Chapter 505 - 300: Paving a Great Dao to Heaven
Chapter 505: Chapter 300: Paving a Great Dao to Heaven
"Grandfather, you... are acting inappropriately for your age."
Two faint blushes quietly surfaced on Xiao Jinghong’s face. With a light tap of her toes, she vanished from Qingjing Residence.
Elder Master Xiao was left alone behind, muttering to himself, "Grandfather is getting old, after all. While these old bones can still move, I also want to teach my great-grandson a thing or two..."
Xiao Jinghong moved even faster, drifting into Spring Lotus Garden in the blink of an eye. She proactively sealed her ear acupoints to block out those "indecent" words.
"What great-grandson? Doesn’t he just want Chen Yi and me to... consummate our marriage?" she thought, subconsciously looking toward the wooden building where Chen Yi stayed.
In the dim light, the quaint and elegant building with its gray tiles and red wood was faintly illuminated by several lanterns. From the corner room on the second floor closest to Jiaxing Garden, the steady, drawn-out sound of breathing could be vaguely heard. Clearly, Chen Yi was fast asleep.
Xiao Jinghong gazed at it for a moment, her mind conjuring up the Poetry and Paintings Chen Yi had made for her. Inevitably, she also recalled what Elder Master Xiao had just said: "Chen Yi can also be considered an ideal husband."
"Consummate... great-grandson..." Before she knew it, Xiao Jinghong’s face grew even redder. She hurriedly turned around and headed to another wooden building.
With a CREAK, the door opened, and with another CREAK, it closed. Even amidst the noisy patter of raindrops, the sound carried quite far.
Once Spring Lotus Garden fell silent, Chen Yi, maintaining his steady breathing, quietly opened one eye and looked around, letting out a sigh of relief in his heart. Madam had returned much earlier than he had expected this time. Fortunately, she had made a significant amount of noise; otherwise, the aura from his Cultivation of the Four Symbols Skill earlier might not have gone unnoticed.
He wondered, "I don’t know what she discussed with the Elder Master.
"Liu Hong? The Peacock King Banner? The Barbarian Race?
"Those scums have nothing to do with me anyway. But what was with her standing outside the door for so long?
"Could she have discovered my flaws?
"Probably not.
"Definitely not."
Chen Yi muttered to himself for a bit. Still unable to figure out the reason, he rolled over and fell into a deep sleep. Having been exhausted for the past few days, he indeed needed some rest. Besides, now that Xiao Jinghong had returned, he couldn’t do anything even if he wanted to. He could only hope that Cui Qingwu, Liu Lang, Zhang Dabao, and the others would be a bit smarter and not cause any major blunders.
***
Chen Yi slept soundly, but many people in Shu State Prefecture City were destined for a sleepless night. Almost all the Wandering Martial Artists who had come to Shu State to await Immortal Bai gathered in various places across the city—taverns, teahouses, inns, and the Qin Building. Groups of these Wandering Martial Artists clustered together, discussing the night’s events.
There were even well-informed and quick-witted storytellers who dramatically reenacted the tale of "Dragon Tiger" Liu Wu rescuing Eldest Miss Xiao.
Inside the Spring Rain Building.
Originally, it had been filled with young masters from Noble Families and romantic scholars putting on airs of culture, reciting Poetry, drinking, and listening to music. However, once Midnight passed, the top courtesans suddenly fell out of favor.
An elderly man, over half a century old, was invited upstairs. After cupping his hands in greeting to the surroundings, he sat on the stage and slammed his wooden block down.
"Speaking of that ’Dragon Tiger’ Liu Wu, he is without a doubt a top-tier hero in the Jianghu of Shu State recently!"
The old man gave a thumbs-up and recounted the major deeds Liu Wu had successively accomplished. His tone was perfectly modulated, stirring up the atmosphere in the hall. Only when he sensed that many guests were growing impatient did he take a sip of tea, clear his throat, and continue.
"As the story goes, earlier today, ’Jackal’ Du Cang of the Peacock King Banner lay in ambush outside the Xiao Family gates. Seizing the moment Eldest Miss Xiao’s carriage arrived, he abducted her using his controlled Puppet body.
"The Xiao Family was thrown into chaos! Old Marquis Xiao was furious, and the various Government Offices in the Prefecture City... At that critical moment, ’Dragon Tiger’... At the time, Liu Wu was still known as ’Dragon Spear.’ He went to the meeting entirely alone...
"That battle could be described as world-shaking... To know what happened next, please listen to the next installment!"
SMACK!
Seeing this, the guests hurled a few curses, tipped him some broken pieces of silver, and were finally treated to the rest of the story.
Even though much of it was fabricated by the old man, the multitude of guests still thoroughly enjoyed listening to it.
"That Du Cang is not someone to be trifled with. Eldest Miss Xiao’s safe return this time was truly a stroke of luck."
"Indeed. If ’Dragon Tiger’ hadn’t intervened, I’m afraid no one here could have saved her."
"But ’Dragon Tiger’ really played the hero saving the beauty this time. Perhaps the Old Marquis will betroth the Eldest Miss to him."
"That really is a possibility..."
Inside a Quiet Chamber upstairs.
Listening to the discussions below, Lou Yuxue couldn’t help but show a hint of disdain on her face. She muttered to herself, "What’s so good about that sickly girl?
"She can’t lift anything with her hands, can’t carry anything on her shoulders. She’s weak, frail, and entirely brainless... Why would Liu Wu take a fancy to her?"
Despite saying that, Lou Yuxue had to admit that Xiao Wan’er was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen—even more beautiful than her and Cui Qingwu combined. However, she didn’t feel that Xiao Wan’er was much better than her because of this. On the contrary, she felt that if they were to stand side by side and be compared, the ultimate winner would undoubtedly be herself.
After making the comparison, Lou Yuxue revealed a faint smile. She sealed the secret letter in her hand, stuffed it into a small tube on a goshawk’s leg, and released it into the sky. Lowering her gaze slightly, she watched the rain outside the window, her smile gradually fading.
"It’s a good thing that Liu Wu killed Du Cang, but he has ultimately caught the Pavilion Master’s eye. In the future, he’ll likely suffer some hardships," she thought.
This wasn’t some exaggerated fantasy of hers. In the past, there had been people similar to Liu Wu—some were unparalleled geniuses, some were brilliant masterminds, and others came from prominent Noble Families, just to name a few. Yet, most of them had ended up in miserable states.
Therefore, Lou Yuxue secretly didn’t want Liu Wu to join the White Tiger Guards, lest the Pavilion Master assign him several extremely dangerous missions. But she didn’t have any good solutions, either. She could only do her best to smooth things over. After all...
Lou Yuxue sighed. The image of Liu Wu’s half-smiling face seemed to float before her eyes, and she couldn’t resist throwing a Punch at it.