"No, no, no, a gentleman helps others achieve their goals and does not take what others love. She's just a woman, I won't fight with my brother for her." Jiang Junyu was very shrewd. His master had told him that a gentleman should remain unmoved by the temptation of a beautiful woman, otherwise he would easily be schemed against.

He doesn't easily trust others, nor does he readily allow strangers to serve him personally.

He wasn't sure if Wusun Yayue was sent by another country to persuade him, after all, several courts had invited him to be prime minister, but he had refused them all. He had never told anyone about this. Although he was renowned for his talent, he was very low-key and worked as a scholar in the Hanlin Academy, appearing to be indifferent to worldly desires. No matter who offered him a high-ranking position or generous salary, he would not accept it.

Jiang Junjing knew his younger brother's temperament and didn't force him. Wouldn't it be better for him to enjoy it himself?

Jiang Jiulu didn't pay attention to what her two older brothers were saying. She was focused on watching Wusun Yayue dance, and still not satisfied, she walked over to her and tried to learn from her.

The siblings played until midnight before dispersing. Before leaving, Yuan Qi beckoned to two ghosts in the corner, and the two ghosts had no choice but to follow Yuan Qi to the Peony Residence.

When the two ghosts arrived at Peony Residence, they felt that the spiritual energy here was very rich. They quickly took several deep breaths. Just from this, the two ghosts knew that this little girl was a formidable character.

When the two ghosts went in, Yuan Qi was sitting on the Luohan bed waiting for them.

"Speak, who exactly are you people, and what do you want to do with Wusun Yayue? Don't lie."

The two ghosts were afraid of Yuan Qi; the golden light of merit emanating from her was still quite powerful.

Seeing Yuan Qi's cold gaze, Ulanbu felt that he might kill her at any moment, so she deliberately stood a little further away from Yuan Qi.

Ulanbu was very sad. She felt distressed when she thought about her daughter's plight. As a mother, she could not save her daughter and could only watch her suffer.

“We’re not lying to you. I am Ulanbu, a Yuezhi citizen, and the mother of Wusun Ya Yue. His name is Bato. He has been playing with Ya Yue since he was five years old. I had planned for them to get married when they turned eighteen, but Ya Yue’s heartless father, seeing that Ya Yue was getting more and more beautiful, started to have wicked ideas. He wanted to use Ya Yue to make money and give her to a high-ranking official in Rong Kingdom.”

Barto, a handsome young man himself, said with great resentment, “That’s how it happened. One day I went to find Ya Yue, intending to take her to pick goji berries. I overheard Ya Yue’s father talking to his servant, saying that the Rong Kingdom’s envoy had taken a liking to Ya Yue’s beauty and that if he offered Ya Yue up, he could do even bigger business with Rong Kingdom. Knowing this, I packed my things, planning to run away with Ya Yue.”

He sighed heavily, feeling disappointed: "Unfortunately, we had just packed our bags and hadn't even run out of the yard when her father found out. He gave Ya Yue a severe scolding, calling her heartless."

Ulanbu continued indignantly, "I got into a fight with Ya Yue's father. He was blinded by money and tried to kill me. I protected the two of them and told them to run away. I didn't expect him to be so ruthless as to kill me. The two of them came back to save me, and Bato was also killed by him. He hid our bodies in the courtyard and forced Ya Yue to serve a high-ranking official in Rongguo. Sure enough, he obtained the qualification to do big business with Rongguo."

Barto felt utterly incompetent when he thought about it, so he slapped himself several times and cried.

“I am powerless to save Ya Yue. I can only watch her suffer humiliation. Her father thinks that Ya Yue can bring him greater benefits, so he brings her to the capital of Rongguo every year and forces Ya Yue to serve the men of Rongguo. I am incompetent, I deserve to die, I cannot save Ya Yue.”

Barto pointed painfully at Jiang Junjing's courtyard: "Ya Yue was given to Jiang Junjing this time. Last night, Jiang Junjing..."

Seeing that he was getting more and more absurd, Wen Zhujun coughed and said, "Alright, there's no need to talk about those things." She felt that Yuan Qi was still a young girl and it was really inconvenient for her to hear about those things.

He even asked Bato and Ulanbu, "You two have both become ghosts, why didn't you kill Ya Yue's father and those men who bullied Ya Yue?"

“We want to, too, but we can’t touch them. At most, we can only blow a cold wind at them, which won’t hurt them at all.” Ulanbu blamed herself painfully and cried sadly.

This was especially true of Barto.

Although these two ghosts were good people who never killed or did evil, they were also quite stupid. They had been dead for several years and had no ghostly power at all.

The two ghosts knelt down before her, and Ulanbu said, "Please, Celestial Master, don't take us away. We don't do bad things; we just want to watch over Ya Yue."

Yuan Qi didn't want to bother with these two foreign ghosts; let them wander off if they wanted. "However, things haven't been peaceful in the capital lately. Many ghosts have disappeared. If you don't enter the underworld in time, you might encounter some misfortune. Are you sure you want to stay?"

The two ghosts nodded repeatedly, delighted that Yuan Qi had let them go so easily.

After the two ghosts left, Wen Zhujun asked curiously, "Other Taoist priests would capture ghosts when they encountered them, why didn't you do anything and let them wander around?"

Yuan Qi said, “There are thousands upon thousands of wild ghosts in the world, and the underworld doesn’t care. Why should I meddle? Besides, they’re not evil ghosts. If I encountered an evil ghost, I would definitely beat it to a pulp and never allow it to do evil in the world. I’m also reminding them that things are not peaceful lately, so they can’t blame me if something happens.”

Wen Zhujun felt that Yuan Qi was too indifferent.

That makes sense, though. If Yuan Qi weren't so temperamental, she herself would probably have been sent to the underworld to be reincarnated by that little girl long ago. How could she possibly have the chance to wait here for the underworld to arrange a job for her?

The two ghosts didn't leave the courtyard; instead, they greedily inhaled the spiritual energy.

Wen Zhujun didn't pay any attention and went to sleep on her own.

The next day, Wusun Yayue went for a stroll in the garden accompanied by her maid.

The peonies in the garden were in full bloom. Wusun Yayue was gazing at the peonies in a daze when her maidservant said ingratiatingly, "Since you like them, Madam, I'll pick a few to put in a vase so you can see the peonies all the time."

Wusun Yayue looked sad and pressed down on the little maid's hand: "No, don't pick them. They're fine growing here. Don't make them do things they don't like. I like them, so I want them to be free. Don't let them be like me, being given and taken away by people."

Butterflies and bees danced among the flowers, and Wusun Yayue's mood improved, a rare smile appearing on her face. She unconsciously danced among the flowers, temporarily forgetting her troubles and her longing for her mother and lover.

Everyone in the Jiang family knows that the second young master recently acquired a beauty from the Western Regions. She is incredibly beautiful and has a captivating dance.

As soon as Wusun Yayue started dancing, she immediately attracted the attention of the people working in the garden, and everyone secretly watched her captivating dance.

Li Guiqie happened to arrive as well: "So you are that woman from the Western Regions?"

A cold, displeased voice rang out.

As soon as Wusun Yayue turned around, she saw a stern-looking woman and immediately knelt down.