Cueillir des fleurs et sourire

Chapitre 56

"Love her?" Yu Cuiwei bit her lip and smiled. "I've loved too many people."

"Why did you decide to marry her in the first place?" Li Lingyan suddenly interjected. "You knew this would happen when you married her, didn't you?"

“Because I’ve never been married before, I want to try marrying one,” Yu Cuiwei said slyly, mimicking Sheng Tun’s tone. “Like now, I’m planning to try marrying one.”

“Da Yu, you’re just as self-righteous and obsessed with saving face.” Sheng Xiang sighed. “A Wan’s sister is so pitiful.”

Was she pitiful? Yu Cuiwei remained silent. She was a gentle woman who knew nothing, who married him willingly, only to be humiliated and die… When he rushed back from outside and saw her, she said, “At least you won’t have to go out tonight… I’m so glad… You’ll never forget me for the rest of your life…” She died, and died happily. But it left him with a very unpleasant memory, which made him reluctant to be touched by anyone for a long time.

“There’s no such thing as ‘pity’ in this world,” Li Lingyan said slowly. “That’s just an excuse to deceive yourself…”

"Little Yanyan is implying something, who exactly is she talking about..." Shengxiang said, "Are you trying to gain my sympathy?"

The bonfire and eel roasting party that night didn't end until dawn.

When Li Lingyan's "Four-Cracked Moon" saw Li Lingyan return covered in mud with Shengxiang and Yu Cuiwei, their four faces, which could be described as having seen the coldness of the world, were momentarily distorted into the shape of a raccoon dog.

With Xi Yue and Huai Yue's short swords at her neck, Liu Jiecui watched Li Lingyan return, her face ashen. She had spent the entire night lying on the ground, covered in blood, waiting, only to be greeted by these three laughing, mud-covered figures. It was like seeing an ordinary man return. Li Lingyan's smiling face, completely disregarding her, met her eyes. With a "whoosh," she coughed up a mouthful of blood. Strong-willed, she remained silent, her face ashen as she glared fiercely at Li Lingyan and Yu Cuiwei. If that hatred could kill, those two would have been torn to pieces a dozen times over.

Li Lingyan completely ignored her, and walked over to Huaiyue, asking softly, "Has Big Brother returned yet?"

Huaiyue's gorgeous sleeve brushed against Liu Jiecui's cheek as she sheathed the short sword in her left hand. "You're back, but the eldest young master is very angry."

"What are you angry about?" Li Lingyan asked with a smile, knowing perfectly well why.

“The Angry Lord and the Holy Incense Master have formed an alliance, and the eldest young master said he wants to kill the Holy Incense Master.” Huaiyue did not hide anything and said in her infinitely soft voice, “He hates everyone who comes down from Wudang Mountain.”

"Is that so?" Li Lingyan glanced at Shengxiang and smiled. "If my brother wants to kill you, you'd better be careful here."

"So you mean that I, who am allied with you, have to be careful about my safety while living on your territory?" Shengxiang rolled her eyes at him.

“You know I look down on useless people,” Li Lingyan said softly. “I’m going to change.”

Liu Jiecui looked at Li Lingyan, who hadn't glanced at her once from beginning to end, and suddenly said to Li Lingyan's back, word by word: "Li Lingyan! I will kill you one day!"

Li Ling ignored the banquet and left leisurely.

As soon as Li Lingyan left, his "Four-Cracked Moon" followed him. Liu Jiecui was like a piece of rag that no one wanted, discarded on the ground. When she finally got up and stared at the direction Li Lingyan had left with bloodlust, a pair of hands finally helped her up from the ground.

The person who helped her up was the same person who had knocked her down.

Yu Cuiwei not only helped her up, but also took out a clean, soft handkerchief from his bosom to wipe the blood from her lips. After the three of them had a bonfire feast of roasting eels last night, only his clothes were still clean and tidy. He said softly, "I really like your murderous aura."

Liu Jiecui flung Yu Cuiwei away, "You wicked transvestite! I don't want your pretense... Get out of here!"

Yu Cuiwei caught her swaying body again. "I hurt you, isn't it enough that I apologize?" He held a cute, flat, round pill between his two fingers. "Take this, and your injury will heal quickly."

Liu Jiecui struggled briefly, but could no longer resist, and the pill went straight down her throat. She demanded sharply, "What poison did you give me?"

"A poison that will disfigure you, make you hunchbacked, short, fat, old, and ugly." Yu Cuiwei smiled gently and affectionately, "It tastes delicious."

"I'll kill you sooner or later!" Liu Jiecui took a deep breath, and her previously scattered true energy suddenly began to coalesce slightly. She then staggered away.

“You hate this kind of fierce and vicious old woman the most. Why go through all this trouble, beating her half to death and then saving her?” Shengxiang crossed her arms and watched the show, shaking her head. “Besides, this woman doesn’t know what’s good for her. She can’t tell who’s good to her and who’s bad to her.”

Yu Cuiwei smiled slightly, "I'm happy."

"Are you afraid she'll steal your Lingyan?" Shengxiang laughed. "Or do you just want another comrade who wants Li Lingyan dead?"

Yu Cuiwei winked slyly, "What do you think?"

"You think she was badly deceived, right?" Shengxiang sighed. "It takes real cruelty to shatter someone's daydream. Da Yu, you're really something!"

Yu Cuiwei stared at Shengxiang for a long time, then suddenly burst into laughter, “With Young Master Shengxiang in this world, it’s really much more interesting!” He neither said yes nor no, “I’m going to rest on my family’s Lingyan’s bed. If someone wants to kill you, you’d better find a place to hide.”

He's gone.

It's rare to see Yu Cuiwei walk so swiftly and with such masculinity.

Shengxiang smiled silently, glancing at her still-healing hand. This world of martial arts is so captivating precisely because of good people like Xiao Bi and bad people like Dayu.

Chapter Seventeen: Jade, White Orchid, and Fragrance Are Hard to See Each Other

Far away in the capital.

Late at night, Zhao Pu stood before Shengxiang's study, stroking the various trinkets Shengxiang had played with over the past twenty years. There was the birdcage for releasing birds, a stack of colorful portraits of beauties, bells of various colors, and the turtles and geckos kept in the study. On the desk, a copy of "The Scandalous History of the Tang Dynasty's Imperial Harem" was still turned to the page about Yang Guifei, the book utterly mangled by Shengxiang. Normally, if Zhao Pu had seen this book, he would have angrily thrown it out the door and burned it. But now, he simply stroked the book, which seemed to still carry Shengxiang's scent, and tears streamed down his face.

Someone is playing the flute in the distance.

A feeling of utter desolation washed over me; the Prime Minister's residence, devoid of sacred incense, was deathly silent.

I heard that Xiaoyun cried last night because she missed the young master.

The chubby rabbit that Shengxiang had taken away was returned by someone.

Strangely enough, it started eating grass and slowly lost weight. Although not quickly, it shrank day by day. Xiaoyun believed it was also missing Young Master Shengxiang.

When exactly will he come back?

Autumn is deep, that silly child... does he know how to take care of his own body?

These past few days, Zhao Pu heard that Bi Qiuhan had died. A deep unease settled in his heart, an unease as icy and penetrating as the waves whipped up by a storm.

The rabbit that Shengxiang had was naturally brought back from Wudang Mountain by Rong Yin.

It lost weight because it fell in love with the big gray cat kept in the kitchen of the Wudang Mountain Taoist temple.

After being forcibly brought back by Rong Yin, it could no longer see its beloved cat, which it longed to see every day. It became despondent and started eating grass. Because it ate less fat, it lost weight.