Zhan Chun - Chapter 96
Seeing that Shu Jun was only smiling, and that smile was faint and somewhat absent-minded, he said, "I have two daughters, the elder is nineteen and the younger is seventeen, and neither of them is betrothed. If you are willing to be with the Yan family, I will marry both of my daughters to you. Young man, how can a man live without grand ambitions?"
Shu Jun was still smiling, his eyes crinkling. He pointed to the sky and then to the ground, saying, "I have grand ambitions. In this life, I only wish to be a wealthy and leisurely wanderer, marry a good wife, and have two sons and a daughter. Whether people's hearts or the world bear my mark, what does it matter? I just want to know whether I live a happy life. Old man, we have different paths."
Sect Master Yan chuckled twice, patted him on the shoulder, and then said nothing more.
The next day, after descending the snow mountain, he learned that Yichun was under house arrest in Yanmen. Being young and fast, Shu Jun rushed to Yanmen ahead of time and brought his wife out.
Once outside Jiangcheng, they saw Sect Leader Yan's carriage from afar. As it passed by the two of them, the carriage paused briefly. Sect Leader Yan leaned out, looked at them, nodded, and smiled, saying, "In that case, farewell."
Even after the carriage had gone far away, Yichun's voice could still be heard, "So you've been spending the past month with the old man of the Yan family. What's he like?"
Shu Jun tilted his head and thought, "Hmm... he's a powerful figure, probably the kind who changes dynasties and establishes new eras."
"That's so tiring."
"Yes, I'm very tired."
After walking for a while, she spoke again: "Shu Jun, I have good news to tell you."
"Hmm? Are you telling me you had a great month and ate yourself into a little pig? That's good..."
"No, actually... I'm pregnant."
"Pregnant? That's really great... What? Pregnant?!"
Some people fell to the ground, seemingly unable to get up for a while. Some were laughing, some were shouting, some were jumping, some were making a ruckus, but after the exhibition, everything fell silent, with only Shu Jun's slightly trembling voice remaining.
"Bring the little pumpkin back tomorrow. Stay calm and don't panic."
It seems the most anxious person is Mr. Shu, who is about to become a father.
Yichun laughed heartily, taking the opportunity to ruffle his long hair and pull his head, which was clearly panicked, at a loss, and overjoyed but trying to remain calm, into her arms.
(over)
extra
A Penny's Worth of Gold
A couple of days ago, the kitchen made braised pork, but Yichun ate too much and had diarrhea for two days.
Having not practiced swordsmanship for two days, Master's expression grew increasingly grim. His stern demeanor was formidable, and even Yichun, seeing his dark face, couldn't help but tremble with fear. Ignoring her stomach ache and weak legs, she carried her wooden sword to Yicun Jintai the next day.
The master was instructing Yang Shen on sword practice on the stage, while Mo Yunqing and Wen Jing were sent far away to a corner, secretly holding hands and whispering to each other.
Yichun crouched low and scurried to her master's side, bowing respectfully without daring to utter a sound.
The master explained the strength and techniques of wielding a sword to Yang Shen in detail, only glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, and after half a day he said, "Are you feeling better?"
Yichun nodded quickly: "It's all ready, as solid as iron! Absolutely no problem."
The master then said, "I think so too. You're used to being exposed to the elements every day, unlike those noble ladies. Don't act so delicate in the future, I really don't like it!"
Yichun nodded repeatedly in agreement, not daring to utter a single word in rebuttal.
The master continued, “Time is money, and that’s where the name ‘One Inch of Gold Platform’ comes from. If you don’t work hard while you’re young and strong, it will be too late to regret it when time slips away. You’ve been idle for two days without practicing, so I’ll count it as you losing two matches to Yang Shen. Today, the two of you will spar in front of me. If you can’t win those two matches back, you’ll have to run five laps around the mountain and won’t get any dinner tonight.”
Yi Chun inwardly groaned, then looked back at Yang Shen, who stared back expressionlessly and said indifferently, "Senior Sister, you flatter me."
This child has only been here for a month or two, but he already had some martial arts skills.
The first time he went up to the Golden Platform, his master, in order to test his skills, first had him spar with Mo Yunqing. The two exchanged a hundred and eighty moves, but in the end, Mo Yunqing got impatient and even used shameless tricks such as pulling his hair, biting his arm, hugging his waist and twisting him, but he still couldn't break him down. He was scolded by his master.
From then on, Mo Yunqing also hated Yang Shen. She used to occasionally exchange a few words with him, probably with the intention of winning him over to her own circle and excluding Yi Chun. Later, she simply treated him like air.
This was the first time Yi Chun had formally sparred with Yang Shen; their previous encounters had been nothing more than minor skirmishes. Yi Chun felt somewhat uneasy.
The Golden Platform is barren, paved entirely with long bluestone slabs. Every day, servants meticulously scrape away the moss to prevent people from slipping and injuring themselves while practicing swordsmanship.
Yichun rubbed his foot on the stone slab, gripped the wooden sword firmly, made a sword gesture, and focused his mind.
Suddenly, Yang Shen across from her lowered his voice and said, "It's no fun competing for no reason like this. Senior sister, let's make a bet. If you win these two rounds, I'll give you ten coins; if you lose, you give me ten coins. If we tie, we're even. How about it?"
Yichun was stunned, scratching his head in surprise, and asked, "What?"
"Your lack of objection means you agree!" Before Yang Shen could finish speaking, he brought his sword down on Yi Chun's head. Yi Chun cried out in alarm and hurriedly caught the blow: "You...you're cheating!"
However, the opponent's offensive was so fierce that Yichun could no longer speak and focused all her energy on countering his moves.
Because he hadn't been learning the Jianlan Mountain Villa sword technique for long, his practice gradually turned into a jumble of moves she had never seen before. Although Yi Chun was agile, she lacked practical experience and was forced back step by step, almost pushed to the edge of the platform.
The thought of having to run five laps around the mountain if she lost, and not being able to eat dinner, made Yichun extremely anxious. Looking at her master's inscrutable expression from afar, she ignored her weak legs and jumped into the middle of the stage first.
A sudden, sharp pain shot through her stomach, and her face turned deathly pale. Clutching her stomach, she cried out to Yang Shen, who was charging forward with his sword, "Wait! Wait! My... my stomach..."
Yang Shen brought his sword down, stopping right in front of her nose, and chuckled softly: "Senior Sister, I won."
Yichun was so anxious that she kicked her legs wildly, dropped her sword, and rushed off the stage to find a toilet. When she returned, her master didn't even glance at her, but pointed at the stage and said, "Let's have another match."
She almost cried.
Naturally, she lost both games quite thoroughly. She was so flustered that she was in a hurry to find a toilet before she had even finished dismantling half of the structure. Her panicked appearance made Wenjing cover her mouth and secretly laugh behind her.
The master snorted, flicked his sleeves, and left, leaving behind only one sentence: "You know what to do!"
Yi Chun didn't dare to breathe loudly, turned around and started running around the mountain. The others chatted and laughed, and then dispersed.
Yang Shen returned to his small hut, practiced another set of boxing techniques, rinsed himself with water, and checked the sky; it should be dinnertime. He took a bag of steamed buns from the kitchen, sat on the doorstep, and swallowed them with tap water.
Except during holidays like Chinese New Year, he and Yichun were not entitled to dine with the owner of the manor. Wenjing was different; everyone knew this without needing to say it.