Chapter 153: Rescuing the Divine Consort Wang Xifeng

"Well, well, the Second Master is showing quite a bit of majesty today..."

No sooner had Yang Xin stepped back into the outer study of Jia She's residence than Wang Xifeng swooped in, leading a retinue of maidservants and pages.

"A pair of phoenix eyes slanted upward like twin willow leaves; a powdered face tinged with spring yet concealing a formidable aura, her laughter heard before her crimson lips parted—she looked precisely like a divine fairy maiden..." This was how the original text described Wang Xifeng.

Lifting his gaze, Yang Xin saw that she possessed a striking, heroic beauty. Transported to the modern era, she would undoubtedly make a brilliant female corporate executive, far outshining any ethereal goddesses. Yet her ultimate fate was somewhat tragic: the Rongguo Estate would be raided and her family exiled. While others met with clear ends—whether death or punishment—Wang Xifeng was destined to be dragged all the way back to Jinling to face further interrogation, a fate far more harrowing than the rest.

Moreover, the journey from the capital to Jinling was not to be made in carriages or by boat, but entirely on foot, escorted by vulgar bailiffs. Yang Xin had never hesitated to attribute the darkest motives to human nature. Along that grueling road, Wang Xifeng would suffer not merely the hardships of a walking exile; she was likely to be reduced to the plaything of others.

"What a pity..." Yang Xin shook his head.

Observing Wang Xifeng chattering on endlessly, Yang Xin could not be bothered to listen to her nagging. With a casual wave of his right hand into empty space, a small cloth pouch materialized out of nowhere, which he tossed toward her. Reacting instinctively, Wang Xifeng caught it, but fumbled the grip. The drawstring was loose, and the contents of the pouch tumbled out in a rattling clatter.

Wang Xifeng opened her mouth to unleash a torrent of abuse, but her jaw froze wide open. The small pouch was filled to the brim with beads. Crystal-clear and brilliantly multicolored, they were evidently no ordinary trinkets, but luminous colored-glaze treasures that cast rainbow halos under the sunlight.

The glass beads varied in size and hue, crafted with exquisite precision. Each one was perfectly spherical and uniform, entirely devoid of sand holes, air bubbles, or flaws. Some of the transparent beads cleverly featured three-dimensional carvings of tiny animals trapped inside—little rabbits, kittens, butterflies, fish, and shrimp rendered with startling realism. As the beads rolled, the tiny creatures inside could be viewed from all angles, resembling miniature animals sealed within transparent amber.

Maritime merchants of the Daqian dynasty had occasionally imported colored-glaze treasures from Western lands, but compared to the gems in Wang Xifeng's hands, those foreign imports were mere crude stones. Yet even those crude stones commanded exorbitant prices of a hundred taels of gold per piece at auctions in the capital!

This small pouch contained perhaps dozens of glass beads. It was undeniably a colossal fortune. Yang Xin could pat his chest and guarantee that, converted into modern currency, it was worth at least nine yuan and ninety-ui.

Nine-nine, just nine-nine! You wouldn't lose out, you wouldn't be conned—as proven by Yang Xin's payment history on Pinduoduo for decorative glass balls used in a fish tank, this was unequivocally a massive sum of wealth!

Yang Xin tossed the glass treasures to Wang Xifeng without a trace of stinginess, unfazed if they hit the floor and shattered, treating the priceless gems as though they were merely a bag of common pebbles.

Many of the beads bounced across the eight-immortal table, while others rolled off the edges, scattering everywhere across the floor. The fury in Wang Xifeng's heart vanished in an instant, her mind completely consumed by the glittering beads. She managed a hurried, sheepish smile and murmured, "My thanks to the Second Master for the reward."

Then, turning a fierce, murderous glare upon the maidservants and pages, she snapped, "Not a soul is to move!"

Terrified that the servants might conceal a stray bead, Wang Xifeng meticulously searched every one of them. Finding no hidden loot, she chased them out of the room, bolted the door shut from the inside, and—abandoning all pretensions of being a divine fairy maiden—dropped flat onto her hands and knees to pick up the scattered glass treasures one by one.

"Compose yourself, compose yourself. You are a fairy maiden descended from the heavens to the mortal realm, not someone straight out of a nightclub," Yang Xin remarked leisurely as he sipped his tea, watching Wang Xifeng scramble about on the floor in search of the beads.

Wang Xifeng shot him a sideways glance and resumed her hunt. After scouring the room several times to ensure nothing was missed, she scooped the beads back into the cloth pouch, pulled the drawstring tight, pressed the bag firmly against her chest, and clutched it with both hands as if her life depended on it.

"Pear, stay behind. The rest of you, disperse. Not a word of this is to leave this room. If I hear even a whisper of wind outside, I'll tear your mouths apart," Wang Xifeng threatened viciously.

The maidservants and pages exchanged glances and turned to leave.

Yang Xin shook his head repeatedly. The entire Rongguo Estate was as riddled with holes as a sieve; no matter how fierce Wang Xifeng might be, the moment those servants stepped out of this courtyard, the news of her possessing these treasures would spread across the entire estate like wildfire. Whether she could actually keep the gems in her possession by then was another question entirely.

Yet Yang Xin made no move to stop them. He could already vividly imagine the kind of vicious infighting this single bag of beads would trigger within the Rongguo Estate... Let them fight. Without such conflict, how else would Wang Xifeng ever learn the true colors of her maternal aunt and Lady Jia?

Why was Yang Xin showing such unusual indulgence toward Wang Xifeng? First, he had inherited the karmic entanglement of Jia Lian; second, he believed Wang Xifeng was still a soul worth saving.

Once the others had departed, Wang Xifeng cautiously fished a single glass marble from the pouch, held it up to the sun, and watched the dazzling seven-colored brilliance refracted by the sunlight. Her eyes curved into smiling crescent moons.

Just as she was reveling in her new treasure, she felt Pear tugging at her sleeve. Glancing up at her maid, Wang Xifeng saw Pear staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed at Yang Xin. Startled, Wang Xifeng snapped her gaze toward Yang Xin as well, only to find her own eyes widening and her jaw dropping so far that the prized bead in her hand slipped through her fingers without her even noticing.

In Yang Xin's palm rested a colossal glass sphere, which he was casually tossing up and down. If the beads Wang Xifeng held were the size of dragon-eyes, they were mere pebbles compared to the one in Yang Xin's hand—a sphere so large that it could barely be encompassed by a single hand.

"Want it?!" Yang Xin asked with a teasing, mocking smile.

"Second Master~" Wang Xifeng let out a moan that seemed to melt straight into one's bones, and gliding forward on her long legs, she rushed to his side, setting to work kneading his shoulders and beating his back.

"Sit!" Yang Xin enjoyed the ministration for a moment before gesturing to a nearby chair.

Wang Xifeng hastily sat down, her eyes burning with desire as she fixed her gaze on Yang Xin and the giant orb in his hand.

"You want it?" Yang Xin tossed the glass sphere again, watching Wang Xifeng's eyes bounce up and down in tandem with the moving treasure.

"I do," Wang Xifeng replied with absolute directness.

"Give you one night to cultivate *Qi* perception, and this treasure is yours." Yang Xin pulled out a booklet.

The cover bore the prominent title: *Huashan Internal Martial Arts: From Novice to Mastery*. Below the main title was a line of smaller text: *Compiled in the tenth year of Xuande by Yue Buqun, Ning Zhongze, Zuo Lengchan, Mo Da, and Liu Zhengfeng.*

This was a manual Yang Xin had commissioned from Yue Buqun and the others during his stay at Mount Huashan, where they had streamlined and recompiled the traditional Huashan internal cultivation arts to ensure broader adaptability and lightning-fast comprehension.

"Master, this slave cannot read~" Wang Xifeng cooed, adopting a gentleness that was entirely uncharacteristic of her usual shrewish demeanor.

"Can't read? If you can't read, how do you manage the accounts?" Yang Xin frowned.

"Caiming assists me," Wang Xifeng replied with a flattering smile.

"In other words, you'd be sold off and still help count the money for the buyer?" Yang Xin let out a cold, contemptuous snort before turning his gaze to Pear. Pear was Wang Xifeng's personal maid, her truest confidante, and her most capable assistant.

"Can Pear read?"

"Pear can read," Pear nodded vigorously.

"Very well. I give the two of you one single night. If the Mistress manages to cultivate *Qi* perception by tomorrow morning, you get two treasures—the large one goes to the Mistress, and the small one goes to you..." Yang Xin flicked his wrist, and another, smaller glass bead appeared in his hand.

"And if it fails to materialize? Well, well... I suppose I shall have to leave it for the Great Master. I hear the Great Master has quite a fondness for rare curiosities..." Yang Xin tossed the bead in his hand, leaving his implied threat crystal clear.

"And what if Pear cultivates *Qi* perception while the Mistress fails?" Pear suddenly chimed in, her eyes fixed hungrily on Yang Xin.