As the sun set in the west, just like a waterfall, its golden afterglow spilt through the layers of clouds and fell on a couple standing in each other's arms by the lake with their long shadows trailing on the ground.
Although the sun during dusk was not as dazzling as the blazing sun, it still made people unable to open their eyes wide when face straight on. Murong Yunshu liked such quiet sunset times. She closed her eyes, feeling the light sunlight jumping on her face while listening to the fresh breeze blowing through with the smell of spring.
"Have you noticed anything wrong?" Murong Yunshu asked.
"You noticed it, too?" Chu Changge looked surprised. "I never thought your senses would be so keen." In the end, he couldn't help but ask again, "Do you really not know martial arts?"
"......" What did this have to do with not knowing martial arts? The fact that there was not a single person along the way would have been strange to anyone else. The place where they were now could be considered the hinterland of Feiyang Mountain Villa, with the main hall on the east, the south was the gate, the west was the martial arts training ground, and the north was the backyard. With such a good location, there were no pedestrians. It was bizarre.
Murong Yunshu felt strange when he suddenly heard Chu Changge lazily say, 'If you don't come down, then don't ever come down at all'. She listened to the leaves behind her rustle a few times before hearing someone jump down from the tree.
Murong Yunshu was stunned for a moment. It turned out that Chu Changge was referring to a person on the tree, which was not at all the same thing as what she thought.
No wonder he suspected that she knew martial arts.
With a smile on her close lips, Murong Yunshu followed Chu Changge's pace in turning around.
"It's you?" The young man in front of her was the same person Murong Yunshu had met before she left the mansion.
"It's me." Hua Ziqing walked over, still holding a branch in his hand and flinging it in a circle. "You are so beautiful. No wonder Older Cousin Yeli constantly keeps you in his mind."
Older Cousin Yeli......Hua Yeli......older cousin......
Murong Yunshu immediately realised that the young man in front of her was another royal descendant.
It seemed that Fang Hongfei was not the only soul of the deceased that had not yet dispersed.
"You don't have to climb the tree if you just want to praise me." Murong Yunshu said.
"......" Hua Ziqing was speechless for a few moments. Then he looked Chu Changge up and down while rubbing his chin and nodded his head in an old-fashioned way, "Indeed, he is more handsome than Older Cousin Yeli. No wonder she was unwilling to be a Wang Fei and ran away with you."
Murong Yunshu raised her eyes to gaze at the distant mountains. Did she look like someone with no inner qualities?
Chu Changge originally had a hard time with this relative of his love rival in front of him, but seeing that this person was naive and straightforward, and what he said was pleasant to hear, he reduced his hostility by a few points. "I'm much better than Hua Yeli other than this face."
"Is that so?" Hua Ziqing didn't believe it and looked at Chu Changge with a childish expression, saying, "I heard that you have very high martial arts skills. Are your skills even higher than Older Cousin Yeli's?"
As if he had heard a big joke, Chu Changge laughed out loud, "One can’t consider Hua Yeli’s level as knowing martial arts."
"So, your martial arts skills are really high?" Hua Ziqing asked with a smile. He was smiling innocently.
Murong Yunshu was a little surprised. With royal blood flowing through his body, how could he still have such an innocent smile?
At that moment, Li San came from a distance and called out from afar, "Leader Chu, Miss Murong."
Murong Yunshu looked sideways, only to see that his face was calm, not at all like it was a coincidental encounter. He knew full well that they were here; thus, he had purposely walked over.
Murong Yunshu nodded slightly as a greeting. Chu Changge also looked indifferently at Li San without saying a word.
"This is......" Li San inquired as he approached and noticed Hua Ziqing.
Murong Yunshu struggled with introducing this young man, whose name was not even clear, to Li San, when the young man eagerly introduced himself, "My name is Hua Ziqing, and I am a friend of both of them."
Hua Ziqing......Hua......a royal surname...... could it be......could it be possible that......this boyish young man in front of him was a member of the royal family?!
Li San looked at Murong Yunshu with a stunned expression, trying to confirm the person's identity.
Murong Yunshu pursed her lips before saying casually, "You don't need to look at me. I don't know him well."
Hua Ziqing's eyes grew wide. Not familiar with him? How could she say she didn't know him well? That was too heartless! They had met once at Murong Mansion! [T/N]
"Didn't he say that......he was a friend of yours?" Li San carefully expressed the doubts in his mind.
"That's what he said." Murong Yunshu responded casually.
As soon as Hua Ziqing heard this, he wailed in anxiety, "Of course we're friends. You almost became my older cousin's wife!"
Was there such logic? Murong Yunshu raised her eyebrows. If she kidnapped the Empress, would that also make her friends with the Emperor?
What Chu Changge only cared about were these words――older cousin's wife. "I don't want to see him at Feiyang Villa again." Chu Changge said coldly.
Hua Ziqing's expression froze. What kind of people were these! Just now, they were so pleasant, but they were as cold as ice in the blink of an eye. Their face was turning over faster than a book! Did he say something wrong? [TN]
Of course, Hua Ziqing did not know that the term 'older cousin's wife' had violated Chu Changge's great taboo.
Li San was embarrassed by the two sides holding their own words, and Chu Changge's request had put him in a difficult position. The other party was a Royal Highness. How could he tell him to expel people just like that......
After thinking about it, Li San decided to send the god of plague away first. "Leader Chu, Miss Murong, the Manor Master requests the pleasure of seeing you two."
Upon seeing this situation, Murong Yunshu frowned and immediately said lightly, "Please lead the way."
Li San stretched out his hand into an inviting gesture, "Please――"
Chu Changge gave Hua Ziqing a cold glance before leaving with Li San along with Murong Yunshu.[+]
Hua Ziqing looked at the backs of the three people who were leaving. He staggered for a long time before returning to his senses. They left him here like he was air! Although he hadn't been crowned Emperor yet, he was at least a noble heir, and they......they actually left without any greeting, while leaving him here alone being blown by the cold wind.
How absurdly outrageous!
At the thought of him being neglected, Hua Ziqing lost his temper and kicked at the trunk of a nearby tree. As a result of kicking it with his toe first, after hitting, he felt awfully painful that he immediately let out a cry of "ahhhhh――", He grimaced with pain as he jumped and spun in a circle on one leg.
"Even the trees are against me!" Hua Ziqing cursed lowly in depression and jumped for a long time until his toes didn't hurt so much and his mood calmed down a lot.
Anyhow, they even looked down on a person who was as great as his Older Cousin Yeli. Naturally, they would also be looking down on him. For him not to be looked down on would be considered abnormal. [T/N]
Ah!
Hua Ziqing suddenly slapped his forehead and muttered to himself, "I've taken the wrong medicine, haven't I! I could even think it's normal to be looked down upon by others!" [T/N]
At that moment, a voice suddenly sounded from behind him――
"You didn't take the wrong medicine; you just forgot to take it."
Hua Ziqing suddenly turned back and exclaimed, "Senior Yue?! Why did you come to Feiyang Mountain Villa too?"
"My son and daughter-in-law are here. Can I not come?" Fairy Yaoyue gave him a blank look and stated, "I haven't regained back my face yet." She must regain it back by showing Murong Yunshu her initial show of strength before that girl officially entered their door. Otherwise, it will hurt the family peace if they had to fight again after becoming family later.
The Fairy Yaoyue stared at Hua Ziqing suspiciously for a moment before asking, "On the other hand, what are you doing standing here in a daze?"
"I ......" Hua Ziqing opened his mouth to explain, but he didn't know how to explain it adequately. He finally said awkwardly, "I'm facing the wall, thinking about my mistakes."
The Fairy Yaoyue looked around and asked, "Where is the wall?"
"......I'm facing the lake, thinking about my mistakes." Hua Ziqing corrected his words quite feebly.
Fairy Yaoyue frowned, "That's not how idioms are used."
"I love to use it that way, can't I?" Hua Ziqing was furious. He had started reading at the age of four and knew how to use idioms.
Seeing him like this, Fairy Yaoyue looked at him calmly and uttered, "You should respect the old and cherish the young."
"......" Hua Ziqing looked at the sky speechlessly. Could he take back that sentence? Ever since he said those words at Murong Mansion that day, the words 'respecting the old and cherishing the young' had simply become synonymous with him. He had been dreaming of an alias that the meddlesome people of the jianghu would give him. According to the rules of providing a nickname by the people in the jianghu, it was usually related to one famous deed or one's martial arts skills that would be added up to one's name. Such as 'Gu Beichuan's fearful cold eyes spear', 'Zhao Da's swift wind iron sword' and so on. In this way, would he not become 'Hua Ziqing, respecting the old and cherishing the young'......
That would be terrible.
It would also be a nightmare.
Hua Ziqing held his forehead. He finally realised what it means to make one wrong step and caused thousands of hatred.
"Kid, your name is Hua Ziqing, right?" Fairy Yaoyue suddenly asked with a smile.
Hua Ziqing shivered and subconsciously took two steps back, asking, "What are you going to do?"
"I'm not going to do anything. It just occurred to me that when you're out there, you should have a resounding alias......"
Before Fairy Yaoyue could finish her words, Hua Ziqing had already launched the most primitive attack on her――blocking her mouth with his hands. "Don't say it, don't say it......"
Fairy Yaoyue did not expect him to use such a cheap attack method that she was stunned for a moment before she flung her sleeve. "Little brat, how dare you to eat this old mother's tofu!"
"Uh......" Hua Ziqing covered the red and swollen left side of his face and froze with a bewildered look. After a long moment, he said exceptionally innocently, "You are even older than my mother. How could I eat your tofu......"
With a swish, Fairy Yaoyue also slapped the right side of Hua Ziqing’s face as it also turned red and swollen.
"Try saying one more time about me being older than your mother!" Fairy Yaoyue's face was filled with anger.
Hua Ziqing covered his faces with both of his hands. His clear eyes were filled with grievances, and he didn't dare to say a word any more.[+]
Fairy Yaoyue glared at Hua Ziqing for a long time, then suddenly chuckled and patted him on the shoulder, "Good kid, you have a future. From hereafter, I will cover you, and I will ensure that you will make a good living in the jianghu." After saying that, she walked away with a smile on her face.
Holding his increasingly swollen face, Hua Ziqing endured the burning pain that was like a blazing fire as he looked at the back of Fairy Yaoyue and sighed, "Older Cousin Yeli was right. This family is indeed more eccentric than the other."
Murong Yunshu spoke without mercy, Chu Changge's first words to him were 'I don't want to see him in Feiyang Mountain Villa again', and this Fairy Yaoyue was even more unique, giving him two slaps on the face without any rhyme or reason.
But these things weren't what he found even the strangest. What made him feel the weirdest was that he was not at all angry at being given a cold-shoulder treatment, ignored and violently attacked by this family.
Hua Ziqing stretched out his neck with a soft sigh; he indeed forgot to take his medicine......
*
Meanwhile, Murong Yunshu followed Li San to the Old Master's study without seeing a single 'idle person' around. Before she approached the destination, she finally couldn't help asking, "The Spring Festival is already over, right?"
"Huh?" Li San didn't understand why she suddenly brought up the Spring Festival.
Murong Yunshu added, "Or is today a special day? Dragon Boat Festival? Qixi Festival? It's still too early for all of them, right?"
Li San was stumped for a long time and said, "Miss Murong, you'd better say it straight."
Feeling that she had stumbled upon another uncivilised native who could not understand human language, Murong Yunshu said with some impatience, "There are only very few people around."
Few people? What does she mean by only very few people? Li San thought about it for a long time before he understood it and let out an 'oh' of realisation and laughed, "The junior disciples are all practising in the martial arts training ground."
"What about the maids and other servants?" Murong Yunshu asked again, with a serious look.
"Uh......maids and servants......" Li San frowned in embarrassment and finally said resentfully, "When everyone heard that Leader Chu was going to stay here for a little while, they all packed their things and went home……but don't get me wrong, leader Chu. They are afraid of being in your way, so they have disappeared to make room for you." Li San looked at Chu Changge with fear and trepidation, hoping that he would not be angry.
However, Chu Changge turned his head to face Murong Yunshu and raised his eyebrows, "Are you satisfied now?"
Murong Yunshu finally couldn't help but puff out a smile, like a steeply blooming orchid, elegant and noble. "Satisfied." She answered with a smile.
Chu Changge laughed helplessly and dotingly, "I'm glad to have entertained you, Madam." She, knowing that the reason there were no passers-by within a hundred miles was because he had scared them away. Still, she had to get to the bottom of it as if hearing this fact from someone else's mouth was the only way to entertain her truly.
Murong Yunshu smiled, "This is for your pleasure, so you're welcome."
Chu Changge did not know whether to laugh or cry as he shook his head in disbelief while saying, "Let's go in. The manor owner is still waiting."
Murong Yunshu nodded obediently and went into the house with him. Li San was left alone in a daze. Had he heard something wrong or missed something? Or perhaps he was hallucinating and what he heard was not what they said?
Li San rubbed the back of his head, feeling as if his brain had become dull.
Well, he must have been scared by Chu Changge. This statement was how Li San explained the piece of confusion in his head that had come out of nowhere.
Noob Translator's Musing
UPDATE 21.09.2021: I've updated Bewitching Fairy Yue to Fairy Yaoyue. Sorry 🙇♀️
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Black Belly Wife