How Could This Be Allowed? Absolutely Not!

Yang Jian had barely finished speaking.

Chen Wei and Ma Muzhi were the first to leave the Flying Boat. So swift were their movements, so practiced their escape arts, that the Yellow Turban Strongman on guard saw only a blur before they vanished.

When it came to work or charging into battle, they would inevitably find every excuse to drag their feet.

But when it came to leaving a meeting and returning to camp, they were surely the most enthusiastic examples in the entire army.

Don't ask.

If anyone asked, they were hurrying back to the Auxiliary Boat to arrange its defenses and ease their commander's burdens.

For this expedition, every bureau in the Bright Hall, great or small, had sent immortal officials along. Most had dispatched two or three capable hands while leaving the majority to guard the Heavenly Court. Only the Folk Customs and Morals Inspection Bureau had mobilized its entire staff!

Granted, even counting everyone, apart from Yang Niansan, who was on leave, the bureau had only three fighting forces-Chen Wei, Ma Muzhi, and Xiao Yan.

And all three were pen-pushing civil officials who could not even produce a decent offensive Magical Treasure.

So, a question for you.

Was the Folk Customs Censorate not the bureau most supportive of Yang Jian, its attendance rate firmly at the top of every bureau in the Bright Hall?

Who dared say the Censorate did not support the Holy Manifestation True Lord's expedition?

Who dared accuse the Censorate of not giving its all?

Nothing wrong with that.

With an attendance rate like this, whoever checked the records would be unable to find so much as a single misplaced word.

They had staked their entire staff on the front lines. The sun and moon could bear witness to their loyalty.

Before long.

The two immortals lowered their clouds and landed steadily aboard the Folk Customs Censorate's Flying Boat.

Chen Wei strode into the inner cabin and had just taken his seat, not yet having time to raise his teacup and wet his throat.

A faint, elusive fragrance quietly drifted into his nose. It was neither the sandalwood incense nor the heart-cleansing grass commonly used by immortals. Rather, it smelled as though someone had gathered the flowers of the three springs.

Chen Wei lifted his eyelids slightly. "Lord Yang?"

Sure enough.

A folding fan gently lifted the curtain over the inner cabin's doorway, and Yang Niansan walked in, smiling. "Sir, how did you know it was me?"

She had clearly taken sick leave, yet here she was aboard a Flying Boat on the front lines.

The atmosphere in the cabin instantly grew subtle. Ma Muzhi's eyes darted about, and everything clicked into place.

Navigating immortal society was all about knowing how to read the room.

Instead of enjoying a peaceful life in the Heavenly Court, Yang Niansan had come all this way to the Heaven-Reaching River front. Clearly, she had come for Chen Wei.

When high-ranking immortals toyed with romance and tested one another, anyone tactless enough to stand there like a blazing lamp would surely find himself squeezed into tight shoes later.

"Come on, come on! Come gather military intelligence with your Brother Ma!" Ma Muzhi seized Xiao Yan and hauled him outside. "The army has only just arrived, and the enemy's situation is unknown! This is vital military business. We cannot afford a moment's delay!"

Xiao Yan had been following Old Ma for quite some time. He was no clueless greenhorn.

He understood too!

The two immortals left the Flying Boat one after another, leaving only Chen Wei and Yang Niansan staring at each other.

Yang Niansan fixed her eyes on Chen Wei, the corners of her lips lifting slightly. "Why have you gone silent at the sight of me, sir? Are you unhappy that I've ended my leave and returned to camp?"

"I am not unhappy. I was merely thinking." Chen Wei set down his teacup and shook his head.

"Thinking about what?" Yang Niansan was taken aback.

"I was thinking," Chen Wei said, rising with his hands clasped behind his back, "with your outstanding immortal talent, Lord Yang, just how dazzling a poem could do justice to your peerless grace? Inspiration happened to strike, and I was about to recite a verse."

A verse?

At those words, Yang Niansan's eyes lit up, a flicker of delight passing through them.

When they had first met, it had been Chen Wei's poetry that piqued her interest. Having spent years in arduous cultivation on Mount Hua, when had she ever heard such winding, literary sweet nothings from the mortal world?

Chen Wei took in every change in Yang Niansan's expression and thought, Just as I suspected!

She had taken the bait.

Chen Wei paced over to the window, pushed open the wooden shutters, and sighed deeply. "For some reason, whenever I see you, Lord Yang, I cannot help thinking of the gentlest soul in the Three Realms, the Third Holy Mother of Mount Hua. I wonder how the Holy Mother has been lately?"

He abruptly changed tack without reciting so much as half a line of poetry.

The sudden maneuver caught Yang Niansan utterly off guard. Her gaze wandered uncertainly. "The... the Holy Mother is doing quite well! She cultivates in peace day and night at the Holy Mother Temple on Mount Hua, and offerings of incense flourish. Naturally, all is well. Why are you asking about her out of nowhere, sir?"

"No particular reason."

"You know me, Lord Yang. No one admires the Third Holy Mother more than I do. I simply couldn't help myself."

While saying this, Chen Wei connected the clues in his sea of consciousness.

The Third Holy Mother is pure as ice and spotless as jade. There could never be such sordid rumors about her. Besides, why would her lover be so girlish?

Just as I thought!

Yang Niansan isn't a male immortal at all. That unusual fragrance of cosmetics, that bashful blushing whenever she's praised-every sign points to a female immortal through and through, in disguise.

Her surname is Yang, she knows Mount Hua inside out, and she carries herself with the distinctive manner of a high-ranking female immortal.

The mystery is solved!

There is only one truth!

Yang Niansan!

She must be the Third Holy Mother's closest personal maid!

It made sense. The Heavenly Court's rules were strict, and female immortals faced many inconveniences if they wished to gain experience or take up duties in a Bright Hall bureau.

Disguising herself as a man and slipping in under an assumed name.

Using the Censorate's guise to investigate conditions below and gather merit was perfectly reasonable.

As for another, even bolder conjecture...

Could the person before me actually be the Third Holy Mother of Mount Hua herself?

Chen Wei inwardly shook his head, crushing that absurd thought in the depths of his sea of consciousness.

Impossible.

Absolutely impossible.

The Third Holy Mother is the Great Heavenly Venerable's own niece and the Justice Heavenly Deity's sister. She dwells high in the Nine Heavens and receives incense offerings from countless households. What a noble, dignified, exalted mighty being she is!

How could she possibly be so bored that she would lower herself to visit an obscure bureau like the Folk Customs Censorate and serve as an assistant under a mere True Immortal?

And how could a few harmless compliments make her ears turn red and leave her flustered?

Besides, everyone in the Three Realms knows the Holy Mother is gentle, dignified, and elegant. Yang Niansan clearly doesn't fit.

She is undoubtedly a maid and guardian.

The logic fit together without a crack, forming a perfect closed loop.

Having reasoned this far.

Chen Wei looked at Yang Niansan with a few additional shades of tacit understanding in his gaze.

Since she was the Holy Mother's personal maid, whether this was a disguise or her true appearance did not matter. As long as she could bring merit to the bureau and turn misfortune into good fortune, he would simply treat her with reverence.

"Oh, as long as the Holy Mother is well." Chen Wei's expression remained unchanged, and he asked no further questions. Casually pouring her a cup of tea, he said, "You must be tired from your journey, Lord Yang. Please, sit down. The winds are strong on the front lines, and demonic auras fill the sky. Now that you've ended your leave and returned to camp, just stay safely aboard the Flying Boat. Here in the Censorate, our guiding principle is caution."

Seeing such a drastic change in her chief official's attitude.

Yang Niansan was utterly bewildered, muttering inwardly, Why did he stop asking? Why?

She blinked, lowered her head, and took a sip of tea.

The fragrance of tea curled through the air.

Each harboring their own thoughts, the two immortals sat facing one another in silence.

Suddenly, Yang Niansan and Chen Wei spoke at the same time.

"Lord Yang!"

"Official Chen!"

Their words collided.

Chen Wei paused, then raised a hand. "You first."

"You first!" Yang Niansan smiled, her eyes curving into crescents.

They exchanged a smile, and a measure of rapport sprang up between them.

Chen Wei cleared his throat and said unhurriedly, "During the council aboard the Central Army's boat just now, the Holy Manifestation True Lord radiated such imposing authority that none of the divine generals present dared speak. I alone argued my case and proposed holding our position. After hearing me out, the True Lord clapped his hands and laughed before everyone. He was most satisfied with our Censorate's assignment arrangements. Throughout his remarks, he looked upon me with particular favor and lavished me with praise!"

At those words.

Yang Niansan's face filled with surprise. Her second brother had always been sternly impartial, with eyes set above everyone else. Yet today, he had actually shown Chen Wei such favor?

Well, that's wonderful!

Yang Niansan covered her mouth and laughed softly, praising him repeatedly. "How wise you are, sir! Your outstanding immortal talent must have made the True Lord see you in a new light!"

Meanwhile, aboard the Central Army's Flying Boat.

Yang Jian was listening to Kang Anyu's report. The Case Files detailed the background of Chen Wei, chief official of the Censorate, from his ascension out of the mortal world to his exclusion in the Immortal Works Bureau and then his meteoric rise in the Bright Hall.

Every detail, great and small, had been thoroughly investigated.

"Reporting to the True Lord," Commandant Kang said, presenting a Jade Slip with both hands. "I have ascertained that the Third Holy Mother's influence lay behind this fellow first catching the Records Star Lord's eye and then smoothly attaining the True Immortal Dao Fruit. Not only that, she personally recommended him to Taibai Jinxing!"

After hearing this, Yang Jian's swordlike brows rose sharply, and faint lightning flickered within the vertical mark between them.

The dignified Third Holy Mother of Mount Hua had actually lowered herself to pave the way and build bridges for a Loose Immortal with no backing whatsoever?

"Hmph!" The True Lord snorted coldly. "Absurd! How could a paltry little immortal deserve a personal recommendation from Third Sister? How could this be allowed? Absolutely not!"