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Kapitel 36

Some say that the young master, unable to win the heart of a woman he desired, eventually became disheartened and left the martial world.

Some say that the young master discovered the secret of the Mountain and Water Ballad, and from then on, he roamed freely among the mountains and rivers, never to be heard of again in the human world.

Regardless of the legend, the story of "Young Master Ye An"—"Having met the gentleman, how could I not be happy?"—has never appeared in the martial world again. This has ultimately become a reality, and a fleeting memory for people.

Luoyang Flower

Chapter Thirty-Five

Two years later.

Luoyang, the eastern capital.

Yuchunlou.

"The eldest son of the Di family, the Flower King of Luoyang, is engaged!"

"Which girl is so lucky?"

"Sigh, their daughter is still unmarried, she's practically an old maid..."

"I heard that the person Miss Di favored back then was none other than Young Master Di."

"Could it be... that young master from Cangzhou?"

"That's right... Sigh, without you, young master, the martial world really doesn't feel like the martial world anymore..."

The men drinking and carousing, with fine wine in their left hands and beautiful women in their right, were engrossed in conversation, prompting the women in their arms to ask curiously, "What kind of young master is he?"

The bearded man stroked the heavily made-up face of the girl in his arms and laughed, "When you were roaming the martial world, you were still too green, little girl. It's normal that you haven't heard of me."

"By the way, where's your Lou Chuxue? We haven't heard her play the piano lately."

Chu Xue was the top courtesan at Yu Chun Lou, possessing unparalleled and elegant zither skills. Ordinary wealthy patrons couldn't even get a glimpse of her. However, she had a habit of playing several pieces in the elegant pavilion on the second floor of Yu Chun Lou for three to five days every month. Therefore, on those days, Yu Chun Lou was always packed with distinguished guests, all eagerly awaiting her arrival.

"Sir, you may not know this... Miss Chuxue has been inseparable from a young gentleman these past few days. That gentleman is very generous, and Mama is naturally delighted with it. She's even forgotten to play the zither..."

"What kind of young master could win the favor of Miss First Snow?"

The girl pouted and whispered, "Look, isn't that him?"

Her tone was slightly sour, yet also seemed envious. The guests looked in the direction she pointed. Sure enough, a young man was walking in through the door, dressed in a light robe and with a jade crown on his head. Although only a blurry profile was visible, one could imagine his elegant demeanor, making it hard to look away.

"He seems more like a young master from a prestigious family. He's not a member of the martial arts world, is he?"

"Look, look, Miss First Snow has come out to greet us herself..."

Amidst envious glances, the young lady Chuxue stood gracefully before the elegant pavilion, dressed in a simple white dress. Though a courtesan, she possessed unparalleled beauty. Her beautiful eyes were filled with affection, every thread of which was fixed on the young gentleman.

Amidst envious glances from the crowd, a drunken man stood up, slammed a stack of silver notes on the table, and shouted, "I...I'll offer five hundred taels of silver to see Miss Qiu...Chuxue for one night!"

The man's attendant hurriedly shouted, "Where's the manager? Didn't you hear our master say that he wants her to spend the night for five hundred taels of silver?"

People nearby began to whisper among themselves. Five hundred taels of silver was a lot... but this man was clearly a merchant from out of town and didn't know the going rate for drinking and carousing in Luoyang. A courtesan of Chuxue's caliber, if a regular customer liked her, might not charge her a penny; if she didn't like him, even a thousand taels of gold wouldn't be enough to secure her.

Sure enough, the young master didn't stop walking, and Chu Xue didn't even raise an eyebrow. Only the madam came up to him with a smile and said, "Sir, what kind of girls don't we have in our Jade Spring Pavilion? Chu Xue has something to do, so how about... I'll choose a new one for you. She's pretty and only fourteen years old."

"One thousand taels, I want her!" The man pointed at Chu Xue and shouted, "Why can she accept other people but not me? How much did that pretty boy offer? I'll double it!"

The young man took a half step forward, paused upon hearing this, and turned his head to look downstairs.

Now everyone could see his appearance. He had a face like jade, thin lips and delicate eyebrows, and a pair of eyes that shone like stars. He was extremely handsome and indeed had a bit of a "pretty boy" vibe.

Chu Xue took a few steps forward, seemingly wanting to pull him up so he wouldn't have to argue with the bystanders, but the young man smiled at her very gently and casually tossed a ring from his little finger down.

That small piece of object landed precisely in front of the man and shattered into pieces.

Anger flashed across the man's face, he cursed, then glanced at the shattered ring and was immediately speechless.

It was a piece of blood jade with beautiful patterns.

Blood jade is extremely rare on the market these days, let alone natural, exquisitely patterned jade—it could probably fetch seventeen or eighteen pieces even from Yu Chun Tang. The jade he wore at his waist had a hint of blood jade quality within it, and whenever someone asked about it during business dealings, he felt a sense of pride. This young master, wearing such a precious ring—casually tossed it down as a warning. The man instantly sobered up, a chill running down his spine. When he looked up again, the young master was already leading Chu Xue into the elegant room.

A moment later, the man, accompanied by his entourage, left hastily, his face etched with shame. The commotion in the hall subsided, and men and women alike began to whisper amongst themselves. Meanwhile, a man who had been sitting alone in a corner, hidden in the flickering light, finally turned his gaze back, a rather meaningful smile playing on his lips.

The madam ordered someone to pick up the broken jade pieces, then personally carried them into the private room.

Inside the elegant room, the faintest scent of white musk wafted. The young master leaned against the brocade couch, his eyes slightly narrowed, while Chu Xue rested on his knees. She said something that elicited a faint smile from the young master, but the smile did not reach his eyes, which remained bright and clear.

"Young master, what should we do with these broken jade pieces?" the madam asked with a smile. "I think it will be difficult to piece them back together, but these larger pieces can be carved into several earrings."

"Mother, you can handle it yourself," the young master said lazily, then stroked Chuxue's hair and frowned, "It's too much of a burden for you to deal with people like Cheng Riyu."

Chu Xue smiled faintly. She knew he was asking about her redemption, but the more he asked, the more stubborn she became. Even though she longed for it, she held back and didn't ask.

The young man looked at her face, flushed like rosy clouds, and her hesitant expression. He seemed to remember something, paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "How about this, Mother? Look, can this piece of jade of mine help her redeem her freedom?"

The mother stared wide-eyed at the jade pendant the young master had taken from his waist, stammering, "This...this—"

"Is it alright or not?" the young master asked patiently.

“Alright, alright!” The madam quickly bowed and said anxiously, “I’ll send someone to fetch the contract right away.”

After the contract was finalized, Chu Xue stared at him blankly and whispered, "Young Master Xia, this deal isn't worth it for you... If you could buy the Jade Spring Pavilion with those Broken Blood Jade earrings, what's a little more for your jade pendant?"

“Those are material possessions. Although this old woman is a bit greedy, from what I've heard, she has never forced you to do anything you didn't want to do. Thinking about it that way, it's only right that she earns some money.” Young Master Xia smiled slightly, looking at her extremely beautiful profile, his gaze lingering on her eyes for a long time before speaking softly.

Chu Xue stood up and bowed gracefully to the young master: "Thank you, young master. From now on, Chu Xue's life and death will follow you."

After a moment of silence, Young Master Xia picked up the contract with his fingertips and slowly brought it closer to the candlelight. The flame flickered and instantly rolled up the piece of paper.

The candle flickered and was struck, then someone outside said, "Miss Chuxue, the Di family has sent someone, saying they have something to ask of you. Will you... see them or not?"

Chu Xue is no longer a member of Yu Chun Lou, so there's no need to see her anymore. She lowered her head and thought for a moment, but then she saw Young Master Xia drinking tea with his eyes down, looking calm and composed. So she said, "Young Master, what do you think?"

"Is he a friend of yours from the past?" Young Master Xia curled his lips. "If it's difficult for you, then you can meet him."

“The young master of the Di family, the Flower King of Luoyang, is quite generous. He used to come and listen to me play the zither often,” Chu Xue said. “When they come to me, they must be asking me to play the zither.”

The visitor was the steward of the Di family.

Chu Xue smiled and asked, "How are you, Young Master Di and Miss Di?"

"Very well," the steward said with a smile. "I just heard that Miss Chuxue has found a good husband. Congratulations!" After speaking, he glanced at the young master with some curiosity. Perhaps intimidated by his handsome appearance, he was momentarily speechless and unable to look away.

"Thank you for your past care, Young Master Di." Chu Xue smiled faintly. "Young Master Di, is there something you need from me?"

"My young lady wishes to hear you play the zither again..." The steward smiled awkwardly, "I wonder if the young lady is currently..."

"Is the girl from the Di family Miss Di?" Young Master Xia suddenly asked.

"No, it's not Miss Chuxue," the steward said with a smile. "It's the young master's unmarried wife, who now lives in a separate courtyard. She once heard Miss Chuxue play the zither and praised her highly."

Chu Xue turned back to look at Young Master Xia as if searching for something.

Young Master Xia nodded slightly: "If you like it, then go ahead."

"Thank you, young master and young lady." The steward was overjoyed, arranged a date, and then left.

That night, Chu Xue did not leave Yu Chun Lou, waiting for Young Master Xia's residence in Luoyang to be renovated before she would be taken in. She escorted him to the door before reluctantly leaving.

Young Master Xia walked alone on the East Street of Luoyang. It was quite late, and there were few pedestrians. Looking at the sparse moon and stars and the deepening dew, he suddenly smiled and said, "You've been following me for a long time."

Before he finished speaking, several figures rushed up wielding wooden sticks and began to chop down.

A male voice shouted, "Beat them! Beat them to death!"

Although there were many people, their stick fighting was chaotic and disorganized. Young Master Xia stepped back a few paces, shook his head slightly, and without making a move, four or five people had already fallen to the ground groaning and unable to get up for a long time. He reached out to adjust the jade crown on his head and looked at a large tree with a half-smile. Behind him, with a thud, a rather large body fell down... It was the man from Jade Spring Pavilion earlier. Seeing that his venting of anger and intimidation had failed, he had fainted in shock and anger.

Young Master Xia did not step forward, but merely flicked his sleeve and left. As he walked to the entrance of a secluded alley, a figure leaned against the wall, smiling slightly, and said, "If they knew that this frail young man before them was none other than Young Master Ye An from back then, I wonder if they would still dare to act so rashly?"

Chapter Thirty-Six

Young Master Xia seemed not to hear him and continued walking forward at a leisurely pace.

The dark figure straightened up slightly and raised his voice, "Don't pretend you can't hear me. You can fool others, but you can't fool an old friend of more than ten years."

Young Master Xia stopped in his tracks, raised an eyebrow slightly, looked at the man, and bowed slightly, saying, "Brother, I'm afraid you've mistaken me for someone else."

"That trick you just showed was pretty cool!" the man said with a half-smile. "But throwing the ring at Yuchun Pavilion was even cooler. Of this shattered blood jade, I'm afraid some of it came from the osmanthus grove that I, Di Yinhai, lost to you... Are you now planning to completely deny it?"

Young Master Xia stared at him for a long time, the smile on his lips fading, and he said in a rather cold tone, "Young Master Di, don't you believe I'll kill him to silence him right now?"

"It's not that bad, is it?" Di Yinhai rubbed his nose. "I just wanted to meet you and have a drink."

Jun Ye'an's expression softened slightly, but then Di Yinhai continued, "Since you don't want to be exposed to others, I certainly won't do anything rash."

Only one small tavern by the roadside still had candles lit. Jun Ye'an went in first, and after sitting down, he heard Di Yinhai say, "Who painted your face? You look like Pan An, but you really do look like a pretty boy."

Jun Ye'an smiled but did not answer. The bartender brought over a small pot of wine, a plate of boiled pork and fried peanuts, said "Enjoy your meal," and went back to the counter to doze off.

"You said you were going to retire, but you ended up redeeming Chu Xue in Luoyang. What are you planning?" Di Yinhai said while pouring wine. "Are you planning to re-enter the martial world?"

"Now that the flower festival is about to begin in Luoyang, and you, Young Master Di, are about to get married, what else could possibly overshadow these events?" Jun Ye'an said calmly. "Besides, true masters live in seclusion in the city, and encountering the first snow was just a coincidence."

Di Yinhai laughed heartily: "It's quite a coincidence that we met again after more than two years apart."

The young master finished his cup of white wine and laughed, "Young Master Di is a man of his word. It's a pity I didn't thank you in person that day."

Di Yinhai also downed a cup, and sighed softly, "Back then, you and I made a bet outside Cangzhou City. You said that someone had sent three great gifts, but I was afraid that they might be a blessing in disguise, and it might not be a good thing—and sure enough, you retired half a year later. I lost this thousand acres of Guilin, and I deeply regret that my words back then have come true."

Jun Ye'an put down the wine bowl in his hand, but saw that there was not much sighing on his face, but rather a sense of pride and satisfaction, which made him slightly taken aback.

"...Losing this thousand acres of Guilin is nothing," Di Yinhai laughed. "Indeed, fortune and misfortune are intertwined."

Di Yinhai slowly poured a cup of wine and handed it to Jun Ye'an: "Zixuan, are you planning to settle down in Luoyang?"

Jun Ye'an took a sip of wine, smiled wistfully, and sighed softly, "Where can't I find home these days?"

Di Yinhai laughed loudly: "Good, good, at least you have to drink this cup of wedding wine before you leave."

"But I wonder which family my future sister-in-law will be from?"

Di Yinhai did not answer, but a sly glint flashed in his eyes. He simply said, "By the way, she loves to listen to Chu Xue play the zither. I wonder if Zixuan would be willing to give up his love for a few days?"

Jun Ye'an smiled faintly: "Please do as you wish."

Di Yinhai was overjoyed: "Thank you very much. I will have someone bring her here tomorrow."