Chapter 45 Bai Yan's Suicide, Her Mother Entrusts Her Orphan
“Miss…” Bai Er leaned against the stone door, panting heavily, “Don’t run anymore, I… I can’t run anymore… How come you have such good stamina?” Bai Er asked in surprise.
"It's not that I'm physically strong! It's that you're physically weak!" Su Yuyao slung her small bundle over her shoulder, helped Bai Er walk, and said, "Look how thin you've become! You're reluctant to eat the pastries that Sister Jinyu gave you. You need to eat more at breakfast later, okay?"
The line for breakfast was stirred up by Su Yuyao's arrival.
"She actually came? And she's acting like nothing happened..."
"Shameless! If I had suffered what she did, I wouldn't have the face to live..."
"You guys should say less. Judging from her expression, she might actually be enjoying it..."
The groups of people were either whispering among themselves or covering their mouths and chuckling.
Bai Er clenched his fists in anger, but Su Yuyao didn't care and only focused on the food in front of the group.
"Oh! Yao'er's here?!" Meng Yu smiled and ladled a full bowl of soup for Su Yuyao, then added two steamed buns to her plate.
"Two more, please!" Su Yuyao said with a smile. "I've had a really good appetite lately! Give Bai'er a bigger portion too, she's too thin and doesn't have any energy!"
Bai Er had little appetite; she held her breakfast and looked at Su Yuyao, who was eating heartily, with a worried expression.
"Why aren't you eating!" Su Yuyao finished her breakfast and looked at Bai Er's untouched food with longing.
Bai Er asked softly, "Miss, how can I possibly eat this! Aren't you angry when they said those things?"
"If you're not going to eat, then eat!" Su Yuyao brought Bai Er's rice to her, eating as she laughed, "Can't you live without hearing dogs barking?"
Bai Er smiled helplessly.
The class was still boring, so boring that even Bai Er, who was sitting next to Su Yuyao, started to doze off.
"Yao'er!"
Bai Er opened his eyes groggily and saw Qi Meng standing in front of Su Yuyao's desk.
"Miss! Miss!" Bai Er shook Su Yuyao, who was still fast asleep.
"What's wrong? Is get out of class over?" Su Yuyao asked, rubbing her eyes.
A soft murmur of laughter drifted through the classroom.
"Yao'er, go outside and kneel down to wake up!" Qi Meng said sternly.
"Ah? Another punishment..." Su Yuyao reluctantly stood up and walked out amidst everyone's laughter.
“Miss, no wonder you don’t like coming to the academy, it’s really boring.” Bai Er sat on the steps, keeping Su Yuyao company as she knelt in the courtyard as punishment. “Hey, Miss, if you could behave yourself and not go out and cause trouble, the master wouldn’t have insisted that I stay with you. It’s so boring…”
"I didn't cause trouble on purpose..." Su Yuyao said to herself, feeling guilty.
After finally getting through get out of class, Su Yuyao was about to get up and go play when Qi Meng called her to his study for one-on-one tutoring.
Bai Er finally breathed a sigh of relief. She sat in the courtyard, watching the apprentices running and playing all over the place, her eyes filled with envy and relief.
Qi Meng held Su Yuyao's ear and lectured her all day, even during lunch break he watched Su Yuyao practice calligraphy.
This caused Su Yuyao great distress. Whenever she had the chance, she would wink at Bai Er, urging her to go find Xuan Feng to pick her up.
Bai Er understood immediately. After all, she had been waiting at the entrance for most of the day and was already fed up, so she quietly ran down the mountain...
"Girl!" Xuanfeng has finally arrived!
Su Yuyao was so excited that tears welled up in her eyes. She hurriedly interrupted Qi Meng's dry and boring lecture, "Immortal Master! Xuanfeng has come to pick me up!"
Qi Meng glanced at Xuan Feng at the door, picked up the ruler, and said, "Stretch out your hand."
“Ah? Xuanfeng…” Su Yuyao turned around and looked at Xuanfeng.
Xuanfeng awkwardly gestured for her to obey.
Snap!
"Ah!" Su Yuyao's swollen palm was hit with the ruler again.
"No interrupting during my lectures!" Qi Meng said sternly. "Also, you have homework to do at home, and you must finish it!"
"ah?"
Su Yuyao held back her tears and completed a pile of homework before Qi Meng finally let her go.
"Girl, how was your day?" Xuanfeng asked, looking at Su Yuyao who was pouting.
"Is it good or not? Even the white-eared goose took the opportunity to slip away, do you think it's good or not!" Su Yuyao said irritably.
"Master Qimen brought back some wild boar meat, so I sent Bai'er back first. We'll have stewed meat for dinner tonight!"
"We get to eat meat! That's great! Oh my!" Su Yuyao clapped her hands and laughed, forgetting that her palms were still swollen.
Xuanfeng smiled and gently took her hand. "Little girl, are you tired?"
"How can I not be tired?! Try being watched by the immortal master for a whole day! Not only will you get slapped on the hand, but you can't relax for a moment..." Su Yuyao said with a yawn, "I've been sleepy all day!"
"Then... do you want me to carry you?"
"want!"
Su Yuyao lay on Xuanfeng's back, tugging at his ear and saying, "You made me angry today, you know? You brought up Feihua again for no reason..."
Xuanfeng couldn't help but think of Feihua's situation. Since Zeyuan couldn't have marital relations with Feihua, then who was Feihua with...? Could it be... Tide Lord? If it really was Tide Lord, was it at Yi's mother's behest or a scheme by the father and son? And whose conspiracy was that time in the flower garden?
Thinking of all this, Xuanfeng couldn't help but feel sorry for Feihua and sighed softly...
Su Yuyao could sense Xuanfeng's low spirits, so she let go of his hand and obediently lay on his back.
"You're still thinking about Fei Hua, aren't you?" Su Yuyao asked softly.
“Girl, I am indeed thinking of Feihua, after all…”
"After all, you've been in love for a thousand years, haven't you?"
“Girl…”
"So...did you actually do it...?"
“Girl, we…” Xuanfeng didn’t know what to say, because he and Feihua had indeed been intimate, but it wasn’t because they couldn’t help themselves.
Before meeting Su Yuyao, Xuanfeng always thought that matter was just a matter of responsibility. But when facing Su Yuyao, that matter became an irresistible impulse.
"As expected, you two did it..." Su Yuyao's heart began to churn with jealousy again.
"Girl, it's not what you think..."
“So what? What’s done is done, no matter the reason, you did it,” Su Yuyao yawned and said softly, “She must miss you a lot, just like I miss you a lot…” After saying that, she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
Halfway up the mountain, a few thatched huts stand, their lights dim and wisps of smoke rising from their chimneys.
Bai Er had already placed the stewed meat on the table.
"Girl, wake up, we're home." Xuanfeng carried Su Yuyao into the house.
Su Yuyao hummed softly and slowly opened her eyes. "Hmm? It smells so good!"
She suddenly perked up, jumped off Xuanfeng's back, and looked at the amber-colored, crystal-clear stewed meat on the table, laughing, "It smells so good! Bai'er, quickly serve me some rice!"
Xuanfeng smiled as he watched Su Yuyao devour her food. Looking at her rosy lips, plump cheeks, and bright eyes, he felt an indescribable surge of emotion and fulfillment, as if a drifting boat had finally found its own riverbank.
"It smells so good! Bai Er, your cooking is getting better and better!" Su Yuyao said with a smile, holding up her bowl. "I want another bowl of rice!"
"Girl, how come you can eat so much now?" Xuanfeng pinched Su Yuyao's cheek.
"How could I possibly eat that! It's just that the white fungus soup smelled so good!" Su Yuyao said with a grin as she poured the rice into the plate with the meat. "I saw you weren't going to eat any, and it would be a waste to leave them, so I ate them all!"
"Girl, eat less. You still have homework to do later. Eating too much will make you sleepy!" Xuanfeng said with a smile.
After dinner, in the dim candlelight, Su Yuyao looked at the paper and pen on her desk and couldn't help but yawn.
She turned to look at Xuanfeng sitting at the table and said pitifully, "Xuanfeng, can you help me write this? I've been studying all day and I want to play for a while... Everyone else has time to play, but I'm the only one who's been following the Immortal Master the whole time and hasn't even had a chance to rest!"
Xuanfeng looked at Su Yuyao's pleading face and couldn't help but soften.
He put away his book and said softly, "Go play..."
"Great!" Su Yuyao threw down her pen, lifted her skirt, and ran out of the room, shouting, "Bai Er! Bai Er! Let's play for a while!"
Bai Er had been cooped up in the academy for a while, and upon hearing Su Yuyao's call, he immediately dropped what he was doing and happily went to greet her.
...
"Your Majesty!" Guiyue hurriedly reported, "Fairy Baiyan...has committed suicide!"
Yi's mother frowned slightly and closed her eyes tightly. This friend who had grown up with her since childhood was just... gone.
“Guiyue… Baiyan is my only friend, but she is also the one with the deepest estrangement from me,” Mother Yi sighed. “If Baiyan and I hadn’t mistakenly entered Xuan Yi’s palace back then, I would still be the carefree Fairy Yiguo now…”
"Your Majesty, you rule over all things in heaven and earth, and you control the ever-changing life and death of countless worlds. Although you have suffered losses, you bear the weight of responsibility for all living beings..."
"Guiyue," Mother Yi slightly opened her eyes, tears welling up but not falling, "I wanted to love those I loved, yet I couldn't stay with them forever; I wanted to protect those I cherished, yet I suffered criticism and suspicion; the child I deeply loved became my enemy; the child I cherished was too sharp; my desires were unfaithful to me; who knows my hardships?!"
“Your Majesty…” Guiyue’s eyes welled up with tears, “If you are angry, just order the Tide Lord to be punished. Why keep your anger bottled up inside…”
“I cannot punish him. If I were to punish Chaoxi at this juncture, the consequences for Feihua would be self-evident…” Mother Yi sighed deeply, a barely perceptible murderous intent flashing in her eyes. “I will settle Chaoxi’s affairs one by one when I have the chance. Now is not the time to deal with him…”
"Your Majesty, when will Xuanfeng return?" Feihua stared blankly into the courtyard again. "Why hasn't he come back to marry me yet?"
"Feihua!" Mother Yi suppressed the murderous intent in her eyes and gently called to Feihua, who was sitting at the doorway in a daze, "Come to me!"
Feihua tilted her head and looked up at the sky, asking blankly, "Why are the dandelions gone?"
"Does Fei Hua still not recognize people?"
"Your Majesty, the physician says that Fairy Feihua suffered a severe shock, which caused her to develop hysteria. This is due to inner demons..."
Mother Yi lowered her head and wiped her eyes, pondered for a moment, and said, "The self-destruction of Fairy Baiyan is a loss to the divine realm and a detriment to the immortal realm. She shall be given a proper burial, and all the gods shall be allowed to mourn. Fairy Feihua is required to observe three years of mourning, and her marriage shall be postponed indefinitely. Furthermore, there is a mourning in the Heavenly Palace, and during Fairy Feihua's mourning period, all banquets and weddings shall be suspended!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"Also... go to the Immortal Mountain and summon Xuanfeng. It's time to find a place for Feihua to stay..."
"yes!"
...
"Yao'er, tell me the truth, who wrote this homework?" Qi Meng sat up straight, pointed at a stack of papers on the table with a ruler, and asked seriously.
Su Yuyao stood to the side with her head down, nervously fidgeting with her sleeve, and cautiously replied, "I..."
"You?" Qi Meng slammed the ruler on the table with a loud crack, startling Su Yuyao.
"I...I asked Xuanfeng...to help me..." Su Yuyao's head was almost buried in her chest. "Immortal Master, I was wrong..."
Qi Meng scolded, "This is your homework, meant to help you absorb the new material better and faster. How could you be so lazy about this! Today, I'll watch you write it! The same homework! Write it ten times!"
"What?! Ten times?!" Su Yuyao cried, "Immortal Master, please forgive me! I was wrong! There won't be a next time!"
"Sit still!" Qi Meng said sternly. "You can go home when you finish writing!"
"Oh, I understand..." Su Yuyao obediently sat down and looked back at Bai Er, who was hiding by the door. Bai Er nodded solemnly and then secretly slipped down the mountain.
Qi Meng noticed the two children's little antics but didn't point them out. Instead, he stood in front of Su Yuyao's desk and watched her write each character carefully.
Qi Meng drank pot after pot of tea, while Su Yuyao filled stacks of Xuan paper with her writing.
That idiot! Why hasn't he summoned Xuanfeng yet? Immortal Master has drunk so much tea, why doesn't he go to relieve himself?
"Hmm? Yao'er!" Qi Meng noticed Su Yuyao's little scheme and tapped the table with a ruler.
Su Yuyao quickly sat up straight and began to write seriously.
"Pfft, pfft..." White Ear relayed the signal by the door.
Su Yuyao glanced over secretly, but didn't see Xuanfeng's figure, only Bai Er jumping around anxiously at the door.
"Ah, Immortal Master! I... I need to pee!" Su Yuyao made up an excuse.
Qi Meng slowly picked up Su Yuyao's homework. "Although the handwriting is neat, the strokes are light and frivolous. It's obvious that her mind is cluttered and she hasn't calmed down!"
Bai Er, standing at the door, was so anxious listening to Qi Meng's unhurried words that he was practically jumping up and down.
"Lord Qi Meng!" Bai Er finally couldn't hold back any longer and rushed in, kneeling down as she said, "This humble servant has important matters to report to Miss!"
Bai Er's recklessness filled Su Yuyao with doubt.
"Okay, go ahead." Although Qi Meng was displeased, he did not stop her and let Su Yuyao go.
Bai Er stepped forward, pulled up Su Yuyao, who was full of doubt, and hurriedly ran outside.
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