"I know, after all, so many are planted in the Sword Hall..." Zhu Pingniang was at a loss for words.
Clearly, the Enlightennt Tea doesn’t count for much, but... the plum blossoms planted everywhere in the Flower Moon Building, she truly hadn’t thought that these would be precious in Li Zhibai’s heart.
For a mont, Zhu Pingniang didn’t know what to say.
"Why plum blossoms?" she asked stiffly.
She thought it might be the Sect Leader, the Sword Hall, or even the Sword Hall she used to live in, or maybe so old acquaintance.
"Because they’re beautiful?" Li Zhibai pondered: "And fragrant too."
"How could you have such girlish thoughts?" Zhu Pingniang clenched her fist.
"Because I am a woman," Li Zhibai reminded her.
"...Then it’s fine."
Li Zhibai noticed this girl’s mood seed a bit downcast and spoke calmly: "I do genuinely like plum blossoms, both Xue i and Hongi, I like them."
"I know, you don’t have to say anymore." Zhu Pingniang thought plum blossoms could be found everywhere, how could they compare to Yun Qian, a one-of-a-kind girl?
"But Ah Bai, you also like bright plum blossoms? Aren’t the ones near Three Officials Rock all Xue i?" Zhu Pingniang was a bit puzzled, as the plum blossoms on Muyu Peak are all very chosen, including the ones in Li Zhibai’s Sword Hall, which are all pure Xue i.
"I like them." Li Zhibai thought for a mont, looking at the distant night view of Beisang City: "There are Hongi here, aren’t there?"
Or should I say, bright plum blossoms.
"The Flower Moon Building does have so planted..." Zhu Pingniang said, suddenly eting Li Zhibai’s gaze, and was stunned.
Because of the way Li Zhibai looked at her.
Even though the eye contact lasted only a mont before Li Zhibai went back to looking at the night scene, Zhu Pingniang’s heart suddenly pounded intensely.
Wait...
Wait a minute!
Ah Bai said she likes plum blossoms?
Zhu Pingniang glanced down at the outfit she had specially changed into to accompany Li Zhibai for a drink.
The black waist-cinching top with sleeves adorned with plum blossoms, half bright red Hongi, half pale white Xue i, the wind brushing her long sleeves, highlighting the whiteness of her wrist under the clothes.
Xue i is Zhu Tongjun.
Hongi is Zhu Pingniang.
Zhu Pingniang’s dark pupils trembled in their sockets.
If that’s the case, Ah Bai saying she likes plum blossoms... isn’t actually referring to the flowers?
The precious thing isn’t the plum blossom, but herself.
Right as Li Zhibai turned back and glanced at her sleeve, Zhu Pingniang’s face flushed red all at once.
Zhu Pingniang was very sure, this wasn’t an illusion, Li Zhibai ant exactly what she thought.
Then... how did Li Zhibai just describe her?
Beautiful.
And fragrant too.
Zhu Pingniang shivered slightly, lowered her head to hide her glowing face.
Her Ah Bai is wonderful in every way, but sotis in ordinary conversation, she says sweet nothings, sowhat similar to Yun Qian.
Oh, I should say Yun Qian is like her, otherwise, the generations would be reversed.
Li Zhibai withdrew her gaze and looked at the shyly bowed Zhu Pingniang: "Tong Jun, is there anything else you want to ask?"
"No, no more."
Zhu Pingniang’s face was flushed.
This ti, there really is nothing more.
Although she had probed what Li Zhibai subconsciously thought of as ’precious,’ she had no way to asure Yun Qian’s weight in Li Zhibai’s heart with it.
What should she do?
Should she ask whether if exchanging herself for Yun Qian, would Li Zhibai be willing?
She wouldn’t be in the business of trading people.
Besides, she and Yun Qian aren’t objects... It sounds a bit odd, but they’re simply not comparable.
Even if Li Zhibai would be willing to exchange, Chang’an wouldn’t allow it.
Zhu Pingniang’s face couldn’t suppress her smile.
She no longer needed to probe.
Because when Li Zhibai’s precious thing was herself, the slight jealousy she felt due to Yun Qian... had long since vanished completely.
It must be said, Ah Bai’s approach is extrely clever.
She didn’t follow her own train of thought but addressed her trouble directly at its source—by not being jealous, there’s no further mischief.
Zhu Pingniang didn’t need to know whether Li Zhibai did it intentionally or not, but now she was very happy.
Because whether it was an old acquaintance secretly drinking with Li Zhibai afterward, or having seen Li Zhibai’s nightgown like Yun Qian... none could compare to her being this plum blossom.
Zhu Pingniang wanted that attitude, and the rest... was no longer important.
"I’m fine now." Zhu Pingniang seriously lifted her head.
Li Zhibai leisurely put down her wine cup: "So, you had sothing earlier?"
"I was a bit jealous." Zhu Pingniang said directly.
"At your age." Li Zhibai was helpless.
"No matter my age, I’m still a woman."
"Look at Ms. Yun, she’s never jealous of Chang’an staying alone at Muyu Peak."
Zhu Pingniang pouted: "How trustworthy is Chang’an? If I were Yun Qian, I wouldn’t worry either."
But Li Zhibai... Zhu Pingniang was very wary of her.
But that wasn’t important, it was ti to talk about the main topic.
"Ah Bai, earlier I said the Enlightennt Tea was just being petty, there should be sothing more suitable, so I won’t waste your stuff." Zhu Pingniang took out a talisman from her storage ring: "This can enhance Yun Qian’s physique."
"It’s not a waste." Although Zhu Pingniang had cald down, Li Zhibai didn’t take back the Enlightennt Tea and just said: "Just use the tea leaves, it’s perfectly fine."
She wasn’t joking.
"It’s really wasteful." Zhu Pingniang said: "Giving it to Ms. Yun, isn’t the focus of understanding the Heavenly Dao wasted?"
Yun Qian hasn’t even started cultivation, even if you let her ’stick close’ to the Heavenly Dao, she’s unlikely to comprehend anything.
"Yun Qian probably doesn’t even have an impression of what the Heavenly Dao is, if you give her this, when she reaches the enlightennt state close to the Heavenly Dao, she’ll probably mistake it for drowsy fatigue and fall asleep right then and there." Zhu Pingniang speculated.
Quite possibly, right?
After all, with Yun Qian’s appearance...
Sigh.
She couldn’t bear to see Li Zhibai waste things, so she reminded: "Ah Bai, if you truly don’t want this Enlightennt Tea, wouldn’t it be better to give it to Ah Li?"
Zhu Pingniang said, her ears slightly warm.
Her old habits were acting up, starting to make arrangents for Li Zhibai again.
Giving the Enlightennt Tea to Wen Li was actually a thought... If Li Zhibai could now nd relations with the senior sisters of Muyu Peak, those old ladies, upon knowing, should be very grateful to her.
So, Zhu Pingniang now thought of it as a win-win.
Isn’t this much better than giving it to Yun Qian?
"I have a portion for Wen Li saved up," Li Zhibai said: "It’s just not the right ti yet, so I haven’t given it to her."
"You’ve also saved so for Wen Li?" Zhu Pingniang widened her eyes in surprise.
So, the bottle in hand wasn’t the only one.
"I’ve saved so, and there’s so left for Chang’an as well." Li Zhibai thought this was quite natural.
As a teacher, she would keep a share of opportunities for every student she had taught, this was her duty.
"Then... there’s nothing more." Zhu Pingniang in that mont once again felt what it ant to be a frog at the bottom of a well.
"So, extracting its essence for Ms. Yun’s use, I’ll leave that to you." Li Zhibai pondered: "Tong Jun, Yun Qian has a pure and transparent Exquisite Heart, so the Enlightennt Tea will be beneficial for her."
It might even have exceptional effects.
"Hmm?" Zhu Pingniang didn’t quite understand.
Li Zhibai thought about how Yun Qian, even without cultivation, exudes a faint sense of ’Natural Daoist Laws’... Such Yun Qian is like an uncarved piece of jade.
If Yun Qian understood cultivation and gained a utilitarian mindset, it would actually be less beautiful.
Precisely because she understands nothing, Li Zhibai was very curious about what Heavenly Dao aura Yun Qian would perceive after consuming the Enlightennt Tea?
In Yun Qian’s clear eyes, what she might see... could perhaps be more fundantal, elental things.
"Many tis, it’s the uncarved that is vital, just like Ms. Yun," Li Zhibai sighed.
"Yun Qian is already a married woman, how could she still be uncarved."
Zhu Pingniang waved the porcelain bottle, puzzled: "Chang’an is healthy, Ah Bai, what nonsense are you talking?"
Li Zhibai: "..."
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