Gongshu Xia went to see his father.
It wasn't that Gongshu Songting was seriously ill. The main reason was that he truly disliked getting mixed up with these politicians.
He knew his old father felt the same way, so after a brief bout of low spirits, he'd predicted that the Crown Prince and Imperial Princess might come by and promptly announced that he had a high fever.
Then he'd shoved his son out to take the heat.
That was downright unsportsmanlike!
Time to make a run for it!
Once the miscellaneous people had left, the atmosphere instantly became much more relaxed.
The puppet glanced at their fervent expressions and hurried to climb into the box. "I've got things to do too. I'll be off!"
Li Zhixuan hurriedly caught hold of the puppet. "Please, sir, don't rush. Gongshu Xia has left, but you still have us, don't you? Your performance at the Puppet Assembly today was astounding. I've long admired you, and since we've happened to meet at Gongshu Mansion, why not join me for a few drinks?"
The puppet pointed at her wooden head. "Look at me. Do you think I can drink?"
Li Zhixuan: "..."
This puppet was so lifelike that he'd actually forgotten to consider that.
But the more lifelike it was, the more he wanted to bring its creator into his fold.
He smiled warmly. "Your puppet is so lifelike that your real body can't be far away. Before I came, I'd already set a banquet at the Jade Terrace Wine Pavilion. I hope you'll do me the honor."
His words had already put him in a very humble position.
He'd always treated the talented with courtesy, which was why his household was full of capable people.
But the puppet wasn't impressed in the slightest. "No need. I'm not interested in food or drink, and I'm even less interested in the Crown Prince."
Li Zhixuan: "???"
The smile on his face instantly froze. He'd been running his own household for quite a while, and this wasn't the first time he'd been cold-shouldered. The Capital City was full of talented people, each with their own ideas. Some didn't want to take sides, some were close to Li Xingluo, and plenty had turned him down.
But even when they refused, they still showed him due respect.
To speak so bluntly—what was that if not an insult?
No matter how good-natured Li Zhixuan was, his expression darkened.
Treating the talented with courtesy was all well and good, but the point was to win their loyalty.
If there was no chance of winning someone over, continuing to smile and welcome them would be downright pathetic.
The host had been insulted.
The guard beside him flew into a rage. "Insolent! How dare you show disrespect to the Crown Prince!"
The puppet folded her arms and leaned back. "So saying I'm not interested in the Crown Prince counts as disrespect? I'm a carefree wanderer who seeks no office and loves only beauty. If I were interested in the Crown Prince, then that would count as disrespect, wouldn't it?"
"You..."
"Enough!"
Li Zhixuan waved a hand and said calmly, "Since you only wish to be a carefree wanderer, I won't press you. Farewell!"
With that,
he turned and left.
The puppet cupped her hands toward Li Xingluo. "Imperial Princess, I'll take my leave as well."
Li Xingluo suddenly laughed. "Just now, you said you sought no office and loved only beauty, and that you weren't interested in the Crown Prince. Does that mean you're not interested in me either?"
The puppet waved a hand. "That was just an excuse. I'm simply rude."
Li Xingluo shook her head. "At today's Puppet Assembly, you outshone everyone, yet you still showed the Gongshu Clan due courtesy. How could you be someone who doesn't know proper etiquette?"
"I admire the Gongshu Clan's skills, and I wanted to learn a thing or two from them. How could I not show them some respect?"
"So the Gongshu Clan has something you want?"
"Yes!"
"Then I have something you want too."
"What does the Imperial Princess have?"
"Money!"
"Hiss..."
The puppet sucked in a sharp breath, but still managed to wave her hand with difficulty. "The Crown Prince has money too. Why should I choose the Imperial Princess?"
Li Xingluo shook her head. "I don't know."
The puppet laughed. "If you don't know, then why would you..."
Li Xingluo smiled faintly. "But you just drove the Crown Prince away, yet you were willing to say so much to me. That's more than enough to prove that you treat me and the Crown Prince differently.
"Just now, you said that loving beauty was only an excuse.
"Setting aside the difference between men and women, the only difference between the Crown Prince and me is our political views.
"Sir... do you truly have no desire to seek office?"
The puppet seemed to have been struck to the heart. After a long silence, she finally said, "The Imperial Princess truly has a discerning eye!"
A smile bloomed across Li Xingluo's face. Her guess had been right.
There really were carefree wanderers in this world.
When times were hard, it was normal for them to earn a little extra money.
They might look down on those who held great power, but they wouldn't treat people differently.
If they did treat people differently, it meant that the two people already held different places in their heart.
She cupped her hands in earnest. "It's rare to meet a kindred spirit in life. You're immensely talented, but you also need someone who understands you to help you reach for the clouds. If you truly have ambition in your heart, the Imperial Princess Mansion has an opening in a fourth-rank position..."
The puppet interrupted her with difficulty. "Please give me some time to think it over, Imperial Princess."
Li Xingluo smiled faintly. With a flip of her hand, she offered him a token. "This is the Imperial Princess Token. If you decide to accept, come to the Imperial Princess Mansion and find me anytime."
"Certainly!"
"May I ask your esteemed name?"
"This poor Daoist is Kongxu."
"So you're Daoist Kongxu."
Li Xingluo smiled and cupped her hands. "The Imperial Princess Mansion will always welcome your visit, Daoist."
With that, she left with Pu Mingzhu.
The puppet stood where she was, her carved wooden face revealing neither joy nor sorrow.
Her goal of getting close to Li Xingluo had been achieved.
She had no political ambitions at all.
But "Daoist Kongxu" could have them.
After all, if you wanted to hitch yourself to someone powerful, you had to cater to their preferences and make your allegiance clear. Besides, she wasn't too fond of the annotations on Li Zhixuan's fate either, so she might as well kick him while he was down—and give Li Xingluo a little emotional gratification along the way.
And then there was Li Zhixuan's fate.
[Fate Rank]: Second Rank (111/2560) [Annotation]: Suspicious and weak-willed by nature. Faced with the deep-rooted ills of the Gan Kingdom, he only ever yielded and compromised. Less than ten years after his ascension, the Great Gan at its zenith collapsed into the dust of history.
Second Rank.
If she could pull him down from his position as Crown Prince, she'd probably get quite a bit out of it.
"Brother! Brother!"
Gongshu Xia ran back from behind a tree.
The puppet couldn't help laughing. "Weren't you going to buy medicine? How did you get back so quickly?"
Gongshu Xia slapped her thigh. "Isn't it strange? The moment the Crown Prince and Imperial Princess left, my father's fever broke!"
The puppet thought for a moment, then said with a serious sigh, "Yeah! That really is strange."
Gongshu Xia made an inviting gesture. "Now that all the miscellaneous people have left, would you care to share your wisdom? My father specially opened the Library Pavilion today. He certainly won't let you leave empty-handed."
"And I certainly won't let the Gongshu Clan lose out!"
"Shall we?"
"Let's!"
The two walked side by side toward the Library Pavilion.
Qin Muye was a little surprised. The Gongshu Clan was so generous!
But it made sense. Today, she'd publicly helped the Gongshu Clan save face, and in return, the Gongshu Clan had shown her the appropriate courtesy.
Each side had its own strengths in puppet crafting, and learning from each other would benefit them both.
Qin Muye had no intention of holding back. She didn't think the value of the Gongshu Clan's library was any less than that of Thread-Crafter. The Gongshu Clan excelled at combat-oriented spirit-force circuits, which happened to be her weak point.
Besides, a fate skill like Thread-Crafter was already on the level of a natural divine ability. This heaven-defying method of imbuing spirits simply wasn't something outsiders could learn.
Still, since both crafts belonged to the art of artifact-making, someone with Gongshu Xia's monstrous talent would surely be able to gain new insights.
A thousand cups were never enough when drinking with a kindred spirit.
If both of them were already hopeless drinkers, a thousand times that might not even be enough.
Gongshu Xia had already lost interest in artifact-making, but then she'd come across a puppet-crafting secret art she could understand yet couldn't learn no matter what. It had completely rekindled her desire to study it.
Qin Muye was just as unwilling to pass up this rare chance to learn from her. She focused on the puppet-making process from start to finish, and with the insights from Thread-Crafter and Craftsman Heart, her crafting insights shot up.
All night, the two talked by lamplight, neither showing any sign of stopping.
Of course,
everything came at a price.
She'd used up a tremendous amount of energy over the course of the night.
As a result, she didn't wake up until the next afternoon.
When she woke,
Bai Yuji was taking her pulse, looking as if she were facing a formidable enemy. "Why are you so exhausted?"
Qin Muye made up an answer on the spot. "I was too excited last night and couldn't sleep..."
For some reason, the corners of Bai Yuji's mouth curled upward, and then she couldn't help rolling her eyes at her. "You need to rest and get your strength back. What are you daydreaming about?"
"I was thinking about treating the illness."
"Treating the illness..."
Bai Yuji's heart suddenly began to beat a little faster.
She knew that the treatment he meant wasn't taking medicine, but the step that stirred up the medicine's effects afterward.
After the treatment,
the doctor's mouth tended to swell.
Qin Muye asked, "Are we treating it today?"
Bai Yuji: "..."
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