Shen Tang herself hadn’t even realized how frequently she was visiting Lu Xingzhou today. It was so often that Du Gu Qingli was too lazy to even pay attention to her, and so often that loyal elders like Tang Yunzhong looked on speechless, filled with unspoken thoughts.

Facing the deaths of Huo Yu, the city lord, and Liu Qingcang, with the situation in Xia State changing dramatically, which other forces weren’t urgently holding meetings to discuss their next moves? But on this side, things were different; they hadn’t even held a single sect meeting.

It seemed as if these matters were unrelated to them… Heaven knows they were the protagonists of these matters!

In the morning, she said she was treating her leg, and in the afternoon, she was still at Lu Xingzhou’s place. In the evening, she still wanted to go!

Thinking of this, Shen Tang felt a bit embarrassed and wheeled herself away in a hurry, as if escaping. “Then tomorrow, I’ll ask again tomorrow.”

Returning to her own boudoir, Shen Tang threw herself onto the bed with a “bang,” her hands touching her hot face. She mumbled to herself in a low voice, “Shen Tang, oh Shen Tang, what are you doing…”

A bellyband she was wearing was shaken off when she threw herself on the bed. It flew up and then slowly and leisurely fell back, covering her head.

“…” Shen Tang grabbed the bellyband and pulled it down, gritting her teeth. “Is it forcing me to find a maid to pack? I don’t want to find one.”

She had too many secrets, and a close-body maid was very difficult to use; she didn’t dare to trust one.

Her legs and feet were inconvenient, so sometimes Du Gu Qingli very helplessly acted as a half-maid, which Shen Tang felt quite sorry for.

But thankfully, her leg would be better soon… Tomorrow morning, Lu Xingzhou would come early to treat her leg, right?

…How could she think of him again?

Shen Tang annoyedly threw the bellyband far away.

Du Gu Qingli just pushed the door open and immediately saw what came at her face. She drew her sword with a “shua,” and the bellyband was cut into fragments, fluttering down.

“Why throw this thing?” Du Gu Qingli was very puzzled. “I saw Lu Xingzhou liked it very much. Yesterday, his eyes stared at it for at least several breaths.”

Shen Tang glanced at her. “The amount of time his eyes stare at your body might be much more than that… How about you wear that another day and see if he will be overjoyed?”

Du Gu Qingli was shocked. “That’s actually not a big handkerchief? Is it for wearing? How can this thing be worn? It only covers a small half of the body!”

Shen Tang blinked. “Do you want to try? It’s actually very comfortable, definitely more comfortable than your chest wrap cloth.”

Du Gu Qingli pondered deeply. “Wearing this thing is definitely not convenient for using a sword. Is this the reason you cultivated the Huangji Jingjie Jing?”

Lu Xingzhou was just like this? Shen Tang’s face fell. “Get out, I want to bathe.”

Du Gu Qingli said very seriously, “Sorry, Lu Xingzhou said you cannot touch water. I came specifically to remind you of this.”

Shen Tang buried her head in the pillow and made no more sound.

…………

Early the next morning, Lu Xingzhou stepped into Shen Tang’s courtyard, but saw two women eating breakfast.

He knocked on Shen Tang’s room door in confusion. A muffled voice came from inside: “It’s not closed, come in.”

Lu Xingzhou pushed the door open and saw Shen Tang leaning on the bed as if life had no meaning.

She hadn’t bathed, and no maid had helped her wipe her body. What would she do if she smelled bad…

“What’s wrong?” Lu Xingzhou looked around. “Where’s Qingli?”

Shen Tang blurted out, “Are you perhaps here to treat her leg?”

“Um…” You didn’t seem to have any opinion before…

Lu Xingzhou also knew not to reason with a woman. He still smiled slightly and went to the bedside, placing a pill there. “Good, yesterday’s pill is refined. It supplements what you were missing.”

Shen Tang’s inexplicable small grievances instantly disappeared completely. She finally turned her head to look at his profile and said in a low voice, “Thank you. What about… your own?”

“I have a clue. I’ll research it slowly when I have leisure today. Now, let’s change your medicine first.” Lu Xingzhou moved to her leg and skillfully lifted her skirt.

His gaze inadvertently swept over her socks and found that she had changed into a new pair. He couldn’t help but smile.

Shen Tang noticed his gaze, and her face turned a little red. Of course, her feet had to be washed. You shouldn’t think I was afraid of fumigating you, right…

She thought it was just right to change the medicine today, but Lu Xingzhou still pinched her leg twice. “Do you feel me?”

Shen Tang actually felt he was a bit intentional, but she had no evidence, so she only replied in a muffled voice, “Yes.”

Not only did she feel it, but the reaction was more intense than before. She could very clearly feel the temperature of his palm and the rough touch, like an electric shock, leaving her whole body numb.

“Recovery is quite good.” Lu Xingzhou didn’t touch her anymore. He unhurriedly untied the bandage, carefully scraped off the remaining ointment, and applied new ointment for her.

Shen Tang stared intently at his gentle and focused expression for a long time before suddenly asking, “According to what was said, Liu Yan’er might sell Danxia Gang to buy me?”

“Sell… Where would she go?”

“According to what was said, Bai Chi will take her to Fenxiang Lou.”

Lu Xingzhou’s hand paused. He thought for a moment. “If she plans to go to Fenxiang Lou, then she shouldn’t sell. Holding a drug mountain in hand, she can still have a say in Fenxiang Lou in the future. Once she sells, her status in Fenxiang Lou will be even worse than a maid.”

Shen Tang suddenly realized, “Right, this is Bai Chi’s reason for instigating her to sell the industry. In fact, what he truly wants to buy is Fenxiang Lou. This should be Bai Chi’s condition for returning to the sect. Otherwise, someone who has left the master’s gate has no reason to go back.”

Lu Xingzhou nodded. “But if Liu Yan’er always holds the industry, and she has no capable people on her side, sooner or later she will also be killed for her property. If I were her, the first choice would be to sell it to others at a low price, take the money, change places, and live a small life as an ordinary rich woman. I just don’t know if she’s awake enough…”

Shen Tang smiled. “She of course doesn’t have this wisdom, but we can go and explain the pros and cons. Why can’t the person who buys the mountain at a low price be us? Even if Liu Yan’er is stupid, she won’t truly entrust her future to a gigolo. It’s nothing more than being at a loss now. If someone guides her, she should be able to understand.”

Lu Xingzhou finished changing the medicine and tied a very beautiful butterfly knot. “Buying the mountain might mean having a conflict with Fenxiang Lou.”

Shen Tang said, “You only need to say one sentence: buy or not buy.”

“Buy,” Lu Xingzhou said casually. “But not to turn it into a drug mountain. If we want to grow our own medicine, we can open up a part of it to make a medicine garden. Most of the place can be used as sword sect land. Swords from Danxia, isn’t that more comfortable than the pattern of this small martial arts hall now? In addition, Danxia Mountain probably has some secrets. If we truly buy it, we can explore it slowly…”

“That’s right, you are the original owner,” Shen Tang laughed. “When you coaxed me to rent the house, you just said that was the direction of expansion.”

“At that time, what I said also included the Huo residence. The Huo residence still has a back mountain, which is connected to Danxia Mountain. That truly has a bit of the taste of continuous mountains and swords from each peak. The fields under the mountain can be the sect’s industry, and the atmosphere will be full,” Lu Xingzhou pondered. “Now I don’t know what the Huo family is thinking. That old residence has already become a big ominous residence. I don’t know if they have the possibility of processing it off. If they do, we can truly take it down.”

Shen Tang said, “You’re not thinking too big for the remnants of the Tianxing Sword Sect. We only have this many people…”

“First, you definitely need to recruit a large number of people to revive. Second, you definitely don’t have only this many people in your hands,” Lu Xingzhou sighed. “Up to today, you should explain your secrets clearly to me, otherwise it’s hard to do any planning, but just empty talk.”

Shen Tang was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, “How many parts have you guessed?”

Lu Xingzhou said, “I originally suspected you were the missing princess, but I felt many key points weren’t clear. If you were the princess, Huo Yu and Sheng Yuan Yao shouldn’t not recognize you, and your identity as Shen Tang is recognized by all the people of the Tianxing Sword Sect… Unless you wear a human skin mask, but I don’t think so.”

Shen Tang rarely showed a mischievous smile. “I originally cultivated in the Tianxing Sword Sect from a young age. Shen is my mother’s surname, and my master is my own uncle. If it weren’t for this imperial marriage relationship, how could the Tianxing Sword Sect become an imperial merchant? But the people of the Tianxing Sword Sect don’t know I am the princess. They think I am just a disciple who grew up from a young age.”

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

“Although my mother was an ordinary concubine, I also lived cautiously from a young age. If you were truly Huo Shang, then we have another similar point,” Shen Tang smiled. “But I am the eldest daughter. My father emperor liked me quite a bit when I was born, and he didn’t hide anything when teaching me imperial martial arts. But most of the time I was still in the Tianxing Sword Sect and seldom returned to the capital. It’s not strange that Sheng Yuan Yao doesn’t recognize me… I have seen her, though. At that time, she was fourteen or fifteen years old, sneaking into someone else’s marquis mansion banquet hall just to eavesdrop on secrets about ‘red apricot out of the wall,’ ha…”

Lu Xingzhou couldn’t help but laugh. “What about the Huo family?”

“The Huo family’s favor is not as high as people imagine… Grand Tutor Huo doesn’t know who Shen Tang is. Instead, I once saw them in the identity of Princess Gu Yitang. Huo Yu has seen me. It’s a pity that this time Huo Yu was tormented by you to the point where he basically didn’t see I was me, isn’t that right?”

Lu Xingzhou thought that Huo Yu indeed hadn’t seen Shen Tang this time and couldn’t help but laugh. “You use an alias outside for a long time to cultivate obscurity?”

“Um. When I was very young, the imperial preceptor gave me a batch of words: ‘Outside and safe.’ My father emperor still respected the imperial preceptor’s opinion very much, so he sent me to the Tianxing Sword Sect and let me use an alias, which was also a kind of protection… But I still hope you call me Shen Tang.”

“Of course… I’m also not used to calling you by other names,” Lu Xingzhou asked. “What about your mother…”

“She passed away last year, said to have died of illness,” Shen Tang said with a cold smile. “I don’t know if there was any foul play inside.”

Compared to the judgment everyone made at the time about Huo Shang’s sudden death, a concubine dying prematurely was even less likely, so the probability of foul play was very high. It was just a pity that Shen Tang had no way to investigate such matters.

Lu Xingzhou’s gaze fell on her leg. “So your leg…”

“A very cliché political struggle,” Shen Tang said faintly. “My father emperor fought a war with the demon emperor in previous years. Both sides were injured, and his body became weaker and weaker. The struggle for the crown prince these years has also been quite intense. You know, women in this dynasty can be emperors. As the eldest daughter, I naturally became a thorn in some people’s side.”

Lu Xingzhou couldn’t help but say, “You are neither the legitimate daughter born to the empress, nor have you lived outside for a long time since childhood. A large number of officials don’t recognize you. It can be said that you have almost no political capital. What kind of threat can you be?”

“There is,” Shen Tang smiled. “Because the imperial princes are too useless… Do you know my cultivation level?”

Lu Xingzhou was silent for a moment. “Fourth grade.”

“But their highest is only fifth grade,” Shen Tang said faintly. “In the cultivation world, strength is the biggest political capital. Although my father emperor never had any intention of passing the throne to me, some people are afraid. Some people are afraid and will want to weaken my power, or better yet, kill me… So during a time when my master and I were delivering goods into the capital, we encountered an ambush, and the mountain gate far away in Yong State was also attacked simultaneously. I still don’t know which younger brother did it, or… whether it was my father emperor himself.”