"Hey, I'm your official lover now, don't be so rude, okay?" He smiled and strolled up to Ning Xian, lowering his voice to say, "If you have anything to say, just tell me. You know, I'm a very responsible person. When you're a lover, you're expected to provide full service, okay?" Mu Yuan finished speaking and left with a smile, leaving Ning Xian completely confused—why was everyone acting so strangely?
As soon as she turned around, she roughly understood what Mu Yuan meant—she saw Yue Ji standing behind a pillar in the shadows, seemingly having waited there for a long time—was she here to find her? But coming to find her… meant it couldn’t be anything good, right? Mu Yuan knew she was standing there, didn’t she?
"What's up?"
"Of course, otherwise I wouldn't have waited for you here so late, would I?"
"I thought you should be looking for Bai Momo..."
“I’m returning that man to you—Madam Bai. It’s quite unexpected that a woman like Madam Bai would have ties with someone from the Demonic Sect. However, they are not suitable for you, so you should give up on Mu Yuan and Feng Feng.”
"Like this—? What do you mean by 'like this'? You call her Fengfeng? Why are you calling her that so intimately?" However, Yue Ji was clearly not finished yet. She raised her chin and sized up Ning Xian a few times. "I originally thought that Master Bai would marry a more dignified woman, and I was even prepared to put all my effort into dealing with you. Now it seems that if I don't give up on Master Bai, you are no match for me at all—a woman like you with no personality, let alone Mu Yuan and Fengfeng, you are not worthy of Master Bai. You really made me worry for nothing." Yue Ji turned and left disdainfully, as if she didn't take Ning Xian seriously at all and didn't think she could be any kind of "opponent".
—How could Mu Yuan and Feng Feng possibly like such a bland woman? She's a sure winner! (Why not just snatch the lead role too, it'll be so easy.)
(—Ahem, Yue Ji, no matter how unique you are… you're just a minor character. Want to become the leading lady? —Dream on.)
Ning Xian took a few deep breaths, suppressing the urge to hang Yue Ji up and whip her a hundred or eighty times, leaving her skin ripped and disfigured. He strode over to find Mu Yuan to vent his anger on—wasn't he supposed to be the most responsible and dedicated lover, providing comprehensive service?
She kicked open Mu Yuan's door and saw him sitting at the table, seemingly waiting for her arrival. It seemed he had anticipated that Yue Ji would have something to say to her. He smiled charmingly and poured a cup of tea. "Here, have a cup of tea to cool down."
Ning Xian sat down angrily and took a big gulp. "It's cold!"
"Cool food is better for cooling down."
—It's already a favor that the Left Envoy personally poured you tea, why are you being so picky?
"Hey! She just said—"
"I heard it." Mu Yuan still smiled, showing no sign that eavesdropping was immoral. "What I find strange is that 'Lord Jialing' let her off so easily and tolerated it himself?"
Ning Xian muttered dejectedly, "Because I can't refute her..."
Yue Ji is indeed very individualistic, so much so that she has the right to think that others lack individuality. But what does it matter to her whether she has individuality or not? Why should she be the one to criticize her?
Mu Yuan seemed to be deep in thought, and slowly said, "What she said isn't without reason... but Duanxian'er, your fundamental problem isn't that you lack personality, but that you don't even know what you want. Yue Ji's advantage is that she knows exactly what she wants and reaches out readily—of course, she's still a bit overconfident and doesn't see the situation clearly. But on this point—Duanxian'er, you not only don't know what you want, but you don't even have anything you want. How can someone without goals have any personality?"
Mu Yuan's words seemed to hit the nail on the head, and Ning Xian couldn't deny it. However—she frowned as she looked at Mu Yuan, then suddenly burst out laughing, all her pent-up anger vanishing instantly. "Left Envoy Mu, so you're not just all looks after all. Turns out you do use your brain after all." She had always thought Mu Yuan's brain was basically just for show.
Mu Yuan wasn't annoyed at all, and smiled smugly, "Of course I have more than just a face, I also have a great figure—would you like to confirm?"
—You should keep it.
"What are your plans regarding Yue Ji? Are you really going to take her back to the Demonic Sect?"
"Well... that seems alright too. That child looks quite suitable for staying in the Demonic Sect." Mu Yuan waved her fan. "I'm used to being a loner, and I never keep anyone under my command. She's not my type as a lover. If I take her back, I'll probably just hand her over to one of the Eight Divisions to take care of—it's none of your business. There are so many people in the sect, one more and we probably won't see her often. If you find it troublesome, I can arrange for her to be sent out."
Ning Xian quickly replied, "You can keep me if you want, or send me if you want, but don't drag me into this and make me owe you a favor for no reason."
Mu Yuan's smile grew even more alluring. "I do want to do you a favor—my future sister-in-law~"
"...Is she my sister-in-law?"
"How can that be? How can I, the dignified Left Envoy of Wood, become a son-in-law?"
Ugh... What do you mean by "marrying into someone else's family"? Who's marrying into whose family? The sister-in-law... Sigh. She should reconsider arranging a marriage between Mu Yuan and Long Jue—she can tolerate having multiple fake sisters-in-law, but she doesn't want to make a mistake and unknowingly marry off her own brother.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Ning Xian slept very restlessly that night. He kept thinking about what Mu Yuan had said and tossed and turned in bed for a long time, still not knowing what he truly wanted or who he wanted to be with.
It seemed she had never imagined that one day she would want to possess someone—having lived a carefree and uninhibited life in the Demonic Sect since childhood, she couldn't understand the kind of feeling that required possessing someone no matter what. It was hard to imagine being bound by a feeling, having only one person on her mind every day, and having her life revolve around that one person from then on; just thinking about it made her feel exhausted.
Isn't it good for her to live such a leisurely life? (—Of course! Are you trying to drive your readers crazy?!)
While everyone was still sleepy in the early morning, someone was banging on the door. Ning Xian always loved to sleep in, and the time she spent in bed until the sun was high in the sky was extremely important to her. To be disturbed like this, she stormed out of bed barefoot, flung open the door, and yelled, "Knock, knock, knock! Trying to get me to reincarnate this early in the morning?!"
After yelling, she saw Bai Mo standing slightly stunned at the door, her hand still in the position of knocking. She first frowned slightly at her unseemly yelling, then relaxed her brows, ignored it, and smiled faintly. Her smile was gentle and polite, not too much or too little, as if it had been measured with a ruler and kept at the most suitable arc.
"It's time to get up."
Ning Xian looked at him like he was a monster—Young Master Bai, shouldn't you be hiding away right now, wallowing in your sorrow and reminiscing about your lost love? Where do you get all this energy to care whether I get out of bed or not?
"Sir...you've come to terms with it?"
Bai Mo smiled slightly embarrassedly but not awkwardly, "You must have made a fool of yourself in front of me. I can't say whether I've come to terms with it or not. There are still many things I need to think about and haven't figured out yet. But I can't just do nothing but think and let myself sink down. I might as well find some things I can do right now, and think things through slowly while I do them."
"...So all you found out was to come wake me up? Maybe it's worse than that... But whatever the case, you don't have to be so rigid with yourself, always having to get up immediately and act like nothing's wrong. What's wrong with indulging in a little disappointment now and then?" Ning Xian sighed. Sometimes people were right; she was too easily swayed by emotions and couldn't learn the cold-heartedness of the Demonic Sect members. Seeing Bai Mo like this now, she couldn't bear to go against him.
“Ning Xian, it’s fine for us to talk standing here, but…why don’t you go and put on your clothes and shoes first?”
"Huh?" Ning Xian then realized that he had jumped straight off the bed, his clothes disheveled and barefoot. It was rare that Bai Mo had waited until now to remind him. "Oh, wait a minute."
"No rush, get dressed and we'll go have breakfast together."
Ning Xian responded casually, grabbed her coat and started putting it on while simultaneously putting on her shoes, her behavior utterly devoid of any ladylike demeanor. Although she hadn't closed the door, she wasn't worried about Bai Mo peeking—would that rigid, proper guy be spying? She'd bet if he were, she'd strip naked and show him everything!
She was all ready in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, her efficiency and decisiveness devoid of any of the meticulousness or dawdling typical of a young lady confined to her quarters. Bai Mo, seeing her emerge so quickly, wanted to offer some advice, but hesitated for a moment before remaining silent. Wasn't it precisely her naturalness and spontaneity that made him waver? And it was precisely because she was unbound by rules that she possessed such natural ease. He had decided to no longer restrict her in everything; aside from a few bad habits, he would let her be.
She had always lived so naturally, and so she continued to live naturally.
"Let's go." Bai Mo turned and walked ahead, so decisively, without giving her any "lecture," which made Ning Xian a little uncomfortable. What's wrong with this guy? Did being dumped once make him so spurred on that he suddenly become enlightened? Just as she was wondering, she heard Bai Mo say from the front, "Sleeping until noon every day and not having time for breakfast is not good for your health. From now on, I'll wake you up every day, and we'll eat breakfast together."
...Ning Xian was now certain that he hadn't recovered from the shock of losing Yue Ji, which was why he was looking for something to distract himself...and quite obviously, the "thing" he was looking for was her. She looked around, searching for a rooftop or something similar where she could suddenly disappear...and just like last night, she vanished in a flash.
That... she was just thinking about it.