Chapter 13 Empress Yuanzhen Stays at Home

Chen Lingyun's attitude, upon careful consideration, seemed surprisingly unexpected yet befitting of reason.

Unexpected in that Yan Yu had not anticipated such a strong fixation from her upon their first encounter;

Within reason, however, was that this fixation was not love but rather a musician's longing for music.

Put simply, it was like a child who had been bored for a long time suddenly finding an extremely interesting toy…

As a result, the plan had to be adjusted accordingly.

Chen Lingyun, who had a strong interest in him, essentially was a double-edged sword. If handled properly, there was potential to bring her abilities into play.

Not to mention, at the very least, the issue with Zhao Yuanzhen's overt identity might now fall on her to resolve.

Upon returning home, Yan Yu saw Zhao Yuanzhen sitting on the sofa in meditation, her previous mood seemingly fully recovered.

True to the Demonic Sect Enchantress she was, such a flexible and adaptable attitude was truly remarkable and worth learning from.

Yan Yu sat down beside her and took out his phone, muttering to himself:

"What to eat for lunch?"

"Let's have chicken hotpot," Zhao Yuanzhen replied, "and please add some enoki mushrooms, thank you."

"I wasn't asking you!" Yan Yu's brow instantly knitted, and he chided, "You're a cultivator who has undergone fasting, what are you doing eating chicken hotpot!"

"Fasting means not feeling hunger, not that one won't have cravings," Zhao Yuanzhen immediately scooted closer, hugging his right arm, and cajoled with a smile, "Since we're both cultivators in a union, you might as well indulge these harmless little requests of mine."

Yan Yu: ...

Scary, it's been only a week since this Demonic Sect Enchantress arrived, and not only has she already learned the common takeout menus by heart, but she's also adept at using her charms to cajole, deceive, and bewilder someone as experienced as myself!

"We're not having chicken hotpot today, we're eating braised chicken," Yan Yu declared with authority.

"Eh!" Zhao Yuanzhen let out a disappointed cry, "Didn't we just have that the night before last?"

"Less talk, take it or leave it!" Yan Yu interrupted her impatiently.

Let you know who's calling the shots here!

Zhao Yuanzhen internally cursed, and once again noted in her mind:

"Today this scoundrel won't let me have chicken hot pot, insisting on braised chicken, I'll remember this grudge. When my turn comes to rule, I'll make sure he eats braised chicken meal after meal until he's sick of it!"

Seeing her turn her head to snicker, Yan Yu could easily guess what she was thinking—she was definitely fantasizing about how to get her revenge. So he coldly asked:

"You don't want to eat the braised chicken, do you?"

"Ah? No, braised chicken is fine too…" Zhao Yuanzhen replied perfunctorily.

"If you don't want to eat, you don't have to force yourself. I can handle it alone," Yan Yu continued with a smile, "You just go on with your fasting."

"How can we, as cultivators in a union, eat separately?" Zhao Yuanzhen argued in panic, seeing that he seemed genuinely unwilling to share with her, "There's a saying that goes, 'To marry a chicken, follow the chicken; to marry a dog, follow the dog.' Whatever you eat, of course, I should eat too!"

"Yuanzhen," Yan Yu narrowed his eyes and asked, "'Cultivators in a union' refers to partners who cultivate together, right? It has nothing to do with a worldly marriage, does it? Where does this 'to marry a chicken, follow the chicken; to marry a dog, follow the dog' come from?"

Zhao Yuanzhen's eyes suddenly widened, much like Qin Xianglian seeing the unacknowledging Chen Shimei, and she hurriedly said:

"Our Dual Cultivation Method includes chapters on bedroom techniques! If that doesn't count as a marital relationship, wouldn't I have been fooled by you…"

"Stop right there!" Yan Yu quickly cut her off when he saw her about to speak indecent words, "First, let me ask you, do you still have your 'yuan yin'?"

"...Yes."

"Without having exchanged the rites of Zhou, how could it be considered a marital relationship?" Yan Yu said sharply, "A mere virgin posing as a married woman, isn't that absurd?"

"But since our Dual Cultivation Method has been achieved, we are destined to exchange…"

"Can a child bride even count as a wife?!"

Zhao Yuanzhen almost didn't catch her breath at his words, and simply flopped down onto the sofa, using a cushion to cover her face, adopting an "I won't deal with you anymore" attitude, while secretly holding a grudge in her heart, thinking:

"... Today, this scoundrel mocked my virginity, laughed at me for being a child bride, this is an utter humiliation! If one day, I get to practice the techniques of the bedroom, I will make him kneel by the bed begging for mercy, regretting his actions!"

Yan Yu tried to snatch the cushion away, but after a few tugs realized he couldn't get it, and simply left her to act like a sullen hamster.

Another hour passed, and the takeaway finally arrived.

Yan Yu placed the stewed chicken on the coffee table, lifting the lid to let the aroma waft freely, and deliberately said:

"Ah, the takeaway has arrived, it smells so good!"

Zhao Yuanzhen, lying on the sofa, twisted her body slightly, seemingly hesitating about how to respond.

"Oh, this piece of chicken is so fragrant, so delicious!" Yan Yu exaggeratedly exclaimed, "I can't finish it by myself, what should I do? Perhaps give it to the stray dogs outside..."

"How could beasts be worthy of human food!" Zhao Yuanzhen immediately sprang up from the sofa, snatching the disposable bamboo chopsticks on the table, "Rather than wasting it in the belly of beasts, better to sacrifice it to the temple of my own organs!"

"Didn't you say you only wanted to eat chicken pot?" Yan Yu reached out to protect the food.

"I said from the start that I wanted to eat stewed chicken." Zhao Yuanzhen shamelessly retorted, "What trash is chicken pot? Never heard of such a thing."

The Demonic Sect Enchantress moved her chopsticks like the wind, quickly picking out a few pieces of chicken leg and stuffing them into her mouth, chewing anxiously while keeping a nervous eye on Yan Yu—fearing he would reach over and snatch the meat.

Yan Yu was slightly bewildered: Treating a few pieces of chicken leg as treasures, where was the empowering Empress Yuanzhen of the past life?

You're acting more like a food-guarding dog!

Of course, it definitely wasn't an issue with my teaching methods.

If one thinks about it carefully, it's highly likely that she's deliberately pretending to be this kind of food-guarding, gluttonous girl, aiming to deceive and paralyze me.

Hmph, as expected of the sly and cunning Empress Yuanzhen! Such a crude trick, how could it possibly fool my keen eyes?

Yan Yu, having seen through her scheming, couldn't help but show a contemptuous sneer in his heart.

............

Wuwuwu, the stewed chicken is so delicious!

Sitting beside Yan Yu, the scheming and crafty Zhao Yuanzhen was, at this moment, filled only with pure satisfaction.

After finishing dinner, Yan Yu instructed Zhao Yuanzhen to tidy up the plastic bags, wipe down the table, and gather the trash to put by the door.

The enchantress of the Demonic Sect seemed to have adapted well to her new role, working efficiently and without showing too much displeasure.

Had it been the day she first arrived, she would have certainly needed to suppress her rage, make concessions, swallow her pride, endure the hardship... Asking her to do some house chores would have been like trampling on her dignity.

"All done!" Zhao Yuanzhen, having dealt with the trash, collapsed shapelessly onto the sofa, propping her head lazily with her right hand and grabbing the remote with her left to turn on the TV, giggling to herself, "Perfect timing, it's just the start of 'The Wife's Lies'."

Yan Yu was rendered somewhat speechless by her; didn't only 40+ full-time housewives enjoy this kind of drama filled with domestic trivialities?

Wait a minute, she lives her days at home, and her growing environment seems not that different from a full-time housewife's.

Although my goal is to prevent her from becoming the unpredictable and twisted Empress Yuanzhen of her previous life, if she ends up turning into a full-time housewife who only does chores and giggles at the TV, isn't that also a "cultivation failure"?

In some ways, it might be better to let her be the Empress than a full-time housewife!

We still need to see when the outside world will loosen the hunt for Zhao Yuanzhen, then take this enchantress out for a walk. It's indeed easy for one's character to develop problems if always cooped up at home.

Since Zhao Yuanzhen hasn't caused a massacre this life, and the situation out there has changed, memory alone can't be relied upon as a standard... Looks like I'll have to seek out that useless woman to feel out the situation, get her to resolve the enchantress's identity issue.

Put yourself to use, lazy Ling Yun!