Upon returning to her boudoir and opening the letter, Pei Chuyun’s smile froze, turning very serious.

*Duoshe* (soul snatching)…

Just *duoshe* alone would have been one thing, but a mother snatching her daughter’s soul…

Pei Chuyun pursed her lips tightly, staring absently at the letter, her gaze lost somewhere far away.

After a long time, she suddenly smiled faintly, her eyes filled with gentle light: “So, I truly can earn a bit of genuine affection.”

She carefully placed the letter into her *suishen* ring, then stretched and leisurely went out.

It was as if the immense hidden danger warned in the letter did not exist.

Walking on the street, others instinctively moved aside. Not only men, but even women had a hint of fanaticism in their eyes.

In the past few months, Pei Chuyun had become incredibly famous in the capital.

She had already published her own poetry collection, with a rather unusual title: *Xinglü Ji*.

Previously, when she was browsing and casually bought a contemporary poetry collection with Lu Xingzhou, Lu Xingzhou commented that while the poems by modern writers were acceptable, they weren’t particularly good. Pei Chuyun agreed. At the time, she felt regret that her own poetry was superior but hadn’t been published.

Now, with her poetry collection out, her status as the Eldest Miss of the Pei prime minister’s family, combined with her undeniably superior talent, truly shook the capital with her reputation as a “talented woman” and then spread throughout the land.

The manuscripts she had clutched like a delicate white flower every day at Taixue finally displayed their true worth.

Pei Chuyun hadn’t even felt comfortable asking Lu Xingzhou to correct those manuscripts. She felt that the title of “talented woman” was undeserved by her; the truly great scholar was Lu Xingzhou, whose few poems absolutely outshone everyone else’s. Asking Lu Xingzhou to comment and correct them would feel like cheating.

Heaven knows, if she really asked Lu Xingzhou to correct them, he wouldn’t have much to say.

Pei Chuyun’s literary fame wasn’t limited to her poetry collection.

A short while ago, during the Duanwu Festival, Taixue hosted a banquet, with officials in attendance and students from Taixue providing some entertainment. Pei Chuyun’s *guzheng* performance astonished everyone present; attendees said it reached a master level.

This was even more extraordinary. Dual masteries in zither and poetry, exceptionally beautiful, and her cultivation progress was also unparalleled, even thoroughly defeating the top new talent… She was truly perfect, rapidly heading towards goddess status, unstoppable.

Pei Qingyan and Pei Yu, father and son, were beaming with joy. Not only would they not hinder her, but they secretly bought some online trolls to promote her.

Pei Chuyun thus became the most popular goddess in the capital. Peddlers and commoners alike knew her name. Countless men were captivated by her, and even countless women regarded her as an idol, fanatically following her.

Any discordant voices within the Pei family vanished. The *Hedong* clan members now fully recognized the status of this legitimate daughter.

In truth, by this point, Pei Chuyun had achieved her initial aspirations from when she first confided in Lu Xingzhou. Back then, wasn’t it because her sectarian status was awkward, her hobbies couldn’t be pursued, and she had talent but couldn’t become famous? Ultimately, even seeking recognition from her family was for these reasons. A little scheme was exploited by that scoundrel, and in the end, her body was even taken from her.

But now that her wishes were fulfilled, Pei Chuyun looked back and found she wasn’t as happy as she had expected.

Although Pei Chuyun believed she wasn’t motivated by vanity, but rather by her own life’s value, she didn’t deny having a little bit of vanity, which wasn’t shameful. Achieving success, fame, and widespread adoration—she should be at her proudest. What could still be unsatisfactory?

Perhaps it was because the way her family looked at her increasingly carried the implication of a highly valuable tool for an advantageous marriage. They tried their best not to let her feel this, but it was still hard to conceal.

Her master was the same… In fact, this situation was meticulously orchestrated by her master.

Neither her family nor her master truly valued her achievements or the realization of her life’s worth. They cared more about what she could bring to them.

Even the person who said, “You have a father,” couldn’t escape this common human failing. The Pei family was, after all, a political entity.

Then who else was there?

In this world, there was only one person, Lu Xingzhou, who could unconditionally support her in realizing her value, go to great lengths to help her, yet had no ulterior motives of his own.

Perhaps he was only after her body, or perhaps he found the contrast more stimulating to play with… what a small ambition. But he absolutely never thought of using her success as leverage, which made him fundamentally different from others.

Just like now, he had already obtained her, yet he still cared about her safety, urgently sending a message to warn her.

As for the warning… it seemed Pei Chuyun herself wasn’t entirely unaware.

That wasn’t important.

What was important was that he wasn’t by her side.

And so, this bustling, crowded capital became lonely.

Pei Chuyun unconsciously walked towards a roadside bookstall, gently caressing a poetry collection, as if an handsome man with gentle eyes stood beside her, saying: “You like this?”

She turned to look, but the figure was illusory, and no one was there.

Suddenly, her vision blurred, and a flat-chested young girl appeared before her with a radiant smile: “Are you Miss Pei?”

Not to mention Pei Chuyun being in a daze, even at her sharpest, she couldn’t have imagined this person was the *Yan Jun* who had been radiating killing intent just moments ago, despite being equally flat-chested.

Seeing the girl’s grinning face, Pei Chuyun unconsciously let out a small aunt-like smile: “Yes, that’s me. Is there something I can help you with, little sister?”

She thought to herself that if it was for an autograph, she would gladly give it.

“I read your poetry collection, and it said two poems were written by a friend. ‘Flying water drops three thousand *chi* straight down,’ and ‘Misty faint chill ascends the small tower’?”

So it was about this… Pei Chuyun sighed softly. She couldn’t bear for Lu Xingzhou’s poems, which could be remembered for generations, to remain unknown, nor did she care if they overshadowed her own collection, so she specifically included them. Recently, many people had indeed asked about this, but she never explicitly stated who wrote them: “This friend is of noble character and dislikes drawing attention, so their name has been concealed. It is also inconvenient for me to disclose it, please forgive me.”

Yuan Muyu secretly pouted. Having spent so many years with him, how could she not know that Lu Xingzhou occasionally came up with eternal masterpieces? Even without breasts, she knew these were written by Lu Xingzhou. She just didn’t expect Lu Xingzhou to start giving poems to others… Fortunately, at least the names were still hidden; it wasn’t so direct.

Yuan Muyu felt both a pang of jealousy and a strong desire to know if Lu Xingzhou had left anything else. So she continued to ask: “Then I won’t ask for this gentleman’s name, but can I ask if he has any other works?”

Pei Chuyun asked, surprised: “How do you know it’s a gentleman?”

“The grandeur of ‘flying water drops three thousand *chi* straight down, suspected to be the Milky Way falling from the ninth heaven,’ could that be from a young lady?” Yuan Muyu shot Pei Chuyun a disdainful look: “You don’t even know such a simple truth; are your poems bought?”

Pei Chuyun was both annoyed and amused: “Is that your attitude when asking a question?”

“I like him, not you,” Yuan Muyu said righteously, though she secretly thought, ‘If you don’t tell me, I’ll put a sack over your head and beat it out of you. Does this Venerable One need to curry favor with you?’

Although quite irritating, Pei Chuyun thought of her past, chuunibyou self and wasn’t offended. In fact, having someone else appreciate Lu Xingzhou was a hidden joy in her heart. So she said, “Another one of his works is already widely known.”

That was the one at Qingyao Garden. Lu Xingzhou had already admitted it was his, which implicitly confirmed that the one included in her poetry collection was also by Lu Xingzhou.

Yuan Muyu, however, was stunned: “Widely known? How could there be one that’s widely known?”

Pei Chuyun couldn’t help but say: “At such a young age, there’s a lot you don’t know; you should be humble.”

“…Who are you calling young?”

Pei Chuyun glanced at her chest, her eyes filled with pity.

Yuan Muyu secretly pondered if, in her current form, she could really beat Pei Chuyun. Before she could figure it out, she heard Pei Chuyun sigh: “But it’s not your fault. I just met an elder who was even smaller than you. Truly pathetic.”

Yuan Muyu’s face was expressionless.

‘That elder wasn’t smaller than me at all; we were clearly the same size.’

“Alright, alright, I’m not teasing you anymore.” Pei Chuyun smiled and turned, waving her hand: “The other one is on the stone tablet in Qingyao Garden. You’ll know when you go there.”

Even after walking a distance, Pei Chuyun was still thinking, ‘This flat-chested little girl is actually very pretty. Did I just create a love rival by telling her those poems were by Lu Xingzhou?’

‘Never mind, it doesn’t matter. If he wants women, I’ll even tie them up and give them to him. Just a silly, flat-chested little girl, even if she truly joined the competition, she’d only be fit to be a maid…’

Lost in thought, her feet had already carried her into Taixue.

The threshold she had crossed countless times somehow felt a few *fen* higher. Pei Chuyun, caught off guard, stumbled and fell directly.

—Having eaten the same “inflation spell” minor skill as Anu, the Ye sisters’ thought processes were identical.

Fortunately, she was a strong Third-rank cultivator. Mid-air, she executed a spiral, about to stand gracefully.

Cheers erupted from the students nearby: “Excellent! As expected of Miss Pei!”

Before the words fully landed, an invisible large hand silently pressed on her waist.

Pei Chuyun’s graceful mid-air spin failed, and she fell face-first into the dirt in front of everyone.

On a distant rooftop, the flat-chested girl stood with hands on her hips: “Still chasing Xingzhou, are you! Still calling me small repeatedly. Let’s see if that doesn’t flatten you!”

Poor Pei Chuyun still didn’t know which deity she had offended. Luckily, a goddess, even when falling, was still a goddess. A group of girls rushed to help her up, their eyes watering with distress: “Which sour, unwanted wretch ambushed Miss Pei, woo woo woo… Even falling, she falls so beautifully.”

Yuan Muyu almost choked, then turned and indignantly headed for Qingyao Garden.