Bai Suzhen, I really need to punish you properly.

"I heard from Xiaoqing that her feet can't be touched, or she'll go weak all over. I want to see if my wife is the same way."

Wang Xuan spoke with a straight face, and his large hand was stroking her with the same seriousness.

Bai Suzhen felt a slight blush creep down her spine. Watching her husband's movements as gentle as if he were appreciating a beautiful jade, she let him caress her. Her delicate toes lightly touched his palm as she softly asked, "Didn't you touch me that night? But how did you know, my lord?"

"She mentioned it, so I remembered it."

Wang Xuan glossed over the matter, as he was too embarrassed to directly mention the embarrassing incident of drinking Xiao Qing's foot bath water that day, and even more embarrassed to admit that he had played with Xiao Qing's feet.

Bai Suzhen pressed on, "My lord, how did you know about the Dragon Girl and Mingzhu?"

Wang Xuan leaned forward, her hand slowly moving upwards along her slender calves, a smile playing on her lips: "I don't know them as well as you do."

Bai Suzhen gently punched Wang Xuan's chest with her small fist and scolded, "My lord, you're talking dirty again."

Wang Xuan laughed and said, "Perhaps it's because of my special constitution that Heaven sent me to save these poor women."

Bai Suzhen felt a pang of pity: "They are indeed quite pitiful, especially Miss Mingzhu. Once she returns her inner core, then..."

"There's always a way out. There's always a solution." Wang Xuan didn't want the ambiguous atmosphere to become heavy, so after offering a reassuring remark, he tickled Bai Suzhen's soles. "Wife, try moving around."

Bai Suzhen blushed and said in a soft voice, "How can I move like this?"

……

The days passed by.

As the Dragon Boat Festival approaches, the yang energy is at its peak, making it the most feared time of the year for snake demons.

Bai Suzhen possessed great magical power and was able to endure it, but she was unwilling to leave the room easily.

After refining her inner core, Xiaoqing's magical power increased greatly, but she still couldn't stand the hot weather, so she decided to return to West Lake to escape the heat.

Before leaving, he specifically sought out Wang Xuan and earnestly instructed her, "Hey, while I'm gone, you're not allowed to bully my sister anymore."

On one occasion, she had just finished refining the toad demon's inner core and excitedly came to find her sister. When she pushed open the door, she found the two of them sitting by the desk...

After that, Bai Suzhen was no longer willing to accompany Wang Xuan in his reckless behavior in broad daylight.

Xiaoqing was also scolded by her.

Wang Xuan didn't care at all, and joked with a smile: "I can bully you even when you're here, but I can bully you even more when you're not."

Xiaoqing stomped on Wang Xuan's foot angrily.

Wang Xuan didn't take it to heart, patted her little head, and said meaningfully, "You are not a fish, how can you know the joy of a fish?"

"What do you mean by 'fish'?"

"Exactly, you think your sister is unhappy, but she is actually happy."

Xiaoqing spat lightly, then added a kick: "You're talking nonsense. How could my sister's expression be like that?"

"If you step on me again, I'll take off your shoes and socks next time and tickle your soles hard."

Xiaoqing raised her chin, looking arrogant, and said, "You can't beat me anyway."

She had just refined the toad demon's inner core, raising her cultivation to the late stage of the Refining Void and Integrating Dao realm, and at this moment she was bursting with confidence.

"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river; never underestimate a young man's potential." Wang Xuan said smugly, "If I can't beat you today, can I always be unable to beat you?"

Xiaoqing playfully stuck out her pink tongue, her smile sly: "Then you'll have to wait thirty years."

Then she transformed into a green snake, stuck out her tongue, rubbed it against his face a few times, leaving a wet, cool saliva, and then turned and left.

"Xiao Qing! You just wait!"

Wang Xuan wiped the water off her face, furious.

The memories of his past began to attack him again.

Whenever he had feelings for Xiaoqing, she would pull this stunt, which would instantly calm him down.

In the days that followed, Wang Xuan would drift between Bai Suzhen and Yan Zhi. In his spare time, he would take Mingzhu for a stroll in the county town, letting her experience the prosperity of the world.

On this day, the prefect of Hangzhou sent a letter in his own handwriting.

He ordered Wang Xuan to go see him.

The Hangzhou prefect was his direct superior, so naturally he couldn't refuse to give him face.

Yuhang County is not far from Qiantang County. Even without using magic, half a day is enough to travel by water.

He was only going to Yuhang for a few days, so he didn't want to bring the girl with him.

Wang Xuan, along with Lao Liu and another subordinate, arrived at the riverbank together.

Looking out over the river, you can see a small boat slowly approaching the shore, steered by a slender young woman.

Old Liu waved and called out from afar, "Young lady, wanna go to Yuhang County?"

"Go!" the girl replied quickly, her eyes shining like stars.

"Girl, this journey is quite long."

Wang Xuan kindly reminded him.

He didn't want to trouble the girl, since it was physically demanding work, and it would be troublesome if she ran out of energy halfway through.

"Sir, I'm not afraid of getting tired!"

Old Liu chimed in, "Sir, there aren't any other boats around right now, so let's just consider it a favor to their business."

Wang Xuan glanced at him and suddenly laughed, "Alright, when the girl gets tired of paddling, you can take over."

Old Liu was stunned for a moment: "Huh?"

"What do you mean, 'oh'? You picked it."

As they were talking, the small boat had already approached the shore.

Looking at the pretty boatwoman, Wang Xuan saw another notification from the Hundred Beauties Record.

Name: Ao Jin

Age: 353

[Realm Level: Mid-stage Earth Immortal]

[Note: Ao Jin, the Dragon Maiden of Dongting Lake whom you rescued. Since you left the Dongting Dragon Palace, she has never forgotten you, secretly harboring feelings for you and determined to repay your kindness. She possesses a rare treasure and has concealed her cultivation and appearance.]

Wang Xuan was slightly surprised.

Surprisingly, this Dragon Maiden of Dongting Lake is indeed one of the beauties listed in the "Hundred Beauties Record".

At this age, she should still be considered a loli by the dragon race.

The girl before me had willow-leaf eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, fair skin, and a small, rosy mouth, but she was completely different from the peerless beauty I had seen in the Dragon Palace.

Ao Jin met his burning gaze, suppressing the flutter in her heart.

These days, she has been staying at her uncle's Qiantang Dragon Palace.

He was hoping to meet Wang Xuan when he passed by someday.

Now this day has finally come.

As for why she concealed her stunning beauty, she was worried that Wang Xuan would refuse her because of it.

So she wanted to change her identity and stay by his side.

After boarding the ship, Wang Xuan feigned hesitation and asked, "Have we met somewhere before?"

Ao Jin nodded inwardly, but dared not admit it. She rowed the oar and replied, "I have seen you before. You are the county magistrate."

"I feel like I've seen you somewhere before," Wang Xuan smiled gently. "What's your name? How many people are in your family? And why are you, a young woman, rowing the boat?"

Wang Xuan started trying to get closer to him.

From both a public and private perspective, and from both a moral and rational standpoint, he had no reason to refuse someone's gratitude.

To be honest, he has always felt that repaying a debt of gratitude with one's own body is a cultural dreg.

But then again, if the person to whom the debt of gratitude is owed is him...

This is excellent traditional culture.

"My name is Xiaomeng, and I live alone now."

Ao Jin silently apologized to her father, mother, brothers, and sisters in her heart.

She only wanted to fabricate a tragic backstory so that she could stay by Wang Xuan's side and repay his kindness in a legitimate way.

"Sorry, I don't know."

Wang Xuan appropriately showed a look of shame.

"It's alright."

Wang Xuan turned to look at Lao Liu and instructed, "Lao Liu, go row the boat. I need to say a few words to Miss Xiao Meng."

Ao Jin quickly waved his hand: "My lord, I can do it this way too."

Wang Xuan comforted her, saying, "I have something to ask you. Just sit there and relax."

Old Liu reluctantly took over the oars from the stern of the boat.

They hadn't even covered the thirty-zhang distance yet, and they were already facing each other.

Sir, you're being a bit too hasty!

"How's your business usually doing?"

"Not good. I didn't pick up a single passenger yesterday."

"It's really not easy for a girl like you to do this kind of work..."

Wang Xuan and Ao Jin started chatting casually, with Wang Xuan deliberately asking about trivial matters related to their livelihoods. Listening to her rambling accounts was quite interesting.

"what!"

At this moment, Old Liu suddenly let out a strange cry.

Wang Xuan asked, "What's wrong?"

Old Liu pointed to the river, his legs going weak: "There's a huge, strange snake!"

Wang Xuan followed his gaze and was equally surprised. Wasn't this Xiao Qing?