Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

The two sat up. Zuo Qiuchi's long black hair was wet, and strands of hair clung to her powdered face, like a lotus emerging from water. Her face was moist and translucent, radiant and beautiful, with unparalleled purity and beauty.

"How about... we drag Aunt Donglu into this and have her play along?"

Chu Mingkong asked the question in a joking tone, and was immediately met with a sidelong glance from his beloved master. Her warm, jade-like hand gripped the hilt of a heavy sword as if interrogating and punishing Chu Mingkong.

"Tell me honestly, was this the idea you had when you rescued Donglu?"

"No! We're at our wits' end. We want to keep Aunt Donglu by our side, but we also don't want to hurt her feelings. It's so difficult..."

“If Donglu has no objections, then I have no objections either. However, she hesitates even to stay by my side, so it will be even more difficult for her to take things further... Also, you are not allowed to force her, understand!” Zuo Qiuchi warned sternly, pressing his thumb against him.

Chu Mingkong readily agreed, not daring to joke:

"That's for sure. If we force things, it won't be easy to get along in the future, will it?"

To be honest, Zuo Qiuchi is really not that concerned about Donglu's matter. If she were really bothered by these things, she wouldn't have developed the current relationship with Chu Mingkong.

But she was also well aware of her own mindset; not everyone was like her, and she couldn't expect others to be like her by her own standards. Whether Zuo Donglu could accept this strange relationship was truly uncertain.

There are two major challenges: how to get Zuo Donglu to accept Chu Mingkong as a man, and how to accept that her sister is also one of them...

I have this strange feeling that I'm corrupting good girls.

After an unknown amount of time, a rich aura emanated from Zuo Qiuchi's delicate hand and wafted onto the pool water, disappearing into the shimmering ripples.

Chu Mingkong and Zuo Qiuchi got up together, changed their clothes, and left the bath.

He wondered to himself if this could be considered a temporary shift in Zuo Qiuchi's thoughts away from his parents' affairs.

But it's best not to ask such questions, as it's like bringing up something that shouldn't be mentioned.

Chu Mingkong and Zuo Qiuchi walked together to Zuo Donglu's room. Zuo Qiuchi suddenly fell silent and silently gestured to Chu Mingkong to open the Domain of Annihilation.

"Let me see what Donglu is doing."

The Realm of Annihilation was activated, drawing the door into a silent space. Zuo Qiuchi opened the door, while Zuo Donglu inside remained completely unaware.

She was sitting on the edge of the bed, her long, shapely legs stretched out gently, but her face was turned toward the window, staring blankly out the window, looking a little dazed.

Through the crack in the quietly opened door, Zuo Qiuchi and Chu Mingkong peered in, one above the other, for a long time.

Zuo Donglu didn't move at all, remaining frozen like a statue, neither cultivating nor moving.

This made Chu Mingkong wonder if Zuo Donglu, when living alone at Wufeng Cliff, would be like a statue, lost in thought for a whole day, or even several days.

After all, no one would bother her on Wufeng Cliff; she was going to live alone no matter what.

“My dear Master, you sleep all day long, while Aunt Donglu just sits there all day long. You two are really in sync.”

Zuo Qiuchi thought Chu Mingkong had frozen Zuo Donglu in place, so she closed the door and responded fiercely to her traitor's teasing:

"You're just going to be hard all day, right? What are you standing there for? Unlock the Domain of Annihilation."

The gray world regained its color, and Zuo Qiuchi knocked on the door:

"Winter Dew, I'm coming in~"

Chu Mingkong considered whether to go over, but then thought it best to let the two sisters chat first. He wouldn't find anything to talk about if he went in now; he would just be sitting there as a decoration.

After walking a few steps down the corridor, Chu Mingkong bumped into Qingning. The girl seemed to remember something and quickly waved to him.

"Brother, come here~"

Chapter 42 Can I go out first?

Wei Qingning's previous hairstyles were always a dashing high ponytail or a neutral gentleman's crown, and she rarely dressed in a girlish style. However, after the wedding night, this girl also learned to put her hair up in a married woman's bun.

Having grown accustomed to the mature and dignified demeanor of Aunt Gu, Madam Zhen, and Aunt Li Lu, it's quite interesting to see Qing Ning's unconventional mature attire, which still retains a childlike innocence.

The girl stood there, with spirited features, radiant energy, red lips and white teeth, exuding a charming and delightful youthful vitality.

Chu Mingkong walked over, stroked Qingning's face, and asked:

"What's wrong? Why did you call me over in such a hurry?"

"I've forgotten... about our wedding night." She said softly. The memory of that night was too stimulating and unforgettable for her. Just thinking about it made her face flush with shyness.

Chu Mingkong felt the girl's face gradually getting warmer and stroked it even more happily. Her shy yet willing expression had a pure and charming attraction, and he couldn't help but hug Qingning directly into his arms.

"How could you forget something during your wedding night? You took care of everything. Could it be that Qingning felt she wasn't being taken care of enough?"

"No, no..." Wei Qingning reached out her small hand to cover her brother's mouth and shook her head repeatedly, "It's about marriage."

Hearing her mention it, Chu Mingkong also remembered that he seemed to have forgotten to tie his hair!

The hair-tying ceremony is a part of the wedding night, where the man and woman cut off a lock of their hair and tie it together, symbolizing a long and lasting union and eternal love.

That night, I was so focused on getting things done that I had to switch shifts and rest when I was exhausted. I only remember drinking the aphrodisiac wine, and I completely forgot about the wedding ceremony.

"So now we're making up for it? Even your sister Rong'er has forgotten about this, but you remember it clearly and even recalled this matter."

"This... I only remembered it after someone reminded me," Wei Qingning said, a little embarrassed.

The process of tying the hair together was simple and only took a short while. Chu Mingkong didn't want to drag it out until next time, so he simply carried Qingning towards the "wedding room".

His arm cradled Qingning's soft buttocks. Although some parts of her body were indeed a bit immature, her plumpness was undeniable, making her irresistible to touch.

The girl nestled in his arms, her willow-leaf eyebrows trembling, her body tingling as she leaned all her weight on him.

"But Jinyu and the others will probably want to make up for the broken hair, right? If you each cut off a strand, I'll have to cut off a lot of strands. Won't I end up bald?" He thought of this worry.

There are quite a few brides; one strand of hair isn't much, but five or six strands can be a challenge.

Qingning had thought about this question, and she said:

“Brother can take a sachet and put only one strand inside. Sister Yunhan and the others can each put their own in as well. Brother doesn’t need to cut so many strands separately.”

That's one way. Normally, when tying hair, you wrap it in red paper or something similar. Using a sachet should also work, but that's quite rare.

"Is it customary to use a sachet? Did Aunt Li Lu say that?"

Qingning shook her head with a complicated expression and said subtly:

"It wasn't my mother who said that, but there's no such custom. In Xiling and even the Tianji Empire, marriages are divided into principal wives and concubines. No one marries both as principal wives at once..."

Ordinary people would simply marry their first wife.

Chu Mingkong knew that Qingning was thin-skinned, but he still couldn't help but joke:

"If the sachet cannot be used to tie the hair, would Qingning be willing to save a precious lock of her brother's hair?"

"No way!" Qingning shook her head quickly, her expression serious. She pursed her lips and muttered, "I'm already legally married and the principal wife. How can I suddenly be demoted?"

"Just kidding, if I really had to cut my hair, I'd be willing to shave it all off!"

Chu Mingkong was carrying Wei Qingning on their way back to their room, but there was already someone quietly rummaging around in the room where many people had cultivated.

When Ruyu returned to the room, she was still on tenterhooks, feeling a sense of unease like someone who had done something wrong.

Clutching a jade pendant given to her by Shen Xuejun, which concealed her aura, she quietly crawled on the large bed, muttering to herself:

"Huh, where did my sachet go? I spent ages weaving it to give to my mother... Could it have fallen here?"

Ruyu didn't dare to search too vigorously, and paced back and forth.

Aside from the fact that she had gone through some major activity that night, which might have led to the loss of the sachet, Ruyu really didn't think she could have been so careless as to not even realize that the sachet had been lost.

Outside the door, the sound of footsteps grew louder and louder.

A look of panic appeared on Ruyu's face. Forgetting about finding the sachet, she quickly looked around the room and finally squatted down in a corner next to the wardrobe.

The hiding was a bit careless, but she had the jade pendant given to her by Shen Xuejun. As long as she didn't make a sound and wasn't seen, she could probably hide it.

Chu Mingkong carried his little sister the whole way, squeezing her hands quite a bit, clearly still harboring some resentment from his master's precious girl, which he hadn't managed to quell.

"Qingning, you can bring the sachets. We'll pack them first and bring them back later to make up for it."

"No, I gave my sachet to the cat to store dried fruit."

"These little rascals are really greedy. Aunt Gu even used her own sachet to fill their snacks with." Chu Mingkong smiled.

He placed Qingning on the embroidered couch with bright red bedding. When he held Qingning, she appeared delicate and slender, but when he put her down and looked at her alone, she was quite tall and had excellent proportions, with her tender legs being particularly straight and long.

After the cultivation session, the bridal chamber was naturally tidied up by maids. These maids, who came from Qingxin Mansion, had a set of rules for tidying up, and everything was arranged in an orderly manner, with each item having its proper place.

It shouldn't be so tidy that it looks neat but the homeowner can't find anything when they need it.

Chu Mingkong knew exactly where the ornaments and small items were kept, so he opened the wardrobe, pulled out the bottom drawer, and sure enough, found a sachet inside.

It's unclear whose sachet it is, but the ones that could appear in this room are undoubtedly Jin Yu and the others, used for tying their hair together; it's nothing special.

"I'll help my brother cut his hair..." the girl on the bed said.

Since Qingning was willing to do it, Chu Mingkong let her. After all, it was just a matter of helping each other cut the paper.

Two strands of hair were placed together, and Qingning carefully tucked them into the sachet. Her bright, watery eyes were wide open, as if afraid that if any strand of hair was lost, her future marriage with Chu Mingkong would be shortened.

It's clear they take this little ceremony very seriously.

Chu Mingkong found Qingning's breathless reaction quite adorable.

Meanwhile, Ruyu stared wide-eyed at the young couple's behavior.

That's my mother's sachet. She wove it by hand for a long time and prepared it as a gift for her!

Ru Yu watched helplessly as her sachet was hung at the head of her bed, along with Chu Mingkong's belt.

"Brother..." A soft, slightly hoarse voice rang out from inside the room.

The slender girl looked up at the man, her eyes sparkling, her delicate, flushed face reflecting the man's rugged shadow.

She was still a little scared, but deep in her eyes there was also a sense of anticipation and longing.

"......?" Ruyu.

What are you doing now?!

Chapter 43 You want to stuff your hair in too?

What are you guys trying to do? Don't do this kind of thing so easily!

At least, at least give me a chance to leave here. I'll give you the sachet if I have to. I don't want to be stuck here watching the whole show!