Lady Ling couldn’t help but laugh. "You silly child, what nonsense are you spouting? If such an elixir truly existed, wouldn’t all the noble ladies in the Imperial Capital go mad trying to buy it?"
Chunlan chid in with a sweet laugh, "My Lady, the Young Master isn’t lying. Just look at Qiuyue and ! Our skin beca so much better because we took the Beauty Pill!"
Lady Ling took another careful look at the pair of stunning beauties, her eyes widening in surprise. Her slender, jade-like fingers began to unconsciously tap the tabletop. Chunlan and Qiuyue both knew their mistress’s habit. Whenever she was overco with surprise or worry, she would always tap her fingers on a nearby table or chair.
"Is it true?" Lady Ling’s eyes lit up. As she looked at her son, her gaze was filled with gratification.
In reality, the imnse changes in Chunlan, Qiuyue, and Ye Wen Ni were mostly due to the body-refining effects of the Purple Blue Fruit.
The Beauty Pill did indeed have incredible beautifying effects. The Cultivation Realm was full of won who valued beauty, and over billions of years of developnt, they had long since perfected the refinent of every elixir imaginable. This was not sothing a secular place like the Canglan Continent could ever hope to match.
However, there was one area where the Cultivation Realm was inferior to the Canglan Continent. After billions of years of harvesting, all the pure, wild, high-grade dicinal herbs in the Cultivation Realm were long gone. They were now basically all cultivated by individuals. While their spiritual properties were still good, they were far inferior to those that grew naturally.
But on the Canglan Continent, just within the borders of the Lanyue Empire, whether in the forests or on the grasslands, herbs that Ling Xiao would consider Heavenly and Earthly Treasures were everywhere! Although the Pharmacists of the Lanyue Empire could occasionally make use of so, they were fundantally unable to unlock the true value of these ingredients.
Each had their own system of dicine. It could only be said that the people of the Canglan Continent’s understanding of dicine was far inferior to Ling Xiao’s.
Ling Xiao smiled and nodded. Seeing his mother’s happy smile gave him an unprecedented sense of accomplishnt.
"So it really is an elixir my son refined. Mother is so happy for you!" Although Lady Ling was incredibly curious about the effects of the Anti-Aging Pill, her happiness for her son took precedence. She felt that Ling Xiao seed different from before, exuding a natural and easygoing aura.
Seeing her mistress’s joy, Chunlan glanced at Ling Xiao before breaking into a dazzling smile. "My Lady, there’s even better news. Do you want to hear it?"
"You little minx, do you even see your mistress standing here? You’ve been away for a long ti too, haven’t you?" Lady Ling scolded playfully, then said, "I’d like to hear what this better news is."
"Young Master... should I tell her?" Chunlan asked Ling Xiao with a mischievous smile. The Ling Mansion didn’t have many strict rules, so even the servants were relatively casual, to say nothing of girls like Chunlan and Qiuyue, who were being raised to be Ling Xiao’s concubines.
Ling Xiao took a sip of tea and gave a faint nod. He never intended to hide it from his family. They had given him a warmth he had never known before, and he had long ago sworn to protect them from any harm, including emotional pain. He didn’t want his family to feel he was growing distant.
"The Young Master... is no longer a Celestial Vein Master," Chunlan announced in a deliberately solemn tone. After she spoke, she broke into a playful grin. When she looked back at Lady Ling, she saw that her mistress was frozen in place.
Her voice trembling and her eyes welling up with tears, Lady Ling looked at Ling Xiao and asked, "Xiao’Er, is this really true?"
Ling Xiao nodded. "After a long search, I gathered all the necessary dicines. My Celestial Vein is now gone."
"The ancestors of the Ling Family have shown their grace!" Tears stread down Lady Ling’s face as she stood up and pulled Ling Xiao along. "Chunlan, you and Qiuyue take good care of Miss Ye. I’m taking Xiao’Er to offer incense to our ancestors!"
Inside the room where the Ling Family’s ancestors were enshrined, Lady Ling devoutly pulled Ling Xiao to his knees to kowtow and offer incense. ’It’s not like they had anything to do with breaking through my Celestial Vein,’ Ling Xiao thought, sowhat dismissively. He felt close to his parents and siblings, but he couldn’t care less about these ancestors who had no real connection to him. However, not defying his mother was a form of filial piety, so Ling Xiao followed her lead, kowtowing and then offering incense.
The custom in the Lanyue Empire was that unmarried won could not enter the ancestral hall to worship. However, the official wife of the head of the household was permitted, because a husband and wife would be buried together after their deaths. Thus, there was no prohibition against the official wife worshiping the ancestors.
After they finished worshiping the ancestors, Lady Ling led Ling Xiao out. She took out a handkerchief to dab at the corners of her reddened eyes, then said softly, "Xiao’Er, do you know why your father struck you in a fit of rage that day?"
Ling Xiao gave a calm smile. "I was unfilial and made Father angry, I suppose."
Lady Ling shook her head and sighed softly. "Back then, the Xie Family helped us when our family was facing its most difficult ti. On top of that, your father and Xie Zhongting have been the closest of friends since childhood. So even though their statuses diverged later on, when the Xie Family ca to propose a marriage, I readily agreed. I never imagined it would nearly be your ruin. What angered your father most at the ti was that you’d been tricked by that girl from the Xie family, yet you were so infatuated that you protected her and refused to reveal the truth. In his fury, he lost control and struck you. He regretted it deeply the mont it happened."
Ling Xiao said, "Mother, I never blad Father."
Lady Ling nodded with relief, then said to Ling Xiao, "That girl, Ye Wen Ni, is quite wonderful. But... what’s the story with that young girl from your academy, Yisha?"
"Who told you about her, Mother? She’s the heiress to the largest dicinal herb rchant family in the country. My relationship with her... is good!" Ling Xiao paused, his face turning slightly red as he spoke.
"Just good? Heh. Your mother has heard that when everyone else was giving you the cold shoulder, she was the only one who stood by you as a friend and believed in you. Xiao’Er, nobles are allowed to have many wives." Lady Ling said with a teasing smile, affectionately brushing a speck of dust from Ling Xiao’s shoulder.
"..." ’Then why did Father only marry you?’ Ling Xiao thought, resisting the urge to ask.
Lady Ling looked at her son with pride. The more she looked, the more pleased she was. Her mood brightened imnsely, and the smile never left her face. "If your father knew what has happened to you, I’m sure he would be just as happy!"
Ling Xiao suddenly asked, "I experienced a lot during my training trip to the south. In your opinion, Mother, will the Crown Prince’s ascension to the throne affect Father?"
Lady Ling was so frightened that she quickly glanced around before shooting her audacious son a sharp look. "Don’t you ever speak such nonsense in front of outsiders again! You’ll bring disaster upon yourself!"
Then, she whispered, "The Crown Prince has approached your father many tis, but your father has never agreed. His Highness is likely... quite displeased."
A chill ca over Ling Xiao’s face. ’Displeased? It had better be... just displeasure. Otherwise, even if you beco the Emperor, I won’t let you off!’
Overjoyed, Lady Ling ordered the servants to prepare a lavish banquet. During the al, she took great care of Ye Wen Ni. Ye Wen Ni, in turn, finally cast off her initial nervousness. She had always had a bubbly and unrestrained personality, and after spending so ti at the Imperial Academy, it had matured into a poised and graceful deanor that Lady Ling found incredibly endearing.
Just after dinner, the family was sitting in the living room, talking and laughing, when Ling Yun’Er, who hadn’t been seen for a long ti, suddenly stord in from outside. The mont she saw Ling Xiao, her eyes lit up. She flew over and threw herself into his arms. "Third Brother, you’re back! Yun’Er missed you so much!"
Turning to see Ye Wen Ni, Ling Yun’Er grinned and said, "Is this my third sister-in-law?"
Lady Ling chided, "Mind your manners! Address her as ’Sister’!"
Ling Yun’Er stuck her tongue out and made a face at her mother before turning to Ye Wen Ni with a sweet greeting. "Hello, Sister! I’m Third Brother’s little sister, Ling Yun’Er."
Ye Wen Ni, slightly bashful, looked over the striking young girl in purple and nodded with a smile. "Hello, Yun’Er!"
"Yun’Er, did you get into another fight?" Ling Xiao asked with a laugh. His little sister was mischievous and quirky, completely lacking the gentle and virtuous temperant of a noble young lady. Instead, she seed to love picking fights whenever she had nothing better to do.
"Don’t even talk about it! I’m so mad I could just die!" Ling Yun’Er said huffily. "When I get better at my cultivation, I’ll go teach him a lesson!"
Lady Ling and Ling Xiao exchanged a wry glance and shook their heads. It seed this girl, Ling Yun’Er, was thoroughly spoiled. Fortunately, she was kind-hearted, so even her occasional pranks never caused any major disasters. They usually just let her be.
Seeing that her mother and brother weren’t taking her seriously, Ling Yun’Er said sothing that made the expression on everyone’s face in the room change drastically.
Ye Wen Ni even shot to her feet and declared, "Yun’Er, take with you! I’ll help you get even!"
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