Outside the Phantom Sound Pavilion.
The sun was scorching hot, and Song Yueyao felt like she was about to melt.
The weather was truly abnormal. It was clearly late autumn, but Thousand Fog Town was getting hotter day by day.
According to the old people in the town, it was always like this around the new moon. Sometimes there would be thick fog at night, so thick that you couldn't even see the road. People returning late had to carry a dim lantern and grope their way step by step in the fog.
She originally wanted to wait for someone in the lobby of the Phantom Sound Pavilion, but she couldn't get used to the overwhelming smell of rouge and powder inside.
The worst part was that she had specially changed into men's clothes today to make it easier to practice archery.
At this moment, her black hair was tied high, and a narrow-sleeved long robe of cloud brocade color tightly wrapped around her figure. Her waist was tightly bound, and the cuffs were gathered. If you didn't look closely at the trace of elegance between her eyebrows, she really looked like a handsome and suave young man.
Just as she was passing through the corridor, her path was blocked by three courtesans.
"Young Master—"
The voices grew more charming and coquettish with each call, making her ears burn. She had no choice but to brace herself and quicken her pace, almost jogging to hide under a tree on the street outside the Phantom Sound Pavilion.
She had never been so flustered even when she lived among men in the military camp as a child. She suddenly understood why Jiang Zhiyu couldn't get away that day. He couldn't raise a hand against these unarmed women, nor could he curse at them for no reason. Besieged and unable to move an inch, he could only dig a hole to escape.
The shade of the tree was thin, and the hot wind continued to blow in gusts.
Song Yueyao raised her hand to wipe the fine sweat from her forehead, hoping that Wu Li would arrive soon.
But instead of Wu Li, Jiang Zhiyu showed up.
"Yaoyao, I just went upstairs to urge him. Wu Li said he'll be right down. I'll wait with you." He trotted to her side and attentively raised the folding fan in his hand, fanning her rhythmically.
It seemed that the highly destructive flick to his forehead just now still couldn't drive him away.
Song Yueyao silently turned her face away and sighed softly.
This guy's skull was really getting harder by the day.
But the breeze from the fan was indeed refreshing. Song Yueyao simply tilted her neck back and commanded righteously, "Be quick, fan here."
"Hey! Okay, okay!" The long-lost familiar tone instantly energized Jiang Zhiyu. He hurriedly adjusted his angle, wishing he could buy a few more fans and grow a few more hands to fan her. "Is the wind strong enough? Are you cooler?"
That attentive tone made him look like he was serving his own mountain king.
Granny Wang, who sold fruits and vegetables across the street, narrowed her eyes and cast a strange glance in their direction.
She smacked her lips, shook her head, and muttered to herself, "What a pity, both young masters are so handsome... The morals of the world are declining, truly declining."
Jiang Zhiyu was sweating profusely from fanning, but he didn't even bother to wipe it.
He was entirely focused on making Song Yueyao cooler. Just as he was vigorously flicking his wrist, the fan was suddenly snatched away by her.
A trace of inexplicable panic flashed in her eyes, and she quickly covered most of her face with the unfolded fan.
Jiang Zhiyu turned around in surprise.
At the intersection not far away, several men dressed as guards were approaching. They wore swords at their waists and walked with a heavy and solemn gait. The leader held a scroll of a portrait in his hand. Whenever he met a passerby along the way, he would pull them close to take a careful look before letting them go.
"It's Grand Preceptor Yin's people," Song Yueyao's voice came lowly from behind the fan.
Jiang Zhiyu's heart tightened. He had heard Yaoyao mention this person before. He was the powerful minister of Liangya Province, second only to one person and above ten thousand. He was Lord Song Hu's most trusted confidant and deeply favored.
Years ago, it was he who advised Song Hu to let the Nie family's army fight the barbarians' hundred thousand cavalry with only thirty thousand troops.
It was also he who proposed using the young Song Yueyao as a hostage to seek reinforcements from Lingyu Province.
A treacherous old man to the bone!
But coincidentally, this Grand Preceptor Yin was proficient in the five elements and hexagrams, could pry into the secrets of heaven, and claimed to know the method of immortality.
Song Hu believed him completely.
But why would Grand Preceptor Yin's people come to Thousand Fog Town instead of staying properly in the capital?
Could it also be for the New Moon Archery Competition?
After the squad of guards walked away, Granny Wang, who sold fruits and vegetables across the street, leaned close to the neighboring stall and started whispering with others in a low voice:
"Hey, did you see that? The person in the portrait is none other than Young Master Luo, isn't it?"
"Yes, yes, I saw it clearly. Didn't the Luo family encounter bandits a year ago, their house caught fire, and all twenty-seven people died in the fire overnight? But among the corpses, only Young Master Luo was missing. They all said he escaped."
"Those people just now looked like people sent from the palace. So it seems that rumor is probably true."
"What bandits!" Another person lowered their voice even more. "It's clearly Grand Preceptor Yin catching those naturally gifted talents everywhere to boil and feed to the Lord... They say it helps with immortality! Who doesn't know Luo You'an, the chess saint of Thousand Fog Town who gained wisdom at the age of three? It's a pity for such a kind aristocratic family like the Luos. I heard that Mr. and Mrs. Luo suffered this extermination precisely because they refused to hand over their son."
Sensing that someone opposite seemed to be eavesdropping, the two grannies suddenly fell silent. After a brief silence, they exchanged glances. Granny Wang lowered her head and just silently sorted the fruits and vegetables on her stall, not saying another word.
Jiang Zhiyu quietly moved a few steps and looked from afar across the street.
Just then, a gust of wind blew by, and the drawing paper in the lead guard's hand was slightly lifted at a corner by the wind. One could vaguely see a young master with starry eyebrows, bright eyes, and a gentle temperament drawn on the paper.
Jiang Zhiyu frowned slightly. He always felt that the person in the painting looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before.
"It seems that Song Hu has gone mad in his pursuit of immortality. Now he doesn't even bother to hide it from people's eyes and ears," Song Yueyao's low and cold voice sounded beside Jiang Zhiyu.
She didn't want to call him Father at all.
It was a great irony that such a person could rule the country.
Back when her grandfather was still alive, he worried about his daughter under house arrest in the palace while also fearing that internal strife would harm innocent people. If he hadn't been so cautious and worried too much, he would have probably raised an army to rebel long ago.
And now, she wanted to use this phantom color stone to make a deal with her high and mighty father to exchange for her mother who had been imprisoned for many years. After all, wasn't this exactly what Song Hu sought by marrying her off to Yuebai?
Song Yueyao reached out and gently pressed the small bead she had always kept close to her body.
"Sister Yao, Sister Yao! Sorry to keep you waiting!"
Xiaomi's brisk voice sounded from behind like a cheerful wind.
Song Yueyao's originally gloomy mood was mostly blown away by this sweet voice in an instant.
Turning around, she saw Xiaomi running towards them, holding a brand new bow in one hand and two soft veils in the other.
"Here!" She handed the veils over with a smile. "Put this on quickly. I just borrowed it from the courtesans. The sun is toxic today. It wouldn't be good if you got sunburned."
Song Yueyao spread her hands, looked down at her men's clothing, and couldn't help but laugh. "Is this veil suitable for my look today?"
Chai Xiaomi stopped in her tracks, looked her up and down, and her eyes showed undisguised amazement.
Woo woo woo—
The female lead's male attire was absolutely stunning!
She couldn't help but stare for quite a while, only looking away when a low cough sounded from behind her.
Chai Xiaomi mimicked Wu Li's manner, slinging the new bow over her back. Then, with a serious expression, she unfolded a veil and personally tied it on Song Yueyao. "No, you still have to wear it. Getting a tan is one thing, but getting sunburned would be miserable."
"Why don't I get one?" Wu Li's eyes darkened slightly. Even if she had given him one, he absolutely wouldn't have worn it, but he just had to ask.
"Your face," Chai Xiaomi turned to glance at him, speaking in a completely serious tone, "is like a block of ice. Even Mr. Sun would take a detour when he sees it."
Song Yueyao and Jiang Zhiyu burst out laughing at the exact same time.
Xiaomi's words were truly fitting.
Then again, Wu Li wasn't always cold-faced. He smiled quite often, but his smiles always carried a hint of coldness, remaining superficial and never reaching his eyes.
As a result, it was impossible to figure out his true thoughts.
Wu Li: "......"
How did this little mouth suddenly become so sharp?
Chai Xiaomi was feeling quite pleased with herself at the moment, because the bow on her back was the one Wu Li had just given her. It turned out that the piece of wood he had traded the Crimson Blood Silkworm for last night was meant to make a bow.
Although when he handed it to her, he only casually said it was "bought," anyone with half a brain could guess he had made it with his own hands.
Thinking of the blood he had shed for it, Chai Xiaomi suddenly felt the bow on her back grow heavy, as if it weighed a thousand pounds.
In an instant, the small figure from the illusion flashed before her eyes again, covered in scars after enduring a whipping, left all alone to bake under the scorching sun.
Through countless cycles of self-healing, his skin had long been permanently set into a pale white that seemed to have never seen the light of day.
Chai Xiaomi silently tied her own veil on, then turned and threw herself to Wu Li's side. Clinging to his arm, she tilted her face up: "Lili, I said the wrong thing just now. You are naturally beautiful; even the sun couldn't burn you."
"But if you are afraid of the sun," she stood on her tiptoes, raising the back of her hand to gently shield his forehead, "I'll block it for you, okay?"
The veil covered most of her face, revealing only a pair of clear, dark, round eyes. At this moment, they curved into little crescent moons, with a smile flowing gently from the depths of her eyes, making anyone who saw it want to smile along.
Under the sunlight, Wu Li suddenly felt a bit dazed.
For a moment, he couldn't quite tell.
Was the sun the one hanging in the sky, or the one hanging on his arm?
Across the street.
Granny Wang narrowed her eyes.
She looked down and picked a fully ripe watermelon from her stall, cut it into a few slices, and munched on it while silently clicking her tongue in awe.
This little lady had just tied a veil for one young master, and turning her head, she hooked up with another, even more handsome young master.
Juggling between two young masters.
Oh my goodness, what a messy relationship.
Morals are declining these days, truly declining.
