Rebirth of Jinxuan

The next morning, in the alchemy hall, Qingfeng listened to his disciple's report on the grand occasion at the Hu residence the previous night.

"...The Hu family held a grand banquet, with guests everywhere. I heard the scene was even more lively than the New Year." The disciple described vividly, not forgetting to embellish, "I heard that Madam Lu and the eldest daughter of the Hu family got along very well, and the two were almost inseparable. Could it be..." He paused meaningfully, "that Madam Lu wants to use the Hu family to get in touch with Lord Tan Tong'en?"

Upon hearing this, Qingfeng frowned slightly and waved his hand to interrupt his disciple's speculation, "Nonsense! What kind of person is Madam Lu? Would she do such a thing as currying favor? She's just reminiscing about old times and catching up with an old friend." He trusted Lu Jinxuan's character completely and naturally wouldn't believe these unfounded guesses.

Seeing Qingfeng's displeasure, the disciple quickly changed the subject, "By the way, Hall Master, I heard that the Hu family has gone to great lengths for this banquet, not only preparing delicacies from land and sea, but also bringing out a lot of precious pills..."

"Pills?" Qingfeng's eyes narrowed. "When did the Hu family start collecting pills? They know nothing about alchemy, so what are they doing collecting those things?" He felt uneasy. The Hu family had never had much interaction with the Alchemy Hall before, so their sudden emphasis on pills was really unusual.

He didn't want to get involved in any disputes over elixirs.

After dinner, Qingfeng deliberately avoided thinking about Lu Jinxuan's affairs at the Hu family, and also stopped worrying about Zhang Yuxi's identity.

He strolled to the stream behind the mountain, wanting to clear his head.

A gentle breeze brought a refreshing coolness, gradually calming his agitated mood.

He habitually reached out to summon his spirit butterfly, only to find it empty. The spirit butterfly that used to flutter around him was nowhere to be seen!

"What's going on?" Qingfeng was startled and quickly searched around, following the stream upstream, carefully looking for every patch of grass and every tree.

"Xiaodie! Where are you?" His voice echoed through the empty valley, but there was no response...

As darkness fell, Qingfeng's expression grew increasingly grim.

"Could it be..." He suddenly realized something and abruptly stopped in his tracks.

Inside the alchemy hall, Qingfeng paced anxiously back and forth, his mind unsettled by Lingdie's disappearance.

Finally, he couldn't help but call his disciple, "Quickly go and invite Master Wangyue over!"

Muwei arrived late, waving a feather fan, looking quite leisurely.

"Master Qingfeng, is there something important that you need to see me about?"

"My Spirit Butterfly is gone!" Qingfeng said anxiously. "I've searched the entire back mountain but can't find it. Please help me check, is something wrong?"

Muwei did some quick calculations and then said in a pretentious tone, "In my opinion, your spirit butterfly was most likely attracted by something. Could it be... that demon race?"

Qingfeng's expression changed, and he immediately retorted, "Impossible! How could this be..." He stopped halfway through his sentence. Zhang Yuxi's identity was special, and it was not impossible for the spirit butterfly to react to him.

But Qingfeng was still somewhat reluctant to swallow his pride and ask for confirmation.

Seeing his appearance, Muwei said nothing more, but simply waved her feather fan lightly, a meaningful smile on her lips.

Qingfeng searched all night without success, and the next day he arrived at the Martial Arts Hall with dark circles under his eyes.

He happened to run into Lu Yuhang practicing swordsmanship, and his nimble figure reminded him of Zhang Yuxi.

"Yuhang, have you seen a butterfly that is entirely green recently?" Qingfeng couldn't help but ask.

Lu Yuhang stopped what he was doing, thought for a moment, and said, "Oh, you mean that beautiful butterfly? I saw it perched on Daddy's shoulder yesterday, it was so cute."

Upon hearing this, Qingfeng's vision went black, and he almost lost his balance.

He took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. "I see... Is it still with your father?"

Lu Yuhang shook his head. "I don't know, I didn't see it this morning."

Qingfeng felt helpless and could only silently pray that Lingdie would return soon.

That night, Lu Jinxuan returned to her residence reeking of alcohol.

Zhang Yuxi stepped forward and asked with concern, "Xuan'er, did you have a good time at the Hu residence today?"

Lu Jinxuan rubbed her temples and said wearily, "I had a great time, but after chatting all night, I'm incredibly sleepy now."

Zhang Yuxi helped her sit down with a pained expression, saying, "Go and rest."

Lu Jinxuan nodded and was about to get up when she suddenly seemed to remember something. She turned back to Zhang Yuxi and said, "By the way, tomorrow..." She paused, but ultimately didn't say it. She just waved her hand and said, "Never mind, let's talk about it tomorrow."

The morning light streamed through the window and fell on the dining table, illuminating the dazzling array of breakfast items.

Lu Jinxuan rubbed her sleepy eyes, sat down in a daze, grabbed a steamed bun and took a bite.

Seeing this, Qingfeng couldn't help but say, "Madam Lu, I heard that Old Master Hu said something at the banquet yesterday..."

"Hmm?" Lu Jinxuan responded vaguely, clearly not fully awake yet.

“He said…” Qingfeng paused, his tone slightly tentative, “He said…about the little prince…”

"The young prince?" Lu Jinxuan finally raised her head, a hint of doubt flashing in her eyes. "What's wrong with the young prince?"

"Old Master Hu said..." Qingfeng lowered his voice, "that the young prince... is not Luo Wu's biological son."

As soon as this statement came out, everyone in the audience was shocked.

Muwei waved her feather fan and said slowly, "I've heard a little about this. It's said that the little prince doesn't look like Luo Wu at all, but rather resembles... Jiang Lin somewhat."

"Jiang Lin?!" Qingfeng suddenly stood up, his expression changed drastically, and his eyes were filled with shock and fear.

Muwei also abandoned her usual leisurely demeanor, exchanged a glance with Qingfeng, and both of them revealed indescribable complex emotions in their eyes.

Lu Jinxuan looked at Qingfeng, then at Muwei, completely bewildered. "Who is Jiang Lin? Is he that powerful? How could he scare you all like this?"

“He…” Qingfeng took a deep breath, seemingly trying to calm himself down, “He was… he used to be…”

“He was once a guest of honor of the royal family, and also an… extremely dangerous person.” Muwei continued, her tone heavy.

Lu Jinxuan was completely confused, feeling as if some earth-shattering secret was hidden within.

She was about to ask more questions when Zhang Yuxi pulled her up.

"Xuan'er, you didn't sleep well last night, go back and rest first," Zhang Yuxi said softly, leading her away from the dining table without allowing any argument.

“But…” Lu Jinxuan wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Zhang Yuxi.

"Be good, listen to me." There was a hint of worry in Zhang Yuxi's eyes.

After returning to her room, Lu Jinxuan quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Zhang Yuxi sat quietly by the bed, gazing at her peaceful sleeping face, his brows furrowed.

At the same time, Lu Yuhang was being pulled by Qian Feng towards the alchemy room...

"Hurry up, stop dawdling!" Qian Feng urged impatiently. "Today is a good day, maybe we can refine something good!"

Lu Yuhang was dragged into the alchemy room by Qian Feng. A strong medicinal fragrance wafted over, making him sneeze.

"Achoo!" Qian Feng glanced at him disdainfully. "With your skills, you want to become an alchemist? Hurry up and prepare all the medicinal herbs!" Lu Yuhang pouted, but didn't dare to argue back, and obediently began to organize the medicinal herbs.

Qian Feng sat cross-legged to the side, closed his eyes to rest, and looked completely indifferent.

Only Qingfeng and Muwei remained at the dining table in the alchemy hall.

The atmosphere was so heavy that water seemed to drip out of it.

"What exactly does Luo Wu want to do?" Qingfeng broke the silence, his tone tinged with unease.

Mu Wei gently waved her feather fan, her gaze profound. "I'm afraid it's not just about consolidating imperial power. Jiang Lin's appearance might disrupt the balance of this continent..." The two of them analyzed the current situation, trying to uncover the truth hidden behind the fog of mystery.

Various guesses and inferences collided between the two, but they could never arrive at a definite answer.

In the days that followed, the alchemy hall seemed to return to its former tranquility.

Qingfeng remained busy with the affairs of the alchemy hall, while Muwei continued his mysterious divination and deductions.

Aside from occasionally visiting Lu Yuhang, Lu Jinxuan spent most of her time in her own courtyard, seemingly indifferent to everything outside.

At noon, the warm sunlight filled the courtyard.

Lu Jinxuan was leaning against the window reading a book when she suddenly heard a clear laugh.

She looked up and saw Hu Xinyue walking in with a bright smile, dressed in a pale yellow dress, like the warm spring sun.

"Jinxuan, I've come to find you!"

Hu Xinyue walked up to Lu Jinxuan and whispered mysteriously, "Guess what?" Lu Jinxuan put down her book and asked with interest, "What?" Hu Xinyue's eyes sparkled, and a sly smile appeared on her lips. "My parents agreed to let me go out!" She paused deliberately, observing Lu Jinxuan's reaction.

Lu Jinxuan was slightly taken aback, then understood the meaning behind Hu Xinyue's words.

A glint of shrewdness flashed in her eyes, but she didn't reply immediately. Instead, she quietly watched Hu Xinyue, waiting for her to continue...