Ye Futian was rendered speechless hearing what Beitang Xing'er just said. His Second Sister was indeed putting her own fate on the line.
"Sister Xing'er, if Third Brother really ends up not showing, is Second Sister really just going to get engaged to Bai Luli?" Ye Futian asked.
"If Third Brother doesn't show, what reason would Second Sister have to refuse?" Beitang Xing'er sighed.
There was a thousand-year-old tree in the Moon Tower's forests. Zhuge Mingyue sat on top of it, looking at the bright moon in the air with her beautiful eyes. Back in the days when we were in the cottage, he once said, while standing on a tree, he would come to the Zhuge family. But, where is now?
The moon was high in the air. The sky got darker as the hours passed. There was no joy of reunion in the Moon Tower, only faint sorrow. Servant girls escorted Ye Futian and Hua Jieyu to their quarters after dinner. However, Hua Jieyu ended up coming to Ye Futian's room regardless.
"What's wrong?" Ye Futian touched the hair on her forehead after seeing sadness in Hua Jieyu's beautiful eyes. He then said, "Everything will be fine."
"I want to spend the night in your place," Hua Jieyu said gently.
"Huh…" Ye Futian blinked his eyes in puzzlement.
"If you're unwilling, I'll just leave," Hua Jieyu looked at him and said.
"How would I do such a thing?" Ye Futian said as he took her hand.
"No naughty attempts," Hua Jieyu added.
"Well, I'm an honest person." Ye Futian then asked, "What are the naughty attempts you are talking about?"
Hua Jieyu smiled at Ye Futian and walked to the side of his bed. She then took off her outer garments and shoes before burying herself under the sheets. Ye Futian's eyes sparkled. Happiness could not have come in a more surprising manner. It seemed that Jieyu knew that he was in a rather bad mood and had come to console him. What a girlfriend indeed.
Ye Futian burrowed himself between the sheets as fast as he could. Hua Jieyu had her back facing him, and he went to hold her from behind. He felt warmth welling up in his heart as he cuddled her soft body.
Hua Jieyu turned around gently to bury herself between Ye Futian's arms. Ye Futian seemed to have felt what Hua Jieyu was feeling at the moment. He went to circlie one of his arms around her neck while the other remained circled around her body, holding her close.
"Jieyu, what happened?" Ye Futian asked gently.
"I'm feeling rather sad." Hua Jieyu's voice sounded rather dejected. Having experienced matters with Fourth Brother and Second Sister in such quick succession, she felt rather puzzled as to why she was feeling especially down that day. Second Sister was like an older biological sister to her. She was able to relate to what Second Sister was going through, but she felt frustrated about it nonetheless.
"It's okay. Everything will turn out fine." Ye Futian did not try to do anything dirty. He just continued to hold his girl close.
"Will we get separated because of something happening in the future?" Hua Jieyu asked gently.
"That's not going to happen. Do you still feel like running away from me?" Ye Futian consoled her.
"But I have a bad feeling about things," Hua Jieyu said.
"Don't think too much about it. You're just in a bad mood, that's all. Don't forget that prophecy from Minister Zuo. You are my empress." Ye Futian kissed Hua Jieyu's forehead. Hua Jieyu's dark eyes looked at Ye Futian and she said, "If you feel like doing anything, I'm all up for it." She blushed after saying the line, burying her head into Ye Futian's chest, feeling her cheeks red hot.
"Idiot," Ye Futian said caressing her hair, "I'm not going to do anything. I just want to hold my girl and keep her from having bad thoughts about things. Sleep."
"Yeah," Hua Jieyu answered gently. She fell asleep soon in Ye Futian's arms with a tranquil smile on her face.
This feels good.
…
The news of Bai Luli from White Cloud City and Zhuge Mingyue from Zhuge family getting engaged in a month shook all of Xuanwu City the very next day, and the news continued to spread like wildfire throughout the Barren State. Mighty ones from the Holy Zhi Palace and White Cloud City had been staying in Xuanwu City for quite a while. Both sides were very eager to establish an alliance through marriage. However, due to some unknown obstacles or just rumors having such an effect on things, both sides had yet to truly reach an agreement. Everyone looked forward to it. The news meant that the two top forces in the Barren State would be entering an alliance through marriage.
The City Lord of White Cloud City, ranked fourth on Barren Sky Ranking, and Zhuge Qingfeng, head of the Zhuge family and ranked sixth on Barren Sky Ranking, both studied in the Holy Zhi Palace. Both figures had been exceptionally mighty ones back in the day, and both of them shared amicable relations. Both of them were also extremely renowned throughout all of the Barren State. At the moment, both of them were going to get together again, and it was given that the news attracted the attention of the world as countless people were looking forward to the wedding. All three forces—the Holy Zhi Palace, White Cloud City, the Zhuge family—were into this. The event could turn out to be the grandest engagement ever held throughout all of the Barren State.
Forces throughout Xuanwu City came to Crouching Dragon Mountain to congratulate the Zhuge family as the news spread. The family's estate was in an uproar right from the early hours of the morning. That itself foreshadowed that the Zhuge family would become the focus of the entire Barren State for months to come.
Ye Futian woke up early and exercised for a bit by doing some martial arts techniques, feeling invigorated, power coursing throughout his entire body. Hua Jieyu woke up as well, watching Ye Futian practice silently from behind. Her face was in a tranquil smile. She had thought at times, if only they were able to spend their days living a quiet life, that would be beautiful.
Ye Futian finished his routine. He turned around, saw Hua Jieyu watching him silently, and said to her gently, "You're up."
"Yeah." Hua Jieyu nodded with a smile.
"I'd love to see you still asleep tomorrow morning," Ye Futian said.
Hua Jieyu blinked and glared at Ye Futian. "Don't think too much about it."
Ye Futian's face pretty much collapsed at the comment. Happiness can't last long, eh.
"What a bummer. Should have done more last night," Ye Futian mumbled to himself.
"No use regretting." Hua Jieyu smiled. Both of them had the matter with Second Sister lingering in their minds throughout the night, but they nonetheless felt at ease about the whole deal. There was simply no use fretting over the matter.
"You two sure seem to be having quite a time." Zhuge Mingyue smiled as she walked in their direction.
"Second Sister," both Ye Futian and Hua Jieyu yelled. Ye Futian then added, "We were just talking about the Zhuge family, and we realized we have yet to pay a proper visit to your father. When do you think it is most suitable for us to do so?"
The pressure on Second Sister's shoulders came from the Holy Zhi Palace, White Cloud City, and the Zhuge family. The truth was, however, that other than her own attitude about the whole thing, it was the attitude of the Zhuge family being of the utmost importance. As such, Ye Futian deemed it necessary to pay a visit to the legendary figure ranked on the Barren Sky Ranking, Zhuge Qingfeng. Ye Futian needed to know what he thought about the whole thing.
Ye Futian also hoped that his Third Brother would come to the estate within a month from now. If he ended up not showing, he needed to prepare for the worst to come.
"There are many who will be coming from Xuanwu City to pay their respects. The family will arrange a banquet to welcome the influx of guests. Many of them will go pay a visit to my father in the meantime, and you are welcomed to join," Zhuge Mingyue said.
"Very well." Ye Futian nodded without saying much. It seemed like his Second Sister still resented her father somewhat. Given the relationship between Ye Futian and Zhuge Mingyue, she would have arranged for another time for the visit otherwise. Her father, Zhuge Qingfeng, was, after all, a senior in the Holy Zhi Palace. Getting them properly introduced to each other would do Ye Futian no harm at least.
Of course, there was also the possibility that his Second Sister did not want to get involved much. Zhuge Mingyue knew what Ye Futian was like, and she knew he would not just let go of the matter so easily.
"Ms. Mingyue," a servant girl came said. Zhuge Mingyue turned to address her, "What is the matter?"
"You Xi, daughter of the City Lord of Alchemy City arrived with Xue Ye and Luo Fan," the servant girl reported. Both Xue Ye and Luo Fan visited the Zhuge family estate before, and many knew of them to be Zhuge Mingyue's juniors.
"The seniors are here." Ye Futian's eyes sparkled. Zhuge Mingyue said, "Send them in."
"Understood." The servant girl left. Zhuge Mingyue smiled and said, "You're getting really worked up about things here."
"Second Sister, you saw it back in Alchemy City yourself. Before Fourth Brother went to offer his Life Spirit, he reminded me to keep tabs on the matter between you and Third Brother. You know what Fourth and Fifth Brother thought about it, didn't you?" Ye Futian asked with a bitter smile. Zhuge Mingyue naturally knew what he meant.
A group of people arrived shortly after. Other than Xue Ye and Luo Fan, You Xi, who was now Xue Ye's wife, arrived with a huge belly. As she was the daughter of the city lord, pregnant and out on a trip, it was a given to have mighty ones from Alchemy City serve as her escort. As such, the entourage was rather huge.
"Second Sister." Xue Ye, Luo Fan, and the rest walked towards Zhuge Mingyue. They departed from Alchemy City as soon as possible after catching wind of what happened.
Zhuge Mingyue ignored both of them outright. Her eyes were on You Xi as she dragged her aside and said, "You Xi, just what are you doing messing around with those two? Come, sit down."
"Second Sister, you went to Alchemy City showing concern for us, didn't you? Xue Ye and I can't just sit around doing nothing. We got here as soon as we heard the news," You Xi said gently.
Zhuge Mingyue glared at Xue Ye. "It's bad enough that you mess around. You Xi is pregnant for goodness sake. Taking her somewhere so far while she is in such a state, are you trying to ask for a beating?"
"…" Xue Ye was rendered speechless. He was just about to ask about the matter with her and totally did not expect to get berated himself.
"Second Sister, we're concerned for you and so is our sister-in-law. She insisted on coming here with him," Luo Fan explained.
"Did I ask you to speak?" Zhuge Mingyue looked at Luo Fan.
"…" Luo Fan shut up right there and then.
Ye Futian looked at what transpired with a beaming smile. Good days, just like how it was back in the cottage.
"If Big Brother and Third Brother show up, we'll have a proper reunion. Big Brother is in the Eastern Barren Territory now. He'd probably rush here if he knew what happened," Ye Futian said. Such was the students of the cottage. If anything happened to one of them, all the others would rush to that person's aid as soon as they found out.
"I'll deal with this myself. It's bad enough that you came messing around here. Nobody is going to inform Big Brother about anything, you hear?" Zhuge Mingyue said with all seriousness.
Things were different now. Ye Futian ranked first on the Law Rank of the Holy Zhi Palace and he was the champion of all in the Noble Plane. He was also the Son of Starry School. Xue Ye was the son-in-law of the City Lord of Alchemy City. If they had wanted to get someone to send word to the Eastern Barren Territory, they could have done so easily. Furthermore, there were sages right beside Xue Ye as they spoke.