"Ah?"
Li Mo scratched his head, lost in thought.
There was a ti when relatives would visit, and during als, Old Li would pat the back of his head, urging him to greet them.
This was one of the rare monts when Li Mo felt socially awkward.
anwhile, the little "ice block" would hide in her room during lively gatherings, making her presence nearly undetectable—like a wary little cat.
Yet now, she had effortlessly gone along with his parents to et their relatives and friends?
If mory served, wasn’t he the biological child here? The ice block hadn’t even officially married into the family yet...
"Little Mo." Shang Qinqing suddenly spoke up.
"Ah?"
"That family of three looked quite harmonious heading out. Hope you can join them soon."
"Sure thing... Wait, huh?"
Li Mo, now feeling like an outsider, twitched at the corner of his mouth. He wondered if the ice block had caught onto sothing—like how a certain immature brat had grown bolder lately, even daring to transform into a wolfman to bully his elder sister, becoming harder to control.
So, had the ice block cleverly secured the entire Li family’s favor, cutting off his support and leaving him no choice but to obediently listen to his elder sister?
Damn it! That sly ice block was truly unpredictable!
"eting relatives and friends? Where?"
Shang Wu sat down, her drowsy eyes suddenly sparkling with interest.
Don’t misunderstand—Shang Wu simply loved such lively gatherings. During holidays, relatives and friends would never show up empty-handed, often bringing gifts like fine wine.
"Next ti, next ti."
Li Mo didn’t dare entertain the idea.
If they went, the scene would likely end with Shang Wu drunk and everyone else beaten up.
"It’s not even alti yet."
Little Shang Li glanced at the sky and carefully wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth.
"Almost forgot."
Shang Qinqing chuckled. "Seems like our daily four-dish-and-soup als are all thanks to Little Ice, huh?"
But that wasn’t entirely true. Today, Chef Li’s mind was simply elsewhere.
Promotion in the sect... the impending engagent... whether the aloof ice block would adapt to the enthusiastic relatives... how much money he even had in his pockets... the headache of figuring out how to spend his uncountable wealth...
See? Even an immature brat had plenty to worry about!
While lost in thought, he whipped up a few dishes and a pot of Qinghe clam soup.
"Hey, why are these clams just shells?"
Shang Qinqing cracked a few open and frowned.
"Look." Li Mo tilted his chin.
Sure enough, little Shang Li scooped up spoonful after spoonful of clam at, the shells having magically fallen away, as if willingly offering their flesh to him.
"Big sis, you eat." Shang Li piled all the at into soone else’s bowl.
"Such a good boy. If only Shang Wu had half his sense..." Shang Qinqing muttered.
"I’ve never heard of the Life-Death Reincarnation Array transferring temperant too..." Qin Yuzhi also found it odd.
"Eh? What are you two implying?"
Shang Wu, who had just returned with a bottle of wine, raised an eyebrow.
"Uh, nothing. You’re the most sensible, absolutely." Qin Yuzhi waved her hands dismissively.
"Uncle, where’s Auntie?"
"She went to... uh, et so not-so-close relatives and friends."
Li Mo’s mind drifted to how the little ice block used to hide nervously during New Year’s visits:
"Don’t let her cold, all-knowing deanor fool you. She’s actually terrible at socializing. Whenever guests ca, she’d hide in her room and wait for to bring her food."
"In that regard, Sister is definitely better." Shang Li nodded sagely.
"At least family sticks together."
Shang Wu felt her efforts in rescuing her little brother weren’t wasted—but her joy was premature.
"Rember that one New Year when Sister arm-wrestled Great-Grandpa over drinks, then grabbed him by the collar and poured wine down his throat? Great-Grandpa was so drunk he called her ‘Granny’!"
Shang Li’s recollection plunged the room into silence.
Shang Wu scowled. "He was the one who bragged about eating more salt than I’d eaten rice and drinking more wine than I’d drunk water!"
"......"
Glancing at Shang Qinqing and Qin Yuzhi still cracking clams, then at the "slightly sensible" Shang Wu and the half-pint Shang Li, Li Mo suddenly wondered if the fall of the Shang Dynasty had less to do with fate and more to do with... this.
Before long, Old Qian dropped by for a al.
The engagent banquet and Qingyuan Sect’s promotion ceremony were set for the sa day—an almost absurd notion, pairing a major sect advancent with two disciples’ betrothal.
But to many, including Qingyuan Sect’s elders, the latter was far more significant.
After all, the sect’s current reputation rested on being "the ho of Li Mo and Ying Bing."
Most of the visiting factions—from the distant Heavenly Mountain Sword Manor and Prosperous Trade Guild of the capital to the nearby Crimson Whale Gang and Blazing Jade Forest of Purple Sun Prefecture—were coming specifically for them.
Qingyuan Sect would be packed, surpassing even the bustle of Great Shang Kingdom’s capital.
But.
With the ice block away at the Li family, the sect’s event seed lacking in prestige.
Setting aside the "Blade Sovereign of the Profound" and "Frost Fairy," Qingyuan Sect was, at its core, just a prefecture-level power—one that had nearly been overtaken by the Crimson Whale Gang not long ago.
Their foundation was weak, but they couldn’t afford to appear lacking in grandeur now.
"I’ve tallied our reserves: 77 spirit crystals, 63,000 taels of gold, and... exactly 3 million taels of silver. Wait—no."
Old Qian removed his boot and fished out a silver note.
Plus two small silver fragnts.
"3,050,000 taels and 2 mace."
Even the loose change is accounted for.
"Our sect..." Li Mo inhaled sharply. "This poor?"
The sum sounded substantial, but for a sect ant to dominate a region, it wasn’t even enough to "fake it till you make it."
Old Qian said nothing, his gaze shifting to Shang Wu, who was gulping down wine.
Shang Wu whistled innocently, eyes fixed on the ceiling, pretending ignorance.
Li Mo: "......"
Suddenly, everything made sense.
His master’s extravagance wasn’t in food or drink—it was in troublemaking. As a peak master, she’d llowed slightly, but in her youth, even stray dogs gave her a wide berth.
When she bit—er, caused trouble, reparations followed: dical fees, lost wages, emotional damages... all per Great Yu’s legal code.
"It’s not all bad, right? Old Xue’s dical skills and Old Qian’s lawyer license ca from those incidents. Silver linings!"
Shang Wu’s defense was uncharacteristically weak.
"I’ll cover the shortfall," Li Mo sighed.
"That’s hardly—"
"It solves my dilemma too. After all, it’s my wedding."
"Right. Let’s budget carefully—it shouldn’t cost too much."
By evening, the quiet of Autumn Water Pavilion was broken as Gu Xueqin and Li Dalong returned, bringing along the ice block they’d proudly paraded all day.
Spotting Li Mo fresh from training, Ying Bing lifted her chin slightly, exuding the aura of a phoenix empress returning to her moonlit palace.
As if to say: This immature brat? A re flick of my wrist is enough to subdue him.
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