"yes."
Finally, I can remove that damned, unusable gem from the hidden sword.
"Firefly, let's stop by Broken Sword Manor on our way."
“Yes, Broken Sword Manor and Lingyu Sect have always been on good terms, so we should pay them a visit,” Liu Ying said.
...Are there any people in the vast Central Plains who don't get along with the Lingyu Sect? Xue Qing couldn't think of any. Even the Kunlun Palace, which had the worst interpersonal relationships, treated each other with respect on the surface. The Lingyu Sect, you're just a social butterfly.
Xue Qing's little horse had just eaten a delicious meal of wild grass on the mountain yesterday, and today it was going to be led down the mountain again. It was in a particularly bad mood, and its hooves kicked over several disciples of the Lingyu Sect.
"Uncle-Master! This horse is too wild! We can't handle it." A disciple, his face covered in mud, asked Xue Qing for help.
Xue Qing stood far away and nodded with difficulty: "Adolescence, too wild. Why isn't Liu Ying here yet? You guys keep trying."
Despite its small size and innocent-looking green beady eyes, Xue Qing's horse exuded an aura of dominance reminiscent of the tiger roaring in the mountains depicted in the pirated calendars at her grandfather's house when she was a child. Its nostrils, drawn with a compass, spewed out rage hotter than Godzilla.
The steed neighed and kicked out with its front hooves, stomping on the backside of a disciple who had fallen. The disciple cried out in pain. Xue Qing frantically wrung her handkerchief; why wasn't Liu Ying here yet? No one but him could handle this wild horse. Although the horse was male, Xue Qing had always suspected it was homosexual, as it had never given her a kind look. Yet, in front of Liu Ying, it always worked as hard as a prized horse. Later, Xue Qing came to another conclusion: it might be related to the fact that Liu Ying always carried hay to feed the horse, while she never fed it herself.
Amidst the chaos and disarray, a golden figure suddenly flipped over and landed next to the pony. The horse reared up, ready to trample the people beside it. The disciple lying on the ground cried out in alarm, "Sect Master Xiao! Step back! That horse has gone mad!"
Xiao Guiying held the horse's reins with one hand and gripped its neck with the other. After the foal neighed, he stroked its mane.
"Xiao Guiying!" Xue Qing called out anxiously.
The pony miraculously quieted down, stomped its two front hooves slightly on the ground for a while, grunted a few times, and stood steadily.
"Uncle Xue, where is your carriage? Let me help you harness your horse," Xiao Guiying said politely with a smile.
"No need. You're a guest, how can I let you do the work? Just hand it over to Liuying when he arrives."
"When I came here, I saw that he was carrying several large bundles. I was afraid he wouldn't have a free hand to lead the horse. Uncle, please don't be so polite. It was just a small favor."
Xue Qing felt too embarrassed to refuse again, so she could only say, "Thank you, then I'll have to trouble Pavilion Master Xiao." In the end, it was all her own fault for causing trouble; those large bundles were all her clothes, jewelry, and... silver.
Feeling quite awkward, Xue Qing walked with Xiao Guiying from the mountaintop to the foot of the mountain. Xiao Guiying personally helped tie up the carriage. Watching Xiao Guiying bend down and fiddle with the horse ropes, Xue Qing thought, no wonder everyone liked him. He didn't have any airs of a pavilion master. But Xue Qing wouldn't be bought off by a little favor.
The carriage was all ready, but Liuying hadn't arrived yet.
"Why haven't they arrived yet? Sun Fang, go check on them."
"Uncle-Master, Senior Brother Liuying is carrying three enormous bundles and insists on not letting anyone else help. You should wait a little longer."
Xue Qing felt a wave of shame. Did she really have that many things? She thought they were all necessities when she was packing.
Xiao Guiying waited with them, and during their conversation, he suddenly asked Xue Qing, "Uncle-Master, do you know about the Nangong family?"
A bead of sweat slid down Xue Qing's forehead. She pretended to be hot and fanned herself: "I've heard of it, but, I'm sorry, I don't know much about it."
Xiao Guiying laughed self-deprecatingly: "It's my fault. I forgot that although my senior uncle is of a higher generation, he is actually younger than me. How could you possibly know about things that happened so many years ago?"
Xue Qing looked down at her shoes. She knew, even more than the few remaining senior figures in the martial arts world, but... she wasn't going to tell you! She wasn't going to tell you!
woman in red
This time, Xue Qing insisted that Liu Ying change out of the Lingyu Sect's uniform. It was unbearable to be worshipped by various sects wherever she went. However, 99% of Liu Ying's clothes were embroidered with Qingfeng patterns. Helpless, the first thing Xue Qing did when she got down the mountain was to take Liu Ying to the tailor shop.
"Master, make him a few new outfits." Xue Qing pulled Liu Ying in front of the tailor.
"Alright! What kind of clothes would you like to have made, young lady?" the tailor asked Xue Qing while taking Liu Ying's measurements.
"I want something with a unique style, not too mainstream. It should be refined but not too rigid, lively and cute but not too mischievous. The clothes don't need to be too loose, a little tight is fine, as long as they can accentuate my nephew's perfect figure," Xue Qing said thoughtfully.
"Alright! Please wait a moment, young lady and gentleman, I'll go and sew a sample for you to see right away." After taking the measurements, the tailor went into the house.
No, can they really make clothes like this? Xue Qing's curiosity was piqued. She had just casually made some requests to tease the ancients, but she hadn't expected to underestimate the wisdom of the ancient working people, who could fulfill even the most difficult requests.
"Uncle-Master, your request is quite strange. What kind of clothes do you want to have made?" Liu Ying asked.
"How would I know..." Xue Qing said softly.
Before an incense stick could burn, the tailor came out, holding a few rough-hewn clothing patterns made of cloth: "Miss, is this the feeling you want?"
Xue Qing's eyebrows furrowed almost into a circle as she stared intently at the clothes. They were indeed refined yet not rigid, lively yet not mischievous. The clothes weren't loose at all; they would definitely accentuate Liu Ying's perfect figure. Most importantly, they looked extremely familiar… wasn't this a cheongsam?! Good heavens, thank goodness Xue Qing was in a fictional world. If she were in history, the current Baidu Encyclopedia would surely state that the origin of the cheongsam was: "In the X Dynasty, a wicked rich girl made several unreasonable demands of an honest and upright tailor. Unexpectedly, the tailor, after careful consideration and imagination, actually created a garment that met all her requirements—that garment was the earliest cheongsam." What a joke! Was she really that clever?! Where was this time-traveling woman supposed to find any intellectual superiority?!
"Uncle-Master, I don't know how to wear this dress." Liu Ying stared at the dress for a long time before saying this. Although he didn't know that this kind of dress was called a cheongsam and was for women, he still felt intuitively that the dress in front of him, which looked like an extended version of a bellyband, was not his style.
Liu Ying's face was serene. Wearing a cheongsam, she would definitely look like a socialite from old Shanghai. Xue Qing, for her own perverse pleasure, said in the tone of a child trafficker, "Wear this outfit, and I guarantee any girl will be captivated by you."
Liu Ying stared into Xue Qing's eyes, making Xue Qing very uncomfortable. He slowly said, "Uncle-Master, you're lying to me."
"...Okay, I was just kidding." Xue Qing had to admit that even a child wouldn't believe her lie.
Although the great tailor designed clothes that were popular from the first half of the 20th century to the 21st century, he never sold a single one because the styles were too audacious. As the saying goes, geniuses are often the ones who starve to death.
In the end, they bought a few clothes that fit Liuying from the tailor shop. Liuying was trying on clothes over there, while Xue Qing was picking out loose threads from the clothes she had tried on. The scene was just like an old married couple shopping together.
As she emerged from the tailor shop, a flash of red caught Xue Qing's eye, and she stopped in her tracks, lost in thought.
"Uncle-Master, what's wrong?" Liu Ying followed Xue Qing out carrying a stack of clothes and asked when she saw Xue Qing standing motionless at the door.
"Do you remember when I told you that I was saved by a female knight-errant in Changsheng Town?"
"I remember, you found that female knight-errant?"
Xue Qing shook her head: "I asked my senior sister, and she said that red is the color of weddings, and it is rare for girls who are not yet of marriageable age to wear red. I have never heard of any chivalrous women in the martial arts world who have already gone around doing good deeds at the age of marriage."
"If fate allows, we will meet again. Then, Uncle-Master can thank her in person."