Night fell, and Fan Li lay on the kang bed, his injuries preventing him from offering any courtesy. Lu Fubao sat on a chair, her legs crossed in meditation.

However, she couldn’t truly enter a meditative state. Every now and then, she would peek at the man on the bed from the corner of her eye.

“Sleeping so soundly! He made me so angry, and he doesn’t even try to comfort me! Heartless scoundrel, tricking me into marrying a woman!”

“…”

“…………”

“Actually, sleep is a great way to heal injuries. He’s sleeping soundly, which means his body is recovering. On the mountaintop, he even managed to pull out that amazing paraglider. With his weak cultivation, he actually saved me.”

Lu Fubao’s thoughts raced, and before she knew it, she had moved closer to the kang bed.

Fan Li lay on his back, asleep. He slept peacefully, likely due to the good habits instilled in him by his upbringing in the Fan family, habits that even the transmigrated Fan Li had unconsciously inherited.

Lu Fubao leaned closer, admiring his features.

“Fan Li is quite handsome. Duke Jin of the Great Chu, a treacherous official on par with Dong Zhuo, yet blessed with such good looks.

His eyebrows are beautiful, his lips too, and his nose is so straight… wait, his skin is even fairer than mine?!

Is this what Cao Zhi meant in his poem ‘Sitting with the Crown Prince,’ when he wrote, ‘My elegant young master, as ingenious as a god’?”

The thatched hut was lit by a single oil lamp. Unable to see clearly, Lu Fubao leaned even closer. Before she realized it, her nose was mere inches from Fan Li’s.

“… What are you doing?”

Fan Li had woken up. He couldn’t help it.

The woman’s muttering, though not loud, was practically in his ear. Being praised for his looks by Lu Fubao at such close proximity was too much, even for someone as thick-skinned as Fan Li.

Moreover, her warm breath tickled his face.

“Ah?!”

“When did you wake up?” Lu Fubao jumped back in surprise.

Fan Li replied honestly, “When you said my skin was fair…”

Lu Fubao: “???”

He answered her question, but not in the way she had expected!

So he had heard her quote Cao Zhi’s poem, praising him as ‘elegant and ingenious’?

“You… I… don’t misunderstand! I was just lamenting that despite your good looks, you became a treacherous official, a slave to power and desire! I advise you to be a better person from now on, don’t waste your handsome face!”

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Lu Fubao tried to maintain a righteous and dignified demeanor, but her flushed cheeks and ears betrayed her true emotions.

Fan Li was speechless. He scratched his head and said, “Fubao.”

“What?!”

“Aside from managing state affairs, I haven’t done anything truly evil, have I?”

Lu Fubao was at a loss for words.

Yes, they had discussed this topic before. She had been unable to refute him then, and it was the same now.

Lu Fubao wished the earth would swallow her whole, allowing her to hide from Fan Li forever.

Fan Li blinked, waiting for her response. The dim light of the oil lamp flickered, casting long shadows on the walls.

Suddenly, Lu Fubao had an epiphany. She had found her weapon to ‘defeat’ Fan Li.

She placed her hands on her hips and began to scold him.

“Look at yourself! You’re injured, and you’re staying up late? Do you think you’re immortal? I work so hard taking care of you every day, can’t you make things easier for me? You can’t sleep at night, and you can’t wake up during the day. You’re over twenty years old, can you act like an adult?

You’re useless at everything except eating. Everyone else has achieved fasting, but you just eat and sleep, sleep and eat. Go to sleep!”

Fan Li was stunned into silence.

Wow… she was really good at this.

That night, Lu Fubao resumed her meditation with the air of a victor. Fan Li obediently lay down, not daring to make a sound.

The next morning, as the first rays of dawn painted the sky, a visitor arrived at the thatched hut.

The visitor was rude, pushing open the door without knocking.

“Brother Fan, Miss Lu. The sect leader requests your presence at the main hall.” It was Ling Xiao.

He had abandoned his polite demeanor from the previous day. He used the word ‘request,’ it was clear they had no choice but to obey.

Fan Li sat up in bed, and Lu Fubao opened her eyes.

“Oh?” Ling Xiao raised an eyebrow, surprised yet pleased by what he saw. “Aren’t you two husband and wife? Why are you sleeping separately? Could it be…”

Lu Fubao glanced at Fan Li and replied coldly, “My husband is still recovering from his injuries and needs rest. What’s so strange about sleeping in separate beds?”

“Indeed,” Fan Li added with a smile. “For cultivators, meditation and breathing exercises are enough to replenish our energy. Sleep is not a necessity.”

Ling Xiao was left speechless. He could only say coldly, “In that case, Brother Fan, please get up and dress. Both of you, follow me up the mountain to meet the sect leader!”

Meet?

He had said ‘discuss’ earlier, and now it was ‘meet’?

His attitude had changed drastically!

“Is there something urgent that requires our presence? Daoist Priest Ling Xiao, you are aware of my husband’s condition. It’s truly inconvenient for him to leave right now.”

Inconvenient?

Ling Xiao didn’t care.

He said with a sardonic smile, “Even if it’s inconvenient, Brother Fan should make an effort. After all, my master, the sect leader, is your savior. Surely you wouldn’t refuse his request to meet?”

Accusations and assumptions were powerful tools in any argument. And Ling Xiao was speaking the truth.

The day Fan Li and Lu Fubao fell into the lake, they were rescued by Yu Shenzi, the sect leader of the Azure Cloud Sect.

The Azure Cloud Sect was a reclusive sect, its strength not particularly impressive, even inferior to the Blazing Fire Sect that Fan Li had destroyed. However, their core cultivation technique, the Azure Cloud Scripture, was renowned for its effectiveness in nourishing one’s Yuan Qi and healing injuries.

Yu Shenzi had easily healed Fan Li’s damaged internal organs with his profound skills. However, he refused to continue the treatment, instead assigning his disciple, Ling Xiao, to oversee Fan Li’s recovery.

If Yu Shenzi had been willing to continue, Fan Li would have fully recovered by now.

This deliberate prolongation of his treatment reminded Fan Li of the large hospitals in his previous life.

Overtreatment?

To be honest, Fan Li wasn’t accustomed to thinking ill of others.

But Yu Shenzi had only agreed to help because of Fan Li’s generous offer – a ninth-rank Earth-grade protective ring as payment.

When Fan Li was unconscious, Lu Fubao had removed the ring he had given her and knelt before Yu Shenzi, begging for his assistance. According to Lu Fubao, Yu Shenzi’s reaction upon seeing the ninth-rank spiritual treasure was as if he had stumbled upon a mountain of gold.

There was wisdom in the saying, ‘Don’t flaunt your wealth.’

“The Azure Cloud Sect… they wouldn’t treat me like a fat sheep to be slaughtered, would they?” Fan Li wondered.