"He's heading east," Shen Zhenyu replied. "He wants to investigate that... angry cabbage incident. He thinks it might be connected to the rest of the events. He already has people in the north, so he'll follow the trail east himself."
"Ah, right!" Song Meiyu perked up, holding her teacup with both hands. "Master Yin Xue called me last night too. She said the angry cabbage cases are going up again. Ten new ones this week!" She paused with great drama then added. "I also told her we're heading back… though not in two days."
Linyue nodded thoughtfully. "So it's really spreading. Is there any similarity between the people who were affected?"
"None," Song Meiyu said, shaking her head hard enough to rattle her hairpins. "Guards, merchants, shopkeepers, palace workers, scholars… it's like the cabbage doesn't care who it bites."
Linyue frowned. "Maybe we'll find out more when we return."
Shen Zhenyu gave a small nod. "Yes. For now, why don't we continue cultivating?"
The room immediately exploded with groans.
Song Meiyu threw herself onto a cushion. "Why must we cultivate every day? Let the angry cabbage bite me now and end my suffering."
He Yuying, now lying flat on the floor like a starfish, mumbled, "Same. Let the cabbage win."
Linyue, however, had other plans. She had been wanting to try sensing the strange array inside her body again. Shu Mingye had already warned her not to do it alone, but honestly, she was always supervised. She was sure she could handle it safely now. She had trained her spiritual sense, studied more techniques and anyway, if he found out, she could always bribe him later. So, before Song Meiyu could drag her into another round of gossip and cabbage theories, Linyue stood up.
"I'm going to meditate," she announced.
She marched to her bed, sat down cross-legged, and closed her eyes.
On the inside? Pure chaos.
On the outside? Calm, noble, and definitely not a person secretly poking at dangerous arrays while everyone else whined about cultivation.
Linyue slowed her breathing and cleared her thoughts. Quiet. Steady. Focused. She gathered her spiritual energy, shaping it into thin threads, and sent them weaving through her body. They moved carefully, slipping into her meridians, her blood, her bones. This time, unlike before, she could control them. No shaking. No backlash. Just steady progress.
She could feel everything now. The shape of her meridians. The rhythm of her blood. The quiet hum in her bones. It was like walking through a dark corridor with a lantern. The world inside her body lit up, revealing things she had never noticed before.
And then came the cold. Condensed spiritual energy pressed against her meridians, heavy and unmoving, like rivers frozen mid-flow. It wasn't natural. Energy should move, breathe, change. This felt locked in place, sealed tight. Surrounding it were multiple arrays, stacked and coiled, guarding the cold.
She didn't recognize the arrays yet, but something about them felt familiar. The energy, the faint lingering touch in their design… it reminded her of her master.
Her fingers twitched slightly in her lap. She wanted to poke it. Just a little. A harmless prod. Maybe even a polite spiritual knock. But she had promised. No dangerous experiments alone. Shu Mingye would definitely show up the second her body did something dramatic again. And he'd probably smirk and say, "I told you so, Pie." Then he'd charge her an outrageous bribe to forgive her. Probably twenty kisses. Minimum.
Linyue sighed softly. As tempting as it was, she pulled her threads back. She would wait. Next time, when he was with her, she could dig deeper. With great restraint and only a little sulking, she let go of her spiritual sense and opened her eyes.
No explosions. No icy backlash. No smug king barging in. Success.
She felt quietly proud of herself. Not only did she not explode this time, but she even expanded her spiritual sense a little. If she kept this up, maybe one day she could walk around with her eyes closed and still avoid bumping into tables, just like her master. A very elegant goal. With that very responsible thought in mind, she closed her eyes again and gathered her spiritual energy. Deeper. Steadier. Softer.
Time passed quickly in quiet meditation. Then she sensed it. A familiar presence moved toward her chamber. No footsteps yet. No sound. But she knew. Shu Mingye had left his study. A few moments later, she opened her eyes and climbed down from the bed.
Song Meiyu, sitting with a satisfied smile and a teacup in hand, called out, "Sister Linyue, we finished packing while you were meditating!"
Right. Packing. That was happening. She had completely forgotten. Mostly because she just assumed Shu Mingye had prepared everything. Which he probably had. That man moved faster than wind when he wanted something. And now she was getting used to it, letting him take care of things. Depending on him. Which was… dangerous, but she didn't hate it.
"Alright, great," she replied casually.
Then she bolted. Before the Demon King could reach her door, Linyue ran to it, yanked it open, and marched out. Sure enough, there he was in the hallway, walking toward her with that calm, regal king stride. But she was faster. Without warning, she dashed forward and threw herself into his arms. Like a flying dumpling. A stealth attack.
Shu Mingye caught her perfectly. Not even a flinch. His lips curled into that smug, too-handsome smile of his. "Are you that excited to see me, Pie?"
Linyue opened her mouth. She wanted to say she missed him. She really did, but she had learned her lesson. Last time she didn't even say it, and she almost didn't get her beauty sleep. So she kept a straight face.
"I just didn't want you to kick the pitiful door."
Shu Mingye raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. "So the door is pitiful. But I'm not?"
"You didn't even get kicked."
He let out a long sigh. "Worse. I was abandoned."
Linyue tilted her head and gave him her sweetest, most innocent smile. "Who would dare abandon my adorable and reliable future husband?"
That got him. Shu Mingye stared at her for a long moment, like he was trying very hard not to melt and fail as a villain. His mouth twitched, but he kept up the act. "…Did you just call me adorable and reliable?"
"It slipped out," Linyue said, expression still pure and innocent.
"It can slip again."
"No, it cannot."
"Pie."
"Don't get greedy."
But it was too late, he was already grinning. And Linyue, despite pretending to be calm, could feel her face heating up.
Chaos Couple status: Flirting in the hallway, door unharmed, villain ego healed, Pie barely holding it together.
Shu Mingye leaned down, voice low and warm against her ear. "As much as I want to throw you to bed right now, you have to get ready."
Linyue's ear turned slightly pink. Her brain blanked for a second. "…Get ready?" she asked, trying to act normal but clearly failing.
He smirked and rubbed her blushing ear with his thumb. "We have to leave soon. What were you thinking about?"
"I was obviously thinking about getting ready," she answered quickly.
"Mhm." Shu Mingye didn't believe her at all. "Good. Then go change into something comfortable. We're taking a carriage."
"A carriage?" Linyue blinked. "Wouldn't riding horses be faster?"
Shu Mingye chuckled. "And what would your masters think of me then? A brute? A terrible man? Someone who lets his poor, delicate future wife ride a horse for days?"
Linyue crossed her arm. "It will be faster. You can't leave the state for too long anyway. What if the demons suddenly attack the wall?"
Shu Mingye cupped her cheek with one hand, soft and unhurried. "Pie, I told you. I've prepared everything. You don't need to worry. Shanjun and Boyi will stay behind to guard the state." He smiled faintly and added. "I can leave for a month. A year. Or… never come back at all."
Linyue frowned. "What do you mean never come back?"
Shu Mingye tapped her forehead lightly. "It means I can follow you anywhere."
And just like that, Linyue forgot her entire train of thought.
Villain: 1.
Pie: dizzy.
The score was not looking good for Linyue's emotional balance.