Liu Qingluo's speech was not a bit arrogant, but in the eyes of the young man in fine clothes, he suddenly felt the misplaced impression that she looked down on him.
It seems that if someone of lower status does not act according to his wishes, it's seen as looking down on him, as being arrogant.
…
At Flower Moon Building, Zhu Pingniang shook her head gently.
Liu Qingluo is still immature after all.
For a well-off young master who lived his life believing the world revolves around him, Liu Qingluo could refuse his proposal to take her as a concubine, but she could have just casually made an excuse... Yet Liu Qingluo chose the worst way possible.
To refuse by saying she already has someone in her heart, isn't that openly saying he is inferior to the one she loves?
How could such a young man bear being "insulted" by someone who had once been a prostitute?
"Hmm?"
Zhu Pingniang squinted her eyes. She watched from afar as Liu Qingluo clenched the corner of her skirt, her little finger slightly trembling, and suddenly clapped her hands in delight.
"An interesting girl, truly interesting," Zhu Pingniang laughed out loud.
She did it on purpose.
Liu Qingluo actually said it deliberately.
That girl didn't even know Xu Chang'an was protecting her, where did she get such bravery?
Is it because... Xu Chang'an has become that important to her?
When did her courage and character change like this?
The impression Liu Qingluo used to give was one of lifelessness, accepting whatever happened passively.
The former Liu'er was filled to the bone with inferiority, feeling extraordinarily ashamed of her identity as an artiste-courtesan, and her courage was pathetically small.
Zhu Pingniang recalled how if she hadn't helped, this girl could have nearly been threatened into becoming a courtesan just by some simple intimidation...
Yet here was Liu Qingluo, now courageous enough to do such a thing.
Perhaps in the eyes of ordinary people, Liu Qingluo merely did an insignificant small thing, but Zhu Pingniang was greatly astonished, more than seeing Yun Qian stepping outside or today's unpredictable weather.
Changing the weakness of the heart is far more difficult than changing the weather.
"So... what made her turn into this?" Zhu Pingniang looked at Xu Chang'an in the corner of the room and smiled slightly.
This kid probably doesn't understand at all what his words and actions mean to these girls almost trapped in a deep pit.
"Hmm..." Zhu Pingniang took a big bite of a Beauty Fruit, her gaze on Yun Qian who was chatting with the girls outside the tavern.
She had some notion of sending Liu Qingluo to the Chaoyun Sect for cultivation.
Previously, this child was timid and self-deprecating, and Zhu Pingniang felt that even if she let her go for cultivation… she would surely say that someone like her didn't deserve it.
But now things are different.
Zhu Pingniang suddenly became very curious about how far this girl she has been taking care of in the mundane world could go?
Yes.
As for this resulting in potentially giving Yun Qian another competitor in love...
It doesn't matter if there's one more, it's quite interesting.
Zhu Pingniang laughed, looking at the young man in fine clothes who was furious in the tavern, thinking she should thank him... for providing her with a good play and also for revealing the girl's character.
Really a decent tool person.
Hopefully, Xu Chang'an will be ruthless enough later, as a reward for the young man.
"..."
In the tavern, Liu Qingluo took a deep breath, lightly pushed the yellow paper in front of her to the young man, and said, "Does the gentleman have other matters? If not... my little shop should open by now."
Her voice trembled slightly.
After all, she was just a lower-class person, standing here with a bleeding heart was already more courage than she had gained from the one she admired.
The young man in fine clothes remained silent, perhaps because he was too angry, which instead made him seem calm.
Puzzling.
A courtesan essentially, someone who could mean nothing more than a prostitute.
The young man's eyes narrowed to a point, his earlobes slightly trembled.
Even a 'corner' could defy his will, no wonder he could not compare with his legitimate elder brother in family matters.
Half of his head buzzed with noise, and his gaze turned more vicious, watching the meticulously dressed Liu Qingluo, noticing the dangling tassels against her face, and the alluring tear mole semi-concealed beneath them.
"So, you took everything I said as passing wind?" The young man tore away his cultured mask, suddenly drew a dagger from his waist and stabbed at Liu Qingluo's snowy neck, viciously saying, "Did you really think this young master could bear you, merely a prostitute!"
Liu Qingluo was completely unprepared for the young man's sudden change, and as a girl, she was completely unable to react.
"Clang!"
Suddenly, there was the clear sound of metal ringing, silver light flashed, and the dagger in the young man's hand shattered into pieces.
"That's enough." Xu Chang'an sighed.
"Xu, Young Master Xu..." Liu Qingluo looked at Xu Chang'an as he emerged from the shadows, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief.
Xu Chang'an, being part of the Immortal Sect, acted at just the right moment... undoubtedly, he'd been watching for a while.
The transition from shock to delight made Liu Qingluo's body go weak.
She thought of how Xu Chang'an had just intercepted the blade for her, making her heart beat quickly.
"Class Leader Zhu sent me," Xu Chang'an used Zhu Pingniang as a shield.
Hearing this, Liu Qingluo was momentarily stunned, her hands involuntarily twining together.
She was smart.
"I've worried Ms. Zhu again," Liu Qingluo bit her lip, her face a bit pale, she smiled softly, "Qingluo thanks the Young Master."
The young man in fine clothes finally snapped out of his shock, looked at the broken dagger in his hand, then at Xu Chang'an and Liu Qingluo in front of him.
When Liu Qingluo was speaking to him, she addressed herself as "I" with every sentence.
Facing Xu Chang'an, she opened her mouth by referring to herself as "I, concubine."
"Who are you, which family's alchemist? Do you know who I am..." The young man's words caught in his throat halfway through, fear flashing in his eyes.
"Who you are has nothing to do with me?"
Bigger than Zhu Pingniang?
Xu Chang'an chuckled, pointing a sword glow at his brow, watching the sword glow split open his flesh, blood trickling from the youth's brow down to the tip of his nose.
"D-don't kill me..." The young man's eyes contracted to a point.
"Young Master Xu." Liu Qingluo was frightened by Xu Chang'an's actions, her head shook fiercely, "Young Master, don't."
She didn't want Xu Chang'an to get embroiled with this kind of person because of her, if so, she would be complained about by her sisters.
"I wasn't planning to kill him," Xu Chang'an's sentence was cut off when he suddenly sensed a danger, immediately turning his head.
The tavern windows burst open, a small figure flew inside like a swallow.
"Get out of the way!"
With a delicate shout, a soft force pushed Xu Chang'an back three steps.
The person suddenly twisted their body, spinning ninety degrees in the air, landing a whip kick brutally across the face of the fine-clothed youth, before he could crash into the walls of the tavern, she stepped heavily on his face and landed firmly.
"Bang!"
The wooden floor cracked slightly.
Sound good, sound good is good carry.
Xu Chang'an and Liu Qingluo looked appalled at the violent figure that flew inside.
"Hmph, this is where you bully Sister Liu."
Gu Qiancheng stamped on the unconscious fine-clothed youth, spitting on his bloodied face, then unhappily pointed at Xu Chang'an.
"You, this man, cooking was okay, but to act so indecisively like an old woman, truly like a woman!!"