"roll!"
Bai Lu threatened with a grin, her voice deliberately low, yet still loud enough for everyone around to hear:
"If you don't eat, I'll kiss you in front of everyone. I mean it."
Everyone was stunned by Bai Lu's shamelessness. One of Ji Chong's disciples was so frightened that the meatball he was holding with his chopsticks "plop" fell onto his lap. Hua Chongyang glared at Bai Lu for a long time, but in the end, he opened his mouth and swallowed half a shrimp without chewing.
With a crisp "thud," the shrimp in Lan Wuxie's hand fell onto the plate.
More than a dozen pairs of eyes turned to Lan Wuxie.
He kept his eyes downcast, but drops of bright red blood dripped from his fingertips onto the plate. Lan Cao gasped softly, took out a handkerchief, and handed it to him. He hesitated for a moment before taking the handkerchief and covering the blood on his finger. Lan Cao frowned, looked at Hua Chongyang, and knelt halfway forward before the table, picking up the shrimp:
"Sect Leader, let me do it."
The room was completely silent.
Bo Feng put down his chopsticks, then smiled and tried to smooth things over:
"Hehe, with your air of nobility, Pavilion Master Lan must have never peeled a shrimp yourself."
The opportunity to back down was offered in time, but Lan Wuxie covered her hands with her handkerchief, glanced at Hua Chongyang, and then said to Bo Feng:
"I've never peeled one for myself, but I've peeled ones for others."
The smile that Hua Chongyang had maintained all night finally froze, and his hand holding the chopsticks paused slightly.
At that time, she was eating with Lan Wuxie in Banlianzui Garden. She loved to eat shrimp but found it troublesome, so she pinched the shrimp head with her hand and started to gnaw on the meat bit by bit from the tail. She gnawed a perfectly good shrimp to pieces. Lan Wuxie couldn't bear to see this, so he rolled up his sleeves and peeled the shrimp meat for her himself, then fed her one by one by hand.
She also remembered that he disliked the fishy smell and would wash his hands at least five times after peeling shrimp until the fishy smell was gone.
Even though a year has passed, it feels like it was just yesterday when I think back on it.
Few people spoke at the banquet all night. Apart from Situ Qingliu, Bo Feng, and Ji Chong occasionally exchanging a few words of laughter, everyone seemed to be starving, just focusing on eating in silence.
Bai Lu seemed to be putting in all her effort, making outrageous statements and engaging in flirtatious and teasing behavior, spending the entire night flirting with Hua Chongyang.
Aside from saying just one sentence at the beginning, Lan Wuxie barely touched his chopsticks throughout the entire evening.
Finally, the party ended. The groups politely put down their chopsticks, rose, thanked Bo Feng, and prepared to leave the Southern Chu Villa. The villa was secluded and deep. They passed a path separated by flower bushes. Lan Wuxie walked in front, followed by Lan Cao and Lan Shu, with Bai Lu dragging Hua Chongyang close behind. Just past the flower bushes, Bai Lu raised an eyebrow at Lan Cao:
"Hey beautiful lady, I've noticed you've been secretly watching me since we were eating."
Orchid turns back:
You mean me?
"Yes. Besides Chongyang, you're the only one here who can be called a beauty—it's a pity you're from Lanying Palace."
Lan Cao glanced at Lan Wuxie walking away, then suddenly stopped, turned back and stared straight at Bai Lu, then beckoned with her finger:
"Come on over there if you dare."
"What's past is past," Bai Lu said with a grin as she walked away. "To die beneath the peony blossoms, even as a ghost, is still romantic."
But to his surprise, when he got closer, Lan Cao reached out and grabbed his chest hard.
The people in the brothel, including Hua Chongyang, were completely petrified. Even Bai Lu, who was shameless beyond measure, couldn't help but pause for a moment before taking a step back.
What are you doing!
But to everyone's surprise, Lan Cao's expression was even more shocked. She stared at Bai Lu's dumbfounded look, and finally turned to Hua Chongyang:
"...Hua Chongyang, this kid... he's actually... a man?!"
54. On the street
Concern can cloud judgment, and Lan Wuxie was nearly internally injured by Bai Lu's antics, but Lan Cao was more cautious. She had long heard of Bai Lu and knew he was handsome, but she was still stunned when she saw him for the first time. Upon closer inspection, she felt that Bai Lu's appearance was neither male nor female, a handsome beauty with a touch of effeminacy; although he was tall, that didn't necessarily mean anything—Hua Chongyang wasn't short either, and he was still a woman!
So this grab, the sensation under her hand really shocked her – Bai Lu took a step back, but she stared at her hand in surprise and took three steps back.
But Bai Lu was slightly surprised, then quickly calmed down, raised her eyebrows, and approached the orchid again, smiling ambiguously:
"Whether I'm a man or not, you should ask Hua Chongyang; she knows the answer to that question best."
Lan Cao was stunned for a moment, and when she realized the meaning behind his words, her face flushed, and she glared at Hua Chongyang. Hua Chongyang probably also felt that Bai Lu had gone a bit too far, so he stepped forward, grabbed Bai Lu's wrist, and pulled her back:
"Bai Lu, what's wrong with you?!"
Bai Lu suppressed her laughter, gave a soft hum, and glanced sideways at him:
"What illness? What illness could I possibly have? I just don't like the look of him."
Lan Cao was startled and turned around to see Lan Wuxie, who had somehow returned to her side. Bai Lu persisted, turning back to Hua Chongyang's side, grabbing his hand, lowering her face slightly to whisper in his ear, her gaze fixed on Lan Wuxie, a hint of wickedness in her slightly curved lips:
"Right here in front of this beautiful lady, Chongyang, why don't you tell her whether I'm a man or a woman?"
Hua Chongyang glanced at Lan Wuxie, then turned his head away, lowered his voice, and his expression was indistinct:
"Bai Lu, stop fooling around."
"I'm making a scene? What am I making a scene about?" Bai Lu's smile vanished, her voice laced with capriciousness. "Hua Chongyang, you don't want me anymore just because you see him, do you?"
What kind of talk is that?
"That's exactly what I said!" Bai Lu suddenly raised her voice, "So what if you slept with him? What's the big deal! I've slept with you too—"
"Shut up!"
Hua Chongyang suddenly stopped him in a low voice.
Bai Lu was startled, but after regaining her senses, she sneered and flung her hand away.
"Fine, fine, you told me to shut up! I'm not just shutting up, I'm leaving, okay?"
He turned around, strode past Lan Cao and Lan Wuxie, and walked out.
Hua Chongyang paused for a moment, then, disregarding everything else, grabbed his cloak and chased after him.
"White Dew! White Dew! You stop right there!"
Without even blinking, she ran away from Lan Wuxie.
Under the moonlight, the path was surrounded by clusters of flowers and shadows.
Lan Wuxie stood quietly among the flowers, listening to Hua Chongyang's soft, patient voice coaxing Bailu not far away; after a long time, until the voice gradually faded into the distance, he slowly turned around and walked outside.
Lan Cao followed behind, not daring to say a word, regretting it to the core: if she hadn't been so meddlesome as to touch Bai Lu, Bai Lu probably wouldn't have had another chance to stab Lan Wuxie in the heart—but what exactly was Hua Chongyang thinking?
Bai Lu's temper was like a child's, coming on in waves, rising and falling quickly. By the time she returned to the brothel, she was already humming a tune again, completely at ease as if nothing had happened.
Hua Chongyang, however, could not relax at all.
Although she didn't speak, as she ran away from Lan Wuxie along the path of the Southern Chu Villa, she glanced at him and immediately noticed that his expression was off. In the year since they last met, she could clearly sense that Lan Wuxie had changed a lot; although he still maintained his invulnerable and aloof demeanor in public, even a year ago, she had never seen such an expression on his face—a fleeting, bewildered look, like that of a child with nothing to lose.
He once faced her with such tenderness, and he once comforted her with such protectiveness. Yet, once, he casually uttered incredibly cruel words in front of her: "Anyone who touches my people will pay tenfold."
That was the Lan Wuxie she remembered.
"OP, are you tired?"
Hua Chongyang snapped out of her reverie, turned around, and saw Huang San approaching with a smile, carrying two cups of hot tea. She took the teacups and brought them to her lips, but had no appetite for them, and put them down again.
"A little."
Everything else was fine, but having to keep pretending to be nonchalant and smiling in front of Lan Wuxie was really tiring.
The chubby Huang San took a sip of tea and comforted him:
"When you're in the world, you're often not in control of your own destiny. You need to be more considerate of yourself."
"Understood. By the way, any news about Yanzu Valley?"
"I've heard quite a few rumors, but none of them are accurate; even the claim that the Valley Master is a demon has surfaced."
"how so?"
"The main problem is that the Valley Master of Goose Foot Valley has never shown himself. Even when he assigns tasks to his subordinates, he always has someone called the 'Red Wing Envoy' relay them. But one thing is certain: someone in Goose Foot Valley does use a maple leaf-shaped hidden weapon, exactly the same as the one the Master clutched in his hand before he died."
Hua Chongyang pondered for a moment:
"Sister Huang, I don't know why, but I feel that the person who killed my mother must be related to this Yanzu Valley."
"But no matter how we investigate, we can't find any connection between Yanzu Valley and Bo Jiang. Could it really not be Bo Jiang's doing?"
Hua Chongyang frowned:
"Let's continue the investigation. By the way, what about Bailu?"
"Don't mention him. He went too far today. Liu Dachu and I were just scolding him for being reckless and provoking Lan Wuxie."
"He's still young."
"Youth shouldn't lead to this kind of behavior. But speaking of which, Bai Lu is really something. I've never seen Lan Wuxie with that kind of expression before. Back when Xiao Bai fed you shrimp, his face was as white as paper."
"……"
"Luckily, Xiaobai didn't actually kiss you in public. If he had, I reckon Lan Wuxie wouldn't have just cut his finger; he probably would have flipped the table and killed Xiaobai."
"……"
"Speaking of which, OP, I'd really like to see how Lan Wuxie would react if Xiaobai kissed you in front of him."
"……"
Seeing that Huang San was about to say something, Hua Chongyang was completely overwhelmed by Huang San's slowness and unbridled speech:
"...Sister Huang, why don't you stand here for a while? I'm going out for a walk."
She threw down her teacup and walked away.
Anyang Street, the riverside, the stone bridge, West Lake, the Broken Bridge.
The shadows of crimson lanterns are reflected in the dark lake, swaying like wisps of smoke, shrouding the past.
Hua Chongyang stood at the bridgehead, gazing at the distant lake, but could no longer see that painted boat. Lan Wuxie had now built Lanying Manor and no longer needed to stay on the painted boat.
Alone, she hugged her arms against the slightly chilly night wind and unknowingly walked to the door of the Half-Curtain Drunken Gate.
Things have changed, and people are no longer the same!
The glass lamp was long gone, and the streets were deserted. She stood in front of the half-tattered curtain for a long time, but she never had the courage to go inside.
A sense of melancholy washed over me.
She turned around absentmindedly, took a few steps, and caught a familiar scent in the wind.
Looking up, I saw that familiar figure about ten steps away.