My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion

The year-end was approaching, roughly thirty days away. A bountiful harvest was foretold by the auspicious snowfall, and the days of snow in the Capital City had grown frequent. As the daylight dimmed, Yin Tingxue sat on the threshold, gazing afar. The flickering lanterns in the pavilions and towers of wealthy households could still be seen, faintly aglow in the night.

Although curfews were enforced at night, many parts of the Capital City remained vibrant. Pleasure boats adorned with paintings, opulent brothels with spacious balconies—all thrived in lively revelry. Scholars and affluent guests indulged in the beauty of the night, reciting poetry and listening to operatic songs, drinking heartily, and playing games. As the year-end neared, the festivities were already this lively; come Lantern Festival, the entire city would be bustling.

However, in these times, much of the nighttime amusement belonged to men and had little to do with women. Nearly half the women in the Capital City stayed at home, seldom appearing in public. To pass the time in their households, most would sew and embroider. Inside high walls and grand courtyards, families' womenfolk would gather with their maidservants, stitching lotus patterns while engaging in idle chatter until it became late, at which point they would head to bed without undressing.

Yin Tingxue rested her face in her hands, waiting patiently for Chen Yi to return home. She did not find it particularly tedious or boring. If boredom did set in, she would read miscellaneous books—a habit she could sustain for an entire day. It was precisely this tendency that led Chen Yi to believe she was lonely, albeit unaware of it herself.

The little fox seemed indifferent, but for Yin Weiying, it was entirely different. She had arrived at this courtyard early in the day and had spent nearly the entire day here—either pacing back and forth or sitting down to wait. She dared not leave; what if Chen Yi entered the Prince Mansion and dragged her back? The disgrace would utterly tarnish the name of the Princess Jing. Despite her boredom, she did not dare step beyond the courtyard gate.

Today's events were perilous for the female crown. The Queen Mother had unexpectedly gone incognito, personally visiting, and had known everything she had said at the Jinya Pavilion. Recalling the scene, Yin Weiying still felt lingering fear, unsure whether the ultimate outcome could be considered lenient treatment.

Speaking of the Jinya Pavilion, there had been no outsiders. The female crown distinctly remembered that during their conversation, there were only herself, Lu Ying, and Dong Gong Ruoshu present—and none of them appeared to belong to the palace. With that in mind, had someone among the three unknowingly harbored a spy planted by the palace?

Yin Weiying dared not think further. Some matters, even mere speculation, could invite calamity upon herself.

To sum it up, she truly was plagued by bad luck now, misfortune after misfortune. Reflecting on the past twenty years, her life had been smooth and effortless—even the bottlenecks in cultivation most troublesome to common Taoists she had easily overcome with ease. But everything had come to a halt upon meeting Chen Yi.

That man was practically her fateful nemesis.

The female crown's legs trembled at the mere thought of him. Walking to the threshold, she softly asked:

"Has he returned yet?"

"No idea. Maybe soon." Yin Tingxue glanced up at Princess Jing, pondered briefly, then asked, "Sister Weiying…are you staying over again tonight?"

As the words fell upon her ears, Yin Weiying stiffened. Letting out a sigh, she nodded heavily.

"I… I don't want to stay in this courtyard."

The female crown remarked:

"Sometimes, I really admire you—you can manage to be at ease in this courtyard."

For Yin Weiying, even when Chen Yi wasn't here, the courtyard felt oppressive. She vividly remembered that night when Chen Yi had alternated between pairing her with Tingxue and making them support each other physically. She was tormented to the brink of death, and more than ten years of her cultivation had been taken away. Even deep into the night, she struggled to fall asleep—not merely because of emotional anguish but also due to the fear he instilled in her.

And it was precisely the one she feared most who recklessly toyed with her body and savored her fragility.

Only in the latter hours of the night did she finally manage to sleep, though nightmares subsequently visited her. She fell from the bedside onto the floor, instinctively clutching her hip, which still felt sore.

Yin Tingxue continued gazing toward the courtyard gate, remarking:

"It's not truly being at ease… I've just grown accustomed to it. I've always been afraid of him."

Listening, the female crown muttered:

"He treats you better than he treats me… So, of course, you'd get used to it."

Her words, upon being spoken, carried a hint of resentment. Yet Yin Tingxue never took issue with such remarks; in her heart, she felt a shared sorrow with the fellow princess.

After some time, Yin Tingxue sensed the female crown's boredom and decided to change the topic: "If there's nothing to do, why don't we play arrow-tossing?"

The game of arrow-tossing involves attempting to toss dull-headed arrows into a pot from a distance of several feet. It is a pastime enjoyed by both men and women and is popular among the women in inner courtyards, second only to leaf cards and mahjong.

Yin Weiying had long been bored and was unable to focus on cultivation within this courtyard anyway, so she agreed. The little fox fetched two-handled ceramic pots from the storage room, adorned with colorful depictions of camellias, peonies, yellow chrysanthemums, and a riot of blooms. A dozen small arrows, roughly a foot wide each, were handed to Yin Weiying.

The female crown was about to take them when, moved by a sudden thought, she murmured: "Tingxue, just playing arrow-tossing feels a bit dull. Why don't we add some stakes and make a wager?"

Yin Tingxue tilted her head in confusion and asked, "What should we bet?"

"Hmm… You and him, aren't you boyfriend and girlfriend?"

In the realm of the Lotus Small World, Yin Weiying had overheard snippets of their conversation. She had heard Chen Yi refer to Yin Tingxue as his girlfriend, and the latter call him her boyfriend.

The female crown was desperate to avoid having her cultivation absorbed by Chen Yi. Giving up over a decade's worth of painstaking effort was unbearable for anyone. Now, the only solution she could think of was to make him like her—legend had it that for those he liked, he could sometimes soften his heart.