Su Qing stepped out of the side hall.
The little Daoist boy was still waiting outside the door.
"Finished talking?" The little Daoist boy tilted her head to look at Su Qing and asked, "What did Master say to you?"
Su Qing shook her head and replied, "Your Master told me not to tell you."
Although Li Shan Lao Mu hadn't explicitly forbidden her from telling the little Daoist boy, most of their conversation wasn't meant to be shared casually. Therefore, Su Qing naturally wouldn't take it upon herself to speak of it, even to the little Daoist boy.
After all, if it were something that could be told, Li Shan Lao Mu would have said it herself. Why leave it to Su Qing?
Hearing this answer, the little Daoist boy wasn't too surprised.
She stuck her tongue out at Su Qing and said, "Fine, keep your secrets! So, are you planning to leave now?"
"Of course. Everything that needed to be said has been said, and everything that needed to be done is done. It's time to head back. There are people waiting for me at home!" Su Qing nodded naturally.
At this, the little Daoist boy nodded as well. "I see. Well, alright then... but once you're gone, I'll be bored again. Xiao Bai and I never have much to talk about. Sigh, it’s really no fun being back!"
Su Qing ignored the little Daoist boy's idle complaints and simply said with a smile, "Alright, I’m off. Next time I come, I’ll bring you something delicious."
Hearing this, the little Daoist boy grinned and nodded. "See you next time, Big Green Snake! Now I’m looking forward to our next meeting even more."
Su Qing chuckled, not bothering to expose what exactly the girl was thinking about.
She simply said, "Alright, alright. Goodbye then."
With that, Su Qing formed a hand seal and summoned the Somersault Cloud. Stepping onto it, she soared toward the Northern Continent.
With the boost from the Somersault Cloud and her hairpin, it took only a short while for Su Qing to return to her Daoist arena in the Northern Continent.
The arena was as crowded as ever.
Even Chang'e was still there, having not yet returned to the Moon Palace.
This was to be expected, as Chang'e never liked staying in the Moon Palace to work anyway.
Now that she had the chance to play outside, she certainly wouldn't give up such a golden opportunity!
If Su Qing guessed correctly, Chang'e would probably wait until someone came to fetch her before she even considered going back.
Su Qing’s Somersault Cloud descended into the courtyard.
Once Chang'e noticed her, she paused her game with Yudie and the others to wave at her. "Xiao Qing, you're back! Quick, come play with us! These little ones are bullying me because I didn't understand the rules. Help me take them on!"
Hearing this, Yudie quickly chimed in, "Sister Chang'e, it’s not that you didn't understand the rules, you’re just bad at it!"
Chang'e heard her but ignored the comment, continuing, "Xiao Qing, hurry, hurry! You wouldn't want to watch me get bullied by your daughter, would you?"
Su Qing crossed her arms and looked at her with a helpless expression.
"Isn't it a bit embarrassing for you to be bullied by children?"
"Is that the point?"
"Can't that be the point?"
"The point is, can you help?"
"No."
"Why?"
"I have other things to do."
"..." Chang'e was speechless for a moment. She looked at Su Qing and said dissatisfiedly, "Hmph, no way. At least help me win one round!"
Seeing Chang'e like this, Su Qing sighed helplessly. "I really can't do anything with you, Sister Chang'e. Fine, I'll play one round with you. But I can't guarantee a win; I'm not necessarily a match for these little ones myself."
Hearing Su Qing say this, Chang'e didn't mind at all. She said, "It's fine, it's fine! You came up with the game, how could you possibly lose?"
"Who told you that just because I came up with it, I have to be great at it?" Su Qing muttered.
In her heart, she added, 'Actually, I didn't come up with these games myself, so it wouldn't be strange at all if I were bad at them.'
However, she couldn't reveal the true origin of these games.
She just gave Chang'e a look and played one round with her.
As for the result...
Even with two adults working together, they were no match for the children.
It couldn't be helped; these little ones played together all the time, so they were naturally more skilled than Su Qing or Chang'e.
Losing was perfectly normal.
After losing yet again, Chang'e was clearly indignant.
She seemed to want to drag Su Qing into another round.
But Su Qing wouldn't indulge her further. She waved her hand, indicating she would only play one round, win or lose.
Now that she had fulfilled her promise, she naturally had other things to attend to and didn't plan to continue embarrassing herself alongside Chang'e.
With Su Qing refusing to join again, Chang'e was a bit sulky. But despite her frustration, she remained stubborn and demanded another round with the kids.
Meanwhile...
After leaving Chang'e to her own devices, Su Qing first went to chat with Ao Ying for a while.
Then, she left the bedchamber and went to the study to handle affairs.
Immortals didn't actually have the habit of celebrating the New Year.
After all, their lifespans were vast; celebrating every year would be a bit of a chore.
They didn't even celebrate birthdays often, usually only marking major milestones.
So, even though the New Year had just passed, the affairs of the Northern Continent were still waiting for her to process them.
Inside the study.
When Liu Xixi saw Su Qing arrive, she didn't say much. She simply handed over the official documents she had already reviewed once.
Su Qing took the documents and glanced at her with a smile. Something crossed her mind, and she couldn't help but chuckle.
Liu Xixi was baffled by Su Qing's sudden, mysterious laughter.
She subconsciously touched her face and asked, "Is there something on my face?"
"Nothing's on your face, it's just that you have a stray tuft of hair sticking up on your head," Su Qing said, squinting as she pointed to a lock of hair standing straight up.
"A stray tuft?" Liu Xixi didn't understand the term.
Su Qing nodded and handed her a mirror.
Through the mirror, Liu Xixi finally saw the so-called stray tuft on top of her head.
For a moment, Liu Xixi felt quite embarrassed and hurriedly smoothed her hair down with her hand.
She was mortified.
She had actually made a fool of herself in front of the Sovereign.
The Sovereign's memory of her would probably include yet another strange detail now.
She cleared her throat and said, "I've made a fool of myself before the Sovereign."
Su Qing propped her face up with her hand and shook her head with a beaming smile. "It was quite cute."
Liu Xixi froze at those words, then turned away and said, "Sovereign, we should finish these documents quickly."
Su Qing nodded and stopped teasing her, focusing on reading the documents in her hand.
Seeing this, Liu Xixi breathed a small sigh of relief.
She had almost lost her composure just now.
She didn't want her image to crumble in front of the Sovereign.
In the time that followed, everything proceeded smoothly.
Time passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, it was already the fourth day after the New Year.
During these few days, not much had happened.
Everything was as smooth as ever.
If there was one thing that stood out...
It was probably that Chang'e had been taken back by Moonlight Bodhisattva.
It seemed the Star Lord had found out she had been out playing for days without returning and was quite angry, so she asked Moonlight Bodhisattva to come and catch her.
Poor Chang'e; even after the Lunar Deity had left, she was still subject to her remote control.
However, Su Qing didn't speak up for Chang'e.
After all, she had it coming.
Aside from that, there was nothing else special...
But while the main body in the Northern Continent had nothing but a day-to-day routine, the clone in Xingyang City had to attend a banquet.
She had promised the Commandery Princess a few days ago that she would attend, so she naturally couldn't forget.
She sensed that the Commandery Princess had something important to discuss with her.
Otherwise, there would have been no need to set a specific time to meet in person.
Early morning.
Before Su Qing had even set out for the clinic, several carriages were already waiting for her outside the door.
These carriages were clearly sent by the Commandery Princess to pick her up.
"It seems the Commandery Princess is quite anxious!" Su Qing said with a chuckle as she looked at the guards.
Hearing Su Qing's words, the guard offered an apologetic smile and said, "I do not know what the Commandery Princess is thinking. I am merely following her orders to invite the Divine Doctor."
Su Qing looked at him and nodded. She had no intention of making things difficult for him; it was just a casual comment.
"I know, I know. Since Sister Ye is so anxious, I'll go see her early," Su Qing said.
Su Qing had originally planned to set out closer to noon.
She hadn't expected the Commandery Princess to send someone for her so early in the morning. She wondered why she was in such a rush.
The guard breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Su Qing's words.
He had always heard that the Divine Doctor's temperament was very eccentric—sometimes gentle, sometimes cold, sometimes difficult.
So, when facing Su Qing, he had been terrified that she would give him a hard time or be dissatisfied with something.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and she wasn't as difficult to communicate with as he had imagined.
"In that case, Divine Doctor, please follow us to the carriage!" the guard said, exhaling a breath of murky air.
Su Qing nodded and asked, "Where are we going? Juxiang Tower?"
"We will go to Juxiang Tower at noon. For now, we are going to the Commandery Princess's residence in the capital," the guard answered truthfully.
"So we're not going straight to Juxiang Tower?" Su Qing rubbed her chin and said, "It seems I won't be the only one at Juxiang Tower this time."
Hearing Su Qing's monologue, the guard played deaf and dumb, standing stiffly to the side and ignoring everything.
Unless he was asked directly, he preferred to stay silent, acting as if he were deaf and mute.
After all, those with loose lips and big ears usually died the fastest.
Su Qing glanced at the guard, knowing he didn't understand the reasons behind it, so she stopped testing him with questions.
She simply said, "Alright, let's go."
The guard nodded quickly and followed Su Qing out of the courtyard.
Su Qing boarded the carriage.
With a sharp crack of the whip, the carriage lurched into motion.
Along the way, Su Qing was exceptionally quiet. She didn't lean out to look at the scenery or do anything else; she simply closed her eyes to rest.
However, while her eyes were closed, she was actually resting her spirit and allocating more of her mental focus to this clone.
In this manner, the carriage slowly made its way toward the Commandery Princess's residence.
The carriage was quite bumpy, and its speed was agonizingly slow.
Accustomed to arriving at her destination in an instant, Su Qing found sitting in such a slow carriage quite jarring.
Fortunately, the Princess's residence wasn't far from Su Qing's home.
After about the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the carriage finally arrived outside the gates of the Commandery Princess's mansion.
The carriage doors were opened, and Su Qing stepped out naturally.
Just as she descended, she heard the Princess's voice from not far away.
"Sister Xiao Qing, it has truly been a long time."
The Commandery Princess walked over with a beaming smile.
"It hasn't been that long, has it?" Su Qing shook her head with a chuckle. "Has Sister Ye been waiting here for a long time?"
"Not too long, only half an hour..." the Princess replied with a smile.
"I'm sorry for making you wait so long."
"I was simply looking forward to seeing you, so I took it upon myself to wait here! How could I possibly blame you, Sister?" The Princess's smile was like a blooming flower, and she appeared exceptionally cheerful.
Looking at the Princess's smile, Su Qing let out a soft laugh and said, "We haven't seen each other for long, yet you miss me this much? Could it be that you've fallen in love with me?"
Hearing Su Qing's teasing, the Princess was slightly stunned. She hadn't expected Su Qing to make such a joke.
However, she didn't get angry. Instead, she followed Su Qing's lead and nodded, saying, "Yes, perhaps I really have fallen in love with you, Sister."
The Princess's response surprised Su Qing. It was a clever counter-attack.
Now that the Princess had said that, Su Qing found it difficult to continue the joke.
"You really are something, Sister! I thought I was the one teasing you, but I ended up getting checkmated instead." Su Qing gracefully admitted her defeat.
Ye Qingyu replied, "Alright, let's leave the jokes at that. Sister, please come inside! It's freezing out here, and it wouldn't be good if you caught a cold. I wouldn't be the only one heartbroken—your disciples would surely end up hating me!"
Su Qing gave her a look, then nodded with a smile and followed Ye Qingyu into the mansion.
Ye Qingyu's residence was large, beautiful, and elegant, but Su Qing wasn't particularly interested in such things.
After a few brief glances, she followed Ye Qingyu to the living room.
The living room was very quiet. There wasn't a single guard, let alone a maid.
Clearly, this was a deliberate arrangement by Ye Qingyu.
It was so they could speak freely.
Rate on N.U.
