Chapter 58: In Youth, Her Strikes Were Neither Light Nor Gentle

Cui Wangshu pushed the door open and entered. She spotted Jiang Chenbi, who had already gotten out of bed, at a glance. She hooked her lips and asked, “Awake?”

Jiang Chenbi pursed her lips. “Where did you go just now?”

Detecting the faint dissatisfaction in her tone, Cui Wangshu didn’t answer. Instead, she walked over, bent down, and leaned close to her side. “Can you smell it?”

The familiar cool fragrance on the woman mixed with hints of firewood smoke and faint oil fumes. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it lacked the refreshing quality from before.

Jiang Chenbi looked up. “You got up so early to cook?”

Cui Wangshu raised her brow, squatted down, and put shoes on her feet. “Yeah… I specially made a lot, but someone got upset about not seeing me when she woke up.”

Jiang Chenbi’s ears turned red. She chided, “You!”

Cui Wangshu tilted her face up, her brows radiant. “It won’t happen again. From now on, I’ll stay with you until you wake up.”

Jiang Chenbi bit her lower lip and lightly huffed. “Don’t pat yourself on the back.”

After helping Jiang Chenbi wash up and changing out of her oil-stained clothes, the two sat down at the table.

Looking at the table full of exquisite dishes, Jiang Chenbi’s eyes widened slightly. In just over a month, this woman’s culinary skills and knife work had evolved to this level?

Cui Wangshu ladled a bowl of chicken porridge for her and pushed it over, raising her brow. “Try it?”

Jiang Chenbi picked up the spoon, scooped a bit, and brought it to her mouth. The fresh sweetness of the chicken broth seeped into every grain of rice, with finely chopped chicken mixed in for texture without toughness.

Jiang Chenbi’s eyes lit up slightly. This porridge clearly took effort, and the timing of the heat was mastered perfectly.

“It must have taken quite some time, right?”

A faint smile glimmered in Cui Wangshu’s eyes. “I thought it was pretty fast.”

Cooking soup with her own fair hands for her beloved brought her joy, so she naturally didn’t mind how long it took.

Cui Wangshu figured that since she had just woken up, her appetite wouldn’t be great, so she made mostly light flavors.

Jiang Chenbi’s appetite had indeed improved a lot. Cui Wangshu counted in her heart: half a bowl more porridge than before, three bites of stir-fried vegetables, and half a portion of milk rice cake.

After wiping the corner of her lips, the dishes were cleared away. Jiang Chenbi looked up to see Cui Wangshu staring at her, eyes full of amusement.

Thinking about how much she had eaten, she blushed involuntarily. “Why are you staring at me?”

“It’s great.” She was eating more now, and her body was gradually gaining some flesh.

“What?” Jiang Chenbi was baffled by the abrupt comment.

Cui Wangshu lowered her gaze with a shallow smile. “Nothing.”

Jiang Chenbi asked about the Myriad Nations Conference. Cui Wangshu nodded. “It starts the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow, the Emperor and the envoys from various nations will arrive in Luozhou.”

Jiang Chenbi hummed in acknowledgment. She had been following the Luo River diversion project too. Chen Quan was a bit cowardly and afraid of death, but he had decent ability in river management.

Once the Luo River diversion was complete, it would be time to close the net.

Over this past month, the Mountain Lord had finally sent word back: Prince Cheng fully trusted it now, and seizing military power was just around the corner.

With that, nearly all of Great Zhao’s military power would be in Jiang Chenbi’s hands.

Cui Wangshu knew as well that after the Myriad Nations Conference ended, monumental changes would soon sweep the Capital City.

Reflecting on these three months in Luozhou felt like a dream.

“And you? How have things been lately?” Cui Wangshu could vaguely guess the origin of the bloodstains on Jiang Chenbi’s clothes that day.

Though she hadn’t witnessed Jiang Chenbi as Palace Lord firsthand, Alna’s fearful expression and Yellow Path Palace’s development gave glimpses of her style.

This woman always acted boldly, and managing a massive Yellow Path Palace surely required thunderous methods.

Having been away from Luozhou for years with no one in charge, her subordinates inevitably grew lax.

Jiang Chenbi narrowed her eyes and hooked her lips. “All cleaned up. Once we return to the capital, the thousands in Yellow Path Palace will be at the Minister’s disposal.”

Cui Wangshu shook her head with a laugh. “We’re partners, Miss Jiang.”

Jiang Chenbi chuckled lightly, teasing, “Lord Cui, you’re the one holding the pieces. Forgot?”

Jiang Chenbi hadn’t admitted to the Imperial Mausoleum matter back then, but that didn’t mean Cui Wangshu was easy to fool. She hooked her lips. “I’m the one holding the pieces, sure, but Miss Jiang, you’re the mastermind behind the board.”

The woman before her didn’t spell it out, but Cui Wangshu knew she was only playing the latter half of the game. The board had been set four years ago, perhaps even earlier.

Cui Wangshu was very sharp. From Jiang Chenbi’s sparse words, she pieced together the gist of what she had done over the years. Knowing she couldn’t hide it, Jiang Chenbi sighed helplessly. “Lord Cui is as clever as ever.”

In the Imperial Mausoleum, Jiang Chenbi had already sensed this person’s brilliance. She hadn’t expected that to be just the tip of the iceberg.

Cui Wangshu’s lips curved high. “Compared to Miss Jiang, I’m still a bit lacking.”

With the Emperor and envoys from various nations arriving in Luozhou tomorrow, Cui Wangshu had a lot on her plate today. Jiang Chenbi didn’t want to disturb her and used the excuse of chamber of commerce matters to leave early.

Since the Myriad Nations Conference was borrowing Yellow Path Palace’s chamber of commerce venue, the palace’s operations had temporarily moved to shops in Yunyu Fang.

It was Jiang Chenbi’s first time at the chamber in over a month. She glanced at the smoothly running operations and hooked her lips.

Ying Lan had been waiting early in the chamber. Seeing her return, she said, “Palace Lord, Young Mistress Li Qian has arrived.”

Jiang Chenbi raised her brow. She had finally come.

“Where is she?”

Ying Lan led Jiang Chenbi to the back courtyard. From afar, they saw a woman standing under an evergreen tree.

Her hair was tied up, with a forehead band, dressed in a blue skirt. Her lively movements made the bells at her waist jingle.

The woman turned with a smile. Seeing Jiang Chenbi, her grin widened. “Sister Chenbi! You’re back?!”

Jiang Chenbi hooked her lips, raised her hand, and pressed her index finger to Li Qian’s forehead, stopping her from hugging. “How old are you? Still so undignified.”

Li Qian rubbed her head with a “hehe” laugh. “Sister Chenbi, where did you go? I asked Ying Lan, but she wouldn’t say.”

Jiang Chenbi narrowed her eyes with a smile. “Handling some personal matters.”

Li Qian nodded “oh,” not pressing further. But Ying Qi behind her sensed something off and quietly glanced up at Ying Lan.

Her sister stared straight ahead without sparing her a glance, as resolute as if in meditation.

Ying Qi: “…”

Jiang Chenbi raised her brow. “Such a short distance, and it took you over a month?”

Embarrassment flashed across Li Qian’s face. She instinctively turned back for Ying Qi’s help, but Ying Qi turned with her, dodging the pleading look.

Li Qian: “…” This wasn’t right.

Facing Jiang Chenbi’s meaningful smile, Li Qian braced herself. “It was my first time in the Central Plains… I was curious, so I took it slow.”

Her voice grew weaker toward the end. She had always been afraid of Jiang Chenbi and set off with trepidation.

But who knew the scenery along the way would captivate her? She played in every state city she passed, dragging it out until now.

Jiang Chenbi stared at Li Qian with a beaming smile and asked coolly, “…Fun?”

Li Qian swallowed. Nervously, she replied, “Fun, very fun.”

Jiang Chenbi tilted her head. “Had so much fun—surely you’ve handled the Human-Face Gu matter by now?”

Anxiety surfaced in Li Qian’s eyes. She immediately said, “Sister Chenbi, believe me! I wasn’t idle on the road. I really investigated it. It’s just…”

How was she supposed to explain this?

Jiang Chenbi furrowed her brows. “Speak.”

Li Qian hesitated, then said forlornly, “Yu Qing Niang of Phantom Woman Valley—do you remember her?”

This Yu Qing Niang was the valley mistress of Phantom Woman Valley, and she and Jiang Chenbi… Naturally, Jiang Chenbi knew her, but what did this have to do with the suburbs of the capital?

“Of course I remember. What did you find?”

Li Qian steeled herself. “I didn’t dare tell you back then. After you left the Southern Frontier, Yu Qing Niang came looking for you repeatedly. How could we tell her?”

She paused, then continued, “Somehow she found out you went to the capital…”

Li Qian suddenly grew agitated. “That woman’s crazy! Knowing you’re in the capital, she insisted on gradually moving Phantom Woman Valley there, saying, saying she was coming to find you!”

Jiang Chenbi: ?

She had always thought some faction in the capital was collaborating with Phantom Woman Valley to use gu worms to control officials. She never imagined it involved her.

Li Qian eyed Jiang Chenbi’s indescribable expression and hesitated. “I only got the news a few days ago, Sister Chenbi. How should we handle this?”

Jiang Chenbi rubbed her forehead. This Yu Qing Niang…

Back when she was in the Southern Frontier, she had represented Poison Gu Sect in a gu poison competition as a youth. Young and arrogant, with a body not yet frail, Jiang Chenbi struck without holding back.

She had pinned the then-young mistress of Phantom Woman Valley, Yu Qing Niang, to the ground and teasingly toyed with her using gu worms.

Originally… it was just a light punishment for the provocation.

Who knew that single tease would spark something different in Yu Qing Niang?

After that, she frequently sought Jiang Chenbi out, claiming dissatisfaction and demanding rematches. At first, Jiang Chenbi humored her with a smile.

But one fight, she accidentally noticed the shy flush on the woman’s face, and Jiang Chenbi wanted to split open with shock. From then on, she avoided Yu Qing Niang like the plague.

Later, with Yellow Path Palace set in Luozhou, Jiang Chenbi left the Southern Frontier after taking over Poison Gu Sect.

She never expected Yu Qing Niang, unable to find her, would think to expand Phantom Woman Valley to the capital using the Human-Face Gu.

In the end, it was a romantic debt from her reckless youth.

No wonder Li Qian had hemmed and hawed. Later, Yu Qing Niang’s pursuit of Jiang Chenbi was bold and well-known in the Southern Frontier—who didn’t know the young mistress of Phantom Woman Valley fancied the young sect mistress of Poison Gu Sect?

But Jiang Chenbi had always brushed her off, so few thought they’d end up together.

Jiang Chenbi frowned. This was indeed tricky. It wasn’t that she couldn’t bring herself to act against Yu Qing Niang; she worried about lacking justification, as it involved Poison Gu Sect.

Li Qian chimed in timely, “I’ve already had people drive out Phantom Woman Valley’s people from the capital back to the Southern Frontier. As for Yu Qing Niang… I think Sister Chenbi, you need to handle her personally.”

Li Qian cautiously peeked at Jiang Chenbi’s expression. Her words weren’t wrong; Yu Qing Niang’s actions stemmed from a single word: “love.”

Back then, Jiang Chenbi had no time to deal with it, simply avoiding her without clarifying. No wonder Yu Qing Niang still pined after all these years.

Back in the day, the young sect mistress of the Southern Frontier—how could “high-spirited” capture it?