(Modification completed)

  Everyone, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that the editor has informed me that this article will be on the Qingyun list for a week starting from September 9th. The bad news is that I feel that the second volume was written too messily, so I've decided to do a major revision tomorrow. It'll still be uploaded in the evening, but there won't be any new chapters. Please forgive me, I hope everyone can still give me votes tomorrow, 555 I don't want to disappear from the newcomer list ahahahaha!

  Two mother and daughter were taking a walk outside when several uninvited guests arrived at the Lin family villa. Lin Zhaoyun initially claimed to be ill and refused to see them, but after hearing their intentions from the servant, she was shocked beyond belief.

  He hastily came out, no longer with his usual elegance and composure, and stood before the guest, angrily saying: "Year brother, you have risen to prominence so quickly, I suppose being a treacherous minister is quite enjoyable for you! How can you be so shameless now and make such a request of me?"

  He felt a bit pleased and a bit embarrassed, thinking that Lin Zhao Yun usually looked down on him, a poor scholar from the same period, and today he had to make a fool of himself.

  "Brother Lin, you are wrong. The Emperor's fate has been exhausted, and now it is the Tartars' world. Hu Lu Wangzi is the beloved son of the Great Khan, if Qianjin can accompany him by his side, she will be favored and become a noble concubine in the future."

  Lin Zhaoyun's anger was uncontrollable: "Take the tea away!" He said to the maid.

  "My Lin family does not receive such a shameless and taciturn person, sir, please leave quickly."

  "Brother Lin, no need to get agitated. General Wu Ru has asked me to inform you that the roots of your family's foundation in Yun and Yan states are all under my army's jurisdiction. If you don't know how to show respect, I'm afraid your family's ancestral temple and elders may not be able to remain intact..."

  This coarse and simple sentence made Lin Zhaoyun stiffen on the spot, her face turning pale.

  "In that case, Brother Lin may go in and think about it, discuss with the princess for a while. I'll wait here. Half an hour should be enough, shouldn't it?"

  In Yanlin Princess's boudoir, Lin Zhaoyun paced back and forth with her hands behind her back, looking anxious.

  "Give Wan'er to that Hu Lu prince? They might as well kill me!"

  The princess knelt on the couch, sobbing softly.

  "Yuan'er is my only daughter, our pearl! I absolutely won't... But the Tartars are too powerful, and the Lin family's ancestral business..."

  Lin Zhaoyun's voice was weak.

  The princess raised her head, her eyes piercing as she looked at him, coldly smiling: "You're saying this, are you trying to make my daughter a sacrifice? Hmph, don't even mention the Lin family, if outsiders were to know that a Lin family daughter became a plaything for barbarians, the reputation of our noble family would be finished!"

  Her eyes narrowed, and from the four words "Lin family's daughter", she thought of something, and her heart suddenly lit up.

  She smiled elegantly and looked at her husband.

  "What evil you did back then has finally been offset by good fortune."

  Lin Zhaoyun returned to the hall with a calm expression, but her face was somewhat pale.

  That man, with a self-satisfied smirk, laughed and asked: "Lin brother, what do you think?"

  "Alas... Heaven is not blessing our Lin family, never mind. You can come and take him away in three days!" Lin Zhao Yun said dejectedly.

  "But," he hesitated, then said: "To be honest, my daughter has been mischievous since she was born, and she definitely won't agree... We can't tie up our own child, and besides, it's broad daylight, so it wouldn't look too good..."

  That man understood his intention and secretly cursed him for being hypocritical, but said: "Understood, understood. Tonight, I will definitely bring enough people to come before you."

  ****

  Lin Chen and her mother returned to the small courtyard, only to see the butler walking up with a smile all over his face: "Miss is finally back! The old master said that this courtyard is too old and not good for Second Madam's illness, so he wants you two to move to 'Xingyun Xuan' to live."

  Lin Chen couldn't help but suspect that his ears were mistaken.

  Tingyun Xuan is a courtyard adjacent to the master bedroom, it was Lin Zhaoyun's favorite scenic spot after she arrived here. He actually let himself and his mother move in?

  She sneered and wanted to retort, but was shocked by her mother's expression.

  She had never seen her mother with such an expression, joyful, melancholic, sweet, bitter, sorrowful...

  "He... still thought of me..."

  Only she heard her mother mutter.

  She quietly watched as the servants swarmed around her, carefully attending to her mother, and arrived at the elegant and refined "Cloud Stopping Pavilion", where many chests and trunks were being carried in.

  The housekeeper smiled all over her face and curtsied: "Miss, is there anything else you need? Let me take care of it for you."

  He turned his head and shouted at the maid: "Help the second lady into the main room, be quick about it."

  When he woke up, everything was already in front of him. Lin Chen looked at these people who were offering their congratulations and felt a bit bewildered.

  She absolutely wouldn't be naive enough to think that Lin Zhaoyun would suddenly wake up and everyone else would become good people overnight - what's the point of that?

  There is absolutely nothing valuable about this mother and daughter duo from head to toe that would justify their arrogant behavior.

  She stood by the pool, watching all this, her heart sank a little.

  No news is good news; no news means someone is up to no good.

  ****

  It was already night, the stars twinkling all over the sky. Yuan Xiu sat leaning on a branch of a big tree, looking around, but only saw the waves of forest like the sea, and the rustling of leaves.

  There is a bird returning to its nest, I don't know what startled it, its cries are like an old man's cough.

  This seemingly ominous and eerie deep forest is a haven of leisure and pleasure for him.

  He took out a short flute made of jade from his sleeve, just about to play it, when he heard a faint commotion coming from afar and getting closer, the night crows and magpies scattered in all directions.

  He looked carefully and saw that under the starlight, on the small path of wormwood grass, a figure was rushing towards him. The silhouette was very familiar.

  "It's her!"

  His figure gradually approached, under the moonlight, every detail was visible, he opened his eyes wide in surprise——

  All that was seen was the young girl, no longer as calm as she had been in her previous two encounters. Her white clothes fluttered in the night wind as she ran, like a spirit. Her three thousand black locks flowed down, with a faint halo of moonlight.

  Her long sword was dripping with fresh blood, her eyebrows were filled with a tragic and resentful killing intent, the ice and snow in her eyes that had accumulated over millions of years seemed to be burning, fiercely like flames.

  Behind him, a figure was vaguely searching through the tall grass that reached his chest.

  The girl's footsteps were slightly staggering, and Yuan Xiu saw that her right arm wound was bleeding again.

  She heard the shouting behind her, stopped at the back of the tree and prepared for a desperate fight.

  Yu Xuan didn't think much, and plunged downwards, grabbing her arm with one hand.

  "It's me!"

  He dodged the girl's attack and said softly.

  The girl looked up at him clearly, and Yuan Xiu felt her tense body relax instantly.

  She trusts me!

  Such an idea flashed through his mind, and he was filled with joy. He hugged the girl's slender waist and said, "Hold on to me!" He carried the girl on his back and began to clumsily climb the tree.

  "Lightness is still so terrible..." The girl muttered quietly.

  The two of them barely climbed up to the treetop, and the pursuing soldiers had already arrived behind them.

  Yu Xiu saw that a dozen or so zhang in front of him, the group of people were dressed in various colors, with some being family servants and more wearing Tartar attire.

  "How did you provoke them again?"

  He whispered in her ear, Lin Chen felt a tingling sensation, she somewhat uncomfortably turned her head and coldly replied: "None of your business!"

  "What did you take your own life for! You almost fell to death from the city wall this morning!"

  Yuan Xiu finally got angry, she turned her face back and continued to scold: "I don't know what grudge you have with the Tartars, even if you want to find fault with them, you should get well first! Look at your arm..."

  He had originally wanted to scold the girl for her absurdity, but in the end, it was his own unbearable anxiety and worry.

  Lin Chen also got angry: "I didn't go looking for their trouble at all—"

  Two young men and women, on the treetop, got angrier and angrier as they spoke, their voices unconsciously rising.

  "It's Xiaoyao's voice!"

  The people searching had identified the approximate location and began to gradually close in. Gradually, they arrived under the tree.

  Yuan Xu knew that the two of them couldn't escape the internal family expert, those people started to look around in all directions, at this critical moment, he didn't care about these things, he used the secret technique passed down in his family, took a deep breath, and kissed the tender red lips on her cheek.

  Lin Chen was stunned by the sudden attack, and the next moment, she furiously slapped him, but Yuan Xu firmly grasped her wrist, not allowing her to move.

  Due to blood loss, she was weak and could only glare at him. If her gaze could kill, Yuan Xiu believed that he would be even more miserable than the "Night Walker's Cloak".

  This earth-shattering kiss finally came to an end after the pursuing soldiers temporarily retreated. Yuan Xiu let her go, smiled wryly and closed his eyes quietly, waiting for the girl's slap.

  He might use his sword to pierce a hole through me, he thought to himself with a sneer.

  Without a sound, he opened his eyes in confusion, only to see the girl's eyebrows furrowed in anger as she tightly bandaged her wound.

  "What a wonderful innate fetal breathing technique, yet you've managed to mess it up!" she said with annoyance.

  "Do you know?"

  "Hmph, just now you transmitted your inner energy to me and I've already grasped seven or eight parts of its operating method." The girl seemed somewhat pleased with herself, and thinking about that "transmission", a layer of tender red appeared on her pale small face.

  Yuán Xù felt his heart shaking in an instant - what's wrong, why is Xiao Yāo's face red?!

  Lin Chen looked at the pursuing soldiers leaving and was about to jump down from the tree when Yuan Xu pulled him back.

  "Where are you going?"

  "Go back."

  "You're crazy!" Yuan Xu said hastily: "Maybe someone is waiting by the roadside for a hare."

  "Let go!"

  Yuán xù chōng ěr bù wén, yī bǎ lā zhù jiù shì bù fàng.

  English Translation:

  Yuan Xu covered his ears and refused to listen, but was dragged away by someone who wouldn't let go.

  "Let go quickly!" Lin Chen was anxious and angry, with a thin layer of mist covering his eyes: "They can't find me, they will definitely make things difficult for my mother!"