CHAPTER 571: 0337 WHO IS THE HUNTER (TWO IN ONE)_2

So, Ms. Zhu, you really enjoy watching people get shy, don’t you?

No wonder you’re always teasing sir.

"Having him put a flower in your hair, is that what it is?" Miss Lu suddenly asked.

"Not really, think of it as having him do it on Ah Bai’s behalf." Zhu Pingniang blinked.

"Sister, I don’t think... this logic holds up, I don’t understand what you mean." Miss Lu shook her head.

Because no matter how you think about it, Xu Chang’an is a man. Even if he is Miss Bai’s student, Zhu Pingniang shouldn’t let him put a flower in her hair. It’s not something that can be explained away as a substitution.

"Hmm... Then I can only say that I quite like him, so I don’t mind," Zhu Pingniang said.

"..." Miss Lu paused, then turned around, seeing Zhu Pingniang’s frank expression.

"So, sister, you’re willing to admit it." Miss Lu thought, she had thought Zhu Pingniang would never admit there’s some affection for Xu Chang’an.

"After all, when we get back, I’m going to give you a beating anyway." Zhu Pingniang nodded. "Telling you doesn’t really matter."

"Could you be a little gentler, so as not to interfere with my daily work? I’m earning silver for you, sister," Miss Lu said with a pained expression.

"Spare me, saying it’s for earning me silver, yet I don’t see much of it, it’s all been embezzled by you," Zhu Pingniang snorted, then her steps paused, remembering something, and she spoke.

"Ni Zi, when you were about to leave Chang’an just now, did you have something you wanted to say but didn’t?"

Zhu Pingniang clearly saw Miss Lu hesitating to speak when she was leaving Xu Chang’an.

"Sister, you can tell even that?" Miss Lu sighed.

"Why can’t I?" Zhu Pingniang frowned. "It’s quite strange, you can even call me a bad woman to his face, yet there’s still something you can’t say?"

"I’m also a woman, asking someone for favors requires the right atmosphere." Miss Lu lowered her head.

"So... what was it that you didn’t say?" Zhu Pingniang, seeing Miss Lu lower her head in silence, asked perplexed and a bit displeased, "Did you have something to ask him? Sister, I don’t understand, whatever you want, whatever you want to do... why not just tell me? Why go to an outsider?"

"Sir doesn’t count as an outsider," Miss Lu instinctively replied, then softly said, "Ms. Zhu, since you know me so well, why not guess... what it was about."

"..." Zhu Pingniang thought for a moment.

Something you can ask Xu Chang’an, but not tell me... could it be...

She looked at Miss Lu with a peculiar expression, "You weren’t going to tell him to be more patient with me, to indulge and take care of me more, were you?"

"If I told sir that, wouldn’t you hang me up for a beating?" Miss Lu’s eyes twitched, looking very helpless.

Asking Xu Chang’an to take more care of Zhu Pingniang?

Even if she was foolish, she couldn’t be stupid enough to say that, could she?

"So, it makes sense you hesitated and didn’t say it," Zhu Pingniang tilted her head, "Since it’s not that... then I can’t guess."

"It’s your hairpin," Miss Lu said.

"...?" Zhu Pingniang paused, stopping in her tracks, looking at the girl beside her who had her head down.

Miss Lu looked at her embroidered shoes, stained with water, and said softly, "When sister whimsically threw her favorite hairpin into the water, I was thinking of asking sir to help retrieve it."

The inner lake is deep, and it’s not suitable for a woman to do the job.

Any hairpin touched by other men is something Zhu Pingniang absolutely wouldn’t use, so Xu Chang’an is the most suitable for the job.

Therefore, she had wanted to ask Xu Chang’an.

But after thinking it over, she felt that since she had already said bad things about sister, it wouldn’t be good to cause sister to lose face again, so she didn’t say anything.

"Just such a small matter?" Zhu Pingniang came back to her senses, her watery eyes filled with helplessness.

"I threw it in myself, I can pick it up myself, it’s just a sesame-sized matter, why are you getting hung up on it?"

Miss Lu shook her head.

"Since you threw it yourself, what’s the logic in retrieving it yourself?"

Miss Zhu also wants to save face, doing such a thing would make her look silly.

"I don’t mind at all myself, really don’t know what’s in your head," Zhu Pingniang turned her head, her pretty eyes trembling slightly in their sockets.

Getting playfully teased by her own maid inadvertently, causing this kind of cluelessness.

"At least you have a bit of conscience," Zhu Pingniang lifted the umbrella, feeling the rain on her face, and said softly, "Does your leg still hurt?"

"It hurts." Miss Lu gently kicked her leg, revealing a red whip mark on her fair calf.

"I’ll apply some medicine for you when we get back," Zhu Pingniang coldly snorted.

"Sister is really stingy," Miss Lu sighed, "Being in the Immortal Sect, it would be great if you gave me a Golden Core."

Zhu Pingniang: "..."

Indeed.

Ni Zi had touched her, and then immediately wanted to have her beaten to the ground...

"Only you, just shut your mouth for me,"

"Oh."

...

Zhu Pingniang covered her face.

She really couldn’t imagine how things would be if she were to live with Qin’Er and Miss Lu in the future.

She’s afraid it would give her a headache.

However...

Zhu Pingniang and Miss Lu walked towards Flower Moon Building, she turned her head to look at the delicate Miss Lu, pondering something.

Ah Bai’s infatuation, Xu Chang’an’s infatuation, and her own maid’s infatuation...

Are these three types of infatuation the same thing?

If there are differences, where do they lie?

Zhu Pingniang thought and thought but couldn’t find the answer, concluding that perhaps she too is a fickle and lustful woman after all.

"But, since I’m from the Hehuan Sect, that’s probably how it should be," she murmured.

"Hmm? Ms. Zhu, did I just catch that right? He... he...?" Miss Lu stopped, blushing, "You should read fewer of those unsavory books, really... whose lack of brains stash got you collecting them."

Zhu Pingniang: "..."

Indeed.

Her sect is just like that.

If Miss Lu knew she is actually considered part of the Hehuan Sect’s direct lineage now, what would her reaction be?

"Never mind, think what you want, you’ll get what’s coming to you later," Zhu Pingniang laughed.

Miss Lu: "...?"

"Back home, give me a makeover, and then I’ll deal with you," Zhu Pingniang said, squinting her eyes as she recalled sneaking a peek at Xu Chang’an earlier.

Actually, the reason she came over wasn’t just to pick up Miss Lu.

This rain... made her restless, she couldn’t wait until the evening banquet to see Xu Chang’an.

But, when she glanced from afar earlier, she didn’t detect anything unusual about Xu Chang’an, nor did she sense any Water Attribute Spiritual Qi emanating from him.

Even up close, she couldn’t find any evidence linking the rain to him.

Yet, all possibilities pointed to him.

Setting this issue aside for now, what remained was that Miss Yun...

Zhu Pingniang furrowed her brow.

Whether it was an illusion or not, when she hid in the shadows just now, she always felt that Yun Qian, who stood dazed beside Xu Chang’an... was watching her the entire time.

As if she knew Zhu Pingniang was there and could see her directly.

Was it an illusion?

Or did Xu Chang’an tell her she was there?

At this moment, Zhu Pingniang felt as if Yun Qian had set her sights on her, though it was clearly herself who was targeting Yun Qian.

"Forget it." Zhu Pingniang shook her head, speaking to Miss Lu, "It’s not important. Ni Zi, how does that saying go? Outstanding hunter, hunter..."

"The excellent hunter appears as the prey?" Miss Lu murmured, "Ms. Zhu, you should avoid those women in our building who just focus on seducing men."

They have corrupted Zhu Pingniang a little.

Zhu Pingniang: "..."

Forget it.

It must be an illusion.

Because from any perspective, Miss Yun doesn’t have the qualification to compete with her.

At any rate, she is the only hunter there is.

——

In the room, Yun Qian was playing with the makeup case in front of her, looking at her reflection in the mirror.

Behind her, Xu Chang’an couldn’t help but ask.

"Miss, why are you suddenly interested in Senior Zhu?"