Longevity: Starting From Getting Down The Mountain And Marrying A Wife

Xue Mansion.

After a busy day, Zhang Hongmei returned to her residence, and her personal maid immediately handed her a letter.

"Madam, it was sent by a handsome young man from the outer courtyard. He said it's for you."

"A handsome young man..."

Zhang Hongmei opened it and found a talisman, along with a note that contained the activation spell for the talisman and an address.

After carefully inspecting it, she confirmed that it was a "Gathering Image Talisman" used by cultivators, and it posed no threat. She activated it in her room and widened her eyes in surprise.

"Just as I suspected!"

Zhang Hongmei sneered, staring at the image for a while before curling her lips in mockery. Less than three minutes had passed, and she said, "Is this it?"

Then, she noticed the conversation between the two people, but unfortunately, there was no sound, so she couldn't determine the exact content.

However, by lip-reading, she could make out words like "leader" and "Xue Shanhua."

With these associations, her expression kept changing. She initially wanted to inform Xue Shanhua immediately and use this opportunity to overthrow Guo Qingxue and secure her own position.

However, this "Gathering Image Talisman" was a one-time use item, and it would be difficult to convince others with just her words.

Guo Qingxue's position in Xue Mansion was far superior to hers, and she couldn't shake it. If she made a wrong move, she might end up implicating herself.

She picked up the note again and frowned, pondering for a long time before calling her maid.

"I'm going out. Go and inform the master that I have something very important to report to him when I return!"

"Yes, Madam!"

Zhang Hongmei quickly left the mansion, dismissing the martial artists who were following her, and rode her horse to the destination.

In a private residence, Li Shangwen paced back and forth in the courtyard, already impatient, afraid that he would ruin Zhong Yan's big plan.

Bang!

A slender hand pushed open the courtyard door. Zhang Hongmei, dressed in a red and blue martial outfit, held a sword in her left hand and walked straight in. She was both skilled and bold.

"It's you!"

Seeing Li Shangwen, Zhang Hongmei raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised. The courtyard was not big, and she could see through it at a glance, finding no one else.

Before coming here, she had considered many possibilities, and the number one suspect was naturally Zhong Yan. He wanted to sow discord in Xue Mansion, but considering the good relationship between the Zhong and Li families, the person in front of her was not unexpected.

However, she wondered if it was a bit hasty to send a Body Tempering realm martial artist like him. Moreover, she had heard that the second young master of the Li family was useless and a small gambler who had lost a lot of money.

"Madam Xue, do you like the talisman?"

Li Shangwen had a smug smile on his face, but he was actually quite nervous.

Zhang Hongmei also smiled at the corner of her mouth. "Aren't you afraid that I'll kill you?"

"I dare to wait for you alone here, so naturally, I'm not afraid of you making a move. Besides, I have what you want. Let's talk business. There's no need for violence."

"Did Zhong Yan send you?"

"How could he entrust such an important thing to me? I found it in my father's secret room."

Zhang Hongmei agreed in her heart, believing it to some extent. The cultivator had many methods, and it wouldn't be difficult for him to use an invisibility charm to sneak into someone's mansion and imprint a voice portrait.

Li Henian had been operating in Qingyang for many years, so it was normal for him to hold some leverage over the mansions of influential families. Compared to Zhong Yan, the possibility was higher.

"Aren't you afraid that your father will come back and interrupt your plan?"

Li Shangwen didn't care and said, "I don't even know if he can come back. Right now, I'm facing difficulties, and there are plenty of talismans in the secret room. My father shouldn't mind if I take one or two."

"State your conditions."

Li Shangwen rubbed his hands and took two steps forward, smiling. "My conditions are not worth mentioning to Madam Xue. First, twenty thousand taels of silver."

Zhang Hongmei smiled and said, "You're quite ambitious for someone so young. What else?"

"What else..." Li Shangwen hesitated, his gaze drifting.

Zhang Hongmei said, "Since we're negotiating a deal, let's be direct. If you can meet my requirements, please do so."

"Um... Can I kiss you?" Li Shangwen took two steps back as he spoke.

"..." Zhang Hongmei was stunned, thinking she had misheard. "What did you say?"

Li Shangwen swallowed and raised his hand to signal not to take action, forcing himself to remain calm. "Sister Hongmei, please don't misunderstand! I don't mean to disrespect you. It's just that I've admired you for a long time, but I could only watch from afar."

Otherwise, I could easily demand that you spend a night with me. If you don't agree, I can add another hundred thousand taels. But in my opinion, a hundred thousand taels is far from enough, uh... Can I do it just once?"

"..." Zhang Hongmei stared at Li Shangwen's handsome face and saw his cautious, nervous, and expectant expression, as well as a hint of sincerity.

She had confidence in her appearance. Before getting married, she was known as the second most beautiful woman in Qingyang, with many admirers. After marrying Xue Shanhua, she no longer paid attention to those pursuing her.

In this world, it was mostly older men paired with young women, and there were few cases where the woman was significantly older than the man.

Now, being confessed to by a man more than ten years younger than herself, even though she had been married for many years, she couldn't help but blush and feel a strange sensation in her heart, recalling the intimate scenes she had seen in the talisman.

After a moment of silence, she laughed to cover up her embarrassment. "You have quite the audacity!"

"Alright!"

Li Shangwen decisively said, "A total of one hundred and twenty thousand taels! Give me the money, and I'll give you the sound-gathering talisman! With it, you'll become the main wife of the Xue family in no time!"

It was a matter of great importance, and delays could lead to changes.

Where could she go now to get twelve thousand taels in silver?

After hesitating for a while, Zhang Hongmei gritted her teeth and made a decision. She took out a few banknotes from her pocket. "Here are six hundred taels. I'll give you the rest tomorrow, which is over ten thousand taels!"

She comforted herself in her heart: It's just being kissed for a hundred thousand taels. It proves that I have great charm!

Li Shangwen blinked. "Over ten thousand taels?"

Zhang Hongmei looked around, feeling her cheeks heating up. She closed her eyes and said with difficulty, "Come here..."

Li Shangwen's heart was pounding, slowly moving forward, feeling both nervous and excited, but mostly in awe of his uncle's extraordinary abilities, every step calculated perfectly.

The other party wouldn't bring much money when going out temporarily, so they would definitely agree.

By the time they realized there was a problem with the talisman, it was too late, they could only try to protect themselves.

"Snap~"

With great restraint, they only lightly touched each other's cheeks.

Li Shangwen dodged the silver ticket from her hand, quickly stuffed the talisman into her hand, his eyes shining, but his face serious as he said, "Sister Hongmei, Shangwen truly admires you, from the bottom of my heart, I really like you. If you ever need help in the future, I will go through fire and water for you!"

A gentle breeze brushed past, leaving a cool mark on her cheek. Zhang Hongmei looked deeply at Li Shangwen, tightly gripping the talisman in her hand, and turned to leave.

She ran a distance as soon as she left the hospital.

She couldn't help but touch her right cheek, already believing ninety percent in the origin of the talisman, feeling that it was solely Li Shangwen's doing.

...

At the third quarter of the Rooster hour.

Qingyang City was as brightly lit as usual, but no longer peaceful.

The whole city was in an uproar, chaos everywhere.

The city guards of the City Lord's Mansion, the patrol soldiers in the city, and the defense forces on the four city walls were all mobilized.

The streets were filled with soldiers and constables holding torches.

The members of the Cao Yun Gang and the Wan Ren Tang Gang, who were arguing and fighting all over the city, were all dumbfounded.

—We were just arguing and fighting, although it seemed like there were many of us, but the ones who started the fight were just the two leaders of the dock, it hasn't reached the point of a large-scale battle, why do we need such a big fuss?

The leaders of the Wan Ren Tang and the Cao Yun Gang quietly left the City Lord's Mansion, exchanged a glance, and went back to their respective positions, issuing orders one after another.

Not long after.

Both sides erupted into a fierce battle, smashing each other's stalls, and destroying each other's gambling houses.

The City Lord's Mansion intervened to stop it, and more soldiers rushed towards the West Harbor.

The flames rose inside and outside the city, and people were in panic.

Upon hearing the news, important figures from the Xue Mansion gathered at the gate of the mansion, seeing the soldiers stationed here running in formation to retreat.

The general of the mansion stepped forward and whispered to Xue Shanhuzi, "Lord Xue, the City Lord no longer cares about the matters between the Xue Mansion and the Zhong Mansion. City Lord Qin asked me to tell you that peace is the most important thing. One of the two cultivators brought by Zhong Yan has reached the peak of Qi Refining, ninth layer."

Xue Shanhuzi hurriedly asked, "General Niu, what happened? Did the Cao Yun Gang and the Wan Ren Tang have such a big commotion?"

General Niu hesitated for a moment and said, "The Qi army of the Qi Kingdom is attacking, heading towards the West Harbor, I'm not too sure about the specific situation."

After speaking, he left.

"How is that possible?" Guo Qinglin stepped forward quickly, with a determined look on his face, "There are no signs at all, how could the Qi Kingdom attack? There must be deception among them!"

Xue Shanhuzi frowned, "Are they coming for us?"

A group of martial artists all frowned, their gazes flickering uncertainly.

Guo Qingxue looked at the empty and spacious street, with no patrolling soldiers in sight. The surroundings were quiet, with only faint cries of killing coming from afar. She couldn't help but exchange a glance with Xue Hongyi, as if saying - this is a rare opportunity!

"Master!"

A man came running, bowing to Xue Shanhut and said, "The soldiers from the Zhong Mansion have also withdrawn. Everyone in the Zhong Mansion has left, accompanied by Yang Yanqing. It seems they are heading to the Yang Mansion!"

Xue Shanhut was taken aback, then burst into laughter, "Zhong Yan, you arrogant thief. Now you know to find a refuge!"

He turned around and looked, at this moment, the Xue Mansion had gathered over 600 martial artists from the legitimate line, all of them above the Post Natal Realm, with over 40 in the Innate Realm. "You take a team and go smash the Zhong Mansion!"

Guo Qinglin quickly stopped him, "That's not appropriate! Let's wait and see! Besides, what's the use of smashing the mansion? It belongs to the Yan Dynasty!"

As soon as he finished speaking,

"Woo~" A distant horn sounded throughout the city, continuously.

The crowd was stunned. The war horn sounded, indicating that the main army stationed at the school field 100 miles away from the North Gate had also mobilized. It was undoubtedly a big battle.

Guo Qinglin still couldn't believe it and muttered, "It's true..."

The crowd discussed among themselves, and under Guo Qinglin's dispatch, many people ran out to the West Harbor Pier, and carrier pigeons kept flying up.

At this time, a maid squeezed to the front and tugged at Guo Qingxue's sleeve, making her turn around and glare.

The maid tugged again, her eyes full of panic.

Guo Qingxue was suspicious and followed the maid back into the mansion, going to a room in a corner.

The maid quickly took out a letter from her sleeve and knelt down, trembling as she said, "Madam, someone asked this servant to deliver the letter to you. They said the Zhong Mansion doesn't want to be exposed and only requires an apology. They said it's for your own good. Otherwise, both you and this servant will die..."

Guo Qingxue frowned, "When did this happen?"

"Probably around the third quarter of the hour, a stranger on the street gave it to this servant, saying to give it to you when you hear the 'woo' sound in the city. It's a matter of life and death, so there's no room for error..."

Guo Qingxue's face changed, even the war horn was fake?!

She quickly opened the envelope, inside was a 'Gathering Sound Talisman' and a note.

In addition to the spell to activate the talisman, the note also said: Zhong is kind to others and dislikes fighting. Regarding the incident at the restaurant, Lady Xue should see through it with her insight. I hope you can persuade your husband to stop fighting, so that both mansions can live in peace. Attached is the Gathering Sound Talisman to show sincerity.

"Damn it!" Guo Qingxue cursed under her breath, with a bad premonition. She quickly memorized the spell and chanted it.

After a while, her face turned red and then pale. It was her own moaning voice, which sounded extremely shameful at the moment.

However, what followed shook her even more.

"Will my adoptive father come?"

"That idiot is thinking about avenging his son. How could he have the mind to come to me? Don't stop, go faster! Oh!"

Guo Qingxue's eyelids twitched, and with a flash of cold light in her hand, a dagger shot out, splattering a spray of blood. The maid's throat was cut to silence her.

Without continuing to listen, she directly used her palm to spit out True Qi and shattered the talisman paper. Taking a deep breath, she quickly walked out of the room.

...