Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 285 The Holy Lord is Currently
Ye Tinglan stood there, frozen.

Aren't all your palace intrigue tactics supposed to be subtle and insidious? Why are you being so direct about asking for tea?
But she really couldn't handle that straight shot.

The Holy Lord has always maintained a facade of dignity, and she simply couldn't bring herself to serve tea to Shen Tang in a humble and subservient manner, even if it were the pre-arranged gesture of serving tea to her husband and superior as a family member.

After all, their mindsets were quite different. Shen Tang could genuinely treat her like a teacher or imperial advisor when serving tea, but if she actually offered tea to Shen Tang, it would feel like a mistress offering tea to the legitimate wife—far too blatant. "Supervisor my foot! Everyone knows who you are..."

Fortunately, Lu Xingzhou was quick-witted and immediately reached out to pick up a cup of tea from the table, offering it to Shen Tang with a smile, "This is a toast to the Sect Master."

Shen Tang gave him a resentful look. So he's already protecting her?
Never mind. Since Lu Xingzhou had stopped her, Shen Tang didn't press the matter further and took a leisurely sip of the tea.

Her beautiful eyes glanced at Ye Tinglan, who also lowered her head to drink the tea she had just offered, not daring to cause any more trouble.

Ah Nuo stroked her round chin. It seemed like a draw, but in reality, the older woman, who needed a man's help, had lost badly. Sister Shen Tang was still a little bit better.

I have no idea what kind of weird stuff this kid is learning. I've never seen her put this much effort into learning alchemy.

"As for the Dongjiang Gang..." Shen Tang slowly began the conversation: "Following the strategy you left behind before you left, we poached people, put pressure on them, and competed for business from all angles. The Dongjiang Gang has already fallen apart and is on its last legs. In addition, Shi Zhong died mysteriously on his way home, and Shi Tielong lost his morale. He's now prepared to pack up and sell his assets and leave. Oh, by the way, A Nuo burned down their money tree, so that's the main contribution."

Ah Nuo puffed out her chest.

Lu Xingzhou was both amused and exasperated.

Shen Tang continued, "Actually, when Ji Wenchuan was a guest here before, I was looking forward to Shi Tielong's final desperate attack. At that time, we had a first-grade expert with a super-grade bone dragon on the mountain... But Shi Tielong didn't have any domineering spirit at all, which was a waste of my expectations."

Ye Tinglan couldn't help but think to herself, "Where did you get such a treacherous idea? Is this how our empire's princess is?"
But it sounds strangely satisfying... Oh no, I've been led astray by those stinky cult followers.

Lu Xingzhou stroked his chin and said, "We can't let our guard down. Shi Tielong still has the Prince of Jin behind him. However, since we have no weaknesses here, they don't have the chance to gamble everything. If we really want to lure them out, you could go out alone to give them some motivation, and then you could lie in wait behind them..."

Hiding the number one player in the world is way more impressive than hiding Old Ji, okay?

Ye Tinglan couldn't help but cough twice.

I am here to do this for you.
But remembering how Lu Xingzhou had thoughtfully served her tea first, saving her face, she kept those words to herself and just drank her tea in silence.

Shen Tang glanced at Ye Tinglan's expression and couldn't help but laugh: "Let's forget it. I've been cultivating in seclusion. If I suddenly go out and wander around, anyone who isn't stupid will know I'm just fishing. It's pointless and a waste of Master's time. I don't want to rely on Master for everything. It's not good for Master to interfere too much in my affairs."

Ye Tinglan said with a straight face, "Really not? Don't make it so that you're fighting alone here, facing malice from a higher dimension. Someone will feel sorry for you."

Shen Tang smiled and said, "If I can't get out of this dangerous situation myself, what right do I have to stand in a higher place? Many people are watching me, maybe even the Imperial Advisor. I have to hand in my answer."

Ye Tinglan: "..."

That's true.

When he asked Qingli to save this girl, it wasn't because he wanted to support her. Firstly, he couldn't stand Gu Zhanting's actions, and secondly, he wanted to observe her. She had to have her own answers. She could rely on the man beside her for advice, but she couldn't rely solely on men, much less on her love rival.

That makes sense...

However, Shen Tang's clear self-awareness and ambition improved the Grand Preceptor's impression of her considerably. His feelings were truly complex; personally, he wanted to punch her, but publicly, Shen Tang's impression of him was far better than that of the other princes so far…

Lu Xingzhou knew what Shen Tang was thinking and hesitated before asking, "Are you just going to stay in seclusion and never go out?"

Shen Tang said, "Now that I've reached the third rank, I'm aiming for the second rank. Outsiders can't imagine how fast I've improved. When I reach the second rank and go out again, if they assess my strength based on my previous combat power, I can make them suffer another great loss."

Lu Xingzhou nodded, somewhat relieved.

Shen Tang is becoming increasingly confident. The sense of disillusionment he felt in his early years has long since faded. He will need this kind of spirit to ascend to the pinnacle of the Great Qian Dynasty in the future. Spirit is cultivated. Now that Shen Tang reigns over Xia Prefecture, there are no rivals within a thousand miles. The prefectural governor and the army of the Demon Suppression Division are basically cooperating with him. Calling him an independent kingdom might be an exaggeration, but calling him a regional governor overlooking a thousand miles is perfectly reasonable.

This is how one cultivates inner strength. At least, one cannot see this kind of spirit in those princes who have been scheming and engaging in political struggles in the capital. In peacetime, there might not be any problem with those princes succeeding to the throne, but judging from what we see and hear now, this world will not be at peace for long.

"You've already reached the second rank? So fast?" Ye Tinglan said, "I've seen your secret realm. The spiritual energy is indeed abundant, no less than that of the strongest spiritual mountain and treasure land in the world. But in the end, it still lacks experience. Sitting idly is not conducive to cultivation."

Shen Tang smiled and said, "It's not like we just sit around doing nothing. We often organize our disciples to go on training trips, specifically to the Ten Thousand Mountains on the border with the Tian Shuang Kingdom to the west. It's just that these trips are usually group trips, not just my personal ones. If the situation becomes clearer in the future, I will organize our disciples to go to other places in the Great Qian Dynasty, or even the Demon Realm. The world is so vast, how can cultivators be confined to one corner?"

Ye Tinglan finally said nothing more and nodded slightly: "Very good."

Lu Xingzhou was starting to feel a bit awkward. This man's motherly demeanor was always emanating from him, making it difficult to keep his identity a secret... But at this point, everyone seemed to have run out of things to say. Since Shen Tang wanted to handle the Dongjiang Gang matter herself, it seemed even Lu Xingzhou didn't need to say anything more, let alone mention Ye Tinglan. The four people at the table looked at each other, and the atmosphere became a little awkward again.

Ultimately, this is just another scenario where a man brings his mistress to his wife's door to provoke her... except the mistress's status is a bit special, which makes the wife hesitant to react too strongly...

"Ahem." Shen Tang coughed lightly, stood up and said, "You've come from afar, you must be tired. Sir, please rest first, Xingzhou and I will have a few words."

No matter what, Shen Tang is the master of this place, so it is only natural and reasonable for the master to say so. Ye Tinglan didn't even have an excuse to refute it. She just watched as Shen Tang got off the wheelchair without pretending and pulled Lu Xingzhou towards the main house.

The door closed, leaving the outside world with endless reverie.

Not long after, a soft moan of "Mmm~" came from Shen Tang.

Ah Nuo carefully observed her husband's expression, watching it change from slightly red to pale, and then to bright red.

It's warm again...

The teacup in his hand shattered with a "crack," leaving not even a shard of porcelain behind, just ashes...

The pinnacle of excellence, terrifying beyond belief.

In reality, nothing happened inside. Shen Tang entered the room, closed the door, and immediately began panting softly. Lu Xingzhou, of course, knew what she was doing and quickly covered her mouth, saying, "Hey, hey, hey, don't do that..."

Shen Tang angrily bit his hand: "I haven't even scolded you yet, and you're already telling me what to do. Throughout history, who has ever brought their mistress to the door to make a spectacle of themselves like this!"

Yes, there are. In storybooks, he'd usually be portrayed as an absolute scumbag.

Shen Tang continued indignantly, "She's of high status and very powerful. I can't do anything to her, so can't I even hum a couple of times myself...?"

Lu Xingzhou was both amused and exasperated, so he resorted to his kissing technique again, pulling her into a hug and kissing her, silencing all of Shen Tang's resentment.

Shen Tang resisted with "uh uh uh," still having a lot of things to say but the bastard man had already started cheating... Her little fists pounded on his shoulders, until they became weaker and weaker, and slowly turned into wrapping her arms around his waist, responding passionately.

How could such a sound escape Ye Tinglan outside the house? This time, the old woman couldn't even hold her cup anymore. She got up angrily and went into the guest room, where she shut herself in.

Jealousy is just an instinctive reaction; love is possessiveness. If you don't even feel jealous, then it's not love.

Shen Tang undoubtedly loved this man to the extreme, so naturally she would feel jealous.

But Shen Tang also told Dugu Qingli that she was not a jealous woman.

Having grown up surrounded by royal life, the little princess saw her father, uncles, and even her younger brothers all having multiple wives and concubines. In her mind, this was perfectly normal; capable people were entitled to more resources, including women.

She had previously encouraged Lu Xingzhou to pursue Qingli and Guamei, because their identities might be helpful to him, especially Qingli, the direct descendant of Tianyao, how terrifying!

But what I never expected was that something even more terrifying was about to happen: the Holy Lord of Tianyao jumped right onto my face...

As Shen Tang continued kissing, her heart gradually calmed down, and she whispered, "Should I not be jealous...?"

Lu Xingzhou quickly said, "No way, it's normal for you to be jealous..."

"But I'm afraid." Shen Tang gently rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm afraid you'll find someone better and won't want me anymore. I'm confident in others, but Tinglan Zhenren is just too... won't you leave me?"

Lu Xingzhou gently kissed her forehead and whispered in response, "Lu Xingzhou is a follower of the demonic path, and has been holding back for so many years... Perhaps I've acted somewhat recklessly... But I am by no means the kind of person who starts something and then abandons it. If I go against this heart, may the heavens punish me..."

Before he could finish speaking, Shen Tang placed her slender finger on his lips, stopping him from uttering any more harsh words.

"Don't make empty promises." Shen Tang looked into his eyes and said softly, "Lu Xingzhou is a scoundrel of a cult. He started touching me inappropriately shortly after we met. He's not a good person. How could I not know that? Falling in love with you was my own choice, so Shen Tang has no regrets."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: Today is the last day of the monthly pass lottery. The results will be announced tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)