18 Departure, Li Mansion

The next day, Li Mo Shang discovered that of the members of Room 303, Wang Xing and Ling Shi Ming had already departed for their homes. As Su Yuan'er was to leave tomorrow, Li Mo Shang left Magnolia Dormitory with Li Zhen Yue. Though the girl protested about being left along, there was nothing she could do, for she bought the train ticket.

As Li Mo Shang walked next the Li Zhen Yue to the administrative building to obtain their leave passes, he noticed that many appreciative gazes were aimed towards their direction, particularly at Li Zhen Yue. Wearing a blue miniskirt, white laced sweater, her slender waist and delicate frame attracted the attention of many males, focusing on her smooth light-silver hair, ending at her waist.

Appearing extremely lovable and appealing, many people complimented Li Mo Shang and Li Zhen Yue as a "heavenly couple", for Li Mo Shang's appearance had also changed to a well-worthy eye candy for women.

Entering the administrative building and taking the elevator platform to the third floor where student departure services were handled, they noticed a considerable queue. As dozens of people patiently stood for their pass to legally leave the university campus for prolonged periods, Li Mo Shang estimated the wait to be an hour or two due to the slow verification pace of the administrative officials. Obtaining their call tickets, Li Mo Shang found a suitable spot to sit with several benches, before waving to Li Zhen Yue.

When Li Zhen Yue arrived before Li Mo Shang, he noticed that she had brought three others with her, two male and one female. Introducing the three as Tang Qiu, Tang Wu Tong, and Lin Zefan, Li Zhen Yue sat in the same bench as Li Mo Shang, causing the later to send an inquisitive glance. As she noticed the other two males' expressions showing inclinations of unease, Tang Wu Tong casually struck up banter, causing the stiff atmosphere to loosen.

Li Mo Shang simply tuned out their conversation, pulling out a randomly selected book in his bag. Titled <One Night, One Sun>, the book was a historical fiction interpretation of the drastic fall of the ancient Dong Lin empire. He had purchased this on a whim, solely because the title seemed intriguing.

After merging with Dong Lin Imperial Right Censor Ling Tianxin's experiences and his treatise <Analects of Dong Lin>, Li Mo Shang knew that Dong Lin's downfall had truly been due to a beauty's words. The Peace Consort had bewitched the Emperor of Dong Lin with her otherworldly beauty, turning the magnificent ruler of an enormous nation into the slave of a single woman.

The ownership of Dong Lin switched hands within an instant, and it quickly fell prey to the Peace Consort's maternal empire, the Empire of Nan Bing. It was said that after obtaining the Dong Lin throne, the Peace Consort went on a bloody massacre, wiping out any loyalists to the empire.

<One Night, One Sun> was a fiction novel attempting to portray the Peace Consort as a delicate lower-classed girl forced to enter the Imperial Harem to feed her family's greed for influence. Filled with romantic twists and multitudes of angst scenes, the novel was completely inaccurate of the history, but was rather entertaining the Li Mo Shang.

Although he had read several other books of this genre over the past few weeks, something like <One Night, One Sun> was truly a first. It was a pity the author was anonymous, for he would have liked to run a spiritual scan on him/her.

"Brother Li, is that <One Night, One Sun>?"

Suddenly, Tang Wu Tong cried out. Before Li Mo Shang could assent, she had already snatched the book from his hands, staring at the peony blossoms cover in infatuation. With helplessness, Li Zhen Yue could only shake her head towards Li Mo Shang, before gently wrestling the book out of the fangirling Tang Wu Tong's grip.

"Brother Li, how did you get <One Night, One Sun>? It was on a limited release, I tried so hard, but couldn't get a copy!"

"Brother Li, what do you think of Chang Le? Isn't she adorable, with her quick wit?"

"Brother Li, people said that the story has considerable amounts of angst in it. Is it true? Does she get a happy end? Hey, Hey!"

"Brother Li…."

"Brother Li…."

With Tang Wu Tong's endless barrage of questions, Li Mo Shang lightly sighed before handing the book to her, telling her to keep it. With a squeal, the short girl jumped up in delight, forgetting her mannerisms of a college student at a prestigious university as her cute face was overflowing with happiness. Without his book to kill time, Li Mo Shang leaned back on the bench, resting his eyes. Having silenced the talkative Tang Wu Tong, the conversations decreased until everyone got on their personal terminals.

All of a sudden, Li Mo Shang woke from his doze when a soft mass rested on his shoulder. Tilting his head to see Li Zhen Yue sleeping peacefully using his shoulder as a pillow, her silver-colored hair splayed on his chest. After contemplating whether he should push her head off or leave her be, Li Mo Shang decided to instead read to distract himself from the rosemary fragrance from Li Zhen Yue. Tang Qiu and Lin Zefan secretly gnashed their teeth as their pursued beauty was taken advantage of by an unknown man.

It wasn't until several hours later that Li Mo Shang and Li Zhen Yue's call tickets were projected on the large holographic display in the third floor. Gently poking her head until she woke up, Li Mo Shang headed for the administrative official, Li Zhen Yue following behind with a red tinge of embarrassment on her face.

-

The moment he stepped out of Blue Rose University's campus, Li Mo Shang received a message from his father, informing him that a family meeting had been called for, thus having to come to the distant Withered Springs Li Mansion instead of his family's home in Blue Rose City. Changing his ticket was unnecessary, as he still needed to go to the western outskirts junction to reach Withered Springs.

Withered Springs, contrary to its name, was a resort town for the luxurious and high social status in Nan Qing. Focusing on the emphasis of beauty in nature, the grasses were neatly trimmed, and the buildings' exteriors were made of an assortment of delicate species of wood, each expensive and rare. From ebony, dalbergia, pink ivory, and blackwood, the entire town was made of vast quantities of money.

The Li Mansion was the largest complex in the city, having been given that respect by the Nan Qing royal family due to the Golden Rooster Pharmacy's reputation and influence. Composed completely of blackwood, the building looked more like a historical exhibit than a habitable location with its dominating arches, qilin bridges, and tiled rooftops. As Li Mo Shang entered the mansion, he was immediately greeted by rows of servants, of which he indifferently nodded his head to.

"Shang'er."

Hearing a rough, powerful voice call his name, Li Mo Shang turned to find his father, Li Yuan, walking towards him. Dressed in billowing cotton robes, Li Yuan emitted a domineering aura infused with great charisma as the forty-year-old man approached. Although he was no longer a handsome young man as he now attempted to grow a fine string mustache, the contours on his slightly age-worn face indicated that he was a lady-killer when he was young.

"Father."

Li Mo Shang greeted his father, his indifferent face cracking to reveal a small smile. Though he did not have the opportunity to meet his father so much as Li Yuan remained in the Li Mansion to assist with family matters, Li Yuan had provided so much for Li Mo Shang and his mother. Moreover, he was the only middle-generation male with only a single wife, making Li Mo Shang's mother smile endlessly, content even if she had to be separated.

"Shang'er. Ying ying is already waiting for you in the Spring Pavilion. Don't make your mother wait for you."

Giving his father a quick, powerful hug, Li Mo Shang quickly rushed to the western courthouses until he found the second-to-last courthouse with the label "Spring Courthouse". Made of bamboo, the courthouse was relatively plain compared to the others, but exuded a refreshing aura that Li Mo Shang admired quite a lot. Even if the exterior was a little lackluster, the gentle and soothing atmosphere within was worth it.

Quickly striding in, he found a delicate woman sitting on the porch steps, working on her needlework as she embroidered a cashmere scarf. Upon noticing Li Mo Shang's arrival, the woman leapt up from the porch steps, before giving him a gentle hug before asking him several question about his university life.

This woman was of course, Li Mo Shang's mother, Jiang Lanying. Though she was also nearing her forties like Li Yuan, she retained the appearance of a twenty-year old youth, with a slender waist, light skin, and smooth black hair, completely unlike the appearance of a mother. Her appearance had been maintained by the Li Family's Nine Yin Restoration Pill, a medicine that was far superior than the Yin Restoration Pill sold at the Golden Rooster Pharmacy. The Nine Yin Restoration Pill allowed females to remain eternally young, a dream goal of many women.

Jiang Lanying carefully observed her son. Although Li Mo Shang's appearance had drastically changed within the two and a half months at Blue Rose University, his habits were essentially the same, allowing her to quickly recognize her son. As there was no knowledge of any beauty product that could allow a person to become insanely handsome easily, Jiang Lanying unleased question after question upon Li Mo Shang.

"How did your appearance change? What pill did you consume? Is there any side effect? How long does it last? What was the main ingredient? Supplementary? Was there any splicing or additional manipulation when creating the product?"

"Mother…."

"Did you splice Nine Breaths into its elementary components? Was the molecular structure a tetrahedrite, or a hexagonal chain? What was the main sequences the ingredients were placed in? It's the Nine Breaths, right? Only the Nine Breaths would have the function of whitening and smoothing skin, although its temporary…."

"Mother!"

"Was there a process I skipped when splicing the Nine Breaths last time? Or was it a combination of the Withered Jade Cicada and Pure Yin Flower stem then ground…huh?"

Li Mo Shang sighed before slowly answering Jiang Lanying's initial question of his change in appearance. Only stating that he had a roommate who had created a beauty product and had given it to the rest of the dormmates, he left out anything of cultivation or spiritual qi. Unfortunately for him however, he had just awoken his mother's competitive edge, a horrible mistake.

Jiang Lanying was a researcher in combining traditional Chinese medicine with modern medicinal practices, attempting to create miracle drugs that could be safely consumed with little side effect. The temporary beauty enhancing pill sold for millions of RMB per pill was just an afterthought of Jiang Lanying, for she was the sole contributor to the Nine Yin Restoration Pill, one of the major secrets of the Li Family. It was only that she was extremely competitive regarding chemistry and medicine, even willing to compete against a teenage college student.

Helplessly under Jiang Lanying's persistence, Li Mo Shang threw Su Yuan'er under the guillotine blade, claiming that she was very gifted in chemistry and medicine, being the creator of the "beauty pill" that Li Mo Shang had consumed. Feeling some guilt, he decided to contact Su Yuan'er later, allowing her to ask for three reasonable favors. Perhaps that should be enough compensation for his mother's inbound academic blaze?

"So when are you going to bring me a daughter-in-law, as you promised?"

Li Mo Shang was about to enter into the left room of the Spring Pavilion, when a question from Jiang Lanying made him stagger and stumble halfway through. He swiftly dashed into the room, slamming the door shut, as Jiang Lanying laughed at his reddened neck from embarrassment.

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