Chapter 592 515: Brother Pei and Yueqiu

Early in the morning, the inn's ground-floor restaurant was bustling.

Qing Yueqiu led Nangong Jin through the noisy main hall to a private room they had booked in advance.

Inside the private room, Pei Yuhang and Bei Lingyin were already seated.

At that moment, Pei Yuhang was focused on tearing white flatbread for his disciple and junior sister.

His slender fingers deftly broke the flatbread into small, even pieces, his movements so elegant it was as if he were playing a zither, making even the tiny droplets of oil that splashed from the lamb soup seem beautiful.

Bei Lingyin, however, didn't understand the proper way to eat it. She simply gnawed on the flatbread as if it were a griddle cake, only taking a sip of lamb soup when she started to choke.

When the flavor felt too plain, she would grab some of the soft, deep-fried glutinous rice sesame balls, as well as some crispy pork brushed with sauce.

Chewing on a crispy sesame ball, Bei Lingyin thought to herself, 'This mortal food is actually quite interesting,' and couldn't help but grab several more.

But those snacks were meant to be fillings for the flatbread. Now that Bei Lingyin had eaten them all like tidbits, how was Pei Yuhang supposed to make filled flatbreads for his disciple and junior sister?

Pei Yuhang immediately frowned.

Sensing the chill, Bei Lingyin shrank back, not even daring to move her chopsticks.

She sullenly ate a few more bites of the sesame balls, thinking, 'This Peng Sword Immortal is so stingy. He gets upset if I eat a few extra bites.'

'Even if you paid for breakfast, I at least helped carry it here...'

"It smells so good, Master."

Qing Yueqiu and Nangong Jin sat down just then, and Pei Yuhang served them the prepared lamb stew with flatbread and the filled flatbreads.

After a moment's hesitation, he gave a filled flatbread to Bei Lingyin as well.

Just a moment ago, Bei Lingyin had been pouting, resentfully poking at the flatbread with her chopsticks while silently cursing Pei Yuhang for being stingy. But upon seeing the filled flatbread, the tips of her ears suddenly turned red, and all her previous resentment vanished into thin air.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Pei Yuhang began to eat as well.

He took a few bites of his lamb stew with flatbread. When he looked up, he saw Qing Yueqiu across from him, gazing at the table full of dishes. Her fingertips toyed with her chopsticks, and she seemed hesitant, unsure where to start.

His slender fingers picked up his chopsticks, plucked a tender, smooth piece of lamb, and gently placed it in the small, white porcelain dish in front of Qing Yueqiu.

"Try dipping this in some chili sauce and eating it inside the flatbread."

Pei Yuhang said, his voice gentle and warm.

The tips of Qing Yueqiu's ears reddened slightly. She followed her master's instructions and picked out a good piece of lamb, but after brushing it with sauce, she placed it in Pei Yuhang's dish instead.

When Pei Yuhang looked over in confusion, Qing Yueqiu smiled, pressing her lips together, and gave him a playful wink.

"Actually, I was just trying to find something tasty for you, Master, but I didn't know what to choose. Now I finally know how you like to eat it."

"You little rascal," Pei Yuhang said with an amused laugh.

To the side, Nangong Jin's knuckles whitened as she gripped her soup spoon.

The intimate interaction between Pei Yuhang and Qing Yueqiu made her heart fill with even more envy for Qing Yueqiu, her junior.

'Brother Pei... he's never smiled at me so dotingly before.'

'That smile was so natural, so intimate, as if Qing Yueqiu's every move could affect his mood.'

'And me...'

Nangong Jin thought back to the fireworks yesterday, and the polite yet distant words Brother Pei had spoken to her.

She understood in her heart that no matter how hard she tried or how much she yearned for it, Brother Pei would never look at her with that same intimate, doting gaze.

But.

'If I weren't Brother Pei's junior sister, but his disciple instead... would Brother Pei take care of me as intimately as he takes care of Qing Yueqiu?'

Nangong Jin couldn't help but indulge in the fantasy.

She lowered her gaze to the rippling surface of the soup in her bowl, the thick, white broth reflecting her trembling eyelashes.

When she took another sip, it no longer tasted as fragrant as the first.

"Yueqiu, do you like cilantro?"

"I can eat it."

"Alright, then I'll add some minced cilantro to your dipping sauce."

As Nangong Jin listened to their back-and-forth, her gaze fell blankly on her own bowl of lamb soup—

'She actually... liked cilantro a lot, too.'

'But Brother Pei had never asked her.'

"Junior Sister Nangong, has your soup gone cold? Let me add another ladleful for you."

Pei Yuhang's voice suddenly sounded beside her, startling her so much that her fingers trembled and she nearly knocked over her soup bowl.

"N-No..."

Nangong Jin hurriedly shook her head, hastily spooning up some soup and drinking it with her head down, not even tasting the flavor.

And just then, she felt a gaze on her—Qing Yueqiu was looking at her.

Nangong Jin's heart leaped, as if her secret thoughts had been seen through. Her cheeks instantly began to burn.

She frantically lowered her head and almost clumsily stuffed a piece of soaked flatbread into her mouth, chewing randomly, not daring to look up at Pei Yuhang or Qing Yueqiu.

'What exactly was she so afraid of right now?'

'Was she afraid that Qing Yueqiu would see... that she, a senior martial aunt, was secretly envious of her, a junior?'

'Was she afraid that Brother Pei would realize... that she was trying to compete with his own disciple for his favor?'

Nangong Jin bit down hard on the inside of her lip, until she tasted a hint of blood.

'How... absurd.'

...

...

After the meal, Pei Yuhang prepared to take everyone for a stroll around Xuanwang City to enjoy a rare moment of leisure.

But Nangong Jin, who was somewhat out of sorts, excused herself, claiming to feel unwell, and said she would return to her room to rest.

But as she walked, by the time she reached a room and lay down on the bed, her nose was filled with a familiar scent of cool pine—mixed with a faint, unfamiliar sweet fragrance.

Nangong Jin trembled all over. Only then did she realize she had gone to the wrong room and had entered the one belonging to Brother Pei and Qing Yueqiu!

"I must be completely muddled. How did I absentmindedly end up here?"

The tips of Nangong Jin's ears burned bright red. She was thankful that Brother Pei and Yueqiu weren't there. Otherwise, how would she ever explain herself?