We Agreed On Experiencing Life, So Why Did You Immortals Become Real? Chapter 664: I Support Sister Yunwei!

"Wretched woman! How can she be this good at making clothes on top of everything else? Does she have nothing better to do with her time?"

That evening, Yu Yunwei sat in her room in a fury, her small fists beating ceaselessly against her pillow.

"Sister Yunwei, we're back!"

Just as Yu Yunwei was nursing her grievance alone in her room, Xue Kui and Little Hundun came running in after their play.

"Sister Yunwei, what's the matter? Tomorrow is New Year's Eve! Why do you look so unhappy?"

Xue Kui tilted her head at the sight of Yu Yunwei's expression.

"I'm fine. What makes you think I'm unhappy?"

Yu Yunwei gave a huff and turned her head away but before long, her eyes drifted back toward Xue Kui. "Xue Kui, do you still remember what I asked you to do at Ning Xue Palace?"

"Oh?" Xue Kui blinked, then nodded vigorously. "I... I remember! Sister Yunwei told me to get close to Elder Sister Ruxue and be Sister Yunwei's inside source. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated!"

"Good that you remember, you little thing." Yu Yunwei pulled Xue Kui closer to her side. "Then tell Sister Yunwei honestly, what do you actually think of that Bai Ruxue?"

"Oh? Elder Sister Ruxue?"

Xue Kui's eyes moved thoughtfully, and she spoke slowly.

"Elder Sister Ruxue looks a little stern at first glance, but she is actually a very kind person."

"For example?" Yu Yunwei prompted.

"Well, for example..."

"Elder Sister Ruxue is very beautiful. I hope when I grow up I can be as beautiful as Elder Sister Ruxue."

"Elder Sister Ruxue is also very gentle. When I do something wrong, Elder Sister Ruxue never scolds me. She encourages me instead."

"And also, Elder Sister Ruxue has the most wonderful presence, like a snow lotus flower. It is as though whenever Elder Sister Ruxue stands somewhere, the whole world becomes filled with only her color..."

"And also, when Elder Sister Ruxue teaches me to read and explains the poetry to me, she makes it so vivid that I understand it right away, and I do not have to memorize things by rote anymore. Elder Sister Ruxue must be very learned."

"And also..."

Just as Xue Kui was counting on her fingers, listing Elder Sister Ruxue's virtues one by one, she suddenly felt that the atmosphere around her had shifted in a rather uncomfortable direction.

Xue Kui turned to look. Sister Yunwei was staring straight at her with an expression that did not bode well at all.

Xue Kui gave a small shiver and immediately changed course. "Of course! In my heart, Sister Yunwei is the most beautiful of all! No one can compare to Sister Yunwei!"

"Xue Kui, why are you so nervous? What is there to be nervous about? Sister asked you to speak the truth, so why would Sister get angry? Besides, am I the sort of person who is petty about these things? Tell me, am I?"

Yu Yunwei said with a smile, reaching out to ruffle Xue Kui's little head.

"No, no, not at all! Everything I said was the truth, not a word of it false! It is precisely because Sister Yunwei is so generous that I felt I could speak honestly!"

Xue Kui's twin pigtails wagged back and forth like a rattle-drum, her bright eyes blinking rapidly.

"Well then, Xue Kui, if someday Sister has to compete with Bai Ruxue again over Brother Xiao, whose side will you take?"

Yu Yunwei continued.

"I... I would naturally take Sister Yunwei's side!" Xue Kui pressed her small fists together with genuine conviction. "If I were Brother Xiao, I would definitely fall for someone like Sister Yunwei!"

"All right, since little Xue Kui has said so, Sister believes you. Go and play."

Looking at Xue Kui's earnest, determined eyes, Yu Yunwei said with delight.

"Yes, Sister Yunwei! I'm going to play now." Xue Kui let out a breath of relief and dashed out of the room as fast as her legs would carry her, as though afraid she might be called back again.

Running out of Hongxiu Palace, Xue Kui glanced back over her shoulder, then patted her own chest and murmured to herself, "So frightening, so frightening. That was truly terrifying. I'm going to find Elder Sister Ruxue to play with instead."

And while Xue Kui went off to amuse herself, Wangxin found herself waylaid by the Empress Dowager.

As the New Year drew near, the Empress Dowager had been asking Wangxin to teach her certain sutras for invoking blessings at the start of the year and for praying for heirs, hoping to ensure the imperial line would continue.

Hearing this particular request, Wangxin was not entirely sure what to say.

Even she could see clearly that the inner palace was currently a battlefield of open and hidden rivalry, with the Lord of the Four Seas holding every other party in check. And yet, equally, the others together, including the Sect Master of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, Jiang Qingyi, could hold the Lord of the Four Seas in check in turn.

As things presently stood, no one had gotten anywhere near Xiao Mo. So how could there possibly be a pregnancy?

But Wangxin said nothing of any of this, and patiently continued to instruct the Empress Dowager.

Beyond this, Wangxin also helped the Empress Dowager write New Year's couplets. Given the depth of her Buddhist cultivation, every character she wrote on a spring couplet naturally carried within it a certain aura of Dharma. On this day, Xiao Mo came to Lingxin Palace, saw Wangxin writing spring couplets, and was suddenly struck by an idea.

He had noticed for some time that, though Ruxue, Siyao and Qingyi all appeared perfectly civil toward one another on the surface, in truth they were all guarding against one another, with no small amount of tension, and even open rivalry, between them. Xiao Mo did not think this was quite right. He had no way to make them truly at ease with each other, for that was simply not possible. But on the eve of New Year's Eve, he decided to arrange a spring couplet gathering in the Plum Garden, hoping to soften the atmosphere between everyone a little.

Xiao Mo gathered Bai Ruxue and the others, including the Empress Dowager, and had everyone write a couplet. Though none of them quite knew what Xiao Mo was up to, none of them had any desire to dampen his spirits, and they all picked up their brushes with proper attention.

In Xiao Mo's view, every one of their hands was genuinely beautiful.

Qingyi's calligraphy was no longer confined as it had been in her youth. Now her characters were clean and spare, as swift and decisive as her own sword-intent. She was restraining herself deliberately and with considerable effort, for otherwise the couplet paper simply could not have withstood Jiang Qingyi's sword-qi, and would have been reduced to scattered shreds. Even so, this couplet, once pasted on a doorway, would be capable of cutting to pieces in an instant any demon spirit with ill intent that dared draw near.

Qin Siyao's calligraphy bore the delicate elegance one associated with women, yet carried within it a sweeping, expansive quality, something immense held loosely in hand. Looking carefully, one could just discern the feminine touch behind the brush, but feeling more deeply, one could sense a breadth of spirit that could contain rivers and seas. Xiao Mo, as the sovereign of a dynasty, could even feel the fortune of mountains and rivers emanating from the couplet, and it was not the fortune of the Zhou Kingdom. It must have been a gift of the Qin Kingdom's own national fortune, which was only natural, for she was the Long Princess of the Qin Kingdom and would naturally carry its protection.

As for Ruxue's calligraphy, it was just as it had been ten thousand years ago: refined, elegant, graceful, and poised, pleasing to the eye at a single glance. And if one looked at it long enough, a faint shimmer of golden dragon-qi could be seen rising off the paper.

As for Xue Kui and Little Hundun, the one small girl and one small creature had naturally come to cause mischief. Xue Kui's characters could not be called crooked exactly, but neither could they be called structured in any recognizable way. Little Hundun gripped the brush in her little paws and wrote with tremendous effort. When she was finished, she tossed the brush aside and puffed up her small round body with tremendous pride.

Xiao Mo had assumed Little Hundun's result would be something to see. He looked down. It was more or less on par with Xue Kui's.

"All right, I trust everyone has finished. Once the ink has dried, collect your couplets and set them aside. I will assign a number to each one, but I will not tell any of you which number belongs to whom. Each of you may tell me which number you wish to select, and you will receive the couplet corresponding to it. Whoever receives a couplet must paste it on the door of their own quarters."

"No cheating of any kind is permitted."

Xiao Mo added the last with a smile.

The moment he finished speaking, both Jiang Qingyi and Qin Siyao's gazes drifted quietly toward Wangxin.

Wangxin held Little Hundun in her arms, her cheeks flushing slightly. "I... I would not cheat..."

"Ha ha ha..." Bai Ruxue laughed softly, reaching over to take Wangxin's small hand. "It is all right. This concubine believes in Sister Wangxin."

With those words, Bai Ruxue stepped forward, quietly named a number, and claimed her couplet.

Less than half an incense stick's time later, everyone had exchanged their couplets.

Xiao Mo received the one Little Hundun had written, while the couplet Xiao Mo himself had written was seized upon by Xue Kui. There was nothing he could do about it. He had no choice but to accept the consequences and paste Little Hundun's crooked characters on the door of his own sleeping quarters.

Xue Kui was overjoyed at having obtained Brother Xiao's couplet but before long, Xue Kui noticed that Sister Yunwei was staring fixedly at her.

"Sister Yunwei, why don't we trade..."

Though Xue Kui was somewhat reluctant, she also knew she had little choice. Otherwise, when she went home later, she would probably be made to memorize a great many books.

Before long, New Year's Eve arrived.

Xiao Mo had the palace maids set aside the spring couplets for his own sleeping quarters and the imperial study, intending to put them up himself. After all, bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the new was a matter of some significance, and if everything were simply handed off to the palace maids, there would be nothing of the festival left to it.

And so Xiao Mo set off with Xue Kui and Little Hundun to paste the spring couplets, including those for his own quarters, as well as those outside Bai Ruxue's and the others' palace residences.

The couplets of Bai Ruxue and Qin Siyao had ended up exchanged with one another. Whether that counted as a kind of fate, Xiao Mo could not say. As for whether they were pleased about it, he rather suspected they were not.

While Xiao Mo and his small pair of companions were occupied with pasting couplets, Bai Ruxue and the others had gathered in Lingxin Palace to prepare the New Year's Eve feast.

This year, Xiao Mo had decided not to have the Imperial Kitchen do the cooking. The Imperial Kitchen's food had become somewhat familiar with time, and a change of flavors was overdue. Besides, cooking the New Year's Eve meal together would give everyone a greater sense of participation.

"There, that about does it. Let's go back."

After pasting the final couplet on the National Preceptor's residence, Xiao Mo dusted his palms together and regarded his handiwork with satisfaction. Not a single one was crooked.

Though, he could not help but feel that the couplet now on Jiang Qingyi's door, being Xue Kui's own work, was going to require some serious improvement in Xue Kui's calligraphy practice.

"Aunty Empress Dowager, we're back!"

After finishing the couplets, Xiao Mo brought Xue Kui and Little Hundun back to Lingxin Palace. Xue Kui threw open her arms and ran happily toward the Empress Dowager.

"Aunty Empress Dowager" was Xue Kui's own special name for the Empress Dowager. From the very first moment Empress Dowager Yan had laid eyes on Xue Kui, she had taken a genuine and heartfelt liking to her, and had loved the title even more. It had made her realize that she was not quite so old as all that.

"Oh, little Xue Kui is back! Come, come, let Aunty give you a hug!"

The Empress Dowager scooped Xue Kui up and settled her on her lap, then happily began feeding her pastries.

"Aunty Empress Dowager, Xue Kui wants to help cook too!"

Inhaling the fragrant aroma drifting from the kitchen, Xue Kui said with excitement.

"Certainly." Xiao Mo walked over, smiling, and ruffled Xue Kui's head. "Though to make sure Xue Kui does not set the kitchen on fire, I had better go in with you and help."

"Wonderful!" Xue Kui hopped down from the Empress Dowager's lap with delight. "Then Aunty Empress Dowager, Xue Kui is going with His Majesty Elder Brother to cook!"

"Go, go." The Empress Dowager laughed and waved them off, a warmth of fond indulgence in her eyes.

Xiao Mo gave the Empress Dowager a respectful bow, then took Xue Kui's small hand and made for the lively, bustling kitchen. Little Hundun trotted along at Xiao Mo's side.

The Empress Dowager watched their figures, the taller and the smaller, as they walked away, and could not help but feel a quiet longing stir in her heart. If only His Majesty would produce a few more princes and princesses, how lively this inner palace would be.

"The New Year's Eve feast is ready! Come and eat!"

Just as the sun touched the horizon and red clouds spread across the sky, Xue Kui's cheerful announcement reached everyone's ears.

By Zhou Kingdom custom, the New Year's Eve meal was eaten in the afternoon, but the kitchen had been full of energy and not a little bickering between Jiang Qingyi and the others, which had slowed things considerably. Toward the end, Xue Kui had not only displayed her own culinary efforts but Little Hundun had also made a contribution, nearly managing to burn the kitchen down in the process, just as predicted. So the feast was somewhat late.

But good food is worth waiting for. It was ready at last, and thanks to preservation spells, everything was still warm and fresh.

With Xiao Mo setting off the firecrackers, a burst of sharp, joyful crackles echoed through Lingxin Palace. Xue Kui clapped her hands over her ears in fright, while Little Hundun, by complete contrast, darted back and forth through the smoke with tremendous excitement.

Empress Dowager Yan looked at the dishes spread across the table, then at the whole gathered company around it, and felt a warmth in her heart beyond what words could easily capture.

"Let us eat."

With the Empress Dowager making the first ceremonial gesture with her chopsticks, the New Year's Eve feast officially began.

"Husband must eat more."

Qin Siyao kept placing dishes into Xiao Mo's bowl, and rather more of the ones she herself had cooked than the others.

"I wonder what Imperial Brother thinks of this concubine's cooking?"

Qin Siyao asked with a smile.

"The spicy stir-fried loach is very good. My consort's skill is considerable," Xiao Mo said with a nod, though whether she was asking about the dish alone or something more was rather hard to say.

"If Imperial Brother likes it, please have more." Qin Siyao smiled. "I wonder, does Imperial Brother find this concubine's cooking more to his taste, or Elder Sister Ruxue's?"