Hua Xiaoyi was surprisingly much better behaved these days and no longer called her a "b.i.t.c.h" right off the bat.
The Third Madame smiled slightly, then looked at her daughter proudly. Over the past two weeks, the Third Madame had been constantly keeping a close eye on her daughter in an attempt to change her manner of speech.
Her teachings had finally produced some results.
"Really? This is the first time I"ve heard of that! The crown prince… hmm, indeed I saw him from the stage. He is a handsome man," Hua Qiyue smiled bashfully. Lv Xin and Youshui both felt like throwing up when they saw how their mistress could tell such an outright lie.
How would someone like the First Miss take an interest in the crown prince? Yet, now she was acting as though she really liked the crown prince. Sigh, their First Miss must have something up her sleeve.
Hua Xiaoyi"s eyes lit up and smiled coldly. "I"ll wish you the best of luck then."
"Third sister, please go in soon. Prince Nan is waiting for you!" Hua Qiyue lowered her eyes as though she wanted to mask her "admiration", then she led Tianci away.
Hua Xiaoyi stared coldly at Hua Qiyue"s retreating back and her lips curved into a cold smile. Oh, so did Hua Qiyue like the crown prince? Hua Xiaoyi felt that once she regained her looks she would match Hua Qiyue in terms of beauty. She must definitely make sure that she attracted the crown prince"s attention before Hua Qiyue did.
"Xiaoyi, what are you thinking? Stop scheming on your own in the future. If you have any ideas you must first let me know, do you understand?" The Third Madame said coldly when she saw her daughter staring resentfully at Hua Qiyue.
Her daughter was too rash and could easily mess things up so she couldn"t help but be afraid.
Hua Qiyue was now very outstanding and could even play the Second Madame who was such a cunnng woman, like a fiddle. This meant that… if Hua Xiaoyi tried to go up against Hua Qiyue single-handedly, she would lose terribly.
Hua Xiaoyi nodded obediently, "Don"t worry, Mother. I will do as you say."
They quickly headed inside. After all, Hua Xiaoyi"s future happiness would depend on Prince Nan.
Hua Qiyue brought Tianci to several colleges nearby. Butler w.a.n.g had recommended Luming College. Most of the students were the sons of officials or wealthy families and the standard of this college was only second to the imperial college.
Hua Qiyue brought Tianci to Luming College and the doorman immediately recognized Hua Qiyue. He then hurriedly opened the gates to let her in.
Luming College was beautifully decorated and she could hear the sound of children reading aloud. Tianci"s eyes lit up as he took in his surroundings curiously.
"Tianci, when you can speak again, shall I send you to this college?"
Tianci nodded his head excitedly.
The doorman led Hua Qiyue to the cla.s.sroom"s backdoor. When she looked inside, to her surprise, she saw a man in green teaching the students.
That man was Xuanji!
Wasn"t he a priest at Rongfu Temple? Why was he here teaching? Hua Qiyue found this person extremely mysterious. She had sent people to check up on him but they were still unable to uncover his ident.i.ty.
Both Prince Nan and Xuanji were equally mysterious characters.
Xuanji had also spotted Hua Qiyue. He nodded politely at her, then continued to teach.
Hua Qiyue"s face turned grave and she left together with Tianci. She would have to think carefully as to whether she wanted to send Tianci to this college. What was Xuanji doing here? Was he deliberately waiting for her?
If he was, then what could his motive be?
Why couldn"t he just approach her directly?
If he wasn"t, then why would he be teaching here? Was he aware of how magical that green jade gourd was?
A million questions were running through her mind and she just couldn"t figure them out. Tianpi"s ident.i.ty was even more mysterious. She didn"t understand why he wanted to accept her as his disciple but all she wanted was to become more powerful, to the point where no one would be able to defeat her.
She returned to her residence and left Tianci to play with Lv Xin while she entered that strange world.
This time, the herbs planted in the ground had become more mature. Although she could harvest them within a day but if she waited another month, the effectiveness of the herb would increase a hundred-fold.
This world was finally normal. The skies were blue and the clouds were white while a bright sun shined brightly from above. It wasn"t uncomfortably hot but neither was it chilly; the temperature was just right and it seemed like temperate autumn weather.
All kinds of herbs were planted on the ground in a variety of colors. There were even b.u.t.terflies flitting amongst the flowers which made it look like spring.
Hua Qiyue did not see Tianpi and a.s.sumed that he was at the hot springs but when she ran toward the hot springs, she didn"t see him either.
"Master, I"m here. Master!" Hua Qiyue couldn"t be bothered to search for him and furthermore, this place was no longer as desolate as it had been when she first arrived. Green, leafy gra.s.s sprang from the ground all around here and there were even several saplings.
She wasn"t sure exactly how big this world was but she knew that this world had completely changed.
However, she did not hear his response even after she called out a couple of times.
"Master, where are you?" Hua Qiyue thought it was extremely odd. It was two short days since she last visited so how could he have disappeared?
This was impossible. He clearly said that he could not leave this place. Hua Qiyue guessed that it was extremely likely that he had been trapped in this place by someone else and she was the key to him escaping.
"Humph!"
A cold scoff rang out from behind the gra.s.s patch that was as high as her knee. She quickly pushed the gra.s.s aside to see Tianpi idly lying on the gra.s.s patch with a stalk of gra.s.s from his mouth. He shot her a sidelong look of displeasure.
Hua Qiyue sat down beside him and looked at his devilishly handsome face. She always felt that this man was probably the most beautiful man in the universe.
"Master, this place has changed so much since I last visited two days ago!" Hua Qiyue laughed softly. "Master, are you ignoring me?"
Hua Qiyue studied Tianpi and when she saw the displeasure in his eyes, she quickly smiled prettily and said, "Look, Master, see what I"ve brought for you?"
Then, she took out a bottle of Nv"er Hong wine and uncorked it. As its fragrant scent wafted through the air, Tianpi suddenly sat up and stared at the wine bottle in her hands.
"Give it to me!" Tianpi instantly forgot about his displeasure with her once he saw that there was wine to drink. He reached out to s.n.a.t.c.h the wine flask from her hands and gulped it down in huge mouthfuls.
Hua Qiyue sat beside him and smiled as she usually did. Tianpi finished the entire bottle of wine moments later. Then, he wiped at his mouth and licked the corners of his lips. "That was refreshing! Refreshing!"
He hadn"t drunk wine in a few hundred years and relied on spiritual energy to sustain his life. Although he did not feel hunger, he always longed to eat and drink to his fullest!
The smell of food would always be more appealing than spiritual energy.
"Master, I"ll bring you two grilled chicken and two more bottles of wine when I get back outside later." Hua Qiyue said, full of smiles. Tianpi scoffed and said, "Humph, at least you"ve got some sense!"
"Master, I only did that because I wanted to spend more time with Tianci but from today onwards, I will also need to cultivate in earnest. I ran into Xuanji when I was at the college earlier on and I really can"t figure out what his motive is."
Hua Qiyue paused for a beat, then said evenly.
Tianpi laughed. "Why would you be afraid of Xuanji? He is just a monk!"
"No, he seems to be deliberately trying to draw near to me!" Hua Qiyue said earnestly. After she was betrayed so deeply the first time, she would never trust anyone easily again.
"Alright, off you go to cultivate. Remember to bring me some grilled chicken when you get back outside!"
Tianpi seemed to be still savoring the taste of that wine and couldn"t help but remind Hua Qiyue of her promise.
Hua Qiyue went to the hot springs to cultivate. Now that she had attained Soaring Cloud Completion Stage, she absorbed spiritual energy as though she was in the river. She no longer had to get herself wet each time anymore.
By the time Hua Qiyue emerged from that mysterious world, it was already noon. Lv Xin was fretting in the yard anxiously and her eyes lit up when she saw Hua Qiyue.
"Miss, you"re finally awake." Hua Qiyue told everyone that she was resting in her room so Lv Xin would normally not interrupt her resting period.
"Is something the matter?"
"Miss, this is great. Prince Nan has invited you to w.a.n.g Yue Restaurant for a meal!" Lv Xin said, full of smiles as she looked at Hua Qiyue. There was a teasing glint in her eyes. Hua Qiyue was stunned. Prince Nan? Yun Shimo?
He was asking her out?
What was going on? Hua Qiyue would never forget the livid expression on his face when she threatened him.
"Prince Nan"s servant said that we are to head to the w.a.n.g Yue Restaurant at noon and that he had something he"d like to discuss with yourself. It is regarding the little master!" Little master referred to Tianci.
"Alright, let"s go. In any case, I"m feeling hungry now." Hua Qiyue said flatly. She would buy two grilled chickens from w.a.n.g Yue Restaurant and two bottles of good Nv"er Hong wine for her master later. She was sure he"d like that!
Then, Hua Qiyue and the rest arrived at w.a.n.g Yue Restaurant as agreed.
Anyway, it was broad daylight, so there was nothing wrong with meeting Prince Nan here. However, when the shopkeeper recognized Hua Qiyue, he looked at her in shock, as though he was astonished that Yun Shimo would be meeting someone like her!
When the ladies saw Hua Qiyue leading Tianci into Yun Shimo"s private room, they were all stunned and exclaimed in shock, "Oh my G.o.d, Prince Nan is dating the scarlet woman of Changjing! This doesn"t make sense at all. It"s like a fresh flower being stuck on a pile of cow dung!"
Hua Qiyue rolled her eyes at them. Humph. If Yun Shimo is a pile of cow dung, then she would naturally be the fresh flower!
Tianci was very excited when he saw that they were back at this restaurant for this meant that he would be able to feast on good food. When he saw Yun Shimo, he ran happily to him and grabbed Yun Shimo"s arm.
Yun Shimo tenderly patted his head and his eyes darkened.
"Waiter, serve the food!" Hua Qiyue said. She quickly ordered a few famous dishes and did not stand on ceremony at all.
At the side, the corners of Bingyi"s lips twitched. He felt that Hua Qiyue did not behave like a First Miss at all!
He didn"t know what his master saw in her. This was terrible. His master has never been like this around a woman before.
Yun Shimo only focused on scooping soup for Tianci and completely ignored Hua Qiyue. He scooped out a bowl of chicken soup and placed it in front of Tianci. "Tianci, drink up. This is a bowl of extremely good soup!"
The corners of Bingyi"s lips twitched yet again. His master had boiled this Seven Ultimate Ginseng Chicken Soup at home and had planned on asking Hua Qiyue and the rest to stay for lunch but he suddenly changed his mind! His master was clearly attracted to this woman!
Tianci quickly drank a mouthful of soup and found it delicious. This was like the soup that his mother asked the servants to cook. He soon finished a small bowl and patted his stomach contentedly.