"She's been spying on you."

"Just because you look at me means you like me? Or maybe you're my enemy." Zhao Rong said with a smile.

The woman in Confucian clothes at the table lowered her eyes, nodded and whispered: "Even if he is an enemy, he will be an enemy who will haunt you for the rest of your life."

Zhao Rong didn't know what he was thinking about. He sighed in his heart and felt that it was hard to accept the beauty's favor.

"Besides, isn't it obvious that these things between men and women have always been like this, regardless of region or race, from ancient times to the present?"

Zhu Yourong asked slowly, then slowly raised her brush and continued to enjoy calligraphy, copying the words Zhao Rong had just added. At the same time, she continued:

"This young girl who has not experienced much can't hide her true feelings in her eyes. In her eyes... it's all about you."

Zhao Rong subconsciously wanted to ask about the experienced young lady, but he stopped talking before he could even say anything.

Because saying it sounds a bit like teasing her.

Zhao Rong couldn't help but look at the female teacher from the academy sitting at the table, who seemed to be an intimate elder sister and emotional mentor, and was speechless for a moment.

Zhu Yourong seemed to feel his gaze and did not look at him. Instead, she continued to copy and paint, as if waiting for him to break the silence.

The two of them lost their tacit understanding and didn't know what to say.

The atmosphere became a little awkward.

This is very rare in the past when we were like close friends.

The air in the flower garden gradually became dead silent...

To Zhao Rong, although there was a gap between him and Zhu Yourong as a teacher, the two of them were surprisingly happy and relaxed when they got along privately. During his days in the academy, he would come to Yilanxuan every few days to sit and drink a cup of tea, which was a rare time for him to relax.

Although Zhao Rong did not comment on some of Zhu Yourong's choices, he respected and admired her.

Moreover, as a close friend, he felt that Zhu Yourong was very loyal...

At this time, Zhao Rong glanced at the woman in Confucian clothes who seemed to be concentrating on calligraphy at the table.

So as a man, he has the obligation to break the awkwardness and make the situation more lively in this situation.

"What are you busy with recently?"

Zhao Rong suddenly laughed.

A certain female scholar in scholarly attire seemed to let out a sigh of relief.

Zhu Yourong continued to write a few more words, then gently put down the pen, "Writing, raising orchids, and daydreaming."

When she said the last two words, she turned her eyes away slightly and did not look at the young scholar in front of her.

Zhao Rong pretended to sigh and said amusingly, "You, the great cultivators of the Half-step Nascent Soul stage and the teachers of the Confucian Academy, do your lives always seem so plain and boring?"

Zhu Yourong lowered her eyes to read the words, tucked a strand of hair behind her right ear, and smiled gently.

"Isn't this just living a normal life? Then how do you think a great cultivator who has reached the half-step of the Nascent Soul should live? Is he going to fight and kill all day, roaming around the Nine Continents of cultivation to rob, kill, and steal treasures? Is he going to fight for resources and turn against his relatives and friends? Or is he going to hide his true intentions for thousands of miles, using the world as a chessboard and all living beings as ants and chess pieces?"

"That's too tiring." Zhu Yourong shook his head, looked up at Zhao Rong, and said seriously:

"If every monk on the mountain is like this, living like wild animals that prey on the weak, who will preach then?"

Zhao Rong thought about it and nodded slightly: "That's right. Not everyone is the protagonist in a vernacular novel, with exciting experiences and people from all walks of life coming one after another."

The woman in Confucian robes leaned against the table and spoke carefully:

"Yuanying Taiyi, like the mortals below the mountain, has to live an honest life. The days are slow and leisurely, dotted with wonderful and memorable moments. It's just that compared with ordinary mortals, the people and scenery he sees on the mountain and the wonderful encounters he has will be slightly more. However, he has a longer lifespan, and he has to endure more boredom than mortals. Even retreat and cultivation is more boring than living a life..."

Zhao Rong listened quietly and smiled from time to time.

The atmosphere between the two seemed to become casual and pleasant again.

"I have been in seclusion a few times, not for long. Unlike the senior cultivators who spent sixty years in the blink of an eye, it was only two years and seven months. It was when I was trying to reach the half-step Nascent Soul stage. Do you know what I wanted to do the most when I opened my eyes after I came out of the fasting retreat?"

Zhao Rong thought for a moment and said seriously, "Scratch the itch on your back?"

Zhu Yourong didn't smile, but blinked at him, as if to say...are you cold?

Zhao Rong covered his mouth and coughed, then guessed seriously, "Okay, the first thing is... let out a long roar, soar into the sky, and let everyone within a radius know that you have reached the Nascent Soul stage in less than half a century. Anyone who has some sense should quickly come over to congratulate me and give me gifts?"

Zhu Yourong shook her head, but this time she was successfully amused.

"So... if you want to write, a half-step Yuanying is not worth mentioning?"

The woman in scholarly robes picked up the pen again and wrote slowly, but then shook her head again.

"What is that?" Zhao Rong frowned.

He nodded, "I understand. The first thing I do when I open my eyes is to stretch."

Zhu Yourong smiled and said directly:

"Yes, go eat, then take a good bath and have a good sleep."

Zhao Rong was very upset.

As if seeing that he was about to complain, Zhu Yourong spoke first:

"Yes. I have been fasting for a long time and I am not hungry. My body is also very clean and dust-free. But I still feel hungry and uncomfortable."

"Three meals a day, bathing and sleeping, have been like this since I was a child. It feels like an inseparable part of my life. If my life is missing these after practicing, it won't feel like living."

Zhao Rong felt a little embarrassed when he heard this.

His daily routine in the academy is quite irregular. Recently in Dali, if Xiao Qian'er was taking care of him, Zhao Rong would probably only eat one meal a day or not eat at all, and stay up all night studying...

Zhu Yourong turned around and looked at someone who was coughing and covered his mouth, and said slowly:

"When I first started practicing, I was also amazed at the extraordinary body of a practitioner. I could live without food, water or sleep. But later I found that... I was too idle to sleep in the middle of the night when everything was quiet. The rising and setting of the sun and the setting of the moon, the alternation of yin and yang, and the awakening and sleeping of living beings are the laws of heaven and earth. Why should a practitioner go against them?

"So unless I have a favorite calligraphy that I want to study and copy, and I forget the time, otherwise I will rest on time. Besides..." The woman in the Confucian robe paused and lowered her eyes, "Besides, sometimes some strange dreams are quite interesting."

Zhao Rong didn't think too much about it and curled his lips in his heart when he heard it.

Speaking of dreams, he has been having that strange landscape painting dream recently, which is really creepy, especially the little girl with pigtails who is most likely Yu Huaijin. She is very serious and boring. Zhao Rong doesn't even feel like sleeping.

Therefore, in the few times he had dreams recently, he had not gone to that strange square school. Instead, he used the characteristics of ink dreams to practice landscape painting outside, in preparation for the painting assessment in the near future.

Zhao Rong was somewhat surprised to find that the effect was quite good...

"Ahem, thank you for your advice, Mr. Zhu." Zhao Rong smiled and bowed.

Zhu Yourong glared at him for being funny.

Then she asked with some concern about Zhao Rong's situation in Dali.

The latter just picked up some things and talked about them, but didn't go into detail.

At this time, Zhu Yourong looked at Zhao Rong for a while and asked, "Are you Fuyao?"

Zhao Rong put his hands behind his back, took two steps back and forth in a pretentious manner, and said seriously: "My magical power has been very successful recently."

The woman in Confucian robes looked solemn and said, "Congratulations."

Zhao Rong waved his hand and said seriously, "Be modest."

After he finished speaking, the two looked at each other, blinked, and couldn't hold it back anymore, and suddenly laughed.

"Very cute." Zhu Yourong suddenly said with a smile.

Zhao Rong was stunned and his old face turned red, but he immediately realized that they were not talking about him.

Zhao Rong glanced at a little fox demon in the distance. It seemed that he wanted Zhu Yourong to be happy and cheerful. She kept biting her lips, looking at him with her big eyes...

Seeing him looking at him, the latter turned his back and pretended not to care, not looking at him.

Zhao Rong turned around, smiled, and said to Zhu Yourong:

"Thank you for the compliment. But don't say it in front of this silly girl. She doesn't like people calling her cute. She always says she's 'pitiful and unloved'."

Zhu Yourong couldn't help laughing.

She turned her head and happened to meet the sneaky gaze of a little fox demon.

Zhu Yourong glanced at Su Xiaoxiao who was dodging in a hurry again, picked up the pen, and wrote and drew while smiling:

"Why, bring her here... Is the young lady at home jealous? Want to assert her sovereignty?"

Zhao Rong helplessly spread his hands, "She is just a little coward, how dare she do that? If I ask her to get up early and not sleep in, she will cry for a long time and hit me on the nose..."

The corners of his mouth curved slightly, and his tone unconsciously became doting.

At the side, the woman in Confucian robes who was writing with her head down quietly stopped writing and glanced at him.

Zhao Rong didn't notice this at the moment, but shook his head and said, "I was the one who brought her here. By the way, do you still remember the letter you asked Mr. Yan to bring to me when I was in Taiqing Mansion? This little girl found it..."

Zhao Rong briefly recounted the whole story of what happened next to the bookshelf that morning. After a pause, he apologized:

"Zhu Yourong, please help me explain this to this stupid girl later. I don't know how she found this letter from the corner. I had forgotten about it before and just put it in this book..."

Zhu Yourong listened for a while, put down the pen and looked at him, nodding calmly, "Oh, my letter, you just stuffed it away, but it was finally discovered by the young lady at home today."

She paused and said calmly, "That's what happened."

The self-awareness Zhao Rong developed during his time with Qingjun told him:

Danger?

"No... that..." He explained subconsciously, "I am used to stuffing letters from friends into my books. The closer the relationship, the better..."

"Okay, I get it, I'll handle it." Zhu Yourong interrupted.

Zhao Rong opened his mouth, closed it awkwardly, and scratched his head, "Thank you."

Zhu Yourong chuckled and said, "You said this little fox girl is a little coward, then what about your wife who rides away in Taiqing Mansion? She probably won't be afraid of me, a teacher in the academy. Didn't you tell her to join forces with her?"

Zhu Yourong had long known about Zhao Rong's identity as a son-in-law. Zhao Rong told her about it frankly when they first met. Zhu Yourong also often teased him about his wife.

Zhao Rong smiled when he heard this, but did not respond. He did not want to explain in detail the things that Qingjun and Xiaoxiao did not know about each other.

However, Zhu Yourong kept smiling, and the smile gradually faded away.

The young scholar still smiled.

But the woman in the Confucian robes squinted at him with a scrutinizing look...

The two of them have an extraordinary tacit understanding and are in tune with each other. Some things seem to be known between them.

Especially Zhu Yourong, who is a kind-hearted and elegant woman, is not an ordinary woman at all.

Zhao Rong also noticed this and felt helpless. Why were they so smart?

He looked away slightly, wanting to speak.

Zhu Yourong looked at Zhao Rong with a half-smile, then suddenly glanced at one of his hands and said, "Okay, I'll explain it to you now."

Zhao Rong was about to turn around and say thank you, but the next second, Zhu Yourong suddenly reached out and did something that stunned Zhao Rong...

In the pavilion in the distance, Su Xiaoxiao was peeking again. Seeing this, Jingzi beside her patted her chest and said something confidently:

"You little fox demon, you dare to like this guy, you will be bullied to death. But it's okay now, okay, don't worry about it, my husband is not what you think, don't worry."

However, the next second, the two girls almost simultaneously saw that the woman in Confucian robes in the flower garden suddenly reached out and took the right hand of the young Confucian scholar next to her.

Su Xiaoxiao froze in place.

A girl in blue patting her chest: w(°Д°)w