Chapter 18: Jealousy Part 3

Dumplings were best with vinegar. Xun Changqing dipped her dumpling in some vinegar and, upon hearing this, lifted her head to stare dazedly at Mu Chen. Her peach blossom eyes showed some bewilderment. She forgot to swallow the dumpling in her mouth, her jade-like crystalline cheeks puffing up slightly. Mu Chen looked at his adorable little martial nephew and felt greatly pleased. He reached out and pinched her cheek, laughing, “Why are you eating so much vinegar? Be careful not to choke. You won’t sleep tonight.”

This vinegar wasn’t that vinegar. Xun Changqing was still startled and shook her hand, spilling the vinegar from the dumpling onto the table. The overflowing vinegar gave off a sour scent in the air. She hadn’t eaten vinegar—whether Wei Lingci married or not had nothing to do with her!

She buried her head and kept eating dumplings. Her thick, long lashes trembled slightly. Looking at the vinegar on the dumplings, she felt she had used too much—it was very sour.

Wei Lingci set down her chopsticks and looked sternly at Mu Chen, displeased. “Changqing is here. Swallow whatever you have to say. Don’t corrupt my person.”

“Wei Lingci, why did you take a male disciple for no reason? So many people wanted to enter your sect before, and you rejected them all because they were men. Now you quietly bring back a man… no… a boy, and you’re so intimate…”

“Mu Chen, mind your words,” Wei Lingci interrupted loudly, a chill suddenly appearing in her brows and eyes. Looking at the child eating dumplings with her head down, her heart eased slightly, and her voice softened. “I won’t marry Senior Brother. I’ve made that clear. If you all keep pressing, Changqing and I will leave Lingyun Mountain.”

After saying this, she ignored Mu Chen entirely. If not for the chopsticks in his hand, she probably would have chased him out already.

One side was strong, the other naturally weak. Mu Chen shrugged helplessly. “I’m just passing on the message. I’ll figure out how to explain to Senior Brother. Since you don’t want to, I won’t say more. Actually, Senior Brother has a lot on his plate. He’ll take over Master’s position as sect leader later. If you marry him, you’ll probably be stuck on the mountain too. Why not marry me? I’ll take you wandering the jianghu—how free that would be.”

As he spoke, Mu Chen got excited himself. A’ci had a cold temperament and needed someone chatty like him to influence her. Master would agree too. As for Eldest Senior Brother, if A’ci was willing to marry him, he’d have no choice but to accept.

She had been angry earlier, now it was amusement. Mu Chen’s personality was carefree—he was a good person, but she had no interest in him. She opened her mouth to explain, but Xun Changqing on the side suddenly looked up and said, “Master doesn’t like chatty people.”

She finally couldn’t hold back. But after blurting it out, she regretted it. Why did she always think about these things? Her heart filled with annoyance, and she simply pursed her lips, saying no more.

Mu Chen was in the midst of his excitement when a child doused him with cold water, chilling him to the bone like the depths of winter. Wei Lingci across from him even curved her lips in a shallow smile. Looking at the “little assassin stabbing his chest,” he pretended to glare fiercely. “Your master is at the age to marry. I like her, she likes me. You’re the chatty one.”

Xun Changqing sat a bit far from the table edge. She scooted closer, propping her cheek on her hand. Unlike her earlier huffiness, her peach blossom eyes were now wide open, the black pupils turning as she shook her head in disagreement with Mu Chen’s words. She earnestly explained, “The chatty one is Martial Uncle, not Changqing. I only just said one sentence. You’ve been talking the whole time.”

Such an innocent child left Mu Chen speechless. He couldn’t reason with big principles or speak too bluntly, so he explained in plain terms, “If she doesn’t marry soon, your master will turn into an old hag.”

What did an old hag look like? Xun Changqing suddenly turned sideways to gaze at the lightly smiling Wei Lingci—hair white as snow, face full of wrinkles. By then, who would sit beside her?

One sentence pushed her thoughts decades into the future.

Xun Changqing’s expression was too solemn and serious, making Mu Chen laugh so hard he slapped the table, losing all trace of his earlier handsome young lord demeanor.

Wei Lingci was helpless and patted her little disciple’s forehead. “I told you about the mountain situation on the way here. Take the food box over and come back soon.”

This was to send her away for a talk. Master’s orders were hard to defy, so Xun Changqing had no choice but to clear the table, hug the food box, and head to the kitchen.

Once her little disciple’s figure disappeared through Purple Ying Pavilion’s gate, Wei Lingci closed the door. Looking at Mu Chen, she dropped her earlier faint smile. “Senior Brother, do you want the sect leader position?”

“I don’t. I have no interest in it. If Junior Sister wants it, you can fight for it.”

Author’s Note: The little disciple is clearly jealous but won’t admit it. Tsk tsk tsk…