When Jiang Duxu blocked Lu Xingzhou, Yuan Muyu, who was watching from afar, felt a chill run down her spine.

“What a powerful cultivator!”

His outward aura was only that of a Fourth-Rank, yet a mere Fourth-Rank aura could make the murderous Yama King feel an instinctive danger.

“If this is a Fourth-Rank, Yuan Muyu would stew her own fish head.”

“How did such a top-tier Super-Rank appear in the capital again?”

“Will he harm Xingzhou?”

Just as she was thinking this, she saw Jiang Duxu smiling somewhat apologetically, asking Lu Xingzhou to introduce him to the Imperial Preceptor.

Yuan Muyu: “…”

Facing such powerful individuals, she dared not get too close. When they reached the alley where they were hiding, she watched as the three of them made several turns and disappeared.

Even her divine sense could only catch fleeting glimpses, making Jiang Duxu and Ye Tinglan’s words sound intermittent, with only an occasional word audible. She didn’t dare to listen more closely; being able to hear clearly would likely mean she would also be detected, especially since there were two Half-Qianyuan there!

Guamei (Melon Girl) hadn’t yet realized the true value of her divine ability. She could listen in detail when Gu Zhanting and Ye Tinglan were both in the imperial court, and no one knew she was listening…

She completely surpassed Super-Ranks.

Yuan Muyu shook her head, preparing to turn back and continue following Lu Xingzhou.

As she stepped out of the alley, she saw Pei Chuyun entering the Ministry of Rites.

Yuan Muyu was fuming.

“So you’re Pei Chuyun, right? Weren’t you the one who met me with your master last time? Last time, I saw you were no longer a virgin; was that with Xingzhou?!”

“You even played ‘maybe it’s your traitor,’ clearing yourself of suspicion, right?!”

“Are you playing me for a fool?!”

Her angry gaze was no longer concealed. Pei Chuyun felt someone watching her, paused her steps as she was about to enter the Ministry of Rites, leaned back, and peered over. She saw a familiar flat-chested girl standing at the alley entrance.

“It’s you!” Pei Chuyun also rushed over aggressively. “Was it you who secretly harmed me last time?! The threshold suddenly expanded, and an invisible force pressed on my waist! The more I thought about it, the only strange thing at that time was you!”

“So what if it was?” Yuan Muyu sneered, crossing her arms. “I didn’t like the look of you, so I taught you a lesson or two. What are you going to do about it?”

“How did I offend you? I’ve never even met you! I even kindly pointed you to the Qingyao Garden stele!”

Yuan Muyu said indifferently, “I’m jealous that the stele’s author’s poetry is published with yours, and that he’s rumored to be pursuing you. Is that not allowed?”

Pei Chuyun let out a “ha” laugh. “Then you can be jealous all you want. Now he’s not pursuing me; he’s proposing to me. We’re engaged, little sister.”

“Marrying together with four people, I don’t know what you’re so proud of. Shen Tang was even discussed first. A noble lady of the dignified Pei family, with such a face for being a concubine?”

“Isn’t that because some people want to be concubines but can’t?” Pei Chuyun looked at Yuan Muyu with sympathy, specifically scanning her chest. “Anyway, he doesn’t have a fetish for ugliness.”

Yuan Muyu took a deep breath and clenched her fists.

“Oh, you want to fight?” Pei Chuyun also rolled up her sleeves. “Last time you ambushed me, do you think you’re capable now?”

Poor, feisty little Pei, she hadn’t even considered that there would be such a young girl’s face beneath the Yama King’s mask, completely unaware of what kind of being she was provoking.

Yuan Muyu almost wanted to scratch that seemingly innocent foxy face. As the thought crossed her mind, her expression suddenly changed.

Her divine sense was still with Ye Tinglan, only catching intermittent words. But at this moment, for some reason, she heard a complete sentence: “There are things here I can’t bear to leave… Compared to them, let alone a mere ancient realm, even the immortal realm may not be in my eyes.”

Yuan Muyu’s anger vanished, replaced by a dazed expression.

The so-called immortal realm, of course, didn’t just refer to a single location, but represented the direction of a cultivator’s Great Dao.

“Is that so? Elder Sister, for his sake, can you even give up your Dao?”

If Ye Tinglan could willingly halt her Dao for him, then what was Yuan Muyu doing?

“Slap!” Pei Chuyun’s hand was already on Yuan Muyu’s shoulder. With a slight push, she intended to knock the flat-chested girl face down into the dirt.

Yuan Muyu didn’t budge, but “pfft,” she spat out another mouthful of blood.

Pei Chuyun retracted her hand in fright. “I-I didn’t use much force, don’t try to pull a scam…”

Yuan Muyu looked at her and slowly said, “What do you like about him? His poetry?”

Pei Chuyun had never seen such empty eyes, as if covered by a layer of gray cloth, completely devoid of life.

She felt a little unnerved and slowly backed away. “Talent is certainly one aspect, of course. His talent is far more than just a little poetry. He doesn’t even bother to spend energy on that… Oh, well, anyway, he’s just marrying a few wives. You don’t need to be so miserable, right?”

“Besides his talent?” Yuan Muyu continued to ask.

“He’s very good to me, helped me a lot, and asked for nothing in return. Just… just dating.” Pei Chuyun continued to back away, ready to hide in the Ministry of Rites at any moment.

“Is that so?” Yuan Muyu looked up at the sky, then suddenly smiled, shook her head, turned, and slowly walked away.

Pei Chuyun scratched her head in confusion.

As the most “popular” talented woman in the capital, she had seen many fanatical admirers, both male and female, but never one like this. “Oh no, will Lu Xingzhou be ganged up on by his crazed fans…”

Just as she was thinking this, she saw Lu Xingzhou holding Sheng Yuanyao’s hand, walking from the other direction. Pei Chuyun subconsciously looked again at the flat-chested girl’s position, and a corner of her clothing was just disappearing around a distant corner.

A thought flickered in her mind: “Did that flat-chested girl leave without asking further because she was avoiding Lu Xingzhou?”

Pei Chuyun was still dazed when Lu Xingzhou and Sheng Yuanyao arrived in front of her. He oddly poked her shoulder with a finger. “What are you spacing out about?”

Pei Chuyun turned around and composed herself. “I met a strange girl… What were you two doing?”

“Looking for elders who can discuss marriage arrangements,” Lu Xingzhou said with a slightly bitter expression. “Can’t find suitable ones.”

Pei Chuyun said, “That is indeed a bit annoying. These high-ranking families have so many awful rules. Oh, thinking about it suddenly makes me feel that Shen Tang’s father is truly understanding, acting as if he doesn’t exist.”

“Shhh, don’t say such things in the street.” Lu Xingzhou helplessly pulled the two of them towards the Ministry of Rites, and they entered his Department of Receptions.

Once the door was closed, the dynamic of one man and two women immediately became awkward. The two women, who would normally tear into each other upon meeting, now felt like it would be difficult to do so, as if any further fuss would result in him sweeping them all together.

Having a recognized status was so useful; even though it wasn’t finalized yet, they already felt like sisters… and they also felt it was perfectly normal for him to do whatever he wanted with any of them…

Then they both became a little curious. If there were four sisters, everyone had met Shen Tang, but who was that ‘Catching Fish’?

“Who is that ‘Catching Fish’? What does she look like? Have we met her?” Sheng Yuanyao asked directly.

“That… you’ll see her when the time comes…”

“Is it a bit more convenient for her? The Heavenly Jasper Holy Land’s etiquette in this regard is much simpler than ours, not very emphasized, right?”

“Mhm, she can marry herself…” Lu Xingzhou said perfunctorily, glancing to see that Pei Chuyun still seemed a bit distracted, and felt a little strange. “What’s wrong with Chuyun today? She seems to be spaced out.”

Pei Chuyun said, “Still thinking about that little girl from earlier.”

Sheng Yuanyao asked curiously, “What little girl?”

“The one who’s trying to snatch your man,” Pei Chuyun gave her a sidelong glance.

Sheng Yuanyao chuckled, “Get in line.”

Lu Xingzhou’s thoughts were not so simple. Could an ordinary girl trying to snatch a man make a femme fatale like Pei Chuyun so distracted?

“What kind of little girl?”

“Hmm, she looked sixteen or seventeen at most, smart-looking, probably very lively when she smiles, but she always felt a bit creepy, with a sinister aura about her. Then her expression was serious, her eyes lacked luster, and she even spat blood. Oh, and she has no chest.”

Sheng Yuanyao had been a little nervous listening, but at the last part, she leaned back leisurely and sipped her tea.

No threat at all.

However, Pei Chuyun sharply noticed a keen glint in Lu Xingzhou’s eyes. “You know who she is?”

Lu Xingzhou smiled. “Perhaps. You two sit for a bit, I’ll go find the Minister. Logically, I’m his direct subordinate; I’ll ask him to help me out and see if it works.”

This fellow, after visiting the Minister and Vice Minister of Rites on his first day in office, hadn’t seen them since, but now he remembered. Pei Chuyun and Sheng Yuanyao didn’t hold much hope, waving their hands irritably. “Go on, go on.”

Lu Xingzhou silently left the Department of Receptions, stood outside the door for a moment, but didn’t go looking for the Minister or Vice Minister. Instead, he went to the alley behind.

After standing quietly for a moment with no response, he simply spoke, “A meeting?”

Yuan Muyu slowly descended from mid-air and landed in front of him.

The two looked at each other silently for a moment, both seemingly unsure what to say. After a while, Yuan Muyu spoke first. “I have other matters in the capital… You don’t need to worry about me harming them. It was your Pei-family one who was all claws and teeth, almost wanting to hit me.”

“I apologize on Chuyun’s behalf, Elder Sister.”

“You apologize to me, on behalf of someone else.”

“She’s not just anyone; she’s my fiancée, your sister-in-law.”

Yuan Muyu clenched her teeth tightly, then after a long pause, took a deep breath. “You want to meet; what do you want to say?”

“You are my elder sister. This relationship between us has never been severed, right?”

“Mhm.”

“Then…” Lu Xingzhou said calmly, “How about you represent me in discussing the betrothal gifts with the Pei and Sheng families?”

Yuan Muyu stared blankly at Lu Xingzhou. “Do you know what you’re saying?”

Lu Xingzhou said, “You and I are indeed siblings, and I was indeed raised by you… This is naturally fitting and proper.”

He completely forgot that he had told Madam Sheng not long ago that it didn’t count.

If there were other options, he certainly wouldn’t want to get involved with Yuan Muyu.

But with no other choices, Yuan Muyu inexplicably arrived in the capital. Lu Xingzhou suddenly felt that there was nothing wrong with it.

They were not lovers, never had been.

Whether it was the older sister who raised him, the master who guided his basic cultivation, or his former superior… Any of these three relationships made this matter perfectly appropriate, to the point of being natural and righteous.

Yuan Muyu clenched her fists, her body trembling. “Naturally fitting and proper… Is that what you think?”

“Yes,” Lu Xingzhou said indifferently. “Does Elder Sister not think so? What else could it be?”

“Lu Xingzhou!!”

“Mhm, I’m here.”

“Two years ago, what did you tell me?”

“That’s… but that was my delusion,” Lu Xingzhou slowly said. “You never thought about those things. To you, I am a younger brother. Is there anything wrong with that?”

Yuan Muyu looked up at the sky.

A few snowflakes drifted down, tiny first snow, which by the time it reached the capital, felt like only a fine drizzle.

But Yuan Muyu felt very cold.

Two years ago, Lu Xingzhou left the Yama Hall, also in winter, on a snowy night.

The snow that day was much heavier… Was it colder than this?