"This...you've decided to take my opinion into consideration?" Chang Lili asked suspiciously.
Zhang Ziqing acted without hesitation, saying calmly, "I just think what you said makes sense."
Chang Lili had a lot of words of advice she wanted to say, but she didn't need to say them now.
She happily rolled up her sleeves and said to Zhang Ziqing with great confidence, "I will definitely be the first to make the mechanical man!"
A smile seemed to flash across Zhang Ziqing's face. Jiang Yingxue leaned close to Chang Lili and said angrily, "It must be Ziqing!"
Inside the brightly lit underground palace, a handsome man with an androgynous appearance and a sword at his waist walked into the depths of the palace. When the patrolling men saw him, they all bowed respectfully and greeted him as "Vice Sect Master".
The man walked straight into a room where Guo Yan was sitting at a table, removing the bandages from her hand, which had almost fully recovered.
Looking up, she saw Chu Moyu push the door open and enter. She quickly stood up and bowed, saying, "Vice Sect Master."
Chu Moyu crossed his arms and asked expressionlessly, "How are your injuries?"
Guo Yan lowered her head, not daring to look him in the eye. Upon hearing this, she could hardly believe her ears. Her cheeks flushed slightly, and her voice was not as decisive as usual.
"It's...it's all better now," she said.
Chu Moyu continued expressionlessly, "That's good."
With just that one sentence, Guo Yan's face instantly lit up with a rosy glow. The usually mature and composed woman finally showed some of the girlish charm that someone her age should have.
"You've been investigating Chang Lili? What's her identity?" Chu Moyu raised his eyelids and scrutinized Guo Yan as he asked.
Once inside this underground palace, he became quite different from how he was in the palace. Outside, he was unruly and charming, but here, he was handsome, aloof, and extremely dignified.
Guo Yan lowered her head even further, but she did not succumb to beauty.
"Vice Sect Leader, I cannot disclose this matter to you." Her voice betrayed her difficulty.
Chu Moyu's face instantly turned as cold as ice, and his tone was equally chilling: "Inconvenient to tell you? Now look what's happened. I've been lying in wait outside, but the Three Pages Sect is gradually losing its place for me. Could it be that the position of deputy sect leader has already changed hands?"
Guo Yan immediately replied, "No, absolutely not!"
Before she could finish speaking, Chu Moyu shouted, "Then speak frankly and without reservation!"
"Vice Sect Master, I really can't..." Guo Yan gritted her teeth, her face filled with guilt.
Chu Moyu had lost his patience, his cold face radiating murderous intent: "Are you going to keep quiet because you want to inflict more wounds on your hands?"
Guo Yan felt a chill in her heart, and the blush on her face faded. The deputy sect leader was still the same deputy sect leader, aloof and cold as ice.
She firmly replied, "I cannot comply."
Despite saying that, she reached out and swiftly slipped a small note into the hand of Chu Moyu, who was slowly approaching her.
The next instant, a dark figure entered the room. Aunt Xin, with her graceful figure and a charming smile, said, "What? You haven't been back for a while, and now you're trying to give my right-hand woman a hard time?"
Chu Moyu's expression remained cold. He called out "Sect Master" but showed no respect whatsoever.
"I'm afraid you all hope I won't come back, because my position as deputy sect leader has become completely undeserved," he said with a snort.
Aunt Xin's smile deepened, looking at him as if he were her own naughty child.
“You have a more important task now. Even if you don’t come back for a year or two, you will still be the deputy sect leader here, in name and in fact.”
A hint of impatience flashed across Chu Moyu's brows: "If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now."
"How is the situation in the palace today?" Aunt Xin asked unhurriedly.
Chu Moyu, who had already turned around, turned back. He seemed reluctant, but he said in detail, "Everything is normal. The commander trusts me a lot now. He believes that I married his daughter, so the position of commander is rightfully mine."
Guo Yan's heart skipped a beat, and her body trembled slightly.
Aunt Xin listened to Chu Moyu's words with a relieved expression, then turned to Guo Yan and asked with concern, "What's wrong? Is your recovery not going well?"
"No, no, I'm just very happy that the matter of the deputy sect leader is progressing so smoothly." Guo Yan didn't look up, but forced herself to smile.
Chu Moyu frowned slightly and said, "But Meng Yuxiu still holds considerable military power. With him around, it will be difficult for us to succeed."
Aunt Xin waved her hand and said, "Don't worry about him. Even if we can't get him to work for us, we'll find a way to keep him in check."
Chu Moyu glanced at Aunt Xin in surprise. These words seemed arrogant. Aunt Xin was calm and composed; she shouldn't have said such a thing.
The disparity in strength between them and Meng Yuxiu was far greater than a fraction. They had been keeping a low profile, and the only person they had ever been wary of was Meng Yuxiu.
Unexpectedly, Aunt Xin said today that she wanted to restrain Meng Yuxiu and even take him under her wing.
It was unclear what leverage Aunt Xin had gained over Meng Yuxiu, but when Chu Moyu walked out of the underground palace and unfolded the note in his hand, he learned what that leverage was.
The small, crumpled note had only two words on it: Princess.
Inside the general's mansion, Meng Yuxiu was restless. The image of that spring night kept replaying in his mind: the warmth and softness of Chang Lili's body, and her delicate, rosy face, so alluring.
But then he began to feel ashamed and remorseful, realizing that he shouldn't have done that, and even less should he have thought that.
He sat on the veranda in the backyard, with Mengli beside him. One leg was propped up on the veranda, one arm was draped over it, and one hand was supporting his forehead. His long legs and arms, along with his handsome face, made him look good in any movement. However, he looked somewhat dejected, which was different from his usual appearance.
Thinking of Chang Lili's departing figure yesterday, Meng Yuxiu felt a tightness in his chest. He felt sad and worried about what would happen if she got angry next time he went there.
She's no longer in the general's mansion, so it's not so easy for them to meet anymore. He's busy with military affairs, and if he finally manages to visit her, and she's still angry, that wouldn't be a good thing.
Seeing Meng Yuxiu sighing and looking so worried, I couldn't bear to watch any longer.
"General, it's about the Northern Barbarians..." Ke Shou stopped halfway through his sentence.
When has the general ever been troubled by war? Even when the enemy is at the front lines, he remains calm and composed, let alone a small, restless northern barbarian.
Meng Yuxiu seemed to be at his wit's end. He was well-versed in military strategy, but Chang Lili felt that none of the military strategies he knew were of any use.
"Ke Shou, tell me, how can we appease the girl?" Meng Yuxiu sighed helplessly.
Ke Shou suddenly realized: "Is Miss Chang angry?"
Meng Yuxiu sighed and hummed in agreement.
Ke Shou had no experience in this area. This was the first time Meng Yuxiu had met a girl, gotten close to a girl, and cared so much about a girl. But the girl in Ke Shou's life hadn't even appeared yet.
However, he stated the matter at hand: "General, didn't you and Miss Chang have a conflict before? Didn't you take her favorite pastries with you?"
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