Chapter Fifty-Five: Joy in Harmony

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Early morning, Hibiscus Residence.

Outside the window, spring rain drizzled softly. Today was a rest day, and after rising, Gu Weihuan felt lethargic, leaning by the window and gazing absentmindedly at the small pond beyond the waterside pavilion.

Lianzhi entered the pavilion carrying a plate of pastries. “Miss, you hardly touched your breakfast. Would you like some pastries instead?”

Gu Weihuan nodded, picked up a pastry, and took a delicate bite, murmuring, “I wonder what Eleventh Sister is up to.”

“Hehe, Eleventh Miss must be cultivating again,” Lianzhi chimed in playfully.

“That’s likely…” Gu Weihuan suddenly found the pastry tasteless. After two bites, she set it aside and continued to gaze, entranced, at the lotus leaves floating in the pond.

“Miss, why don’t we visit Twelfth Young Master at the Ling Frost Pavilion?” Lianzhi suggested softly, noticing her mistress’s melancholy.

Gu Weihuan agreed, finding solitude tiresome.

The two of them took oil-paper umbrellas and strolled leisurely toward the nearby Ling Frost Pavilion.

As fate would have it, when Gu Weiyu arrived at Hibiscus Residence with Crescent, they missed the others by mere moments.

“Huh, is Ninth Sister not in?” After knocking for quite a while with no response from Lianzhi, Gu Weiyu voiced her puzzlement.

“Ninth Miss must have gone to Ling Frost Pavilion,” Crescent replied nearby.

Gu Weiyu agreed, and the two changed course toward Ling Frost Pavilion.

“There you are!” As soon as Crescent knocked, Liuguang came running to open the door. Gu Weiyu entered the courtyard and saw two people chatting inside.

“Eleventh Sister!”

“Eleventh Brother?”

Two voices rose in unison, and Gu Weihuan and Gu Qingyun turned their heads in delight.

“Ninth Sister, I went to Hibiscus Residence just now and guessed you’d be here,” Gu Weiyu said, dismounting from Azure Dumpling and joining them.

The three of them sat together. Fine rain fell like silken threads between heaven and earth. Gu Qingyun pouted. “I was hoping, since it’s a rare day off, we could go out for a stroll!”

“What’s so hard about that?” Gu Weiyu summoned Azure Dumpling. “Come on, let’s go out for a bit!”

Gu Qingyun and Gu Weihuan eyed Azure Dumpling curiously. “Eleventh Sister, may I touch your Azure Dumpling?”

Gu Weiyu nodded. She’d had Azure Dumpling for some time now—except for once with Fourth Sister, no one else had ridden it.

A sudden laughter echoed in Gu Weiyu’s mind. “That tickles…”

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The miniature black cloud spun mischievously around the room, darting up, down, left, and right.

“Eleventh Sister, why won’t Azure Dumpling let me touch it?” Gu Qingyun asked, a little bewildered.

Gu Weiyu felt exasperated. She hadn’t expected Azure Dumpling to be ticklish. She had to interject and cut off Gu Qingyun’s stroking. “Twelfth Brother, do you still want to go out and play?”

Gu Qingyun immediately withdrew his hand. Gu Weiyu turned to the now-calm Azure Dumpling. “Azure Dumpling, grow bigger.”

Azure Dumpling expanded to a size of more than ten square meters, settling in the courtyard.

The six of them left the house and all climbed onto Azure Dumpling.

Passing by Peach Blossom Nook, Gu Weiyu made a point to stop and called down, “Fourth Sister, do you want to come with us to the market?”

Peach Blossom Nook was tranquil, peach blossoms blooming on the branches, exuding a charm of their own.

After a moment, Fourth Sister’s maid, Peach Twig, opened the door. “Fourth Miss says she won’t go, but wishes you all a good time.”

The group wasn’t surprised. “Alright, then we’ll go together next time.”

“Rise!” Even before Gu Weiyu finished, Azure Dumpling soared into the sky, flying beyond the Gu estate.

“Wow!” Gu Qingyun shouted in excitement. “The rain’s kept outside!”

Gu Weihuan’s cheeks flushed with excitement, making her even more beautiful.

For Crescent and the others, who had only ever ridden paper cranes and paper boats, Azure Dumpling was an absolute novelty.

Sensing everyone’s excitement, Azure Dumpling even showed off its speed and aerial tricks, drawing exclamations from its passengers.

“All right, Azure Dumpling, let’s go down now,” Gu Weiyu said, seeing that Azure Dumpling was having a bit too much fun.

Gu Qingyun, however, was reluctant. “Don’t! Eleventh Sister, I haven’t had enough yet!”

Gu Weiyu glanced back and saw everyone’s bright, eager eyes. She relented. “Fine, we’ll stay up a bit longer.”

Azure Dumpling, which had paused, immediately resumed its wild flight with the group soaring through the sky…

All of them were only at the Qi Refining stage, and especially Gu Weihuan and the others hadn’t even broken through to the fifth level. With their meager allowances, their “trip to the market” was just a circuit around the streets before heading back home.

Though they bought nothing, they were thoroughly delighted.

Often, the joy of a stroll lies in the company, not in what’s bought along the way.

“Eleventh Sister, next rest day will you take me out again?” Gu Qingyun leapt off Azure Dumpling, waving his hands in excitement, thoroughly satisfied with the outing.

“Sure, we’ll go again next time,” Gu Weiyu agreed, herself in high spirits. This happiness was different from the fulfillment of cultivation—rather, a rare joy of body and soul.

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“It’s getting late, let’s head back,” Gu Weihuan said gently.

With the gloomy, rainy weather, the sky looked dark and late.

Everyone disembarked from Azure Dumpling and returned to their own quarters.

———

“Miss, let’s go to Shi Fei Garden. I hear it’s lively over there!”

Gu Weiyu was practicing swordplay in the courtyard’s bamboo grove when Crescent burst in, her face alight with excitement.

Gu Weiyu paused mid-move, looking puzzled. “Why go to Shi Fei Garden?”

“Oh, Miss, didn’t I mention a few days ago that the Lu family is coming to finalize the engagement today?” Crescent stamped her foot, exasperated.

Finalize the engagement? Gu Weiyu suddenly recalled Crescent mentioning it in passing, but she hadn’t paid much attention.

“What’s so interesting about that?” Gu Weiyu shook her head, not intending to join the crowd.

Though the Gu, Lu, Lian, and Yun families were all cultivator clans, when it came to marriage, they enjoyed the same festivities and pageantry as ordinary folk.

Today, the Lu family was bringing betrothal gifts to the Gu family.

Both families were leading houses in Qin Prefecture, so this alliance was a grand event for the region. The Lu family’s betrothal gifts were surely nothing short of spectacular.

Crescent, seeing her mistress uninterested, grew a little anxious, pondering how to persuade her.

Suddenly, a whirlwind figure burst into the courtyard.

“Eleventh Sister, let’s go to Shi Fei Garden together!”

It was Gu Qingyun, with Liuguang trailing breathlessly behind.

“Twelfth Brother, what’s the rush?” Gu Weihuan’s voice sounded in the courtyard as she entered with Lianzhi.

“I’m not going,” Gu Weiyu shook her head, still not tempted by the excitement.

“Eleventh Sister, you should come! I heard Cousin Xingyun has personally caught a pair of live Spirit Geese—so rare!” Gu Qingyun tugged at her sleeve.

Live Spirit Geese? Gu Weiyu’s interest was piqued. “Really?”