Competing with oneself for favor

"Get lost!" The words were forced out from the depths of Bai Ruo's throat.

Jing Yan glanced at the man whose face was as dark as ink. "Back then, when you insisted on protecting the entire demon clan, you couldn't devote yourself entirely to accompanying her through her mortal trials in the mortal realm. My method was originally foolproof; who told you that you couldn't control your own body, allowing one soul and three魄 to escape downward? Now things have become utterly chaotic."

Jing Yan sat coldly in his place. Having lived for tens of millions of years longer than Yin Xun, let alone this young fellow, he wouldn't have bothered to say another word had it not been for this guy's extraordinary natural talent—surpassing the threshold of a divine monarch at just a few tens of thousands of years old—and his special relationship with that young girl.

Knowing Jing Yan's difficult temper, he simply sat on a stone stool inside the White Birch Cave, admiring the portraits hanging all around.

He said faintly, "You do miss her, don't you?"

Then, as if muttering to himself, he murmured, "Actually, I miss her too."

Bai Ruo waved his sleeve, putting away all the portraits.

Jing Yan looked at the exasperated man. "How did that one soul and three魄 manage to escape in the first place?"

"That fellow took advantage of when I split my shadow, escaping my body after my vital energy was severely depleted. At the time, he went to look for you; why didn't you stop him?" Bai Ruo glared at Jing Yan, speaking with evident annoyance.

Jing Yan flicked his sleeve and dissolved the water screen. "You think only your vital energy was severely depleted? When this Monarch altered the fate to integrate your shadow into the wheel of reincarnation, I lost sixty percent of my cultivation. Her soul was extremely fragile at the time, and I had to nourish her with my own primordial spirit just to prevent her soul from scattering before she could undergo reincarnation to repair her fragmented soul. Where would I have the energy to discern whether that was the complete you or not?"

The two men glared at each other, then turned their heads away in mutual disdain.

"What do we do now?" In the end, Bai Ruo broke the silence. Since he couldn't win her back from that person in the past, was he now supposed to lose to his own escaping soul and three魄?

"What can we do!" Jing Yan said coldly. "That's still you anyway; endure it if you can, and endure it even if you can't. Now that she has been noticed by the Heavenly Dao, you went and interfered with her mortal trials. If her fragmented soul cannot be repaired in the future, she truly won't remember you or Nianfeng anymore. Given her temperament, even if she learns the truth later, she will only be able to accept Nianfeng. There is zero possibility for you."

"Why?" Bai Ruo frowned, emitting an aura of pure frost.

"She is more than twenty million years older than you. Didn't you say the exact same thing when you rejected the marriage back then?" Jing Yan thought it amusing to watch these two, who had been completely at odds from the beginning.

"I didn't know her back then, and besides, that wasn't me. When I broke through to become a divine monarch, I encountered an inner demon and lost my vital energy, reverting to my original form and unable to recover for a long time. It was an ignorant uncle of mine who turned it down."

"I imagine that was your true thought as well." Jing Yan struck right at the core of Bai Ruo's heart.

"If she doesn't remember, she doesn't remember. At worst, we start over from the beginning." Recalling the scene he had witnessed earlier, Bai Ruo's eyes blazed with fury.

Jing Yan looked at the impulsive Bai Ruo and thought to himself: That girl must have been coerced back then. Should I just help her keep the child while getting rid of the father? I could handle it for her first to save her the trouble when she returns. But what if Nianfeng likes his father? Is this what they call "elevating one's status through one's son"?

"Don't ruin things. What's the point of being jealous of yourself?"

***

Bai Ruo's heart ached sharply.

"You also know I was her close friend. I heard a bit about your affairs back then. Didn't both of you want nothing to do with this marriage? You went into seclusion to cultivate, and she was even more outrageous, directly fleeing into the void. How is it that not long after, you brought Nianfeng to me to take care of, looking like an orphan's guardian? What on earth happened between the two of you back then? Why is it that when I saw her later, she had no memory of you or Nianfeng at all? If Nianfeng didn't genuinely carry her bloodline aura, I certainly wouldn't believe he was her child. She didn't retain a single fragment of memory. During that time, she was solely focused on revenge; knowing she had lost a portion of her memories, she had no time to investigate. If you hadn't come looking for me later, I wouldn't have even known that Nianfeng was born from that period of lost memory."

Jing Yan looked around. "Where is Nianfeng?"

"He kept asking about his mother at home, so I used a trick to get him to take on Taibai's assignment and spend a few days by his mother's side."

Jing Yan's perpetually unchanging expression instantly cracked. He pointed at Bai Ruo and jumped to his feet, the long black ceremonial robes trailing on the floor. "Do you have any idea how ruthless his mother is? Back then, she slaughtered countless foxes, terrifying divine foxes, immortal foxes, demon foxes, and ghost foxes alike! What on earth were you thinking by sending Nianfeng to her side?!"

"If you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you catch the tiger's cub?" Bai Ruo replied.

Jing Yan slammed the table.

"Fine, both of you are formidable. From now on, Nianfeng belongs to this Monarch."

Jing Yan turned on his heel and strode away, vanishing into the cave after just a few steps.

After Jing Yan left, Bai Ruo waved his sleeve, restoring the entire cave to its usual appearance.

~~

"What? We're giving Prime Minister Gu whatever he asks for?"

Looking at the young master currently dining, Qingli asked in astonishment as she served him.

Jiang Lan nodded. "I'll have Jiang Wu hand over all the monthly silver and account books for you to keep. If there's anything you don't understand about accounting, you can go ask Gu Chengwu."

Qingli waved her hand. "Forget it. What if Prime Minister Gu tries to trick me? I'd rather go ask old man Xie."

Jiang Lan nodded. "That works too. Teacher Xie is more than capable of teaching you."

The thought of managing the young master's accounts immediately made Qingli rub her palms together eagerly. "Then Young Master, please eat slowly. I'll go whip up a few more dishes, and later I'll have old man Xie teach me."

Jiang Lan nodded. "Go ahead and get busy."

Just then, Xichi returned from outside. "Young Master, the person who was communicating with Min Zhe has been caught."

Jiang Lan set down his chopsticks and looked toward Xichi, only to notice that while Xichi was standing at the doorway, her gaze was sideways, following the direction in which Qingli had departed.

Jiang Lan feigned a couple of coughs. "Where is the person now?"

Xichi's face showed a trace of awkwardness. "I apologize, Young Master. I had originally dislocated his jaw, but unfortunately, I failed to notice the poisonous needle hidden under his fingernail. I thought he was trying to kill me, so when I dodged, he took his own life."

"The person is dead?" Jiang Lan blinked, murmuring, "Does this actually make things easier to handle?"

"What did you say, Young Master?" Xichi asked, puzzled.

Jiang Lan waved a hand. "Where is the body?"

"In the woodshed."

"Alright. I'll leave the rest to others. Go tell the doorman that if Daoist Sanmu returns, he should be notified to come see me immediately. You've worked hard on this matter as well; go down and get some rest."

"Understood, Young Master."

Jiang Lan watched Xichi, who hadn't yet left, and asked, "Is there anything else?"

Xichi hesitated for a moment in thought, then shook her head.

"If you have any doubts, you may speak them."

"There is nothing, Young Master." Xichi lowered her head. "Then Xichi will take her leave."

"Mm."

Jiang Lan watched the uncharacteristically behaving Xichi. Had she discovered something? And that look she gave Qingli just now—he always felt there was something amiss.

Just as the lunch was being cleared away by Mama Li from the kitchen, Sanmu hurried in, panting heavily.

He then pulled out a tightly wrapped cloth bundle from his chest. "Lord Heir, the things you wanted are inside."

Jiang Lan looked at Sanmu, who looked thoroughly disheveled with several tears in his robes. "Did you run into mountain bandits?"