flamboyant - Chapter 17
She was feeling down, and as she thought about this, she went with Xiaoqing to Biyige, the shop where she often had her clothes made. Biyige was indeed a very famous shop, with all kinds of fabrics and clothes in a dazzling array, and a whole cabinet full of handkerchiefs and trinkets. The ladies and young women were happily browsing in the shop.
Feng Ning stood at the door, having no recollection of this place. Seeing the crowds inside the shop, she lost interest in going in and was about to head home when she heard a woman's voice: "Oh, what a coincidence, the assassin girl is here too."
Feng Ning turned her head and saw Qin Yayin. She nodded and greeted her, "Hello, Miss Qin."
Qin Yayin smiled brightly, raising her wrist: "Look, this is a gift from Young Master Long." It was a jade bracelet. Feng Ning didn't recognize it, but Qin Yayin's defiant attitude made her feel terrible. She roughly pulled her wrist over to examine it closely. Qin Yayin smiled, about to speak, when Feng Ning interrupted her with a raised eye. Feng Ning said, word by word, "Miss, wear this thing properly. I've received orders from Third Master to kill according to this token. Miss, wait patiently, don't be afraid, I'll give you a quick death."
After she finished speaking, she gave a cold laugh, not even glancing at Qin Yayin's stiff and distorted expression, and turned to walk away arrogantly.
Upon returning to the Long residence, Feng Ning's first act was to rush into Long San's courtyard. Long San was instructing two of his men; upon seeing her, they all stopped talking. Feng Ning didn't care about their guard up; she charged straight at Long San, kicked him, and cursed, "You good-for-nothing, you womanizer..."
She acted swiftly, completely catching Long San off guard. He was caught off guard by the kick and before he could even understand what was happening, Feng Ning had already committed the crime and fled. She ran out of the house, passed the small round table in the yard, and casually overturned it. With a loud crash as the table fell to the ground, she had already disappeared outside the gate.
Long San, his face dark, roared, "Feng Ning!" But she didn't even leave a trace for him.
Xiaoqing was slow-moving, and when she ran back, she saw Fengning heading towards her courtyard. She stepped forward worriedly to persuade her, "Madam..." But Fengning turned around and clenched her fist with great spirit, "That was so satisfying."
I feel so much better after throwing a tantrum!
12
12. The Third Madam of the Dragon Clan, who was betrayed...
Feng Ning was in a good mood for a while, but before she could be arrogant for long, her "spendthrift" husband quickly came over. Long San wasn't as barbaric as Feng Ning, so he naturally wouldn't smash things or beat her up. He just stared at Feng Ning with his probing eyes.
"Tell me, what's wrong with you?"
"What's there to say?" Feng Ning turned her head away, refusing to admit that she was taking her anger out on him. In fact, the moment Long San came to interrogate her, Feng Ning began to feel guilty. She was now a suspect in the murder of her husband, and she felt ashamed of herself, but she couldn't say anything, which made her feel extremely uncomfortable.
Long San crossed his arms and said, "I admit you're different from before, and I don't think you have bad intentions, but that doesn't mean you can act recklessly on my Long family's territory. Who do you think you are, coming to my yard to cause trouble for no reason?"
His tone was normal, and his face showed no anger, but Feng Ning knew clearly that he was truly angry. A panic gripped her, but she dared not reveal what was wrong with her. She couldn't bring herself to talk about the clues she had discovered. She bit her lip, stubbornly remaining silent.
Long San stared at her for a long time, then said coldly, "If you don't want others to hate you, don't be unreasonable."
His words pierced her heart like a knife. She didn't know what to say, but he turned and left.
Watching his retreating figure, Feng Ning suddenly felt that the spirit she had gathered earlier had vanished. She ate dinner alone that day; the food was delivered to her courtyard. Feng Ning didn't dare complain about the simple dishes; she felt restless, like a child who had made a mistake.
Feng Ning was someone who couldn't hide her feelings. She couldn't sleep well at night, thinking about what she'd done in the past two days. She and Long San had promised not to lie or conceal anything, and to find the truth together. But now that she had a lead, she was keeping it from him. She was a person who didn't keep her promises, and this made her feel frustrated. Not only was she irritable herself, but she also came back and took it out on him. She wondered if she had embarrassed him in front of the servants.
The more Feng Ning thought about it, the more she felt she had made a mistake. She felt she should do something to salvage her friendly relationship with Long San. Thinking of this, she couldn't stay still. She got dressed and ran to Long San's courtyard to knock on his door.
Long San, wearing only a thin robe and with his hair loose, answered the door; he was clearly asleep. Seeing that it was Feng Ning, he looked at her expressionlessly: "What is it?"
Feng Ning gritted her teeth and said, "I'm here to apologize."
Long San hummed in agreement and replied, "I'm listening."
His haughty attitude, offering no way out, displeased Feng Ning. She lowered her head, looking at his bare feet in slingshots, wanting to step on them, but she moved her toes and restrained herself. She muttered, "I shouldn't have lost my temper, shouldn't have embarrassed you in front of the servants, shouldn't have kicked you, shouldn't have overturned your table..."
She admitted her mistake sincerely, which surprised Long San. He stared at the top of her head, cleared his throat twice, and said, "Then tell me, why are you being so unreasonable?"
Feng Ning was stunned. Why did she have to analyze the reasons for her apology? But what if the reason for her anger was something she couldn't tell anyone? She glanced at Long San, who was staring at her, waiting for her to speak. She hesitated, then finally steeled herself: "I was jealous. I went to Biyi Pavilion and ran into Qin Yayin. She was showing off the token of love you gave her. I... of course I was angry. When I'm angry, I act impulsively, and when I act impulsively, I want to find you... so..."
"A token of love?" Long San smirked mischievously. "Are you really jealous?"
Feng Ning was extremely unhappy, but since she wanted to make up, she had no choice but to grit her teeth and agree: "Okay." She thought for a moment and added, "Xiao Qing saw it too; she can testify. So please forgive me. I won't throw tantrums like that next time."
Long San's smile deepened. He reached out to stroke Feng Ning's face, his warm fingertips rubbing against her skin. Feng Ning felt her cheeks go numb from his touch, and goosebumps rose on her skin, but she remained stiff and dared not move.
Long San chuckled at her reaction, then gently whispered in her ear, "Come back to me when you're willing to tell me the truth." He gently pushed her out and closed the door.
Feng Ning stared blankly at the closed door, dumbfounded. It took her a long time to realize her lie had been exposed, and she felt an indescribable sense of frustration. After a long pause, she finally managed to say through the door, "Don't be so petty. You're the only friend I can talk to..."
Unfortunately, no one answered her from inside the door. Feng Ning stood there blankly for a while, then sadly lowered her head and left.
For the next two days, as predicted, Long San did not see Feng Ning again. Feng Ning, having unjustly vented her anger, was naturally unhappy to be met with such coldness. However, after much deliberation, she decided that she couldn't tell Long San about this. She resolved to investigate on her own first. If things weren't as bad as she imagined, and the culprit was actually someone else, then she could still stand tall and interact with Long San. Therefore, she paid extra attention to Xia'er's movements, planning to find her and investigate thoroughly once she recovered and was able to get out of bed.
Unexpectedly, things didn't go as she wished. The next evening, Feng Ning suddenly heard news that Xia'er's illness hadn't improved much, and her family had come to take her home to recuperate. Xiao Qing also told Feng Ning that she heard Xia'er's family had taken this opportunity to redeem Xia'er from her indenture.
Feng Ning was startled and quickly ran to the side gate of the Long residence, where a simple carriage was parked. A young man was driving, and an old woman was waiting beside the carriage. Xia'er and several maids were huddled together, seemingly saying goodbye. Feng Ning rushed forward, but didn't know what to do. In this situation, it was really not advisable to investigate anything.
Everyone was surprised to see Feng Ning arrive. They fell silent. The old woman came over and urged Xia'er to get into the carriage. Feng Ning glanced at the driver, then at the old woman and Xia'er, unable to find a reason to keep them there. She took two more steps forward and called out, "Xia'er..." Several maids looked at her cautiously, seemingly afraid she would make things difficult for Xia'er. Feng Ning thought for a moment, then finally said, "Your illness hasn't fully healed; please take care of yourself."
Xia'er bowed and said softly, "Thank you for your concern, Madam." She stood up, but her legs went weak and she almost fell. Feng Ning subconsciously reached out to support her, but she never expected that the moment Xia'er leaned close to her with her arms on her back, she whispered very quickly, "You are not Madam Long San, run away quickly."
Before Feng Ning could react, Xia'er had already taken two steps back, letting the old woman help her into the carriage. The man driving the carriage quickly whipped the horse, and the three of them sped away. Several maids who had come to see them off wept together, supporting each other as they entered the mansion. Feng Ning stood there dumbfounded, watching the carriage disappear from sight, wondering if the words she had just heard were a hallucination.
She's not Madam Long the Third? Then who is she? If she's not Madam Long the Third, then is everyone in the Long mansion lying? How is that possible?
Feng Ning wandered aimlessly into the mansion, when she suddenly heard Long San's hearty laughter. Harshly, accompanying his laughter was a woman's coquettish giggle. Feng Ning looked up and saw that she had arrived at the Stone Corridor Garden. Long San was leading a young woman out, the two chatting and laughing, seemingly enjoying themselves immensely.
Feng Ning followed at a distance, watching as Long San escorted the woman to the gate. She then clasped her hands in a respectful bow, saying, "Then I'll leave it to you, Miss Yuan."
"Third Young Master, please rest assured, I will certainly live up to your expectations." The so-called Lady Yuan clasped her hands in a gesture of magnanimity, took her leave, and departed.
Long San turned around and saw Feng Ning hugging the pillar and looking at him expectantly from afar. He walked over and said leisurely, "The small stone table in my courtyard has been replaced with a new one. Do you want to go and lift it up again?"
Feng Ning wasn't pleased with his teasing. She pouted and replied, "If you're willing to make up, I can go and stir things up again."
"You're not even willing to tell the truth anymore, how can we reconcile? If you want to go back to being the neglected Third Madam, I'll naturally let you have that." After saying this, Long San slowly walked away.
Feng Ning leaned against a pillar, thinking that if she told the truth, forget about reconciliation, he probably wouldn't even want to look at her. Besides, what did Xia'er mean when she said she wasn't Madam Long San?