Unlike the others present, whose attention was all on Ah Qing, Xu Chang’an, in no mood to watch the Sword Dance, focused more on Wen Li. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

He ought to be paying attention to Yun Qian, but he was worried that if he kept staring at her, it would affect her enjoyment of the Sword Dance, so he simply set Miss Yun aside for the moment.

In this way, Wen Li, whose eyes were filled with wavering, faint excitement, and doubt, drew his curiosity.

"Senior Sister, did something happen?"

"..." Wen Li was slightly stunned. She did not respond to Xu Chang’an immediately, but said, "Junior Brother... wait a moment."

"...?" Puzzled as he was, Xu Chang’an still nodded.

Wen Li lowered her head.

Should she talk to him about it?

In Wen Li’s heart, Xu Chang’an had always been that special one. The origin of this initial specialness was not that he was good-looking, but that there was always something unique about him that she could not understand.

She lifted her head and met Xu Chang’an’s curious yet gentle eyes.

Junior Brother would definitely be able to see things that she could observe, but Master Li could not.

Wen Li had great confidence in Xu Chang’an.

As for why, since Junior Brother could see it, he had not shown any astonishment—Wen Li also felt that was normal.

Perhaps his Sword Dao Realm was still not high enough; he could tell it was impressive, but did not know exactly how impressive.

Or else...

Wen Li looked at Ah Qing below the stage as the girl spun lightly, the silk outlining the delicate curve of her waist and abdomen. She thought that with such an ambiguous Sword Dance, given Junior Brother’s temperament, he would not earnestly watch it, and naturally would not discover too many details.

’Should I... ask him?’

Wen Li felt that as long as Junior Brother carefully observed Ah Qing, he would definitely be able to distill the special qualities in her. Yet at this moment, she actually hesitated—and that hesitation appeared in a place that even she found unexpected: to ask Junior Brother, in front of Junior Sister Yun, to carefully watch another girl who was displaying her figure. Was that really appropriate?

Even if Junior Sister would never be jealous, it was still inappropriate, wasn’t it?

Especially since Wen Li was very clear about one thing—once she truly asked, even if Xu Chang’an was in the midst of avoiding suspicion, he would still carefully and seriously observe Ah Qing.

After all, a request from her, who had never asked him for anything, and a request from Zhu Pingniang, who was always making unreasonable demands—"observe Ah Qing"—did not carry the same weight.

Wen Li lifted her head and stared blankly at Xu Chang’an.

She was hesitating.

On the one hand she needed Xu Chang’an’s help; on the other, she needed to take the little couple into consideration.

"...Senior Sister?"

Seeing Wen Li reveal such a rare expression, Xu Chang’an called to her softly. Once Wen Li came back to herself, he said, "If there’s something you want to say, Senior Sister, just say it."

He vaguely sensed that there was something Wen Li couldn’t bring herself to voice.

"Mm." Wen Li nodded. She had been wavering, but after hearing Xu Chang’an’s words, the balance in her heart gradually tipped to one side.

She had not pointed out Ah Qing’s abnormality in front of everyone; after all, no matter how much Zhu Pingniang seemed to be absorbed in the dance, she was in fact pricking up her ears to listen to them.

So Wen Li merely told Xu Chang’an that the Sword Dance Ah Qing used differed from the current system and was very likely a rare ancient art; it would be beneficial for him to watch it.

That was the truth.

Ah Qing’s outwardly displayed cultivation was similar to Xu Chang’an’s. He could indeed learn sword techniques from her.

"And, Junior Brother, your insights into the sword are different from mine." Wen Li’s tone paused, then she said calmly, "I would like to know what you think of her Sword Dance. I feel there’s something special in it."

"Like this...?" Xu Chang’an looked at Wen Li in surprise.

There was something special in Ah Qing’s Sword Dance—this was what Senior Wen meant, right.

It must be important; otherwise Senior Sister would not speak up at a time like this.

"All right." He nodded without hesitation, then abandoned his attempt to avoid impropriety and turned his gaze to the hands of the girl performing earnestly on stage.

Wen Li understood his Sword Dao cultivation and talent better than anyone—better even than Li Zhibai, who had been away for a long time. Since Wen Li said it would be beneficial to him, he naturally would not overthink it. Listening to advice and eating one’s fill was a good habit.

To the side.

Zhu Pingniang lowered her pricked-up ears, a little surprised. She asked softly, "Ah Bai... what does Ah Li mean by this? Can Ah Qing still teach Chang’an anything?"

"Regarding Sword Dao matters, listen to her," Li Zhibai reminded her.

Zhu Pingniang nodded, then thought of something. "...True enough. But... Chang’an’s Sword Dao Talent is quite good too, isn’t it? After all, he can even learn things from Ah Li."

"Mm." Li Zhibai answered and glanced at Wen Li, who had her head lowered. "So that’s why Wen Li wants to know whether Chang’an has a different view of Ah Qing’s Ancient Sword Dance."

There was nothing strange about it.

It was just like how Li Zhibai wanted to know Yun Qian’s view of the ’Heavenly Dao’. It was human nature, so there was no problem.

——

’Once again... I’m troubling Junior Brother.’

That was what Wen Li thought.

There was nothing she could do.

She was always the one asking for help anyway, so one more time hardly mattered.

In the past, she had considered Xu Chang’an to be her only mirror, one that could reflect the shadows of herself. This role was extremely important; it allowed Wen Li to make timely changes before certain matters had settled into dust.

Back then, although Wen Li thought Xu Chang’an was special, she mostly just kept it in her heart and kept the young man hidden there. It was a secret that belonged to her alone. At the time, she believed that Xu Chang’an was special only in her eyes.

Later, however, various events showed Wen Li that Xu Chang’an was not merely special in her eyes alone; rather, Junior Brother was himself an extremely mysterious existence. Thus Wen Li realized that it was not "Junior Brother is special to me, therefore he became my mirror," but "Junior Brother is inherently a mysterious person, so I chose him as my mirror."

The two might not be vastly different, but to a woman, the latter lacked a bit of that fated romance compared to the former.

It didn’t matter, because Wen Li did not care about such things.

Yet even so, after gradually realizing that she was not the only one who regarded Junior Brother as someone special, her heart still felt a little empty... Wen Li did not understand what this feeling was, but the girls of the Flower Moon Building understood very well. It was like how "a gentle person is gentle to everyone"—mystery that faces everyone and gentleness that faces everyone are the same: once that unique, exclusive portion is gone, the meaning is diminished.

She did in fact mind it.

But when she truly made a request and Junior Brother truly focused on the Sword Dance, that sense of emptiness was filled.

’I’m becoming more and more like a woman.’

Wen Li realized this, then raised her head and looked at Yun Qian’s profile.

Was she being influenced by Junior Sister Yun?

There was nothing wrong with that.

Compared to other girls, Wen Li had a good point that even she herself had not noticed.

That was, now, instead of directly feeling grateful to Xu Chang’an, she was more inclined to be "good" to Yun Qian—because that was what would make Junior Brother happy.

So she remembered how Yun Qian had mentioned a tea party before.

At that time, Wen Li had felt that a girl like herself, who lacked any feminine charm, was not suited to attend Junior Sister’s tea party. But now, as someone who had grown used to wearing skirts, she no longer needed to worry about such things.

She even thought that if Yun Qian liked tea parties but now had no chance to host one, she could take the initiative and host the tea party that Junior Sister liked.

With her reputation, many girls would certainly come.

She could take it as repaying Junior Brother for his care.