Zou Lvrui's face was full of pleading. "Please, okay? It's the first time I'm asking you!"
Mo Xiujie looked cold. "No. I said no and that's final. This is a matter of conduct."
"Fine, it's your call," Zou Lvrui started to play her trump card. "Then I'll go ask Brother Dong to share a room with me."
Mo Xiujie grabbed Zou Lvrui. "Wait a minute... He doesn't even have his own room. Where are you going to share a room with him?"
Zou Lvrui looked smug and rascally, saying in a really annoying way, "He doesn't have a room, but I do."
Yes, the Xie Mansion had prepared rooms for every cultivator who could participate in the Cultivation Conference.
Moreover, Dong Peirong had no cultivation base. He was able to stay in the Xie Mansion because Yang Haoyu said Dong Peirong was the person he brought.
Mo Xiujie fell silent.
Zou Lvrui added fuel to the fire. "I heard that the little brother in the cyan clothes said Brother Dong was the person he brought and invited Brother Dong to share a room with him."
Mo Xiujie wavered. "Actually..."
"I think Brother Dong actually has a good impression of that little brother in the cyan clothes. Otherwise, according to Brother Dong's temper, shouldn't he have cleared the relationship right away?"
Zou Lvrui kept muttering in her heart, feeling extremely apologetic to Dong Peirong.
It was a last - resort situation. Sorry, sorry, sorry...
Could so many apologies express her sincerity? No!
Zou Lvrui was mumbling to herself and decided to apologize to Dong Peirong after solving this matter.
But Mo Xiujie blew up. "?! What did you say?!"
Zou Lvrui quickly soothed him. "I'm just scared to sleep alone, so I'm begging you. I can sleep on the floor. Why do you have to keep me at arm's length? Besides, if I give up my room, Brother Dong won't have to sleep with that little brother in the cyan clothes."
Mo Xiujie's face turned green and then white. "Zou Lvrui! Don't make it sound so... Okay, we'll share a room. I'll sleep on the floor."
Zou Lvrui nodded. "You're really a man. Give you a thumbs up."
...
Led in by the attendant, Lin Qiao observed the layout of the Xie Mansion.
It was similar to the mansion where Xue Tingyu lived. The positions of the houses were also quite alike.
It seemed there was some pattern.
But Lin Qiao didn't understand the five - element and eight - trigrams, or the art of divination and strategy, so she couldn't figure it out.
The room arranged for Luo Nanchen and Lin Qiao was very remote, but the surrounding environment was quite nice, quiet and elegant.
Lin Qiao said she was quite satisfied.
A young servant came to ask, "My lord, shall I send in the bathing tub now?"
Hearing the bathing tub, Lin Qiao couldn't help but think of a novel she had read. In that novel, the two main characters often had sex in the bathing tub and broke the tub every now and then.
In Lin Qiao's view, the bathing tub was a very pornographic item.
She blushed.
Was this Xie Kuihai so vulgar that he asked people to do such things as soon as they moved in?
Luo Nanchen looked calm. "Yes, send it in. Also send some food."
"Yes."
Lin Qiao sat down and fanned herself with her hand, trying to drive away the image of Luo Nanchen's abs, pectoral muscles and biceps from her mind. Finally, she calmed down.
She began to think about the oddity of Xie Kuihai's matter.
From the moment they entered the door, it was always the steward of the Xie Mansion who was in charge, from testing the cultivators to arranging the accommodation, providing a one - stop service.
Xie Kuihai never showed up.
Lin Qiao said softly, "Ghost baby. Does it have to be cultivated exactly where it was dug out?"
Luo Nanchen was making the bed for Lin Qiao. As a considerate husband, he was doing his duty. "Not necessarily. It's just more helpful for cultivation in that place. Why do you ask?"
"I'll go out for a while."
Forcing herself to forget Luo Nanchen's body, Lin Qiao, who got caught up in solving the case, ran out.
This Xie Mansion was Xie Kuihai's real big mansion in the East Market. It was different from the one he bought specially for Xue Tingyu.
This mansion was much bigger.
But the structure was quite similar, showing some pattern.
Lin Qiao ran all the way to the room in a position similar to the place where the fetus was dug out in Xue Tingyu's mansion.
Sure enough, there was a thick black air rising above the room.
It was probably the aura of the ghost baby.
Lin Qiao didn't dare to go there rashly, but she had found this place first. If something happened, she would be better prepared.
She had to go back and draw a map for Luo Nanchen.
"Little beauty, so you're here. I've been looking for you everywhere."
A strong smell of hooliganism came. Lin Qiao turned around and saw the so - called younger brother of Lord Xie she had met in the market.
Xie Haoqiang.
In Yangzhou City, relying on Xie Kuihai, he bullied others in the market and did all kinds of evil. Bullying Mother Liu in the market was just a minor thing.
Xie Haoqiang was not a typical rich second - generation. The fortune he relied on was not from his father, but from his elder brother Xie Kuihai.
Lin Qiao sneered contemptuously. "Oh, Young Master Xie is here too. What a coincidence."
Xie Haoqiang climbed over the fence and said frivolously, "Qiao Lin, I thought you had some great backer. It turns out that Chen Nanluo is just a Golden Core cultivator. How ridiculous."
When they left the palace, they all used aliases, reversing their names.
Luo Nanchen became Chen Nanluo. Lin Qiao, although she was the queen mother and didn't show up often, Luo Nanchen still changed her name to Qiao Lin.
Li Gusong became Song Guli, Qu Yinghan became Han Yingqu, and Dong Peirong became Rong Pei.
As for Mo Xiujie and Zou Lvrui, since they weren't people who often showed up in public, they used their real names.
Hearing Xie Haoqiang's mockery, Lin Qiao didn't refute. "Oh? But I remember that it was this Golden Core cultivator who sent Young Master Xie flying. Isn't Young Master Xie even more ridiculous?"
Xie Haoqiang's face flushed red. "I wasn't on guard. Call Chen Nanluo here. I'm going to have a good fight with him!"
"Let's wait until the Cultivation Conference starts, Young Master Xie. Otherwise, in the Xie Mansion," Lin Qiao smiled, "it won't be fair."
"Fine! I'll wait for the Cultivation Conference. If he doesn't dare to come, he'd better get out of here soon!" Xie Haoqiang's eyes were fierce. "Little beauty, you'll be mine sooner or later."
Lin Qiao was speechless for a moment and then turned around and left.
She didn't know what Xie Haoqiang saw in her. Was it just because of her good - looking face?
So shallow.
On her way back to the room, Lin Qiao passed by the room of Li Gusong and Qu Yinghan and saw Qu Yinghan boiling medicine for Li Gusong.
Li Gusong seemed to have a heart disease, which was also a rather sad point in this love story.
Lin Qiao thought for a while and walked over.
"Miss Qu... Han."
Qu Yinghan looked up. "Madam."
"You're boiling medicine. Your technique looks very professional," Lin Qiao tried to get closer to Qu Yinghan. "We haven't really had a good talk on this journey, have we?"
Qu Yinghan curtsied. "Madam is deeply loved by the young master and is very busy. Naturally, she has no time to take care of this concubine."
Look, how good at speaking one had to be to say such a perfect thing?
It not only praised Luo Nanchen but also made Lin Qiao feel comfortable. It also found a perfect excuse for not talking on the journey. She was really a talent.
However, in the original work, Qu Yinghan was such a meticulous person. It was understandable.
Lin Qiao moved closer. "Miss Han, no, Young Madam. I heard an interesting story today. Do you want to hear it?"
Qu Yinghan smiled slightly. "Madam can just say what you want. There's no need to beat around the bush."
"It's really refreshing to talk to a smart person," Lin Qiao smiled. "I just want to say one thing to you. Seeing is not necessarily believing. You should follow your own heart."
Qu Yinghan was stunned for a moment. Then there was a hint of caution in her eyes when she looked at Lin Qiao. "Madam... What do you know?"
Lin Qiao shrugged. "I don't know anything. It's just an inspiration after hearing the story today. How about it? Isn't it very reasonable?"
But Qu Yinghan didn't believe it. There was a bit of hesitation in her cold expression. "How do you know? Were you also involved back then... But at that time, Madam was still in the Le'an Realm."
Lin Qiao could only pretend to be mysterious and kept sighing.
What could she say? That it was a story in a book? That she knew everything they had done?
If this matter got out of hand, she would surely be regarded as a madman and arrested, right?
Not everyone could believe her like Luo Nanchen, and not everyone could not regard her as a monster like Luo Nanchen.
Not everyone could accept that they were just characters in a book.
If it were herself, she would surely not be able to stand it.
Thinking of this, Lin Qiao couldn't help but admire Luo Nanchen's strong mind again. After knowing such an earth - shattering thing, he didn't show any reaction at all.
Of course, it was also possible that she just hadn't seen it.
Qu Yinghan said coldly, "Madam, no matter what you know, please don't interfere in this matter. It won't do any good to anyone. Thank you."
"Alas, life is short. Enjoy it while you can," Lin Qiao shook her head. "Don't waste your energy on illusory things, or you'll end up regretting it."
Qu Yinghan carried the medicine and turned back into the room.
Lin Qiao was exhausted and sighed.
Should she... talk to Li Gusong?
But she didn't know how to start. Qu Yinghan wouldn't believe the story about the characters in the book, and Li Gusong would be even more unlikely to believe it.
Li Gusong's mind was much deeper than Qu Yinghan's.
Lin Qiao shook her head and walked back with a heavy heart. She couldn't just watch Qu Yinghan and Li Gusong step by step towards a bad ending, could she?
This couple used to be her biggest regret.
As she was walking, Lin Qiao suddenly thought of a feasible solution.
... In the original work's setting, Qu Yinghan's master was a modern person who had traveled through time, right?