Chapter 99: Sleeping Together in the Same Bed

The so-called "after the New Year" actually counts as now.

After the two made slight preparations upon returning to the mountain, on the fourth day of the first lunar month, they heard the news that Chen Jinian had gone to the commandery seat and was promoted to Commandant of the Commandery thanks to his newly refined Heart-Saving Pill succeeding.

The first thing Chen Jinian did after his promotion was, as required by his superiors, recommend candidates for summer enrollment at the Imperial Alchemy Academy.

The old man had already written the recommendation document for Xiazhou while serving at the Xiazhou Alchemy Office; upon arriving at the commandery, he approved his own document, which was an extremely rare experience in his life and quite enjoyable.

Then, after the commandery screened the lists from each county, the candidate determined for reporting was Lu Xingzhou.

This matter truly wasn't about pulling strings; Chen Jinian knew well that Lu Xingzhou's alchemy skill level was already Grade Five, and apart from lacking experience, he was on the same level as himself. Judging solely by the quality of his alchemy, Chen might even be outshone by Lu Xingzhou.

The entire Dongjiang Commandery, including the eight counties within the commandery seat of Dongjiang, had the highest-ranked candidate from the other seven counties at Grade Seven; what could they compare to Lu Xingzhou with... they were not even beings of the same dimension.

There was no need to hold a preliminary screening competition within the commandery; Lu Xingzhou's Grade Six ranking on the Alchemist Newcomer List alone was enough to silence everyone, and holding a competition would only be bullying children.

The official letter recommending Lu Xingzhou to the Imperial Alchemy Academy arrived at the Tianxing Sword Sect on the evening of the sixth day of the first lunar month, with unparalleled efficiency.

Lu Xingzhou took the official letter and remained silent for a long time.

The arrival of this object meant he truly had to leave.

Shen Tang, who had pretended in front of others that "meeting Elder Lu alone wasn't that frequent" in previous days, stopped pretending these past few days and spent every day cooped up in Lu Xingzhou's room. Seeing Lu Xingzhou staring blankly at the letter, she instead reached out, took the letter down, and stuffed it into his ring for packing: "Alright, you must pass the entrance examination and not disappoint Commandant Chen's good intentions."

Lu Xingzhou came to his senses, smiled, and said, "There are many outstanding people in the world; I don't necessarily have to be stronger than the heroes from other places."

"I don't believe that. You are not merely at the level of the thirty-eighth newcomer. If all peers could be stronger than you, then the Newcomer List shouldn't be held at all."

"Guamei and the others lacked information, so the list missed many people. Besides, there's a lag... hey, I think this system is poorly made. Later, when you have authority, how about we create a more real-time list for fun?"

Shen Tang laughed: "Seeing that you still have such thoughts, I am relieved."

"What are you talking about? Even when my heart was most full of revenge before, you never saw me tense up."

"That's right; back then you still had the mind to appreciate how beautiful Miss Qingli was."

"..." Lu Xingzhou decisively chose not to argue this point, embraced her, and said in a low voice, "The reason my mood is gloomy, as you know, is not because of worrying about those things, but simply because I must part with you."

Both shared the same thoughts, feeling particularly heavy-hearted.

Shen Tang had never thought in her life that a brief separation from a man, whose destination was even her own hometown, and whose return after gilding wouldn't take too long, and was by no means a long-term separation where they might never see each other again, could make her feel so uncomfortable.

Lu Xingzhou felt the same; he never had this mood when leaving Yuan Muyu... back then, what he thought of most was, "Since you have no heart, I will let you go; the spring breeze and you are both passersby."

Yet at this moment, thousands of thoughts swirled in his heart, and it was quite difficult to express them accurately.

In the end, a thousand words and ten thousand sentiments condensed into one sentence: "Tonight... don't leave, okay?"

Shen Tang looked up at him; there was no desire like in these days of deep affection in his eyes, only a bit of stubbornness.

She then smiled slightly and said softly, "Okay."

The two naturally embraced and lay on the bed, sleeping together with their clothes on.

The candlelight on the table had not yet gone out; Shen Tang leaned against Lu Xingzhou's shoulder, looking at his profile amidst the flickering light.

Lu Xingzhou turned his head, gently pecked her lips, and said in a low voice, "Goodnight, my Princess."

"Not goodnight," Shen Tang said, "You are usually so lewd, kissing and touching; what kind of gentleman are you pretending to be today?"

Lu Xingzhou: "..."

Shen Tang pouted: "Kiss me."

Lu Xingzhou laughed helplessly, then turned over and covered her, kissing her as if knocking on a gate.

Shen Tang parted her teeth slightly to welcome him, closed her eyes, and tightly embraced his neck in return.

The mountain breeze blew past, and the candlelight finally went out.

The temperature inside the room instead became even more scorching.

"Sometimes I think... if we ignore those matters, it was me who seduced you..." In the darkness, Shen Tang's low panting sounded.

"Don't," Lu Xingzhou stopped his movements, pulled her back to lean against his shoulder, and said, "I came to help Your Highness the Princess achieve her goals, not to destroy Your Highness the Princess."

Shen Tang softly "hmmed," and very proactively extended her slender hand downwards, not letting him hold back.

Lu Xingzhou did not stop her this time, only saying in a low voice, "When I go to the capital this time, I will not be too obsessed with revenge; I know that with current strength, toppling the Huo family is too much like a fool's dream. If we can cause them some trouble, we will; if not, so be it. My main focus is the Golden Body at the Alchemy Academy and basic official exchanges... to lay the foundation for our future."

Shen Tang kissed his ear and said softly, "I believe you."

After a pause, she spoke as if it were hard to bring up: "If anything happens outside... just do what needs to be done, no need to worry about me. I, I don't mind."

This statement was quite hard to understand; it actually referred specifically to Sheng Yuanyao. Shen Tang ultimately felt that the two might not be entirely innocent, and believed the Sheng family could help Lu Xingzhou a lot, so it was not the time to be jealous over flying vinegar.

Lu Xingzhou sighed, leaned down again, and kissed her lips.

Early the next morning, the two almost simultaneously opened their eyes from deep sleep.

The first thing they saw was each other's smiling eyes, and they spoke at the same time: "Morning."

The so-called "sleeping with clothes on" was self-deception; looking at each other's bodies now, both were stripped down to almost white sheep, embracing tightly.

Yet neither felt the slightest embarrassment; Shen Tang naturally sat up, straightened her crooked bib, and put on her outer robe.

Lu Xingzhou insisted on sleeping with her before leaving, a meaning she understood. But after truly embracing each other to sleep and waking up together, that sense of mutual belonging as husband and wife was something one could not fully experience just by thinking about it beforehand.

It seemed that the gloom in both their hearts last night had completely dissipated at this moment, leaving only sweetness and naturalness.

Lu Xingzhou put on his outer robe, lifted Shen Tang, who was about to get out of bed on her own, by the waist, placed her sitting by the table, then like a magician pulled out a mirror and set it on the table, took out a comb, and combed her hair for her.

Shen Tang looked at the mirror and found it amusing; this mirror was a magical treasure used to reflect certain spells, yet he used it to comb his wife's hair; one didn't know if the treasure, having a spirit, would cry.

Regardless of whether the magical treasure would cry, Shen Tang only wanted to laugh. The person in the mirror smiled sweetly, her cheeks flushed, and the astonishing charm and mature allure in her apricot eyes were such that even herself from a few months ago would dare not recognize it as her.

Seeing Lu Xingzhou behind her in the mirror, the seriousness with which he gently combed her hair, let alone others, even A'nuo who had been living with him for these days, would run out of words to complain about.

Until her hair was combed and a jade hairpin was inserted, the two held hands, stood up, and naturally went outside the courtyard to eat breakfast.

A'nuo squatted to the side holding a basin, picking at food, her black, rolling eyes watching the pair's behavior today, finding it somewhat strange.

She had thought that since they were leaving, the two would wear gloomy faces or even cry, but unexpectedly they were still smiling brightly and very natural.

After finishing breakfast, Shen Tang asked seemingly carelessly, "Just leaving?"

Lu Xingzhou "hmmed" in affirmation.

Shen Tang rose and straightened his collar once more, speaking softly, "Do not separate from A'nu on the road, and do not keep thinking about catching Pei Chuyun on your own. If you can ignore her, ignore her; just head straight for Menggui City to avoid unnecessary trouble."

"Understood," Lu Xingzhou said with a smile. "I will return when I have the time. I hope by then the Tianxing Sword Sect will be flourishing with talent."

"It will happen."

A'nu's eyes widened; she could not imagine how their farewell could be so calm and indifferent. What was the logic here? Weren't the two of you so smitten you wanted to merge into one person?

"Let's go." Lu Xingzhou lifted A'nu. "To avoid Pei Chuyun spotting us, we will fly directly."

A'nu whizzed a cake into the air, where it transformed into a round flying disc.

The disc emitted a powerful magnetic field, causing Lu Xingzhou's wheelchair to spin wildly in all directions.

Over these days, she had successfully fused her own iron cake with Yuan Ci during her refinement.

Lu Xingzhou, annoyed, scooped A'nu into his arms in one motion. "Master will carry you to fly; put that cake of yours away first."

A'nu whooshed the flying disc away, nestled happily in her master's arms, and waved at Shen Tang. "Goodbye, Master's wife."

Shen Tang strongly suspected the little girl had deliberately summoned the iron cake just to get her master to hold her, but she had no proof. Seeing her adorable way of saying goodbye, she forced a smile. "Goodbye, A'nu."

Lu Xingzhou looked at her deeply and said in a low voice, "We are leaving."

Shen Tang smiled faintly. "Be careful on the road."

The wheelchair soared into the sky and quickly headed east.

Shen Tang stood at the cliff edge watching, remaining motionless for a long time even after the wheelchair vanished from the horizon and could no longer be seen.

After a long while, a disciple rushed over. "Sect Master, Elder Tang and the others are waiting for you to convene the meeting..."

"Hmm." Shen Tang finally turned the wheelchair to descend the mountain. "Issue an order: double the standard distribution of spirit stones and pills for the entire sect. In the next year, I want him to see the most flourishing and powerful sect upon his next return."

Somewhere high in the sky, Pei Chuyun stroked her chin, watching the streak of light as the wheelchair fled, and quietly followed.

Having studied the formations of Lingquan Mountain these past days, she had at least figured out the aerial range of the formation's attacks; thus, she had been hovering far outside the range, spying on Lu Xingzhou's movements, for several days already.

Seeing Shen Tang enter Lu Xingzhou's room and not come out all night, Pei Chuyun pouted, feeling a bit disdainful. "You say our Chunu Hehuan Sect is lewd, yet your Tianxing Sword Sect Sect Master is no less. Claiming to be a dignified swordsman, how can you stay in a man's room before marriage without shame?"

Before she could finish her disdain, she saw Lu Xingzhou riding the wheelchair, carrying the child, departing alone.

Pei Chuyun never expected that the moment for Lu Xingzhou to travel alone, after she had been squatting and waiting for so long, would suddenly appear; she almost failed to react. Realizing it, she was overjoyed beyond measure and chased after them directly.

Without the protection of the Tianxing Sword Sect, I don't believe I can't handle you, you stinky man, plus a little kid!

You ate my tofu, stole my shoes, shaved my... Die!

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(End of this chapter)