Xiaoqing dragged her attention back and cleared her throat. Lowering her eyes, she concealed the gleam of money in them.
“Head Feng, if I remember correctly, Cheng Yun and I explained when we arrived that we came only to protect *your* life. We are not responsible for the lives or deaths of strangers. If the monster begins troubling you instead, then of course we will act to subdue it.”
Would everything from her previous life happen again?
No. Feng Yao would not allow it!
Her pupils widened. Her face stiffened, and blood vessels appeared in her eyes as she forced out each word through clenched teeth.
“Is it not a cultivator’s duty to subdue demons and destroy evil? Will you stand by as the Northern Kingdom’s royal family is overthrown? Will you watch millions of its people suffer? Cultivators accept mortals’ worship and reverence, yet this is all you amount to? I misjudged you!”
Xiaoqing shook her head, lifted the lid from her cup, and drained the still-steaming tea. Then she sighed with satisfaction.
“Are you thirsty after saying so much? Your family’s Cloudmist Mountain tea is excellent. Come, have a maid bring another pot.” Xiaoqing nodded to herself. “But no matter how fiercely you glare at me, I won’t act. And I don’t care what you think of me. We were strangers to begin with.”
Feng Yao nearly choked with rage. “Y-you—you—you!”
“You’re not pretending to be a cultivator, are you?”
The Third Prince’s suspicious gaze moved between Xiaoqing and the Feng family.
“Did the Feng family pull some random woman off the street to deceive me? Yes, that must be it. A true immortal cultivator could not look so ordinary or possess such vulgar manners. Well done, Feng family. I will report today’s events truthfully to His Majesty. Feng family… very well!”
Feng Nan, a plump man in his forties, broke into a cold sweat. He abandoned any attempt to persuade Xiaoqing and hurried after the young prince, who had flung his sleeve and stormed away.
“Your Highness, the Feng family would never dare deceive you. Please listen to my explanation! We can ask the immortal maiden to demonstrate a spell. Your Highness, don’t walk so quickly… Wait, is that Immortal Cheng ahead? Stop the young man in brocade! Don’t let him leave. Quickly!”
A coil of ethereal mist wrapped around the furious prince. It lifted him from the ground and slowly carried him back to Feng Nan.
Was this an immortal art?
The Third Prince turned to inspect himself, astonished. An immortal maiden?
He studied Cheng Yun closely. Nothing about her altered appearance seemed remarkable, but a cloud had undeniably emerged from her palm and drawn him through the air. That was genuine immortal power.
Apparently, immortal maidens were not always as beautiful as storybooks claimed. Some looked as ordinary as women from any mortal household.
“Greetings, Immortal. I am—”
“I have no interest in who you are. Is Xiaoqing in her room?”
Feng Nan nodded frantically. Cheng Yun walked away without another glance.
She held an oiled-paper parcel between two fingers. A mouthwatering aroma escaped through its folded seam. Inside were the Northern Kingdom’s famous soup dumplings, filled with an extravagant mixture of chicken, bamboo shoots, chives, fish, shrimp, hawthorn, fresh delicacies, water chestnuts, spicy broth, and rich soup.
Cheng Yun had already abstained from ordinary food, so the dumplings held no attraction for her.
But Xiaoqing liked them. Cheng Yun had gone out early and stood in line to buy them.
A faint smile appeared on her usually cold face.
“Cultivators should restrain their appetites. Still, she’s too thin. Eating more would be good for her. Once she gains weight, she’ll have enough strength to spar with me. Yes—that is why I went out to buy her dumplings. A perfectly good reason.”
The Feng family treated Xiaoqing better than it treated its own young ladies.
After she mentioned liking fruit, Feng Nan waved one hand and gave an immediate order. Rare fruits transported from the western regions at enormous cost—Hami melons, crystal grapes, fragrant pears, figs, and ginseng fruit—had previously been reserved for tribute to the imperial palace. Now everything left over was delivered to Xiaoqing’s courtyard.
Aside from Feng Yao, who already knew the women’s identities, the Feng daughters ground their teeth in jealousy. They secretly decided that Lin Xiaoqing could not merely be the descendant of an old friend, as everyone claimed. She had to be Feng Nan’s illegitimate daughter, lost outside the household and finally brought home. His guilt explained all this desperate compensation.
Why should she receive such treatment?
The Feng family’s Seventh Miss came to Xiaoqing’s courtyard. At first, she called Xiaoqing her dear sister and behaved as though everyone adored everyone else. Then she ordered the servants away.
With a cold laugh, she smashed a crystal cup at Xiaoqing and slapped her own face. Under Xiaoqing’s stare—as though she were observing a bizarre creature—the girl ran sobbing to Feng Nan and his wife.
“Your daughter only wanted to befriend her… I wanted to see whether she had settled comfortably into our home. But she humiliated me like this! I don’t want to live anymore!”
The supposedly heartbroken Seventh Miss received a furious slap from Feng Nan and was locked in a dark room.
“You may come out when you learn proper manners,” he said. “Until then, stop embarrassing this family.”
Feng Nan apologized to Xiaoqing, explaining that his daughter was young and foolish and begging the immortal maiden’s forgiveness. The moment Xiaoqing expressed a certain interest, he ordered servants to hire a chef skilled at making nourishing soups. From then on, a different dish appeared every day to satisfy Xiaoqing’s demanding tongue.
Now a maid brought in a carefully simmered lotus-seed, loofah, and black-bean soup, a cooling tonic for summer.
She respectfully set another bowl before Feng Yao, a genuine daughter of the family, then withdrew.
Xiaoqing took a small sip and sighed happily. “It smells wonderful and tastes even better. Won’t you try some?”
Feng Yao drew a deep breath. Her fingers curled into a fist as she raised her head and stared straight at Xiaoqing.
“What price must I pay before you agree to enter the palace and destroy the monster?”
Why was this girl still thinking about that?
Xiaoqing pretended to consider it.
“Perhaps… if you give yourself to me, I’ll go.”
