Deceptively Innocent

The pavilion doors shut, sealing off all noise from the outside world. The six were arranged by precedence, but counting the master seat behind the desk, there were only three chairs in the entire room. Xu Changge sat to the left of the desk, while Lou Ji took the right. Left without seats, the three youngsters from the Feng family naturally had to remain standing. Having been through their prior conversation, the brother and sister had clearly seen enough of the world, but the youngest girl seemed utterly ill at ease. Silence carried a weight of intimidation, but there was no need to waste it on three green brats. Xu Yuan fixed his gaze on the youth in white and said, "I am very busy. Keep it brief and state your business." Feng Xianru blinked in surprise. Someone of Xu Yuan's status could not possibly fail to see why they had come. Though puzzled, he still cupped his hands in a respectful salute. "To answer the Young Master, Fangming's physique has begun to awaken." "And?" "..." Feng Xianru's heart sank. Instinctively assuming Xu Yuan meant to refuse them, he hurriedly said, "Young Master, without the help of the Prime Minister's Manor, Fangming will certainly not survive!" "Little master of the branch family~" Lou Ji's voice chimed in from the side. Her alluring eyes curved into crescent moons, her tone brimming with amusement. "What happens to this little girl—what does that have to do with us?" Feng Xianru panicked slightly. Glancing back at the timid girl behind him, he gritted his teeth and said, "Young Master, would you permit us to see the Family Head?" "..." Xu Yuan was rendered speechless, though mostly exasperated. The seeds he had casually sown on his way to the Western Desert had borne fruit in their coming to seek aid today, but that did not mean he would unconditionally help this genius of the Feng branch family. A thousand years had long diluted the blood ties between the branch and the main lineage. As for their affiliation, while the ancestral Feng family still honored Feng Jiuxuan as Family Head, it was largely nominal. The capital's Feng family and the ancestral Feng family had already severed ties—a split spearheaded back then by his mother and maternal uncle. Should the Chancellor's Manor ever fall, a bloodline would at least be preserved for the Feng family. With sentiment out of the question, if they wanted help, they had to bring something to the table. Both his and Lou Ji's words were meant to prompt these three youngsters to pledge their loyalty, yet this boy truly seemed like a young master completely ignorant of how the world worked. With a soft sigh, Xu Yuan shifted his gaze to the girl in martial attire, only to find her stealing timid glances at him. The moment their eyes met, Feng Fangming frantically ducked her head, clutching the corner of her clothes. It was almost comical. It seemed that being suppressed by Feng Xianru had left the girl with an instinctive inferiority complex when facing others. "Even if you saw him, he wouldn't help." Feng Xianru proved stubborn on this point. "We still have to try." Hearing this, Xu Yuan asked, "Boy, do you know the two methods for treating the Yin-Yang Profound-Pattern Physique?" Feng Xianru perked up. "I do not. The elders in the clan only said the Family Head might have a way. I beg the Young Master to enlighten us." Xu Yuan lightly tapped the desk before him, keeping his voice level. "First, consume one Taiyuan Fuqing Pill every three days to suppress the Dao charm within her body. Second, have a Saint personally intervene and continuously infuse her with saint origin." Feng Xianru took an instinctive step forward, his voice trembling with excitement. "So... Fangming truly can be saved..." "Of course she can be saved," Xu Yuan cut across the ignorant youth's clamor. "However, the raw medicinal cost of a single Taiyuan Fuqing Pill alone is one hundred thousand taels of pure silver. Boy, do the math. How many years will it take her to reach the Body Integration realm at her current cultivation, and how much silver would that cost?" An expert of the Grandmaster realm in the Prime Minister's Manor earned an annual stipend of around a hundred thousand taels, yet treating Feng Fangming would cost over ten million taels a year. The investment far outweighed the returns, which was why those with the Yin-Yang Profound-Pattern Physique were almost always used as cauldrons rather than nurtured as prodigies. Hearing this, Feng Xianru looked crestfallen. After a brief silence, he ventured with a glimmer of hope, "Then... the latter...?" "No Saint is willing to continuously deplete their saint origin to save an outsider." Silence followed. Feng Xianru's eyelids drooped. Staring at the precious black tiles beneath his feet, a wave of helplessness nearly suffocated him. There was a cure, but he couldn't afford it. He could only watch helplessly as the girl he loved withered away. Feng Fangming's slender frame trembled slightly. Yet learning her impending fate seemed to ease her habitual timidity somewhat. Tugging at the sleeve of the sloth-like girl beside her, she whispered, "Sister Xunhua, let's go home. Let's not... not trouble the young master here any longer." Feng Xunhua looked back at the girl forcing a smile beside her, then at her trembling younger brother, before suddenly asking Xu Yuan, "Third Young Master, what do you want us to do?" Oh? Xu Yuan was slightly surprised. Seeing the two looking thoroughly devastated, he had been ready to lay it out plainly. He hadn't expected this listless sloth of a girl to be the only sharp-witted one among them. Pondering for a moment, Xu Yuan looked her up and down and chuckled. "What can you do for me?" Feng Xunhua tilted her head, thinking it over. Her pretty eyes drooped halfway, long dense lashes fluttering as she asked languidly, "...Be your concubine?" "..." Xu Yuan's expression turned intensely bizarre. Studying her face and realizing she wasn't joking, he finally couldn't help bursting into laughter. "Why would you think that?" Feng Xunhua wore a hemp hood over her head, her jet-black hair spilling down both sides. She blinked slowly. "...Because aside from our bodies... our cultivation can't help you at all, Young Master." "You can't help right now, but don't you have a future?" "But that sounds so exhausting..." "..." Xu Yuan's eyelid twitched. "Sis!" Snapping out of his daze, Feng Xianru suddenly sent a voice transmission, stunned and bewildered. "What are you doing?! You're a core disciple of the Feng family! Demeaning yourself like this—what will people think?!" Feng Xunhua glanced back and parted her lips. "Don't speak aloud, reply with voice transmission!" Feng Xianru hastily cut in. He was genuinely terrified that his idiot sister would just blurt it out. "Oh." Belatedly catching on, Feng Xunhua explained sluggishly through voice transmission: "Little Brother... if we want Third Young Master to save Fangming, we have to work for him. Working means cultivating, and I don't want to cultivate... Cultivating is really too tiring. So, it's better if you just sell me off..." "..." Feng Xianru. "..." Xu Yuan. After a stretch of silence, Feng Xianru took a deep breath, finally grasping the Third Young Master's intent. Stepping forward, he bowed solemnly to Xu Yuan. "Third Young Master, as the scion of our former Family Head, Feng Xianru is willing to be driven at your command. I implore you to save Fangming." "..." Leaning back in his chair, Xu Yuan remained silent, thoughtful contemplation in his eyes. "Originally, that was indeed my intention. But now, I find myself rather more interested in your sister." Feng Xianru stiffened slightly, wanting to say something, but the older sister beside him responded without the slightest hesitation: "All right, Third Young Master. When do you want my bo—" "Don't misunderstand," Xu Yuan cut the sloth-like girl off mid-pitch, smiling. "It isn't your body I'm interested in, but you as a person." "...Ah." Hearing that, Feng Xunhua immediately pulled her head back like a turtle into its shell. Xu Yuan slowly sat up straight, lacing his fingers together on the desk. "First, answer me one question," he asked quietly. "Were you doing it on purpose earlier?" That remark claiming the branch Grand Elder had called Hua Hong a traitor who sold out his master for personal gain. Feng Xunhua blinked her dark eyes and nodded. "...Mm. Yes." Xu Yuan pondered for a moment, then asked, "Does he himself know about this?" If he did, then the branch Grand Elder was seeking to pay with his own life to secure a higher platform for these three youngsters. But unexpectedly, the sloth-like girl shook her head slightly, the shimmering strands of hair peeking from her hood swaying gently. "No..." Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow, asking with growing intrigue, "Has he ever wronged you?" "No, not that either." "So you simply wanted to use him as a stepping stone for the three of you?" "Mm." "..." After a brief silence, Xu Yuan smiled and asked one final question: "Why?" Under everyone's gaze, Feng Xunhua replied sluggishly, as if stating the most obvious truth in the world: "Third Young Master... the Grand Elder doesn't have much lifespan left, and he has no hope of breaking through. Things should be put to their best use."