Chapter 57: Calling Husband

“Disciple, aren’t you asking too hastily? Shouldn’t you first join the Five Spirit Sect?”

“The terms are too low and will only raise suspicion. Setting the terms higher makes the deal easier to seal,”

Zhang Yuge explained.

Cheng Kuan was stunned.

He never expected Zhang Yuge’s condition to be this.

If it were just a Divine Phoenix Sect Quota, Cheng Kuan wouldn’t feel much pressure.

But he had already promised Ye Tianlu that if Ye Xichen was willing to join him, he would arrange for him to be admitted to the Divine Phoenix Sect as circumstances allowed.

The Divine Phoenix Sect Quota only had three slots every ten years for the Five Spirit Sect, and Cheng Kuan, as an elder in charge of the pill division, monopolized two of them.

This was hardly reasonable.

People are inherently selfish.

Right now, the most important thing was to cure the True Fire injury that had plagued him for years.

Judging from the attitude of the Ye family young master, he had already made his offer clear, yet the hesitation strongly suggested a refusal was coming.

Cheng Kuan’s aim in recruiting Ye Xichen was for research, to develop a way to completely eradicate the True Fire within the body.

Now, with a young man who could perfectly replace both Wu De and Ye Xichen, and the only condition being a Divine Phoenix Sect Quota, even a fool would know what to choose.

“If Daoist Zhang wishes to obtain the quota, he must first join the Five Spirit Sect and be my disciple for a time to legitimize it. If I were to give the quota directly to an outsider I have never met, it would surely face fierce opposition within the sect.”

“That’s no problem. I intend exactly that. It would be my great honor to become Elder Cheng’s disciple.”

“Very well, then Daoist Zhang, from this moment forth, you are officially a disciple of the Five Spirit Sect.”

“Elder Cheng, please call me Zhang Yuge directly. I still have many shortcomings and ask for your guidance.”

Zhang Yuge was truly giving Cheng Kuan enough face.

“Master, look! I’ve succeeded. Entering the Divine Phoenix Sect is just around the corner,” Zhang Yuge said with a sly smile.

“Didn’t expect you to be quite skilled. Well done,”

Yun Lan said with satisfaction.

Originally, Zhang Yuge had just gone out to purchase the pill formula to detoxify Li Yuhan’s blood poison, but unexpectedly he also secured qualification to enter the Five Spirit Sect—what a windfall.

He didn’t linger here but took the medicinal materials and vanished outside Yunbao Pavilion with Zhang Qingyao.

By the time they returned to the City West Pawnshop, it was evening.

Zhang Yuge headed straight to the secret chamber and immediately began refining the Poison Removal Elixir according to the system’s instructions.

It wasn’t until late at night, when Zhang Yuge saw the word “Poisoned” disappear from his attribute panel, that he finally felt at ease to sleep.

Lying in bed, Zhang Yuge felt a sudden chill of fear.

He had been extremely cautious during the negotiation, yet still got poisoned by Li Yuhan.

He never imagined that the opponent’s blood itself carried poison.

The Day After Tomorrow was the Rain Supplication Festival; now was not the time to tear apart relations—it was best to pretend nothing was wrong.

Moreover, the entire Zhang family—two hundred people—were currently imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison. Without Li Yuhan’s help, rescuing them was nearly impossible.

The next day, an unexpected visitor arrived.

Zhang Yuge was quite surprised when he opened the door.

“…Why are you here?”

The young girl standing in the doorway immediately darkened her face.

“What? Can’t I visit you when I’m free?”

“I never said I didn’t welcome you.”

Zhang Yuge’s gaze flickered downward and caught the finely crafted basket in Li Yuluo’s hand.

“Oh, wife, what did you bring to visit your husband?”

Li Yuluo ignored Zhang Yuge’s teasing and stepped into the room.

As soon as she entered, she saw Zhang Qingyao curled up asleep under the covers.

No doubt, these two had spent the night together again.

Li Yuluo said nothing, only snorted and placed the basket down.

“You probably never ate the Imperial Dining Hall’s pastries before, right? Well, no wonder. With your poor meals here, you definitely wouldn’t get to eat them.”

Her voice rose a little, waking Zhang Qingyao on the bed.

“Is our usual food really that bad? I think it’s fine.”

Zhang Yuge lifted the lid and leaned in to smell.

“If the food is so bad, why didn’t you say earlier? I could have asked Green Pearl to buy something else.”

“No use, Young Master. These are court delicacies brought back by the Prince from the Imperial Dining Hall. Our usual street food couldn’t possibly meet the Prince’s standards,”

Zhang Qingyao said as she climbed out of bed.

“Hmph, then don’t eat it.”

Li Yuluo crossed her arms and turned away, unwilling to bother with this sarcastic person.

“I naturally wouldn’t dare to waste the Prince’s kindness.”

Whenever Zhang Qingyao said “Prince,” she always deliberately emphasized it.

Li Yuluo knew it was on purpose, but had no way to fight back.

So whenever the two argued, Li Yuluo never won.

Once Zhang Qingyao brought up that Li Yuluo used to be a man, Li Yuluo was immediately speechless.

Zhang Yuge walked over with a grin and wrapped his arm around Li Yuluo’s slender waist.

“Wife, coming so early to bring me pastries, you care for me so much—I am truly delighted. Even in that simple Palace Maid Uniform, your extraordinary beauty cannot be hidden.”

To Zhang Yuge’s surprise, Li Yuluo clearly resisted his touch, struggling hard to break free and forcefully shrugging off his arms.

“Just eat your pastries and don’t get handsy.”

Li Yuluo felt a wave of frustration.

She had snuck out early this morning, hiding from her royal brother, to sneak into the Imperial Dining Hall and secretly bring Zhang Yuge some food.

Instead, she was coldly mocked by another person and even taken advantage of by this despicable lecher Zhang Yuge.

Despite being bullied by Zhang Qingyao for so long, not once had Zhang Yuge defended her.

The usually compliant Li Yuluo suddenly resisting caught Zhang Yuge completely off guard.

He thought for a moment, then wrapped his arms around her from behind and whispered into the girl’s ear:

“I just woke up not long ago and am very tired. How about you feed me, wife?”

“You—you wish…”

Li Yuluo tried to pry his arms away from her waist.

“I can tell you a secret about Zhang Qingyao.”

Suddenly hearing this, Li Yuluo froze.

“If you feed me with your hand and call me husband, I’ll tell you Zhang Qingyao’s dirty secrets.”

Li Yuluo had long been bitter about Zhang Qingyao.

Hearing Zhang Yuge was about to expose her dark history, she was immediately tempted.

But she also suspected he might be bluffing.

“You tell me first.”

“You feed me first, then I tell you.”

“What if you’re lying?”

“If wife is so unwilling, then I’ll just force you…”

Before Zhang Yuge could finish, a sweet, warm pastry was pressed against his lips.

Li Yuluo held a piece of jujube cake in her hand but kept her head lowered, not daring to look at him.

“Anything else?”

Zhang Yuge asked.

“Eat, eat the pastry…”

“Hm?”

“Husband, please eat…”

Only then did Zhang Yuge open his mouth satisfied to swallow.

“Well then, husband, can you tell me now?”

Zhang Yuge leaned close to Li Yuluo’s ear, whispering softly.

Behind them, Zhang Qingyao looked on suspiciously at their interaction.

Seeing them embrace so tightly, she turned her gaze away.