"Eat some more."
Hua Chongyang curled the corners of his lips as he looked at Bo Hai:
"Does Miss Bo have anything else to say?"
Bo Hai's gaze remained cold, and after a long pause, he let out a soft snort:
"What right do you have to stand beside him?"
Whether or not someone is qualified to stand beside him is none of your business.
"Which word I said wasn't the truth? Everyone in the world knows that you have an ambiguous relationship with Situ Qingliu, and that you're keeping a male concubine surnamed Bai!"
"Who I have ambiguous relationships with, or how many male lovers I keep, is none of your business!"
"If you don't care about him, why keep trying to win his heart?" Bo Hai lowered his hand. "Ignoring him in public, yet flirting with him behind his back—what kind of behavior is that? Hua Chongyang, let me make it clear today: I love Master Lan, and I'm willing to do anything for him. Even if his heart is with you right now, unless you abandon the brothel and go with him regardless of everything, I will willingly let go; if you can't do that, I won't give up."
Hua Chongyang suddenly smiled, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and shook his head:
"What a fine young lady, Miss Bo. The Bo family has never produced someone like you."
Lan Wuxie was directly impatient:
"Lan Cao, tell her to go out."
"Wait." Hua Chongyang put down her teacup, stood up, smiled, and unexpectedly reached out to hook Bo Hai's chin with her finger. Bo Hai shook his head sharply to avoid it, staring at her. Hua Chongyang wasn't offended, smiled, and withdrew her hand.
"How old is Miss Bo this year?"
"It's none of your business."
"Sixteen, I guess? Judging by how young she looks, she's probably no more than seventeen."
"Hua Chongyang, what do you mean?"
"It's nothing." Hua Chongyang smiled and sat down, picking up his teacup and taking a sip. "I was just laughing at you, Miss Bo. You're truly a good girl."
Bo Hai was at a loss for words.
Hua Chongyang smiled and continued looking at her:
"It's such a waste for such a good girl to be involved in this world. You should hurry up and find a good man to marry."
After saying that, she walked around Bo Hai and headed outside.
Hua Chongyang's smile only lasted until he reached the door.
Outside the half-drawn curtain, people came and went. The bright morning sunlight was a delightful sight, but she stared at the doorway and couldn't feel any joy at all.
Just as she stood still, Lan Wuxie lifted the curtain and came in:
"Double Ninth Festival."
"Um?"
Hua Chongyang turned around.
The light red color of Lan Wuxie's robe flowed in the sunlight, warm and translucent, making his face look like white jade, and his smile clear and bright.
"Are you unhappy? I'll go for a walk with you."
Hua Chongyang lazily and casually sat down at the table by the door, and after a while looked at Lan Wuxie:
"I need to go back to the brothel."
I'll stay with you--
"Need not."
"Then I'll have someone accompany you--"
"No need. I can go back by myself."
Lan Wuxie hesitated for a moment, then nodded:
"good."
Hua Chongyang stood up and was about to leave, but turned back at the door:
"Bo Hai—not bad at all."
Lan Wuxie was taken aback.
Hua Chongyang smiled and looked away.
"I genuinely don't think she's a bad person. But I just—I just don't like her."
After saying that, she didn't turn around, lifted the curtain and walked out.
When Hua Chongyang encountered Bo Jiang at the intersection of Anyang Street, he had a premonition that something bad was about to happen.
Sure enough, Bo Jiang greeted him, and Xiaoxiao stopped in her tracks:
"Master Hua."
"Miss Bo."
"I heard you've reconciled with Pavilion Master Lan."
"The young lady's information network is truly impressive."
"That's truly unfortunate. If you two had reconciled a day earlier, I wouldn't have agreed to let Hai'er enter Lan Ying Palace. She's completely in love with Pavilion Master Lan, saying she'll marry no one but him in this lifetime. Now that you've reconciled with Pavilion Master Lan, what are we going to do? Are we going to have two women serving one husband?"
Hua Chongyang raised an eyebrow, seemingly about to smile:
"Your second daughter is different from you, Miss Bo. She's truly a good girl."
For some reason, seeing Bo Jiang today made her feel incredibly suffocated, and seeing his smug smile only made her more extremely annoyed.
"Two women serving one husband is no worse than one woman serving two husbands. In any case, Miss Bo, you've had a harder time."
Bo Jiang's smile froze, and he let out a cold laugh:
"Indeed. If Master Hua doesn't even care about avenging her mother's death, why would she care if Master Lan has one or two more women? I was overthinking it."
Hua Chongyang remained silent, slowly took a step back, stared at Bo Jiang, then raised his hand high and slapped him hard across the face.
The slap was delivered with great force, and Hua Chongyang's fingers ached from the blow.
Bo Jiang's face instantly swelled up with a bruise a finger's width high, and blood seeped from the corner of her mouth. She raised her hand to cover her face, and several black-clad guards behind her immediately stepped forward to draw their swords.
Bo Jiang covered his face with one hand and blocked with the other, raising his gaze to stare at Hua Chongyang:
"Don't move. Hua Chongyang, you're something else."
Hua Chongyang sneered:
"How could I not? I've been wanting to slap you for a long time. I wanted to teach your sister a lesson earlier but was too embarrassed to do it. So today, I'll finally slap you and settle a long-held wish. Bo Jiang, it's a pity you have such a pretty face, but such a slap-worthy mouth."
70. Fu Shun
Bo Jiang seemed to have no intention of fighting back. She slowly released her hand from her face, waved it behind her, and then slowly laughed:
"There's no such thing as 'deserve a beating,' only 'can't be beaten.' I know perfectly well enough myself, Master Hua, that I'm in for this beating today."
After saying that, she calmly turned around and left with several guards.
Hua Chongyang stared at her retreating figure for a long time, then sneered, turned around, and raised an eyebrow:
"Come out."
From the alleyway nearby, Old Man Ye slowly stepped forward:
"So you saw me all along."
"Based on your skills."
"That slap on Bo Jiang was really satisfying," Ye Laoqi grinned maliciously. "She should have been taught a lesson long ago. But it's strange, why didn't she fight back?"
Hua Chongyang sneered:
"Fight back? She wouldn't dare." The people from Lan Ying Palace followed ten feet behind.
Old Master Ye turned around in astonishment:
"real?"
"I've been following them halfway, how could I not know? It's not just Bo Jiang, humph. In this martial world, no matter who it is," Hua Chongyang coldly snorted, "as long as I stand by Lan Wuxie's side, no one will dare touch me. There aren't many who dare to provoke Lan Ying Palace yet."
The lingering power of the corpse that hung by West Lake a year ago probably still exists.
Old Master Ye sighed:
"That's true. But Bo Jiang is indeed very patient. It's really not easy for a woman to do that. Actually, judging from this, Yanzu Valley is very likely under her command. Who else could have remained silent for a year?"
"We can't act rashly. The martial world is full of hidden talents; if it's not her, wouldn't alerting her cause even more trouble?"
As the two walked back, Ye Laoqi hesitated slightly, which Hua Chongyang immediately noticed.
What do you want to say?
Ye Laoqi hesitated instead:
"that……"
"Why are you too afraid to say anything?"
"Master, are you...?" Ye Laoqi still hesitated, stealing a glance at Hua Chongyang, "Are you still suspecting that Lan Wuxie is the person behind Yanzu Valley?"
Hua Chongyang paused in his steps.
She looked noticeably unwell.
"Sigh, I shouldn't say this... but I don't know why," Ye Laoqi sighed, "I know he's wronged you, I know he's wronged my eldest sister, but the more I look at him, the more I feel that he's truly sincere towards you. Countless times over the past year, we've seen him like a lonely ghost near the brothel—"
How come I didn't know?
"Your health was so poor back then, who dared to tell you?" Old Seven Ye shook his head. "Often at dusk or late at night, you could open the window and see Lan Wuxie alone in a nearby tavern or karaoke bar, lost in thought. You can't fake that. It really broke my heart to see her like that."
Hua Chongyang listened quietly without saying a word, then changed the subject after a while:
"By the way, how did you manage to find me?"
"Oh, about this... let me tell you first, Fu Shun is doing well now."
Hua Chongyang suddenly turned his footing:
"What happened?"