Su Qing naturally nodded in agreement, seeing no reason to refuse.
Seeing that Su Qing had no objections, Liu Xixi didn’t dwell on the matter further. After a brief word with Su Qing, she continued to attend to her official duties.
While Su Qing had nothing left to handle, Liu Xixi still had her own tasks to complete.
After all, she was Su Qing’s assistant official, responsible for most of the less important affairs.
She was naturally never idle.
Time flowed on.
In the blink of an eye, another day passed.
Early morning.
Su Qing washed up and ate breakfast.
Then, after applying a light makeup with the help of the Dragon Girls, she was ready to depart.
Su Qing stepped into the courtyard, not seeing Liu Xixi, and didn't pay it much mind. She simply turned and walked out of the courtyard.
But as soon as Su Qing stepped out, she saw Liu Xixi standing outside the gate.
“I didn’t expect you to be waiting here! Why didn’t you come into the courtyard?” Su Qing asked upon seeing Liu Xixi.
Liu Xixi, seeing Su Qing emerge, first cupped her hands and bowed in greeting.
Then she shook her head and said, “If I had waited in the courtyard, Sovereign would have grown anxious.”
Su Qing was a little surprised to hear this, and she smiled, saying, “I didn’t realize you were so thoughtful!”
It was, of course, no surprise that Liu Xixi was thoughtful. As Su Qing’s assistant official, holding a position second only to Su Qing in this Daoist monastery, how could Great Emperor Zhenwu entrust such a role to a careless person?
However, upon hearing Su Qing’s praise, Liu Xixi merely shook her head, humbly saying, “Sovereign overpraises me.”
Su Qing pursed her lips, still smiling, but said nothing more.
Seeing Su Qing drop the topic, Liu Xixi continued, “Since Sovereign has emerged, are you ready to depart?”
Su Qing nodded. “Yes, I’m leaving now! Let’s go then~”
“Mm.”
“Speaking of which, how long have you been waiting out here?”
“About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn! I didn’t wait long.”
“I see!”
Su Qing and Liu Xixi chatted idly.
Soon, they arrived at the mountain gate.
Here, Su Qing decided not to let Liu Xixi escort her any further. If she continued, Liu Xixi would end up seeing her all the way home.
It would be easy for Liu Xixi to go there. But if she wanted to return, given her Somersault Cloud speed, it wouldn’t be as easy as going. So, she naturally couldn’t let her come along.
Su Qing turned to her and said, “This is far enough! I’ll go the rest of the way myself.”
Liu Xixi nodded, not insisting. She hadn’t intended to see Su Qing all the way home anyway, as she still had many official duties to complete. Su Qing could leave, but Liu Xixi could not.
“Since Sovereign has said so, I will stop here.” Liu Xixi bowed to Su Qing and said, “May Sovereign have a smooth journey.”
Su Qing curved her lips, waved her hand, and said, “Understood, understood.”
With that, Su Qing said no more. She formed a hand seal, then rode her Somersault Cloud into the distance.
After watching Su Qing depart, Liu Xixi let out a sigh of relief. “I need to go back and continue handling the remaining official duties. With Sovereign away, I must ensure everything is properly managed.”
After leaving the Great Ancestral Emperor’s Daoist monastery, Su Qing accelerated her Somersault Cloud to its maximum speed. The surrounding scenery blurred past rapidly, and Su Qing, transformed into a streak of red light, swiftly flew towards the Changbai Mountains.
Before long, Su Qing arrived above the Changbai Mountains on her Somersault Cloud. Looking at the familiar Changbai Mountains, she felt a pang of nostalgia. Although she hadn’t been away for long, it felt as if a very long time had passed.
Su Qing smiled, then lowered her cloud and landed in the courtyard within the Changbai Mountains. The familiar sensation washed over her, deepening the smile on her face. It was still most comfortable here. Although the palace Great Emperor Zhenwu had prepared for her was indeed extremely luxurious, it was only a temporary residence, far less cozy than her own little home.
As she pondered, Su Qing suddenly heard a startled cry.
“How did you get back so quickly?!”
The cry wasn’t from Leng Xiang, nor from Ao Ying, but from the Six-Eared Macaque, or rather, Chen Nianxin. Hearing this exclamation, Su Qing turned her head in confusion, just in time to see Chen Nianxin’s expression, as if she’d swallowed a fly. Seeing her like this, Su Qing knew that this fellow clearly didn’t want her to return.
Su Qing looked at her, then sat down and said, “You really don’t want me back that much?”
Chen Nianxin froze, then scratched her head and said with a fake smile, “How could that be? I was just curious why you returned so fast.”
Chen Nianxin genuinely didn’t want Su Qing to return. With Su Qing away, she enjoyed a relative degree of freedom. While Leng Xiang and Ao Ying would keep an eye on her, they wouldn't overly restrict her. However, she certainly couldn't reveal her true thoughts to Su Qing. Even at her peak, she wasn't Su Qing's match, let alone now, with her magic power still sealed. If she angered Su Qing, she wouldn't have any strength to fight back. She'd be strung up and beaten!
Although she knew Su Qing liked women, she couldn't gamble on Su Qing showing her any mercy just because of that!
Su Qing looked at Chen Nianxin and couldn’t help but curve her lips. Could Su Qing not guess Chen Nianxin’s thoughts? This fellow spoke so nicely, but in reality, she secretly wished Su Qing would never come back!
Su Qing crossed one leg over the other, looking at Chen Nianxin, and said, “Though I left, it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t return! I can come back whenever I want. No one can stop me!”
Hearing Su Qing’s words, Chen Nianxin paused, then put on a ‘happy’ expression and said, “That’s wonderful! If you miss your wives, you can always come back to see them.”
Su Qing saw her insincere look and curled her lips, saying, “You’re faking it too much; you can’t fool me.”
Chen Nianxin heard this and knew her thoughts had long been seen through. She simply stopped pretending, but didn’t continue to bicker with Su Qing. She just scoffed and went to water the flowers.
Su Qing chuckled, covering her mouth, then took out a pot of wine from her Sleeve Universe and poured herself a cup, intending to drink while waiting for Ao Ying and Leng Xiang to return. After Su Qing came back, she hadn’t seen the two in the courtyard, so they were clearly out handling some affairs of the Changbai Mountains. After all, during Su Qing’s absence, many matters concerning the Changbai Mountains needed their attention. The prayers of the people in the surrounding counties also had to be handled by them.
While waiting, Su Qing looked at Chen Nianxin, who was watering the flowerbeds nearby, and couldn’t help but ask curiously, “I didn’t expect you to have such leisure, watering flowers! I remember you used to only break them.”
Hearing Su Qing’s words, Chen Nianxin raised an eyebrow, then frowned and said, “Do you think I want to water flowers?”
“Oh?”
“It’s a chore your wife assigned to me.” Chen Nianxin glanced at her and huffed, “Hmph, she called it ‘education to calm my mind’! Heh, if you ask me, she just wanted to be lazy and assigned it to me.”
After hearing Chen Nianxin’s words, Su Qing couldn’t help but smile, saying, “Since these chores were assigned by Ao Ying and the others, then you should just do them obediently! I hope these flowers are still alive in the end, and haven’t all withered under your care.”
For Su Qing, Chen Nianxin’s complaints meant nothing. No matter how much this fellow complained, it was just complaining. Chen Nianxin, without magic power, could do nothing. At most, she could just grumble verbally.
Chen Nianxin saw Su Qing’s indifferent expression and pouted. Although it wasn’t unexpected, she was still somewhat annoyed. She snorted inwardly, then continued to water the flowers.
Su Qing shook her head at this, and went back to drinking her wine.
Thus, the courtyard was quiet for a while. However, this quiet didn’t last long, because soon, Su Qing heard the happy voices of two girls coming from outside the courtyard.
Hearing the commotion, Su Qing put down her wine glass, raised her eyebrows, and smiled. She was far too familiar with those two voices. She immediately recognized who had returned. She looked up at the courtyard gate.
She saw the gate pushed open, and then two girls, carrying a half-meter-long plump fish, happily walked in, discussing how they would eat the fish for lunch today, and how many dishes they would make from it.
It was then that Su Qing spoke, “Where did you two catch this fish from again?”
Su Qing’s sudden voice made Red Boy and Su Ying’er pause, and they instinctively looked over. When they saw Su Qing had returned, they couldn’t help but be surprised. Su Qing found their astonished expressions somewhat amusing. Was her return really that surprising? She hadn’t been gone for long!
After a brief moment of dazed, the two girls quickly snapped back to reality.
“Sister Su, you’re back!”
Red Boy put down what she was holding and excitedly ran to Su Qing, then gave her a big bear hug, nearly knocking Su Qing off her stool.
Su Qing patted the girl’s back and said, “I was just on duty in the Northern Continent, not thrown into jail. Of course, I’d come back whenever I had time!”
“Hehehe~ Didn’t I just miss you so much, Sister?”
Red Boy scratched her head with a chuckle, then said, “I thought it would be hard for Sister Su to come back once you left! After all, guarding an entire continent sounds like a very difficult task. So I thought Sister Su wouldn’t be able to return until your duty was over.”
“It’s not as difficult as you imagine. Do you really think Great Emperor Zhenwu did nothing during all those years he guarded the Northern Continent? He basically wiped out all the powerful demons and monsters there, so I wasn’t actually that busy.” Su Qing pinched the girl’s cheek and asked, “So when did you arrive?”
Red Boy thought for a moment and replied, “I came half a month ago! I thought I’d see Sister Su then, but who knew I’d find out you’d gone to the Northern Continent.”
“You arrived quite coincidentally then, only for me to return half a month later.” Su Qing released Red Boy’s cheek, then looked at Su Ying’er beside her and said, “Girl, you haven’t caused your mother any trouble recently, have you?”
Su Ying’er quickly shook her head at Su Qing’s words. “Mother, you know me, I wouldn’t dare cause her trouble! If I did, my bottom would be spanked raw.”
Su Qing reached out and patted the girl’s head, saying, “It’s good that you haven’t caused trouble! But where did you two catch this fish?”
“From Heaven Lake!” Su Ying’er didn’t hide it, adding, “And we didn’t just ‘catch’ it, Red Boy and I worked really hard to fish it out! How about it, Mother, we’re pretty amazing, right?”
Su Qing nodded. To catch such a large fish was indeed impressive. “You are indeed very impressive. So, have you decided how to eat it?”
“Hehe, not yet.” Su Ying’er shook her head. “But since Mother is back, it’s all up to Mother to decide! Red Boy and I will just help you out.”
Su Qing nodded at this, saying, “Alright, we’ll make lunch and wait for your mothers to return.” Su Qing, operating on the principle of ‘might as well, since I’m idle anyway,’ agreed. Besides, if they finished lunch, it would be a nice surprise for Ao Ying and Leng Xiang when they returned.
However, thinking of this, Su Qing suddenly remembered something else: the Marriage Locks Yuelao had given her.
“Hmm, I might as well give them the Marriage Locks then.” Su Qing thought. “Although I don’t know their exact effect, giving them as a gift still carries significant symbolic meaning.”
As Su Qing mused, Su Ying’er said, “Then, Mother, let’s not delay, let’s start cooking!”
Hearing this, Su Qing snapped back to attention and nodded. She then carried the fish into the kitchen and began preparing today’s lunch. With the two girls helping Su Qing, preparing the meal wasn’t too much trouble. And the fish was large enough for Su Qing to prepare in several different ways.
Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, another hour had gone by, and it was now midday. At this moment, Ao Ying and Leng Xiang, who had been busy, finally returned.
Rate on N.U.
