Bo Qinghuan

Chapter 5

"Reporting to the city lord, Miss Luo has already departed from Anluo City and is currently passing through Changyang. She will arrive at Hantian City in two more days."

Is everything ready?

"Yes, a separate courtyard has been specially arranged for Miss Luo to live in, but there is a difficult matter..." Old Master Lu paused as he spoke.

Dai Ke raised an eyebrow and asked, "What is it?"

"We haven't decided on a name for the villa yet. The city lord is skilled in poetry, so we would appreciate it if the city lord could personally inscribe a name for the villa..."

Before Old Master Lu could finish speaking, Dai Kejian revealed a knowing smile and said, "Truly, Old Master Lu is as thoughtful as ever! He considers everything more thoroughly than others! Alright, bring me a pen!"

The snack vendor immediately offered him a brush and ink. Dai Kejian tilted his head and thought for a long time before writing four large characters with a flourish of his brush.

Old Master Lu accepted the calligraphy with both hands, stared at the four characters in their elegant, flowing strokes for a long time, and exclaimed, "Excellent! Excellent! 'The Phoenix Arrives,' a good omen, excellent calligraphy! The city lord's calligraphy has greatly improved; it truly is a masterpiece of strength and grace..."

Dai Kejian asked in surprise, "But I wrote 'There is a beautiful woman'!"

"..." Old Lu thought, oh no, he'd flattered the wrong person this time. He'd only understood the word "have," and couldn't distinguish the other three. He secretly glanced at Old Feng; sure enough, that old geezer was chuckling.

Dai Kejian didn't seem to mind and said, "That's fine then. I'll have to ask you to take care of Miss Luo's matter."

The two elders both withdrew.

Xiao Wan huffed and puffed as he carried a large box in, calling out, "Young Master, you're here, Young Master..."

"What's here?"

"Didn't the young master say that all handsome, well-off, and unmarried men of marriageable age in the city should submit their portraits within three days? It's all done!"

Dai Kejian exclaimed with delight, "So fast?"

"That's right, don't they even consider who assigned this task..."

Before Xiao Wan could finish his self-praise, Xiao Chi smacked him on the head and said, "Hurry up and open the box! Let us be the first to see it!"

Xiao Wan opened the box, and Dai Kejian grabbed a scroll first. He unfolded it and his face immediately darkened. Xiao Chi curiously leaned over to look, but what he saw shocked him, and he immediately turned away and began to gag.

"Is this a decent-looking person?" Dai Kejian gritted his teeth. The person in the painting had a crooked nose, a large mouth, and was as thin as a rake, resembling a demon.

Xiao Wan said with a worried look, "Reporting to the city lord, actually, the young master of the Zhang family is quite handsome, but these people heard that the city lord wanted their portraits, and they were convinced that nothing good would come of it, so they all drew themselves to look ugly..."

The snack vendor interjected, "Didn't you make it clear to them that this is for Miss Bi to choose a husband?"

“I told them, but they thought that a woman who could become the young master’s teacher must be old and ugly. No matter how much I told them how beautiful Miss Bi was, they just wouldn’t believe me. Some even said that even if Miss Bi was young and beautiful, she must have some kind of hidden illness, otherwise why would she be so confused as to become the young master’s teacher…” Xiao Wan spoke softer and softer until she could no longer be heard.

Seeing the young master's grim expression, Xiaochi quickly selected a few portraits that were still acceptable and said, "Young master, don't be angry. There are exceptions. Look at these few, they are quite well painted."

Dai Kejian glanced at them a few times with annoyance, then thought better of it. He didn't have time to argue with those ignorant people in order to escape his misery as soon as possible. He then selected a few that looked decent, gave his servants instructions, and finally waited idly for Bi Feixian to return.

Unexpectedly, he waited all afternoon, and Bi Feixian still hadn't returned by dusk. He sent a servant to check on her every hour, and finally, at 11:45 PM, a servant came running to report that Miss Bi had finally returned.

He was overjoyed and quickly sat down at his desk, picked up a Buddhist scripture, and pretended to meditate.

Therefore, when Bi Feixian passed by the study and saw the light shining inside, she felt very strange. She pushed open the door and saw Dai Kejian sitting at the table, reading seriously.

The atmosphere is weird...

Bi Feixian walked in and immediately noticed that all the landscape paintings that had hung on the study walls were gone, replaced by portrait paintings, and strangely enough, they were all of men. Needless to say, it must have been Dai Kejian's doing. What tricks was this guy up to now?

"You're holding your book upside down," she said casually as she walked up to him.

Dai Kejian was startled and quickly straightened the book, saying with a smile, "I couldn't help it, I was so engrossed in reading... Teacher, why are you only coming back now?"

"Weren't you sick? Why aren't you resting in your room? What are you doing here?"

“Oh, it’s like this. So-and-so said that if you don’t read for a day, you will become repulsive. I’m too concerned about my appearance and don’t want to become ugly, so I came here to read some books…” Dai Kejian’s eyes rolled, and he walked to the wall and said, “Ah, speaking of beauty and ugliness, don’t you think the young people in these paintings are all rare and elegant figures?”

Bi Feixian glanced at him, then turned her gaze to the first painting.

Dai Kejian explained, "This gentleman is Shen Fanglin. He is a renowned talent in Hantian City. He could compose poetry at the age of six, paint at the age of seven, and passed the imperial examination at the age of twelve. He is now nineteen years old, and his future is limitless!"

"I heard that this Shen Fanglin is a heavy drinker, and when he's drunk, he likes to take off his clothes and sing loudly in the street."

"Huh?" Dai Kejian was stunned. How did she know so much? He quickly moved on to the next one, "Then this one, this one is the third young master of the richest family in Hantian City. He is the most favored by his parents, worth a fortune, and can be said to be extremely wealthy..."

"But he has been frail and sickly since childhood, and is known as a walking pharmacy. I'm afraid he won't live long."

Dai Kejian was stunned again, pointing to the third painting and saying, "And this one! This Wen Qingyang is the most handsome young man in Hantian City..."

Bi Feixian smiled slightly, "It is very beautiful."

Dai Kejian was overjoyed and was about to say, "Then you should marry him," when Bi Feixian continued, "It's a pity that he only has a handsome appearance, but he's a complete fool. Moreover, it's not a blessing but a sin for a man to be more beautiful than a woman."

Dai Kejian was completely defeated and collapsed onto the chair with a "thud".

Bi Feixian raised her eyebrows and said, "What exactly is your purpose in showing me these paintings? Just tell me."

Dai Kejian said weakly, "What could my intentions be? You know more about Hantian City than I do, what could my intentions be?"

Bi Feixian stared at him for a long time, then smiled and said, "I should thank you for this."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"If you hadn't tricked me into the study last time and knocked me out with sleeping gas, how would I have kept a watchful eye on the affairs of Hantian City? Once someone has been fooled, they'll learn their lesson, don't you think?"

Dai Kejian stared at her, unable to utter a single word of disapproval.

His third direct confrontation with her ended in a complete victory for Bi Feixian.

Chapter Four

Under the lamplight, Bi Feixian took out the jade hairpin, and the conversation she had during the day when she visited various jewelry stores in Hantian City resurfaced—

“Miss, this hairpin is definitely not from Hantian City. With its quality and craftsmanship, it can be said that there is no other similar ornament that can surpass it,” said the honest-looking manager of Baoxiangzhai.

Upon seeing it, the portly owner of Yongrui exclaimed repeatedly, "This, this... Miss, where did you get this? Get rid of it quickly! Such a valuable hairpin has always been a tribute item, only worn by empresses and imperial concubines... Why don't you name a price and sell it to our shop?"

The street vendor frowned, examined it carefully for a long time, and said, "I've never seen anyone wear it before, and I haven't heard of any large-scale jewelry transactions in Hantian City recently. Why don't you visit a senior who calls himself Wuyou Weng in Zixu Forest? I've heard that he is very knowledgeable and may be able to tell the origin of this hairpin."

However, after wandering around the so-called Zixu Forest for half a day, she still couldn't find this so-called Wuyou Weng. It was all just a figment of imagination; heaven knows if this person even truly existed.

The masked man last night was highly skilled in martial arts and possessed a priceless treasure with every move, so his identity must be extraordinary. When did such a person appear in Hantian City? If it was someone else disguised, who could it be?

My mind was in turmoil, and I couldn't make sense of it at all.

In the city lord's bedroom outside the several buildings, Dai Kejian was not idle either, pulling Chihewanle to keep him company as he pondered deeply.

"Tell me, tell me, she's not satisfied with such a good candidate, what should I do? No, she has to get married as soon as possible! Please help me think of any other good methods?"

Xiao Le was still listless. "It's not that easy to get married just like that, young master. You might as well hire the most famous matchmaker in the city. Maybe that will be more effective."

“I don’t think this is a matter of matchmakers or not, but rather that Miss Bi has no intention of getting married at this stage, unless she really meets an exceptionally good man, otherwise…” Xiao Wei fed him a piece of hibiscus pastry.

Xiao Wan's eyes lit up immediately, "A perfect man?"

Xiao Xiao and Xiao He both turned their heads and repeated in unison: "A perfect man?"

Xiao Wei dropped the hibiscus pastry in her hand with a "thud" to the ground, and said in a trembling voice, "W-what's wrong? Is...is something wrong?"

Dai Kejian smiled and squinted his eyes, saying leisurely, "Everyone can see who the best man in Hantian City is. Ah, how could I have missed such a good candidate? No wonder the ancients said that the most important things are always right in front of us, and we tend to neglect them."

The snack vendor hesitated, "But young master, is this really alright? I'm afraid..."

Dai Kejian immediately waved his hand to interrupt him, saying decisively, "I'm not afraid! This matter will succeed whether it succeeds or fails! For my future happiness, I can't care about his happiness!"

The four servants nodded in agreement.

Dai Kejian frowned again and muttered, "However, there is still a problem. Although Old Feng is still vigorous, he is fifty-three years old after all. It is still a bit of an old man marrying a young woman to Bi Feixian..."

Before he could finish speaking, the four servants all exclaimed "Ah!"

The snack looked like he was about to faint. "Young Master, what are you saying? Old Master Feng?"

Dai Kejian said in surprise, "Who else could be the perfect man in Hantian City but Old Feng? He could read at the age of three, became famous at the age of twelve, went to war with his father at the age of fifteen, made numerous military achievements, retired from the army at the age of nineteen and returned to his hometown to take up a civil service position, then married and devoted himself to his wife. When he was twenty-three, his wife passed away, and he has been a widower ever since..."

The four servants shook their heads and said in unison, "We're not talking about him!"

"Then who are you referring to?" Dai Kejian's face suddenly showed a shy yet secretly pleased expression, and he said bashfully, "Could it be... that the perfect man you're talking about... refers to... me?"

"Thump—" The four servants fell to the ground together.

Xiao He, unwilling to give up, struggled to his feet and said, "Young Master, even I know that the so-called perfect man refers to the Grand Steward. How could you possibly think of Old Master Feng and yourself?"

“Huai Su?” Dai Kejian immediately frowned.

The four servants nodded in unison: "Huai Su!"

Dai Kejian's face twitched, and finally he snorted and turned his head away, "So it was him!"

Xiao Wan said, "Young Master, look, the Grand Steward is handsome, skilled in martial arts, from a respectable family, unmarried, and has no bad habits. If we're talking about who in Hantian City is worthy of your remarkable Teacher Bi, it's probably only him."

Handsome and skilled in martial arts? With each word Xiao Wan uttered, Dai Kejian's eyelids twitched noticeably. Finally, he said impatiently, "Alright, alright! Then it's him. This matter will be handled by the four of you. Remember, success is the only option, failure is not an option!" After saying that, he pushed the fruit plate aside and went back to the inner room.

The four servants exchanged knowing glances, secretly amused—what a strong smell of jealousy! The young master's feelings for Huai Su are truly complex and subtle, a mixture of awe and resentment. Perhaps only Huai Su in the whole city could make the young master so wary?

And so, Bi Feixian was once again unwittingly framed, and the plan officially began—

The first move: a meeting at a pavilion.

As the saying goes, when heroes and beauties meet in a romantic way, a romantic encounter under the flowers and the moon is indispensable.

So the next morning, a letter mysteriously appeared on Bi Feixian's desk. The envelope was made of silk embroidered with pink peach blossoms, and the letter paper was made of copperplate paper with a phoenix-and-dragon pattern. It was so exquisite that the word "exquisite" could not describe it. The letter read: "Tonight at Hai hour, I will wait for you at the west tower. We will drink wine, sing songs, and enjoy the wind and moon. How delightful!" It was signed: "My beloved gentleman."

As Bi Feixian read the letter, Xiao He Xiao Wan nervously held her breath; as soon as she turned around, the two of them immediately continued dusting and burning incense.

Bi Feixian said, "Just a little play."

"Yes!" Xiao Wan jumped up and turned around reflexively. "What are your orders, Miss Bi?"

"The incense in the burner has been extinguished for a long time, didn't you know?"

Xiao Wan looked down at the jade incense burner with lotus petal and animal-head handles in her hand. Sure enough, it had stopped smoking. "Ah, this..."

Bi Feixian glanced at him indifferently, then got up and walked out.

Xiao He cursed under her breath, "You're so stupid! You made it so obvious, as if you were afraid she wouldn't suspect anything?"

Fortunately, despite his somewhat unsatisfactory performance, Bi Feixian still went to the West Tower as promised at Hai Shi (9-11 PM). Upon entering the tower, she saw Huai Su. A gentle evening breeze blew, and Huai Su, dressed in flowing white robes, looked like a banished immortal.

The four servants had been hiding in the secret chamber, spying on the scene. When they saw it, they were so moved that they almost cried. The moon was high in the sky, and people made their rendezvous after dusk. How many talented men and beautiful women have thus made their perfect marriages possible!

Huai Su was not surprised at all when he saw Bi Feixian, and smiled and said, "Miss Bi, you've come at just the right time."

Bi Feixian smiled as well, "Grand Eunuch, you seem to be enjoying the moon."

"It's not about admiring the moon, it's about admiring the flowers." Huai Su turned around and showed her the flowers placed on the windowsill.