The incident that occurred at South Street's honey dates stall quickly spread. Even if the Left Guard had the intention of covering it up, there were simply too many civilians who witnessed the events. Naturally, it could not be concealed. While the Left Guard framed the incident as a dispute over honey dates between Zhu Xia, the saintess of the Myriad Heaven Palace, and the cultivators from Old Pine Mountain, the foreign cultivators chose to disregard such matters and instead focused their attention on Chen Chao.
This young commander from the borderlands of Great Liang had already stirred up enough storms in the Divine Capital. With his involvement, it was difficult for people to pay attention to anything else, even with the presence of the saintess of the Myriad Heaven Palace.
However, this time, the young cultivators from the foreign lands did not cause any further waves. Those young geniuses became very silent and no one dared to provoke Chen Chao anymore. Suddenly, the Divine Capital became quiet.
The wind and rain gradually subsided.
But in reality, this was merely the calm before the storm.
Everyone knew that the true storm would surely emerge again one day.
And that day would be the Myriad Willow Convention.
Over where the Great Liang Dynasty arranged accommodations for the foreign cultivators, there was a lake. Although it was not as large as the South Lake, it was still considerable and boasted pleasant scenery.
This property was originally owned by several wealthy merchants from the previous dynasty. When the Great Liang Dynasty was established, the imperial court reclaimed this land and transformed it into a garden for the imperial family. After several decades, Emperor Lingzong granted this property to that deposed emperor as his personal asset. However, after the deposed emperor ascended the throne, this place was sealed off. But in just a few years, the Great Liang emperor seized power. After reorganizing the land, this place was entrusted to the Heavenly Imperial Institution to manage, all for this day.
At present, there were only a few people by the lakeside. The majority were busy preparing for the Myriad Willow Convention. They were either diligently studying ancient texts or cultivating bitterly, making it difficult for anyone to spare the leisure and interest to come to the lakeside for a scenic view.
Jiang Shuchan stood by the lakeside, holding a note about the incident at the honey dates stall. After glancing at it a few times, she casually threw it away. The note floated into the wind and ignited on its own, quickly turning into a wisp of smoke.
"Ruoshui, I will kill him."
Watching the note turn into smoke, Jiang Shuchan spoke calmly, her voice devoid of emotion, but resolute. It was as if when she said those words, she was determined to carry it out.
"The Myriad Willow Convention doesn't allow killing. What methods does Fellow Daoist Jiang have?"
A voice suddenly sounded out by the lakeside. It was very abrupt.
Jiang Shuchan turned around and saw that a young man had appeared next to her without her noticing. At this moment, he was currently looking at her.
"Xi Qiuchen, why are you here?" Jiang Shuchan spoke calmly, without any emotional fluctuations in her words.
Even if her thoughts were known to the newcomer, she did not mind at all.
Xi Qiuchen looked at her, not answering her question, but simply smiled and said, "The Myriad Willow Convention doesn't allow killing. Even if you want to 'accidentally' do it, it would be quite difficult."
Since the establishment of the Myriad Willow Convention, very few young cultivators had died during the martial exam. It was a grand event for the young generation and no one wanted to see their own youngsters perish here. Therefore, it was a tacit agreement among all parties.
"However, since we are in the Divine Capital this time, accidents might happen. But what I'm curious about is that since Fellow Daoist Jiang has already decided to humiliate him, why do you want to kill him now?"
Xi Qiuchen smiled as he looked at Jiang Shuchan. The story between her and Chen Chao by the lakeside was known to everyone, as well as the wager between them.
Everyone was waiting for that day.
Jiang Shuchan spoke calmly, "Who said I wanted to kill him during the Myriad Willow Convention?"
According to the rules of the Myriad Willow Convention, she might not even encounter Chen Chao, let alone kill him.
Xi Qiuchen raised an eyebrow and said, "If it's not during the Myriad Willow Convention, then where? In the Divine Capital, it would be difficult for Fellow Daoist Jiang to make a move. After all, this was the capital of the Great Liang Dynasty, there were countless eyes watching. As for outside the Divine Capital, I don't think that uncouth martial artist would choose to leave the Divine Capital anytime soon."
Jiang Shuchan glanced at Xi Qiuchen and said, "That's not something you should be concerned about."
Xi Qiuchen smiled and did not say anything more, but his eyes remained fixed on Jiang Shuchan's body.
He came from the southern border and was most proficient in techniques that invigorated Yang by harvesting Yin. Currently, he even had a higher ranking on the Latent Dragon List than Jiang Shuchan.
Xi Qiuchen started to say, but before he could finish, Jiang Shuchan said in a cold voice, "Shut up."
Her eyes were filled with coldness as well as undisguised disgust.
Xi Qiuchen did not pay any attention to it at all. He had seen too many women like her before. At first, they were like wild horses. But as long as you tamed them properly, the feeling was incomparable; something that ordinary girls could not compare to.
Jiang Shuchan no longer said anything and turned to leave. Soon, she had left, leaving only her back view behind.
Xi Qiuchen watched Jiang Shuchan's graceful figure, his eyes filled with undisguised passion.
"Just wait, someday..."
When the news reached the academy, the dean was playing chess with the Myriad Heaven Palace's great daoist sage.
Both of them were not particularly skilled in chess, so their chess prowess was evenly matched. After this great daoist sage arrived, the dean had not played chess with Su Yi again.
As the current game came to an end, with the dean winning by a small margin, he joyfully began to put away the chess pieces. At this moment, that great daoist sage suddenly said, "I've already written a letter back to the mountain. It won't be long before someone from the sect heads to Old Pine Mountain."
The dean was taken aback, then frowned and said, "It's a quarrel among children. Even if there were some disputes, there's no need for you to get so worked up, is there?"
The old man laughed coldly, "I've lived my whole life aimlessly, and now, I finally have this one disciple and she was humiliated for no reason. As her master, am I supposed to turn a blind eye? Speaking of which, how many things have happened since I came to the Divine Capital?"
"If I had known it would turn out , I shouldn't have come to take part in the Myriad Willow Convention."
The dean's expression remained unchanged as he said, "The assassination attempt when she entered the city can indeed be attributed to Great Liang. But as for your disciple's dispute with someone over buying honey dates, what does it have to do with Great Liang?" "Besides, if it weren't for that boy, your disciple might not have been safe and sound."
"If she hadn't gone to find that boy, how could this have happened?"
The old man looked at the dean with an unfriendly gaze.
The dean was never one to mince his words and immediately retorted, "As her master, if you can't control your disciple, what are you blaming others for? If you make her stay in the academy, she will stay. I'd like to see who dares to cause trouble in my academy."
Knowing that he could not win an argument with the dean, the old man stopped arguing and silently reached out to pick up the chess pieces.
The dean quickly changed his expression and smiled, "Brother Daoist, let the children solve their own problems. Moreover, it's just some trivial matter, there's no need for you to get worked up. Since Brother Daoist has already written a letter back, it serves Old Pine Mountain right. But if Brother Daoist blames that boy, it would be unreasonable. After all, Zhu Xia that girl was saved by him. It's already impolite enough not to give a gift."
The old man had a rather ugly look and he said with a cold expression, "A gift? I think I'll end up giving that lass away sooner or later!"
Even before entering the Divine Capital, he had warned Zhu Xia that it was the easiest to become infatuated at this age, telling her to be careful and not get too involved.
In reality, he even made up his mind not to let this precious disciple have too much contact with Chen Chao. But who could have expected that the moment she entered the Divine Capital, she would already become involved with Chen Chao. The two had already become friends now. After another few days, it would not be friends that simple anymore.
Teenagers, this was the time when feelings easily arose.
Thinking of this, the old man suddenly looked at the dean with a cold glint in his eyes, full of murderous intent.
The dean naturally understood the reason. But he just raised his head and chuckled, "It looks like I need to meet that young man."