Slender willows sway in the breeze

Chapter 84 Giving Liu Sijun a hard time

The two arrived at the lakeside pavilion in the courtyard.

The moonlight, like water, spilled onto the calm lake surface, creating a soft halo. Liu Sijun looked at Chu Yanjing with a hint of concern in her eyes and asked softly, "Cousin Jing, I noticed you looked so downcast at the dinner table just now. Were you saddened by the passing of your maternal grandfather?"

Chu Yanjing sighed softly, a trace of grief flashing in his eyes: "My maternal grandfather always cared for me. His sudden passing is hard to accept."

The Liang family's affairs are rather complicated.

Liang Yidong, the head of the Liang family, married three wives in his lifetime. Liang Feiyu's father, Liang Yanhui, and Chu Yanjing's mother, Liang Wanning, were born to his first wife. His mother died when Liang Wanning was eight years old and Liang Yanhui was three years old.

Less than two years later, Liang Yidong remarried, and his two wives gave birth to five children for him.

With seven children and three mothers, it was natural for them to scheme against each other.

Liang Wanning has good talent for cultivation, and Liang Yanhui can be said to have grown up under his sister's protection.

However, it seems that Liang Yidong was destined to bring misfortune to his wives, as all three of his wives died young.

His last wife passed away eight years ago.

Perhaps it was because his three wives had all died that Liang Yidong came to terms with it and began to feel guilty about the child he had with his first wife. He would often ask Liang Wanning to bring the child home for a family reunion.

Chu Yanjing was deeply favored by Liang Yidong, who would generously share his cultivation experience with him.

The bond between the grandmother and granddaughter was even stronger than that between Liang Feiyu, who had always been raised in the Chu family. This was why Liang Feiyu didn't seem particularly sad during the meal.

To her, this grandfather was a familiar stranger.

"The Liang family head was only a little over a hundred years old and had the cultivation of the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm. How could he have suddenly died of illness?"

"It wasn't entirely sudden. Before we went to Yougu Palace, my maternal grandfather had already been feeling unwell the time my mother went back home. We didn't take it seriously at the time, but a month later, he suddenly..."

"Can you find out what illness caused it?" Liu Sijun pressed.

"After my maternal grandfather was buried, I asked the alchemist who treated him and the maid who served him. They all said that my maternal grandfather's old illness had relapsed at the beginning, and the alchemist treated him according to the previous treatment procedure."

Chu Yanjing frowned slightly, "But he didn't get better after the treatment. Instead, he got worse and worse. In the last few days, he kept talking nonsense and his condition was very bad."

At the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, the primordial spirit is already extremely powerful.

How could you be talking nonsense?

"Your cousin suspects that there's more to your grandfather's death than meets the eye, that it wasn't just a simple case of dying of illness, right?"

Chu Yanjing looked hesitant: "My maternal grandfather is dead and has already been buried. I only have suspicions, I have no evidence."

Chu Yanjing had his concerns and difficulties. He was the grandson of Liang Yanjing, and the Liang family's relationships were complicated. If a real investigation was to be conducted, it would require Liang Yanhui, who had already inherited the position of family head.

However, Liang Yanhui seemed to have some reservations about this father and did not want to make a big fuss.

So the matter was put on hold for the time being.

The two had just returned to the backyard from the pavilion in the middle of the lake when Master Lu Dan began preparing the materials for the medicinal bath.

Master Lu Dan was adding herbs to the medicine tub: "You went home halfway through, forcing the medicinal bath to be stopped. Now we need to increase the dosage. It will be a bit painful during the process, so bear with it."

"I can endure it."

The two greeted each other and left the room. Chu Yanjing said, "The journey from the Liang family to Zhongzhou is long, and I'm afraid Feiyu might be in danger along the way. Now that she has been delivered, let's go back to Yougu Palace first."

"Leave now?" "Yes, it's been a long time since we left Yougu Palace, it wouldn't be appropriate not to go back soon."

"Cousin, please be careful on the road."

After seeing Chu Yanjing off, she returned to Yangshou Palace that evening. With nothing special to do, she spent her days refining pills in the main hall, mainly the kind of pills she usually used to nourish her body and improve her complexion.

These are the types of pills used in the largest quantities.

She longed to quietly refine elixirs, but in this palace, seeking peace was as fragile as thin ice.

On this day, Liu Sijun, who had been refining pills for several days in a row, planned to go to the imperial palace to cultivate. Before he even stepped out of the palace gate, he saw someone riding a sword coming from afar and stopping at the palace gate.

"I am a maidservant of Her Majesty the Empress, and I would like to invite Master Liu to Luanming Palace for a talk."

"Oh, it's Aunt Caiping. Please wait a moment."

Xu Xiang, the gatekeeper, used his spiritual power to open the palace gate, just as Liu Sijun was preparing to fly out on his sword.

"You are Master Liu Dan?"

Upon seeing Liu Sijun, Caiping slightly raised her chin, her tone revealing an inexplicable arrogance.

Liu Sijun frowned slightly. Although she was displeased, she still replied politely, "It's me. May I ask who you are and what business you have with me?"

"I am Caiping, the head palace maid of Her Majesty the Empress. I'm here to check on how Alchemist Liu is progressing with his elixir-making." Caiping said, casually fiddling with her sleeves.

"I have already refined all the pills needed by the palace. Yesterday afternoon, Eunuch Cao came in person to collect the pills needed by each palace. Did Luanming Palace not receive any?"

"The Empress is the head of the harem, and naturally holds the highest position in the harem. However, in previous years, alchemists would report to Luanming Palace when they first arrived at the palace. But since you, Alchemist Liu, have been staying in Yangshou Palace, I have to come and invite you in person if I want to see you."

"What kind of rule is this?"

Mo Linhou didn't mention it either!
It's not that resident alchemists can ignore these things.

"It's not a rule. It's fine that Master Liu is young, but she can't act arrogantly just because she can refine a few pills. She won't last long in the palace if she doesn't understand social etiquette."

Liu Sijun could easily understand that Caiping had come to cause trouble. However, she had been diligently refining the necessary pills according to the palace's requirements during her time at the Longevity Palace. She couldn't possibly have offended the Empress in any way.

She was unwilling to suffer such grievances for no reason, so she said in a humble but not arrogant manner, "Aunt Caiping is joking. When I came to the palace, I did everything according to the rules. How could there be any talk of me being unreasonable?"

Upon hearing this, Caiping's face immediately turned ugly. She hadn't expected that Liu Sijun, an alchemist at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, would dare to contradict her. She immediately scolded, "Oh, you're quite sharp-tongued. But in this palace, being sharp-tongued is useless. If you offend the wrong people, it will be impossible for you to stay comfortably in the palace in the future."

"After all that talk, you just want me to go to Luanming Palace, so let's go."

Liu Sijun agreed to go, but Caiping's expression remained unpleasant.

She came to intimidate Liu Sijun, but was rendered speechless by her words.

His calm and composed demeanor belies his age; he's hardly the sixteen-year-old alchemist he seems.

Could the information we received be inaccurate?

Full of doubts, Caiping led her people to Luanming Palace on their swords.

They went directly to the spacious grounds of Luanming Palace, and then led Liu Sijun to the main hall where the Empress resided. The main hall's doors were inlaid with colorful gemstones, and the top was engraved with a phoenix pattern, one on each side, highlighting the Empress's noble status.

Caiping glanced at Liu Sijun: "You wait outside the door first."