Tailoring to Fit (Part 2)

Lu Qiancha: “…?”

She looked at Xuan Ya in a daze, not quite understanding why she had to take off her clothes.

“Of course, it’s to take your measurements.
How can I measure you with your clothes on?”

Xuan Ya saw the question in Lu Qiancha’s eyes and said calmly.

“Ngh… Master, can I measure myself?”

Lu Qiancha asked shyly.

‘To show everything in front of my master… it’s so embarrassing.’

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Xuan Ya frowned.

“Okay, okay, Master.”

Lu Qiancha shivered at Xuan Ya’s sudden seriousness and hurriedly took off all her clothes and put them in her storage pouch.

“Raise your arms.”

Xuan Ya said, holding the soft ruler.

“Mm… mm.”

A breeze blew in through the crack in the window, making Lu Qiancha shiver.

She raised her paws, hoping this would be over soon.

Xuan Ya squatted down, passed the soft ruler under the little wolf girl’s armpits, and with her other hand, passed it under the opposite armpit to catch the other end of the ruler.

When the gold thread reached the fullest part, Xuan Ya tightened the ruler.

“Ngh-ngh…”

The little wolf cub felt a tightness.
The cool breeze blew, and a wave of discomfort washed over her.

She gritted her teeth, restraining the physical stimulation.

But a cold, clinging sensation involuntarily crept into her heart, like a startled fawn, crashing around in Lu Qiancha’s heart.

“Wuu… Master, c-can you hurry up… this ruler is cold, a bit chilly.”

Lu Qiancha’s soft, urging voice reached Xuan Ya’s ears.

Xuan Ya didn’t speak, but silently quickened her movements.
After measuring her bust, the ruler moved quickly, its two ends lightly touching the most prominent bone points on Lu Qiancha’s shoulder blades, measuring her shoulder width.

Then, Xuan Ya held Lu Qiancha’s slender wrist and lifted it slightly.
The soft ruler followed like a shadow, extending straight from the acromion to the styloid process, measuring Lu Qiancha’s arm length.

Xuan Ya moved to the front of Lu Qiancha, her hand lightly resting on her slender waist as a fixed point.
With her other hand holding the soft ruler, she slowly wrapped it around from her back to her front.
The ruler circled and met, its edge inevitably touching Lu Qiancha’s slender waist.

“Ngh.”

‘So itchy.’

Lu Qiancha’s body tensed up, and a light hum of being tickled escaped from her throat.

She used almost all her willpower to resist the urge to itch and tremble that was rushing to the top of her head.

Her little face was taut, and tears were stubbornly swirling in her eyes…

Just as Lu Qiancha was about to cry, Xuan Ya announced the end of the measurement: “Alright.”

“Is… is it over?”

Lu Qiancha immediately turned her head, her voice trembling, her blue eyes filled with relief.

“Mm, hurry up and put on your clothes.
Otherwise, you’ll catch a cold.”

Xuan Ya’s expression was indifferent.
She carefully rolled up the ruler in her hand and glanced at Lu Qiancha’s bare, slightly curled-up pink little feet that were resisting the coolness of the stone floor, her voice flat with a hint of warning.

“Mm-hm!”

Lu Qiancha heaved a sigh of relief at these words.
She hurriedly took out her clothes from her storage pouch and put them on.
Then, she quickly ran her paws through a few strands of hair on top of her head that had been messed up by the ruler.

She immediately stood at attention, her small body ramrod straight, and stood obediently with her head bowed at Xuan Ya’s side.

Lu Qiancha’s voice was filled with the obedience of a survivor and a twelve-tenths of submission as she asked, “M-Master, then… can this disciple leave?”

“Mm, go and play.”

Xuan Ya waved her hand, her voice still calm and waveless.

“Thank you, Master!”

Lu Qiancha almost shouted.
She couldn’t be bothered to maintain her composure.
Like an arrow leaving the bow, with a “swish,” her small figure shot out into the courtyard with an eager gust of wind and disappeared from Xuan Ya’s sight.

“Heh…”

Xuan Ya chuckled helplessly, a hint of doting flashing in her eyes.

More than half a month passed.

Xun Xue was still nowhere to be found.
The messages from her Jade Signet were still sporadic and brief, filled with reassuring but insubstantial words such as “almost there,” “don’t be impatient,” and “will be back soon.” Although Lu Qiancha felt it was a little strange, she wasn’t overly worried, just assuming her mother was preparing that mysterious surprise.

She hadn’t wasted these days.

In the Peach Blossom Spring, the number of devotees had steadily surpassed a hundred.

The ordinary incense had accumulated into a stream, reaching over one thousand three hundred wisps.

Even the pure Taiyin Wealth Incense had quietly accumulated over thirty wisps.

Under the moonlight, Lu Qiancha took out her Moon Divine Token.
With a flash of her figure, when she opened her eyes again, she was already in that cold, desolate Guanghan Palace, which was flowing with ancient moonlight.

“Oh?”

Huang Hua, who was seated high on the moon essence dragon throne, slowly opened her eyes.

A half-smile played on her lips, her voice as lazy as a cold spring striking jade: “You’ve kept this Monarch waiting for quite a while, little one.”

“Greetings, Sister Yuanjun.”

Lu Qiancha didn’t dare to be slow.
She bowed her head in accordance with etiquette.

“Hm?”

Huang Hua raised an eyebrow, the curve of her lips deepening with a hint of playfulness: “This Monarch… when did I become so intimate with you?”

Her tone was slow and leisurely, as if she were teasing a bird in her hand.

“…”

Lu Qiancha’s movement paused, a trace of bewilderment flashing in her blue eyes.
She cautiously probed, “Then… should this disciple address you as ‘Your Majesty, Yuanjun’?”

“No, no~” Huang Hua flicked her wide sleeve and rose from the dragon throne like a flowing cloud.

She walked barefoot on the smooth jade steps that were flowing with cold smoke, step by step, to Lu Qiancha.
She leaned down slightly, her long index finger hooking Lu Qiancha’s bewildered little face.

A teasing smile formed on her lips: “Little one, my name is ‘Moon Palace, Huang Hua, Su Yao, Yuan Jing, Holy Empress, Taiyin Yuanjun’.
To be respectful, one should use the full name.
Isn’t that in accordance with etiquette?”

“Ah…?”

Lu Qiancha was instantly petrified.
The string of gorgeous, tongue-twisting, and tongue-twister-like divine titles that Huang Hua had just recited flew past her ears.

Except for the “Moon Palace” at the beginning and the “Yuanjun” at the end, not a single word of the long string in between had left an impression on Lu Qiancha’s mind.

The little wolf cub subconsciously swallowed, her throat feeling dry.
She cautiously raised her paw and said weakly, “…S-Sister, um… c-could I trouble you to, repeat that… once more?”

Her voice was as faint as a mosquito’s buzz, with a hint of a plea on the verge of being dizzy: “This disciple didn’t remember…”

After saying the last word, Lu Qiancha’s little ears drooped in embarrassment.

“Pfft—!” Huang Hua finally couldn’t hold it in and let out a clear, pleasant laugh.

“You little creature…” Her smile was like a blooming flower, and the solemnity and pressure she had deliberately created earlier were gone: “…you were really going to recite it?”

As her voice fell, Huang Hua waved her wide sleeve.

“Thwack!”

A low table of translucent cold jade appeared out of thin air between the two of them.

Several nameless maids in moon-white palace robes entered at the sound, holding pots in their fair hands and filling the two cups with nectar as clear as ice.

Huang Hua raised her fair hand slightly, and a silver-white scroll, neither bamboo nor jade, but with profound moon patterns flowing across its entire surface… appeared out of thin air in her fair palm.
“Whatever you want, just say it.
This Monarch is sufficient to meet your needs.”

As she spoke, her fingertips loosened, and the scroll slid down lightly as if it had a spirit of its own, landing steadily on the jade table in front of Lu Qiancha.