“Huh? Miss Lu.” After dinner, Pei Yu took his wife for a stroll in their backyard and saw A-Nuo squatting in the passage between the garden and Pei Chuyun’s boudoir, playing with mud.

He couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Where’s your master?”

Oh my, those two wouldn’t have abandoned the child outside to do something naughty, would they?

A-Nuo looked up at them with a confused expression. “Are you going to the garden?”

“Yes, for a walk. Is your master inside?”

“My master and Miss Pei are walking hand-in-hand inside. They kicked me out.”

Pei Yu and his wife exchanged knowing smiles.

It seemed normal. A young couple, under the moonlight, wouldn’t want a giant lantern following them.

Walking hand-in-hand in the garden sounded quite innocent, and since they were outdoors with people around, nothing serious would happen. Pei Yu was relieved.

Thinking this, he decided not to go for a walk himself, so as not to be intrusive. Pei Yu pulled his wife in a different direction. “Let’s go for a stroll by the pond.”

His wife gently agreed, as if the young couple’s romantic walk had also stirred a little longing in them, making them wonder how they could be intimate.

A-Nuo turned to watch the two walk away, her small face pouting.

A-Nuo sacrificed too much for this family. Not only was she not a lantern, but she was also on lookout and diverting attention.

Those two weren’t walking hand-in-hand in the garden at all. There wasn’t even a shadow of them in the garden. They had long since gone to Pei Chuyun’s perfumed boudoir and were already entwined on the bed, making sweet love.

At this moment, in Pei Chuyun’s courtyard, the maidservants had long been sent far away, so they wouldn’t hear the faint gasps coming from the small building.

The maidservants’ young mistress, who they thought was pure, eloquent, and proficient in all arts from zither to calligraphy, was now kneeling on the bed, letting the man hold her two slender arms…

The screen, reflecting a hazy, flowing scene, mirrored their figures, like casually flying blossoms, light as a dream.

From almost being “kicked out with a broken leg” to the Prime Minister personally staying to “stroll,” and then strolling directly into the young lady’s boudoir, Lu Xingzhou found the psychological experience incredibly fulfilling.

Pei Chuyun felt even more fulfilled.

“You…how did you become…so much stronger…?” Her voice was broken and incoherent.

Of course. How could the Holy Spear, capable of breaking the Dragon Emperor’s defense and bathed in dragon’s blood, compare to what it was before?

And with the new Yin-Yang Jiyi Gong, completely integrated with the Great Joyful Bliss Sutra, how could it still be the simple yin-yang cycle technique it once was?

Pei Chuyun realized there was no need to talk about whether she was cultivating the Chanü Xuan Gong anymore. Even if she activated it with full power, she would likely suffer a backlash.

If this thing backfired, she would become a “star fury.”

Although it seemed like it wasn’t far from that now… Before, she had some initiative, a give-and-take. Now, it was truly his will—he wanted her to live, she lived; he wanted her to die, she died—completely at his mercy, without any power to resist.

Of course, the experience was also many times better than before, the kind that made one addicted and infatuated.

So infatuated that her internal cultivation technique was activated by him, working in dual cultivation, and she didn’t even realize it, only caring about the pleasure…

If those maidservants hadn’t been sent far away, how could she have controlled the volume of her sounds…?

When the climax finally burst, Pei Chuyun’s eyes rolled back, and she almost fainted, lying there, her body still slightly twitching, consciousness blurry.

The dignified Holy Maiden of Huanhe, who had practiced cultivation since childhood, had never imagined that she would one day be reduced to such a state by someone.

Lu Xingzhou gently covered her from behind, kissing her cheek from the side. “What’s wrong, little kitten?”

Pei Chuyun slowly became a little clearer. “Is this your Channan Xuan Gong?”

“Yes, Your Holiness, any comments?”

“I can’t comment, I’m dying.” Pei Chuyun managed to turn over and wrap her arms around his neck. “How did you do this?”

Lu Xingzhou said, “Shall I teach you? I don’t know if it will conflict with your Chanü Xuan Gong… Logically, my Yin-Yang Jiyi Gong should be compatible.”

“Let’s try…” Pei Chuyun inwardly examined herself, and her eyes suddenly widened.

Her last breakthrough to the mid-third rank was through dual cultivation with Lu Xingzhou, and it hadn’t been long. Another dual cultivation session, and she was now at the upper-third rank.

What the hell? Forget dual cultivation techniques, even replenishment techniques weren’t this effective, were they? If everyone did this, why would others bother painstakingly cultivating?

The Holy Maiden of Huanhe felt a little panicked. “Hey, hey, how is it so fast? Won’t this lead to an unstable foundation?”

“No, and the first time is always more effective. It will slow down later.”

“Are we still considered ‘first time’?”

“…Your first time with this technique.” Lu Xingzhou whispered in her ear, “Want to try a second time?”

Pei Chuyun stared, realizing that the formidable weapon was stirring again.

“It will kill me!” Pei Chuyun gritted her teeth and pushed him. “At, at worst, I won’t monopolize you anymore, will that be enough…?”

“Emmm…” Lu Xingzhou felt a little tragic.

Actually, even if Pei Chuyun didn’t monopolize him, he had nowhere to exercise it… Although he had one session with Mister on the Stargazing Platform yesterday, that was still an unorthodox method. So far, only Pei Chuyun could facilitate his “boat traveling through water”… The other was far away in Yao Du.

He hadn’t expected that the little demoness, whom he thought was the most resilient, would also be so easily overwhelmed. It seemed the Great Joyful Bliss Sutra was too overpowered, and he’d have to wait until the little demoness learned it to be evenly matched?

Seeing his tragic look, Pei Chuyun bit her lower lip, glanced at him resentfully, and slowly slid down.

Lu Xingzhou sighed and lay still.

Of course, there was no staying overnight. The two had been at it for an unknown duration, and Lu Xingzhou, impeccably dressed, left the pavilion again.

Miss Pei didn’t even lean against the building to watch him leave; she was simply nowhere to be seen. The maidservants always felt that perhaps they weren’t doing as well as they seemed…

A-Nuo slipped away with her master from the back, clutching a large pile of pastries she had pilfered from the Pei residence, eating them as if transforming sorrow into appetite.

Lu Xingzhou glanced at her little figure and wanted to laugh. “Didn’t you used to be quite proactive in helping me keep watch at the Imperial Academy?”

“Hmph.” A-Nuo ignored him.

Lu Xingzhou, however, felt that A-Nuo, who seemed to be most at odds with Pei Chuyun, was actually the closest to her.

A playful, bickering friendship was often the best kind.

“Today, Instructor Meng said, ‘What will you do when you go to work every day and I’m at home with nothing to do?’” A-Nuo mumbled, munching on pastries.

Lu Xingzhou said, “You practice at home, refine elixirs… No, do you really not think your cultivation is important?”

A-Nuo mumbled, “No.”

Lu Xingzhou said, “That’s why, with all your advantages, you still can’t beat Chuyun.”

A-Nuo: “?”

“Who said I can’t beat her?” A-Nuo erupted. “That was at her house, so I was letting her off easy! Come again tomorrow, and I’ll kick her to death!”

“Alright, alright.” Lu Xingzhou picked her up again, and the master and disciple bounced their way back to his Lu residence.

A-Nuo put her hands on her hips.

No stepmother could live in the Lu residence; only I, Lu Nuonuo, can live in the Lu residence.

Look at what the servants call her?

“Master is back?”

“Miss.”

“Miss, the pig you entrusted to us, we’ve washed it sparkling clean. Would you like to see it?”

“Miss, we’ve already built a nest for the little pig in the outer room of your quarters, as you instructed.”

Hehe, Miss.

A-Nuo jumped down from Lu Xingzhou’s arms, swaying with her hands behind her back. “Take this Miss to see the pig.”

The next day, when they saw Secretary Pei at the Main Guest Bureau, the two exchanged glances, both feeling a little strange.

In their proper official attire, the senior and junior colleagues politely bowed in public. “Good morning, Your Excellency.”

This stood in stark contrast to their entanglement last night, almost like a dream.

Lu Xingzhou also solemnly nodded. “Good morning, Clerk Pei.”

Then, seeing the stack of documents Pei Chuyun was holding, he quickly remembered the stack of manuscripts she used to carry around the Imperial Academy every day and found it amusing. “You’ve adopted this look permanently, haven’t you?”

Pei Chuyun said, “These are all departmental performance reports for you to see, not written by me.”

“Then just give them to me directly. Why do they all go through you?”

Pei Chuyun said matter-of-factly, “Of course, anything given to you by others must first pass through this clerk’s hands. Otherwise, what if some little minx secretly slips in a note?”

Lu Xingzhou glanced around at the clerks who were supposedly working but actually slacking off, then gritted his teeth. “Come to my office.”

Pei Chuyun followed him in, clutching the documents, and soon the office door closed, ending the show.

Inside, Clerk Pei was pressed against the door by Sir Langzhong, still holding the documents, her eyes unyielding. “Even if you try to bribe me with kisses, I won’t give up this job.”

Lu Xingzhou lowered his head and started kissing her.

The unyielding clerk eventually yielded.

There was a knock on the door, which then turned into a loud thumping.

The two kissing against the door felt like an earthquake. Pei Chuyun almost dropped the documents; the diligently written performance reports nearly scattered everywhere.

Pei Chuyun was furious. She turned and opened the door. “Who’s so inconsiderate…”

Before she finished speaking, she saw Sheng Yuanyao grinning there, head tilted as if looking at the ceiling, pretending not to know what she had just done.

Pei Chuyun was so angry she wanted to hit someone. “Aren’t you the security guard for the entire Ministry of Rites? Why are you always running to this single department? Don’t we have work to do? We don’t have time to waste with you!”

“Oh, what a coincidence, I actually do have something.” Sheng Yuanyao smiled. “Huo Zhang brought some people outside, saying they are Southeast merchants. I heard you plan to open up maritime trade, and they specifically sought you out through Huo Zhang’s connections. I stopped them and came to ask if you want to see them.”

Pei Chuyun wanted to retort that she was a general, not a doorkeeper. When did she start doing such errands? She was clearly doing it on purpose. Usually, when Huo Zhang brought people in, no one would stop them. She was really good at finding excuses.

Of course, she also knew that Lu Xingzhou would definitely meet them. She clearly remembered what everyone discussed at dinner last night. It had only been one night, and Huo Zhang and the merchants were already being delivered…

Thinking of this, Pei Chuyun glanced contemptuously at Sheng Yuanyao, who was still smiling foolishly. “I’ve already finished eating.”

Sheng Yuanyao didn’t know what that look meant, but she saw Lu Xingzhou looking a bit surprised and asked curiously, “Don’t want to see them? Then I’ll send them away.”

“No need.” Lu Xingzhou’s surprise was, of course, just at the coincidence. When Sheng Yuanyao asked, he quickly came to his senses and smiled slightly. “Please invite them in for a discussion.”