Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 427 Let your elders come

It's quiet at night.

Jiang Duxu stood upstairs, leaning on the railing and gazing at the artificial hill and flowing water in the backyard, lost in thought.

Jiang Yuan hesitated for a moment before walking over to his side. She turned her head to look at his profile with a strange expression, then looked down at the artificial hill and stream with him. Not long after, she turned her head to look at her grandfather.

"Stop looking," Jiang Duxu said somewhat irritably. "It's so late, why don't you go and rest?"

Jiang Yuan asked, "So what are you thinking about?"

That was a very rude question, as if he had just copied Lu Xingzhou's mannerisms.

Jiang Duxu wasn't angry. He remained silent for a long time before answering, "Are you also blaming Grandpa?"

Jiang Yuan remained silent.

“Lu Xingzhou, it’s easy for you to talk when you’re not in the situation… You should know that this isn’t something outsiders can just talk about. Our smuggling into this world is a last-ditch effort for survival. If we’re going to stick to the facade of being Qian Yuan cultivators, only adding to the unforeseen circumstances and making things more difficult for ourselves… that would be irresponsible to everyone.” Jiang Duxu smiled. “Of course, Lu Xingzhou’s criticism isn’t wrong. This isn’t the spirit of a Qian Yuan cultivator; it’s just a helpless situation for the sake of stability, and it did indeed come at your expense.”

Jiang Yuan finally said, "But now that he has given us other options, it's not a matter of being helpless. Unless you still crave the so-called highest efficiency."

This time, Jiang Du remained silent.

Jiang Yuan continued, "But Grandpa..."

"Ok?"

"If Lu Xingzhou is going to hold us back, then this so-called most efficient choice may not be the case."

Jiang Duxu glanced at Jiang Yuan with some surprise, feeling as if his granddaughter had grown up quite a bit overnight.

Or to put it another way, she has finally learned to consider problems from multiple perspectives. For example, she now understands that the significance of a third party is not limited to wedding hijacking.

Lu Xingzhou spoke very honestly this time, even revealing some secrets beyond what was acceptable, but there were still some things he didn't say—since he had a grudge against the Huo family, if the Jiang family insisted on a marriage alliance with the Huo family, then they would be enemies.

The destructive power that land-based boats can cause... is definitely not low.

With such an enemy at our side, is the so-called best and most efficient choice still the same?

It is clearly no longer the case; in fact, it has become a risky option.

Unless he killed Lu Xingzhou, Jiang Duxu never even entertained the idea of ​​killing him, let alone considering the consequences.

The spirit has been lost.

“Unworthy of Qian Yuan… Unworthy of Qian Yuan…” Jiang Duxu muttered to himself, then suddenly burst into laughter.

Jiang Yuan leaned back slightly, wondering if her grandfather had been driven mad by the scolding.

"You've found a good backer." Jiang Duxu smiled slightly: "With Lu Xingzhou's words tonight, no matter who we choose to cooperate with, your marriage to Huo Xingyuan is not going to work out."

Jiang Yuan was overjoyed.

"Don't be too happy yet. There has to be a solution. It's not enough to just tell Huo Xingyuan that the engagement is off. If we just break off the engagement, how will we explain it to the Emperor? Should we openly tell him that we've found another partner? That would be very unwise."

"What's the big deal? Just let Lu Xingzhou come up with the idea. He's so cunning."

Jiang Duxu turned to look at his granddaughter, his expression very strange: "I haven't even said that I'm cooperating with him yet, where did this dependence on him come from?"

"Huh?" Jiang Yuan was stunned, not understanding it herself.

Jiang Duxu said irritably, "When he first talked to you tonight, he was talking to me; but when he talked to me later, half of what he said was actually for you. Including that last sentence, 'Whether it's for the Huo family or for me,' that's a man's way of playing hard to get. Grandpa used that a lot when he was young, so be careful."

"Did you really use too much? Then how come I only have one grandma?"

"?" Jiang Du said angrily, "I'm not a lecherous man! You're comparing me to someone like Lu Xingzhou who married four women at once! Do you still think there's nothing wrong with him?"

Jiang Yuan certainly couldn't think there was nothing wrong with that, but instinctively she didn't want to take Lu Xingzhou's last words as some kind of heart-removing technique.

That's such a nice sentence... and it's not wrong at all.

Jiang Duxu glanced at his granddaughter's expression and knew what she was thinking. He said irritably, "Alright, go and rest. Tomorrow I will use the maritime trade as an excuse to see Lu Xingzhou again and ask him to help make a connection with the Holy Master Tianyao. We'll meet first to see the Holy Master Tianyao's attitude before making any decisions. After all, Lu Xingzhou's attitude may not fully represent the Holy Master Tianyao, even if she marries her junior sister."

"Oh." Jiang Yuan didn't bother to think about it too much. No matter how the cooperation went, she only needed to know one thing: her grandfather had decided to abandon the plan for her to marry Huo Xingyuan.

This is more important than anything else!

In other words, Lu Xingzhou's so-called cooperation with her had already fulfilled his part, and he indeed did not need to sacrifice his own marriage.

However, the information about the ancient realm that he wanted no longer needed to be obtained from Jiang Yuan...

Thinking about it this way, wouldn't Lu Xingzhou be giving it away for free? Jiang Yuan laughed at the thought, took a comfortable bath, and slept soundly.

…………

Lu Xingzhou was so tired that he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Although the events of the past few days have mostly been verbal, they involved a great deal of thought, leaving him somewhat exhausted. There are still many things to consider, but Lu Xingzhou is too lazy to think about them for now; he'll rest first. He was still a bit sleepy when he woke up the next day… so the value of sleep is now completely outweighed by the Great Joy and Bliss Sutra…

No problem, soon we'll be able to enjoy nightly bliss in a perfectly legitimate way.

Thinking this, he arrived at the Ministry of Rites and peeked outside at Sheng Yuanyao's "security room," but his wife was not there.

Lu Xingzhou asked a junior officer curiously, "Where is your General Sheng?"

The general chuckled, "Is the doctor here to find his wife?"

Lu Xingzhou smiled broadly. This felt so good. The whole world knew she was his wife, and there was no need to hide it anymore.

What about female brothers? It might be okay for a moment of romance, but it's not a long-term solution.

"Yeah, looking for a wife. Where did she go?"

"He didn't come today; someone from the Sheng family came to ask for leave."

Lu Xingzhou's heart skipped a beat: "Are you sick?"

The general looked at him as if he were a fool.

Please, General Sheng is a mid-level third-rank cultivator. You could say there was a problem with your cultivation, but you're saying you got sick from it?
Oh, by the way, your wife once said that your father-in-law, who's already reached the highest rank, is sick. So, you shouldn't get married like that. What a wise doctor! Things turned out like this right after the engagement.

Lu Xingzhou paid no attention to what they were thinking and turned back immediately, heading straight for the Sheng residence.

Sheng Qingfeng had obviously gone to the yamen and was not at home. A group of servants from the Sheng family blocked the way outside: "We apologize, Lord Lu, but we cannot meet before the marriage."

"Damn it." Lu Xingzhou squeezed in without saying a word. The servants half-blocked and half-let him in, and someone whispered, "He's in the solitary confinement room at the back."

Some even led the way towards the solitary confinement cell, shouting, "Stop! Don't come this way!"

Thanks to them, Lu Xingzhou quickly found the so-called solitary confinement cell and kicked it in.

Sheng Yuanyao wasn't actually in as bad a state as she had imagined. She was meditating cross-legged with her eyes closed when the door was kicked open, which startled her awake. When she opened her eyes, she saw Lu Xingzhou walking in, bathed in sunlight.

Before Sheng Yuanyao could even process what was happening, Lu Xingzhou picked her up and carried her away from the dark room.

Sheng Yuanyao finally understood what was going on, and her mouth stretched to her ears in a wide grin. Then, realizing that laughing like that in front of a group of servants might be inappropriate, she shyly buried her head in the man's chest.

Madam Sheng then appeared slowly, her face stern, and said, "Alright, go to your post properly. I'll talk to your father when he gets back. This is a proper official post; is the rule about not seeing each other before marriage even being used here?"

Lu Xingzhou quickly put Sheng Yuanyao down and said with a forced smile, "Yue..."

Madam Sheng's eyes widened: "Huh? The betrothal ceremony isn't over yet, how can you call me that?"

Lu Xingzhou could only say, "Madam Sheng is right. I will make arrangements as soon as possible..."

Madam Sheng was clearly not happy about this either. Who would want their daughter to marry three women at the same time? After figuring out the situation, she almost grabbed the door bolt from her husband and slapped him: "Is this what you mean by you being closer to A-Nuo than to him?"

Even the usually lawless Sheng Yuanyao was now hanging her head and dared not utter a sound. The boomerang had been thrown, and she was in the wrong.

But since things had come to this, and seeing their daughter's overjoyed expression, the couple really had nothing more to say. As long as their daughter was happy, that was all that mattered. Besides, Lu Xingzhou certainly seemed to have a bright future ahead of him.

He then said, "Normally, this matter should be handled by an elder. Do you want to have a member of the Huo family handle it, or should the Imperial Advisor be in charge?"

The person who was supposed to have perfect strategies was immediately dumbfounded.

I haven't calculated this.

It's clearly impossible to have the Huo family come. That nominal "elder" is indeed the Imperial Advisor.

But if you're asking Ye Tinglan to discuss with Madam Sheng how to marry Sheng Yuanyao, you might as well just have Lu Xingzhou storm the Ancient Realm directly.

Seeing him in a daze, Madam Sheng continued, "If the Imperial Preceptor wants to be considered as her junior sister's family member, then we do need to find someone else. You used to come from the Yama's Palace, right? Our Demon Suppression Division has intelligence that says you were raised by Yama since childhood. Does that mean you are also considered an elder? It would be appropriate for her to come."

Lu Xingzhou, sweating profusely, said, "That doesn't count."

Madam Sheng's face was stern: "This won't do, that won't do, where's your sincerity?"

Lu Xingzhou's mind raced, and he seized upon a straw: "The teachers of Dan Academy are also teachers. I'll go and ask Instructor Meng, and maybe even see if Dean Qin is willing to step in."

Meng Li is a second-rank official, highly respected, and qualified. If Qin Zhiyu, the head of the academy, were added, it would be even more prestigious. Madam Sheng's expression finally softened somewhat: "Then we'll wait and see."

Lu Xingzhou's initial arrogance in kicking down the door had vanished, and he sheepishly dragged Sheng Yuanyao out the door.

Even after they had walked quite a distance from the Sheng residence, Sheng Yuanyao remained silent, which puzzled Lu Xingzhou somewhat: "What's wrong with you?"

"N-nothing." Sheng Yuanyao was actually feeling uneasy.

Overnight, they went from brothers to wives, openly holding hands on the streets of the capital. This made the young girl's heart pound, and she couldn't adjust for a while.

Her face was radiant from head to toe, and Lu Xingzhou looked down at her, momentarily dazed.

Who is this shy girl...? Is she that Ah Gua?
(End of this chapter)