Chapter Forty-Six

Zhang He, holding the embroidered ball in despair, was surrounded by a surging crowd before he could even open his mouth to explain. As soon as he opened his mouth, he managed to utter a single sentence, but the hundred or so mouths around him had already buzzed with a hundred sentences.

“I am an official, I cannot just become a son-in-law,” Zhang He shouted at the top of his lungs.

He was surrounded by hundreds of people in the center, and only the people in the inner circle could hear what he shouted. People in the back peeked out and asked questions.

"What's the rich man's new son-in-law saying at the top of his lungs this week?"

"It's as if he's an official, and if everyone doesn't give him gifts, he won't become the son-in-law."

"Good heavens, they're all officials now, and they're still thinking about the gifts everyone should give."

Baozhu and her two companions, who had been squeezed out of the crowd, were dumbfounded as they witnessed the people's ability to spout nonsense.

Pei Xuanji hesitated, looking at Zhang He who was surrounded, and whispered, "Should we go and rescue him?"

“But isn’t he already Miss Zhou’s husband?” Baozhu looked hesitantly at Zhang He, whose face was flushed. “Look how red his face is, he looks so happy. Aren’t we disturbing his good time?”

Zhang He was swept along by the crowd towards Xueyun Tower. His face had turned a deep purplish-red, and he was muttering something unintelligible. Like a fish out of water, he looked genuinely excited.

“It does look like it.” Pei Xuanji looked at it for a while, then said with a worried expression, “Senior, is it really that hasty to get married like this?”

“I looked closely at Zhang Tianshi’s wife, and she’s incredibly beautiful.” Baozhu became excited and described her to the two Tianshi with gestures, “She has a round, rosy face, big eyes, long and thin eyebrows, and her father is a wealthy man.”

Li Zhi listened silently to the two women's discussion. When they had finished, he considerately asked, "Why don't we go to the inn first? If Brother Zhang doesn't want to be a son-in-law, he can always come to us."

"Alright then," Pei Xuanji sighed and nodded.

"What a coincidence that you've all come to Yushan County." Upon hearing this, Baozhu instantly forgot about Zhang He and looked at Li Zhi with bright, sparkling eyes.

“When the floodwaters surged up from Sanzhen Mountain, I saw Master Pei heading north with the current,” Li Zhi explained to Baozhu as he led them to the inn. “I thought of a way to stay close to you while I was in the water, and ended up in this area with Brother Zhang.”

As Li Zhi spoke, he circled around Yushan County and arrived at an ordinary inn.

"The flood from Sanzhen Mountain can only reach as far north as Yushan County. I thought that when Master Pei woke up, the first thing he would do was to go to the Yiren Temple in the county, so Brother Zhang and I waited here in advance."

As they talked, they walked through the inn's lobby and into the individual courtyards at the back of the inn.

Pei Xuanji's brows furrowed until she saw Li Zhi push open the courtyard gate and see that the courtyard was clean and tidy, with two side rooms. Only then did her expression relax. She nodded reservedly and said, "It was Li Tianshi's idea..."

"Li Zhi, you're so smart!" Before Pei Xuanji could finish speaking, Baozhu cheered, "I wouldn't have thought of that, right, Pei Qi?"

Pei Xuanji's lips twitched, and she said seriously, "Baozhu, this is perfectly normal reasoning. You're giving Li Tianshi a little too much credit..."

Baozhu didn't listen to what she said; she was only busy chattering around Li Zhi, asking him what he had been doing these past few days.

Pei Xuanji watched this and felt a pang of sadness.

She glanced at Li Zhi out of the corner of her eye, feeling extremely puzzled. Pei Qi really couldn't see what was so charming about him. He was just a good-looking guy with some talent, but he was obviously full of tricks. How could an innocent fox demon be a match for him? Don't be fooled.

Pei Xuanji inwardly pursed her lips, then secretly glanced at Baozhu, who was beaming with joy. Seeing her so happy only made her feel more annoyed.

Sigh, what's so great about this person that Baozhu likes him so much?

Li Zhi noticed Pei Xuanji's gloomy mood, smiled, and asked, "Does Master Pei wish to visit the Yiren Temple in the county?"

"Yes, that's a plan." Li Zhi got down to business, and Pei Xuanji quickly put aside her prejudices and answered seriously.

"Brother Zhang and I went to the yamen to inquire a few days ago."

Li Zhi opened a side room in the courtyard. There happened to be a table and three chairs in the room. He gestured for the two young ladies to enter.

After the three of them sat down, he began to explain in detail.

After they caused a great disturbance at Sanzhen Mountain that day, a flood came down from the sky and rushed straight to Jiangbei Prefecture. The prefecture, which was already suffering from drought, was inexplicably hit by the flood.

Fortunately, the city walls of Jiangbei Prefecture had many magical formations that barely shielded the people in the city from the disaster, preventing them from facing the three-foot-high waves. However, the entire prefecture was still submerged in water, not to mention the area outside the city.

However, this flood had a strange aspect: the refugees outside the city faced the raging waters without any shelter, yet, with a few exceptions, very few were injured.

Upon hearing this, Baozhu immediately interjected, praising her own actions in the Goddess Temple.

"I see, you truly are a treasure." Li Zhi praised her highly, making Baozhu proudly raise her chin.

"And then?" Pei Xuanji, who was standing to the side, couldn't stand it anymore and quickly interrupted.

Li Zhi continued.

Such a major event could not be kept secret from Jiangbei Prefecture. The governor and the imperial court soon learned of it. An imperial edict, delivered by express courier from the capital, arrived in Jiangbei Prefecture. The prefect of Jiangbei Prefecture was dismissed on the spot and escorted back to the capital. Ji Ren, the chief administrator of Yiren Temple, was also dismissed on the spot and ordered to return to the capital immediately to report on his duties.

“But Ji Ren was injured by me. Can he still move? I think he’s quite badly injured,” Baozhu asked doubtfully.

"No one knows how well Ji Ren is doing now, but the fact that he disobeyed the imperial decree and disappeared from Jiangbei Prefecture has been widely reported."

"What!" Pei Xuanji looked at Li Zhi in surprise. "Ji Ren, who is so obsessed with power, actually disobeyed the imperial decree and disappeared! Why didn't he go to the capital to report on his duties? Anyway, we have no evidence of what he did, and he killed the witnesses. He could have easily argued that the business in the Goddess Temple was done by the previous chief administrator."

“Master Pei has hit the nail on the head.” Li Zhi nodded to Pei Xuanji. “Therefore, Brother Zhang and I both believe that Ji Ren has probably done something really serious to prevent him from going to the capital to report on his duties.”

“This…” Pei Xuanji hesitated upon hearing this. “Our feud with Ji Ren is getting bigger and bigger. What should we do next?”

"What does Master Pei think?" Li Zhi did not answer, but instead threw the question back at him.

Pei Xuanji bit her lip and pondered for a moment before slowly saying, "You should all know that my family is..."

She paused.

Li Zhi and Baozhu nodded in unison.

“Actually, I’ve been thinking a lot lately, why can’t we use our family connections?” Pei Xuanji said, emphasizing each word. “Since Ji Ren wants to harm us, then we’ll go to the capital. He doesn’t want to go to report for duty, but we can.”

Li Zhi smiled and immediately replied, "Okay."

He answered so readily that Pei Xuanji was taken aback. Then she vaguely felt that something was wrong. Could it be that Li Zhi had already planned to do this and was just waiting for her to bring it up?

The two of them went back and forth, and Baozhu listened carefully, resting her chin on her hand. When they finished talking, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that they hadn't asked her anything. She awkwardly pretended to say, "Sigh, but I still don't know what to do next."

Before Pei Xuanji could explain, Li Zhi interrupted her.

Li Zhi looked at Baozhu with a surprised expression and said, "Baozhu, have you forgotten who seriously injured Ji Ren? You are his number one threat. Aren't you coming with us?"

This subtle flattery really touched Baozhu's heart. She instantly smiled and said proudly, "That's true. What if the three of you get caught by Ji Ren again? You'll have to rely on me."

Li Zhi smiled and nodded.

Pei Xuanji witnessed the process of Baozhu's transformation and suddenly understood why the fox demon had fallen in love with Li Zhi. She also felt a strange sense of admiration for Li Zhi.

After Li Zhi finished explaining the intelligence he had gathered from outside to Baozhu and the others, he opened the door to the next room and urged the two of them to rest first. He would wake them up when it was time to eat.

"You two look rather haggard. You must not have had a good rest these past few days. You should rest for a while," Li Zhi said considerately.

"No need to mention the two of you..." Pei Xuanji muttered to herself, pulling Baozhu into the house and closing the door in front of Li Zhi.

The two got into bed together, and Pei Xuanji couldn't wait to pull Baozhu aside and nag, "You'd better tone it down. We can tell from your eyes. Don't let Li Zhi relax so easily. Keep him hanging."

Pei Xuanji, born into a noble family in the capital, possessed her own set of husband-taming techniques passed down among noble ladies. At this moment, she wanted to help Baozhu quickly master these techniques, so she gave Baozhu detailed instructions, leaving the fox demon dizzy with confusion.

"I don't know any of what you're saying," Baozhu said, pouting aggrievedly.

“If you don’t know how, then learn.” Pei Xuanji retorted coldly.

“What’s the point of learning this? Anyway, if he treats me badly, I won’t be with him anymore and will go back to my mountain. Besides, I’m not with him now,” Baozhu said stubbornly.

Pei Xuanji was taken aback, and then realized that Baozhu was not an ordinary woman, and the husband-taming techniques she knew were all things that women had no choice but to do under the constraints of human society. What did that have to do with Baozhu?

“That’s right. As a fox demon, you should be able to come and go as you please. If Li Zhi is good to you, then you should be good to him. If he wrongs you, then you should beat him up and forget about him as soon as you turn around.” Pei Xuanji was relieved and smiled at Baozhu.

“Of course.” Baozhu grinned foolishly as well.

The two then stopped talking about Li Zhi, and after some playful fighting and laughter on the bed, they both drifted off to sleep.

He slept until sunset.

Baozhu woke up groggily when she heard someone calling her from outside.

Turning his head, he saw that Pei Xuanji beside him was still fast asleep, showing no signs of waking up.

She tiptoed out of the room and carefully whispered to Li Zhi, who was waiting in the courtyard, "She hasn't woken up yet."

Li Zhi nodded, led Baozhu to his room, and pointed to the food on the table, saying, "You've slept for a long time, you must be hungry. Let's eat quickly."

As soon as he said that, Baozhu felt hungry and immediately sat down to eat.

Li Zhi also sat to the side, silently watching Baozhu eat.

After looking at T for a while, he slowly raised the corners of his mouth.

Baozhu felt uncomfortable being stared at. After swallowing her food, she said reproachfully, "Why are you looking at me and smiling like that?"

Li Zhi shook his head and explained, "Seeing you eating so heartily, I couldn't help but smile."

Baozhu blushed a little, rolled her eyes at him, and pretended to be fierce, saying, "If you keep looking, I'll eat you too. I'm a fox demon."

Li Zhi chuckled lightly, readily turning his head away, and said, "After we finish eating, I'll take you somewhere."

"Where is it?" Baozhu asked curiously.

After saying that, she quickened her pace, wolfing down all the food Li Zhi had prepared for her, and urged, "I'm ready, let's go."

Li Zhi then got up and led Baozhu outside.

Yushan County had rather lax gate control. When they came out, the sun had already set and the city gates were closed. Li Zhi simply slipped ten copper coins to the guard, who then opened a small gate and let them out of the county.

Li Zhi, carrying Baozhu, headed south and climbed a mountain near Yushan County.

The mountain was not very high, but it stretched for several miles. Since they started climbing, they had heard the cries of wild animals all the way, sometimes near and sometimes far, which showed that there were many species in the mountain.

With nothing to hinder her, Baozhu looked left and right along the way, stopping to sniff the scent left by wild animals on the trees, and gazing into the distance to see the figures of small animals lurking in the bushes.

Li Zhi let her frolic freely without urging her on. The two of them, as if on a picnic, slowly climbed to the top of the mountain when the moon reached its highest point.

At the top of the mountain, there is a large, naturally standing rock, overlooking the surrounding mountains with an unobstructed view.

The moonlight was beautiful tonight, and the silvery moonlight poured down from the sky, casting a shimmering silver veil over everything in the mountains in Baozhu's eyes.

Unable to suppress the impulse in its blood, the fox demon transformed back into its fox form, leaped onto the boulder, and cried out under the moonlight.

Then, she stood tall, feeling the mountain breeze.

The mountain wind, carrying countless scents, brushed past Baozhu's nose.

The scents of wild animals breeding, the scents of trees growing, the scents of flowing streams—Baozhu excitedly discerned everything carried by the wind. She saw the mountains and felt their rhythm, as if she possessed this tranquil yet bustling mountain.

She stood atop the giant rock, bathed in moonlight, every hair of hers shimmering in the wind; she possessed unparalleled beauty.

Li Zhi, standing beneath the boulder, quietly watched her.

Baozhu looked at the mountains, and Li Zhi looked at Baozhu.

After a long while, Baozhu finally came to her senses from this mysterious state. She lowered her head and looked at Li Zhi, who had remained silent.

His eyes were filled with a sense of reassurance that made Baozhu feel at ease.

Moreover, this wasn't the first time she had seen Li Zhi display such an expression.

She remembered that in her previous life, Li Zhi went to Wanping Prefecture to serve as the local official. He took Baozhu, who had recently married him, from the capital and traveled by water to Wanping.

Along the way, Baozhu was bored because she couldn't go anywhere in the capital. Every time the ship stopped at a dock for supplies, Baozhu would get off and play for a while. Sometimes she would play so much that she would forget the time and miss the original ship, and then have to wait for the next ship to Wanping.

She dragged out the four-day water journey to ten days.

Fortunately, they set off early, so even if they were delayed on the road for a few days, it didn't matter much, and Li Zhi didn't say anything about it.

But Baozhu felt a little guilty because she was playing and had wasted so much of Li Zhi's time, yet he hadn't said anything.

Once they reached the shore and switched from waterway to land, Baozhu put aside her playful thoughts and focused solely on following Li Zhi on their journey.

At that time, Li Zhi was still young. When he saw that Baozhu suddenly didn't want to play, he was quite worried and insisted on taking her hiking and boating on the lake.

Baozhu disagreed with all of them.

Li Zhi had no other choice, so the two of them kept their heads down and continued on their journey. Before long, they arrived at Wanping Prefecture.

Little did they know that Wanping Prefecture had a custom that in mid-September, the people would spontaneously bring their own kites to the outskirts of the prefecture and fly them together.

When Baozhu arrived, it happened to be the kite festival. Countless colorful kites were flying in the sky on the only road she could take before entering the city.

Inside the carriage, Baozhu looked at each kite one by one, her face beaming with joy.

Unfortunately, the coachman was driving the cart, and in no time they would be able to get around this area.

Li Zhi, who was in front, turned around and asked her if she wanted the carriage to stop for a while so that Baozhu could look at the kites more, or even get off the carriage and buy her a kite she liked, teach her how to fly it for a while, and then continue on her way.

Baozhu was very tempted, but it was already late, and if she stopped, she didn't know if she would be able to enter the city before the gates closed.

She rejected Li Zhi's offer.

The carriage continued moving, but after a few steps, Baozhu looked at the various kites in the sky that were about to disappear from sight and began to regret her decision again.

After thinking it over, she came up with a clever idea. She told Li Zhi, who was standing in front of the carriage, that she was feeling a little dizzy and needed to sleep for a while. She asked the coachman to drive slowly and not to wake her.

Upon hearing Li Zhi's agreement, Baozhu leaped down from the carriage and ran joyfully towards the kites.

After running a few steps, Baozhu picked up a small gourd kite with a broken string from the ground.

She happily took the gourd kite, which had only a short string, and joined the people flying kites ahead of her.

The fox demon was so engrossed in playing that she didn't come to her senses until it was already dark and the surrounding people began to pack up their kites and head home.

At this moment, it is unknown whether Li Zhi has already entered the city. What if he lifts the curtain of the carriage and finds that Baozhu is not in the carriage?

In her panic, Baozhu followed Li Zhi's scent and entered the city just before the gates closed.

She rushed along in a chaotic manner, fearing that Li Zhi had already entered the government office.

Unexpectedly, shortly after entering the city, Baozhu spotted their carriage, and Li Zhi was following her instructions to have the horses walk on the road at an extremely slow pace.

Because he walked too slowly, he was given the cold shoulder by many passersby.

Baozhu quickly climbed into the carriage, pretended to yawn, and told Li Zhi in front that she was already awake.

At that time—

Li Zhi lifted the curtain and looked back at himself with the same gaze he had now.

So he knew everything. He understood everything. He knew Baozhu's little thoughts. He realized that Baozhu was a demon. Baozhu had long been completely and unconditionally accepted.

She stared at Li Zhi in front of her, as if in a daze.

But she realized it too late.

"I'm so stupid," Baozhu murmured to herself, her eyes unconsciously filling with tears.

She transformed back into human form and leaped off the boulder.

Li Zhi looked at her with a smile and asked in confusion, "When has the Fox King ever been stupid?"

Baozhu didn't say anything, but just looked at Li Zhi with a wronged expression.

Li Zhi immediately stopped smiling, his brows furrowing slightly. He reached out and wiped away the tears from Baozhu's eyes, sighing, "When I passed by this place, I felt it resembled the mountains of my hometown, and this huge rock. I thought that if I brought you here on a bright moonlit night, you would be happy. I never expected you..."

“I’m so happy, I’m so happy,” Baozhu said, her voice choked with emotion.

Li Zhi looked puzzled.

Baozhu turned her face away and whispered, "Li Zhi, we're not even dating yet, you know that?"

Li Zhi was both amused and exasperated, and replied helplessly, "I know."

“So when I kiss you later, it doesn’t mean I’m going to be with you.” Baozhu turned around, her brows furrowed in a serious expression.

Li Zhi was stunned.

Then, under the moon's gaze, Baozhu grabbed his clothes, bent him over, and kissed him on the lips.