I am Guhuoniao, not an umbrella demon, please do not disturb me.

Using her demonic powers, Bai Qingyu scooped up the rag doll, cleaned off the water and dirt, and then awkwardly returned the fruit to the peach blossom demon, saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it was Mother who wasn't looking."

"Alright then, Xiao Yao forgives her mother."

Xiao Yao said this while holding her rag doll.

Bai Qingyu smiled, her phoenix eyes crinkling, and patted the little girl's head.

It has to be said that Xiao Yao is really quite adorable. In fact, her personality is somewhat similar to Miketsu's. The difference is that Xiao Yao has more childlike innocence than Miketsu, while Miketsu has a kind of divine kindness and compassion that Xiao Yao possesses—an indescribable feeling.

When this kind of pity appears on a little girl, it gives people a cute feeling of a child pretending to be mature.

Sitting on a tree branch, Zhen swung her two fair legs and asked, "Did Auntie go to the capital?"

"Yes, I took care of some minor matters. By the way, Zhen, where is your sister Zhentian?"

Looking around, there was no sign of Zhen Tian in the courtyard, nor any trace of her.

"Sister Zhentian and Ling'er went out to sell clothes for Xiaodie."

"Selling clothes, huh? Okay."

Xiaodie recently opened a shop in the city, specializing in selling ready-made clothes and accepting custom orders.

Bai Qingyu was envious of her sewing skills. Her talent had been fully unleashed, and the clothes she made were quite perfect. However, as her clothes piled up and could no longer fit in the closet, Bai Qingyu thought it best to buy her a shop to sell them.

As it turns out, Xiaodie's clothes are indeed excellent. Whether it's the workmanship, the style, the fabric, or the price, they far surpass all her competitors in Tongzhou.

In less than half a year, Xiaodie's inventory was sold out, and the pre-orders for clothes were already booked until the year after next. Because of her excellent reputation and the fact that she was one of the children of the Divine Phoenix, even young ladies and noblewomen from the capital made special trips to Tongzhou to place orders.

Originally intended for ordinary people, the situation quickly changed. Although ordinary people could afford to pay, they simply couldn't compete with the young ladies from the capital and various prefectures.

Xiaodie's prices weren't very high, but the clothes she sold, especially the first few batches, were all sold at exorbitant prices, regardless of the quality of the fabric. Lucky shoppers who bought clothes from Xiaodie within a few days of opening the shop were resold for dozens or even hundreds of times the price.

It wasn't expensive to begin with, but after the price increased so many times, it became a considerable sum. Of course, this is for ordinary people; for aristocratic young ladies, this amount of money is far too little and far too worthwhile.

So an awkward situation arose: people bought the clothes but didn't wear them; they resold them. Xiaodie's clothes were sold to ordinary people, but you couldn't see any ordinary people wearing them on the streets.

Because business was so booming, Xiaodie didn't know what to do every day when she went to the store.

Her clothes were sold out long ago; even the samples that Zhen and Xiao Yao tried on were bought by that group of young ladies.

A clothing store, but it doesn't have any clothes in it, yet it's constantly taking orders.

Moreover, she already has too many clothes pre-ordered, so she can't take any more orders.

A store closed after only six months, not because business was bad, but because business was too good.

As for Zhen Tian and Xiao She, they were there to greet the guests and help register Xiao Die.

The three of them returned late in the evening, chatting and laughing.

Upon entering the courtyard, Xiaodie ran over to Bai Qingyu, her joy barely concealed in her eyes.

"Auntie, I sold so many clothes today! Even the concubines from the capital came to me to order clothes." Xiaodie lowered her eyes and smiled faintly, but when she was in front of Bai Qingyu, she became a little shy.

The complex emotions woven from shyness and joy were actually Xiaodie's way of trying to make Bai Qingyu happy and feel that adopting her was the right thing to do.

Xiao Die is an ordinary child, and Bai Qingyu has been teaching her cultivation step by step. After so many years, she is only at the Foundation Establishment stage. Meanwhile, the people around her, whether it is Xiao Yao, Yu Zhuan Jin, or Shuten-dōji and Ara, are all powerful and talented demons.

The atmosphere at home was very good; no one looked down on her because she was weak.

But Xiaodie had some thoughts in her mind.

It's impossible to be completely indifferent.

"Yes, you did very well. You still need to keep up the good work." Bai Qingyu reached out and took Xiaodie's hand. "Keep it up!"

Xiaodie's eyes visibly brightened immediately, and she nodded vigorously, "I will, I'll do it in a minute!"

After saying that, she didn't know where she got the courage, but she threw herself into Bai Qingyu's arms. Holding Bai Qingyu, her eyes were blurred with tears, and her long-suppressed emotions burst out. She kept repeating the word "thank you".

I am so grateful to my aunt. Without her, I would never be where I am today.

Perhaps, she is already a desolate skeleton by the roadside.

The moment she saw the Emperor's concubine enter the shop today, her feelings were so complex that words could hardly describe them.

The arrival of the imperial concubine was tantamount to an affirmation that her clothes were indeed very good, proving that her efforts had not been in vain and that she had not disgraced her aunt.

Bai Qingyu was taken aback, then seemed to remember something and gently patted Xiaodie's back.

"Everything is going to be alright, isn't it?"

·

Two days passed in the blink of an eye, and Bai Qingyu set off early in the morning, flying towards the direction of Xianta Prefecture.

The matter with Kiyohime hasn't been resolved yet, and she wants to know how things will develop between Kiyohime and this little monk.

At this point, it was almost impossible to stop them and separate them.

Leaving aside the young monk for now, Kiyohime has undoubtedly already fallen for him.

A year of sweet words, constant paper kites and letters—she was young and inexperienced, so it was inevitable that she would fall deeply in love. Therefore, Bai Qingyu's main concern was how to minimize the harm Qingji suffered and ease her heartache.

They flew all the way to Shannan Village in Xianta Prefecture and found the location of the temple fair without much searching for Bai Qingyu.

The temple fair was a very lively day in the mortal world. Bai Qingyu flew up into the sky above the town and looked down at the crowded and bustling crowd. He swept his demonic power around and locked onto Qingji's location.

The temple fair was neither too big nor too small, and Kiyohime stood at the very edge of it.

Today, she wore her favorite long dress, but didn't wear any makeup. She was just in her usual state, with her head down, occasionally glancing around, and then kicking a pebble on the ground with a bored expression.

Many passersby turned to look at the young and beautiful girl, but no one went up to chat with her.

It's clear that Kiyohime is waiting for someone, and she's been waiting here for quite some time.

Bai Qingyu watched silently. She didn't know if Qingji was waiting for that monk. If so, why didn't the monk come? He had made an appointment but stood her up. That was despicable.

At that moment, she was still hoping it wasn't that little monk.

Judging from Kiyohime's attire, it was clear that she had prepared carefully. If it was the monk, it meant that Kiyohime had a high level of affection for him. However, over the past year, Kiyohime had mistaken the person who gave her kites and letters for a boy from the next village, so she kept her distance from the monk.

Time slowly passed, minute by minute, about half an hour later, the young monk did not appear, but Bai Qingyu saw the "Brother Wang" that Qingji had mentioned.

Judging from their surprised expressions, it was clear that the young man surnamed Wang hadn't arranged to meet Kiyohime; they had simply bumped into each other.

It's highly unlikely that it was a friend who invited Kiyohime, so it's more likely that it was that young monk.

Bai Qingyu sighed. She knew she didn't know much about the situation, but things had developed to this point, and it was really hard to comment.

Especially when I saw Kiyohime and the young man surnamed Wang exchanging glances and chatting happily, I felt it was quite absurd.

If Kiyohime knew that the person who had been writing to her for the past year wasn't the young man surnamed Wang, but a young monk, and that she had realized she had been deluding herself, how would she feel?

The person was right in front of her, but she didn't know it.

On another note, what if Kiyohime falls in love with the young monk after learning about this, but after already flirting with him, she ultimately chooses his Buddhist path?

Bai Qingyu didn't know how to resolve the matter for a while. She watched the young men and women fall in love at the temple fair, and waited until the fair ended, but the young monk still didn't come.

"Forget it, let's wait and see. If it really doesn't work, we have to tell Kiyohime the truth, even if it makes her suffer a bit."

Please vote for me, sob sob sob.

Volume 1: Chapter 152 Qingfangzhu

The temple fair ended, and the young men and women reluctantly parted ways, going their separate ways.

Bai Qingyu followed Qingji, wondering if the young monk would come to see her. Since they had already made an appointment, there was no reason for him to stand her up. Even if he regretted it and felt that Buddhism was more important, he should at least show up and explain the matter to Qingji.

Bai Qingyu followed the girl back to the village. The monk did not appear along the way, nor was he seen under the old tree not far from Qingji's house. Bai Qingyu even used his demonic power to check the small wooden house where the monk lived, but he could not find any trace of him.

Before entering, Kiyohime glanced back at the spot where the young monk often meditated, her expression slightly downcast. She pursed her lips and remained silent before entering and closing the door behind her.

Bai Qingyu stood where Qingji had been and also looked back at the old tree.

This must be the greatest distance in the world.

To the young monk, he was right in front of Kiyohime, but Kiyohime was unaware of his love.

Bai Qingyu placed a recording stone in front of Qingji's house so that she could monitor what was happening there at any time before leaving.

She doesn't have that much time to come every day, so this is the only way.

The demonic power on the recording stone can last for five days. Just come once every five days to replenish the demonic power on the recording stone.

In the following days, Bai Qingyu discovered that the young monk seemed to have truly disappeared.

Every day, he would send kites and letters to Kiyohime's door, regardless of wind or rain, spring, summer, autumn or winter. But since the day of the temple fair, he has disappeared. There are no more of his letters at the door. Every day when Kiyohime opens the door, she looks at the empty space under the stone bricks and always lowers her eyes and sighs silently.

However, it is worth mentioning that since the day of the temple fair, a young man surnamed Wang from the neighboring village would pass by Kiyohime's house every day carrying farm tools or a basket, chat with Kiyohime for a while, and tell her some strange and interesting stories. His relationship with Kiyohime became closer day by day.

Bai Qingyu has intermittently charged her image stone with demonic power ten times.

After nearly two months, Kiyohime and the young man from the next village officially fell in love.

The two didn't do anything outrageous, but their relationship was quite ambiguous. Kiyohime danced for him, and he specially caught a little rabbit from the field and gave it to Kiyohime, who liked it very much.

During those two months, the young monk never appeared again.

Bai Qingyu knew that something had probably happened to him.

At night, Bai Qingyu nestled in Zhentian's arms and told him everything about Qingji, because she wanted to hear Zhentian's thoughts. Often, Zhentian thought more than she did.

With her head resting on Zhen Tian's chest, Bai Qingyu looked up at the ceiling. "I really don't understand matters of love and romance. I have no idea how to handle them. I quite like Qing Ji, but suddenly I feel somewhat powerless."

Her strength is already quite formidable; she would rank among the top in the world. Her reputation is also considerable; she is no longer an unknown figure. She has deep connections with various powerful forces and can summon hordes of strong individuals with a single call.

Even so, Kiyohime's affairs still made her feel somewhat powerless.

No matter how strong you are, this matter cannot be changed by powerful cultivation.

Zhen Tian wrapped her arms around Bai Qingyu's body, resting half her face on Bai Qingyu's head. After listening to her story, Zhen Tian sat up straight.

“If you really want to help Kiyohime, you should do it as soon as possible. I think it’s very important to tell her the truth about this monk, because according to you, Kiyohime’s love for the boy from the next village is mostly based on these paper kites and letters. She was slowly moved by the deep love conveyed in the letters.”

"However, the problem is that this love is a misunderstanding on her part, like a castle in the air. The day the truth comes out, everything will collapse, especially when she discovers it herself. It will hurt her a lot then."

Zhen Tian's face was full of seriousness as she carefully analyzed the situation for Bai Qingyu.

"Ending a relationship that should never have existed as soon as possible will minimize the harm to both of them; otherwise, the boy from the neighboring village will also be affected."

"Regarding this truth, I think it's best for the monk to take the initiative to confess to Kiyohime. If her sister tells Kiyohime, it won't be very effective and will leave a knot in Kiyohime's heart that she can never untie for the rest of her life."

Bai Qingyu nodded in agreement, "Then what if the monk is already dead?"