Chapter 40: Still Wanting to Fight for It

“No, it’s nothing!” Wei Yang hurriedly shook her head in denial.

She could hardly tell him that she had thought he had collapsed unconscious in the bathroom.

Shen Cenzhi curled the corners of his lips as he walked past Wei Yang. “Is it really nothing? Or do you simply not want to say?”

Wei Yang clenched her fingers hard and glared at him through gritted teeth...

Lingxi would rather believe that everything the Fifth Princess had done was merely a series of unintentional coincidences.

The Yi River was exceptionally calm that night. Most of the soldiers, however, were northerners unaccustomed to water. Even without so much as a ripple on the surface, they still felt themselves swaying unsteadily. Dian Wei suddenly stamped both feet against the planks floating on the water and sprang high into the air. He vaulted over the heads of the soldiers ahead, then bounded several more times, racing across the river.

Although, in the eyes of outsiders, the Zhou clan of Qingchuan County was merely a merchant family, another direct branch of the Zhou family in the capital wielded considerable influence. Not only did they have officials serving in the capital, several members of the clan had entered government service as well.

Though the Senior Madam Yang despised her natal family for constantly holding her back, she could not tolerate anyone else despising them in the same way.

Besides the hundred large abacuses, Qiao Mingjin had also asked He Xiaochun to make twenty exquisite, delicately crafted ones no larger than a palm.

Would it be better to wear the gold hairpin set with rubies and pearls, or the pearl headdress adorned with pearls as large as longan fruit?

Once the household matters had been dealt with, it was already getting late, and Rong Qianhan ought to return. The Senior Madam Yang could not very well keep her any longer. After all, the old madam was seriously ill. Others might be excused, but Rong Qianhan lived in Dressing Hall and was especially favored by the old madam. She still spent most of each day in the old madam’s rooms.

The swarm of insects climbed into the trees, producing a rustling sound as countless green leaves fluttered down. Then, through the insects’ industrious efforts, they were arranged into two comfortable beds of soft green leaves.

The man appeared to be in his twenties. He wore a purple brocade robe and had a tall, straight figure and finely chiseled features. Judging by Jun Li’s modern eyes, accustomed as they were to handsome men, he was a rare beauty.

With Lan Xin holding Little Fu, the child knelt before everyone and bowed three times to Liu Shenzhi, who was seated in the center. She then accepted the gifts Liu Shenzhi presented, and thus their bond as sworn kin was formally established.

“Yes, Brother Feng. The last time you came, you stayed for only ten minutes, but everyone benefited immensely from your guidance,” Shazi said.

Just as they drew near, Zhang Feng struck. He flicked the two chopsticks in his hand forward; they struck both men squarely in the backs of their heads and emerged between their brows.

“I may have to thank Situ Xian! Where was he buried? When I have the time, I must go and pay my respects!” Wuyu said with a laugh.

His expression was desolate, his face deathly pale. More than half of his body had been shattered, and his aura had grown feeble. There were even signs that his cultivation was beginning to fall from the Golden Core realm.

Shuifu threw back its head and shrieked. Wrapped in a surging tide of black waves, it leaped over Su Xing and blasted forward.

They reached home safely. The moment he stepped out of the carriage, Bei Mujing instantly sensed that something about Sheng Xian’s aura had changed.

When Nian Liangliang heard this, she finally set down her chopsticks, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and smiled as she studied her for a while.

“Your Highness, you cannot—” The imperial guard was still trying to say something, but Ye Mo acted as though he had not seen him at all. He strode outside, where men from the Crown Prince’s residence had already prepared the carriages from somewhere.

Murong Lingtian probably no longer possessed that ability either. Therefore, there was an eighty- or ninety-percent chance that it was Ling Rui.

Yun Qian could not get a word in edgewise. She kept smiling as she walked out, yet the two of them did not even notice that she had left.

Lu Shen was born into the Northern Ancestor branch of the Fanyang Lu clan, the branch descended from imperial tutors. He was renowned because his father, Lu Bian, and his father’s two brothers had each served as imperial tutors. He was also the paternal cousin of Lu Chu, a powerful minister at court. Lu Shen himself held no particularly high office. He had once served as a provincial governor and had been ennobled as Duke of Fanyang Commandery. Yet because of his father and grandfather, his standing was exceptional both at court and among the great aristocratic families.