Sweet as Honey. White Robe.

　　"… Long Cheng kept working for Kong Duan to protect the altar. I sent him to a village at the capital's outskirts. He's not the type who can sit still, so I'll probably have to a.s.sign him so work."

　　I recounted what happened over the last few days in a short and concise format. Young s.h.i.+yi nodded as I went. Regarding my activities with Divine Moon Cult, she didn't know much more than my fellow martial siblings. She, as a matter of fact, never met my former subordinates before. In some ways, Hongjiu knew more than she did. Having said that, I never withheld any information from her, so she only needed to ask if she wanted to know something. More importantly, I didn't want her to involve herself with Divine Moon Cult in case put herself in jeopardy. She knew what I had in mind, which was why she never pried when it came to the topic.

　　"I see. In short…" Young s.h.i.+yi stopped to think and picked up the most important part: "You went wandering for a few days, married a eunuch and even had a son after!"

　　Young s.h.i.+yi deftly grabbed my left ear right as she finished. She shot me a scary glare at me and smiled: "I was wondering why my eye kept twitching the last few days. Wow, Feizhen, you're amazing, huh? First Princess, Second Princess and even a eunuch now. Let's hear it; how many mistresses are you hiding?"

　　"I'm sure I recounted the story in Chinese! What exactly were you listening to?!"

　　I went on to give an elaborate explanation. Young s.h.i.+yi grudgingly believed me in the end; however, the way she looked at me suggested she believed I was the type who was bold enough to actually commit thw heinous crime and hide my mistresses around nearby. Thus, I asked her how she was doing as a member of the Female Constables.

　　Young s.h.i.+yi waved a hand: "Heh, nothing much, just a little tired from being commanded."

　　'S-Someone has the audacity to boss my Young s.h.i.+yi around?!'

　　"Heh, they must be sick of living! Who's bossing you around?! Tell them to step up, and I'll teach them a lesson!"

　　"Pfft, what are you so worked up for? Unlike you, my comrade listens, takes care of me, cheers me up and even gave me a small plum blossom."

　　'Huh?! Someone confessed to Young s.h.i.+yi? I can't imagine any male entering their courtyard. Don't tell me it was Gramps Huang.'

　　"One flower?! You're not dead! That's unlucky." I shook the image of the scoundrel trying to steal my Young s.h.i.+yi's heart out of my mind: "Bossing you around on one hand and giving you a flower on the other hand. That's what you call a rat. That's the worst kind. Don't fall for his tricks."

　　"Idiot." Young s.h.i.+yi giggled: "What are you jealous for? Her name is Lu Xiaomeng. She's seven years old this year. She's so adorable and keeps calling me 'Junior Sister, Junior Sister.' She's so cute unlike you, always innovating ways to get on my nerves."

　　"Oh, so the little girl's name was Xiaomeng," I said in my mind. I was relieved for a second before I was annoyed: "I never got on your nerves."

　　"Really now?" asked Young s.h.i.+yi, tone sarcastic and standing akimbo with her eyes narrowed. "You just left for several days without any prior notice. You don't happen to think I don't know you went to the temple fair before you came back, do you?"

　　"Uh, that, uh…"

　　"Who did you go with?"

　　"M-My colleague."

　　Young s.h.i.+yi didn't believe me. She stopped herself when she intended to argue. She, instead, remarked, "Wait, I smell a fragrance on you."

　　"Where?" I asked before sniffing my sleeve. Tone relaxed, I explained, "I went around to several places today, including eating out. It's probably the smell of the dishes."

　　"Oh? Which restaurant was this? I had no idea there was a restaurant that could produce Jin Guilan's exclusive premium fragrance."

　　Because Young s.h.i.+yi mentioned it, I could finally smell the faint fragrance when I focused. That said… I suddenly recalled the somewhat lonely smile from the girl who also shared her heartfelt feelings with me. If my memory didn't fail me, it was Bai Lian's smell…

　　Young s.h.i.+yi smiled: "My adorable Ming Feizhen, do you mind explaining what this is about?"

　　's.h.i.+t! s.h.i.+t! s.h.i.+t! s.h.i.+t! Those eyes are menacing…'

　　"I-I-I, it, that, this, it's actually General Manager Bai's scent. I went with General Manager Bai to the temple fair. Umm, eunuchs like to wear makeup, so it's nothing surprising."

　　Well, General Manager Bai was a girl, after all. Judging from the atmosphere, though, I didn't think I could mention it…

　　Doubtful, Young s.h.i.+yi stared at me with a squint for a while. I felt as though she saw through me, so I had to force a smile. Suddenly, she sighed: "I'm getting on with age and rusty. I guess it's hard to blame you for preferring someone else over me. I'm twenty-five and still not married, after all."

　　Young s.h.i.+yi stroked her cheek and bemoaned, "I can understand why you'd prefer young girls and eunuchs."

　　I instantly railed, "Why do you say that, Young s.h.i.+yi? How can those women compare to you?!"

　　Young s.h.i.+yi's poignant demeanour suddenly flipped around: "Oh, so you did find yourself another girl!"

　　'Huh?'

　　Young s.h.i.+yi pinched my ear: "You refuse to speak unless I trick you, is that it?! Fess up! Who's your mistress? Eunuch Bai, correct?! How long have you two been together?"

　　'Let's apply logic, please! Young s.h.i.+yi, you set me up! My ear! My ear!'

　　"Wait! Where did you learn that from?!"

　　Young s.h.i.+yi grinned smugly: "Your s.h.i.+niang's taught me."

　　'Huh? You learnt how to catch cheaters from my s.h.i.+niangs?! Why did you choose to take the advanced cla.s.s of all cla.s.ses?! We're not even married yet! This is the equivalent of learning Yijin Jing when you haven't joined Shaolin, learning Tai Chi Mental Cultivation before joining Wudang and learning Spring Wind Rainy Night Art before even knowing what Demon Sect is. You think you're me or something?!'

　　I need to digress for a moment. If you want to learn the most authentic and effective Cheater Catching Art in the world, then my s.h.i.+niangs would be the best of the best. Yan s.h.i.+san was a legendary case cracker, but he couldn't hold a handle to my s.h.i.+niangs ability to catch my s.h.i.+fu's affairs. You're not convinced? Yan s.h.i.+san couldn't catch my s.h.i.+fu, yet they caught him annually.