Why be afraid?
If I ran away from her now, wouldn’t that prove I’m a coward?
I hadn’t done anything wrong, so why should I hide?
So, I stood my ground, waiting for her to approach.
I wanted to see what tricks this little vixen had up her sleeve.
Su Luo walked gracefully, her steps like lotus petals swaying, a jade hairpin gleaming in the sunlight.
“I’ve heard much but seeing is believing. Your beauty, sister, is truly like a star in the sky, a moon reflected in the water—stunning beyond compare. Last night, I happened to be out and observed the stars. I knew today would bring great joy. And sure enough, meeting you in broad daylight is such a blessing. No wonder people say, ‘a beauty to feast upon.’ Just one glance at your fairy-like face has brightened my gloomy day.”
Su Luo’s eyes sparkled brightly whenever she saw me.
Her confident, natural manner made it hard to dislike her.
But.
I never forgot.
She was my greatest rival.
So I couldn’t let down my guard and be fooled by her sugar-coated words.
I stepped back one step and gave a polite smile.
You never hit a smiling person, after all.
“I dare not accept the title of sister. Su Liumeng is a few years older than you, and as her lawful wife, you should address me as sister-in-law.” My voice was soft and weak, my delicate hand slightly covering my face. The tone was as gentle as a willow in the breeze, but hidden inside was a soft blade practically saying, “What are you trying to get close for? I have nothing to do with you.”
Making her call me sister-in-law must have ground Su Luo’s teeth to nubs.
I thought so to myself.
To my surprise, Su Luo cheerfully agreed, “Sister-in-law is truly an interesting person.”
She emphasized “interesting.”
Her eyes smiled even wider, as if beholding a rare treasure.
“I wasn’t wrong about your character. It’s been a long time since I met a rival who truly matches me. I want to take you home and savor your endless charm alone. Coming here today was worth it, especially after hearing the news and going out of my way to see you in the garden.”
I frowned.
What did she mean by that?
What I find interesting has nothing to do with her.
Besides, doesn’t she like Su Liumeng? Why come chat with me?
I didn’t detect any hostility from Su Luo’s attitude, but my words were always laced with barbs, not particularly polite.
Suddenly, an answer formed in my mind.
Demons and monsters, trying to confuse my mind.
Just trying to dull my senses and strike when I’m weak. I’d seen too many tricks like this to fall for it.
I smiled brightly at my “rival.” “If Su Liumeng knew you thought so highly of her wife, I wonder how happy she’d be.”
Just as I expected.
Su Luo’s expression stiffened briefly, then quickly returned to normal.
I sneered inwardly.
A thousand-year-old fox still trying to play a strange charm act.
Is that the extent of your skill? I just emphasized a few times that Su Liumeng is my wife, and you already lost control of your expression.
Young Miss Su Luo, you still need a year or two of training.
Her expression indeed faltered briefly, and her tone became slightly stammering, but soon she recovered, “Sister-in-law, you really do like sister a lot, every sentence revolves around her.”
I felt like a proud peacock about to defeat my rival and lifted my chin slightly, “Of course. If I didn’t like her, I wouldn’t have become her Taoist partner.”
I added, “And she likes me too.”
Su Luo bit her lip, unable to fully hide her expression, muttering softly, “I just met her too late. Otherwise, who wins or loses would be uncertain.”
My eyes shifted.
Because.
I heard her talking to herself.
Fine, I knew it—you really do like Su Liumeng.
How despicable.
I didn’t even know what to say.
Just barely eighteen, thinking about love all day, what a bright future you have.
Though still a young girl, I didn’t dare underestimate her. Instead, I coldly scolded, “What do you mean by that? You, as the younger sister-in-law, are you coveting your own sister?”
Su Luo’s eyes went blank for a moment, then she flared up, “Who, who covets Su Liumeng?”
She was suddenly furious at being slandered.
“I only had a little interest in her once, but not anymore, that’s all.”
She hastily explained.
I deliberately ignored the second half and caught the key words.
“Oh?”
“So you admit you covet your own sister.”
The Su family is very large. Older sisters go back five generations. Internal marriages happen all the time. Coveting someone already married doesn’t sound good to outsiders.
Su Luo stomped her foot anxiously, “I didn’t admit anything.”
“Not talking to you.”
“Annoying.”
The little girl stomped away, fuming and defeated.
With her horde of maids, she left the garden.
She admitted Sixin Yan was different, much more interesting than what she used to like.
Like two similar flowers naturally attracting each other.
That’s probably her situation, the one person she’s stayed interested in longest.
But after being stung, the little girl was somewhat irritable.
It was her first time feeling so bothered. Not exactly hate, but like something she cared about was always tangled with someone else’s anger.
Su Luo was raised as the heir of the Su family. Still young, she couldn’t fully understand these emotions and just puffed out her cheeks and left angrily.
The beautiful garden still held a faint fragrance.
Chunlan stared at my lady with admiration, “Miss, you’re amazing. I’ve never seen anyone drive Miss Su Luo away on first meeting. Usually, she’s the one who makes others angry.”
Su Luo’s habit was to call everyone “sister this, sister that,” with a sickly sweet tone, but her actions left others with a lump in their throat, unable to vent, and many secretly fumed.
I chuckled softly. My first victory over a rival made me a little proud inside.
“That’s because you don’t know who you’re dealing with.”
After all, I’ve been a master of subtle manipulation for eighteen years. Who’s afraid of whom?
Su Liumeng, as amazing as she is, almost got flipped by me.
If I had better cultivation talent, we’d probably still be arm-wrestling in the Su household.
My mood was cheerful; my steps felt inexplicably lighter.
Deep within my mind sea, the little dumpling silently replayed how her mother spoke just now.
This was her daily compulsory lesson.
They say teaching by example. The way a mother behaves is the child’s first lesson.
This is why people say, if the top beam isn’t straight, the bottom beam will be crooked.
Children secretly learn from their parents’ every word and action in ways you’d never expect.
While practicing, the little dumpling even purposely pinched her throat to mimic Mommy’s soft, weak tone just now, blinking her big pretty eyes as if about to shed tears.
The little one was rehearsing a future scenario, calling out to the empty space ahead, “Mommy, don’t you want your daughter?”
At that moment, she suddenly coughed shyly.
Her emotion wasn’t genuine, feeling a bit fake. The tone lacked Mommy’s sincerity.
No, no.
She could learn everything else or not, but she had to master this phrase.
The little one had her own plans—when she made mistakes, she’d use this phrase to win sympathy, and it would work brilliantly.
I wondered what expression Sixin Yan would make hearing this almost identical tone.
My steps paused slightly.
“What are you muttering to yourself alone?”
Sizhiyu trembled nervously, like she’d been caught stealing, “I… wasn’t saying anything.”
I muttered silently.
I just heard something about someone not wanting someone else.
Did I mishear?
I glanced at the time beside me and didn’t ask where Su Liumeng had gone.
She’d been busy dealing with matters of the Thirteenth Ancestor these days.
I didn’t want to disturb her important work.
I walked to a spacious plaza nearby and found many young Su family members training hard in the center.
This was… the martial arts arena?
Many noticed me and saluted respectfully before returning to their cultivation.
It was interesting enough that I told Chunlan to go back and fetch my sewing kit.
I planned to stay here a while.
There wasn’t much to do at home anyway, and here there was always something to see, a way to pass the time.
Watching others cultivate might even improve my own experience, right?
Speaking of watching others, I’d never seen how anyone else cultivated.
Su Liumeng never trained in front of me.
Suddenly recalling Su Liumeng’s name, I remembered she was about to experience another cold poison outbreak in these days.
So I decided to wait at home for her.
When her cold poison flares up, she rushes back home, so I’d see her immediately.
I rested my small hands on the bench, gazing at the energetic faces of the young cultivators.
I should be a young person too, but I had a hint of faded twilight about me.
I didn’t seem to have experienced much, yet it felt like many years had passed.
The vitality of youth was harder to find in me, replaced by a faint weariness no one else seemed to have.
Chunlan returned quickly, soon bringing a large bundle of needle and thread.
“Miss, I’ve brought the sewing kit and the pattern you asked for.”
Holding the almost finished embroidered garment, I stood up from the bench.
“Go back first. Su Liumeng might be coming back soon.”
Chunlan looked at my figure and took the sewing kit back.
Why the sudden change of heart?
She had just brought the sewing kit but now had to wait for the young lady.
Well, maids can never control what their mistress thinks.
Back at the small courtyard.
Near the entrance stood two crooked trees.
Su Liumeng wasn’t in the yard. Looking at the two bent trees, I had a different feeling and called my head maid over.
“Chunqiao, come here.”
Chunqiao hurried over, “Miss, what are your orders?”
“Add a swing here. I can swing while reading.”
Chunqiao looked at my large belly, swallowing words about causing fetal qi unrest.
Miss was in high spirits. As a servant, it wasn’t her place to stop her. She would mention it to the young lady later.
I lay leisurely on a wooden bench.
Honestly, having someone to serve you makes life quite comfortable. Whatever you want, just call, and someone rushes to help.
I gazed up at the blue sky and white clouds, massaging my brow. A tiny plum blossom mark appeared.
Su Liumeng would come back before the cold poison outbreak.
This wasn’t just idle talk.
Since we became Taoist partners, we shared a faint spiritual connection like identical twins. Even at a distance, we could vaguely sense what the other was about to do.
An hour later, I was sound asleep when I sensed a dark shadow nearby.
Slowly, I opened my eyes.
Su Liumeng’s whole body radiated cold qi. A layer of frost even formed on her willow-shaped brows, and her two dragon horns were pure white, creating a somewhat comical but stunning appearance.
I wasn’t afraid of the cold, so I giggled and fluttered over coquettishly, “Wife, you’re home.”
“I finally smell something delicious again.”
My body was always soft and pliant. I grabbed Su Liumeng’s delicate figure, unwilling to let go.
I buried my head in her embrace, like a spoiled little raccoon, rubbing against her a couple of times.
Su Liumeng usually held little attraction for me, but when the cold poison flared, she became like a tempting little cake I couldn’t resist biting into.
For someone with a Yin body like me, the yin-cold poison in her thigh was like a poppy flower—deadly and enticing.
I’d been looking forward to this moment for so long.
The last time, I was a mortal with little knowledge of cultivation and hadn’t even stepped through the door to becoming a cultivator. The temptation wasn’t nearly so strong.
This time was different.
With the thousand-year liquid cold poison as a powerful supplement, plus my unique yin energy cultivation path, the cold poison’s outbreak made me exhilarated.
It was like every pore was expanding and tingling, quietly spreading through my heart.
Hearing the soft voice, the young girl was like a kitten addicted to catnip, her beautiful eyes glazed with a seductive intoxication, repeating “delicious” over and over.
A vivid, alluring image surfaced in Su Liumeng’s mind.
She thought of the location of her wound and a strange emotion appeared on her bright, delicate face.
She was daydreaming, her heart relaxed, her mind wandering.
Her jade nose twitched instinctively as she smelled a fragrance that didn’t belong to the young girl.