Flower Tower, Misty Rain Lake

Flower Mantian had enjoyed several quiet days, but for the past two, her eyelid had kept twitching.

Sitting in the tower with no one to confide in, she murmured with an air of calm, "I'm done for. Does a twitching left eye mean disaster and a twitching right eye mean fortune, or is it the other way around?"

On a day like this, she wanted neither fortune nor disaster.

All she wanted was to let the years flow like water, calm and uneventful.

To spend ten years grinding away like water wearing down stone, until she crossed that legendary threshold.

Ever since she'd left Broken Dragon Mountain, the world's conflicts had had nothing to do with her.

She could even abandon this bustling tavern right in front of her.

Just then, in the empty tavern, a fragrant breeze swept up from downstairs. In the blink of an eye, it was right in front of her.

Seeing the red rims of her eyes, the newcomer couldn't help asking, "What's wrong? Heartbroken over another man?"

"Huh? What are you doing here?"

Flower Mantian shrank her neck, delight lighting up her face.

She grabbed Long Qingmei, who wore a green robe beneath a fox-fur coat, and said, "My eyelid's been twitching for days. I've been feeling so unsettled."

Long Qingmei stared at her. "You believe in that?"

"Of course!"

Flower Mantian pouted, looking pitiful. "Why don't you try it? Have your eyelid twitch all day long and see if you don't get anxious."

"Anxious my ass!"

Long Qingmei picked up the steaming teapot on the table, poured herself a cup, and sat down beside it.

Gazing at the snow falling outside the window, she murmured, "Even if anyone should be worried, it's the officials in the imperial capital and the general in the