Chapter Sixty-Five: A Woman’s Beauty for Her Admirer
During dinner, the atmosphere was peaceful.
Yan Rouwan and two cats were munching away, completely oblivious to Zhang Xiaoying’s resentful yet murderous gaze nearby.
Clearly, she was still very bothered by these uninvited guests ruining her alone time with her master.
Sang Zhe was leisurely picking at his food when he suddenly brought up, “Xiaoying, I’m taking a week off in a few days. Let’s go out and have some fun.”
At the moment he said that, Zhang Xiaoying’s body trembled slightly.
“What? What?” Yan Rouwan perked up excitedly, “Are we going on a trip? Take me with you! I want to go too!”
“You still have a lot of work, don’t you?”
Sang Zhe shot her a sideways glance, unimpressed. “Don’t forget, you’re the head of the Punishment Department now.”
“If you take time off, the entire department will grind to a halt.”
Upon hearing this, Yan Rouwan immediately deflated and hung her head.
Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaoying kept her head down, not saying a word.
“What’s wrong?”
Sang Zhe said softly, “If you’re busy… it’s fine to postpone, or if you don’t want to go out then—”
“It’s not that.”
Zhang Xiaoying carefully hid the blush creeping into her eyes, her lashes fluttering slightly.
“I’m just… too happy.”
“Actually, you don’t have to spend just for me. I’m very happy just being at home.”
“Well, it’s not all for you,” Sang Zhe replied, taking another bite. “I’ve been busy lately and just want to relax a bit.”
“Do you have somewhere you want to go? I heard the camellias on Pengxu Mountain are blooming beautifully. Should we check them out?”
Zhang Xiaoying nodded silently.
Pengxu Mountain was not close to the Demon Cultivation Mountain Gate, over two hundred miles away.
But it was quite famous and a well-known tourist destination.
The camellias there had a long blooming season, covering the mountains when they were in full bloom and incredibly pretty.
When Zhang Xiaoying occasionally went to the town to buy groceries, she’d heard neighbors chatting about the place.
She had dreamed of wandering through those flowers with Sang Zhe.
But when that fantasy suddenly became a reality one day, it caught her a bit off guard.
Seeing Zhang Xiaoying’s silence, Yan Rouwan was quiet for a moment before suddenly saying with a smile, “In that case, I’ll take a little break tomorrow and go with Xiaoying to stroll through the market and buy some pretty clothes.”
“Eh? No need, I still have…”
“You wear the same style of dress all the time; you’ll get bored of it!” Yan Rouwan scolded, giving her a reproachful look. “It’s a rare outing; why not dress up beautifully for yourself?”
Zhang Xiaoying stole a shy glance at Sang Zhe.
“Sounds good.”
Sang Zhe said, “Just right; we can wrap up some work details tomorrow and finish up.”
“Then after you two finish shopping tomorrow, we’ll set off the day after.”
——
——
The final bits of work involved the long-neglected Shi Qingyan.
When Sang Zhe visited Shi Qingyan’s cell after several days, she was nothing short of a dried corpse.
Leaning against the wall, she was motionless, gaunt and disheveled.
She looked like she could scare kids in a horror movie.
After that time of torment, Shi Qingyan’s progress in her plan had stagnated.
And Sang Zhe had lost interest.
The reason was simple.
The Water Moon Sect was finished.
A major rival of the Demon Cult had crumbled completely alongside Master Yu Xia’s capture.
With that, interrogating someone like Shi Qingyan—the covert guard of the sect—had little significance.
Since the higher-ups were no longer pressuring, Sang Zhe was too lazy to waste time down there day after day.
So he figured it was best to leave her in there.
On the contrary, Shi Qingyan seemed somewhat deranged now.
“Sang Zhe… is that you?”
Upon seeing Sang Zhe, Shi Qingyan rushed to the bars, her gaze filled with despair. “How is Xiaoying? Is she… doing okay?”
“Do you bully her? Do you hurt her?”
“Can we… can I use my money to buy her something? Let me participate, even a little?”
Sang Zhe was worried about Shi Qingyan’s mental state.
He even considered reporting to the higher-ups and letting her go.
But after all, she was a capable covert guard, and if she could be swayed to the Demon Cult, she’d be quite a force.
So he decided to just hold on for now.
“Xiaoying is doing great.”
Sang Zhe perfunctorily replied, scribbling notes. “Just wanted to give you a heads-up.”
“The day after tomorrow, I’m going on a honeymoon with Xiaoying, so I might be gone for a week.”
“Just behave yourself in here, and when I return, maybe I can report to the higher-ups and get you released.”
Honeymoon…
Shi Qingyan felt her heart drop, as if struck by lightning.
Suddenly, she reached out, grasping for Sang Zhe’s collar.
“I want to see Xiaoying! Just one last time!”
“If it’s impossible, let me call her! Just to hear her voice one last time!”
To that, Sang Zhe obviously refused.
He hurriedly left.
“You’ll just have to wait for news.”
With that, he packed up his work notes and stumbled out of the room.
Leaving behind Shi Qingyan’s desperate wails.
——
——
Meanwhile, at the market at the foot of the Demon Cult.
“How… how is it?”
Zhang Xiaoying was hiding behind a clothing rack, too shy to show her face.
Yan Rouwan pulled her to the mirror and assessed her from head to toe.
“Oh! This looks so much better!”
Zhang Xiaoying’s face shape had always been pretty.
Her figure was proportionate, her features soft, and her oval face exuded a gentle, tranquil aura.
Her skin was fair, needing no heavy makeup to appear elegant and cute.
But the formerly reclusive Zhang Xiaoying had few peers and didn’t really know about makeup or dressing up.
This time, Yan Rouwan had thoughtfully chosen a clean, elegant, fitted dress complemented by a camellia hairpin.
It almost instantly elevated Zhang Xiaoying’s aura several levels.
Watching Yan Rouwan carefully doing her eyeliner and eyebrows, styling her hair and dress edges like she was dressing a doll, Zhang Xiaoying felt a bit anxious.
“Thank you, Yan Senior Sister.”
“There’s no need to thank me.”
Yan Rouwan said softly, “In front of someone you like, you should dress up a bit more. A woman blossoms for her admirer.”
At her words, Zhang Xiaoying’s ears flushed, her face blossoming like a peach.
“If you want to learn how to do makeup and dress up in the future, just come find me anytime.”
Zhang Xiaoying hesitated, then quietly asked, “Yan Senior Sister, why are you so nice to me?”
Yan Rouwan paused with her hands.
After a moment, Zhang Xiaoying heard her voice carry a hint of apology.
“Xiaoying, I know I might be too late to say this.”
“But I know. You didn’t leave with us because you wanted to protect the other disciples.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Even though it might be trivial.” Her gaze softened, she added gently, “I still want to do something to compensate you within my means.”
“I don’t expect you to forgive me.”
“Just… as long as you can happily be with Sang Zhe, that’s enough.”
Feeling her sincerity, Zhang Xiaoying couldn’t help but ask, “What about you, Yan Senior Sister?”
“Me?”
Yan Rouwan thought for a moment, suddenly chuckling self-deprecatingly.
“…Let’s talk about that later.”
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