Gu Qingyu left Ye"s building, there was no one outside. Neither Jia Qizhe nor Mo Bai was in sight.
"Where did they go?" Gu Qingyu stared at the empty street in front of her.
"Xiao Yu"er, here." Jia Qizhe walked over from a distance, his blue robe billowed in the wind, and intertwined with the white robe behind him.
Gu Qingyu glared. "Where have you been?"
"I bought something delicious for you, Yu"er." Mo Bai held a bundle of candied hawthorns in his hand and handed it to Gu Qingyu. Jia Qizhe also had sweets in his hand.
"Eh? Thank you!" Gu Qingyu took the sweet with surprise. "I am very happy, but Jia Qizhe, why is your hand covering your nose? And Mo Bai, why are you covering your forehead?"
Jia Qizhe rubbed the bruises on his nose, Gu Qingyu didn"t see it. "Nothing, my nose is a little itchy."
Mo Bai also gently ma.s.saged the bluish, purple bruise on his forehead. "I... I was just bitten by a mosquito. It"s nothing, Yu"er, don"t worry about it. "
Yeah, right! Only an idiot would believe that! Gu Qingyu nodded, seemingly convinced by their excuses. She gave Jia Qizhe half of the snacks, he held it with one hand. Then, she gave Mo Bai the other half of the snacks, he too held it with one hand. "Well, if you want to cover it, cover it, don"t ever let me see it!" She turned around and walked back quickly.
"Xiao Yu"er!" Jia Qizhe quickly followed. "Wait for me!"
"Yu"er, don"t walk so fast!" Mo Bai also hurried to keep up.
Gu Qingyu suddenly stopped, whipped around, and grabbed their hands. She yanked their hands away from their face before they could stop her.
"Xiao Yu"er?" Jia Qizhe was startled.
"Yu"er?" Mo Bai was startled.
The bruises on Jia Qizhe"s nose and on Mo Bai"s forehand were clear as day. There was a look of horror and shock in her eyes. "Someone beat you two up?"
They glanced at each other and nodded. Then, Gu Qingyu lost it. "@#$%^&*! How dare they mess with my people!" Who would be so powerful to beat up both Jia Qizhe and Mo Bai? And not with powers, a pure physical beatdown?
Before Jia Qizhe and Mo Bai reacted, Gu Qingyu immediately looked at Jia Qizhe with concern. "Xiao Zhezhe, who was the little b.i.t.c.h that beat you up?"
She looked at Mo Bai again, even more concerned. "Xiao Bai Bai, who should I kill for beating you?"
Jia Qizhe pursed his lips and pointed at Mo Bai. He sounded so aggrieved. "This is the little b.i.t.c.h! "
At the same time, Mo Bai also pointed at Jia Qizhe. He sounded so wronged. "This is the person you should kill!"
The two men had accused each other. Gu Qingyu was speechless. After a while, she regained her senses and looked at them in disbelief. "You two fought?"
The two nodded. Blood rushed to her head, for a moment, her vision blacked out. "You two are absolutely absurd!"
"I"m sorry, Yu"er." Mo Bai confessed, "We didn"t use spells."
No spells? You two would have killed each other if you used spells!
Jia Qizhe cleverly distracted her. His devious voice picked up in the wind. "Xiao Yu"er, the wind is strong here, let"s go back first, okay? When you come back to the inn, you can scold us to your heart"s content."
She nodded and began to walk back to the inn, "Hmph! Don"t bother b.u.t.tering me up like that, it won"t work! I want no more trouble once we get back. Both of you are to go to bed immediately!"
Isn"t it working?
Jia Qizhe draped his coat across Gu Qingyu"s shoulders. A smirk split across his face, directed at Mo Bai. I bought a coat, did you bring yours?
Mo Bai remained silent as he looked at his own thin robes. He followed Gu Qingyu silently.
I should have dressed warmer.
Back at the inn
Gu Qingyu looked at Jia Qizhe and Mo Bai and nodded. "Well, I"m going to bed. If your private conflicts have not been resolved, do sort them out. The night is still young, after all."
Jia Qizhe"s mouth twitched. "No need, I have to rest too. Xiao Yu"er, go to bed."
"Yu"er, good night." Mo Bai smiled slightly.
"Yeah, good night." Gu Qingyu waved as she walked upstairs.
She was greeted by the sight of Yan Zun floating through the air when she entered her room.
"Master?" Gu Qingyu blinked. "What"s wrong?"
Yan Zun" gave her a smirk. "How do you feel?"
"Eh?" She doesn"t feel tired at all, and her whole body feels light. The lack of exhaustion and tension had persisted after her bath. "I feel great!" She replied subconsciously.
Yan Zun rolled his eyes. "Come on, sleep now."
Just an eyeroll? Gu Qingyu nodded. "Is there no training today?"
"It "s best to have a good rest after using Bone Breaker." Yan Zun smiled. "Unless, you would like to find out how it feels to train after using that medicine?"
It must not be a good feeling!
Gu Qingyu pursed her lips. "Good night then, Master."
"Good night, my dear apprentice." Yan Zun twisted and turned as he drifted through the air.
Gu Qingyu brought the covers over her head, and mumbled under her breath. "He"s just a soul, just a soul, just a soul." She repeated that line as though it was a mantra as she tried to hypnotise herself to sleep.
The self-hypnosis worked. She soon fell into a deep sleep.
The next day.
Gu Qingyu was awakened by a knock on the door. It is Qi Wan. His cheerful voice rang across the room. "Boss~ Wake up! The sun"s already up. I"m gonna come in and drag you out of bed if you don"t wake up soon! Waaah, Hero Jia! Ah! Ow Ow Ow! "
His voice began to break up, and it disappeared along with the last "ow". Gu Qingyu rolled her eyes at the ceiling. What"s with this vaguely supernatural horror film vibe?
She dragged herself out of bed, got dressed, and stepped out of her room just in time to see Qi Wan, with b.u.mps all over his head, being dragged down the stairs by Jia Qizhe. Gu Qingyu looked at Qi Wan with pity in her eyes, she gave him a "good luck" face, then ambled down the stairs behind them. Murong Zuoyu was the first to approach her. He nodded slightly and greeted her. "Brother Zhu, good morning."
"Morning, Brother Murong!" Gu Qingyu beamed. "Have you found the shortest route to the Imperial City?" Murong Zuoyu nodded, he took out a hand-drawn map from his sleeve and handed it to Gu Qingyu.
Gu Qingyu took it and a.n.a.lysed the map, her head bobbed as she examined it closely. "Nice! Just as I expected, Brother Murong!"
Qi Yichen joined them with a lazy yawn. "Hey, Brother Zhu, I helped too!"
"Yep, yep, well done." Gu Qingyu replied and sat down to eat.
Pleased, Qi Yichen sat down and picked up his chopsticks gleefully.
Gu Qingyu smiled at his reaction. She waited for everyone to gather before digging in.
"So, kitten, any new leads from last night?" Xie Zang tilted his head as he asked.
"Oh, there are new leads alright!" Gu Qingyu looked at Xie Zang with a glint of mischief in her eyes. "There seems to be something interesting going on between the King and the Prime Minister..."
"Cough cough cough!" Qi Yichen coughed and hacked, he choked on a sip of water. "Brother Zhu, that"s..."
That was the least ladylike behaviour I have seen from her.
"I"m talking about facts." Gu Qingyu blinked. "Facts, just facts."
Qi Yichen did a perfect spit take.
After breakfast
They tore through the streets on horseback.
"Qi Wan, this is a really good horse!" Gu Qingyu said. In a short amount of time, her horse-riding skills have improved greatly.
"Boss, your skills are not bad!" Qi Wan praised her.
"Oh, yeah~" Gu Qingyu covered her face, "I just love hearing you say the truth-Woah!" Her grip on the reins was too loose, her horse tugged at the reins and she jerked forward.
Luckily, Murong Zuoyu, who was beside her, grabbed the reins and calmed the horse before she fell off. "Careful, Brother Zhu."
"Thank you, Brother Murong!" Gu Qingyu was not worried about falling, because there were so many people around her. She took the reins from Murong Zuoyu"s hands and held onto it.
"Xiao Yu"er, next time you let go, I don"t mind pulling you to ride with me." Jia Qizhe"s tone was laced with threats.
"No need!" Gu Qingyu immediately tightened her grip on the reins and focused.
After they left the city, Gu Qingyu gave directions. She checked the map with one hand and held onto the reins with the other. "Go straight west, about a day"s ride."
"It"s not too late, let"s hurry." Jia Qizhe nodded, sent his horse into a gallop, and rode off.
"Brother Jia~ Wait for me~~" Gu Qingyu did the same, the rest followed her.
With Jia Qizhe as the vanguard, the ride was basically unimpeded. They arrived at the Imperial City of Xiqian at sunset, a few hours ahead of schedule.
People bustled through the streets as vendors called out from their stalls. Children darted between the crowds as they played. Laughter filled the air. Gu Qingyu watched the peaceful scene before her and grew more and more impressed with the Prime Minister.
They found an inn for the night. Suddenly, Gu Qingyu stared at Qi Yichen, more precisely, the fan in his hand. An idea popped into her mind.
"What"s the matter, Brother Zhu?" Qi Yichen continued to wave his fan, completely unaware. "Why? Have I become more handsome?"
"Yes!" Gu Qingyu nodded as she walked up to him, then she held his hands in warm sincerity, her hands wrapped tightly around his. "Brother Qi!"
"What are you doing?" Qi Yichen"s face stiffened. "Please, just say it, you don"t have to do this, Brother Zhu. This scholar is also an innocent person, and a man and woman do have differences..."
"Relax, I have never seen you as a man!" Gu Qingyu nodded sincerely. "Brother Qi! Actually, I think you are handsome, just without this!" Her hands s.h.i.+fted and grabbed Qi Yichen"s fan.
Qi Yichen"s face stiffened again. "Brother Zhu, this is not funny!"
"To be honest, the Prime Minister of Xiqian really likes fans. I think your fan looks really nice, I wanna borrow it."
Qi Yichen freaked out. "Borrow? Are you sure you will return it to me?"
"Of course!" Gu Qingyu held up her hand to the heavens. "I sware." She messed up the p.r.o.nunciation on purpose.
"Okay." Qi Yichen held out the fan reluctantly.
"Okay." Gu Qingyu tried to pull the fan out of his hand. Surprisingly, Qi Yichen has quite a strong grip. "Xiao Chenchen, be nice. Let go."
With a final yank, she pulled the fan out of Qi Yichen"s hands. "And isn"t this your weapon? If it really ends up in the Prime Minister"s hands, you can just call it back."
"Well, you have a point." Qi Yichen nodded, then his face turned sullen again. "But I can"t live without it!"
"Brother Qi, what do you think of this one?" Qi Wan pa.s.sed a fan to him, it was also a white fan.
Qi Yichen stared at the fan in disdain, and just when he relented and reached to take the fan, Qi Wan retracted his hand, opened it, and fanned himself. "How can I give you such a beautiful fan? You"re so naive, Brother Qi!"
There were three large words written on the fan in block letters: I AM UNPARALLELED!