The next morning.
Cheng Jinyang woke up from bed, feeling sore all over. Especially his right arm, which had been numb since it was cut off by a demon, remained unchanged upon waking up.
Ah, has the toil of nightmares now begun to spread into reality?
His consciousness slightly cleared, and then he noticed Wang Wanrou curled up in his arms, her expression exhausted with a silent fear, her slightly trembling body curled up like a small animal, his arm tucked under her neck.
Cheng Jinyang: ...
Carefully withdrawing his arm from under her neck, Cheng Jinyang climbed out of bed and went to the bathroom to start washing up.
After washing up and returning to the bedroom, he saw Xing Yuanzhi sitting on the edge of the small bed, still seeming a bit groggy, trying hard to wake up.
Wang Wanrou had also sat up, leaning against the pillow to continue reading, her hairstyle slightly messy, and her gaze quite erratic, completely devoid of yesterday's calmness, seemingly having suffered some psychological trauma.
A pampered young lady, suddenly thrown into the battlefield where blood was shed, the first night indeed looked like this, however...
Cheng Jinyang glanced at the title page, and the book's title was "The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind: How to Quickly Establish Authority over Narrow-minded Commoners."
'What kind of book is this again? By the way, where did all these books come from? I didn't see her bring them to my house.'
"Um... Yuanzhi, Wanrou, I'm leaving now," Cheng Jinyang bid farewell to the two girls.
Xing Yuanzhi immediately felt a bit annoyed because in the past, at this time, Cheng Jinyang would always say "I'm leaving" to her alone.
Now that Miss Wang is here, it feels like someone else is taking away half of the exclusive farewell meant for her.
Of course, this feeling itself is absurd. So Xing Yuanzhi closed her eyes, cast aside these chaotic emotions, and returned to her ethereal state like a fairy.
Suddenly, she remembered that ever since being with Cheng Jinyang, her original aloof personality seemed to be increasingly disrupted.
She was called "Xing family's Qingfeng" by the flow of time because of her serene and cold temperament. And the source of this temperament itself was actually due to her slight sense of detachment from the whole world.
The reasons need not be elaborated, and perhaps even her own cleanliness obsession is an external manifestation of her inner pursuit of a "pure world".
However, this period of cohabitation has indeed brought about many changes in her.
At first, Cheng Jinyang always liked to call her Ah Zhi. When he finally almost broke this habit, Miss Wang moved in, causing her to repeatedly lose control and become angry.
Annoying.
"I'm going to use the bathtub," she said as she stood up.
Taking a bath every day was one of Ah Zhi's secrets to restoring her mood.
"It's okay, go ahead," Wang Wanrou said, flipping through pages with her left hand and reaching behind the pillow with her right hand to grab a few neatly folded paper balls.
Then she stopped Cheng Jinyang, who was about to leave, her tone somewhat weak:
"At any time today, if the Cheng family calls you back, open the paper marked 'A'; when you reach the Cheng family's territory, open the paper marked 'B.'"
"If you feel there's danger later on, open the paper marked 'C.' Don't open all the papers until the time is right, understand?"
Cheng Jinyang: ???
However, the arrogant Miss from yesterday, after just one night, her attitude had become so weak. The contrast was indeed quite cute.
So he comforted Miss Wang with concern and took the paper balls, stuffing them into the pocket of his jacket.
After Cheng Jinyang left, Xing Yuanzhi couldn't help but ask, "What's written on that piece of paper?"
"Just a few simple strategies," Wang Wanrou replied vaguely.
Xing Yuanzhi: ???
Is this young lady going crazy from dying too many times last night?
But last night's nightmare battle did involve slightly more deaths, after all, with an useless tagalong by her side.
With these thoughts, Xing Yuanzhi got out of bed and went to the bathroom to take a shower.
Seeing her leave the bedroom, Wang Wanrou put down her book and took out a small mirror from under the pillow.
"Additional instruction: you must be brave," she said to the mirror.
After a moment, she closed her eyes again and replied earnestly, "Alright."
As Cheng Jinyang left, he prepared to visit Sister Wu's clinic, then attend classes, and also take the afternoon off to return to the family.
However, about those three paper balls...
Wang Wanrou said not to open them until the right time, but didn't say what would happen if opened prematurely.
Well, since she's not here, I might as well take a look.
So he left the residential building, in the corner of the community, confirmed it wouldn't be observed from his home's balcony, and quietly took out the paper balls from his pocket to open them.
First, open the crumpled paper labeled "A".
Cheng Jinyang looked at it carefully and felt a bit embarrassed because it said: "I've already told you not to open it early. Can't you understand human language? At some point after you leave, Princess Nankang should appear to find you and offer to escort you to the Shendu Cheng Clan. Just agree to her request."
Cheng Jinyang: ...
Ah, how did she know I would open it early?
Although Wang Wanrou is not here, he still feels a sudden sense of guilt as if he has been caught red-handed.
As for the other two crumpled papers... forget it, let's talk about it later.
Just as he arrived at the entrance of the community, he saw the princess's bright red sports car parked by the roadside.
A beautiful lady wearing sunglasses casually tapped the steering wheel, her golden wavy hair draped over her shoulders, appearing sexy, mature, and charming.
"Get in," said Princess Nankang as Cheng Jinyang approached, pressing the button on the steering wheel, and the passenger door slid open automatically.
"Um, that," he sat in the seat, feeling a bit awkward, "Your Highness..."
"Call me sister Xinnan," the blonde sister said.
"Sister Xinnan," Cheng Jinyang immediately understood that she didn't want to interact with him using her princess identity, so he smiled, "Did you dye your hair?"
"Yeah, I did," the elder sister casually straightened a strand of her golden curls, then let it naturally curl back, "But it's not dyed yellow, my hair was already blonde."
Cheng Jinyang: ...
Alright.
Thanks to the blessing of a transmigrator predecessor who unified the world over 800 years ago, there isn't a concept of "foreigners" in this world.
Although there are still some conservative individuals who criticize blondes, mainstream society does not accept it as the standard of beauty.
By the way, the current emperor, Sima Rui, is also a blond man.
Privately, the aristocrats refer to him as "Yellow Beard".
It's said that the emperor's mother, Lady Xun, was once a blond palace maid from the northeast Bohai region, leading many to believe the emperor has maternal lineage from an ethnic minority.
Of course, the imperial family denies this, stating that Empress Dowager Xun has pure Central Plains lineage, and the blond hair is due to "genetic mutation".
Whether you believe it or not, that's the official stance.
Among the emperor's four children, his eldest daughter, Sima Xingnan, and third daughter, Sima Nandi, inherited their father's blond hair, while his second daughter, Sima Nan'an, and legitimate son, Sima Yan, inherited their mother's black hair.
So, there's a theory: why is the eldest daughter, Sima Xingnan, still unmarried, while the second daughter, Sima Nan'an, is already engaged to the Tai'an Yang family?
Because the aristocrats look down on a blond princess and disdain the presence of foreign blood.
Of course, Cheng Jinyang considers himself a seasoned... no, a mature male, and of course he wouldn't discriminate against her because of her hair color.
Actually, blonde hair is quite good, he's sure.
Princess Nankang seemed relieved when she saw that he didn't show any unusual expression, and she smiled, saying, "Are you going to Sister Wu's clinic? Let me give you a ride."
"Okay."
Since Cheng Jinyang had already gotten into the car, he couldn't politely refuse her again.
Sister Wu's clinic was in the center of Wujiang Town, which was actually only a 15-20 minute walk away.
Along the way, Princess Nankang looked at the scenery ahead and suddenly asked, "You're going to see the clan leader of the Shendu Cheng Clan this afternoon, right?"