Immortal Ascension Through Marriage: Investing in My Wife Get Returns

Su Yin approached at that exact moment, having finished her conversation with Bai Qingyue. She was entirely unaware of the silent war that had just transpired. Her presence naturally dissolved the tension’s sharpest edge, though the underlying current remained.

"Senior Brother Mu," she said warmly, "I hope you’ve been properly introduced. Lord Zhao’s household has been very gracious."

She glanced at Bai Chen, a small, genuine warmth in her eyes that she didn’t seem to notice was being watched like a hawk by both Mu Tianyang and Lin Yuan.

"Young Master Bai," Su Yin smiled. "I hope you’ve been enjoying the gathering. You seem much more relaxed today than when we first met."

Bai Chen felt his ears threaten to turn red again, but this time he managed to suppress the instinct to panic. He had learned his lesson from yesterday. There was no reason to make a fool of himself simply because Su Yin happened to smile at him. He cleared his throat and straightened slightly, determined to answer like a normal person.

"Well enough," Bai Chen said, recovering his solid footing now that the immediate, suffocating pressure of Mu Tianyang had eased. "Better company helps. Present company excluded from that compliment, obviously, since I only just met you twice."

It was a small callback joke to his earlier awkwardness. It was a clear sign of growth—that he could make light of his own stumble now, rather than only being mortified by it.

Su Yin laughed. It was genuine—the first real, open laugh she had displayed so far. It visibly, painfully cost Mu Tianyang something to watch it happen in front of him. His smile remained perfectly intact, but the fingers resting behind his back tightened almost imperceptibly.

"I’ll hold you to that," she said, her eyes crinkling. "Perhaps I’ll come watch one of your training sessions, if Lord Zhao permits visitors."

"I— yes. Of course. Absolutely," Bai Chen replied, a slight relapse into his earlier flustered cadence, but this time it was charming rather than embarrassing.

Su Yin smiled at him before turning toward Mu Tianyang. "Senior Brother, we should probably greet the other guests before the gathering ends. Master specifically asked us not to spend the entire afternoon in one place."

"Of course," Mu Tianyang replied smoothly. "I was merely getting acquainted with Young Master Bai."

Bai Chen glanced at him.

There was something about the way Mu Tianyang said the words that made his instincts prickle, but before he could respond, Su Yin had already moved on.

"Then let’s go," she said.

Mu Tianyang followed beside her, but as he walked away, his gaze briefly returned to Bai Chen. It was only for an instant, yet the warning in that glance was unmistakable.

Bai Chen watched them leave before slowly exhaling.

He had no idea what he had done to earn that man’s hostility. As far as he knew, he had simply spoken with Su Yin. Yet the encounter had left an uncomfortable feeling in his chest.

Lin Yuan, who had been observing everything, noticed the expression on Bai Chen’s face.

"Don’t think too much about it," Lin Yuan said calmly.

Bai Chen turned toward him. "Brother-in-law, you noticed it too?"

"I would have to be blind not to."

Bai Chen hesitated. "Do you think he’s interested in Su Yin?"

Lin Yuan gave him a sidelong glance.

"Do you really need me to answer that?"

Bai Chen’s expression darkened.

"I was afraid you’d say that."

Bai Qingyue covered her lips with one hand, hiding a soft laugh.

"Then perhaps you should stop giving him reasons to be interested in competing with you."

Bai Chen scratched the back of his head.

"I wasn’t trying to compete with anyone."

"Good," Lin Yuan said. "Then continue doing exactly what you were doing. Speak to her normally. Don’t act intimidated, and don’t deliberately provoke him."

Bai Chen nodded seriously.

"I understand."

Lin Yuan looked at him for another moment before adding, "And if you truly like her, then don’t let another man’s threats decide whether you have the courage to pursue her."

Bai Chen’s expression became slightly stunned.

Then a determined light appeared in his eyes.

"I won’t."

The gathering continued at a lighter, more relaxed register for its remainder, the political tensions safely buried beneath the facade of garden pleasantries. Bai Chen gradually returned to his usual self, though every now and then his gaze would drift toward Su Yin, and whenever their eyes met, his expression would become noticeably more cheerful.

Lin Yuan noticed every one of those moments but chose not to tease him further.

However, as the evening wound down and the guests began dispersing back to their respective pavilions, Mu Tianyang lingered for a moment near the garden’s edge. He watched Bai Chen and Su Yin’s easy, retreating conversation. His expression had shed all its earlier, polished politeness now that no one important was watching.

His Dao Protector, a Nascent Soul figure in gray who had said absolutely nothing all evening, approached quietly at his shoulder.

"You handled that poorly," the elder observed. His tone was not unkind, but more matter-of-fact than reproachful.

"I handled it exactly as intended," Mu Tianyang said, his voice completely flat now, none of the earlier warmth remaining. "He knows exactly where he stands. That’s all that mattered tonight."

"And the other one? Lin Yuan?"

Mu Tianyang was quiet for a long moment, watching the space where Lin Yuan had stood, recalling the chilling, immovable weight behind the man’s eyes.

"That one," Mu Tianyang said slowly, his jaw tightening. "Is a problem for later."

Elsewhere, walking back through the palace corridors with Bai Qingyue’s wheelchair gliding silently over the floors, Lin Yuan was quiet for a long stretch before finally voicing his own read of the evening.

"Something is going to come of that," Lin Yuan said, his tone utterly devoid of doubt.

"The Mu boy?" Bai Qingyue asked, her hands resting in her lap.

"He’s not the kind who threatens once and lets it go," Lin Yuan stated, looking out toward the moonlit peaks. "He’s the kind who threatens once, loses the exchange, and immediately starts planning something worse."

Bai Qingyue considered this carefully. She glanced toward Bai Chen, who was walking a short distance ahead, still visibly, radiantly buoyant from the evening’s conversation, entirely unaware of the shape of the danger he had just stepped into.

"Should we tell him?" she asked softly.

"Not yet," Lin Yuan replied, allowing a small smile as he watched the boy’s energetic stride. "Let him have tonight."