Chapter 42: Ex-fiancée
Life within the academy was exceptionally peaceful. During the daylight hours, Lu Yunxi’s responsibilities were minimal; she only needed to log the transactions whenever someone borrowed or returned a scroll. For the rest of the day, she was free to peruse the library’s collection at her leisure.
However, nothing in life is truly perfect. She soon discovered that the secret martial manuals stored in the academy archives were entirely composed of White and Green-tier techniques. Frankly, the quality was disappointing. Her own Lu Family Archery was already a Green-tier manual; she had hoped for something more substantial.
Regardless, she methodically copied the contents of every secret text and stashed the duplicates in her spatial dimension before turning her attention to the library’s more general literature.
“Miss Lu,” a melodious voice called out.
A beautiful woman glided into the archives, wearing an elegant, light-pink dress embroidered with delicate butterfly patterns. The ornate hairpin securing her hair didn’t wobble even a millimeter as she moved, and a gentle, refined smile graced her radiant face. “I’ve come to return this volume.”
Lu Yunxi’s boredom evaporated instantly. Truly, she thought, looking at a beautiful woman is the ultimate comfort for the soul!
The young lady’s surname was Gu. Word around the academy was that she hailed from a prominent noble family in the imperial capital. She was not only stunningly beautiful but possessed a genuine passion for literature, making her a frequent visitor to the archives.
Yunxi accepted the book with a bright smile, marking it as ‘Returned’ in the registry. “Good afternoon, Miss Gu. Would you like to check out another volume today?”
The dignified woman frowned slightly, shaking her head. “Not today, I’m afraid. I have accepted a formal mission that requires me to depart from the academy grounds. It will likely be a significant amount of time before I return.”
“Then I wish you a safe journey,” Yunxi replied, a trace of surprise flickering across her face before she bid the woman a warm farewell.
As she watched the graceful retreat of the noblewoman, she felt her entire mood lift. However, that peace was short-lived. Barely ten minutes later, a painfully familiar figure sauntered through the doors.
Yunxi’s brow furrowed. Him again! This individual seemed to materialize in front of her almost every single day.
“Miss Lu!”
The man’s voice was pitched in a deliberately soft, melodic tone that wasn’t just unpleasant—it was enough to give her literal goosebumps. Yunxi suppressed the urge to shiver, rubbing her arms as she composed her face into a mask of professional indifference. “You’ve arrived? Are you here to return a book?”
The man possessed a pair of watery, “peach blossom” eyes and a constant, oily smile. He snapped open an ornate folding fan, trying to project the image of a romantic, carefree scholar.
Yunxi had interacted with countless students in these halls, many of whom were vastly more elegant and naturally charismatic than this man. In contrast, his every movement felt rehearsed and performative; he was, for lack of a better word, greasy. Most locals wouldn’t have noticed the subtle artifice, but Yunxi had been subjected to countless over-the-top television dramas in her previous life. Her “cheesy actor” radar was off the charts.
“Indeed. I must say, Miss Lu looks particularly exquisite today. Her skin is as fair as cream, her features are—” He flashed a charming smile, settling into his daily routine of unsolicited flattery.
Yunxi cut him off with sharp rudeness. “Enough! Mr. Luo! Do you not realize how incredibly boorish it is to comment on a woman’s appearance without provocation?!”
Every word out of this man’s mouth felt like a violation. In a traditional ancient setting, a few choice words like that might have been enough to trap a girl into a forced marriage! The sheer predatory nature of his “charms” made her blood boil. If he weren’t constantly surrounded by other students during the day and conveniently missing every night, she would have physically thrashed him weeks ago.
The man’s practiced smile twitched, and a flash of dark venom flickered in his eyes. He snapped his fan shut and glanced around the room. Seeing they were the only two present in the archives, he stepped closer, his voice dropping to a low, intimate murmur.
“Miss Lu, I understand your position. A commoner like yourself must look at us students with such profound envy. You clearly desire to be one of us, to walk these halls as a scholar rather than a mere servant.”
Yunxi narrowed her eyes, her voice dangerous. “And what, exactly, is your point?”
A lecherous gleam ignited in Mr. Luo’s eyes as he brazenly scanned her figure. He leaned in toward her ear, his breath hot and unwelcome. “Tomorrow night, at precisely eleven, meet me in the forest clearing outside the Jinzhou city walls. I shall be waiting for you.”
“Oh?” Yunxi thought. So that’s why I can’t find him at night. He’s out arranging trysts in the woods!
“If you remain by my side for five days,” he whispered impudently, using the tip of his fan to tilt her chin upward, “I will use my family’s influence to secure you a formal seat within this academy. Once you pass the trials, even as a woman, you could secure a government post. But if you fail to appear… well, you would be wise to remember that I am not an entity a commoner can afford to offend. Think of your family. Are you truly willing to let them suffer the consequences of your stubbornness?”
Watching the lunatic strut away, Yunxi’s eyelid twitched. This man is so profoundly stupid there isn’t a cure for it.
If she truly wanted to enroll in the academy, she would simply sit for the entrance examinations and pass on her own merit! Why on earth would she need a greasy hack’s help? She had chosen the staff position specifically to avoid being a student. And as for his threats—the man was delusional. He didn’t know the first thing about her family situation, yet he had the audacity to threaten them.
Yunxi’s lips curled into a slow, predatory smile.
Tomorrow night? Oh, she would definitely be there. She was going to deliver a lesson so visceral that even a total idiot like him would finally understand the true scale of the world.
Just as she snapped her writing brush in half with a cold sneer, a soft fluttering sound reached her ears. She paused, looking up with curiosity.
A carrier pigeon was circling her, its tiny, clever eyes tracking her movements as it confirmed her identity. After a few laps, it landed on the desk and began primping its feathers. In this holographic world, private communications were managed via messenger birds, but the only people with her contact details were the village chief, Yasi, and her apprentice.
She opened the scroll, her mind racing through the possibilities.
[Miss Lu: It is Yasi. If it is within your power, please meet with me tonight. I am currently residing at the Tongfu Inn within Jinzhou City.]
Yunxi shredded the note, her curiosity piqued. Why was Yasi being so mysterious?
That evening, after finishing her shift, she made her way to the inn. She found Yasi, but the girl wasn’t alone. She had brought a second guest… though “person” was barely the right word for the figure huddled in the corner.
Staring at the girl’s horrific, almost unrecognizable features and her glazed, unfocused eyes, Yunxi’s brow furrowed in deep concern. “Who is this?”
Yasi glanced at her companion, letting out a heavy, weary sigh. “It is a long and tragic tale. To put it simply… she is the ex-fiancée of my own ex-fiancé.”
Lu Yunxi: ???
She spent a moment trying to mentally map out that bizarre, convoluted relationship. After Yasi finished feeding the disfigured girl and settled her into a room, the two of them sought out a private corner to discuss the recent turn of events.
The story unfolded: Yasi’s former betrothed was a man named Luo Qi, hailing from a settlement south of the regional town. After he had shamelessly broken their marriage contract to keep her family’s wealth for himself, Yasi had been left destitute. Her parents eventually succumbed to illness after their funds ran out, and in the wake of their deaths, the loathsome Luo Qi had the audacity to suggest Yasi become his concubine.
Driven to madness by the injustice, Yasi had exacted her revenge by blighting the southern villages with a curse.
But following her recent confrontation with Yunxi, Yasi had realized her fury was misplaced; the villagers were innocent, and the fault lay entirely with Luo Qi. She had traveled to the southern settlements to atone, only to discover the hidden truth behind the “fiancée” Luo Qi had used as his excuse to break their contract: Zhou Xiaoyu.
Luo Qi had claimed he couldn’t marry Yasi because he was morally bound to his childhood engagement with Zhou Xiaoyu. But Yasi found the girl abandoned in the village. Her face had been brutally disfigured, her eyes were completely blind, and her entire family was dead.
Sensing a foul conspiracy, Yasi had immediately rescued Zhou Xiaoyu and brought her straight to Jinzhou City to seek help.
