Huang Rong from The Return of the Condor Heroes: Brother Jing, let's get a divorce.

While Yang Guo was holed up on the third floor of the Sutra Repository, studying the Kanli Manual, Huang Rong had already circled the headmaster's courtyard twice.

Yang Guo was nowhere to be seen in the courtyard. Lu Wushuang was squatting by the water vat washing dishes, her sleeves rolled up to her elbows, and there were still scrapes on the back of her hands from the fall last night.

Huang Rong stood in the corridor for a while, observing Lu Wushuang's every move. The girl washed the dishes with extreme care, scrubbing each bowl three times inside and out, and even wiping the water stains on the bottom of the bowls with a cloth. After finishing, she neatly arranged the bowls and chopsticks and put them back on the wooden rack.

Huang Rong felt reassured. This habit of doing things wasn't something Yang Guo had taught her; it was something she had cultivated since childhood. The Lu family was, after all, a well-to-do family in the Jiaxing area, with strict rules and good manners. Although this girl was sharp-tongued, her innate upbringing remained.

"Peerless".

Lu Wushuang was emptying the dishwater when she heard the sound, and she almost dropped the wooden basin in her hand. She turned around and saw Huang Rong standing on the veranda, dressed in casual clothes, her hair casually tied up with a wooden hairpin, completely different from the dignified Beggar Clan leader she usually was.

"Chief Huang... Chief Huang." Lu Wushuang wiped his hands on his apron and gave a proper bow. His back was ramrod straight, much like a student being called on by the teacher in class.

Huang Rong smiled.

"Just call me Sister Rong, don't keep calling me Chief Huang, it makes me feel ten years older." Huang Rong walked over and naturally took Lu Wushuang's hand, turning it over to examine the injury on the back of her hand. "How did this happen?"

"I fell the night before last, it's nothing serious." Lu Wushuang tried to pull her hand away, but Huang Rong held on tightly.

"That brat Yang Guo didn't even bother to apply any medicine to you." Huang Rong shook her head, releasing her hand. "Come on, come with me down the mountain for a stroll. I've been cooped up on the mountain for days; I want to get some fresh air in town."

Lu Wushuang was stunned.

The leader of the Beggars' Sect invited her to go shopping?

Something just didn't feel right. Alarm bells were ringing in Lu Wushuang's mind. Her relationship with Huang Rong was very delicate—she knew Yang Guo and Huang Rong's secret, and Huang Rong knew she knew it too. Under these circumstances, Huang Rong's kindness towards her must have an ulterior motive.

But she didn't dare refuse.

Huang Rong's smile was very gentle, and her tone was very casual, but Lu Wushuang always felt that the way this woman looked at him was like looking at a chess piece—calculating where to place it.

"Okay." Lu Wushuang nodded.

Chang Le Town is located at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain, less than five miles from Chongyang Palace. The town is not large, but because it is close to the Quanzhen Sect, merchants from all over the country stop here to rest and do business, making it quite lively.

The two walked down the mountain one after the other. Lu Wushuang, dragging her left leg, walked much slower than Huang Rong. Huang Rong simply slowed her pace, and even reached out to help Lu Wushuang when crossing a section of gravel path.

Lu Wushuang froze, but did not dodge.

Upon entering the town, Huang Rong headed straight for the cloth shop. She browsed through the shop, picking out two bolts of moon-white fine cotton cloth and a bolt of pale yellow thin silk.

"Come on, compare." Huang Rong draped the pale yellow silk cloth over Lu Wushuang's body, took two steps back, and examined him.

"This color suits you. You have fair skin, and pale yellow looks best on you. The drab gray Taoist robe makes you look old."

Lu Wushuang looked down at the oversized gray Taoist robe she was wearing. During her time at Chongyang Palace, she had been wearing old Taoist robes given to her by Yang Guo; they didn't fit well and were loose and baggy.

"I'll just wear my Taoist robe; I don't need to buy new clothes." Lu Wushuang took a half step back.

"Listen to your sister Rong." Huang Rong didn't give her a chance to refuse at all, and directly had the tailor of the cloth shop measure Lu Wushuang's body size and order two new outfits.

After paying and leaving, Huang Rong turned into the cosmetics shop next door. She tried several kinds of rouge at the counter, picked out a box of light red rouge, and stuffed it directly into Lu Wushou's hands.

"You're so young, you should dress up. You always have a bare face, like a nun in a temple."

Lu Wushuang held the box of rouge, at a loss for what to do. She hadn't used anything like this for many years. After the massacre of the Lu family in Lu Village, she had been living a life of wandering, and she was lucky to even have enough to eat, let alone rouge and face powder.

"Sister Rong...why are you so good to me?" Lu Wushuang couldn't help but ask.

Huang Rong walked ahead without turning her head.

"Because you remind me of someone."

"Who?"

"I have a junior sister," Huang Rong said slowly, as if recalling something. "Her surname is Cheng, and her name is Cheng Ying. She was my father's last disciple, whom he took in later in life. Come to think of it, she should be related to the Lu family in Jiaxing."

Lu Wushuang stopped in her tracks.

The street was bustling with people, and the cries of vendors rose and fell. But to Lu Wushuang's ears, all these sounds turned into a buzzing noise.

Cheng Ying.

cousin.

She stood there for several seconds, her lips trembling, and her eyes suddenly reddened.

"You said...you said my cousin...she's still alive? She's on Peach Blossom Island?" Lu Wushuang's voice trembled, her right hand gripping the box of rouge so tightly that her knuckles dug into the lid.

Huang Rong turned around and saw Lu Wushuang's appearance.

This girl cried without any restraint. Tears streamed down her face, her nose was red, her lips were pouting, and she looked like a hard shell had been pierced. Passersby all turned to look.

Huang Rong walked back and pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve, handing it to her.

"Why are you crying? It's not like she died. Cheng Ying is doing very well. She's with my father, eating and living well, and she's proficient in all the arts. My father cherishes her dearly."

Lu Wushuang took the handkerchief and wiped her face haphazardly. She sniffed hard, her voice still trembling.

"I thought... I thought I had no family left."

Huang Rong didn't say anything, but simply reached out and patted her shoulder.

The tap was light, but Lu Wushuang's shoulders slumped. She had kept herself too tense all these years. Her entire family was dead, she was hunted by Li Mochou, she wandered the martial world, and Yang Guo captured her to be his maid. She had always told herself she couldn't break down, she couldn't let anyone see her vulnerability. But the words "Cheng Ying is still alive" shattered her defenses completely.

"Come on, let's sit over there." Huang Rong pulled her to a teahouse on the street corner and found a quiet spot to sit down.

Two bowls of hot tea were brought out. Lu Wushuang held the teacups, her hands still trembling. It took her a while to catch her breath.

"Sister Rong, can I go see my cousin?" Lu Wushuang looked up, her eyes full of longing.

"There will be an opportunity later." Huang Rong took a sip of tea, her tone casual. "You're with Yang Guo now, so you can't leave. Once things have settled down, I'll arrange for you sisters to meet."

Lu Wushuang nodded vigorously. The way she looked at Huang Rong was clearly different now; the wariness and guardedness from before were gone, replaced by a sense of closeness.

Huang Rong's lips curled up slightly.

It's almost done.

"Wushuang, how old are you this year?" Huang Rong asked casually, resting her chin on her hand.

"nineteen."

"Nineteen. A good age." Huang Rong looked Lu Wushuang up and down, her gaze lingering on her chest and hips. "Your figure is completely different from your cousin's. Cheng Ying is slender, but you have curves in all the right places. Such a slim waist, such a big and perky bottom, you're naturally blessed with good fertility."

Lu Wushuang's hand holding the teacup trembled, and half of the tea spilled.

"Sister Rong, what did you say?" Lu Wushuang's face changed from white to pink, then from pink to red, and finally as red as a boiled shrimp.

"I'm saying you have a great figure," Huang Rong said frankly. "What's there to be embarrassed about? For a woman, being beautiful is a gift from God. With your waist-to-hip ratio, if you were in a wealthy family in Jiaxing, the men who wanted to marry you would line up from one end of the street to the other."

"You, you're just like Yang Guo!" Lu Wushuang wished she could bury her head in her teacup.

Huang Rong burst out laughing.

"I'm not like him. What he did was harassment, what I did was just showing you affection as an older sister." Huang Rong leaned closer and lowered her voice, "You're not a child anymore, so let me ask you something from the bottom of my heart. Is there... someone you like?"

Lu Wushuang's face turned even redder. She lowered her head and shook it vigorously, like a rattle-drum. "No."

"Who are you trying to fool?" Huang Rong gently tapped Lu Wushuang's forehead. "Your sister Rong has been in the martial world for so many years. Your guilty look, this avoidance of eye contact, clearly indicates something is going on. Tell me, who is it? That brat Yang Guo?"

"It's not him!" Lu Wushuang blurted out, denying it quickly and urgently.

As soon as she said it, she knew she had messed up.

Huang Rong's eyes lit up.

"Oh?" Huang Rong leaned back in her chair and tapped the table twice with her fingers. "Not Yang Guo. That means you do have someone you like. It's just not Yang Guo."

Lu Wushuang opened her mouth, wanting to make amends, but it was too late. She had been tricked by Huang Rong with just a few words, and only then did she realize how big a trap she had fallen for.

"Sister Rong, don't talk nonsense. I really didn't..."

"You've already let it slip," Huang Rong interrupted her, her tone unhurried, like a cat teasing a mouse already trapped. "Tell Sister Rong, who is it? Let's close the door and talk in private; no third person will know."

Lu Wushuang's ears burned, and her nails dug into her palms. She bit her lip tightly, unable to hide the embarrassment and struggle on her face.

Huang Rong stared at her stubborn expression and didn't press her for more information. She picked up her teacup and slowly took a sip.

No rush. This melon will ripen and fall to the ground sooner or later.

But Huang Rong was already furious.

This girl has someone in her heart, and it's not Yang Guo. She hadn't considered this variable at all. She had Yang Guo take Lu Wushuang in, on the premise that Lu Wushuang had feelings for Yang Guo, so that things could progress smoothly. But if this girl has someone else in her heart, then the whole plan will have to be readjusted.

Who is this person? When did this happen? Where did you meet them?

Huang Rong sipped her tea, her smile remaining unchanged. But her mind was racing.

The sun was rising higher on the street. More and more pedestrians came and went, and the sounds of shouts and bargaining mingled together.

Lu Wushuang lowered her head, staring intently at the remaining tea in the teacup. Her heart was pounding, and her back was covered in cold sweat.

She mentally cursed herself severely.

When will this foul mouth of his ever shut up?