"Has the system store been updated?"

  Xu Chang'an's expression shifted slightly.

  Zhu Pingniang, who was nearby, noticed Xu Chang'an staring at her with a dazed look. She blinked in confusion and followed his gaze, realizing that he was looking at her legs.

  "What are you looking at?" Zhu Pingniang scolded pyfully.

  "It's nothing. Thank you, Senior Zhu," Xu Chang'an said, not immediately checking the system store. Instead, he bowed respectfully to Zhu Pingniang.

  Chaoyun Sect was the rgest sect in Qingzhou, and the disciple slots there were not easily attained.

  Xu Chang'an, as a deacon of the outer sect of Chaoyun Sect, knew well that even if he entered the inner sect, it would still be difficult to bring his wife into the sect.

  But Zhu Pingniang had made it happen.

  Not only had she helped him enter the sect, but she had also ensured that his wife was well taken care of.

  This favor, Xu Chang'an had engraved deeply in his heart.

  "If you're going to thank someone, don't thank me. It's you who earned it by having that girl from Muyu Peak come to me every few days to speak well of you." Zhu Pingniang said with a smile, "You're their most favored inner sect deacon, and with your wife by your side, you won't be as distracted as now. You'll be able to better manage those troublesome girls from Muyu Peak."

  "It's part of my duty," Xu Chang'an replied seriously. As an outer disciple, his current position was that of an inner affairs deacon.

  "What I like most is your serious attitude," Zhu Pingniang said, curling her lips as she gently bit her red lips. "If it were years ago, I wouldn’t have let a boy as interesting as you off so easily."

  Xu Chang'an remained calm, not showing any reaction to Zhu Pingniang’s pyful teasing.

  "By the way, I heard from the girls that you've pnted a patch of spiritual fruit in the back of your courtyard, and it tastes quite good?" Zhu Pingniang casually tossed him an embroidered pouch and continued, "Inside is the seed of a beauty fruit. Pnt it and give it a try. People with pnting talent are rare these days. It’s really frustrating, and I haven’t had good fruit to eat for a long time."

  "Okay, I'll arrange it once I return," Xu Chang'an accepted the pouch without hesitation.

  Zhu Pingniang had helped him so much, and he wouldn’t push back even on such a small matter.

  "Little Chang'an," Zhu Pingniang leaned forward, pressing her hands on her p. "Actually, sometimes I feel like your personality isn’t suited for Muyu Peak. Perhaps the Confucian Sect would be a better pce for you, but unfortunately, my retionship with the sour Confucians isn’t great, so I can’t help you much."

  Xu Chang'an was about to speak when Zhu Pingniang interrupted, "Just a casual thought. I have a serious question to ask you now."

  "A serious matter?" Xu Chang'an was slightly taken aback.

  Since Zhu Pingniang had already helped him so much, he couldn't imagine what would count as a "serious matter."

  "The serious matter is..." Zhu Pingniang dragged out the st word.

  Xu Chang'an held his breath.

  Zhu Pingniang suddenly asked, "Are you prepared to take a concubine?"

  Xu Chang'an's expression froze on his face.

  A concubine?

  His mind fshed to his wife’s slightly cold expression. Her features softened in his mind as he shook his head. "I've never thought about it."

  "Is that so? Hmph, your wife was quick to act," Zhu Pingniang waved her hand. "Alright, the girls at the shop asked me to ask you this."

  Xu Chang'an was seen as a promising young man by the girls at the brothel, mainly because he never discriminated against the girls there.

  Just this alone, not to mention the girls, even Zhu Pingniang, who treated them as her own, had come to regard Xu Chang'an in a new light.

  The reason she liked him initially was because he didn’t look at the girls in the brothel with condescending eyes.

  "Chang'an, if you're not pnning to take a concubine, I’ll just tell them directly," Zhu Pingniang reminded him. "There’s more than one girl at the shop who likes you. It's better to put an end to their thoughts early."

  Xu Chang'an showed a helpless expression.

  "I understand... By the way, since you're here, why not listen to the new song I've written?" Zhu Pingniang smiled.

  Xu Chang'an paused, then gnced around at the slightly provocative environment. "Senior, I..."

  "You wouldn't refuse such a small request, would you? I won’t tell your wife," Zhu Pingniang smiled gently. "If you think it's not good, I'll change it. Just help me a little."

  "Alright," Xu Chang'an nodded and sat down at the small table.

  As the soft sound of the zither strings rang out, Zhu Pingniang moved her hands, and a gentle melody flowed from her fingertips.

  Xu Chang'an closed his eyes and leaned his ear in, not looking at the girl pying the zither but fully focusing on the soothing sound of the seven-string zither.

  Zhu Pingniang’s fingers struck the strings with a crisp sound, resembling raindrops tapping against a window, blending with the flowing zither music. Xu Chang'an found this truly enjoyable. No wonder so many men liked listening to music.

  After a while, Zhu Pingniang hummed a tune.

  The sound of the zither mingled with her soft and charming voice, like a pair of hands pushing against his heart, impossible to resist.

  But Xu Chang'an remained unfazed, surrounded by the soothing zither sounds, his body and mind completely rexed.

  When the song ended, Zhu Pingniang pced her hands on the strings to dampen the lingering sound. She looked at the elegant young man not far away and felt a sense of satisfaction.

  "How was it?" Zhu Pingniang asked.

  "It was beautiful," Xu Chang'an replied seriously. "It’s the most beautiful zither music I've ever heard."

  "You speak as if you’ve heard a lot of zither music," Zhu Pingniang waved her hand. "Go on with your business now."

  Xu Chang'an nodded, bowed, and turned to leave.

  "..."

  Zhu Pingniang sat down in the position Xu Chang'an had just vacated, her fingers lightly tapping the untouched wine cup on the table. She sighed.

  What she had pyed for Xu Chang'an wasn’t a normal zither piece, but a piece called Muyu Mianyin. This song could stir the darkest emotions in a person’s heart when pyed in front of someone weaker than herself.

  But Xu Chang'an had remained calm and enjoyed it. He had heard the sound of water, his heart clear and free of guilt.

  This kind of composure and talent was rare. It would be a waste for him to remain an outer sect deacon.

  "Truly a good child... Someone in the sect should keep an eye on him."

  Zhu Pingniang’s fingers tapped the table, then she sighed. "But he’s not particurly clever."

  What about that mistake with the demon-sying order?

  Xu Chang'an hadn’t even thought about it. Which foolish girl at Muyu Peak would make such a mistake? His senior sister had deliberately chosen a weak blue-eyed tiger, even willing to sacrifice spirit stones just to send Xu Chang'an the breakthrough-required Kaiyuan Pills.

  She had even calcuted that the mountain closest to Xu Chang'an would be the one, knowing that she would need to clean up afterward.

  The key was that Xu Chang'an had actually killed the blue-eyed tiger. He must have been focused on his wife at home, not thinking too much about it.

  Zhu Pingniang couldn’t evaluate the clumsy and naive methods of the female disciples, but even Xu Chang'an, who couldn’t see through such childish tactics, had managed to marry a wife. It seemed his wife had been the one to take the initiative.

  Zhu Pingniang smiled lightly.

  Although Xu Chang'an had clearly stated that he only loved his wife, Zhu Pingniang wasn’t going to let the girls in the brothel give up just yet.

  She wanted to see... whether his dull, rigid, and purely early-to-act wife could truly hold his heart.

  Just as she was thinking, the door suddenly smmed open. Zhu Pingniang raised her brow and shouted angrily, "You little brat, can’t you make less noise?"

  The little girl rushed into Zhu Pingniang's arms, pouting and saying, "Aunt Tong, the little tiger I just bought was killed by someone. The sword energy looks like it was done by someone from your sect!"

  Zhu Pingniang’s eyelids twitched, and she gnced at Xu Chang'an’s departing figure.

  Well, that was a precise move.