Chapter 96: Traveling Together

While she was thinking, A'nuo quietly ran in and handed her two buns and a small bag.

Pei Chuyun opened the small bag and looked, using two fingers to pick up a tiny bodice: "What is this?"

"A bodice." A'nuo scratched her head: "Master quietly ordered me to buy it."

"So you bought a child's bodice?"

"Ah? Isn't this a bodice? Are there other kinds of bodices?"

Pei Chuyun held it up against her chest to compare, expressionless: "Do you think it looks like this?"

A'nuo turned and ran.

Pei Chuyun reached out and grabbed her by the back of the collar, gritting her teeth: "Go buy another one!"

A'nuo turned back and apologized with a smile: "Sister A'luo..."

"What?"

"Believe me, if you really wear this for my master to see, master will probably eat your Joyous Union technique. I'm helping you."

Pei Chuyun: "You're six years old?"

A'nuo puffed out her chest: "The year has passed, I should be seven!"

In reality, she should be eleven... A'nuo touched her index fingers together, very distressed.

In some families, girls of this age can already be betrothed... why is A'nuo still so small? Is it that she hasn't eaten enough pills...

A'nuo was distracted, and Pei Chuyun squinted at her for a long time, taking the opportunity to pull her closer.

A'nuo didn't pay much attention while distracted, and Pei Chuyun suddenly swung her jade hand and slapped the little brat's butt: "You're also my enemy, still acting cute here! Making me drink spring water, making me take you to the Sword Peak Hall!"

"What's that sound in the room?" At the stone table in the outer courtyard, Meng Guan was brewing tea with Lu Xingzhou and asked as if nothing had happened.

Lu Xingzhou remained calm: "Oh, maybe my inferior disciple is playing with a cat."

Meng Guan laughed: "Forget it... I came here to ask Mr. Lu, how do you plan to follow up on this matter?"

"Is the Garrison Commander really not afraid of offending the Huo family?"

"No matter how powerful the Huo family is, they don't cover the sky with one hand; they always have political enemies."

"Pei?"

Meng Guan smiled without a word.

Lu Xingzhou said: "Then if I want Huo Lu to die on the way to the capital, to eliminate future trouble, what does the Garrison Commander think?"

Meng Guan shook his head: "I don't suggest doing that. In fact, there's no need; Huo Lu's dantian is destroyed, his bones are all shattered, and even immortal pills can't cure him."

"What if he can be cured?"

"If the Huo family really has that ability... they wouldn't dare to cure him."

"Hmm?" Lu Xingzhou was stunned: "Why? I'd like to hear the details."

"Because back then, Grand Tutor Huo presented an 'ancestral pill' that pulled His Majesty back from a serious injury, but it could never be completely cured. If Huo Lu's level of injury could suddenly be cured, what would that mean? What would His Majesty think?"

Lu Xingzhou naturally didn't know that the Emperor had been seriously injured, and upon hearing this, his eyes lit up, and he fell into deep thought.

This matter might be a good thunderclap in the future...

Then there really was no need to kill Huo Lu; in fact, he could do this to other members of the Huo family in the future...

"Although the Huo family has enjoyed great imperial favor these years, they are not without flaws." Meng Guan whispered with deep meaning: "If the Seventh Young Master goes to the capital, you might as well go see Prime Minister Pei; he should be very happy to meet with the Seventh Young Master."

Lu Xingzhou said: "Then can the Garrison Commander give me an introduction letter?"

"For this case, I will clearly state your great contribution. Everyone in the capital will naturally know in their hearts that the Lu Xingzhou who made this contribution is Huo Seven... At that time, your name will be the introduction letter." Meng Guan laughed: "Unless the Seventh Young Master himself doesn't want to be too high-profile and hopes to hide your role in the Xiazhou and Dongjiang cases?"

Lu Xingzhou smiled: "No need to hide."

Meng Guan said: "I saw you blocking Huo Lu on the street, and I knew you probably didn't want to hide... Why, do you have thoughts of entering the imperial court head-on?"

"I do." Lu Xingzhou said: "I will leave Dream Return City this time and go straight to the capital to participate in the assessment of the Capital Alchemy Academy. Does the Garrison Commander have any advice on this?"

No matter how strict the assessment of the Capital Alchemy Academy is, it's not as ridiculously strict as the imperial examination; there's still room for human favors behind it. Shen Tang can't exert this influence, but others might not be the same.

In a system without "Provincial Governors" but only "Inspectors" responsible for supervision, a Garrison Commander of a large county like Meng Guan can be called a feudal lord of a town; he would have his own face beyond the Pei family behind him.

Meng Guan said "Ha": "You asked the right person; Instructor Meng Li of the Alchemy Academy is my own brother."

As he spoke, he really picked up a pen and wrote a letter, then added: "But put away the idea of getting in through the back door; that's basically impossible. But ensuring you aren't maliciously made difficult and gaining a relatively fair environment should be doable. Otherwise... hehe, I'm afraid your days won't be easy."

"I'm already very grateful." Lu Xingzhou bowed: "Thank you for your care, Garrison Commander."

"The reason I care for you isn't purely because the enemy of my enemy is my friend... but because of your act of eliminating demons by using yourself as bait without fear of danger; I admit I don't have that courage." Meng Guan wrote the letter and handed it to him, sighing: "In the future, when you have an official status in the imperial court, remember today's heart, and don't be crushed by the millstone of the officialdom, forgetting that you are still a human."

Lu Xingzhou's expression was solemn: "Rest assured, Garrison Commander."

Meng Guan suddenly straightened his face, stood up, and flicked his sleeves away: "Just because of the cat in your room, I can't rest assured."

Lu Xingzhou: "......"

Originally, the main purpose of meeting Meng Guan this time was to ask how to follow up on the Huo Lu matter and if there was anything he, Lu Xingzhou, needed to do. But looking at Meng Guan's attitude, there was no need to ask; whether they chose to suppress it for now or explode it immediately, the Pei family and Meng Guan and others would naturally have their political considerations, and there was no need for him to intervene.

This matter was enough to keep the Huo family in a state of chaos; the son was crippled, and there was a pile of shit about "colluding with demonic cultivators."

Lu Xingzhou returned to the room in high spirits, even humming a little tune.

Upon entering the room, he was stunned; Pei Chuyun was pinned on the bed by A'nuo, who was slapping her: "You're not my master's wife yet, and you dare to hit my butt? Now I'm your senior!"

The buttocks were rolling, it was quite a sight.

Pei Chuyun lay there, looking lifeless: "If you have the ability, unseal my acupoints..."

"You tell me to unseal, and I unseal?" A'nuo continued slapping: "If you provoke me, you've provoked..."

"A'nuo." Lu Xingzhou coughed: "What are you doing?"

"......Cotton." A'nuo jumped off the bed with a "thud" and complained tearfully: "Master, she hit me..."

Lu Xingzhou picked her up and kissed her: "Master will help you teach the little enchantress a lesson."

"......" Can't you see who hit whom? Pei Chuyun lay there, feeling dead inside, too lazy to move.

Lu Xingzhou glanced over; the buns were still on the table uneaten, and he was truly laughing and crying. How long did I talk to the Garrison Commander outside, and you two have been fighting in the room the whole time?

He put A'nuo down and ruffled her hair: "Go out and play for a while; I have something to say to Sister A'luo."

A'nuo poked her head out from under Lu Xingzhou's armpit, stuck her tongue out at Pei Chuyun, and ran off.

Pei Chuyun still lay there without moving.

Lu Xingzhou took the buns from the table and paced over, pulling her up: "Alright... after all this fuss, eat some bun..."

His voice suddenly cut off in his throat.

Pei Chuyun's clothes were half-undone, and she was wearing a child's bodice on the front, which was leaking air on all sides and barely covered anything; both sides were popping out...

Lu Xingzhou stood there stupidly, and Pei Chuyun looked gray: "Have you seen enough? This is the bodice you told your good disciple to buy."

Lu Xingzhou was silent for a moment, then suddenly shouted: "A'nuo."

"Whoosh~" A brand-new bodice flew in from outside the window, spinning.

Lu Xingzhou flicked his index finger, and the bodice spun around his finger several times before finally stopping. Pei Chuyun took a look; it was a normal bodice.

Sure enough, the brat had bought it beforehand and deliberately pretended not to understand, just to trap people?

"Cough." Lu Xingzhou resisted the urge to change her bodice himself, placed the item on her, and ran away: "Change it yourself, we'll wait for you outside..."

"Get lost~" Pei Chuyun finally reacted, took off the child's bodice she was wearing, and threw it hard.

The bodice whistled out and slammed into the door, actually making a "bang" sound.

After such a long time, both the pill and the acupoint sealing were at their limit, and anger allowed the little enchantress to break through the final acupoint seal; her strength had recovered!

Pei Chuyun put on her clothes in a few quick movements and rushed out with her fists clenched. A'nuo was just bringing the wheelchair to her master, and upon seeing this situation, she dropped the wheelchair and ran for her life. The big and small enchantresses ran out of the courtyard in an instant and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The wheelchair spun around in the courtyard, and Lu Xingzhou covered his forehead.

The wheelchair shuttled through the bustling traffic of Dream Return City. A'nuo had a lollipop in her mouth, pushing the wheelchair with both hands, her eyes squinting to the right, fearing someone might suddenly attack.

Pei Chuyun was also chewing on a lollipop, squinting at the master and disciple, following along expressionlessly.

Ahead was the road out of the city. Pei Chuyun had never thought that the name Dream Return City was actually set for herself.

She dreamed of leaving this ghost place.

"Um, Miss Pei." Lu Xingzhou finally spoke: "Why are you... still following us..."

Pei Chuyun chewed on the lollipop, her voice sounding like she was gritting her teeth: "Why do you care how I walk? Is this road yours?"

That tone was as fitting as could be. Lu Xingzhou really wanted to laugh: "Still want to take revenge on us?"

"Can't I?"

"Does your sect really have nothing to do? Letting a Saintess wander around everywhere."

"I was out for training in the first place; who cares where I go to train?"

Lu Xingzhou thought for a moment and laughed: "In that case, how about going to the capital together, giving you a chance to take revenge at any time."

Pei Chuyun didn't answer, hesitating in her heart.

As for the so-called revenge, he really didn't want it anymore. He had let himself off the hook, which truly counted as a grace of sparing his life; how could he continue to be so tactless? That would be called being unreasonable... Now, he actually felt more like beating up that little brat.

And the Pei family... Lu Xingzhou's proposal last night to go to the capital to investigate her relationship with the Pei family again—to be honest, Pei Chuyun was a bit moved.

Investigating it herself and finding nothing didn't mean Lu Xingzhou couldn't find anything.

It was enough that he was smart, but mainly he seemed to be able to enter and leave the Pei family openly, unlike her, an enchantress who could only visit secretly by brushing the edges; this was not the same level of difficulty at all.

Maybe if she hung out with him, she really would have a chance to find something out.

But if that were the case, what the hell was there to take revenge for? Instead, she would have to beg him.

Moreover, if the two of them went their separate ways, he couldn't take her with him when he entered the Pei mansion. If she wanted to enter and leave with him openly, she would need a suitable identity.

What identity could she have? Wife, concubine, or friend were all inappropriate.

The only suitable one was a maid... Going to the capital for the exam, bringing a page boy and a maid was a very standard configuration.

Revenge failed, and she turned herself into a maid. Was there such a shameful Joyous Union Saintess in the world? If the sect found out, they probably wouldn't even admit that this person was their Saintess.

Pei Chuyun wouldn't say that even if she were beaten to death, and after a long while, she said sullenly: "I will go to the capital, even if it's just to add a blockage to you, I have to go."

"If you really want to add a blockage to me, don't you need my help?"

Pei Chuyun hummed, but didn't dare to act proud and say no, fearing he really wouldn't help.

How could Lu Xingzhou not know what she was thinking? He turned his head and smiled: "I enjoyed traveling with Miss A'luo the other day. I wonder if you are willing to travel with us to the capital? You can add as much blockage as you want along the way."

Pei Chuyun remained expressionless: "You said it."

As they spoke, the three passed by the market.

Pei Chuyun caught sight of a chicken-slaughtering stall, stepped forward, threw down a piece of silver, picked up a dead chicken, and plucked the feathers one by one: "Then you be careful."

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ps: Haven't had 10,000 words in two or three days, here's a wave today. By the way, asking for monthly tickets~