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The Aloof Lord's Mysterious Wife-Chapter 33: The Child’s Auspicious Birth Time
Chapter 33: The Child’s Auspicious Birth Time
The Marquis of Zhenbei pushed his son aside and quickly expressed his gratitude, instructing a servant to bring out a box neatly filled with fifty thousand silver tickets. Nanli eagerly accepted them.
Before she could fully savor the joy of being wealthy, she saw the Marquis of Zhenbei approach with a folded paper and say, "This is the child’s auspicious birth time..."
Nanli’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly made a gesture to refuse, urging Chu Hanlin to reject it.
But Chu Hanlin was even quicker, snatching the birth chart and angrily saying, "Marquis Xie, Nanli has just returned, and we, as a couple, wanted to spend more time with her."
"I know, I’ll send Han’er to your family," the Marquis of Zhenbei said matter-of-factly.
The Dowager Lady’s face was filled with surprise. "Marquis, you only have one son, yet you’re letting him go?"
"Exactly because I have only one son, I’m letting him go," the Marquis of Zhenbei sighed repeatedly. "I truly don’t want to send a white-haired person to deliver a black-haired one. Entrusting Han’er to Sixth Miss is the only way I can feel at ease."
Xie Beihan felt a little embarrassed. He lowered his head and said, "Father, if you want me to propose to Sixth Miss, you should have told me earlier. I haven’t even had time to freshen up, so I’m not sincere enough."
At least let him wear a clean brocade robe, that golden-blue robe with woven gold threads, paired with a golden hairpin adorned with gemstones.
No, no, that’s too vulgar and lacks elegance. He should wear a hairpin made of creamy white jade.
Just as he was happily thinking about it, the Marquis of Zhenbei patted him on the shoulder, shattering his dream. "What proposal? With your character, how could I dare to propose to Lord Chu? I’m having Sixth Miss take you as her disciple and teach you some skills!"
Everyone: "..."
Nanli breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. "Taking you as a disciple is fine, but do we really need to bring out the auspicious birth time?" She was genuinely startled.
The Marquis of Zhenbei looked serious. "When it comes to master-disciple relationships, don’t they also consider whether the auspicious birth times match? Miss Chu, take a look."
A wry smile tugged at the corner of Nanli’s mouth. "Lord Marquis, you can rest assured, but I can’t."
Xie Beihan couldn’t take it anymore. He looked pitifully at her and said, "Sixth Sister, my aptitude isn’t that bad, is it?"
"You’re several years older than me, and you keep calling me ’Master.’ It gives me goosebumps," Nanli refused.
"That’s simple," the Marquis of Zhenbei pulled his son forward. "After he becomes your disciple, he can still call you ’Sixth Sister.’"
Xie Beihan nodded excitedly. "That works, that works. Sixth Sister, please accept this bow from your disciple."
As soon as Nanli took his birth chart, she calculated it with her fingers, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes. Then she said, "I won’t accept you as my disciple, but I will teach you the Daoist arts. How much you can learn will depend on your destiny. Come, let’s first pay respects to the ancestor of Xuanyue Temple."
"That’s great! Should we set off immediately to Xuanyue Temple?" Xie Beihan felt a bit regretful, but he was already grateful to be able to learn from his Sixth Sister.
"Due to time constraints, I’ve made preparations in advance." Nanli rummaged through her bag and took out a statue.
It was the ancestor of Xuanyue Temple.
She placed the statue properly and prepared the incense burner.
Xie Beihan took the incense sticks she handed him and instructed a servant, "Bring me a lighter."
"No need." Nanli also had three incense sticks in her hand. With a flick of her wrist, they all ignited.
Everyone’s eyes widened in astonishment.
"Try it," Nanli said after offering incense to the ancestor and turning to Xie Beihan.
Confidently, Xie Beihan imitated Nanli’s actions, but the incense sticks didn’t light up. The hall fell into silence, and everyone kept their eyes fixed.
Xie Beihan concentrated, flipping through the incense sticks again. Still, they didn’t light up.
The Marquis of Zhenbei sighed, "I didn’t expect you to be mediocre in both literature and martial arts. Now it seems your talent in learning Daoist arts is also average."
Xie Beihan, with tears in his eyes, said, "Sister, can’t you use a match instead?" "This is the first lesson for beginners.
If you can’t even do this, there’s no point in wasting your time learning Daoist arts from me," Nanli said seriously.
"How many times have you tried, Sister?" Xie Beihan wanted to set a deadline for himself.
"Try? I’m sorry, I succeeded on my first attempt," Nanli patted his shoulder and continued with a profound tone, "Don’t compare yourself to me, or else you’ll start questioning your life choices."
Xie Beihan didn’t doubt her words at all, but he hated his lack of talent, failing twice in a row.
Nanli returned to Yuerong Pavilion to rest.
Chu Hanlin also went back to handle official affairs.
At first, the Old Madam and the Marquis of Zhenbei were cheering him on from the sidelines, but who would have thought that Xie Beihan would practice from the afternoon until the evening without being able to light the incense thread.
In the end, even the Marquis of Zhenbei felt embarrassed and advised his son not to force himself.
After all, their family was wealthy, and inheriting the title and wealth at home was not a disgraceful matter.
Xie Beihan remained kneeling there, his face slightly pale, lips dry from not having a drop of water.
He tried again and again, disappointed each time.
His knees had gone numb, unable to feel any pain.
"You have distractions in your heart, that’s why you can’t ignite the incense thread," Nanli appeared in the flower hall once again, "As a practitioner of the Dao, one must have a sense of righteousness. If you only have revenge for your younger brother in mind, you won’t gain recognition."
Her words struck him at once.
Xie Beihan gritted his teeth, casting aside all distractions, and focused on exposing the harmful sorcerer to prevent further harm to the innocent.
He had to expose the mastermind behind it to bring peace to the Ling Jian Sect.
With only these few thoughts, he finally managed to ignite the incense thread this time. Xie Beihan widened his eyes, filled with joy, and exclaimed, "Sister, did you see that?! I succeeded! I did it!" Nanli nodded with a smile, "I saw it."
Xie Beihan returned to the Marquis’s residence and dismissed the servants in the courtyard.
From now on, he would focus on studying Daoist arts and never again be entangled in matters of love and affection!
Xie Beihan thought he was going to learn something impressive, but who knew that even in the first lesson, he had to read books!
Those Daoist symbols and seals, he only glanced at a few pages and his head was already spinning.
What’s the difference between all these things? Aren’t they all the same?
Xie Beihan was at a loss, how could he be stumped right after starting?
The marriage between the Chu and Xiao families was scheduled for the sixteenth of next month, and both families had begun to busy themselves.
Nanli had visited Xiao Wanyi twice, no longer plagued by a starving ghost.
Xiao Wanyi had lost weight, and her wedding dress had been altered multiple times. Chu Ye was always cheerful, looking forward to his bride’s arrival.
However, ten days before the wedding, Xiao Wanyi fainted while embroidering.
Xiao’s father first called for a doctor, and then asked a royal physician, but none of them could explain the situation.