Chapter 140

In reality, Sheng Yuanyao and Lu Xingzhou didn't do anything after entering the guesthouse; even if you beat Sheng Yuanyao to death, it would be impossible for her to just give herself away easily like a demoness of the Joyous Union Sect.

Pei Chuyun was completely judging others by her own standards.

The two of them just went into the kitchen, took the prepared ingredients, and started a fire to cook for themselves.

It was a spring outing, after all; how could they not have a picnic?

Although hiding in a room to cook wasn't exactly a picnic, it was still a rare experience for this pair.

Lu Xingzhou used a technique to start the fire, and turning his head to look at Sheng Yuanyao washing vegetables with a smile, his heart softened a little.

Melon-girl had arranged everything quite thoroughly today... she really wanted to spend a proper day in a world for two in this place of fate.

Lu Xingzhou knew what Melon-girl was thinking, and could even guess that the three words "Qingyao Garden" had expanded in meaning for her beyond just a life-saving encounter.

His "Qing," her "Yao."

In fact, for so many years, only today had they gone on a spring outing, picked herbs, tied knots, and cooked over a fire—all things that Huo Qing had done in childhood, and things he had never done again after becoming Lu Xingzhou.

Sheng Yuanyao felt as if she had been struck by a sword from beyond the heavens, and how could Lu Xingzhou not feel the same in his heart?

"Let me do it." Seeing Sheng Yuanyao want to put the washed vegetables into the pot, Lu Xingzhou got up and nudged her aside: "If you cook, I'm afraid of being poisoned."

"Yo-ho, I can't cook, but Judge Lu can?" Sheng Yuanyao didn't try to take back the spatula, feeling a little expectant.

Lu Xingzhou smiled; he hadn't cooked in this life, but he had in his previous one.

It was just that his skills were rusty and he wasn't familiar with the utensils... it didn't matter, no one expected to eat anything great anyway; it was just for fun.

Seeing that he was actually stir-frying quite decently, Sheng Yuanyao smiled with her eyes curved, and consciously went to the side of the stove to watch the fire.

The firelight flickered, and Sheng Yuanyao rested her chin on her hands, watching him hum a little tune while cooking, her mind gradually drifting to the clouds.

Actually... if they could really just be good friends and buddies forever, that would seem pretty good too...

"What are you daydreaming about?" Lu Xingzhou brought the dishes to the table and laughed: "Come and taste it first, one dish at a time."

Sheng Yuanyao scurried over like a happy little puppy.

Outside the house, one big and one small were clinging to the window, two pairs of eyes blinking and blinking.

"Your Master is cooking for someone else, and you didn't even want to have a bite?" Pei Chuyun asked quietly.

"Because it must taste terrible." A Nuo, who had always been a glutton, remained unmoved this time: "Who in the world knows Master better than me? I've never seen him cook; I think Sister Yao is going to get diarrhea."

Pei Chuyun withdrew that bit of longing and whispered: "I thought your Master was so lecherous that he would take advantage of her, but he didn't really do much. Does holding hands count? The kiss was delivered by that cheap woman herself, and he didn't take the opportunity to go any further. Why does it look more and more like a 'bros' vibe between these two? Don't tell me they're really just friends."

A Nuo looked at her with contempt: "You haven't read enough storybooks, have you?"

"How so?"

"The most dangerous species in storybooks: one is called a 'male bestie,' the other is a 'female bro.' Their lethality to the original partner is comparable to a top-tier demonic cultivator. I suggest this be included in the mandatory curriculum of the Joyous Union Sect in the future; don't always use that 'freeloading' routine, it's outdated."

"What on earth have you been learning all these years following your Master!"

A Nuo didn't answer, pulled out two sweet potatoes, and gave one to Pei Chuyun: "Make do with this to fill your stomach..."

Pei Chuyun was expressionless.

She had thought the two of them would end up in bed today, so she came to catch them in the act and watch the drama, but this was it? So she ran out and fed the mosquitoes all day for what? For a sweet potato?

But fortunately, they wouldn't have to watch for much longer.

…………

"Chief Sheng! Congratulations, congratulations!" The eunuch delivering the imperial decree solemnly stuffed it into Sheng Qingfeng's hands and said with a smile: "I hope Chief Sheng will take care of me in the future."

While Sheng Yuanyao was acting like a brother with a man, cooking together and being all lovey-dovey, her rank in the government office was also rising.

Sheng Qingfeng was officially promoted to Chief of the Demon Suppression Division. Given the importance of the Great Gan Demon Suppression Division, this was not only a first-rank official position but also a powerful post holding significant combat strength.

"Not at all, not at all, I hope Eunuch Hai will provide plenty of support." Sheng Qingfeng showed no signs of complacency and still smoothly slipped a fine piece of jade to the eunuch.

"Easy enough." Eunuch Hai was very satisfied with Sheng Qingfeng's tact and laughed: "His Majesty said that Chief Sheng's plan to change the Great Gan Heroes Ranking to a quarterly release is a reasonable reform. He also wants to get an early look at the first new ranking after the Chief takes office."

Sheng Qingfeng secretly thought that His Majesty seemed unexpectedly attentive to Lu Xingzhou, including Lu Nuonuo.

However, it was easy enough to rank the two of them on the Alchemist sub-ranking; just bump Xuan Qing, the third-place newcomer, down. This was a clear competition, and everyone had to accept it. As for whether they could take first or second, they were both in the Alchemy Academy anyway, and there would be opportunities for competition, so they could just rank them in the next issue.

But the main Newcomer Ranking was truly a headache.

The master and apprentice had killed Ye Wufeng together, so they couldn't directly replace Ye Wufeng's first place; only Qi Tuizhi, the direct descendant genius of the Lingtian Pavilion who was originally second, could fill the first spot. But how to rank the Lu family master and apprentice was truly a brain-racking problem.

Currently, Lu Xingzhou's revealed hard cultivation was at the fifth-rank lower stage, which for the Newcomer Ranking was barely at the middle-to-lower level, sitting at the same table as his own daughter, Sheng Xiaogua.

Of course, hard cultivation was not the only standard for evaluation; everyone valued actual combat more. But Lu Xingzhou had never had a one-on-one duel with other newcomers, and didn't even have many public combat records, making it impossible to evaluate. No matter where he was placed in the front, the other newcomers he pushed down would be dissatisfied, which would instead offend people on his behalf and sabotage Lu Xingzhou.

That kind of arbitrary ranking was just chaotic, and the original intention of the Demon Suppression Division in ranking the newcomers was to provide motivation, so they still had to be cautious.

But if they really put Lu Xingzhou in the middle-to-lower ranks, the Demon Suppression Division would be laughed at for being blind.

An even more tragic point was that Lu Nuonuo's cultivation had clearly reached the fourth-rank lower stage, a whole major level above her master. If the apprentice's ranking was higher than the master's, would Lu Xingzhou still have any face left?

Sheng Qingfeng gathered the publication department to discuss it for a long time, but they didn't have any good ideas.

In the end, a subordinate simply suggested: "Chief, why not just ask Lu Xingzhou directly? If he's not afraid of offending people, then put him further ahead, and place him in the position originally vacated by Chu Qingchen. As for whether Lu Nuonuo should be on the list, I'm afraid we'll have to ask the master and apprentice themselves. After all, for such a child to be on both lists and ranked so high, it's a bit too eye-catching. It's also very easy to guess that she is the Ghost Child, which is not a good thing... Lu Xingzhou might want to hide it."

Sheng Qingfeng glanced at the subordinate: "When has the Demon Suppression Division ever asked the parties involved when making rankings? Is it up to them whether to hide it or not?"

Although he was opposing it, his tone was quite gentle... The subordinates looked at each other, and someone said: "Then we could also ask Manager Sheng. Manager Sheng has a very close relationship with the parties involved and should understand their thoughts better than we do, and can represent them to a certain extent."

Sheng Qingfeng was expressionless: "How can Manager Sheng represent the parties involved? How? Can I represent them too then!"

Everyone was silent.

Sheng Qingfeng stiffened his face: "But asking first is fine; have someone invite Manager Sheng over for a meeting."

Someone said cautiously: "Manager Sheng asked for personal leave today."

Sheng Qingfeng lost a bit of face; as a father, he was being informed of his daughter's whereabouts by someone else: "How come I don't know what major business she has? What is the reason for the leave?"

The subordinate's voice was barely audible: "To, to go to the park with the party involved."

Sheng Qingfeng: "..."

He wasn't angry about the leave for such a trivial matter, but angry that she actually dared to use this reason for official business! Did she think she was being very open and aboveboard!

Sheng Qingfeng felt the subordinates' gazes burning on his face; the implication that "your daughter has been snatched by a yellow-haired brat" burned the newly appointed Chief Sheng's face until it turned a dark purple.

The first arrest warrant issued by the new Chief of the Demon Suppression Division: "Who approved this leave! Someone! Go and bring Sheng Yuanyao back to me!"

Sheng Yuanyao was dragged back while still at the dining table.

When the Demon Suppression Division officers entered the door with a dry cough, Sheng Yuanyao's cheeks were stuffed full of food, and she looked at the newcomers in a daze, still holding a bowl of rice in her hand.

Fortunately, everyone had been trained not to laugh, otherwise they would have burst out laughing on the spot: "Um, Manager Sheng, your leave has been rejected by the Chief; he wants you to go back to work."

Sheng Yuanyao struggled to swallow the food in her mouth and muttered in a low voice: "The Chief hasn't managed anything in ages, why is he bothering with my little affairs? I hope his daughter gets dragged away while eating, and her outing with a man gets cut short!"

Everyone nodded sincerely: "You are right."

Although Sheng Yuanyao was unhappy, she didn't have much regret. Today had actually been fulfilling enough; if they hadn't left after the meal, she might have faced the awkwardness of whether to take a nap together, which she hadn't decided on yet... Being dragged away by "official business" actually gave her a sufficient reason to end it, and she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

So she got up and patted Lu Xingzhou on the shoulder: "This young lady had a great time today, I'll reward you next time... uh..."

Just saying "reward you" made her think of the reward of that previous kiss, and Sheng Yuanyao's face began to blush again, her eyes shifting: "We'll talk about it next time."

Lu Xingzhou smiled slightly: "Today was a bit rough... if there's a next time, I will give Miss Sheng a more detailed experience."

Everyone thought he was talking about cooking, but heaven knows why Miss Sheng's face turned red enough to drip water when he mentioned cooking?

The way she ran away in such a hurry, her ponytail was... wait, what did you use to tie your ponytail?

Sheng Qingfeng paced back and forth around his daughter in the conference room, finally fixing his gaze on the grass ring tying her ponytail, staring at it for at least half an incense stick's time.

The entire conference room was silent, everyone looking straight ahead.

"Chief, is it you?" Sheng Yuanyao asked.

Sheng Qingfeng didn't answer, saying indifferently: "Effective immediately, Security Division Manager Sheng Yuanyao is transferred to Editor-in-Chief of the Publication Division, responsible for the compilation of the Great Gan Heroes Ranking."

"No, Old Sheng, you know how much education I have; you're making me do administrative work?"

"The intelligence department will provide full assistance, providing various reference materials on the figures on the list."

Sheng Yuanyao: "I'll do it."

Sheng Qingfeng looked like he had expected this: "Then, Editor-in-Chief Sheng, how do you think the Lu Xingzhou master and apprentice should be ranked in the new Newcomer Ranking?"

Sheng Yuanyao said directly: "Just replace Chu Qingchen's position, what's there to rank?"

"He is only fifth-rank lower stage; isn't he afraid of being too dazzling and inviting jealousy in such a high position? When the time comes and public opinion is in an uproar, will he be able to handle it?"

"A mere Newcomer Ranking is simply not where he belongs; I'll lose if he even glances at these so-called newcomers."

Looking at his daughter's confident and spirited expression, Sheng Qingfeng ground his teeth: "You're very close to him, huh?"

Sheng Yuanyao felt a warning of crisis and retreated half a step defensively.

Sheng Qingfeng flicked his sleeves and left: "After work, go to the family ancestral hall and copy the family rules one hundred times; if a single character is missing, you're not allowed to eat!"