About a stick of incense later.
A tall, luxurious carriage stopped in front of Luoshui Tower.
Many people recognized it as the carriage of Yuan Chengye, the Young Master of the Heir of Duke Ning.
The Duke Nings Residence had always been a flourishing noble family of the Great Yu Dynasty.
Especially the current Duke Ning, Yuan Heng, was a well-known Empire War God.
Yuan Heng was 137 years old this year, yet he was already a terrifying existence at the Heavenly Human Realm, Third Layer.
Within the entire Great Yu Dynasty, openly, not many people were stronger than Yuan Heng.
Even more terrifying was Yuan Heng's incredible skill in deploying troops and formations.
This man had experienced over a hundred wars, big and small, in his lifetime, with a winning rate of over 98%.
Even today, Yuan Heng still led an army of 500,000 Imperial Dynasty soldiers, guarding the southwest.
Yuan Heng, as Duke Ning, seemed to be a Duke, but in reality, he was worthy of being enfeoffed as a king of a different surname.
Even ordinary princes would be frustrated when encountering Yuan Heng.
Furthermore, Yuan Chengye's mother, the Duchess of Ning, also had a significant background, being the previous Saintess of the Dayan Sect, one of the Six Great Daoist Sects.
The Duchess of Ning's strength was also formidable; there were rumors that she was now a true Grandmaster Realm, Ninth Layer, with one foot already stepping into the Heavenly Human Realm.
With such formidable parents, Yuan Chengye was born with a halo.
Yuan Chengye truly lived up to everyone's expectations; he was also very outstanding.
He started Cultivating at 7, entered the Innate Realm at 18, and stepped into the Grandmaster Realm at 26.
Now 29, Yuan Chengye was a genuine Grandmaster Realm Fifth Layer.
Possessing such a background and martial Dao talent, it was extremely rare that Yuan Chengye was not overly arrogant.
He was known for his filial piety and his gentle and refined demeanor.
However, even the most perfect person couldn't have everything go their way, and Yuan Chengye was no exception.
Yuan Chengye was somewhat pitiable in matters of the heart.
Despite countless noble ladies being infatuated with him, he was solely smitten with Pei Muwan.
In terms of status, strength, appearance, and so on, Pei Muwan and Yuan Chengye truly felt like a golden couple.
But, Pei Muwan was famously aloof and uninterested in romance.
She had never responded to his declarations of love, which was colder than outright rejection, essentially ignoring him.
Because he was determined to have only Pei Muwan.
Over the years, the Duke Nings Residence had grown increasingly critical of the Grand Tutors Residence.
Especially the Duchess of Ning, who always felt that Pei Muwan was holding back her precious, outstanding son.
Her son was already 29, yet he still wasn't married and didn't have a soulmate.
Although a Grandmaster had a Lifespan of 180 years, and with Yuan Chengye's martial Dao talent, achieving Great Grandmaster or even Heavenly Human Realm in the future would be effortless, further significantly increasing his Lifespan, so he didn't need to worry about aging or insufficient Lifespan.
But the Duchess of Ning wanted to hold her grandchildren sooner!
At this moment.
With Yuan Chengye's arrival.
The Young Masters and noble ladies from high-ranking official families, who were gathered at every window on each floor of the Luoshui Tower's ninth story, suddenly understood.
No wonder Pei Muwan was waiting outside Luoshui Tower to greet someone; it turned out she was waiting for Yuan Chengye.
However, hadn't there always been rumors that Yuan Chengye had a one-sided love for Pei Muwan?
Had Pei Muwan finally accepted Yuan Chengye's pursuit?
Indeed, even the most aloof goddess would eventually succumb to the pursuit of a man like Yuan Chengye, the pinnacle of masculinity.
Yuan Chengye dismounted from the carriage and saw Pei Muwan at first glance.
Surprise and delight filled Yuan Chengye's handsome face.
Mu Wan?
Why was she at Luoshui Tower?
He hadn't invited her.
Because he had sent many invitations before, asking her to dine at Luoshui Tower, but they were all rejected by the Grand Tutors Residence.
So, he had given up hope.
He never expected that tonight, when he was simply inviting Commander Lin of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to dinner, he would receive such a huge, enormous surprise.
Yuan Chengye walked quickly: "Mu Wan, how did you know I was at Luoshui Tower today?"
His voice was gentle, suppressing a hint of excitement.
"I didn't know," Pei Muwan said indifferently.
Yuan Chengye was stunned, then thought for a moment, seemingly understanding something, and said: "Are you waiting for Princess Mingzhu?"
This was the only answer he could think of.
"It has nothing to do with you," Pei Muwan was unwilling to say more.
Everyone said how excellent Yuan Chengye was, but in her opinion, he was just so-so.
Was a Grandmaster Realm Fifth Layer at 29 years old really that impressive?
Among the top Sects in the Jianghu, there were Saintesses and Saints who had reached the Grandmaster Realm at 29.
What's more, this was achieved at Grandmaster Realm Fifth Layer under the cultivation of the Duke Nings Residence's terrifying martial Dao resources.
Take Pei Muwan herself, even though she Cultivated the Literary Dao, many of the Grand Tutors Residence's martial Cultivation resources were useless to her.
She had just turned 20, and wasn't she already at the Third Layer of Grandmaster Realm?
Pei Muwan, deep down, looked down on Yuan Chengye a little.
If this innermost thought were known to outsiders, countless people would probably be dumbfounded.
Good heavens, Pei Muwan's standards were sky-high, even Yuan Chengye was considered half a good-for-nothing in her eyes... Besides, Pei Muwan felt that what she pursued in this life was the Literary Dao, and she would most likely not marry.
Even if she were to marry, it would have to be to someone with whom she had a spiritual connection, meaning the other party would have to conquer her in the Literary Dao.
Yuan Chengye's meager literary talent couldn't even get him into the Imperial Academy, completely failing to meet her standards.
"Mu Wan, let me wait with you here for Princess Mingzhu."
Yuan Chengye completely disregarded Pei Muwan's cold and indifferent attitude.
If she didn't have such an attitude, she wouldn't be Pei Muwan.
"I'm not waiting for Princess Mingzhu. Can you please stop bothering me?"
Pei Muwan frowned, a little impatient.
She wasn't particularly good-tempered to begin with.
At this moment, she even felt that a vulgar person like Yuan Chengye standing there would pollute the air.
You, Yuan Chengye, are you even worthy of greeting Young Master Lu with me?
Following behind Yuan Chengye were two retainers from the Duke Nings Residence, one named Zhang Yan and the other Sun Buxiu.
Zhang Yan was somewhat displeased and wanted to say something: "Young Master of the Heir..."
However, before Zhang Yan could speak, Yuan Chengye turned and glared at Zhang Yan, telling him to shut up.
Zhang Yan and Sun Buxiu exchanged glances, feeling helpless.
The Young Master of the Heir was good in all aspects, except for being too infatuated.
Yes, Pei Muwan was exceptionally beautiful, a peerless beauty capable of toppling nations.
But there were countless beauties in the world, surely there were other peerless beauties who could rival Pei Muwan's looks? Like Princess Mingzhu... Why cling so stubbornly to Pei Muwan?
For the dignified Young Master of the Heir of Duke Ning to so humbly fawn over a woman was truly...
"Mu Wan, since you're not waiting for Princess Mingzhu, then who are you waiting for? Could it be a man?"
Yuan Chengye asked with a smile, his tone teasing; he knew it was impossible.
Just then.
Another carriage stopped in front of Luoshui Tower.
It was the Embroidered Uniform Guard's carriage, and Commander Lin, Centurion Song, Centurion Wang, and Lu Zhenghai stepped out.
Yuan Chengye saw Commander Lin at a glance and frowned slightly.
He had condescended to invite Commander Lin to dinner tonight.
He didn't expect Commander Lin to bring three other Embroidered Uniform Guard members?
Although there was a hint of displeasure, he quickly suppressed it.
After all, he had something to ask Commander Lin.
His mother, the Duchess of Ning, came from the Dayan Sect, one of the Six Great Daoist Sects, and was the previous Saintess of the Dayan Sect.
Over the years, the Duke Nings Residence and the Dayan Sect had maintained a good relationship, with many collaborations.
Just yesterday, the Dayan Sect sent someone to deliver a letter.
The content of the letter was simple: requesting the Duke Nings Residence to help search for a person named Meng Qingchan within the Imperial City.
This Meng Qingchan had stolen the Dayan Sect's Sect-guarding Internal Skill Cultivation Technique, the "Supreme Primordial Cycle Technique," and the Dayan Sect had been pursuing her for one or two months without success.
The Dayan Sect received accurate intelligence: Meng Qingchan had already fled into the Imperial City.
The Dayan Sect dared not send strong cultivators to the Imperial City to apprehend her; no matter how powerful or dominant the Dayan Sect was, it had to exercise restraint in the Imperial City.
Instead, the Duke Nings Residence was more suitable for apprehending Meng Qingchan within the Imperial City.
Yuan Chengye naturally wanted to help his mother with her worries.
However, although the Duke Nings Residence was formidable, a Duke's Residence only had a few hundred household soldiers, and most of them had been taken by his father to the southwest.
He needed to search for Meng Qingchan, but lacked manpower, so he naturally thought of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard was professional in searching for people.
Moreover, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had several thousand members in the Imperial City, effectively monitoring the entire Imperial City.
Yuan Chengye had originally intended to directly ask the two Deputy Commanders or the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard for help.
But after careful consideration, he couldn't.
The Duke Nings Residence looked down on the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
In Yuan Chengye's view, even the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was just a Great Grandmaster, wasn't he?
However, no matter how much he looked down on the Embroidered Uniform Guard, they were still the Emperor's pawns.
If he dared to invite the Deputy Commanders or Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to dinner and ask them to do personal favors, the Emperor would immediately be displeased.
"Heh, a mere Commander, to be invited to dinner by the Young Master of the Heir, and at Luoshui Tower no less, is already an extreme honor. I didn't expect this petty Commander to bring a few cats and dogs to freeload, truly clueless," Zhang Yan, standing behind Yuan Chengye, cursed.
The other retainer, Sun Buxiu, also grumbled: "Bringing two Centurions is one thing, but he even brought a Banner Commander, heh... Luoshui Tower has probably never hosted such a lowly person as an Embroidered Uniform Guard Banner Commander, right?"
The flying fish robe and xiuchun saber of the Embroidered Uniform Guard had strict Rank divisions, making it clear what Rank one held at a glance.
Lu Zhenghai, dressed in the flying fish robe and xiuchun saber of a Banner Commander, was enough to indicate his Rank.
"Alright, after all, we are asking for their help." Yuan Chengye was also very displeased.
He had never in his life dined with such a lowly person as a Banner Commander.
This Commander Lin was truly clueless, but remembering his persona, he still lightly reprimanded the two retainers with a smile.
At the same time, Pei Muwan stepped forward, walking towards them to greet them.
Yuan Chengye was stunned.
What's going on?
The next moment, he saw Pei Muwan approach Lu Zhenghai: "Young Master Lu, thank you for honoring me with your presence."
The way she said that, tsk, Commander Lin, Centurion Song, and Centurion Wang were almost scared to death.
You are Pei Muwan!
Even if a prince came to your banquet, you wouldn't use the words "honor me with your presence," would you?
Did Chief Lu see you kill someone? Why are you praising him so much?
Lu Zhenghai was also a bit speechless: "Miss Pei is joking, it's my honor that you invite me to dinner."
He thought to himself, "immortal by the river" seems to have quite an impact.
How could it not?
Pei Muwan looked at Lu Zhenghai with admiration and adoration, with a hint of a fangirl's demeanor.
So!
In this world, there are no truly aloof girls; it just depends on whether you take the right approach.