"Brother Lu! Sister Liu!"

Arriving at the Du Family in Yuezhou Prefecture, Lu Zheng immediately found Du Yueyao's family.

At this time, surrounding Du Yueyao's family were several of the Du Family's elder members.

Seeing Lu Zheng and others descend from the sky, the elders' eyes were filled with envy.

"Were you waiting for us?"

Lu Zheng descended on the cloud top and landed in the courtyard where Du Yueyao was, with Liu Qingyan's family.

Du Yueyao nodded repeatedly, "Everything is settled, and we had nowhere else to go, so we're resting in the courtyard while waiting for you."

"Greetings, Immortal Lu!" The elders of the Du Family saluted everyone, "Greetings, sir, greetings, madam."

"Please rise, gentlemen." Lu Zheng gently lifted his hand, helping them up.

After exchanging a few words and bidding farewell to Du Yueyao's family and those elders, Lu Zheng waved his hand, taking Du Yueyao's family with him, and soared into the sky.

...

Remembering the envious looks and hesitant gestures of the elders as they took off, Lu Zheng laughingly asked Du Yueyao, "How was the New Year?"

"It was pretty good actually, offering sacrifices, playing, watching plays, shopping, and meeting quite a few relatives."

Du Yueyao replied cheerfully, then hooked Liu Qingyan's arm, "Sister, quickly tell me, what's the Northern Domain like? Are the Tushan Celestial Foxes all beautiful fox spirits like you?"

Liu Qingyan playfully tapped Du Yueyao's nose, "And how beautiful am I compared to them? You forget about Tu Yuya and her sisters, each of them is better looking than me!"

"I think they're not as pretty as you." Du Yueyao whispered close to Liu Qingyan's ear, "Otherwise, why does Brother Lu's eyes only have you in them, without much reaction to them?"

Liu Qingyan chuckled lightly, her eyebrows showing joy, then started recounting the events of the past few days to Du Yueyao.

Most of the events occurred before the New Year's Eve since after the New Year, she and Liu Qingquan were summoned by the matriarch for guidance.

"Five-Colored Pheasant? Moon Shadow White Wolf?"

"Hey, did you also encounter Miss Ao and Miss Yan?"

"That Yue Yifeng is quite the romantic fool, he dared to challenge Brother Lu over... three meals, unfortunately, he's no match for Brother Lu, wasn't he just eager to gift us things?"

"Yueyao, you sure have sharp eyes." Lu Zheng turned and gave her a thumbs up, then told Du Yuru and Madam Du, "Later when we return to Yizhou, I'll leave Uncle Du with a chicken, half a sheep, and a beef leg, all of good quality meat."

"No, no, no, it's unnecessary." Du Yuru waved his hand to refuse.

"It's just some good food, Uncle Du, don't mind it." Lu Zheng waved and smiled, "Of course, there's some Spiritual Qi in them, not much, it's just a delight for us, but it can help Uncle Du and Aunt Du stay healthy, you don't need to refuse.

Besides, you wouldn't want Yueyao to be worrying about your health while treating others in Tonglin County."

Du Yueyao smiled and didn't refuse, so Du Yuru had no choice but to accept, "Thank you, Lu Lang."

"You're welcome." Lu Zheng replied with a smile.

...

Although passing through Sanjiang Dao, Lu Zheng didn't go to White Cloud Mountain, instead flying hundreds of miles past Jizhou straight to Lingbei Dao.

"Finally home!"

After sending Du Yuru and his wife back to Yizhou, they finally returned to Tonglin County.

The Liu Family had the elderly servants Liu San and Liu Wu, and the Lu Family had Uncle Li and Aunt Liu, both households were clean without need for tidying.

Liu Qingquan cheered, then returned to her room, throwing herself onto the big bed, hugging her quilt, rolling around.

No matter how good conditions outside, it's never as comfortable and free as at home.

After greeting the Liu Family, Lu Zheng returned to his own home, informed Uncle Li, and asked, "Where's Old Yue?"

He hadn't sensed Yue Honghai's presence in Tonglin County.

Uncle Li hurriedly replied, "After New Year's, Mr. Yue said he's out of money and plans to gather some pearls at the East Sea, then left, he hasn't returned."

Lu Zheng's mouth twitched.

He knew Yue Honghai's storage bag still contained quite a lot of good stuff, but with his spending spree at Yu Ling Garden...

"I saw that Yu Ling Garden closed down?"

Uncle Li nodded, "The manager said the place is a few years old, planning to renovate."

Lu Zheng, "..."

"Well, that's nice, knowing how to give back to customers, focusing on customer experience." Lu Zheng nodded and praised, "In the future, when Qingyan visits for a show, she'll have more comfort."

Anyway, he wasn't spending his own money.

Knowing Yue Honghai went to the East Sea to pick up riches, Lu Zheng didn't mind, he flew alone to Peach Blossom Plain, where he saw Shen Ying and Si Lingxi playing chess under the old peach tree.

"You're back?" Lu Zheng's eyes lit up.

"I returned the day before yesterday." Si Lingxi nodded.

Si Lingxi really considered Tonglin County as home now, returning ten days after New Year's.

Only, at that time Lu Zheng hadn't returned, so she stayed at Peach Blossom Plain.

"Nothing's going on at Phoenix Mountain?" Lu Zheng asked.

Si Lingxi smiled slightly, even though it was an insignificant question, coming from her sweetheart, it still pleased her.

"Nothing much." Si Lingxi placed another piece, surrounding Shen Ying's little dragon.

Shen Ying patted her forehead and amidst the teasing gazes of the Celestial Maidens, pulled Lu Zheng to sit in her seat, "Lu Lang help me, Sister Lingxi is bullying me~"

"Lingxi has already gone easy on you, she left at least four openings for you to break the game." Feeling the softness on his arm, Lu Zheng involuntarily sat down, meeting those shimmering phoenix eyes.

"I only left three openings." Si Lingxi said calmly.

Lu Zheng: (°ー°〃)

The Eighteen Celestial Maidens laughed heartily, Shen Ying laughed so much behind Lu Zheng that she nearly fell, the softness rubbing against Lu Zheng's shoulder and cheek made him restless.

"You must use the opening I didn't see to beat me." Si Lingxi lightly turned her phoenix eyes, speaking softly, "Otherwise, you won't enter my room tonight."

"Or you won't be getting through our room door tonight." Shen Ying snickered.

Lu Zheng, "..."

Si Lingxi, "..."

Not entering the room was out of the question, so Lu Zheng had to find the flaw Si Lingxi herself hadn't noticed.

Just that the four openings were all quite subtle, which one was the one Si Lingxi missed?

Lu Zheng licked his lips, of course, he wouldn't leave tonight's matters to fate, so he placed pieces one by one, testing.

When Lu Zheng placed a white stone in an evidently flawed position, Si Lingxi immediately sensed his intention.

Then, Si Lingxi's face flashed a smile, followed by her move.

This time, their chess game wasn't just about winning, but winning while outsmarting each other.

Si Lingxi had to win, ensuring Lu Zheng couldn't discern which opening she overlooked.

Lu Zheng had to win, discovering which opening Si Lingxi missed.

Si Lingxi knew Lu Zheng was more skilled, so she had to conceal her awareness of the three openings she knew, hide the one she didn't, and win, which was challenging.

Lu Zheng had to find the overlooked opening, with Si Lingxi being skilled herself, knowing his objective, she might pretend to not know the other openings, possibly setting traps, so even if Lu Zheng won through her trap, he essentially lost, even harder.

This led to their moves on the chessboard being chaotic and unpredictable, confusing not just the average-skilled Eighteen Celestial Maidens, even Shen Ying, whose skills improved lately, was baffled.

...

Eventually, after an intense game, they played as long as two normal games, until Lu Zheng sweated at his temples, he won by a narrow margin over Si Lingxi.

"Is this correct?" Lu Zheng looked up, Shen Ying curiously turned to Si Lingxi as well.

Si Lingxi pursed her lips, her face slightly flushed, and gently nodded.