Chapter 637 - 0369 Unpivoted (2-in-1)_2

Because Li Zhibai chose to trust Xu Chang’an, and Shi Qingjun chose to indulge Xu Chang’an, she could only choose to follow suit.

Not to mention... she also trusted Xu Chang’an.

She merely stepped in to play the bad woman who interrogates, after all, someone had to do such things.

Even so.

Would Zhu Tongjun truly be as uneasy and weak as Zhu Pingniang?

Zhu Pingniang shook her head, "But now I’m the Madam here, so I ought to be weak."

Sometimes, a woman’s appropriate weakness is a weapon.

Unfortunately, this weapon didn’t work on the young man in front of her whose eyes were only on Yun Qian.

"I don’t have the capabilities of Ah Zi, can’t take care of everyone, so I can only do what I can do." Zhu Pingniang propped her face, looking at Xu Chang’an, "Chang’an, do you know what this place is called?"

"Beisang City?"

"It’s called Unfastened Boat."

Zhu Pingniang looked out the window at the Stone Ship: "The clever are labored and the wise are worried, the incapable have no desires, they drift like an unfastened boat... I came up with the name Unfastened Boat, what do you think?"

Xu Chang’an blinked.

Ingenious people are more tired and wise people are worried, while those without capability have no ambitions... is Senior saying those who can, do more?

An Unfastened Boat has two meanings.

One is freedom without any ties, meaning carefree.

Two is metaphorically wandering without a fixed course, like a rootless duckweed.

Whether this meaning is good or bad is all in a thought.

When he first heard the term Unfastened Boat, he was thinking about which meaning it truly took.

"The name is certainly exquisite, but I do not know which meaning you intended with it." Xu Chang’an spoke up.

"Shouldn’t it be good? Shouldn’t it be carefree?" Zhu Pingniang looked at Xu Chang’an in disbelief, "Which woman in the world would assign it a gloomy meaning?"

Xu Chang’an looked at Zhu Pingniang in silence.

Zhu Pingniang pursed her lips, "Alright, I’m that woman."

Are the women at the Flower Moon Building carefree?

How could that be?

So, it’s a reminder for herself, that however well the Flower Moon Building might be, for these women it is ultimately an Unfastened Boat, a rootless duckweed, floating without stability.

"But this is a Stone Ship." Xu Chang’an said.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Pingniang trembled slightly, raised her head to look over, and saw the young man’s side profile and the corner of his mouth curling into a smile as he gazed out the window.

"..."

Xu Chang’an suddenly understood.

Named Unfastened Boat, it signifies drifting without stability, but Zhu Pingniang had built it into a Stone Ship, firmly embedded in the shore, bringing peace of mind.

Zhu Pingniang stared dumbfoundedly at Xu Chang’an for a moment, then she smiled.

"Stone Ship, so even if it’s not fastened, it can’t drift away with the waves..." Zhu Pingniang lowered her lashes, "Chang’an, prying too deeply into a woman’s heart isn’t something a married man should do."

"Pardon me." Xu Chang’an coughed awkwardly.

"It’s alright, sister is not angry with you." Zhu Pingniang shook her head, "My little thoughts have been caught by you, to be honest, this Stone Ship is built for myself."

She was actually a little tired.

Yes.

Tired.

The Unfastened Boat called Zhu Tongjun, always wandering carefree, now wants to be a Stone Ship, staying securely in one place, not wanting to go anywhere.

"Quite unambitious, right?" Zhu Pingniang stretched lazily.

Clearly, she was just a step away from Heavenly Dao, yet now, she wanted a home... coincidentally, it was discovered by her youth.

"However, even if I am unambitious, it is only towards your teacher that I am... so it’s not your place to meddle." Zhu Pingniang stood up, bent down, and gently tapped Xu Chang’an’s forehead with her fingertip.

"So for sister’s future happiness, you have to keep an eye on being a spy next to Ah Bai for me."

She smiled.

"If you do this, then I won’t care about those peculiar things around you, how about it?"

Xu Chang’an: "..."

Clicking his tongue.

Almost forgot about this matter.

"Moreover, all these girls on this ship follow me, as long as I have a home, naturally, they will too. Therefore, this Unfastened Boat is a Stone Ship, because embedded by the shore, it can bear however many girls come."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Xu Chang’an froze.

What does Senior mean?

This whole Flower Moon Building’s women... will be her dowry?

He was not wrong to think this way, right?

Xu Chang’an couldn’t help but swallow, his mind flashing with the serene nature of his own teacher.

After seeing the handwritten letter from Li Zhibai, he didn’t doubt the closeness between Li Zhibai and Zhu Pingniang at all.

About his teacher...

He briefly imagined Li Zhibai’s Sword Hall being surrounded by layers of women from the Flower Moon Building, and his mouth twitched.

Nothing to say.

Such a vast dowry, if anyone were really to marry this Senior Zhu in the future...

The scene would be too beautiful.

"What inappropriate things are you thinking?" Zhu Pingniang narrowed her eyes and smiled at Xu Chang’an.

"Nothing."

"Hmph, I can’t be bothered with you."

Zhu Pingniang pouted, then lightly sighed, "Chang’an, actually Lu’Er was right, sister really is an unequivocal bad woman."

Ah Bai is a gentlewoman.

So, Zhu Tongjun alone wasn’t enough, she wanted to drag along these suffering women in the mundane world, thinking that if she had a kind nature, maybe Ah Bai would take an extra look at her.

At the beginning, maybe she truly had this purpose in mind when she entered the Flower Moon Building.

Of course, that was a long time ago.

"Chang’an, there’s something I want to ask you."

"?"

Xu Chang’an looked at Zhu Pingniang, who suddenly seemed genuinely inquisitive, and was momentarily baffled, before nodding, "Please, go ahead."

"Before you and Ms. Yun got together... when you were still working as a steward, you must have thought about how wonderful it would be to marry her... right?" Zhu Pingniang asked.

"...Yes... yes." Xu Chang’an, hearing this question, felt a bit uncomfortable but still admitted.

"Then... when that day finally came, was there not even a trace of fear, not a moment of hesitation for you?" Zhu Pingniang’s emotions were complex.

Just like she wished to marry Li Zhibai.

A wish is a wish, but if Li Zhibai really agreed, the one who would be entangled would only be her.

Such a mindset isn’t precisely hypocritical, it’s like Zhu Pingniang herself doesn’t know what she’s afraid of; clearly, Ah Bai’s agreement would be a wonderful thing, something she’s longed for.

"Fear?" Xu Chang’an shook his head, giving Zhu Pingniang a deep look, thinking indeed.

This Senior is formidable, but regarding matters of love between men and women, she is somewhat... pure?

Fear?

What a joke.

Back then, he was just about ready to swallow Ms. Yun whole, where would fear come in?

If anything, it was only after becoming her husband and waking up the next day being held by her, he felt guilty as if he had tainted a treasure’s purity.

Fear, there wasn’t even the slightest bit.

So...

As an observer, Xu Chang’an vaguely sensed that perhaps this Senior Zhu... did not truly want her relationship with Li Zhibai to be a romantic partnership.

At least that feeling wasn’t quite the same as between a man and a woman.

Unfortunately, he didn’t fully understand the nature of relationships between women, perhaps... romantic partnerships between them do arouse fear?

However, Xu Chang’an felt that he could understand Zhu Pingniang’s emotions from another perspective.

A lifelong yearning for the sea, yet upon realizing the perils of the sea, one hesitates to immerse oneself in it.

For instance, he always wanted Ms. Yun to not have her eyes full only of him, to see a broader world, and pursue something more worthy.

But if that day genuinely arrived—

He would probably be afraid too.

"Hmm?"

Xu Chang’an suddenly froze, looking again at the thoughtfully frowning woman in front of him.

Unfastened Boat, Unfastened Boat.

Unfastened.

So that’s how it is.

He misunderstood.

Just like he didn’t want to tie down Ms. Yun.

Senior also feared binding her teacher with the ties of matrimony.

Is this the nature of affection between women, or rather love?

Always feeding dog food Xu Chang’an, inadvertently, was shown the deep bond between Zhu Pingniang and Li Zhibai.