Herta hesitated briefly, but looked again at the anticipation and hope in Fu Xuan's eyes, and remembered how she had repeatedly helped her and Ruan Mei. "Fine. Tomorrow I'll write a letter recommending you as the next Luofu General to Old Hua."
Fu Xuan breathed a quiet sigh of relief. "Thank you, Madam Herta. May your journey on the Xianzhou go smoothly this time—truly take that step."
With that, she turned and walked toward the Shackling Prison.
Herta returned to Ruan Mei. "Besides this eyebrow powder, is there anything else you want to buy? I'll cover everything today."
A faint smile crossed Ruan Mei's lips. "Cover everything"—Herta hadn't spent a single credit herself. It was all from Asta's purple gold card allowance.
"Let's just browse a little. We'll visit the new estate in the evening."
Herta nodded and followed Ruan Mei along the commercial street of Changle. Drifting Arbor mist passed by. They walked in silence. Herta reached out hesitantly, afraid to take Ruan Mei's hand.
Watching from a distance, Herta Ninety-Nine, Tingyun, and Wisteria Cake were beside themselves with frustration.
"Seriously? Madam Herta has come this far, and she still can't even hold Benefactor's hand? Always hesitating, dithering—what kind of behavior is that?!"
Wisteria Cake chimed in, "Exactly. If Herta won't even hold hands, it's hard to say what else she'll struggle with. Not like me—Ruan Mei Cake is already mine."
Herta Ninety-Nine sighed helplessly. "Wait. I'll secretly advise Madam Herta to stop being so reserved and hesitant!"
She urged Herta to be more proactive and not overthink.
Herta took a deep breath, mustered her courage—and just as she was about to take Ruan Mei's hand, Ruan Mei grabbed her arm instead.
"Ah?! Ruan Mei... what... what are you doing?!"
"Look over there. Who is that?"
"Who?"
Herta followed her gaze. Not far away, the very person who had left the Grand Diviner alone at home was playing jade tiles and occasionally exclaiming:
"Look at that—I win! Hehe."
One of her fellow players remarked, "Qingque, aren't you still on your wedding leave with the Grand Diviner? Why did you call us out to play tiles instead of inviting her?"
Qingque, counting credits in one hand and holding a tile in the other, answered without thinking, "Don't mention it. The Grand Diviner insists on spending our honeymoon at the Divination Commission—which is basically just going to work! A rare vacation, and I'm not going back to the Commission. Besides, when I play tiles with her, I've never won a single round. I've lost all the credits I saved for retirement."
The other three players exchanged glances. "So... is the Grand Diviner really that terrifying at jade tiles?"
Qingque set down her tile and sighed deeply. "Actually, Little Xuan isn't very good at tiles. She's just incredibly competitive. If I don't let her win, it becomes a whole problem."
They recalled how Fu Xuan used to publicly drag Qingque away from slacking off, time and again.
"Of course, I keep losing, and then she taunts me a little—and the Grand Diviner thinks she can cure my jade tile addiction. But really, I just scratch my head, play the fool, laugh it off. Life goes on."