When Chu Changge first heard about Hundred Flowers Pavilion, Chu Changge thought it was a place of lovely spring scene, but he didn't expect it to be a Land of Peach Blossoms. It had green hills and clear water, with petals falling in riotous profusion.
Chinese Parasol Tree
It gets its name 'parasol' because of its wide leaf that resembles a parasol. Its woods are usually used to make several Chinese instruments like guqin and guzheng.
Image Credit | I, KENPEI, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
It gets its name 'parasol' because of its wide leaf that resembles a parasol. Its woods are usually used to make several Chinese instruments like guqin and guzheng.
Image Credit | I, KENPEI, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Even if the scenery was breathtaking, the viewer was not in the mood to admire it and found it dull. The mountain was just a pile of rocks, and the waterfall was just a pool of water. While the exotic flowers and plants, to Chu Changge's eyes, were no different from the flowers and plants that could be seen everywhere.
Chu Changge stood by the stream and observed the direction of the water flow. If there was running water, there must be a source. He believed that if he followed the direction of the source the water flow from, he would definitely be able to leave this terrible place.
Suddenly, a cold, cheerless voice sounded from behind him――"You are not going to get out."
There was no need to turn around for Chu Changge to know who was speaking. For in this valley, apart from him, there was only one living person. "What comes in can also go out. Since I was able to enter, I can get out as long as I return the same way." Chu Changge was still gazing at the stream with no intention of giving up.
"You fell down the flowing water from above." The woman in white, the owner of the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, Qiu Shuiyin, said as she looked at the other side of the waterfall.
Chu Changge was overjoyed at her words. In that case, this place should be near the Shaolin Temple. As long as he climbed the mountain in front of him, he would be able to leave this place. In the past few days since he woke up, Qiu Shuiyin had refused to reveal any information. Not only did she not tell him how to leave, but she also did not even mention where this place was or which state it belonged to.
Qiu Shuiyin expected Chu Changge to get up the mountain, but she wasn't worried at all. It was because no one had ever climb over it. "You won't be able to get up there." Leaving these words behind, Qiu Shuiyin turned to leave. The wind by the stream was cold, and her body could not bear it.
Chu Changge was still standing by the stream, looking up at the high waterfall, with the corners of his mouth slightly hooked. Can't go up? That must be the most ridiculous thing in the world. Apart from the Yunxia Temple outside the Tianque Palace, there was no other place in this world that he could not go up to.
Chu Changge slowly strode through the waves, arriving at the bottom of the waterfall to observe the terrain. As he had expected, the rock face was worn smooth from years of running water and was not suitable for climbing. But this was not a big problem. The most pressing matter of the moment was to preserve and nurture his spirit. He had been tortured by that strange woman for the past few days and had lost layers of skin. If he continued like this, not to mention climbing, he would even have trouble walking. He couldn't understand how anyone could live on a diet of flowers. It was enough that he ate flowers, but he was only allowed to eat one flower petal per meal. What was more, he was only allowed to eat two meals a day.
It was a miracle that she had survived this long. As Chu Changge thought about it, his stomach couldn't help but rumble. At this moment, he missed Guo Quede's little salt-filled food. It was better to die of salt than to die of hunger.
What was more unlucky was that there were no fish in the stream and no birds and animals in the valley. He couldn't even hunt game if he wanted to. Chu Changge helplessly covered his empty stomach and sighed, wondering what kind of god Qiu Shuiyin would be titled with after she attained immortality.
*
At dinner, Chu Changge held his share of the dinner――a nail-sized flower petal, between his two fingers and finally said the words he had hidden in his heart for a long time, "When you become immortal, you must remember to help me turn this into a roast chicken before ascending to heaven."
Qiu Shuiyin stopped chewing at his words. She raised her eyes and looked at Chu Changge strangely for a moment. Then she chewed slowly, swallowed the flower petals and drank a bamboo tube of spring water. After that, she stared straight at him as if she was waiting for something.
Chu Changge raised his eyebrows strangely while restraining the urge to wolf down the flower petal that could not even fit between his teeth as gracefully as possible. Then poured a bamboo tube of spring water directly down his throat and felt the cold water slowly flow into his stomach. He hadn't been this bitter since he was a child.
Seeing that Chu Changge had finished his 'meal', Qiu Shuiyin reached out to check his pulse, but he quickly dodged it. Qiu Shuiyin looked at him coldly and said, "If I wanted to kill you, you wouldn't still be sitting here."
"I know." Chu Changge resentfully held his hand out for her to recheck his pulse. He was just reacting out of habit.
"There's no need." Qiu Shuiyin said, "The fact that you can still avoid means that your brain is not broken."
Chu Changge's face was full of black lines. He was tempted to say that his brain would sooner or later break down if he continued to be starved like this.
"Since your brain is not broken, don't talk nonsense in front of me again. I won't become immortal, and there's no roast chicken here. If you don't want to starve to death, then keep your mouth shut. Otherwise, you won't even have flowers to eat." Dropping these words, Qiu Shuiyin got up to leave but stopped in her tracks at Chu Changge's following words.
"Have you had your pulse checked?" Chu Changge asked indifferently.
Qiu Shuiyin turned her head. "No."
"Then you really should take your own pulse."
"I'm not sick." Qiu Shuiyin said this with her mouth, but her heart moved a little. Was he......concerned about her?
"Remember to tell me the results after you take your pulse. If your head is sick, I can leave you alone about what happened just now." When he said this, Chu Changge's voice changed from light to cold, seemingly to advise and threaten her at the same time. [+]
His words made the warmth that had just risen in Qiu Shuiyin's heart vanish into thin air. She was so confused. How could a person she had only known for a month care about her? Not to mention that during the ten days he was in a coma, he had been calling out to a woman called 'Yunshu'. "You'd better know where you stand. This place is the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, and your life is mine." Qiu Shuiyin's voice grew colder and colder.
Upon hearing this, Chu Changge laughed wildly as he said, "No one dare say that he (she) is responsible for my life."
Qiu Shuiyin looked straight at him with cold eyes, "I saved your life. In this life of yours, you will stay behind to repay me for the favour I have done for you."
"Is that so?" Chu Changge laughed. "You may not know that I am not someone who knows how to repay kindness, and many people even think that I often repay kindness with enmity."
"You won't."
"How come you are so sure?"
Qiu Shuiyin was silent for a moment before saying, "Because you have love in your heart. If a person still knows how to love other people, this means that he is not thoroughly a bad person."
"Unfortunately, I only know how to love one person. A man who knows how to love only his wife will be more indifferent to others. If you see him suddenly show mercy, then it must be because his wife wants him to do that."
His......wife? Qiu Shuiyin only felt a pain in her heart. Feeling a little annoyed by the stirring in her heart, she said, "She must hope that you know how to repay the kindness."
"Correct. Since you saved my life, she will surely repay you." In the end, Chu Changge turned the topic around and spoke notably louder as if he was wealthy, "Just name a price. My Madam has plenty of silver. So I'm not afraid even if you open your mouth as big as a lion."
Qiu Shuiyin was slightly angry at his words that she coldly said, "That depends on how much your life is worth in her heart."
"If you say that to her, she will undoubtedly answer――'utterly worthless'." Chu Changge smiled. "She's a merchant. When it comes to business, she won't talk about feelings."
Qiu Shuiyin was stunned for a long time and then coldly said, "Indeed, it is worthless." With those words, she left with a flick of her sleeve.
*
There are three rooms in the cabin: a bedroom, a study and a woodshed. Chu Changge slept in the woodshed. In fact, after he had healed and cleaned himself up, Qiu Shuiyin had permitted him to sleep in the study, but he refused. It was unknown if it was because of Murong Yunshu's influence or his own latent mental cleanliness, but he would rather sleep on a straw mat in the woodshed than on a bed that someone else had slept on.
Lying on the ground while looking at the moonlight outside through the tiny wooden window, Chu Changge suddenly had a feeling of being in prison. Not because he was hungry and physically tired, but because he was inside the window and the bright moon was outside.
Now he guessed everyone thought he was the one responsible for the Shaolin Temple bloodbath. It didn't matter to him. He was used to taking the blame for anything that happened in the jianghu. He didn't even bother to explain. Anyway, he already had countless enemies. Adding one more was not too much. But her days......would only be hard. [+]
*
As it turned out, Chu Changge's worries were superfluous. Murong Yunshu's life was very good. She ate well, slept well and could count her silver every day. At least that was how it looked to others. Those other people included Lu-er, who was staring dully at her master at that moment.
"Miss, are you really not going to look for Guye?"
"Hmm." Murong Yunshu indifferently replied as she flipped through her account book.
"Really, truly not going to?"
"Hmm." Murong Yunshu continued to read the account book. After being away for almost half a year, there were simply too many things for her to deal with.
"Really really really really not going to?" Lu-er asked with an aggravated tone, still undeterred.
Murong Yunshu couldn't endure it any longer as she raised her eyes at her, "Do you miss him a lot?"
"Uh......" Lu-er was speechless. How could she dare to miss her Mistress' man! "Every......everyone is just worried," Lu-er answered in a tiny voice.
Murong Yunshu glanced at her again, then hung her head and plucked the abacus with one hand and jotted down the accounts quickly with the other, while saying in a very light-hearted manner, "He won't die."
"......I didn't mean it like that." She was not worried about Guye's life or death. Everyone said that Guye was a great devil and a great scourge, which would last for a thousand years. Surely he wouldn't die that easily.
Seeing that her Master was no longer paying attention to her, Lu-er was torn for a long time before she whispered again, "I was worried that......you might not be able to think straight."
Murong Yunshu gave out a light smiled at her words as she responded, "I didn't even have trouble thinking straight when my own father died. So what's the point of looking for death when your fiancé goes missing?"
Lu-er nodded as if she had finally realised. "That's true. It's not such a big deal. We can just find another one."
"Yeah, it's not a big deal. Just find another one surnamed Chu."
"Why does it have to be Chu?" Lu-er wondered.
Murong Yunshu was still flicking her abacus as she casually explained, "I don't want the child to take someone else's surname in the future."
Lu-er thought about it and felt that her Master's words made sense. The thought that the little future miss and young master would be surnamed Zhao, Qian, Sun and Li......made her squirm. Suddenly, a flash of light came to her mind, and Lu-er shouted, "I know, let them take Miss' surname, Murong!"
"Well, that's what I thought so too." For the first time, Murong Yunshu found that her maid was also very wise.
Lu-er's eyes widened, "Since you've already thought about it......" Suddenly, Lu-er's eyes became even more enormous, and she exclaimed bewilderingly, "Miss, you, you, you......you're pregnant?!"
Noob Translator's Reaction
Lu-er...
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| See...how slow I react to your slowness... |
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Black Belly Wife