Chapter 22: A Broken Mirror Is Hard to Mend

Jiaoran didn't know what was going on between them, there must have been some misunderstanding.

Xu Mengchou's absence at this moment, could it be related to her? Jiaoran thought.

Zhuxing said coldly, "It's not a sharp weapon after all. It's too much of a hindrance to use it for self-defense."

When she thought of the scene she had seen, tears were about to fill her eyes, but she tried her best to hold them back.

Bu Yue's eyes were dim and he felt that even breathing was difficult. He forced a smile and said, "If you don't like it, I will give you another one later."

Zhuxing lowered his head and said after a while, "No, I don't want it anymore."

Bu Yue stopped talking.

There were two people sitting on each side, and it would be wrong for Jiaoran to persuade either of them.

After finally coming out, she unexpectedly encountered them arguing. She was at a loss, "Can't you just talk it out nicely? Don't be like this, Senior Sister, look, Senior Brother is injured."

Jiaoran's gaze slowly turned to Bu Yue, indicating that he should say a few nice words to coax her like before.

Bu Yue is usually very eloquent, but today he seems to have no strength to speak.

Jiao Ran laughed dryly and said, "I haven't seen Senior Sister for a long time. I want to eat the small crispy cookies that Senior Sister often makes."

Just as Jiaoran finished speaking, there was a flash of a knife, which scared her so much that she almost cried out. The tip of the sword did not cross Bu Yue's throat, but went up halfway, pointing at his eyes.

Zhuxing suddenly said, "I asked you many times why you lied to me."

Jiaoran was confused and said in astonishment: "Senior Sister, don't be impulsive..."

Zhuxing asked sternly, "What did you promise me?"

Jiao Ran reached out to block the sword, "Sister, fellow disciples shouldn't kill each other. We haven't done anything yet, and you're already fighting among yourselves?"

She and Jiaoran exchanged a glance and put down the sword in her hand. "If I had known earlier, I shouldn't have come. Wouldn't it be better to be a fool in Huiying Inn? Why did you ask the master to come out? You don't want me to come, right? This will make things difficult for both of us."

"Senior Sister, what are you talking about?" Jiaoran was afraid that she had misunderstood something.

Bu Yue's eyes flashed, "I'm really happy that you're coming."

Someone knocked on the door and said softly, "No one opened the door, so I went in by myself."

Seeing that Xu Mengchou could still laugh out loud in this weird atmosphere, Jiaoran knew that it must have something to do with her.

She walked over to Zhuxing and sat down. "Don't be angry, sister. Bu Yue used to leave before dawn some time ago, but who would have thought that he would fall asleep soundly last night and sleep until dawn, and you caught him. Don't be angry, he is not afraid of anyone, but he is afraid of you. He only says a few words to me every day. You should be content."

At this time, Xu Mengchou was still adding fuel to the fire, making Jiaoran furious.

"Shut up!" Zhuxing pointed his sword at her.

Jiaoran was panicking and wanted to stop the fight, but Bu Yue stood in front of Zhuxing and said, "You can't kill her." She seemed determined to kill him first in order to kill her.

Seeing this, Zhuxing sneered, "You repay a favor with your own life. Should I applaud your selfless attitude?"

Now things are even more difficult. Jiaoran looked at Bu Yue helplessly. She knew that the truth would come out sooner or later, and her senior sister was not the kind of woman who would tolerate any sand in her eyes.

The person Jiaoran admired the most was Xu Mengchou. She just hid behind Bu Yue without saying anything. It was a great achievement of hers that she could drive such a wedge between the two of them.

"Since you promised her, why do you still come to bother me? Every day when you come back and look at me, are you thinking about her?" Zhuxing asked him.

He just didn't answer and protected the people behind him firmly.

Jiao Ran was extremely anxious and said, "Brother, please explain it to me quickly."

"Shut up," he said to Jiaoran, "you think it's not chaotic enough."

Jiao Ran was already anxious when he saw Senior Sister Zhuxing being wronged. "It's you and her who messed things up like this. I'll tell my mother and have her teach you a lesson."

After saying that, he went to coax his senior sister, "Senior sister, don't be angry, it's not what you think. Senior brother has you in his heart, don't you know?"

Jiaoran thought of the small mirror he always carried in his sleeve pocket. Oh, right, "Sister, look at this mirror. My senior brother bought it for you one time, but I snatched it away and used it. Look how beautiful this mirror is. My senior brother bought it especially for you. The foxtail flower on it is your favorite flower."

She took it out in such a hurry that the mirror fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. Jiaoran felt a chill in her heart and hurriedly squatted on the ground to piece it together. One of her hands was pricked by the fragments and started bleeding.

Zhuxing grabbed her hand and said, "Don't pick it up. It's broken. If you put it back together, the person in the photo will also be broken."

Jiaoran said no, "There are craftsmen who specialize in repairing mirrors. They can restore the mirror to its original state."

She pulled Jiaoran up and pushed him down on a stool beside her. "Don't interfere. This is not something you can solve."

Zhuxing stared at the Luhua Sword in her hand, tears already streaming down her face. "I told you, no matter what you did outside during those years, I understood you. When you were kicked out of the sect, I begged Master and his wife to go with you. You said the world outside was too difficult, you couldn't even protect yourself, and if I died, you'd never forgive yourself. You promised me you'd come back one day. I thought, since I'd become a burden if I went with you, I'd just practice hard and wait for you to come back. I've waited for so many years, and finally you're back. But is the you I'm waiting for really still the same you? You once said that if you ever had to marry, you'd marry me. Do you still mean it now?"

"It counts, it always counts." He vowed.

But don't think about the opposite.

"But she has nothing to do with our vows," he said.

Jiaoran seemed to understand a little bit. As an outsider, she seemed to understand the feelings between men and women that she had not been able to see clearly or understand before.

If he had not spoken for her, if he had just walked up to her, hugged her and promised her that such a thing would never happen again, Senior Sister was so soft-hearted that even though she was sad, she would force herself to forgive him.

Star Chaser said, "Don't you have the slightest apology or new vows to coax me?"

He lowered his eyes and said, "If you don't believe what I say, then what's the point."

"I'm very tired. I've been so humiliated by your side all this time. Do you know how sad I am? Do you think I'm stupid? You and her are flirting with each other, and I don't feel anything?"

"I just drank too much some time ago, so I can't tell the difference. You clearly know that my mind is not on the love between children, so why do you insist on forcing me to make a choice?" Bu Yue said.

After hearing what he said, Zhuxing had nothing to say. He just smiled bitterly and slowly turned away.

She placed the sword on the table and said, "Since I have asked Master to come out, I can't go back now. When everything is over, I will return to the sect immediately. Let's leave it at that for now. Let's not get entangled in this matter."

She turned around, her eyes red.

In an instant, she picked up the Luhua sword, raised her hand and slashed the bead curtain above her head, and the beads fell crisply to the ground.

"Between you and me, there is such a pearl, it is no longer the same as before."

Jiaoran was upset when he saw Xu Mengchou flashing a sly smile behind Bu Yue.

Bu Yue smiled, a somewhat sad smile, "Okay, I said that as long as you no longer want to, we will end it immediately."

Jiaoran sighed and seemed to want to say something.

But now both of them were very calm and there was no longer the argument they had just had. Jiaoran didn't know what to say.

Xu Mengchou said, "Miss Zhuxing, please stop running around. Otherwise, if something unexpected happens, it will not only delay Bu Yue's work, but also distract him."

"Don't worry about it." Zhuxing said.

After saying that, she was about to leave. Bu Yue was obviously also very upset, and was afraid that she would cause trouble, so she said, "Go back to your room and calm down first. If you are not angry anymore tomorrow, we can talk slowly about anything."

"We have nothing to say." When saying this, Zhuxing's face was still calm, but there was a hint of sadness in his eyes.

Jiaoran went out early in the morning when the sun was still setting, and now it was late at night when she came back. She was wearing a purple high-waisted skirt and a lotus pink ribbon in her hair. It was a new outfit.

It's late spring and the weather is no longer cold.

Now when she came back, her body was covered with mud, her elbows and knees were worn out, and her nice skirt was in a mess.

His body was dirty and his hair was messy.

She must not be provoked at this time. Xiaoju said to Shaofeng, "Go and help the young master to bed. If he asks, just say Jiaoran fell."

"Yes." Shao Feng smiled secretly.

Jiaoran looked like an arrow ready to be shot.

After Shao Feng left, Xiao Ju went over and scooped a bucket of water, "Jiao Ran, come here."

She came over, "Sister Xiaoju..."

"What's wrong with you?"

Jiaoran wanted to tell Xiaoju about the unpleasant things that happened outside the mansion, but there was nothing she could tell her about what happened in the sect, so she just told her that she met the spoiled lady from the Cheng family when she returned home.

The noble young lady with picturesque features was just picking on her. She tolerated her every move and thought it would be over, but as soon as she took a step, she instigated her maid with strong martial arts skills to trip her up. She wanted to get up, but the arm on her shoulder pressed her down into the mud.

After checking that she was fine, Xiaoju calmed down and said with a smile, "Next time, you'd better take a detour."

Jiaoran looked coldly at a huge jade pendant in the corridor, wishing he could smash it to pieces.

Just because it was a small gift from the governor of Yizhou to Mu Jin.

This time, the Phoenix Cub not only brought back the news about Chang'an that the governor wanted to hear, but also brought back the daughter of the governor of Yizhou.

Seeing Jiaoran looking annoyed, Xiaoju had no choice but to block her gaze and soothe her, "Yizhou Governor Cheng Minzhen only has one daughter, Cheng Yuan. As servants, we naturally can't force our master to do anything, right? Besides, Miss Cheng couldn't take her eyes off the young master at the banquet a while ago, and the young master was only talking to us. She probably misunderstood you. Don't worry, next time we see her, I'll explain things to her and tell her not to embarrass you anymore."

After saying that, she stared at Jiaoran for a few seconds, but Jiaoran just nodded, and it was unknown where his mind was wandering.

The national defense armies of Cheng Minzhen, governor of Yizhou, and Chai Yu, governor of Xiutu, are the two more powerful ones today. Coincidentally, the governor of Yizhou was once a capable and beloved general of Governor Xiutu. When the rebels rebelled, they once captured Bozhou and looted it.

In the third year of Yuande, Cheng Minzhen led his men to carry a hundred war drums and beat them fiercely on the west bank of Minghe City. The soldiers shouted, creating the momentum of thousands of troops. Chai Yu led his men to attack when the rebel army was in panic, killing more than 8,000 rebels.

Later, the rebels made a comeback and the court's support was insufficient. In order to solve the problem of food supply, Cheng Minzhen personally led the army from Jizhou all the way through Cangzhou to transport food for Chai Yu by both land and water.

With Cheng's food and supplies, the army attacked the rebels with unstoppable momentum. Chai Yu even personally killed the rebel general Liu Yida and offered his head as a sacrifice to the dead in Bozhou.

The two have had a good relationship for many years. Even when Chai Yu was suspected by the emperor, Cheng Minzhen did not cut off contact with his former colleague.

"I wonder what the Chief Secretary is going to do by bringing her into the mansion?" Jiaoran asked.

Fenghuangchu was the chief official Xiutu. Jiaoran thought that perhaps except for himself, no one in the mansion knew that he was called Fenghuangchu.

"Maybe he just comes to Xiu Tu to play for a few days." Xiao Ju concealed the worry in her eyes.