The two stared at each other for a moment. To get rid of Sheng Mobai, Yan Jiaojiao blurted out, "Yan Ruxue, I'll call myself Yan Ruxue."
"Heh!" Sheng Mobai chuckled, "Miss is quite fond of joking. If you are Yan Ruxue, then who was it that drank with me a couple of days ago?"
So, he knew the person who had a clandestine meeting with him was Yan Ruxue.
Yan Jiaojiao was not surprised. After all, Yan Ruxue had said she would replace Yan Jiaojiao with her true identity. Thus, it was not impossible for her to reveal her identity privately when she felt the time was right.
Yan Jiaojiao did not care about Sheng Mobai, nor was she embarrassed about being exposed. She calmly said, "Then you should be prepared to marry Yan Ruxue. Why bother with other people's lives?"
"Who said I would marry Yan Ruxue?" Sheng Mobai said, a look of amusement on his face.
"If you are not marrying Yan Ruxue, why do you drink with her night after night until late?"
"She refuses to leave, and I, a young scholar, cannot possibly ruin her pleasure. I am merely accompanying her with all my heart."
Sheng Mobai's reply was brazen, as if he were a conscientious host.
Yan Ruxue had clearly acted as if she had already captured Sheng Mobai's heart, but Sheng Mobai had not taken her seriously at all. All of Yan Ruxue's efforts to sneak out of the mansion night after night, risking her reputation, were in vain.
Thinking of this, Yan Jiaojiao felt that Sheng Mobai was truly detestable. It must have been his ambiguous and glib talk that had fooled the shrewd Yan Ruxue.
"Since you don't want to marry Yan Ruxue, you have even less reason to follow me." Seeing that the sun was already high, Yan Jiaojiao was even more unwilling to entangle herself with him.
Sheng Mobai took a step forward and blocked Yan Jiaojiao's path. "Reason? I already told you on our first meeting."
Yan Jiaojiao didn't understand, but she saw Sheng Mobai staring intently at her chest.
Yan Jiaojiao couldn't help but raise her hand to cover herself. Even if she had a flat chest, she was still a woman. How could he stare at a woman's private parts like that!
What a scoundrel!
Yan Jiaojiao even wanted to slap him, but suddenly she felt a slight warmth from a certain spot in her embrace. She then suddenly remembered that she had placed the spiritual jade against her chest.
Indeed, the jade pendant at Sheng Mobai's waist was also emitting a faint glow.
Right, Sheng Mobai was using the spiritual jade to track people.
Yan Jiaojiao had actually forgotten that she had retrieved the spiritual jade and was carrying it with her, so Sheng Mobai had naturally noticed it.
"Although you told me on our first meeting that Yan Ruxue was my little darling, I always felt you were lying to me from the beginning," Sheng Mobai said with a smug smile. "I guessed that you, are Yan Jiaojiao."
"So what if I am?" Yan Jiaojiao no longer hid it. "I will never marry you."
"Why?" Sheng Mobai, who had always been popular with women, was thoroughly rejected for the first time.
"You are not worthy!" Yan Jiaojiao said coldly.
Yan Jiaojiao had lived for too long and had seen too much of the joys and sorrows of worldly love. She felt that suffering outweighed happiness, so in three thousand years, she had never fallen in love with anyone. How could she possibly want to enter into an engagement with someone?
Even if there was a one-in-ten-thousand possibility, it would never be with a profligate like Sheng Mobai.
Sheng Mobai was not disheartened at all. He leaned closer with his handsome face, his peach blossom eyes flashing with cunning. "Little darling, there are still many days ahead. I will definitely make you realize my good qualities."
"Shut up. I'll say it again, get lost." Yan Jiaojiao was becoming extremely impatient.
"Alright, little darling, don't be angry. I'll leave first." Sheng Mobai saw that she was truly angry. Since he had confirmed her identity, he, who had experienced many battles in the realm of women, knew when to stop.
With that, Sheng Mobai decisively got into the carriage and signaled the driver to turn around and leave.
After the carriage had traveled a short distance, Sheng Mobai stuck his head out again, turning back towards Yan Jiaojiao and shouting, "Little darling, we'll meet again at noon today!"
"Scram!"
Yan Jiaojiao got back into the carriage, huffing with anger. Little Black had already lifted the barrier for Dongfang Xu, but Yan Jiaojiao ignored them when she got in. She just sat down with a stern face, fuming. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, and suddenly she raised her hand, took out the spiritual jade from her embrace, and threw it away.
The spiritual jade hit the carriage wall with a soft "thump" and landed on the furry carpet inside the carriage.
Yan Jiaojiao didn't feel heartbroken, but Rong'er was extremely distressed. She immediately went forward to pick it up, carefully examining it for any damage, and said to Yan Jiaojiao, "Miss, why are you venting your anger on an object? This is your personal spiritual artifact. Just because Master Sheng has a similar one, you don't want your own spiritual jade anymore!"
"What spiritual artifact is this? Besides adding a little spiritual energy when cultivating, it's useless and only causes me trouble!" Yan Jiaojiao was still fuming.
Dongfang Cangwu couldn't help but scorn Yan Jiaojiao inwardly. This was indeed a rare spiritual artifact, but Yan Jiaojiao didn't know the method of enlightenment and couldn't use it.
Even Sheng Mobai's spiritual jade, although similar in appearance, only formed a connection because of the summoning spell. In reality, judging by the grade of the spiritual artifacts, Sheng Mobai's piece was far inferior to this spiritual jade.
Women are so ignorant. Apart from attracting attention, they have no other skills.
Sheng Mobai's fawning gaze at Yan Jiaojiao made Dongfang Cangwu very displeased.
Little Black turned its body and showed its tail to Yan Jiaojiao again.
Rong'er was still trying to persuade Yan Jiaojiao, and she tucked the jade pendant back into Yan Jiaojiao's hand. "Miss, Rong'er will stay in Zhao Family Village to take care of Dongfang Xu these few days. You must not lose your temper casually when you are alone in the mansion. Otherwise, even if I want to take the punishment for you, I won't be able to. Please be careful."
Discarding a high-grade spiritual artifact because of Sheng Mobai was indeed not something Yan Jiaojiao would do. However, hearing Rong'er's nagging, a warmth involuntarily welled up in her heart.
After being an immortal saint for thousands of years, she was still alone in the end. It was not as good as the warmth felt by an ordinary person.
Yan Jiaojiao knew she shouldn't have such excessive mortal emotions, but at this moment, she couldn't help but covet the care brought by Rong'er.
"Whoa!"
Finally, with the coachman's shout, they arrived at the entrance of Zhao Family Village.
Yan Jiaojiao led Rong'er down, and Dongfang Xu also got out of the carriage under Little Black's barrier.
After instructing the coachman to wait at the village entrance, they headed into Zhao Family Village.
Zhao Qi's house was in the southeast corner, not far from the village entrance. Even though Rong'er had been away for a long time, she found it easily.
In front of them was a courtyard enclosed by mud walls. A kitchen was built in the open space, and tools like axes and hammers were scattered around. At the innermost part was a small house built of mud, which looked quite clean from a distance.
Zhao Qi had not yet returned. Rong'er called out a few times and received no answer, so she decided to go to the nearby fields to find him.
Yan Jiaojiao and the others sat on the wooden benches in the courtyard to wait.
At this time, Yan Jiaojiao was still holding the spiritual jade in her hand, her expression conflicted.