Chapter 51
Since separating at the Yin-Yang Five Elements Field last time, Yu Sui had also met Xue Mushi several times and had brief greetings and conversations with him.
Xue Mushi didn't like to show off and didn't seem to be someone who enjoyed talking. The first two times, if Yu Sui hadn't called out to him, Xue Mushi would have walked by with his head down without noticing her at all.
Yu Sui had looked into Xue Mushi afterward.
The Xue family was considered a famous noble family in the Taiyuan Kingdom's capital, with a large clan. Their ancestors for several generations had held official positions as high as Prime Minister, and the maternal side had also produced several favored imperial concubines.
The elders each followed their own paths without restriction, the highest being Thirteenth Realm, and the lowest being Tenth Realm.
Xue Mushi's engagement to the Taiyuan Kingdom's Yin-Yang School Saint Maiden had been arranged since childhood.
At that time, the Xue family had already withdrawn from politics and held no official positions, but his aunt was a favored concubine and had a good relationship with the Yin-Yang School's Grand Priest. The two children were born on the same day, which was considered a special fate.
But shortly after this marriage was arranged, the Imperial Concubine was harmed and died. The Taiyuan Emperor felt very guilty toward the Xue family and often thought of them. He refused to allow the marriage personally arranged by the Imperial Concubine to be dissolved, always waiting for the two children to grow up and hold their wedding to fulfill the Imperial Concubine's regret.
During their years together, the two children never developed mutual dislike. The Yin-Yang School's Saint Maiden was very outstanding, while Xue Mushi seemed rather ordinary. People privately discussed that Xue Mushi wasn't worthy of the Saint Maiden, but they also knew that due to the Emperor's guilt over the deceased Imperial Concubine, it would be impossible to release the Saint Maiden from the engagement.
Who would have thought that at the end of last winter, the Yin-Yang School's Saint Maiden personally went to the Xue family to break off the engagement, then entered the palace to report it. The Xue family also agreed to dissolve the betrothal, and that very day sent Xue Mushi away from the Taiyuan capital, eventually transferring him to Taiyi Academy.
After investigating, Yu Sui felt this marriage wasn't as simple as "an outstanding Saint Maiden looking down on an ordinary noble young master." Previously, when Xue Mushi fought with his roommates, it was because they spoke ill of the Saint Maiden that he took action.
This showed he was very protective of his former fiancée.
Besides, what ordinary noble young master would secretly practice deadly Taoist forbidden techniques?
If Xue Mushi had been rejected because he practiced Taoist forbidden techniques, Yu Sui might grudgingly believe it somewhat.
There were other details about Xue Mushi that Yu Sui was quite concerned about. Originally, according to her initial plan, after the Yin-Yang Five Elements Field trial, she would first approach Xue Mushi to test him out, but Wei Ren had jumped the queue, delaying those concerning details.
Yu Sui reorganized her thoughts during the night. Only when dawn was approaching and the Strange Fire's heat had diminished considerably did she finally lie down on the desk to sleep.
When Li Jin Shuang woke up, Yu Sui was still sleeping.
Li Jin Shuang sat up slowly with a frown, reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose, her gaze slowly turning toward Yu Sui who was sleeping at the desk nearby.
Although Yu Sui was asleep, the Strange Fire within her remained active and sensing the surroundings. It gently swayed its flames, feeding back to her all the movements of living things around Yu Sui.
Seeing Yu Sui sleeping deeply, Li Jin Shuang didn't want to disturb her and left quietly on tiptoe.
Just as Li Jin Shuang stepped out and turned to close the door behind her, she met the shocked gaze of Shu Chujun in the main room, who was holding a teacup and staring at her in disbelief.
Shu Chujun couldn't believe her eyes. She pointed at Li Jin Shuang with the hand holding the teacup and asked: "You came out of Nangong Sui's room?"
Li Jin Shuang remained silent.
Shu Chujun asked: "Is Nangong Sui also inside?"
Li Jin Shuang didn't answer. Shu Chujun strode over but was blocked by her from entering.
"Move aside!" Shu Chujun glared at her angrily.
Li Jin Shuang said quietly: "She's sleeping."
Shu Chujun laughed angrily: "What does her sleeping have to do with you and me? Move aside. I want to tell Nangong Sui not to foolishly think she can treat you as a man, lest she end up like that person, feeling her sincere feelings were wasted and demanding an explanation from you!"
Li Jin Shuang's temple twitched slightly as she suppressed her anger: "Princess Nangong isn't like what you're saying."
"You're still defending her? How long have you known each other?!" Shu Chujun's voice rose: "Li Jin Shuang! Don't say I didn't warn you. Every woman who has been close to you so far has been deceived by your masculine appearance. You let them waste their sincere feelings, even breaking off engagements..."
"Hey." The door behind Li Jin Shuang suddenly opened, and Yu Sui poked her head out, her eyes still somewhat sleepy as she stared at Shu Chujun, her gentle voice confused: "Why are you shouting so loudly?"
Shu Chujun was stunned by her words, somewhat annoyed as she looked away, then glared back, saying righteously: "Good that you're awake. Let me ask you, why did you have Li Jin Shuang sleep with you?"
Yu Sui rubbed her eyes. Though Li Jin Shuang was blocking in front of her, Yu Sui walked around Li Jin Shuang and looked back at Shu Chujun with tired eyes: "You all let Xiang Feifei sleep in her room, and Li Jin Shuang had no place to sleep, so I let her rest in my room. What's the problem with that?"
It was a perfectly normal thing, yet Shu Chujun made it sound as if it were some great transgression against moral principles.
Shu Chujun said coldly: "Your room isn't the only empty one!"
Yu Sui leaned against the doorframe, seeming more awake now, and looked at her with a smile: "You mean Xun Zhiya's and your rooms? Li Jin Shuang doesn't like going to your room, she prefers coming to mine. You're not also infatuated with Li Jin Shuang's masculine appearance and getting jealous here, are you?"
Li Jin Shuang: "......"
Shu Chujun's eyes widened, her face trembling with anger. This line of reasoning she had never imagined made her feel utterly humiliated and ashamed!
She raised her voice: "You're talking nonsense!"
"Then what do you mean by constantly emphasizing Li Jin Shuang's masculine appearance?" Yu Sui's eyes widened slightly as she looked at Shu Chujun in apparent surprise: "Are you afraid you'll also be deceived by her masculine looks, so you keep reminding yourself?"
"You..." Just as Shu Chujun was about to push past Li Jin Shuang, Li Jin Shuang blocked her sideways and said sternly: "Enough!"
With her masculine disguise, her eyebrows were naturally cold and stern. Her angry reprimand made her appear extremely dignified and intimidating, truly frightening Shu Chujun.
Shu Chujun was silenced by the scolding, but Yu Sui wasn't. She poked her head out from behind Li Jin Shuang and said to Shu Chujun: "Don't worry, I won't like her as a man. Li Jin Shuang looks much better as a woman than as a man, even prettier than you. I just like pretty girls."
Her words were playful, her deliberately teasing manner infuriating Shu Chujun.
Yu Sui closed the door and went back inside. The deep sound of the door closing made Shu Chujun gasp. She, she, she!
I have never seen such a silver-tongued woman!
Shu Chujun looked at Li Jin Shuang's slightly dazed expression and became even more flushed with anger, blood rushing to her head. Li Jin Shuang had actually believed that woman's sweet words!
Xiang Feifei, who had woken up in the adjacent room, sat up halfway and looked outside. It was quite lively so early in the morning.
……
Shu Chujun eventually stormed off to her room in anger, slamming the door shut with a deafening bang.
Li Jin Shuang returned to her bedroom to get clean clothes and saw the awakened Xiang Feifei.
Xiang Feifei threw off the covers and got out of bed, somewhat awkwardly saying quietly: "Thank you."
Li Jin Shuang said nothing and left with her clothes.
Xiang Feifei came out to find no one else around, so she left on her own, taking the Dragon Stairs down to find Gu Qian.
Yu Sui waited for Li Jin Shuang to finish getting ready and call for her before slowly getting out of bed.
She didn't go to the Medical School for classes today, deliberately freeing up time to find Xue Mushi to discuss.
When the two entered the Dragon Stairs, Yu Sui asked Li Jin Shuang: "What do you want for breakfast?"
Li Jin Shuang said: "Anything is fine."
Yu Sui asked again: "Do you know which floor Xue Mushi lives on?"
Li Jin Shuang stood in the corner of the Dragon Stairs: "I only heard that after he beat up his roommates, he moved out by himself."
Yu Sui in front turned around, looking at her in surprise: "I thought you would know nothing when asked."
Li Jin Shuang: "......"
Yu Sui turned back, her words seeming to carry some amusement: "When I want to move out someday, I'll learn from him too."
Li Jin Shuang had the words "Who do you want to beat up?" already on her lips but held back and swallowed them, playing mute.
Xue Mushi's previous fight with his roommates had caused quite a stir, and many people knew about it. With relationships soured to this extent, they naturally couldn't continue living under the same roof.
As long as the other people were unwilling to continue sharing with Xue Mushi, plus Xue Mushi personally wanting to leave, the Academy would approve his application to choose a new dormitory.
Xue Mushi chose a new floor, the 97th floor, room 1054, luckily getting a new dormitory with only himself.
As soon as Yu Sui entered this floor, she felt like there were many eyes around, with some dormitory doors even hanging Taoist sound-blocking talismans, wind-gathering talismans, four-seasons talismans, and so on.
She and Li Jin Shuang came to Xue Mushi's dormitory door and knocked.
After waiting quietly for a moment, there was no response.
Yu Sui slowly took out her Wind-Listening Ruler, found Xue Mushi's inscription, and sent him a message.
Li Jin Shuang glanced over and asked: "Since you exchanged inscriptions and can contact each other through Wind-Listening Rulers, why come to the dormitory?"
"To give him a surprise." Yu Sui said softly, "Let him experience life's unpredictability, you never know when you might encounter someone who comes to cause trouble or bring warmth."
Li Jin Shuang discovered that this Qingyang Princess was sometimes very talkative, always able to speak in half-truths that made people unconsciously follow her train of thought.
Yu Sui asked Xue Mushi where he was, saying she had cultivation matters to discuss with him.
After a while, Xue Mushi replied: "At the dining hall."
Yu Sui told him to wait, and she and Li Jin Shuang would come over.
Xue Mushi stood at the entrance of the dining hall, looking at the message with some confusion and blinking.
He deliberately walked to a quiet intersection to wait, beside tall trees full of small purple flowers, with a small pond behind where still fake mountains, free-swimming carp, and budding red lotus created a small paradise.
Since the end of the last Yin-Yang Five Elements Field trial, everyone had gone their separate ways to cultivate. Except for Yu Sui and Wei Ren, there had been little contact, everyone keeping their secrets.
This time Yu Sui actively sought him out, making Xue Mushi think it was mostly related to the special-grade Military Formation.
Xue Mushi put away his Wind-Listening Ruler and looked down at the carp swimming in the pond. The bright red fish bodies swam back and forth under the green lotus leaves, appearing and disappearing, his gaze listlessly following the red carp.
Bright red, with transparency, and shimmering water light, very much like the scenery he had seen that day.
Just as Xue Mushi's gaze became slightly dazed, he suddenly heard a girl's crisp voice calling: "Cousin!"
He immediately came to his senses, feeling afraid afterward, and composed his emotions before turning around.
"Oh, Jiayue." Xue Mushi perked up to greet her.
His cousin Xue Jiayue was walking with a row of girls, waving at him with a brilliant smile, while the girls beside her also smiled and looked his way.
Xue Jiayue said something to her companions and ran toward Xue Mushi under the tree.
She said brightly: "What are you doing standing here alone? Have you eaten? We were just going to the dining hall, let's go together."
"I've already eaten, you all go ahead." Xue Mushi declined.
Xue Jiayue looked a bit disappointed: "Then what are you standing here for, waiting for someone?"
This cousin was sometimes unusually perceptive.
Xue Mushi nodded.
Xue Jiayue pressed further: "Who are you waiting for?"
Xue Mushi looked somewhat troubled, not knowing how to answer, thus appearing somewhat dumbly as he stared at her.
Xue Jiayue became irritated by his hesitation: "You're hiding things from me again! Tell me quickly!"
How could he explain this?
Xue Mushi scratched his head in difficulty: "The people the instructor mentioned for the four-person group to go to the Yin-Yang Five Elements Field trial."
Hearing this made Xue Jiayue even angrier. She poked Xue Mushi's shoulder with her finger, so forcefully that it made him stagger backward two steps: "I haven't settled accounts with you about that yet! If I don't look for you, you won't come find me yourself?"
Yu Sui and Li Jin Shuang could see from far away Xue Mushi hanging his head under the tree while being scolded by Xue Jiayue. Neither of them went over, waiting for the siblings to finish talking.
By unfortunate coincidence, while Yu Sui was waiting for Xue Mushi, she encountered Sheng Hao and Qian Ying coming out of the dining hall.
These two had originally been walking separately, neither encountering the other, but because they both saw Yu Sui, they walked toward the same direction. At this time, Yu Sui hadn't yet realized the seriousness of the situation.
The first to call out to Yu Sui was Qian Ying.
"Princess." The girl's sweet and elegant tone attracted Yu Sui's attention. Following the voice, she turned to see Qian Ying approaching with two food boxes, smiling at Yu Sui: "Brother Gu is injured and inconvenienced, so I'm bringing him some breakfast. Princess..."
Sheng Hao, who was walking over, saw Qian Ying talking with Yu Sui and his expression changed. He strode over and interrupted their conversation before Yu Sui could speak.
"Qian Ying, what do you want to do?" Sheng Hao blocked Yu Sui behind him, staring at Qian Ying with unfriendly eyes.
Yu Sui: "......"
Li Jin Shuang: "......"
Both looked in confusion at the confrontational atmosphere between Sheng Hao and Qian Ying.
Sheng Hao had suffered at Qian Ying's hands and had seen through her true nature, which he considered extremely vicious. If Gu Qian said east, Qian Ying wouldn't go west. If Gu Qian said he disliked someone, Qian Ying would help hand over the knife and help kill and burn.
This woman practically lived for Gu Qian.
Who knew what she might do to his own sister for Gu Qian's sake!
However, Sheng Hao was overthinking this time.
Qian Ying indeed liked Gu Qian and was very obedient to him, treating Gu Qian as her only family in the world. In this world, only Gu Qian could be her companion in life.
So although she disliked the Nangong family, she knew Gu Qian was very fond of Yu Sui. Since she was someone Brother Gu liked, she naturally wouldn't do anything and would get along well with her, unless it was someone Brother Gu disliked, then she would dislike them even more.
Unless Qian Ying discovered that Yu Sui had harmed Gu Qian or posed a threat to him.
Qian Ying was no longer the little girl who could do nothing after her family was destroyed, forced to wander and live under others' roofs, anxiously surviving by watching others' expressions.
At this moment, she still maintained her smile and elegance, completely ignoring Sheng Hao's existence, only saying to Yu Sui: "Princess, your previous injury scars haven't faded and your Five Elements Energy has also been affected. If you need help, you don't need to queue at the clinic in the future, just come find me directly."
Yu Sui nodded: "Alright."
What do you mean alright? Sheng Hao turned to glare at Yu Sui fiercely, and Yu Sui shrank back.
Qian Ying smiled: "Then I'll go first."
Sheng Hao said coldly: "If you dare touch a finger on her for Gu Qian's sake, you'd better be careful when going to the Outer City in the future."
Qian Ying ignored him and walked away directly.
Sheng Hao was so angry his temple throbbed, turning to lecture Yu Sui rapidly: "Stay away from her! This woman's heart is blacker than a blind person's. She'll do anything for Gu Qian. Who knows if she might drug you someday just because you said two bad words about Gu Qian!"
Yu Sui asked in surprise: "Has she drugged you before, Third Brother?"
Sheng Hao laughed coldly. Of course Qian Ying had drugged him, more than once, directly causing him to refuse dealing with Medical School people during Hundred Schools Night March afterward, bringing all his own medicine.
He looked at Yu Sui for a while, getting angrier: "I told you to stay away from Gu Qian, you didn't listen. Now Qian Ying has noticed you, how are you going to compete with her? Are you still living with Xun Zhiya and those people? No, you move out and live next to me. Also, who is this? Someone from Xun Zhiya's group? Are you close with those women?"
Sheng Hao stared at Li Jin Shuang, then scolded Yu Sui, speaking rapidly, half complaining about the wicked things Qian Ying had done for Gu Qian, half demanding Yu Sui move out and not live with Xun Zhiya and the others.
Li Jin Shuang silently turned to look into the distance, pretending she didn't exist and hadn't heard anything.
Yu Sui went along with Sheng Hao's words to appease him, repeatedly promising not to conflict with Qian Ying.
But Sheng Hao said incredulously: "What are you afraid of her for? Am I telling you to be afraid of her and submit to her?!"
Yu Sui added: "I promise not to ask Qian Ying for medical help. If I get injured, I'll go find Sister Yuezhen."
"Shi Yuezhen?" Sheng Hao paused: "You have a good relationship with her?"
Yu Sui nodded: "Senior Brother took me to the clinic before to meet Sister Yuezhen, and after spending time together, our relationship is alright."
Mei Liangyu had a good relationship with Cang Shu, and Shi Yuezhen was in love with Cang Shu. Rather than letting Yu Sui get close to Gu Qian's group, Sheng Hao would rather see her play with Mei Liangyu and his friends.
Sheng Hao was finally appeased and was called away by Mu Mengbai. Before leaving, he repeatedly warned her not to play with Qian Ying, and Yu Sui nodded in agreement.
Only after watching him leave did Yu Sui breathe a sigh of relief. When she turned around, her gaze met that of Xue Mushi, who had just seen off his cousin. Both were stunned, simultaneously thinking:
Why can't all big brothers in the world be as easy to bully as him?
Why can't my sister be as gentle and obedient as her?