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She gets up at the crack of dawn every day and works outside until dark. Baozhu has been doing this for over ten days now, her enthusiasm waning from initially being boundless to her current state—
It was already dawn. Li Zhi dressed neatly and bought some hot tofu pudding and meat buns from outside, placing them on the bedside table in the inner room.
He leaned over and looked at the bed.
The warm, soft quilt completely covered Baozhu, making her look like a silkworm cocoon.
Li Zhi found it amusing and poked the large silkworm pupa with a finger.
The first poke yielded no response. The second poke caused a sudden rustling sound from under the blanket, followed by muffled whimpering.
"If we don't get up soon, we'll be late." Li Zhi held the meat bun in his hand and slowly fanned the quilt with it. "The beef buns I bought today looked very soft and fluffy when they came out of the steamer, and they tasted sweet too."
After much coaxing and persuasion, Baozhu finally managed to poke her head out from under the covers.
"Feed me." Baozhu opened her mouth with her eyes closed.
I don't know how she managed to sleep, but she turned over and her head popped out from the foot of the bed.
Li Zhi had finally managed to lure the fox demon out with meat buns, so he was unwilling to let her go so easily. He immediately put down the food, turned around, took a warm towel from the basin, wrung it out until it was half dry, and used it to wipe Baozhu's face, who still had her eyes closed.
Before Baozhu could react, he ripped the blanket off her and quickly put the uniform on her.
As soon as she stepped out of the warm blankets, Baozhu shivered from the cold, barely opening one eye to look at Li Zhi and complaining, "It's so cold."
Li Zhi had a heavy workload, and Baozhu was squirming and twisting uncooperatively. Li Zhi was sweating profusely despite wearing only a coat—he didn't feel cold at all.
"Your Majesty is incompetent." After finally getting Baozhu sorted out, Li Zhi breathed a sigh of relief and gently bit her earlobe.
Baozhu chuckled, leaned into Li Zhi's arms, wrapped her arms around his waist, and said, "Let me show you something even more incompetent. Hurry up and feed me."
Li Zhi had no way to deal with her, and smiled helplessly, "Yes, sir."
So he diligently held Baozhu in his arms, stuffed two fist-sized meat buns into her mouth, and fed her a bowl of sweet tofu pudding to help her swallow the buns.
After eating and drinking her fill, Baozhu smacked her lips and finally came to her senses.
She stood up from Li Zhi's embrace and sighed, "I used to be so lazy, and now I have to work every day. It's really hard to get used to it."
Li Zhi stuffed the rest of the food into his mouth in one gulp, took Baozhu's hand with his left hand, and picked up their satchels with his right hand, and said with a smile, "Baozhu, do you no longer want to be a celestial master?"
Baozhu shook her head repeatedly: "You'll get used to it. You survived for twenty years when you were still a mortal in your previous life. Do you think I, a demon, am worse off than you were back then? That won't do."
Staying in bed late because of the cold weather is a kind of boudoir romance. Li Zhi was just teasing her. Hearing this, he grabbed her hand and hurried forward, saying in a little jog, "Then let's hurry up."
The young couple, hand in hand, chatted and laughed as they jogged to the front of the yamen, where they bumped right into Pei Xuanji.
"Baozhu!" Pei Xuanji pulled Baozhu's hand, which was being held by Li Zhi, and said in a shy, low voice, "Let's go together. I need to talk to you after roll call."
“Okay.” Baozhu nodded, leaving Li Zhi behind, and went to the Tianzi Department with her sisters, whispering among themselves.
Li Zhi lagged behind, shaking his head with a smile.
He didn't follow Baozhu and the others, and turned to walk in the other direction.
Today was the day for the Heavenly Masters to roll call. Baozhu and Pei Xuanji arrived late, and the hall was already packed with people. They searched for a long time among the throngs of Heavenly Masters but couldn't find Zhang He, so the two sisters gave up and huddled in a corner to whisper to each other.
Once everyone had arrived, the Celestial Masters scattered like birds and beasts. Pei Xuanji, pulling Baozhu along behind, asked apologetically, "Baozhu, I've heard that the head master of the Dragon and Phoenix Pavilion is also a demon. Are you acquainted with her?"
Baozhu was taken aback by his words: "It's alright, we had drinks together once, what's wrong?"
"It's like this, my mother..." Pei Xuanji's voice trailed off, her face growing redder, "...Our family is having a winter banquet soon, and she wanted to have a master tailor make some clothes, but when she inquired, she found out that the master tailor wasn't taking orders anymore. So my mother asked me to ask you to find out what's going on, and if..."
If we could ask the master tailor to make a dress for her mother, that would be wonderful.
Pei Xuanji was too shy to say those words, even though she had carefully prepared them.
Her mother, Madam Zeng, didn't just ask the master tailor of Longfeng Pavilion to make her clothes on a whim. It was just that the General's Mansion was going to hold a winter banquet, and Madam Zeng went out to inquire about what was fashionable in the capital recently. She found that the noble ladies were suddenly showing off the clothes they had made at the master tailor of Longfeng Pavilion.
This is bad! It's not the style or material that's fashionable, but the master craftsman who's fashionable!
Madam Zeng used to find the Dragon and Phoenix Pavilion too crowded, as if everyone wanted to have their clothes made there. So she preferred to go to another clothing shop. In short, the styles and materials were pretty much the same, and at the time she didn't think there was any difference.
But nowadays, it seems everyone has clothes made by that master tailor, so Madam Zeng is unwilling to be outshone as the hostess at the winter banquet!
So, Mrs. Zeng recently racked her brains trying to find someone to cut in line and have a dress made by that master tailor. But after searching around, she found that the master tailor was no longer taking orders.
"The sky has fallen!" Madam Zeng immediately lay down on the bed, groaning and moaning with her headband on.
All of her children came to serve her, but Madam Zeng still didn't get better. Until a few days ago, Pei Xuanji, who was so busy that she passed by her home three times without going in, was dragged back home from the yamen by her brothers to serve her mother in the main courtyard. Suddenly, Madam Zeng's eyes lit up and she reached out and grabbed her youngest daughter's wrist.
"Pei Qi, your mother has a request for you."
Madam Zeng sat up in bed and smiled at Pei Xuanji.
Pei Xuanji felt a chill run down her spine.
Madam Zeng explained the matter in this way, and said softly, "I heard that there is a demon among the Celestial Masters who has a good relationship with you. Go and ask him for me."
Just as Pei Xuanji opened her mouth to refuse, Madam Zeng, seeing that things were not going well, took the initiative and pretended to cry as she lay down on the bed: "Why is my life so miserable!"
Pei Xuanji's two older brothers were still standing in the courtyard. If they heard her, they would inevitably start nagging again. Pei Xuanji had a headache and had no choice but to bite the bullet and take on this task.
That's how today's events came about.
After hearing Pei Xuanji recount the whole story, Baozhu became happy: "What's the big deal? Your mother even wanted to ask me to pull some strings and find a monster to make clothes for her. It's a good thing, it means that our compatriots in the capital are getting better and better."
She then thought that if so many people in the city were looking for Wanyu, she probably would have already left the city and gone to hide with Granny Rat.
Baozhu has been extremely busy lately and hasn't been able to visit Shanjun and Hui at Granny Rat's place for quite some time.
After that great battle, Granny Mouse asked the Mountain Lord not to return to Tiger Roaring Mountain alone, but to live in the Millet Garden with Hui, so that everyone could take care of each other.
After thinking for a while, Shan Jun felt that being able to chat and play mahjong with his compatriots every day in his final days would be a blessing, so he agreed.
Having been entrusted with this matter by Pei Qi, she decided to go to the millet garden to check on the two powerful demons and the little demon after finishing her shift today.
When Baozhu told Pei Xuanji about the plan, Pei Qi blushed deeply.
Pei Xuanji said shyly, "I was just asking. If it doesn't work, then forget it. There's no need to go through all this trouble."
"No trouble at all, I was also planning to visit my elders."
Baozhu chuckled and pinched Pei Xuanji's cheek: "Just treat me to roast chicken."
Pei Xuanji naturally agreed and was about to speak when she suddenly heard Zhang He calling for Baozhu from afar.
Baozhu was startled and quickly said goodbye to Pei Xuanji before hurrying towards Zhang He.
Today was another very tiring day.
Inspired by Old Ma, the butcher in the market street, shops run by monsters sprang up in various districts of the capital. There were insect monsters selling flowers, cow monsters selling rice, monkey monsters selling paintings, and so on. For a time, the markets everywhere were extremely lively. Some mortals were curious, while others were deliberately causing trouble, and they always managed to create some chaos.
As the only demon exorcist, Baozhu spent his days running around dealing with these trivial matters. He had to say countless words and expend a great deal of energy each day, but he managed to calm everything down and prevent any major incidents from happening.
By evening, all the vendors and shopkeepers had packed up their stalls, and Baozhu and Zhang He could finally take a breather.
Their eyes were lifeless, and they squatted unkemptly at the corner of the street, each holding a bowl of sweet wine given to them by the wine shop owner, drinking it half-heartedly.
"Brother Zhang, I really owe you a lot these days." Baozhu glanced at Zhang He, who was staring blankly with his mouth agape like a hanged ghost, and felt a little guilty.
Upon hearing this, Zhang He abruptly turned to look at Baozhu, nearly biting his tongue: "Your Majesty, have you been possessed? Why are you being so polite?"
Baozhu scratched her head and said, "It's all because of the trouble caused by the monsters that you're so tired."
Her earnestness made Zhang He uncomfortable, and he quickly waved his hand, saying, "It's all part of our job. We're comrades who've been through thick and thin together, why be so polite?"
After Zhang He finished speaking, he thought for a moment and then said, "First there was Old Ma, and then many monsters came out to do business. Later, there will definitely be monsters that you will guide to become celestial masters. At that time, we won't be so tired. Everything should be done slowly."
More compatriots stepped forward to become Taoist masters.
Baozhu imagined this scene and smiled foolishly.
After the two celestial masters finished resting, they dispersed. Baozhu then went to the yamen and found Li Zhi, who was still buried in a pile of papers. She told him that she was going out of the city today and would probably have to stay at the millet garden.
Li Zhi's eyes were red from reading too many files. Hearing this, he smiled bitterly and said, "It's just a coincidence. If you hadn't come, I would have gone to look for you. There were so many things to do this afternoon that I couldn't finish them all in one night. Since you're not going home, I'll stay at the yamen and not go back either."
After he finished speaking, the two star-crossed lovers looked at each other and suddenly burst into laughter.
Seeing that no one was around, Baozhu quietly leaned over and kissed him, then lovingly stroked Li Zhi's bluish chin, comforting him, "We've all had a tough time lately, but things will get better soon."
Li Zhi rested his face on Baozhu's hand, looking extremely aggrieved.
He rarely had such a moment, and Baozhu, seeing this, was filled with emotion. Just as she was about to shower this fake fox spirit with more affection, she suddenly heard a shout from behind them—"Li Zhi! Where have you been?"
Li Zhi immediately became serious and turned around, saying, "Coming."
Seeing this, Baozhu didn't dare to bother him any longer. She kissed him again and urged him to go back to work.
After Li Zhi left, turning back to look at her every step of the way, Baozhu hurriedly walked towards the city gate.
She walked very fast and soon arrived at the entrance of the millet garden.
Baozhu waited at the door for a long time, but she didn't see the big rat guarding the door.
Baozhu scratched her head suspiciously, then took a step to walk around to the backyard wall and call out over the wall.
Just as they turned the corner, they saw Granny Mouse, her face pale and sickly, sitting astride the courtyard wall. A carriage was parked below the wall, and the big rat was reaching out its arms to catch it.
Without thinking, Baozhu shouted, "Grandma! What are you doing?"
The old lady rat on the wall and the big rat in the corner were both startled. They looked at Baozhu in a panic and hurriedly gestured for her to stop.
"Are you going on a long trip?" Baozhu asked curiously, lowering her voice.
Granny Rat glared at Baozhu with a ferocious expression and said through gritted teeth, "Keep quiet."
Baozhu quickly covered her mouth and nodded.
But it was still too late.
Suddenly, a commotion arose in the millet garden. Through a wall, it seemed as if ten thousand monsters were calling out to Granny Mouse.
"Grandma! Where are you going? Have you found me some work?"
"Grandma Mouse, I hunted a lot of deer on the mountain and skinned them. Can you help me figure out if I can set up a stall in the city?"
"Mother-in-law! Is it alright if I stay in the garden to take care of you?"
Grandma, grandma, grandma—
Granny Mouse sat astride the courtyard wall, looked up at the sky in despair, and sighed, "Why am I not dead yet?"
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