Before Mo Chenxiao could fly into a rage, Ji Lan lost his temper entirely. “Who do you think you are? Marry, marry, marry, is that all you can say? What do you take these young women for?”
Yu Zhengyang had thought he was merely joking around, never expecting Ji Lan to become this furious.
Or rather, was Ji Lan upset because he didn’t want anyone joking about Xiao Yuwei?
“Ji Lan,” Yu Zhengyang said with a forced, joyless smile. “Weren’t you the one who wanted to forcefully marry Xiao Yuwei in the first place? And now you’re putting on such a righteous front. Are you upset simply because Manor Lord Xiao wants to call off the wedding?”
“Done pretending? Dropped the master act?” Ji Lan sneered. “Young Master Yu, regardless of what you promised or agreed upon with the Pavilion Master, I will not take you on as a disciple!”
Seeing Ji Lan’s expression, Yu Zhengyang froze.
Followed instantly by a wave of regret.
He hadn’t even successfully entered the sect yet; why on earth had he tried to win a verbal argument?
Lowering his gaze slightly, a dark shadow passed through Yu Zhengyang’s eyes. The sight of Ji Lan looking at him with such intense focus actually brought a strange sense of satisfaction to his heart.
“Master,” Yu Zhengyang quickly shifted back to a grinning demeanor. “I was only joking with Senior Brother just now. Surely you could tell that much?”
“Who is your senior brother?” Mo Chenxiao thoroughly enjoyed seeing his master detest Yu Zhengyang, but this shameless fellow’s antics still deeply irritated him.
Ji Lan’s expression remained far from pleasant. “Young Master Yu, your conduct is far too unruly. Sooner or later, you’ll court a massive disaster, and the Lotus Rain Pavilion truly cannot accommodate you.”
Was Ji Lan’s tone meant to signify that he was utterly disappointed in him?
Yu Zhengyang experienced a sharp pang in his chest. “You… are you casting me aside just because of some Xiao girl?”
The way he phrased it made it sound as though they shared some sort of profound history. Ji Lan pulled a long face. “Young Master Yu, I understand you want to play around. After all, you’re young and from a prestigious background, so people around you naturally cater to your games. But I’m terribly sorry, I cannot play along.”
Yu Zhengyang’s face turned pale, and the jet-black color of his long hair slowly began to fade. “Ji Lan, how could you treat me like this?” With silver hair spilling loosely over his shoulders and a tragic expression plastered across his face, he looked precisely like a young wife abandoned by her husband’s family.
Ji Lan:
If the timing weren’t so entirely inappropriate, and if the male lead weren’t standing right beside him watching the whole spectacle, Ji Lan would have burst out laughing.
Giving his own thigh a vicious pinch to keep a straight face, Ji Lan waved a hand dismissively. “Young Master Yu, you should head back and calm down for a bit. Chenxiao and I still have matters to attend to.”
Though Yu Zhengyang wanted to say more, he recognized that he had thoroughly provoked Ji Lan. Anything he uttered now would only add fuel to the fire, leaving him no choice but to depart with tears welling in his eyes. Before leaving, he did not forget to revert his silver locks back to their original black.
Why was this kid so impossible to handle? Ji Lan watched Yu Zhengyang walk away with a complex expression before finally turning his attention back to his disciple.
To his surprise, the moment he glanced over, he found his disciple staring straight at him with an unblinking gaze.
“What is it?” Startled, Ji Lan put on a stern facade and said coldly, “Since Manor Lord Xiao’s affairs are unclear, if you have nothing else to do, go check on them.”
Mo Chenxiao neither nodded nor shook his head. After studying Ji Lan in silence for a moment longer, he asked, “Master, just now when Young Master Yu was pleading with you, were you wanting to laugh?”
“Why would you ask that?” Ji Lan said calmly. “Chenxiao, you shouldn’t take to heart the things Young Master Yu says.”
Ji Lan nearly suffered a sudden cardiac arrest from fright. How on earth did the male lead know he had wanted to laugh?
He had clearly concealed it so well!
“Right here,” suddenly, Mo Chenxiao reached out and slipped his hand straight against the inner side of Ji Lan’s thigh. “Master, you pinched yourself right here just now. Does it hurt?”
Just as Mo Chenxiao’s hand threatened to press further inward, Ji Lan jerked backward by two steps, his face sinking into a deep scowl. “Chenxiao, what do you think you’re doing?”
Withdrawing his hand with an indifferent expression, Mo Chenxiao offered, “My apologies, Master. This disciple was in the wrong.”
Wrong about what? Was he apologizing for not knowing how to keep his hands off his master’s thigh?
Ji Lan felt that the original host’s intense aversion to this disciple was entirely justified given how lawless this brat was! In this world, a master was akin to a father and stood as an elder. Which male lead in their right mind ever treated their own father figure this way?
“There won’t be a next time!” Ji Lan snapped rigidly. “Mo Chenxiao, learn to recognize your proper place!”
“Understood, Master.”
Lowering his head in submission, Mo Chenxiao glanced at his master’s hand resting nearby. He knew for certain he hadn’t misread it earlier; his master had pinched the inner side of his own thigh.
Using that very hand.
A man’s hand shouldn’t necessarily be considered pretty, at least not compared to a young woman’s delicate, jade-like fingers.
Yet in Mo Chenxiao’s eyes, this particular hand possessed a beauty surpassing every single hand he had ever laid eyes upon. The knuckles were clear, luminous as jade, slender yet brimming with hidden strength, prompting an intense urge within him to take hold of it and do all sorts of things.
“Alright, go busy yourself with your own affairs.” Seeing his disciple bow his head in a seemingly pitiful display of contrition, Ji Lan felt a twinge of sympathy. Having successfully driven Yu Zhengyang away, his mood was relatively bright, leading him to let go of Mo Chenxiao’s recent overstepping of boundaries. “If there is a next time, you will go take your punishment.”
Mo Chenxiao watched intently as that exact hand extended toward him once more, giving his shoulder a reassuring pat.
“You’re going to become the eldest senior brother soon enough; as your master, I hope you can carry yourself with a bit more maturity.”
If he simply tilted his body slightly to the side, he could press a kiss directly onto that hand. Was his master deliberately trying to seduce him?
“Master,” Mo Chenxiao abruptly lifted his gaze, catching hold of that hand firmly. “I will work hard!”
With his hand trapped in Mo Chenxiao’s tight grip, Ji Lan started in surprise. Why was his disciple suddenly getting so intensely passionate out of nowhere?
“Then… do your best, then,” Ji Lan withdrew his hand. “Your master has matters to attend to, so I’ll be leaving first.”
As Ji Lan walked away, he couldn’t help glancing back over his shoulder a few times, only to find his disciple standing rigidly in place, acting like an absolute dummy.
Could it be that he had been too harsh just now and genuinely frightened the boy into a stupor?
Muttering under his breath with a face full of confusion, Ji Lan retreated into the distance.
Once the figure vanished completely from view, Mo Chenxiao curled his fingers inward, pressing them against his palm where the distinct sensation of that touch still lingered.
Lifting his hand up to his nose, Mo Chenxiao took a deep, heavy inhale. A faint, lingering fragrance—the very scent belonging to his master.
Whatever conversation transpired between Xiao Yuwei and her parents remained a mystery, but when Ji Lan returned to check on them later, he found only the two Xiao sisters remaining, with Xiao Gongyu and Liu Xiaoxiao nowhere to be found.
“Real Person Conglian,” Xiao Yuntang said with a pale face, though her etiquette remained impeccable. “My father and mother had urgent matters to attend to and had to leave first without bidding you farewell. Please allow me to apologize on their behalf.”
“It’s no trouble,” Ji Lan nodded. “If they wished to leave, it was properly my duty to see them off. The lapse in hospitality was entirely on my end.”
“Let’s drop the pleasantries,” Xiao Yuwei interrupted them with a chilling tone. “Father and mother simply didn’t have the face to look Ji Lan in the eye anymore, that’s the plain truth. No need to dress it up with fancy excuses.”
Xiao Yuntang looked awkwardly toward Ji Lan, her lips parting and closing as she struggled to find words.
Because the reality was precisely as Yuwei had stated.
Displaying no particular reaction, Ji Lan simply acted as though he had heard nothing at all, shifting the focus instead. “Palace Master Xiao, are you not planning to return?”
“How could she possibly bear to go back?” Xiao Yuwei let out a cold huff. “Mo Chenxiao is still right here; she’s probably praying she could trade places with me so she could secure a permanent residence here!”
Ji Lan privately noted that Xiao Yuwei’s talent for sarcastic, biting remarks was growing more formidable by the day.
It was genuinely impressive.
A blush of genuine warmth touched Xiao Yuntang’s pale cheeks. “Real Person Conglian, I will be imposing on your hospitality for these next few days.”
“Think nothing of it,” Ji Lan pondered for a moment before offering, “As a young maiden, it’s inconvenient for you to lodge in the Lotus Rain Pavilion by yourself. Yuwei’s quarters are quite spacious, why don’t you go stay with her?”
“Hmph!” Xiao Yuwei let out a disgruntled snort, yet offered no direct refusal.
A hint of sincere, heartfelt smiles blossomed across Xiao Yuntang’s face. “Many thanks for your consideration, Real Person Conglian.”
Watching her reluctant younger sister, Xiao Yuntang felt a familiar ache in her chest. She hadn’t been able to protect her younger brother, but this younger sister was someone she was determined to keep safe and sound no matter the cost! Even if the sister despised her for it, she wouldn’t care.
Ji Lan had originally assumed this particular plot arc had drawn to a peaceful close, but within two short days, a tragic piece of news reached him: Xiao Yuwei’s courtyard had caught fire!
A massive blaze had completely reduced those expansive residential quarters to ash.
With the buildings destroyed, lodging still had to be provided, and out of the entire Sword Pavilion, only Ji Lan—who had taken on just a single disciple—possessed vacant housing.
After all, the other elders already had generations of disciples spanning multiple branches, filling their courtyards and compounds to the brim, leaving only Ji Lan’s estates largely empty.
However, most of those courtyards were dilapidated and unlivable. The only residence suitable for accommodating two young women happened to be Qingya Courtyard.
After all, Qingya Courtyard had been originally designed with the future mistress of the Lotus Rain Pavilion in mind.
Ji Lan found this narrative development utterly absurd. He was supposed to let his disciple live under the same roof with two women, one of whom happened to be his own betrothed?
That was practically inviting someone to hand him a cuckold’s hat right under his own nose!
Ah Zhen, Ji Lan felt a sense of mental detachment washing over him. I feel rather green right now.
Zhen’er offered a thoroughly uninvested piece of comfort. You’ll get used to looking green after a while.
Ji Lan felt deeply distressed. Fine, he would swallow his frustration and endure it!
What irritated him the most was the sheer illogicality of it all. The male lead hadn’t collected a single member of a harem by this late stage in the story, so why were these romantic entanglements constantly buzzing around him now?
He was occupying the latrine without actually taking a dump!
“Master, men and women should maintain a proper distance, this disciple cannot possibly live under the same roof with them!” To Ji Lan’s utter surprise, the male lead himself expressed an aversion to sitting on said latrine. “Master, this is completely inappropriate.”
Oh?
Ji Lan looked up and down at Mo Chenxiao, realizing that his disciple actually meant those words entirely from the heart. “Your master agrees it’s inappropriate. Why don’t you go… squeeze in with Wansong and Ah Yue instead?”
“Why don’t I stay with Master instead?” Mo Chenxiao cut in, interrupting Ji Lan’s train of thought. “Besides, Master and Lady Xiao have yet to be officially wed. Having two courtyards situated so closely together will inevitably invite idle gossip. Master, if you allow this disciple to accompany you and reside in your quarters, it will surely put an end to all those rumors.”
This proposal… Ji Lan furrowed his brows. His disciple’s real intention lay far beyond mere gossip prevention; was he simply terrified that Ji Lan might take advantage of Xiao Yuwei?
“Very well,” Ji Lan nodded. “There is another clean room right next to mine, so you won’t be causing any disturbance. You can move in tonight—and before that, make sure you arrange proper quarters for Yuwei and her sister first.”
Mo Chenxiao had anticipated having to expend a fair amount of persuasion to get his master’s consent, never expecting that a mere few sentences would prompt Ji Lan to nod along.
His master must have already recognized his true feelings yet still chose to agree to live alongside him.
Didn’t this imply that his master held at least a small fraction of romantic affection toward him after all?
Gazing deeply at Ji Lan, Mo Chenxiao hadn’t fully unraveled his own emotions yet, but if his master was willing, he didn’t mind playing along with him for a while.