Chapter 52: A Lifetime of Marital Destiny

“Our son… is no longer a fool?!”

Just as the two were about to pounce on Jiang Xiaoyu, he beat them to it with a hungry tiger’s leap, wrapping his arms tightly around Dongfang Yueli’s thigh. Pressing his cheek close and squirming back and forth in a silly manner, he babbled: “Ah-ah-ah… No, no… I want to hold my fragrant wife and go to sleep.”

The Prince and Princess, who had already charged halfway, stopped dead in their tracks.

The Prince: “Still a simpleton?”

The Princess: “But just a moment ago he was clearly well…”

Right then, a very light, very short whimper rang out. The sound came from Qinghe, who stood blushing fiercely as Jiang Xiaoyu held her.

The Prince and Princess exchanged a glance, and an unusual glint burst forth in their eyes once more.

The Princess covered her mouth with her silk handkerchief and giggled: “No, no, Junlin is just playing the fool… he’s up to no good.”

Hearing this, the Prince opened his eyes wide and immediately understood: “He’s only been married to Yueli for two days, and already he’s eyeing her maid? This is outrageous.”

The Princess raised a hand to press down on the Prince, saying softly: “Blocking won’t work. It’s better to go with the flow. What do you think, Your Highness?”

“I… I can’t bring myself to say it.”

“The manor’s family line is thin…”

Upon hearing this, the Prince immediately stated his position: “My wife, let’s treat this as official business!”

The Princess covered her mouth and giggled.

She cleared her throat, glared fiercely at Jiang Xiaoyu, and shifted her gaze toward the pensive Dongfang Yueli: “Yueli, the Young Master has finally woken up. What do you think we should… do about this?”

Dongfang Yueli’s expression was grim.

“Mother, in my view, the Young Master has been possessed by an evil spirit. Wait a moment… I will first use a Demon-Binding Talisman to imprison the entity, then force out the demonic soul with punitive talismans, and after that…”

The Princess covered her mouth and giggled: “Good daughter-in-law, as a newlywed, you don’t yet understand a man’s mind. Just now when he conversed with the Eldest Princess, his logic was clear and his words proper—there was not a trace of foolishness. From childhood to now, his affections have only ever moved toward you; when has he ever cared for Qinghe?”

Dongfang Yueli laughed out of sheer exasperation: “Mother, you must never use normal logic to view an evil spirit; he’s here to drain a living human’s yang energy…”

At that moment, the Prince’s face turned ashen as he strode up and delivered a kick straight to Jiang Xiaoyu: “Rebellious son! You just woke up for a second and already you’re plotting to take a concubine, acting in such an outrageous manner! Treating Qinghe like this in broad daylight—how is she supposed to face people from now on?! I… I’m going to beat this rebellious son to death!”

With that, the Prince rolled up his sleeves to charge forward.

The Princess hurriedly held the Prince back, offering a pointed piece of advice: “Your Highness, Junlin has just regained consciousness; we cannot use force against him. Take my advice: blocking is inferior to guiding… Besides, Qinghe is Yueli’s personal maid in the first place; becoming a concubine is only a matter of time. Why fly into such a rage?”

The Prince awkwardly withdrew his hand, cleared his throat, and barked: “Rebellious son! I’ll let it slide this time, but if you ever act so outrageously again, I will not spare you lightly!”

With that, the Prince instantly plastered a smile back on his face and turned to Dongfang Yueli: “Yueli, do you think your father handling it this way… is alright?”

Dongfang Yueli’s chest heaved up and down; clearly, she was furious.

“Father, Mother, I understand how you feel. But the Young Master hasn’t woken up; he’s been possessed by an evil spirit crossing over from the Purple Palace. If he were truly well, let alone Qinghe, even if he wanted a few more concubines, I’d be more than happy to see it, because then I could safely return to the Heavenly Secret Gate to continue my cultivation.”

Amidst her words, her back-swung hand flipped, and a “Ghost-Binding Talisman” materialized out of thin air between her index and middle fingers, which she hurled straight at Jiang Xiaoyu.

Jiang Xiaoyu paused in his tracks.

Having scored a hit, Dongfang Yueli didn’t stop, following up with a Body-Immobilization Talisman, then a Soul-Locking Talisman, and another Exorcism Talisman…

For a moment, talismans rained down like a flurry of slaps.

In the span of a single breath, Jiang Xiaoyu’s face was plastered entirely with talismans, creating an utterly absurd scene.

Dongfang Yueli let out a long breath.

“Hit, mission complete.”

Suddenly, her thigh tightened.

She looked down and saw Jiang Xiaoyu, whose face was covered entirely in talismans, hugging her fiercely.

“You-you-you…”

Jiang Xiaoyu lowered his voice: “Dongfang Yueli, do you remember me? I’m Jiang Xiaoyu.”

Dongfang Yueli stared in utter shock: “What the hell?”

While pulling off the talismans, Jiang Xiaoyu hurriedly blurted out: “You and me in bed, the Inquiry Spirit, the three-step alliance…”

Dongfang Yueli looked utterly horrified, her slender hand flipping to produce yet another stack of talismans from thin air.

“Halt! Evil spirit Jiang Xiaoyu, is that it? No need for small talk, my Daoist gate is irreconcilable with evil spirits! Hmph… The Demon-Binding Talisman didn’t work, so let’s try punitive talismans! This sovereign has plenty!”

As the words fell, Ghost-Slaying Talismans, Five-Thunder Talismans, Evil-Incinerating Talismans, Form-Destroying Talismans… one priceless talisman after another poured down like a torrential rainstorm.

In the span of a breath, Jiang Xiaoyu’s face was piled thick with them.

“Eastern maiden, why must you do this! Give me a chance to explain, won’t you? Do you remember—vocational institutes, goddesses, the alliance, the leader, the deputy leader…”

Before he could finish, the Prince of Huai sighed despondently and walked back to his seat in silence.

“Still a fool… I thought too much.”

The Princess wore a similarly disappointed expression, her lips moving before finally letting out a sigh.

Seeing that the Young Master was still foolish, Qinghe thought of the demands he had just made of her, and her pretty face flushed a bright red.

“The Young Master is awake… and there’s no place for me in this? Doing it this way… is quite nice.”

Dongfang Yueli was startled: “You actually know my identity? You and me…”

Jiang Xiaoyu nodded: “Past lives and present! If you don’t believe me, use the Inquiry Spirit!”

Dongfang Yueli pondered for a moment: “Why go through all that trouble, bring me a few strands of hair.”

Jiang Xiaoyu immediately reached up and yanked viciously at his hair, pulling out a large clump to hand over.

A flicker of shock passed through Dongfang Yueli’s eyes as she cast a deeply meaningful look at Jiang Xiaoyu.

“Hold on.”

With that, she pinched the strands between her thumb and middle finger, winding her ring finger counterclockwise around her middle finger as an axis, and wrapping her index finger clockwise around her middle finger as an axis, pressing her thumb against the intersection. Raising a hand in a hand-seal, she chanted in a low voice:

“Heaven and earth converging qi, hair strands binding fate. Tracing back past calamities, seeing through mortal entanglements. Yin and Yang manifest traces, cause and effect shine clear, by order of the law, hurry, hurry.”

As the spell fell, the hair strands wound around her middle finger flickered with faint runic patterns, ultimately turning blood-red.

Dongfang Yueli’s expression shifted drastically, and she flicked the hair strands onto the ground. The moment the hair hit the floor, it ignited, the ashes remarkably arranging themselves into the shape of the Chinese character “One”.

She stood frozen on the spot.

“A lifetime of marital destiny!”