Chapter 183: Chapter 179: Yue Linger Resigns Herself to Death
Due to Yue Linger’s words containing quite a few sarcastic implications.

Therefore, Liu Qing, who is always straightforward and doesn’t understand subtleties, did not understand what Yue Linger was getting at.

Nevertheless, Jiang Cheng, for the sake of family harmony, still tried his best to patch things up for Yue Linger.

“What Yue means is to strike a balance between work and rest, right? I, for one, do not advocate only focusing on cultivating immortality or working all the time. In my opinion, a carefree and leisurely lifestyle is truly the best.”

Yue Linger dissatisfiedly said, “What carefree and leisurely? That’s just idling about. Jiang Cheng, she eats and drinks yours all day long, not working at all, how long do you plan to provide for her?”

Jiang Cheng’s eyes widened slightly thinking, Yue, please stop talking! If you go on, we’ll be in big trouble!

Jiang Cheng, in a low voice, reminded, “Yue, please calm down.”

Yue Linger snorted, “Hmph, Jiang Cheng, the one who needs to calm down is you, isn’t it? Haven’t you noticed that she’s overly pretty? Look at her waist, like a serpent’s, that’s not something a human could have! In my opinion, she’s most likely a demoness… mmm…”

Jiang Cheng quickly took a step forward and clamped his hand over Yue Linger’s mouth!

In his life, treading on thin ice, moments when he broke out in a cold sweat were few and far between.

But now, this was certainly one of the unforgettable sweat-dripping moments.

If his hand had been a bit slower, and had let Yue Linger finish her sentence, they both would have most likely been doomed.

Liu Qing silently walked over from the balcony and quietly stood beside Jiang Cheng.

“Demoness, what?” she asked.

“Demoness, demoness! Demoness!” Jiang Cheng hastily said, “Yue Linger means that you’re too beautiful! Like a devilishly unreasonable beauty. Right, Yue Linger?”

Jiang Cheng gave Yue Linger a meaningful look.

With her mouth covered, Yue Linger could not speak and had to nod desperately.

Liu Qing looked up at Jiang Cheng and said, “Is she scolding me?”

“No, not at all. Although ‘demoness’ is usually a derogatory term, in the context just now, it was used positively. She is envious and jealous of your beauty, so she used ‘demoness,’ a typically derogatory term, in description. Her attitude precisely highlights your beauty even more. In short, Yue Linger meant to say you are very, very good-looking.”

Upon hearing Jiang Cheng’s explanation, Liu Qing nodded her head, somewhat understandingly.

She had just heard the word ‘demoness’ and thought that Yue Linger had discovered she came from Mount Tian.

If that were the case, it would have been a bit troublesome.

Fortunately, it was not.

“Well, thank you.” Liu Qing thanked Yue Linger.

With her mouth still covered, Yue Linger could only continue nodding.

After the small interlude, Liu Qing went back to her own territory.

Jiang Cheng watched Yue Linger warily and said, “Yue, have you calmed down? If so, blink twice.”

Yue Linger blinked twice.

Jiang Cheng slowly loosened his grip, all the while not letting down his guard. If Yue Linger showed the slightest sign of acting out, he was ready to immediately clamp her mouth shut again.

It’s not only Jiang Cheng who felt that Yue Linger was a bit strange.

Yue Linger herself also felt that she was behaving oddly.

Yue Linger admitted that she was a bit envious of Liu Qing—after all, Liu Qing got to share living quarters with Jiang Cheng and was also so beautiful. To say she wasn’t envious would be a lie.

But though she was envious and a little jealous, she wasn’t without social awareness.

Under normal circumstances, she would never have spoken those words out loud; at most, she would have kept them to herself.

However, for some strange reason, her emotional intelligence seemed to have plummeted to a negative figure at a certain point. Or perhaps, she suddenly didn’t care about anyone in this world, lost her will to live, and became a social terrorist.

Yue Linger didn’t know why this was happening.

Could it be that she had been under too much pressure recently, and with her emotions repressed for too long, they had exploded all of a sudden?

That must be it.

It couldn’t be because of the use of Jiang Cheng’s talisman, could it?

The description of the Willpower Empowerment Talisman says it enhances physical potential, so it couldn’t possibly have anything to do with emotional intelligence.

Seeing Yue Linger regain her composure, Jiang Cheng breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Friend Yue, you just scared me to death.”

Yue Linger’s face showed remorse, “I’m sorry, Jiang Cheng, I may have been under a bit too much pressure recently. That’s why I said some strange things.”

Jiang Cheng waved his hand, comforting her, “It doesn’t matter, it’s all in the past now. It’s good that you’re feeling better. By the way, about that Willpower Empowerment Talisman we discussed just now, do you have any thoughts or suggestions? Like any flaws that need improvement?”

Yue Linger thought for a moment and said, “Flaws? I don’t think so.”

“As for suggestions, I think the most important thing is the pricing. If the talisman is priced too high, buyers might as well purchase two elixirs instead. I suggest setting its price a little less than half of that of mainstream elixirs. That’s the only way to attract buyers to purchase the talisman.”

Jiang Cheng nodded in agreement and said, “Hmm, your suggestion is quite good, the pricing of the talisman does need careful consideration.”

Capital, Qin Residence.

Grand Secretary Qin Wentao was in his study, reviewing memorials.

Because of the public outrage stemming from the “fruit tree grave digging” incident, a good portion of the recent memorials he had received mentioned terms like “Linlan Sect,” “talisman,” “Miaodan Workshop,” “Shen Family,” and “Wang Xiaoqiu,” among others.

Most of them demanded severe punishment for Linlan Sect and Shen Family, calling for the court to claim a large amount of Spirit Stones from Linlan Sect as compensation, and to directly confiscate the Shen Family’s property, in order to alleviate the treasury’s deficit.

Qin Wentao picked up one such memorial and, seeing similar rhetoric, scoffed and said, “Superficial arguments.”

Madame Qin, Qin Wentao’s wife, Dong Yuqiu, entered the study with a cup of tea.

“You seem unhappy again today, my lord.”

“With a court full of mediocrities, how could I be content?”

“It’s likely because their memorials aren’t aligning with your thoughts, my lord.”

“That’s indeed the case.”

Qin Wentao had long planned his approach to handling the “fruit tree grave digging” incident, which is why he found those calling for “severe punishment” to be extremely naive.

Starting with “severe punishment” for Linlan Sect—this was utterly laughable.

What is the caliber of the Immortal Sect? What is the caliber of Liang Kingdom? Do they have any sense at all?

Moreover, Linlan Sect was intentionally brought into Liang Kingdom to counterbalance the power of Tongtian Sect.

If for the sake of venting anger, a single “severe punishment” sent Linlan Sect away and allowed Tongtian Sect to dominate unchecked, that would be the eternal sin of Liang Kingdom.

The handling of Linlan Sect should be all thunder and little rain; the display must be grand, but the damage minimal.

A mere formality.

Then there were Miaodan Workshop and Shen Family.

Miaodan Workshop and Shen Family were among the masterminds behind this incident.

Logically, they should have their assets confiscated and their lineage eradicated. The mastermind Shen Mi should be beheaded for all to see, the male family members should be exiled to remote borders, and the women should be sent to the Jiaofang Division.

However, Shen Mi actively provided quite a bit of useful information. Not only did he supply evidence of bribery among several dozen officials, he even touched upon serious matters such as the Prince’s collusion with the Demonic Tao and secret communications with enemy nations, which counted as admittance of guilt and a minor meritorious act.

Though this merit couldn’t override his crimes, it gave Qin Wentao a reason to spare the Shen Family.

This, of course, was not out of sympathy.

Rather, Qin Wentao did not want to “confiscate assets.”

Asset confiscation, though convenient, often turned one million Spirit Stones into five hundred thousand, with only four hundred thousand ultimately reaching the treasury.

With the treasury in deficit, even if all of the Shen Family’s property was seized, it still wouldn’t suffice, let alone the various layers of exploitation by the court’s factions.

Instead of asset confiscation, it would be better to put the main blame on Wang Xiaoqiu’s head, give the Shen Family a chance to survive, and then let the Shen Family actively sell off their assets to buy their own lives.

For Shen Mi himself, he could be granted a swift end, to die a dignified death.

As for the main culprit of this event, Wang Xiaoqiu, being someone with neither money nor backing, was best suited to be publicly executed to serve as a warning to others.