Xie Gou returned from Gray Mist Mountain to Great Li Capital City. She first visited the Balsam Flower God at the Flower God Temple, and the two good friends agreed to travel to Ju Prefecture together. Wu Cai had decided to build a Flower God Temple there because the people were relatively poor. Even if she cut corners on her shrine and statue, the locals would not laugh at their cash-strapped Flower God Her Majesty... That was what she said, but Wu Cai had already read that thick stack of County Annals several times. She had even annotated them in the five colors currently fashionable among Great Li's scholars. Xie Gou thought that was worth learning.
Xie Gou walked through the Thousand Pace Corridor in high spirits, her special waist token on display, and swaggered back to the National Teacher's Manor. Quite a few people turned to look. Whether it was because of "Sword Cultivator Bai Jing" or her sable hat and bright red cheeks, she could not say. Wearing a sable hat in the height of summer certainly made her stand out.
After checking in with Alliance Leader Guo, she came here and found the Mountain Lord lying in a rattan chair, staring into space. As Xie Gou fussed over him, she probed from every angle: would adding a vice Mountain Lord to Luopo Mountain be against the rules? Would it put the Mountain Lord in a difficult position? Did he need his chief officer to smooth things over before convening another Patriarch Hall meeting?
Chen Ping'an could not be bothered with that. He merely asked, "Is Xiao Mo doing well?"
Xie Gou grinned. "Not very. I gave Xiao Mo a fierce scolding."
Chen Ping'an teased, "In the meekest voice you could manage?"
Xie Gou was deeply impressed, then