincidence. So, are you admitting defeat?”
“Even thousands of troops couldn’t kill you. Your bet was unfair to begin with,” Xu Yangui smiled. “Since we’re all family here, why don’t we sit down and talk things through?”
Taohua came to her senses and quickly tried to mediate. She pulled Qianbai Mei to stand before Shen Zaiye and said with a forced laugh, “Let me introduce you. This is Qianbai Mei, my master. This is Shen Zaiye, your disciple’s husband.”
Hearing the word “husband,” Shen Zaiye glanced at her sideways. He finally reluctantly sheathed his soft sword and bowed slightly to Qianbai Mei. However, the hostility in his eyes hadn’t diminished at all.
“It seems a lot has happened in these six months,” Qianbai Mei looked the man before him up and down, quite dissatisfied. “Wasn’t it supposed to be Prince Nan? How did it become this young man? He doesn’t look like a good person at first glance.”
“You flatter me,” Shen Zaiye said. “The same goes for you.”
(End of Chapter)