Misty Rain of the Old Times

On the bustling street, the shop called Yuexiangju was brightly lit under the night sky, with a constant stream of customers, all dressed in fine silks and brocades.

These days, poor families rarely see meat all year round, and unless they are wealthy, who would dare to go out and spend money at night?

Yuexiangju is a five-story building located in the most prosperous area. It is elegantly decorated, and many parts of the exterior walls are planted with luminous plants in bonsai, making it stand out from the crowd. Just by looking at this undisguised style, you can tell that it has a great background.

He was surrounded by a group of guards, all of whom were highly skilled in internal energy.

Two rows of women in light blue dresses greeted and saw off customers at the entrance. However, these ladies were quite ordinary in appearance and figure, but their manners were elegant and proper.

Logically, a greeter should be exceptionally beautiful to reflect the shop's prestige, so why are all the women at Yuexiangju so ordinary? After a moment's thought, Chen Xuan realized that someone must be guiding him. Think about it: this shop caters to women. If the greeters are too beautiful and overshadow the customers, who will come back after a while? Girls love beauty; they come to feel important, not to feel uncomfortable.

As Chen Xuan and his group walked toward the shop, a conflict broke out inside, causing quite a commotion. Customers coming and going immediately stepped aside, becoming onlookers. Watching a spectacle is an innate human trait, and soon a large crowd had gathered, two or three layers deep.

Because of his keen senses, Chen Xuan quickly deduced from the conversations that the conflict was caused by a powder called Red Thread. However, the others were unaware of this and were whispering among themselves while watching the drama unfold.

It seemed that both sides in the conflict were quite powerful, so much so that even the restaurant owner, Lexiangju, was somewhat at a loss. The guards dared not step forward to break up the fight and could only cautiously persuade them to stop.

"They were fine just now, how did they start fighting?" The little princess shook her head before even getting close to the gate, stopping more than ten feet away. Her interest in the shop immediately waned. She wanted to see what they sold, not watch a fight.

The little princess had no interest in going to watch the commotion. She was pregnant and naturally wouldn't go to dangerous places. If she were to harm the baby, she would regret it later.

Stepping forward to shield them, Chen Xuan enveloped them with invisible, intangible true energy to prevent any accidental collisions. Taking advantage of his height, he looked ahead and laughed, "Who knows? The two sides in the conflict are girls. Girls, you know, their personalities are fickle; they can change their minds faster than flipping through a book."

Meanwhile, the conflict over there intensified, with the sounds of clashing blows mixed with shouts and cries.

"Senior sister, don't go too far. I saw it first. How about giving it to me to save face and avoid hurting our relationship?"

"Junior sister, what are you saying? It's not that I'm not giving you face, but this is the only serving, and I'm going to pay for it myself. But you're trying to take it from me. That's not right. Who's really trying to ruin things here?"

"You haven't paid, so why can't I buy it? I think you're deliberately making things difficult for me, senior sister. Do you think I'm that easy to bully?"

"You're the one being unreasonable, and you're blaming me? We both liked it, we're fellow disciples, why should I give way to you? Does your junior sister think she can disregard her senior sister just because she has some cultivation?"

"It seems that Senior Sister is going to bully the younger one because of her age. We are the same age and entered the sect together. You only became Senior Sister because you are a month older than me. I have been wanting to learn from you for a long time. Take this!"

"I'm not afraid of you. I'll teach you a lesson today, so you won't think you're so capable and embarrass the sect later..."

Shouts rang out continuously, accompanied by clashes. Both sides were clearly restrained and did not recklessly damage shop items or innocent people.

Chen Xuan found it amusing, thinking to himself, "You fellow disciples fighting in front of outsiders, isn't that embarrassing enough?"

Both of them had acquired their skills through cultivation, opening up their eight extraordinary meridians. Their internal energy was solid and profound, leaning towards a soft and gentle nature. They had also learned the same martial arts, so they were evenly matched and neither could gain the upper hand for the time being.

At the same time, Chen Xuan also learned about their identities from the general public. They were quite famous in Qianzhou Prefecture of Yuhua Kingdom and had an impressive background. No wonder no one dared to interfere when they fought here.

One of them was the daughter of the governor, and the other was the eldest daughter of the garrison commander of Qianzhou. Although civil officials were of higher status than military officials in terms of family background, the garrison commander had a noble title, so the two women's statuses were roughly the same, and neither could surpass the other. Moreover, they had known each other since childhood, as if they were natural enemies, and they had never gotten along since they were young, always fighting whenever they met.

When they were seven or eight years old, the two of them joined a martial arts sect called Green Valley. Their masters were not the same, but both were innate masters. They never stopped fighting. Today, they got into a fight again because of a powder called Red Thread.

Chen Xuan was of course unfamiliar with the martial arts sects of Yuhua Kingdom, but hearing that their two masters were both innate masters, he figured that the Green Jade Valley must be extraordinary and one of the top sects in the entire Yuhua Kingdom. To be fair, when a sect has more than two innate masters, even the imperial court cannot underestimate it.

"Ladies, please stop fighting. Calm down and give me some face. There's only one red thread left today. Someone will deliver it urgently tomorrow. It's just one night. It won't make a difference. Don't ruin our harmony." At this moment, a gentle voice rang out in the hall, its tone helpless and amused.

According to onlookers, the person speaking was the owner of Yuexiangju, a mysterious woman whose cultivation level and origin were unknown. Since the shop opened ten years ago, it has remained peaceful until now. It's not that no one has tried to take advantage of the place and her, but they have all quietly disappeared without a trace, to the point that almost no one dares to cause trouble here now.

Even after she intervened to mediate, the two young ladies still didn't stop fighting.

"I want this one. Senior sister, how about you give it to me? There will be more tomorrow."

"No way! I'm already paying. It's clearly mine. My junior sister is obviously trying to steal it. Does she think I have no dignity?"

"Hmph, let's see who's the real deal then."

"Come on then, let's fight outside. Let's not damage their shop; we should at least give the shopkeeper some face."

"Let's go outside and see what happens..."

The two sisters were both unwilling to admit defeat and wanted to prove themselves, but they were clearly concerned about the store, so their argument escalated from the lobby to the street.

The two were around eighteen or nineteen years old, each wearing an ice-blue or moon-white long dress. As expected of Yuhua Kingdom, which is known for producing beauties, they were both stunningly beautiful. One was gentle and graceful with a slender waist and pert hips, while the other was delicate and charming with a full bust and long legs.

They were still somewhat restrained, not using weapons, but fighting fiercely with their fists and feet. Their movements were graceful and ethereal, with flashes of light from their internal energy colliding from time to time. Although they were fighting, it was a feast for the eyes and a delight to behold.

The onlookers quickly moved aside to make room for them to fight. Since they had started fighting in the street, the people from Yuexiangju stopped paying attention to them.

It was just a bunch of amateurs pecking at each other. Chen Xuan glanced at them twice and lost interest. He turned to the little princess, whose enthusiasm had waned, and asked, "Wife, almost everyone's attention has been drawn to those two. Shall we go into the shop and take a look?"

"Since we're already here, let's go take a look. According to that voice, they disregarded their fraternal bond because of a product called Red Thread. I'm a little curious about what it is, but we can just ask. There's no need to buy it while they're distracted. Otherwise, they'll definitely point the finger at the third party, and it would be a loss to cause trouble for ourselves," the little princess nodded thoughtfully, showing she was quite sensible.

Chen Xuan didn't care, and upon hearing this, he protected them and walked towards the door.

Although people's attention was almost entirely drawn to the two sisters, their arrival was still greeted by someone immediately.

"Welcome to Yuexiang Residence, please come in," a female greeter said respectfully as she stepped forward. With so many people coming and going every day, she could tell at a glance that Chen Xuan and his group were no ordinary people.

Led by her, we entered and found ourselves in a spacious hall, surrounded by a dazzling array of goods, including cosmetics, jewelry, and other precious items, all glittering under the lights. This was only the first floor.

Upon entering, the welcoming woman who led the way looked at Chen Xuan apologetically and said, "Esteemed guests, this must be your first time visiting our Yuexiang Residence. We mainly deal in items for women, and many things are quite private, so male guests can only stay on the first floor. We hope you understand. Gentleman, why don't you move over and rest? Tea will be served." Chen Xuan immediately noticed the rest area on the first floor, where dozens of male guests were resting, presumably waiting for their female relatives to go upstairs. However, at this moment, their attention was drawn to the two women fighting on the street, and they opened the window to watch with great interest.

Hearing this, Chen Xuan exchanged a glance with the little princess, then smiled and said, "My wife, you go and take a look. If you like anything, buy it. I'll wait for you over there."

With Yunlan and Yunxin by his side, and Chen Xuan keeping an eye on things, there's naturally no need to worry about safety.

"Okay, then wait a moment, my husband. We'll just look around and then come find you," the little princess nodded.

After they parted ways, Chen Xuan went to the rest area, found an empty spot to sit down, and was immediately served tea and fruit. He thought to himself that it was very thoughtful. He wondered if it was free since he didn't buy anything. He could vaguely hear the greeters saying things like "a perfect match" to the little princess and her companion.

As expected, you can't trust a woman's words. The little princess said she would just take a look and then come, but she didn't show up for a quarter of an hour. She probably lingered there and didn't want to leave. Chen Xuan wasn't surprised at all. Fortunately, the two female disciples on the street were fighting fiercely and neither of them would give in, so watching them wasn't boring.

There was no hair-pulling or clothes-tearing, but the two of them were drenched in sweat after their back-and-forth fighting. Neither of them was willing to give in, and they were still gritting their teeth and persevering.

"These two young ladies are both exceptionally beautiful and have outstanding figures in our Yuhua Kingdom, not to mention their family backgrounds. Anyone who marries one of them would be extremely lucky. It's a pity that they both fall in love with the same person; it's truly enviable!"

"Absolutely. Any one of them would be thrilled if they could just glance at me, yet they'd abandon their childhood sweethearts for a man. I wish I were in their shoes."

"Wake up, bro. Stop dreaming. We'd better have some self-awareness."

A few sour comments came from around him. Since he had nothing better to do, Chen Xuan couldn't help but chime in out of curiosity, "Everyone, I'm from out of town. What's the deal with those two?"

"We don't know the specifics, we wouldn't dare to inquire about their identities. But we heard, we heard, that they both fell in love with the same senior brother, but they didn't dare to show it because he already had someone else in his heart. At that time, their relationship was quite good, but after their senior brother returned from a trip, he seemed to have given up. Then they saw hope and decisively pursued him. That's why they turned against each other. This time, they fought over a red thread to please that senior brother," someone said subconsciously without turning their head.

Chen Xuan was completely confused. Before he could ask any further questions, a new situation arose on the street outside.

Someone shouted, "Hey ladies, stop fighting! Your senior brother is here!"

The tone was gloating, clearly showing that the person was enjoying the spectacle.

At the same time, a handsome man parted the crowd and walked into the arena. Looking at the two women fighting, he asked in astonishment, "Junior sisters, what are you doing?"

He clearly didn't understand what was going on, looking completely bewildered, as if he were getting to know his two junior sisters all over again.

The truth is that the two girls usually act like they're the best of friends in front of him, but it's all an act for him. Behind his back, they start fighting and even getting into physical fights. They both like him. You have to be careful of your best friend!

Logically, this shouldn't be a problem; they could both marry him. However, the two women grew up together and each wanted to be the older sister, refusing to admit defeat. This is the root of the conflict.

Upon hearing the man's voice, the two women, who were still fighting, froze, decisively separated, and then, feigning indifference, quickly tidied themselves up and ran excitedly towards the man. They each took one of his arms and exclaimed, "It's nothing, senior brother, we were just joking!"

"Yeah, we're just so bored, we're doing something to move around."

The two women glared at each other quietly, giving each other a look that said, "It's all your fault."

The man tried to pull his arm away but couldn't; it was held tightly. Helplessly, he said, "You two are acting ridiculously in public! Hurry up and leave, or I'll report this to my two senior uncles later!"

"Senior brother, we were wrong. We were really just joking. You can ask senior sister if you don't believe me."

"Yes, my junior sister said she hadn't mastered one move and asked me for pointers. I got so focused that I didn't pay attention to the situation."

"It was clearly Senior Sister who said she didn't remember the cultivation path of the new martial art she learned..."

Good grief, the two of them are even trying to undermine each other in front of their crush.

The senior student gave an awkward smile, lowered his head, and hurried away, saying, "Hurry up and move along, or people will laugh at us."

The three of them left quickly, especially the man, who was flanked by two stunningly beautiful women, making countless people envious and wishing they could take his place.

Chen Xuan, who witnessed all of this, raised his eyebrows slightly and thought to himself, "Isn't that man Yan Quan?" Soon he probably figured out what was going on.

Yan Quan used to like He Hongyi and even chased after her to Yang County, only to be punished by Chen Xuan. Coupled with He Hongyi's clear attitude, he gave up after returning. Then, his two junior sisters who liked him realized that their chance had come, and due to jealousy, they staged a scene of fighting.

Sure enough, outstanding men are never short of girls who like them. Take Yan Quan, for example. Given the feelings his two junior sisters have for him, they would probably marry him without hesitation if he just said the word. However, after failing to win over He Hongyi, he went to Yang County and suffered a setback, so he probably doesn't have the heart for that right now.

'Speaking of which, this guy's cultivation seems to have improved quite a bit. It seems that having him circle around Yang County for a few days did provide him with enough training...'

When this thought popped into Chen Xuan's head, his heart skipped a beat. So, Yan Quan must be a disciple of the Green Valley? Since he's here, could his master and aunt, Tingyin, be nearby?
Thinking of the ethereal fairy Tingyin's infatuation caused by a mishap during her cultivation, coupled with the words she spoke when she left Yang County, what would happen if she found out he was here? Being pestered was one thing, but if she misunderstood that he had come specifically to find her, that would be a real headache. That wasn't just being love-struck; it was a genuine illness caused by a mishap during cultivation. With his Grandmaster cultivation, who knew what he would do if the little princess provoked him into having an attack!

Lost in thought, Chen Xuan didn't forget to keep an eye on his wife. By this time, they had come downstairs. He got up and went to greet them with a smile, "Wife, have you finished shopping? Is there anything you like?"

As they were talking, Chen Xuan noticed that the maids following behind them were carrying several exquisite boxes, suggesting that they had made a purchase.

However, the little princess returned with slightly flushed cheeks and a wandering gaze, as if she had been greatly shocked.

Before Chen Xuan could ask any questions, she laughed almost as if fleeing, "Husband, I've finished shopping and bought some things. Let's go now; Sister Juan and the others should have found a place to stay by now."

What did he see to make him react like that? Chen Xuan wondered, thinking he would ask later. Then, his eyes flashed and he asked a box, "Wife, what's in there?"

Following his gaze, the little princess turned around and smiled, "It's a face powder called Red Thread. Those two women fought over it earlier. They've already left, so I figured they wouldn't want it. That's why I bought it."

"I see, that's interesting," Chen Xuan said thoughtfully.

Sensing the hidden meaning in his words, the little princess asked疑惑地问道, "Husband, is there something wrong with this face powder?"

"It's alright, let's go, we'll talk later," Chen Xuan said with a nonchalant smile, glancing towards the counter before leading the little princess and the others away... (End of Chapter)