Daoqi Huangcheng

Chapter 19 19. Mandrill
The next day
In front of the bronze mirror, Qingyue was combing Song Chen's hair and tidying his clothes.

The bronze mirror reflected the images of the two people.

Qingyue didn't even look at him, focusing solely on dressing her husband.

Song Chen looked at his wife.

Qingyue is very beautiful, like a beauty in a traditional Chinese ink painting. She has snow-white skin, dark eyes, red lips and white teeth, and her dreamy eyes have a slightly hazy look, as if she wants to ride the wind away.

Even though the couple had been sleeping in the same bed every night and doing all sorts of intimate things, there was still a sense of estrangement and distance between them once they got out of bed, as if they were separated by a painting.

At night, the beauty in the painting walks out of the painting.

During the day, she returned to the painting.

At night, it's like fire.

During the day, it was like frost.

Song Chen touched his nose. No, it was him who was "like fire." He was like a newborn, but Qingyue was never that enthusiastic from beginning to end. She just went along with him with a resigned look.

Qingyue is fulfilling the duties of a good woman, and he also needs to shoulder the corresponding responsibilities, which he is already doing.

"Shall we go for a stroll in the capital? If my wife doesn't like going to places like restaurants, teahouses, and fabric shops, then I'll accompany her to the Strange Beast Street," Song Chen said. "I've heard that the Strange Beast Street is modeled after the Strange Beast Garden of the Jin Kingdom. Although it's not yet fully developed, it must be quite interesting."

He learned this information through the blacksmithing gang.

Young Lady Qingyue looked up at the bronze mirror, her gaze meeting his in the mirror for a moment, then lowered her head and said, "That street hasn't been built yet; it's just an empty street with no strange beasts. Recently, the Wei family has been busy, but in four days it will be my turn to take a day off. Would you mind accompanying me, my husband, that day?"

The air became quiet.

Song Chen said, "Actually, I should go back to Jinxia Mountain too."

Lady Qingyue paused for a moment, then said, "With your potential, my husband is sure to become a great cultivator. However, the path of cultivation is arduous, so you must be careful."

Song Chen said, "You won't let other cultivators ride in your carriages, will you?"

Young Lady Qingyue shook her head and said, "No."

The air fell silent again.

Song Chen's clothes are now ready.

Young Lady Qingyue left the house and boarded the He family carriage to go to the Wei family residence.

From afar came the roar of a crane and the trembling pleas of a servant.

After Song Chen finished his breakfast, the First Madam came from afar and said, "Qingyue said you are going back to Jinxia Mountain today."

Song Chen nodded, bowed, called out "Sister", and then said, "I will also take that spirit stone from the manor with me."

The First Madam laughed and said, "Of course you can bring it."

Just then, the roar of the crane came from the courtyard not far away.

"roll!"

"Get out! Get out now!!!"

Then, another servant stumbled and scrambled out of the courtyard gate, taking a hard fall at the threshold.

The First Madam looked nervously at Song Chen, then took a deep breath and took half a step forward, bringing her body, wrapped in gorgeous silk, closer to the man in front of her.

The scent of rouge, a faint fragrance of frankincense, and an alluring femininity wafted over, making her smooth lines even more defined.

"Xiao Song, don't take it to heart." The First Madam was also helpless with her son.

Looking at the warm and soft beauty so close to him, Song Chen thought that if he might have been mistaken last night, the current situation was enough to prove something.

This was the first wife's last resort to "bind him and appease him." She wanted to transform herself into a tempting dried fish to keep him hanging on. When he got angry, she would let him lick it to calm his anger, but she wouldn't let him lick it otherwise.

But he has been thinking about his own criteria for choosing a partner these days.

He is a cultivator. If he can break through to the Qi Gathering Realm, his lifespan will be greatly extended. It is impossible for him to have only one woman in his life.

However, he wouldn't pounce on every beautiful woman he saw.

So, he thought it over. First, he liked the woman's appearance; second, being with her would bring him benefits. Otherwise, he'd better not.

He liked the First Madam's appearance quite a bit, but it was unnecessary to be bound or kept in suspense by her because of it.

Song Chen reached out with both hands.

The First Madam's breathing suddenly quickened.

Those hands rested on her shoulders.

The First Madam let out a soft moan.

Song Chen comforted her, "Sister, He'er is just inexperienced and hasn't seen much. He only sees this manor, but he can't see the dangers outside. He thinks I'm his enemy, but he doesn't realize that I'm just an ally sharing this hardship with him in this canoe." He gave a bitter smile and said, "I won't stoop to his level. Now it's time to continue my cultivation. However, I don't actually plan to go back to Jinxia Mountain. I've mastered two supernatural abilities, so I'll train a bit in the wild first and kill a few ferocious beasts."

The First Madam's body had already gone limp, but seeing the young man earnestly comforting her, she inwardly spat, then straightened up, coughed twice, and said, "Then let's go to the west of the city, to the Wild Boar Forest. Que Shenyun has been there many times. Although he might not actually be in the Wild Boar Forest, he definitely went in that direction. Perhaps you'll even run into the rogue cultivator Shi Fang, Xiao Song. He took out his spirit stones after returning from the west of the city once."

After saying that, she added, "Go to the storeroom and get another six hundred, no! One thousand taels of gold. I overheard Que Shenyun mention that some people in the market who are not from the martial arts world also recognize gold."

For the Que family, a thousand taels of gold was no small sum.

Song Chen said, "Then I'll be leaving shortly. Sister, take care too."

The First Madam nodded, then watched the young man walk out of the courtyard gate.

Her gaze swept over the boy's strong back and thighs; the previously thin boy had become robust.

Her expression was complex, yet tinged with relief. She swayed her hips slightly, secretly wondering, 'He's not even angry with Crane? Could he really be such a grateful child?'

Song Chen did not go to the west of the city, or rather, he did not go there for the time being.

He went to the south of the city.

He changed into a gray cloak, stuffing some cotton inside to make himself appear slightly plump; then, through connections in the forging guild, he bought a high-quality human skin mask, which was perfectly capable of fooling ordinary people, but cultivators could easily distinguish it.

He left the He residence knowing that Que He would definitely try to cause trouble and make enemies of him. If Que He was kidnapped tomorrow, people might suspect him. Even if they didn't suspect him, the burden of finding Que He would inevitably fall on his shoulders, and he would have to prove his innocence.

He won't do it.

However, he has no intention of participating in tomorrow's kidnapping.

He's only here to get insurance.

He didn't kidnap Que He because of any grudge, nor to take control of the He family mansion; in his view, these things were meaningless.

His goal was simply to "cut off the fuel supply."

Quehe is that Xin.

He couldn't understand what the Yu family was up to, but he understood one thing: if something is unusual, their plans must be big.

No matter what the Yu family wants to do, their "focus" will inevitably be Que He. Therefore, as long as he moves Que He away, the Yu family's plan will fall through.

Otherwise, no matter how much trouble Que He caused him or how much he threw a tantrum, he wouldn't care too much.

He truly didn't understand why such a large family as the Yu family wanted to find Que He.
Whether Que He lives or dies is of little concern to him, since he doesn't have many feelings for him. But he is on this small, broken boat, and his wife is with him, so the boat can't capsize yet.

at this time
Yu family.

In a quiet room, the aroma of tea wafted through the air, masking some strange smells of veterinary medicine.

Two dark figures sat quietly on either side of the table, engaged in conversation.

"How many companies have you penetrated?"

Five families.

"Only five are not enough."

"That's not something our Yu family alone can handle. We've already done our best to infiltrate five new families."

"Hmm." A dark figure picked up the register, flipped through the information on it, and then frowned, "The Que family's Crane Mansion? Such a small mansion, you call yourself a family? You're wasting your energy infiltrating such a useless Crane Mansion?"

"Ahem, Patriarch, don't be angry. This... this was mainly because it was readily available, delivered to my door. I didn't have to put in any effort to infiltrate it."

When Que Shenyun was still alive, he was at least cautious, but his son was really not good.

His mother finally managed to find a promising cultivator named Song Chen for their family, but that kid couldn't even tolerate him. Hahaha, it's hilarious!

That day, seeing him drunk, I had my assassin find an opportunity to meet him. After drinking and chatting, I listened to his complaints and guided him to understand that Song Chen wanted to usurp the Crane Mansion. If he didn't want to sit and wait for his death, there was only one way: to establish a balance of power and find another cultivator to restrain Song Chen.

That kid actually knelt down to ask for guidance.

The assassin pointed him in the right direction, saying that noble families should help each other. He said that his Yu family could help him, but they needed to have connections to help him.
"Haha, patriarch, guess what that kid said?"

"Just say it if it's something to laugh about."

"That kid said he could arrange a marriage, that his mother could marry one of our cultivators, and then the two families would be as close as one family, ha...hahaha." Another dark figure burst into laughter, saying between laughs, "Isn't this just a gift delivered to our doorstep? We don't have to give anything, and we can get so much for free. I'll gladly accept it."

After saying that, the shadowy figure added, "Moreover, the Crane Mansion is not entirely without value. Song Chen may have some hidden opportunities. Originally, I planned to search his soul during the test at the Imperial City Temple, but I didn't do it because the Third Master of the Que family intervened."

Besides, Pei Qingyue is also a beast tamer in the Wei family, and she was with Yang Dongdu before. Controlling her will also benefit us.

"Yang Dongdu has been missing for so long, we're sure he's dead, but no one has bothered us for so long. How did he die?"

"do not know"

"Enough. The army is on its way, leaving the capital vulnerable. The plan has already been decided, codenamed 'Mountain Demon.' Let's just follow orders and do our jobs."

(End of this chapter)