âIt has been several months since I have been apart from my lord and gentleman. I wonder if you have been well?â
Zu An couldnât help but smile when he saw the beautiful and graceful handwriting. As expected, the words reflected the person, just as beautiful as Chuyan herself. There was a faint fragrance of orchids coming from the letter, which was Chu Chuyanâs unique smell. He could imagine her sitting in front of her table, flattening out a sheet of paper and writing seriously.
ââ¦the weather recently has abruptly become cold, and it has already begun to snow in Brightmoon City. Huanzhao has never seen snow before, so she has been quite excited, running out into the snow to make a snowman. However, she is unfortunately not too skilled in the arts, so the end product was quite different, to say the least.
âI was quite curious about what she made. At first, she was too shy to tell me, but I made sure she understood what the phrase âan older sister is like a motherâ meant. She finally gave inâ¦â
Zu An had a smile on his face. Chu Chuyan had a bit of that side to her too after all; that brat Huanzhao had probably been bullied a bit.
âShe said she was making a snowman of you, but she could not do it no matter what she tried⦠I could not help but want to laugh when I saw how ugly that snowman was. I really wanted you to see it.
âBecause I cultivated the Snowflake Sword, my hands and feet were ice-cold last year. But this year, even though there was such a huge snowfall, my hands and feet were still warm. All of that was because of youâ¦â
Even though he didnât see the words âI miss youâ at all, Zu An could feel her strong longing for him. He thought to himself that Chu Chuyanâs nature was naturally cold and indifferent, so it wasnât too likely for her to say anything too cheesy. But when he saw what she wrote afterward, his smile suddenly froze.
She told him that after she had dealt with the Chu clanâs matters, something seemed to have happened back in her sect, so they had called her back. She was quite nervous too. Furthermore, she didnât know when they would be able to meet again.
âWhite Jade Sect?â Zu An mouthed the name of the sect she had written. He grabbed Chu Youzhao, who was playing with an assortment of toys, and asked, âYour big sister is from a sect?â
âOf course! Where do you think her Snowflake Sword came from? Itâs not as if the great art passed down in the Chu clan is the Snowflake Sword.â Chu Youzhao rolled her eyes.
Zu An thought about her answer. Chu Zhongtian and Qin Wanru indeed didnât use the Snowflake Sword, and Chu Chuyan had even taught him the Snowflake Sword. He had clearly sensed that the technique was profound and mysterious, and it even seemed to have a powerful growth factor. His previous confusion was now finally resolved.
âBut doesnât this world not really have any sects? Arenât most people members of the court?â Zu An asked out of curiosity. After all, according to his understanding of this world, cultivation decided how far one could go in an official position, so what sectâs resources could compete with the court? That meant there shouldnât have been many people who were willing to stay in a sect.
âThatâs just stuff that happened in the last few decades. Before his majesty unified the world, the different sects were actually flourishing,â Chu Youzhao explained. Even though she did like to play, she had still been raised in an influential great clan after all. Her knowledge and experiences were beyond those of an ordinary person. âLater on, after his majesty defeated the fiend races and left all the outstanding warriors helpless with his power, the various sects closed their gates and secluded themselves from the world. The small sects didnât have such strong backing, so they were quickly absorbed by the court. As time passed, the ordinary people have already forgotten that the world still has sects.â
When he heard the pride in Chu Youzhaoâs tone, Zu An knew it was something every citizen of the Zhou Dynasty had. After all, the Zhou Dynasty had been founded on martial might, so that kind of domineering and awe-inspiring might was something its citizens were extremely proud of.
âThen whatâs going on with this White Jade Sect?â Zu An wanted to know more about his wifeâs sect, the more details the better.
âI only know that the White Jade Sect is just a branch of Dao Gate, and furthermore an extremely influential branch. As for everything else, we really donât know too much since the White Jade Sect has secluded themselves from the world. Even though my big sis was taken in as a disciple because someone from the White Jade Sect saw her talent, she wasnât allowed to talk about any of their secrets either. Thatâs why we donât really know either,â Chu Youzhao replied after thinking about his question.
âDao Gate?â Zu An frowned. He had heard of the term before in his previous world, but this worldâs Dao Gate was clearly not that similar.
âIf thereâs a Devil Gate, then thereâs naturally a Dao Gate. The Devil Gate seeks to do whatever the heart desires, while the Dao Gate seeks the natural law, the transcendence of the self,â Chu Youzhao answered, looking surprised.
Zu An had a strange expression on his face. Qiu Honglei seemed to be the saintess of the Devil Sect, and Chu Chuyan was now an inheritor of the Dao Gate? What if it was like something from those TV shows of his previous world, and the inheritors of the two sides had to fight it out? He was sandwiched right in between, so what was he supposed to do then? He was curious as to just why the White Jade Sect had called Chu Chuyan back. Unfortunately, Chu Youzhao had no idea.
Chu Youzhao was getting annoyed from all the questions too, saying, âDonât talk about that stuff anymore, and kick this shuttlecock with me.â
Zu Anâs expression darkened. He was obviously not in the mood to kick a shuttlecock right now. He suddenly thought of something and asked, âRight, isnât there still something you havenât given me?â
âWhy would I have something else for youâ¦â Chu Youzhao tried to avoid eye contact. But in the end, she couldnât defeat his penetrating eyes. She took out a letter from her inner pocket and said, âOkay, okay, Iâll give it to you, okay?â
Zu An couldnât help but smile. Thatâs more like it. I knew that kid Huanzhao wasnât so heartless. How could she not write me any letters? When he opened up the letter, he saw some crooked chicken scratch. It wasnât even close to her sisterâs handwriting.
âNumber three, if you dare to peek at this, Iâm going to beat you up the next time I see you!â
Zu An had a knowing smile on his face when he saw those words. Chu Huanzhaoâs Wailing Whip suddenly appeared in his head. It seemed she knew about her little sisterâs bad habits too. After a few more sentences threatening Chu Youzhao, she then got to the main topic.
âBrother-in-law, is the capital fun? I want to come too, but mom and dad wonât let me. Itâs so annoying!
âIâve been so bored all by myself ever since you left. No one is here to play with me, and you ended up killing my Bootlicker too. The academy is boring; the kids are either scared of me or trying to kiss up to me. There are some kids who are trying to act all mature to get my attention. Hmph, compared to someone as amazing as brother-in-law, those bratsâ mature act is just laughable.â
Zu An couldnât help but smile when he saw this. Did that girl forget that she was a brat herself? But according to the letterâs implications, it seemed she had some pursuers now too. It wasnât all that surprising. Chu Huanzhaoâs family background was great, and she was a beauty in the making. Those academy students would be blind if none of them liked her. Hmph, I should send a letter back when I get a chance, telling mother-in-law to keep a closer eye on them. They canât let any random useless guy approach her.
He continued reading what Chu Huanzhao had written.
âAlso, that Ji Xiaoxi became my good friend. Hehe, she thinks I donât know, but she only got closer to me to find out more about you. Hmph, I was upset at first, but those pills of hers were pretty tasty, so I guess I can reluctantly accept her. Itâs better for me to be keeping an eye on her than to just let her sneak around secretively.â
Zu An was speechless. Why are you randomly eating Ji Xiaoxiâs pills? Are you not scared of anything?! But he wasnât too worried. Ji Xiaoxi was a nice girl, so she would never hurt Huanzhao.
The shy and pretty young lady appeared in his mind again, as well as that kiss she had given him to pass on that Fake Death Pill⦠He couldnât help but touch his lips. That soft feeling was still fresh in his memory.
âHuh? What kind of stupid things are you thinking about? Your expression looks lewd!â Chu Youzhao cried out.
Zu Anâs face heated up. He shot back, reprimanding her, âNonsense, what do you know about lewdness?â
Chu Huanzhao talked about some more trivial stuff about her life. Zu An felt warm reading it. In the end, though, she changed the topic again.
âStinky brother-in-law, I didnât even see you write me a single letter after all this time! You didnât even tell big sis to pass any words onto me! Did you forget about our friendship already? Or were you blinded by those seductresses in the capital?! Number three, I know you secretly read this, so you have to remember to help big sis protect brother-in-law! Donât let those vixens get him, got it? If you fail to do that, Iâm going to smack your butt with my Wailing Whip the next time I see you!â
Zu An and Chu Youzhao were left speechless.