Chapter 4, Family

Mother, younger brother, I have become wealthy; the heavenly being has given me a full one hundred taels of gold! I, Wei Zhi, am no longer a useless person, and I will no longer be a burden to you, allowing you to hold your heads high in life!

I do not understand what he means by this, and I blinked my eyes while looking at him

However, after much contemplation, I decided not to let him know that he was being foolish. Instead, I continued to blink my "pitiful" eyes and gently and shyly replied, "As long as the celestial envoy agrees to my request, I will let go."

After standing still for a while, I noticed my heart beating more and more rapidly, so I turned and walked along the perimeter of the pavilion towards the woods behind.

As I approached my home, my little heart raced rapidly and anxiously.

As I pondered and glanced around nervously, unable to meet the gaze of the celestial envoy, a calm and unperturbed voice reached me, "I only wish to ask you one thing... You lack a physical foundation and are not of the furnace body constitution. Although I do not understand why you have chosen to appear at this moment, you are of no use to me."

Just as I ran to the edge of the pond and was about to bend down, I caught sight of a figure, and I couldn't help but freeze in place

Wuwu ... ... I finally ... ... found some use.

I nodded eagerly, "Willing, willing!"

The celestial envoy lowered their head and began to ponder seriously

I held onto the celestial envoy tightly and began to wail, "There must be a few capable maidservants by the side of the celestial envoy, right? I, Wei Zhi, am worth ten; I can surely do better than anyone else. Wuwu... Please, I beg you, esteemed celestial envoy, just accept me."

As soon as I entered the forest, I heard the sound of flowing water and quickly quickened my pace

I can no longer bear to listen

The immortal must feel quite lonely staying on Qingbi Mountain. I can keep him company, and I can also wash his clothes and cook for him. I can serve him like a maid as well as a disciple. Yet, he possesses such great abilities that even if my mother were to know, she would not have the courage to ask him for help.

The gaze of the celestial envoy remained calm and indifferent

Leaning against a camphor tree, I sat still with my knees hugged to my chest

After traversing two small hills, a shimmering pool of water finally appeared before my eyes

We locked eyes, and seeing me desperately blinking, he finally squeezed out a few drops of tears and spoke, "Can you hold on to this...?"

His fair and long fingers barely grazed the belt when he heard my footsteps, and thus he turned his head to look.

As I pondered, I felt invigorated once more. I rose from the grass, brushed off the dust from my body, and turned to walk towards the verdant mountains.

I was so excited that my face turned red, and as soon as I opened my mouth, I was ready to shout

After returning to his original appearance, the celestial envoy casually adjusted his outer robe, wiped away the wet strands of long hair and the droplets that dripped onto his delicate collarbone, and then gently spoke, "Wei Zhi, what brings you here?"

This path leads directly to my back door, making it half as close as the main road, but the mountain path is steep, leaving me breathless as I climb

Perhaps it was my dazed appearance that reminded the young man; in an instant, a mist passed over his head and face, and when the mist dissipated, the young man had transformed into a simple and ordinary face.

Above my head, the sigh of the celestial envoy was clearly heard

Engagement? What engagement? I couldn't help but be taken aback

I hesitated for a while, and still blushing, I replied, "I understand..." My voice was barely audible, as I looked down at the ground. I felt my body tense with nervousness, while I thought to myself: as a celestial envoy, he could easily find countless mortal women to serve him; given my plain appearance, he surely did not mean me.

I must find a place with water to clean and tidy myself before going to pay my respects to the celestial envoy

As soon as he uttered the words "useless," I fell to my knees in front of him with a thud. At that moment, I could think of nothing else. I lunged towards him, tightly grasping the hem of the celestial envoy's robe, desperately blinking my eyes, which he had just praised as "charming and bright." I exclaimed excitedly, "It is useful, it is useful! I might have done it, really! Lord Celestial Envoy, you must believe me, I am the most capable!"

What? Attending to the bedchamber?

The celestial envoy smiled once more, and gently said, "As long as I can stay, I am willing to do anything you ask"

I was truly too excited and impatient; after carefully hiding the storage bag, I took a shortcut and climbed along a mountain path towards my home

The whispers coming from the Wei Prime Minister's residence were quickly forgotten by me; as soon as I dismounted from the cloud carriage, I hurriedly made my way home

Aunt Er said: "Sister, your heart is truly ruthless. The woman with the pockmarked face that I introduced, although her son is nearly 40 years old, he has a good character. However, that paralyzed man from the Chunwu family has tortured two daughters-in-law to death..."

I paused for a moment, contemplating, and shyly said, "Just average"

The first time I saw him

The celestial envoy raised an eyebrow, as if scrutinizing me. After a moment, the celestial envoy asked, "How old are you this year?"

I increasingly used both my hands and feet, and in less than fifteen minutes, as the sun finally sank below the horizon and the mist enveloped the mountains, I arrived at the pavilion.

My mother sighed, saying: "I am also helpless. Ye insists on marrying the young lady from the Chunwu family, as you know. Their young lady is said to have noble lineage; although her own cultivation is lacking, she can bear offspring of celestial beings. The betrothal gift they are asking for is thirty taels of gold."

The celestial envoy slowly walked up to me

Seeing him merely looking at me indifferently, I gritted my teeth, grabbed the hem of his clothes, and climbed up, and in the blink of an eye, I had wrapped my arms around his waist

The pavilion is resplendent and beautiful to the utmost, as I gaze upon it, I suddenly lose the courage to step forward

The celestial envoy was lowering his head to look at me, and the expression on his face was quite strange, seemingly a mix of confusion and shock

After looking me over for a moment, the celestial envoy said, "Can you do anything?"

I once thought that if I proved myself to be useful, perhaps they would come to like me again. Just now, holding this one hundred taels of gold, thinking about how it could bring joy to my mother and younger brother, I felt so excited

I have long known that my mother does not like me, and I have also long known that my younger brother looks down on me

"Seventeen," the celestial envoy said gently, "is merely coming of age for mortals, yet it is quite young for the divine beings."

It is either the mother or the younger brother who is opening the door

As soon as he finished speaking, I lowered my head, my face flushed. I rubbed my toes against the ground and replied in a soft voice, "Your appearance is very, very handsome."

With all my strength, I climbed back up the slope, retreating step by step, unaware that I had returned to the forest.

Therefore, I must seek refuge with the celestial envoy before the sun sets

In his bright eyes, which resembled a starry sky, calm yet indifferent, I found myself unable to continue speaking. After a moment of hesitation, I could not help but say with a choked voice: "Truly, I can do anything, esteemed immortal, please let me stay."

In an instant, a strikingly handsome face, resembling that of a celestial being, with eyes as deep as the starry sky and a vaguely familiar appearance, suddenly appeared before me

After speaking, I blinked my eyes and looked at him eagerly, "Immortal, I am very capable. I can cook, I can do laundry, I can sweep the floor, I can do anything..."

I gasped for breath, hearing the creaking sound of the door opening and closing ahead.

I woke up and hurriedly bowed to the celestial envoy, stammering as I recounted the situation at my home.

As soon as my answer was given, the celestial envoy lowered his head and fixed his gaze on the hands tightly clasped around his waist

As I held my breath to listen, my mother mentioned my name, and a somewhat impatient voice came through, "Did I not say this last time? My daughter Ye'er has her eyes set on the young lady from the Chunwu family. Wei Zhi can marry, but either you let the pockmarked woman offer a betrothal gift of thirty taels of gold, and I will allow Zhi'er to marry over, or you go speak with the Chunwu family. If my Zhi'er is willing to marry their paralyzed eldest son, then their daughter will marry my Ye'er."

The celestial envoy looked at me in this manner and smiled again, saying, "Your eyes are indeed captivating." After contemplating me for a moment, he added, "Do you understand how to serve in the bedchamber?"

I barely managed to slide down a slope to the back door, and then I gasped for breath with my mouth wide open

Aunt Er shouted, "Thirty taels of gold? You dare to quote such a price?"

His sigh was long and profound, as if filled with immense confusion, along with a touch of utter helplessness and resignation

On the grass less than twenty meters away from me, a young man with long, wet hair is bending down to pick up a belt from the ground

The celestial envoy did not expect that I was aware of my own thick skin. After giving me a steady glance, he asked, "What was my appearance like when you first saw me as you approached just now?"

I am indeed very clever; at a glance, I can understand his meaning. Blushing, I continued to explain with some embarrassment, "I have no other merits, just a thick skin." Therefore, I feel no shame at all in clinging to him.

As a former young lady of seventeen, how could I possibly not understand these two words? Uncontrollably, my face flushed red, and I instinctively took a step back.

Qingbi Mountain is not far away, and I am familiar with the mountain paths here. After winding through several turns, I finally climbed to the top of Qingbi Mountain as the sun was setting, and I saw a pavilion on the peak in the distance

I looked down at the waist I was tightly holding and thought: Isn't this obvious?

This pavilion did not exist before; the celestial envoy truly possesses remarkable abilities, as they were able to conjure it out of thin air

I nodded quickly and said, "Yes, yes, I am very capable."

At that moment, a loud voice belonging to my second aunt, filled with excitement and fervor, rang out, "My daughter Wei Hong has already said that Wei Zhi is also a girl without roots. I told you, elder sister, now that Wei Zhi's roots have been tested, you should give up hope. What do you think about the marriage proposal I mentioned last time?"

I cried out for a while, but seeing that he did not speak, I quietly raised my head and cautiously glanced towards the celestial envoy.

My mother soon interjected, "You need not worry about this; Wei Zhi has indeed caused the deaths of my father-in-law and her own father. Her life is quite resilient; perhaps once she marries, that paralyzed man will finally meet his end."

He pondered while occasionally glancing at me, and after a while, the celestial envoy suddenly asked: "How is your appearance perceived in the mortal realm?"

This is the face of that celestial envoy

Sitting with my knees hugged for a while, I revealed a smile, happily thinking: I am not sad, I am not sad at all. They despise me, so I will keep my distance from them. They want to marry me off, but I will not let them succeed. I will make their plans come to nothing, leaving them utterly frustrated.

I am seventeen