On the small path outside the Academy, Hua Yan waved a hand toward Hua Xiangrong. “Go on, Rongrong. Remember to study hard and listen to your Master.”
“I know, Mother. You say that every day. Don’t you ever get tired of it?”
Hua Xiangrong, carrying a small satchel, turned back and wrinkled her nose.
Suddenly remembering something, she added, “Oh, Mother, the Quarterly Exam is in a few days. Winter break starts after the exam. There’s a School Closing Ceremony before it ends, and the Master said all parents must attend. They’ll announce our grades collectively and talk to everyone about how we’re doing in the Academy.”
“Alright, I’ll go with your other mother.”
Hua Yan smiled and waved at her again, watching as she and a few companions skipped into the Academy.
“A School Closing Ceremony?” Hua Yan turned to look at Yun Xuechang beside her, her eyes filled with curiosity. “Why doesn’t your Xiaoyao Sword Sect Academy use home visits or send letters? Why announce grades and discuss the children at a ceremony instead?”
“There are many children at the Academy, and quite a few aren’t from the Xiaoyao Sword Sect but were sent here from the outside world. Visiting every home would take too much effort, so the Master came up with this method,” Yun Xuechang explained softly. “When I was young… that was how we did it, too.”
‘I see… how interesting.’
Having received one-on-one instruction from Hua Yuheng and the Elders of the Hundred Flowers Valley since childhood, this was the first time Hua Yan had heard of such Academy rules.
“So, how were your grades when you were little?” she asked, suddenly curious.
“Uh…”
Yun Xuechang paused, appearing a bit embarrassed, but she still answered honestly.
“When I was a child, only my Martial Course grades were acceptable. Everything else was a complete mess. When my Master was still alive, she would always return from the School Closing Ceremony saying that I had humiliated her and that I was a hopeless blockhead.”
“Hahaha! Hahahaha!”
Hua Yan immediately burst into laughter.
‘Pfft, I knew Xuechang’s Literary Course would be bad! She sounds even worse than I am!’
Imagining a smaller version of Yun Xuechang being scolded by a frustrated nun, getting her head tapped while she stared blankly, made Hua Yan unable to stop herself.
Patting Yun Xuechang on the shoulder, Hua Yan held back her laughter and offered some comfort.
“Oh, it’s fine. You still have me, don’t you? I’m quite clever, and Rongrong is a bright girl, too. She’ll surely take after me, so her grades will definitely be good.”
“Yes, Yan’er is indeed wise.” Yun Xuechang nodded seriously.
“Hahahaha… you certainly know the right things to say.”
Hua Yan looked at her with a beaming smile. Ever since she had realized her own feelings, she found Yun Xuechang’s blunt and honest nature more and more pleasing to the eye.
“Come on. Today, I’ll take you out of the mountains to buy some winter clothes and jewelry.”
She glanced at the thin, plain white clothes Yun Xuechang was wearing and took her hand.
“You’re so beautiful, yet you don’t know the first thing about dressing up. It’s a waste of such a lovely face. Today, let me fix you up properly. We’re going to have a beautiful New Year, alright?”
Looking at her smile, which was as bright as the morning sun, Yun Xuechang nodded instinctively. “Alright.”
……
A short while later, inside the Tianyi Workshop closest to the Xiaoyao Sword Sect.
“How about this one? It’s quite similar to your usual style.”
Hua Yan picked up a simple white immortal robe embroidered with silver thread and dotted with tiny, sparkling diamonds.
She held it up against Yun Xuechang, nodded in satisfaction, and then waved over a girl to bring a Jade Branch Silver Crown.
“This hair crown will definitely look great with this robe. Go on, try it on!”
“But Yan’er, didn’t we… come here to buy winter clothes?”
Yun Xuechang felt a bit uneasy as she looked at the shop assistant, who was already beaming with joy while holding an armful of clothes and jewelry.
She was currently dressed in an ice-blue, silver-patterned cloak lined with snow-white fox fur.
Underneath, she wore a matching short jacket with a cross-collar and an entwined branch pattern.
Her hair was pinned with a silver-blue tassel flower accessory. She looked less like a cold, detached immortal and more like a refined, elegant lady made of ice and snow.
“Oh, I already told you that you’re beautiful. Of course we have to pick out several outfits. You look good in everything anyway.”
The more Hua Yan looked, the more she felt that Yun Xuechang was a natural clothes horse; no matter how she dressed her, she stood out.
“But… I don’t have that many Spirit Stones…”
“It’s fine. I have plenty of Spirit Stones.”
Besides, this Tianyi Workshop was owned by her own family. Even if she picked out more, what did it matter?
Hua Yan was enjoying herself and waved her hand dismissively.
Back when she was still a man, perhaps because she had grown up in the Hundred Flowers Valley surrounded by female cultivators who loved beauty, Hua Yan had loved grooming herself since she was small.
That preference had not changed even after she became a woman.
Although she was resistant to female clothing at first, she had gradually grown used to it and had recently become a bit obsessed with the variety of women’s fashion.
However, though they were both women, Hua Yan found a different kind of joy in dressing Yun Xuechang compared to herself.
For one thing, the two of them had completely different styles—one as gorgeous as a flower, the other as pure as snow.
The clothes and jewelry she chose were naturally different.
And for another…
She secretly glanced at her own impressive chest, then looked at Yun Xuechang’s flat, plain front.
‘Pfft, Xuechang is a woman, but how is she about the same as I was back when I was a man…?’
She couldn’t help but cover her mouth and giggle.
“Yan’er, is something wrong?” Yun Xuechang didn’t notice the “offensive” gaze.
She only thought Hua Yan’s sudden bending over and giggling meant she was feeling unwell.
“Nothing, nothing. I just thought of something funny.” Hua Yan suppressed her laughter and held up a simple white cross-collared robe with ink-wash embroidery that had a slight masculine flair.
“I think this one would suit you as well. Let’s buy it too, alright?”
“Mm, alright.”
Yun Xuechang nodded. In truth, her eyes had long been dazzled by the silks and satins.
She wasn’t good at choosing clothes, so if Hua Yan said it was good, she would wear it.
“Let’s go, let’s go. We should pick out a few things for Rongrong to take back as well.”
In high spirits, Hua Yan took her hand and headed toward the children’s clothing section.
……
“We bought so many clothes. Tell me, which one looks best?”
After returning to Mianyun Peak, Hua Yan organized the day’s haul, placing Yun Xuechang’s clothes into the wardrobe according to the season and color.
“I don’t know,” Yun Xuechang replied truthfully.
“How can you not know? Can’t you tell if something looks good?”
Hua Yan stuck her head out from the wardrobe and held up a light pink silk dress. “What do you think of this one?”
“It looks good.”
She then held up a pale green pomegranate skirt. “And this one?”
“It looks good.”
“The blue one?”
“It looks good.”
“Is ‘good-looking’ the only thing you can say?”
Hua Yan arched an eyebrow, completely at a loss with this dullard.
“What about me?” An idea suddenly flashed in her mind, and she asked on impulse, spinning around where she stood. “How do I look in this?”
Yun Xuechang gazed at the red-haired young woman. She was wearing a red silk robe with gold-woven embroidery and a red-gold headpiece.
Pearl tassels hung from her ears, and a mischievous smile played on her lips.
She was so bright and vivid that it was blinding. Yun Xuechang thought for a moment.
Just as Hua Yan thought she was going to say “good-looking” again, she spoke softly.
“You are devastatingly beautiful, peerless.”
“Ahem!”
Hua Yan was startled, her entire body freezing for a second.
Then, she suddenly covered her burning cheeks with her hands and hurriedly turned her back.
‘This dullard…’
The young woman pressed her hands tightly against her warming face.
Even the tips of her ears were completely red, and her pale gold eyes were unknowingly filled with a shy, watery shimmer.
How could anyone not grow to love a dullard like her?