Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 323 Reunion

No matter how unwilling Pei Chuyun was, the ranking was not something she could control; it was the responsibility of the Demon Suppression Division. She had only been invited to write poems.

Her poems could endorse the list and offset the sense of shady dealings that the Demon Suppression Division was trying to gain by having their son ranked first through underhanded means. After all, she was known as the most talented woman in the capital and had the background of being a daughter of the Pei family... Of course, she could refuse, thus thwarting the Demon Suppression Division's scheme.

But Pei Chuyun gritted her teeth and ultimately did not refuse.

"Just a newcomer, a junior, hmph." Pei Chuyun rolled her eyes: "Raising her on the list is a piece of cake, but are you sure you want me to write it?"

The editor-in-chief said, "That's natural... uh, but we shouldn't force it, it would be a loss of face for Miss Pei."

Pei Chuyun stroked her chin, picked up her pen, and changed her sentence: "Then let's go with this one."

The editor-in-chief peeked out and saw: the watermelon was incredibly thirst-quenching, its green skin cracked open. (Note: This is a line from a poem, Fang Hui's "Autumn Harvest")
The editor-in-chief's expression twitched: "Miss Pei, this..."

Pei Chuyun chuckled, "How wonderful! They even included her beloved Qingyao Garden in the book."

"But you've torn her jade pendant apart!"

"Do you still want me to write it?" Pei Chuyun threatened, "Do you want your Miss Sheng to be laughed at and criticized, or do you want the public to question whether the Demon Suppression Division is pulling strings and pushing their own daughter to be number one? The choice is yours."

The editor-in-chief wiped away his cold sweat: "But it won't pass Sheng Shouzuo's review either. It's not like I can just say it's okay..."

Pei Chuyun pouted: "You really have to blow it, right?"

"Not really... just be objective, being objective is fine."

“Let’s just say it.” Pei Chuyun thought for a moment, then changed the sentence to: “Sighing at the gourd’s lack of a mate, singing of the ox’s solitary existence.”

"Is this acceptable now?" Pei Chuyun glanced at him sideways: "Bottle gourd and morning glory are both stars, which not only highlight Miss Sheng's unique beauty shining like a lone star, but also express the unparalleled talent of the top newcomer. If you still say it's not acceptable this time, I'm not doing it anymore."

The editor-in-chief was overjoyed: "This is great, this is great, this is the one!"

"Hmph." Pei Chuyun figured he couldn't see the malice in her cursing Sheng Yuanyao that no one wanted her, so her gaze fell directly on Lu Xingzhou's name.

Logically speaking, someone who stands out from the rookie list and rises to the top of the rankings should receive some kind of commentary.

But Pei Chuyun couldn't bring herself to delete the line "A gentleman as beautiful as jade, unparalleled in the world" and change it to something else.

"The road has been walked to its end." Pei Chuyun bit her lower lip. "It's so infuriating, why did she write this line first?"

"Never mind, keep that line, and I'll add another one." Pei Chuyun thought for a moment, then dipped her brush in ink and added a line: "When the mood fades, I return by moonlight, and at dawn I untie my travel harness."

Even after finishing the strokes, I felt it was an ominous sign. How could I possibly unravel this knot?
Also, this is a commentary on the list of heroes, not a love poem, so it's best to take it seriously.

So he crossed it out and changed it to: "Soaring over rivers and seas, the boat moves as the shore shifts."

He was quite satisfied with this sentence after writing it—he shouldn't be competing on the Rookie Ranking at all, but should be soaring in the wider world. This journey of the boat and the shore is precisely the expectation for him to leave the Rookie Ranking and ascend to the Heroes Ranking.

It was incredibly exhausting for the mother; it's just a pity she didn't add her own personal touches.

Forget it, I already had a lot of personal agenda in that sentence for Sheng Yuanyao, so I'll just give the Demon Suppression Division some face for the rest.

The editor-in-chief, who was watching from the side, was quite pleased. This sentence truly matched the description that should be written for the list of heroes. He had chosen the right person! To be honest, the sentence "A gentleman is like jade" was not suitable. This sentence alone had been the subject of much gossip among the people for who knows how long... But it was written by Miss Sheng herself, and no one dared to refute it.

As for Ah Nuo's... Pei Chuyun hesitated for a moment, then asked the editor-in-chief, "Does everyone have to write one?"

The editor-in-chief said, "There is no such rule. We are not familiar with some of these people, so how can we possibly write comments for them all?"

Pei Chuyun nodded: "It's best not to write about Lu Nuonuo. No matter what you write, it will easily bring her more attention, and Lu Xingzhou may not want that. After all, she is a child, and too much attention is not good. Besides, a child's appearance is very deceptive, so we shouldn't ruin it."

The editor-in-chief agreed, but couldn't help feeling a bit strange.

What's wrong? You're a hired poet, why are you considering these things... Are you our leader? Or Lu Nuonuo's mother?
Pei Chuyun would never tell him that her true intention was not to bother with that brat at all; she still couldn't get over the fact that Danxia Mountain had tricked her into eating a spirit back then.

It's so comfortable to abuse public power for private gain; no wonder so many people are desperate to become officials.

Pei Chuyun, in a good mood, glanced through the information again, gave a perfunctory reply to the other characters whose roles had changed, and as expected, didn't ask for a writing fee before leisurely leaving.

The editor-in-chief looked at the manuscript and, quite satisfied, took it to Sheng Qingfeng for review.

Sheng Qingfeng glanced through the text, then looked up at the editor-in-chief with a meaningful expression: "You agree with Pei Chuyun's description of Yao'er?"

"Yes."

"You also lament her solitude?"

The editor-in-chief puffed out his chest and said, "Miss Sheng should be proud and aloof. Who could be a match for her?"

Sheng Qingfeng said, "Are you cursing my daughter so that no one will want her?"

Editor-in-Chief: "?"

"Fine, that'll do. If nobody wants me, nobody wants me. It's better than being someone's concubine." Sheng Qingfeng wrote with a flourish: "Approved."

The editor-in-chief immediately took the manuscript to print, and specifically instructed: "It must be added that the commentary was written by Ms. Pei Chuyun."

The clerk asked, "And what about you?"

"Why should I compete with others for the title of chief writer when I'm the editor-in-chief? I can just print 'Editor-in-Chief Beihe' on the cover."

…………

When Lu Xingzhou arrived in the capital with Anuo, the latest ranking of heroes had already spread like wildfire.

As soon as Lu Xingzhou arrived in the capital, he heard someone asking, "What melon? What melon?" The master and apprentice immediately squeezed over to get a glimpse of it. It turned out the person was asking how to pronounce the character before "gourd" (匏瓜), and what kind of melon it was.

"Reading the robe, it's just a gourd!"

"Isn't it also written as 瓠 and pronounced 'hu'?"

"robe!"

"Protect!"

The passersby were arguing incessantly.

Lu Xingzhou, his eyes swollen, grabbed a passerby and asked, "What is this?"

"The latest ranking of heroes, this is the comment from Miss Sheng, the number one rising star."

"Gua... no, Sheng Yuanyao is already number one among the rookies, such a big thing and no one is talking about it, why are you all arguing about the pronunciation?"

"What's there to say? It doesn't matter who's number one, as long as it's not Qi Tuizhi! If he's still stuck in that position, I'd be ashamed of the rookie rankings."

Qi Tui passed by not far away, expressionless.

Lu Xingzhou was too lazy to talk to them anymore. He squeezed out of the crowd and bought a copy of the Heroes' Ranking. He opened it and glanced at Gua Mei's comments: "Hiss... Sheng Qingfeng wrote this himself, right? How can he curse his daughter to be single?"

Anu glanced at him sideways: "This is clearly a compliment, saying that Sister Yuanyao is unparalleled, which corresponds to the first place."

"Who cares? Gua Mei would be furious if she saw this."

"Why would she be so angry? Isn't she single? Aren't you her buddy?"

"I...you brat, do you even know how to talk?" Lu Xingzhou flipped to the last page and glanced at the list of editors, immediately spotting the lead writer: Pei Chuyun.

Ah Nuo still glanced at him sideways: "Speak up, why aren't you saying anything?"

"Ahem." Lu Xingzhou coughed lightly. "So it was her who wrote it. No wonder her writing is so good."

Ah Nuo: “…”

Lu Xingzhou scrolled through the list of heroes and found A Nuo's name first. There was no comment, so he nodded and said, "As expected, it is the chief writer of Chu Yun. He knows it is not appropriate to highlight you."

Ah Nuo said, "How could she be nice to me? I think she's just deliberately ignoring me."

"Hey you little brat, Chu Yun only stole one bun from you and fought with you a few times."

"...If someone treated you like that, you'd scatter their ashes."

Lu Xingzhou fell silent again and continued reading his own book. Then he came across a sentence that was unusually serious, and he couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle.

“The boat moves and the shore moves on its own… Ha.” Lu Xingzhou always felt that if Yuan Muyu saw this sentence, she would have some other thoughts. He wondered if the little demon girl had thought about it. In any case, it was very appropriate in terms of the fact that she had climbed up the list of heroes from the list of rising stars: “It’s not easy. I thought she would be like Gua Mei and would use this as her own diary to stuff her personal opinions into it.”

"Is that how you see me?" A cheerful voice came from behind.

Lu Xingzhou turned around abruptly and saw Pei Chuyun standing gracefully by the roadside, surrounded by several maids and servants, looking at him with a smile.

The bustling street suddenly fell silent.

The crowd and the bratty kids around him, and the maids and servants beside her, all seemed to blur in their own eyes.

The world was just the two of them, and the fleeting joy in their eyes was reflected so clearly in each other's eyes.

Unlike going to the Pei residence specifically to find someone, this long-awaited reunion was unexpected, and the surprise was indescribable. My heart started pounding faster, and I had a thousand words in my heart, but I was choked up and couldn't say them.

In reality, this wasn't the place to talk about it. At least in people's eyes, their relationship was still that of a pure and unattainable beauty and a shameful man who had failed to win her heart.

It was only then that the passersby realized that the person who had been idly observing the scene from the crowd was none other than Lu Xingzhou, who had just ascended to the top of the list of heroes...

Who on the Heroes Ranking is so bored...?

Lu Xingzhou was the first to react, smiled slightly, and said loudly, "It's quite a coincidence that I met Miss Pei so soon after returning to the capital. Would you do me the honor of inviting me to dinner?"

Pei Chuyun smiled slightly: "Young Master Lu, you are too kind. You have returned from your trials, and you are covered in dust. It should be Chuyun who hosts a dinner to welcome you back."

He paused, then turned and instructed, "Lan'er, go and tell Yanyu Tower to reserve a good private room. Young Master Lu and I will be there shortly."

The maidservant obeyed and left. Lu Xingzhou laughed, "So you're using a maidservant now? I always felt like you were doing things alone before."

"I've just become more integrated into the Pei family." Pei Chuyun walked alongside him naturally. "Before, I wasn't used to having servants, and besides, there were some secrets I didn't want others to see..."

"Aren't you afraid now?"

"Now...they are my confidantes, doing secret things for me."

"Tsk." Lu Xingzhou was speechless for a moment.

"Why that expression?" Pei Chuyun turned to look at him, smiling sweetly. "If you want, I'll have them keep you company?"

Lu Xingzhou responded almost instinctively: "Nonsense, what would I need others for?"

Pei Chuyun's smile was so bright she couldn't hide it: "You said it, I've got it."

(End of this chapter)