Chapter 145: Come to the Weaving Maiden Palace Again

Taiyin Xingjun rolled her eyes.

"Palace Master, do you know what this Chaos Residence is?" Chang'e suddenly recalled the discussion from earlier with Sanniang Young Lady, and thus opened her mouth to ask.

Chaos Residence?

Upon hearing this, Taiyin Xingjun pondered deeply in her mind; although she never left her residence, she still had some understanding of the various powers in the Three Realms.

But...

Her brows furrowed tightly—she had never heard of such a place before.

"Where is this?" Taiyin Xingjun did not speak aloud; her voice directly echoed in Chang'e's ears.

Chang'e shook her head and said: "I don't know, but according to Sanniang Young Lady, hot pot seems to be a dish made at Chaos Residence."

Young Lady?

Taiyin Xingjun nodded slightly and said nothing more.

The one who cooks.

No wonder I didn't know—turns out it's just a restaurant. I thought it was something else.

But... Chaos Residence...

Taiyin Xingjun's usually composed and stunning face flashed with a hint of interest. Chaos Residence—mortals actually know of Chaos's existence? This name is quite interesting.

Outside the Weaving Maiden Palace, a youngster sneaked in furtively; his guilty, furtive expression could not hide his delicate and handsome features.

Nezha walked familiarly toward the inner chamber of the Weaving Maiden Palace.

For some unknown reason, the closer he got, the more anxious he felt, his heart filled with nervous anticipation as he arrived before the inner chamber's door.

He had been worried whether Zhi Nv would discover he had taken her skirt, but having come this far, he couldn't just turn back and leave.

He took a deep breath, calmed his emotions, and gave himself encouragement.

Nezha lowered his head, tidied his clothes, and absolutely could not show weakness before Zhi Nv.

Otherwise, wouldn't that be inviting trouble upon himself?

He slapped his face with both hands, revealing an arrogant look—he, Nezha, the Third Prince, had to straighten himself up.

Bang!

He kicked the door open with one foot, striding in sideways like a crab.

Zhi Nv, who was weaving, was startled by the noise and looked up.

A flicker of surprise crossed her eyes, then she narrowed them gently to look at Nezha, her vermilion lips curling, her eyes full of playful amusement.

This expression of Zhi Nv annoyed Nezha.

His brows knitted tightly, his eyes widened as he snapped: "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing." Zhi Nv shook her head, still smiling faintly.

"Is the banquet over? The Third Prince graces my humble abode once again—what brings you here?"

"I, the young master, have come to take new clothes!" Nezha declared proudly.

This was originally agreed upon beforehand—nothing improper about it.

Upon hearing this, Zhi Nv nodded thoughtfully: "Ah, so that's how it is."

She paused her work, stood up, walked before Nezha, leaned down, and gazed at his arrogant yet delicate face, smiling: "I thought you came to return my skirt."

Skirt!!!

Upon hearing those two words, Nezha's whole body jerked involuntarily.

His eyes filled with terror.

He, he had been discovered?!

This was the nightmare he could not shake off!

Nezha instinctively stepped back a few steps, his face showing a strained expression.

"What did you say about a skirt?"

He still wanted to argue a bit more.

"Oh?" Zhi Nv lightly touched her lower lip with her index finger, her smile pleasant.

"Could it be that the Third Prince stole my skirt and secretly wore it back home?" Her tone was melodious and teasing.

Nezha's fair face instantly flushed red, like a ripe peach.

He leapt three feet high,

"Nonsense!" Nezha shouted angrily: "I never stole any skirt at all!"

After Nezha finished speaking, Zhi Nv's smile widened, her eyes gleaming with mischief.

Trapped!

She parted her vermilion lips: "If the Third Prince says that, it means you merely stole the skirt,

or perhaps you wore it openly and aboveboard?"

The Third Prince, who had just been indignant, suddenly froze, realizing the foolishness of his own words.

Damn it!

Is he blowing his own cover?!

"I didn't steal it, I truly didn't!"

"There are so many skirts—missing one is completely normal; you must have miscounted, just make one less."

Nezha flushed and argued vehemently.

But Zhi Nv was clever and skilled—how could she be fooled by Nezha's feeble words?

"The lost ones are still recorded in numbers, made for the Hou Gong's rush order, yet only the Third Prince has come to visit these days."

Zhi Nv spoke softly, directly cornering Nezha.

Nezha grinned sheepishly and backed up a few more steps, until he was nearly at the hall doorway.

Zhi Nv flicked a finger, and the great doors of the hall shut directly, cutting off Nezha's thought of escape.

Gradually, Nezha's tone changed.

"This young master's business, how could it be called stealing!"

"This is called safekeeping on behalf of another!"

Seeing the situation, Nezha knew he could not bluff his way through, so he had to confess honestly, then took out the skirts and angrily stuffed them into Zhi Nv's hands.

He still wanted to justify his behavior a few more sentences, but the more he looked at Zhi Nv's inexplicable smile, the more panicked he felt.

Finally, he turned his head away, face red, simply giving up completely.

"This young master stole them, so what, you go tell on me to my father."

Nezha stiffened his neck, prepared to die rather than yield, but his involuntary sidelong glances at Zhi Nv exposed his true heart.

Zhi Nv could not hold back a "puchi" laugh, and did not pick up on Nezha's words.

Picking up the skirts Nezha had returned, Zhi Nv spread them out, examined the stitching carefully, and said with a smile: "Third Prince, what you gave me doesn't seem to be the original."

And her bare finger pointed at the stitching on top.

"Could it be that Third Prince you really wore them? Are you sure you want me to inform Li the Heavenly King?"

Nezha's forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat; letting Li Jing know was a small matter, at most a few days' tour of the Linglong Tower.

But if this matter spread out, the Three Realms would all know, then he might as well hang himself with the Huntian Ling.

Nezha's heart went putong putong.

"Alright, alright, I won't tease you anymore." Zhi Nv lightly tossed the skirts back into Nezha's arms.

"You don't want them anymore?" Nezha was somewhat surprised.

Zhi Nv rolled her eyes and said: "If I waited for Third Prince you to return them, the daylilies would be cold; those skirts were all rush-made."

"Sorry." Nezha said dully.

At that time his brain just got hot, and he took them in a muddled, impulse-driven way.

Zhi Nv shook her head, narrowed her eyes and said: "It's nothing, come, look at this."

With a wave of her hand, an exquisite box appeared before Nezha.

"What is this?" Nezha was somewhat at a loss.

"Your custom-made clothes, open it and see." Zhi Nv said softly.

Nezha hesitated a bit; he always had a bad premonition, but still did as told.

After opening it, Nezha was completely dumbfounded.

Inside the box was not the dashing clothes he imagined, but exquisitely made, beautifully patterned little skirts.

"How is it, do you like them?" Zhi Nv said with a beaming smile.

Nezha instantly blew up.

"This young master, wasn't it said to be imposing clothes, what do you mean giving me a skirt?"

Nezha's fingers pointed every which way, excited to the extreme, not knowing if it was anger or joy.

"I think you would look better in a skirt." Zhi Nv blinked her eyes, tone somewhat innocent, but matter-of-fact.

"And..." Zhi Nv looked Nezha's small stature and delicate features up and down, her tone shifting.

"You seem to quite like wearing them, otherwise you wouldn't have stolen skirts."

Zhi Nv's words to Nezha were simply like a bone stuck in the throat, neither up nor down, extremely uncomfortable.

Before Nezha could speak, Zhi Nv's voice struck again like a heavy hammer.