"Alas, you," Shen Si said with a smile, "you mustn't say such foolish things in the future. You are a princess, how can you say you won't do something and then not do it?" She was so innocent and unpretentious, straightforwardly lovely.
Lou Qing knew Shen Si held old-fashioned ideas, with absolute respect and obedience for imperial power.
Of course, she had no intention of correcting his ingrained belief in the supremacy of imperial power, for she herself was imperial power.
Setting aside other matters, she was rather satisfied with her identity as a princess. After marrying Shen Si, she would possess more agency.
"I know," Lou Qing mischievously stuck out her tongue, displaying the charming naiveté of a young maiden.
Shen Si affectionately stroked her head. With a wife like this, what more could a man ask for?
The several little sprouts following them looked unhappy.
Ever since their stepmother, Qiao Ci, left, they felt Lou Qing's attitude towards them had changed. When interacting with them, there were occasional hints of impatience.
She also didn't serve them like Qiao Ci, instead saying they were grown and could fend for themselves.
Most importantly, their father seemed to have shifted from favoring them the most to favoring Lou Qing the most. He followed her words like gospel and had become stricter with them.
Seeing candied hawthorn being sold at the lively market, Shen Lu clamored for some. The siblings then concealed their expressions and looked expectantly at Shen Si, wanting some too.
Shen Si frowned slightly. "It's getting dark. Let's return to the manor first."
Thus, they continued their journey and finally arrived before a grand mansion.
Looking at the exceptionally imposing mansion gates, he was incredibly grateful that the Emperor hadn't confiscated his general's manor back then. He had only said that if he changed his mind, he could return anytime, and his residence would always be kept for him.
Taking out the key he had kept, he opened the long-sealed great door.
The siblings were also ecstatic. They were finally back, and no longer had to suffer!
As there were no servants, the siblings had to clean their own rooms. Lou Qing was only responsible for clearing Shen Si's master bedroom, which caused the siblings to feel discontented once more.
That night, after they had been intimate, Lou Qing quietly returned to the palace, resuming her noble princess identity. She had heard that the Grand Preceptor would perform a ritual the next day, and she was determined to expose the Grand Preceptor's deception in her capacity as a princess!
On this day, Lu Li once again went to Qiao Ci's Grand Preceptor's manor and was respectfully welcomed in by the guards.
Since the Grand Preceptor had taken up residence in the Grand Preceptor's manor, she had avoided all high officials and noble guests who came to interview her. Only this young master from the Lu family was always allowed in.
Even if the Grand Preceptor was busy, she would come out to meet him.
Moreover, as the Grand Preceptor was also a young woman, people began to speculate whether the esteemed Grand Preceptor had taken a liking to the young master of the Lu family and intended to take him as a concubine.
"Grand Preceptor." Lu Li looked at Qiao Ci, who was wearing a complex wine-red robe, her smooth black hair casually secured with a jade hairpin, her skin becoming even fairer. The tips of his ears turned slightly red.
"Are you... have you just finished bathing? Am I disturbing you?" Seeing her slightly damp hair tips, Lu Li knew he had come at the wrong time and felt shy.
"It's nothing. Have you eaten?" Qiao Ci raised an eyebrow with a smile, gesturing for him to sit.
"Uh, not yet." Ever since Lu Li met Qiao Ci, he came over to freeload whenever he had nothing to do. He knew it wasn't proper, but he couldn't help but want to come daily to ask her for a divination on the fortunes of his father and brother, and also... ahem, to see her.
"I'll have dinner prepared," Qiao Ci instructed the servants before sitting opposite Lu Li, appraising him with interest.
Lu Li felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze but still voiced his concern. "Um, I heard you'll be performing a ritual tomorrow to pray for rain. Do you have confidence?"
"Yes, I do." Although she hadn't done anything similar before, she understood the principles of water diversion, which required a certain amount of divine power.
Fearing that this body might not withstand the divine power, she had specifically rested and recuperated for several days. Her physical condition was now at its best, and it should be fine.
Praying for rain, she could do it!
Actually, Lu Li had never believed in superstitions or supernatural phenomena. However, every word this young girl spoke made him incredibly convinced.
After they finished dinner and chatted for a while, Lu Li returned to his manor.
"Host, you are truly talented. You even know how to pray for rain. Hehe," Xiao Shaozi, after Lu Li left, dared to speak up and flatter her.
"Isn't that basic operation?" Qiao Ci acted as if Xiao Shaozi shouldn't be so surprised.
Xiao Shaozi: %*~*%✘*#
"Cough, cough, I'm sorry. Xiao Shaozi is just ignorant~"
Ever since it was manufactured, it had encountered no less than a thousand hosts, perhaps even more.
How could it not know any host who could summon lightning, make it rain, or tear up systems?
The main thing was that the laws of each world were different, yet she could operate them with such ease. Truly impressive~
The next day, the Emperor sent his most trusted eunuch to invite Qiao Ci. The Emperor was already waiting at the sacrificial site.
Qiao Ci did not keep the eunuch waiting long. She soon emerged wearing a Taoist robe and carrying ritual implements.
Xiao Shaozi pouted in the space. Ritual implements and Taoist robes, quite thoroughly prepared.
Seeing that Qiao Ci was wearing a mask intertwined with silver threads in an indescribably beautiful pattern, the eunuch asked curiously, "Grand Preceptor Qiao, what is this?"
"Heaven's secrets cannot be revealed," Qiao Ci said, her face not blushing, her heart not skipping a beat.
"This old servant understands. Grand Preceptor Qiao, please." The eunuch seemed to understand, thinking that girls loved to be pretty, and wearing a mask added to the sense of mystery.
The location for the ritual was the traditional sacrificial site of the Chu Yun Kingdom.
When Qiao Ci arrived, the high platform for sacrifices was already surrounded by people.
Lou Qing and Shen Si, standing amidst the crowd, exchanged a glance. Then they obediently stood behind the Emperor, ready to expose the new Grand Preceptor's charade.
Lu Li had also arrived.
Watching Qiao Ci ascend the high platform step by step, the light in his eyes spread inch by inch.
Lou Qing saw the figure of the new Grand Preceptor and felt a sense of familiarity. When she saw her face, her pupils contracted violently.
Not only her, but Lu Si, after seeing half of the new Grand Preceptor's face, was also stunned.
So familiar!
Except for being a bit fairer-skinned, half of her features were exactly like Qiao Ci's!
They exchanged another glance. Lou Qing quickly dispatched her personal maid to investigate the new Grand Preceptor's background, such as her name, age, and how long she had been in the capital.
After the personal maid returned, she told Lou Qing everything she had found out, and Lou Qing's gaze towards Qiao Ci was like a cold arrow!
It was indeed her!
How dare she?
When Shen Si received this news, he was completely thrown off.
He thought of many things.
Qiao Ci was his lawfully wedded wife. Although they had divorced, if she were to do anything outrageous, it could very well implicate him and his children!
Before, when Qiao Ci had changed so much, he had been constantly guessing if she was holding back some big move. It turned out this was what she was waiting for him with!