Chapter 71 Master and Disciple... Indeed, It Was Improper
Ling Shu looked down for her shoes, which were placed by the door. Just as she was about to get up, someone pressed down on her shoulder. Another figure came over, picked up her shoes and socks, and squatted down in front of her.
Zhuang Jinfu reached out his hand, but Ling Shu dodged with her foot. "I have my own hands."
"Why are you hiding?" Yu Liang grabbed her ankle. "Weren't you going to put on your shoes?"
The celestial being, holding a sword, was now using a white handkerchief to carefully wipe away the dirt from the soles of her feet and the water between her toes. She wiped very slowly, as if taking great care to clean them. After that, she put on silk stockings and then carefully slipped them into embroidered shoes.
My heart was pounding, and I started to breathe very carefully.
"Okay, I can do it myself."
"Sit down."
“…Hmm.” Ling Shu responded softly. Once Zhuang Jinfu was determined to do something, there was absolutely no room for negotiation.
If you try to go against Zhuang Jinfu, she'll find other ways to get people to go along with her. Ling Shu has the courage to confront her, but when it comes to strength, she doesn't dare to fight her head-on. From the Tongxuan Secret Realm to the small wooden house in Zhujin Mountain, she's been suppressed by absolute power, so she's afraid. Knowing when to show weakness and go along with her is a survival strategy that Ling Shu has figured out.
She carefully wiped her other foot clean, put on shoes and socks, and now both feet were properly clothed. Zhuang Jin washed her hands, and Ling Shu seized the opportunity to sneak away. Just as she reached the door, she heard a cold, emotionless voice: "You're leaving already?"
"It's getting late. Li Qiaoyan is going to deliver some storybooks to me tonight, and I also need to try on the uniform I'll be wearing for my new post tomorrow. I have to go back now."
"You haven't answered me yet. What's your decision?"
"Do you really have to interrogate your disciple about something like this?" Ling Shu's eyes were pitiful, her tone aggrieved, and her hands were clasped together, looking like a wronged puppy. If you didn't know that she used to be the type to recklessly run around and kill people with a sword, you would think that she was really wronged and pitiful.
"..." A sense of guilt arose. For her, who was over three hundred years old, the person opposite her was indeed too young, and yet he was her forcibly taken disciple. The master and disciple relationship... was indeed improper, and it was even more immoral and unfaithful to the deceased Wen Ji, not to mention that they were two women.
Even so, doesn't she know Ling Shu's personality? This is a tactic of retreating to advance.
"Alright, don't force yourself if you can't help. I'll ask Hai Gu for help." He then let her go, counting to three: three, two…
A warm hand pressed against hers, holding her palm. "No, Master, I want to help you." Where no one could see, Zhuang Jinfu's lips curled slightly.
So, what's the answer?
Ling Shu opened her mouth to answer, but the sea maid at the door heard the noise and turned around to greet her: "Have you made up?"
Ling Shu laughed and replied, "We didn't argue at all." She thought this was exactly what she wanted, but she didn't want to answer so quickly.
Back in the study, she tried on the clothes first. They fit perfectly and there was nothing that needed to be altered. When Ling Shu came out from behind the screen, Hai Gu was overjoyed.
"We've finally made it through. Our Miss Ling's future will only get better and better. The clothes are gorgeous, and the young lady looks absolutely stunning in them. They say clothes make a person look beautiful, but on our Miss Ling, the person is even more beautiful than the clothes."
Ling Shu happily accepted her praise, and with the heart of a young girl in love, she looked at Zhuang Jinfu and asked, "Does Master think it looks good?"
Zhuang Jinfu carefully looked the person up and down, his expression unchanged, and said, "Good-looking."
Ling Shu was flattered and smiled as she turned left and right in front of the mirror, looking at herself for a long time. She was also thinking about what hairstyle to wear the next day, unaware of Zhuang Jinfu's gaze directed at her from behind.
Appreciation, anticipation, overlay, control, monopolization.
She likened herself to damp moss in a corner, or a dead mushroom under a withered tree. Her emotions were never straightforward, and what Ling Shu saw was merely the tip of an iceberg exposed at sea.
Fearing that revealing their true nature would scare people away, they kept it hidden. This dark and unseen mind seemed to become the only stimulus to challenge their predetermined fate.
That night, Li Qiaoyan came again. The storybook he brought last time suited Ling Shu's taste perfectly, and Ling Shu accepted it. In the matter of reading storybooks, this was the only time Ling Shu accepted her closeness. From then on, Li Qiaoyan began to search for storybooks everywhere and would send them over from time to time to please Ling Shu.
The fact that Wang Lifu abandoned Wen Ji to marry Li Qiaoyan was always a thorn in his side. However, Li Qiaoyan was not the kind of wicked stepmother. She took good care of Li Chang and treated herself well as well.
Ling Shu had her share of troubles. Since the girl wanted to please her, she deliberately said that she wanted a rare, unique book, which had a starting price of 700,000 spirit stones at auction. She just said it casually, only wanting to get rid of her. But two days later...
Li Qiaoyan arrived with his servants and presented her with the rare book. She asked Li Chang to inquire about its auction price, which turned out to be 5.32 million spirit stones.
Startled, Ling Shu quickly returned the gift. Li Qiaoyan came over, fanning himself with a round fan, and said with a smile, "It's just a little thing. Take it if you like."
"It's too valuable."
"Take it with peace of mind, your mother loves you."
She came again tonight.
Li Qiaoyan was always accompanied by servants when she went out, and her grand procession could be seen from afar. Ling Shu, upon seeing her, walked into the house instead, even though the door was open.
The servants put down a pile of things. There were only two storybooks, but the rest of the fine clothes, gold jewelry, rouge and powder were brought over together. There was a lot of them. Li Qiaoyan entered the hall and skillfully instructed the servants to do their work.
"I don't need that much stuff, so please don't send it to me again."
"After entering the Elder Council, things will be different from before. Clothes make the man, and a saddle makes the horse. As an elder of the Elder Council, you should dress accordingly. As the daughter of the sect leader and the disciple of the Immortal Venerable, you cannot lose to others in these matters. Don't let them look down on you."
Ling Shu: "Being an elder depends on one's ability, not on one's appearance."
"You still need to maintain a certain level of decorum; I've prepared everything for you."
“I’m doing fine at Qingxi Mountain. I have everything I need, so there’s no need to send me so many things.”
"I know, I know. This is just a little something from your mother's heart. I won't feel at ease if you don't accept it. How can a mother not care about her daughter when she takes office? Please accept it."
Speaking of not caring about his mother at all, ah, where is Wang Lifu now?
Ling Shu didn't want to say anything more to her. "I'll accept it," she said, and quickly shooed her out the door.
Li Qiaoyan left the Qingxi Palace and walked down the mountain. At the corner of the steps, in the pavilion, he saw a purple figure.
"She accepted them all?"
“Yes,” Li Qiaoyan replied with a polite and respectful smile. “Next time, my wife can try delivering it herself.”
We'll see.
"If you care, why don't you go see her yourself? After all, she is your own daughter."
"Feeling indebted, I dare not get close."
Zhuang Jinfu stepped out under the moonlight. In the Shuiyue Hot Spring, Ling Shu was about to answer when Hai Gu interrupted her, and she did not receive an answer.
Outside the Golden Thread Hall, the fragrance of gardenias lingered, a scent that came from the incense burning inside.
Ling Shu intended to go out to the kitchen to get some pastries. As she walked out of the inner room and was about to continue walking, she saw a figure outside the door through the door. She couldn't sense the figure's aura. In the entire Qingxi Mountain, there was only one person who could completely conceal their aura so that no one could detect them.
They must be here to ask for answers.
He stopped just in time, and with a wave of his hand, blew out the candle.
Ling Shu's lips curled up; the moment of almost getting something is the most alluring.
Zhuang Jinfu raised his hand to knock on the door, but the candles inside the hall went out, plunging it into darkness. "Going to bed so early tonight? Perhaps it's to prepare for taking office tomorrow and get enough rest so you can come back tomorrow."
The next day, Ling Shu was woken up early by Hai Gu. Dressing, makeup, and hair combing were quite an ordeal. On the way out, passing the main hall, Zhuang Jin Fu put down his teacup and came out.
Good morning, Master.
"I send you."
Red carpets were laid out on the steps outside the Elder Hall, and the elders were already waiting inside. Zhuang Jinfu led her in, and everyone stood up to pay their respects. Wang Lifu stepped down from the head of the sect.
Ling Shu silently counted the heads of the elders in the back: one, two, three... There were nine elders in total, each with profound experience and high cultivation, at least at the Nascent Soul stage or above. Ling Shu, a nineteen-year-old girl at the early Golden Core stage, wore a crimson-gold elder's robe. Although she wore it flamboyantly and unrestrainedly, it could not hide her girlish innocence.
Zhuang Jin stepped aside, revealing Ling Shu's figure. "My little apprentice is unruly. I hope you will all take good care of him in the future."
No one dared to refuse, and they all replied with smiles, "Of course, of course."
Wang Lifu adopted the demeanor of a sect leader and said, "Ling Shu, you performed exceptionally well in the Elder Council's trial in the Tongxuan Secret Realm. You passed the trial and gained the qualification to enter the Elder Council. You also saved the Shangqing Sect in a moment of crisis and gained the support of many cultivators. You possess a thousand-year-old demon core, so I have specially appointed you as an elder of the Danmai lineage. I hope that you will diligently fulfill your duties, shoulder the heavy responsibility of an elder, and protect the smooth development of the Danmai lineage."
Ling Shu bowed and said, "I will remember the sect leader's instructions."
After a brief welcome, the elders returned to their respective quiet rooms to conduct their business.
Wang Lifu led her to her quiet room and instructed her, "You are still inexperienced and need to work harder. From now on, Chen Tong will work by your side."
A woman dressed in a blue sect robe, wearing tortoiseshell glasses, and with a stern face, bowed to her and said, "Chen Tong greets Elder Ling."
Ling Shu wasn't used to people bowing to her, so she quickly greeted them with a smile: "Oh, okay."
“Shen Tong has been working in the Danmai for many years and is very experienced. If you have any questions about Danmai matters in the future, you can consult her.” Just as he finished speaking, someone else had something to discuss with Wang Lifu and called her away.
Zhuang Jinfu said to Ling Shu, "Don't worry about not having enough experience. There are always people to teach you everything, and if all else fails, I'll be there for you. Just go ahead and do it."
Ling Shu nodded repeatedly.
Several books appeared on her desk, including "Baopuzi", "Dan Dao Tong Yi", "Jin Dan Da Yao", "Kun Yuan Jing", and "Nei Dan Xiu Zhen Yang Shen Xue", which together were about half an arm's length high.
Zhuang Jinfu pointed at the book with his finger and said, "You have no direction in your cultivation before. I will give you a direction for now: cultivate the Dao of Alchemy, nourish your health and live a long life, guard against arrogance and impetuosity, and reduce your thoughts of killing. You must read all these books."
Ling Shu's eyes widened as she counted twelve books from top to bottom. "You've read them all?!"
Zhuang Jinfu affirmed, "Yes. You lack the qualifications and cultivation level, and you are already an elder of the Danmai lineage. There's no use in worrying about your qualifications and cultivation level. The only thing you can do now is to increase your knowledge of alchemy and practice diligently. Otherwise, you will not be able to fulfill this position."
"A person in a position should learn the knowledge required, and should not slack off year after year."
Ling Shu resignedly said, "I will learn." Then she muttered, "I'm clearly better at learning thunder magic..."
Zhuang Jinfu said, "In our sect's thunder magic, attack comes first and health preservation second. I want you to cultivate the Dao of Alchemy so that you can eliminate the wildness in your demonic nature, calm your mind and establish virtue, cultivate your body and rectify your heart. Once you have learned it well, I will continue to teach you thunder magic."
Upon hearing that she could learn thunder magic in the future, she became excited again and replied, "I will definitely study hard!"
"You can focus on your work. I have important business to attend to, so I'm heading back now."
As soon as Zhuang Jinfu left, Shen Tong brought over a stack of official documents, placed them on the table, and said to Ling Shu, "Elder Ling, these are documents that have been piling up for half a month. Please review them."
"Just put it here."
She put down the stack of documents and then went to move another stack, making three trips back and forth. The stack of documents was so high that you couldn't see her head from the outside.
Ling Shu: "..."
She patiently opened it, and the first thing she saw was a leave request: "Elder, my mother is seriously ill at home. I request permission to take a month's leave to go down the mountain."
Approval.
The second book: "Elder, my goose is having a difficult birth. Please grant me a half-month leave to go back and check on the goose."
Even a goose's life matters, damn it.
The third book: "Elder, as the senior sister, I drank too much and accidentally kissed my junior sister. She wants to kill me. Please grant me a year's leave to go back to my hometown to avoid her advances."
Approval.
Wait, what's this? Cover: "Application for Funding to Purchase Fifty Grade One Alchemy Furnaces" Opening—"The Insubordinate Master is Too Charming"
Ling Shu: Hmm? You handed it to the wrong person?
Ling Shu: Let me taste it.
Upon opening it, she discovered that the main character was herself, and the master was naturally Zhuang Jinfu. There was not much plot inside; it was all action descriptions from beginning to end.
He thought to himself, "So that's how it's done."
"You can do that?!"
"It's worth a try."
She was so engrossed in reading that she didn't notice her beautiful and otherworldly master standing in front of her desk, staring at her.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
