She went back to her room while thinking about it.
Pushing open the door, Hua Chongyang found Lan Wuxie sitting on the edge of the bed, lost in thought. His white undergarment was half-open, his black hair cascading over his shoulders and chest, his skin as white as snow. The flickering candlelight illuminated his slightly lowered gaze and childlike expression, reminding Hua Chongyang of the first time she saw him—when he was still Zu Xian.
Hua Chongyang suddenly felt a stirring in his heart again, just like the feeling he had when he first saw him drunk in the pavilion that night.
Hearing the sound, Lan Wuxie looked up and immediately grinned when he saw Hua Chongyang. Hua Chongyang snapped out of his daze, stopped at the doorway, sized him up for a moment, and leered, stroking his chin before saying with a smile:
"The more I look at him, the more handsome he becomes. No wonder people outside say that Lan Wuxie's martial arts and appearance are both the best in the world."
As she spoke, she approached the wooden couch, casually pulling over a soft quilt to drape over herself, then leaned against Lan Wuxie. The thick, soft quilt covered both of them perfectly. She turned and wrapped her arms around Lan Wuxie's waist, lazily half-closing her eyes:
"Such a beautiful face, how could you bear to cover it up?"
Lan Wuxie squinted slightly.
As dusk fell, the last rays of the setting sun shone through the thin cracks in the window, illuminating Lan's deep, dark eyes and the gentle smile on his lips. He stroked Hua Chongyang's hair gently, his voice soft and languid:
"I feel a bit more at ease now that I've changed my appearance."
Hua Chongyang leaned against his chest, closing his eyes as if feigning sleep:
"Sigh, really. If only..."
She stopped after saying those two words.
If only he weren't Lan Wuxie. Lan Wuxie was Lan Wuxie; back then, he coerced her into returning to Lan Ying Palace to cultivate the Biluo Heart Sutra, and she went with him, leaving her fate to be determined. Zu Xian was Zu Xian; he left Lan Ying Palace and roamed the world freely, perhaps even settling down in some peaceful place, where he might occasionally think of her—or perhaps, on some day, in some month, in some year, if she's still alive, she might meet him somewhere…
Of course, everything is a matter of "what if," but unfortunately, there is no such "what if."
Hua Chongyang once imagined this, but that was the end of her imagination. She hadn't had time to think about what it would be like if she and Zu Xian reunited several years later; such a thought was far too far in the future for her.
Even when she was with Zu Xian at the beginning, she didn't make any long-term plans.
"No long-term plans?"
Ye Qinghua frowned, her face frosty.
The brothel remained unchanged, except that the owner, Ye Qinghua, seemed unusually calmer than usual. Upon seeing Hua Chongyang, she surprisingly refrained from shouting and merely nodded slightly towards the seat at the table.
"sit."
Hua Chongyang suddenly had a strange feeling, as if she were Ye Qinghua's younger brother or sister, who had committed a grave mistake and had been caught by her to be severely punished. She sat down obediently, only to be met with Ye Qinghua's unusually serious expression:
"Are you with Lan Wuxie?"
"yes."
"I told you to stay away from Zu Xian, and you ditched him and went to find Lan Wuxie?"
"Zu Xian is Lan Wuxie."
Ye Qinghua was taken aback:
"You mean, Lan Wuxie disguised himself as Emperor Cheng Xian?"
"I don't know if Zu Xian actually existed, but... it doesn't matter."
Ye Qinghua's face practically frosted over: "You don't care?"
Hua Chongyang held the teacup and slowly lowered his head:
"He was Zu Xian, and I fell in love with him; now he is Lan Wuxie, and I still can't let him go."
"So what are your plans?"
"...I don't have any long-term plans."
Ye Qinghua frowned at her, and after a long while, slowly said:
"Double Ninth Festival."
Hua Chongyang looked up at her.
"You might not like to hear this... but this Lan Wuxie—"
Ye Qinghua hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.
Hua Chongyang could almost predict what she was going to say, and smiled as he raised his hand:
"Qinghua, you don't need to say anything—"
"I have to say this." Ye Qinghua looked at her, saying each word clearly, "Chongyang, in all the time we've known each other, I've never asked you for a single word. But today, I beg you, don't be with Lan Wuxie."
Hua Chongyang was taken aback.
"Stay as far away from him as you can," Ye Qinghua said, her expression serious and not at all like she was joking. "Just pretend you've never known him."
Something must be going on, Hua Chongyang thought, but she didn't ask. If she could, Ye Qinghua would surely have told her, and her silence meant that even if she asked, Ye Qinghua wouldn't tell her.
Ye Qinghua scrutinized Hua Chongyang's expression, a bitter smile playing on her lips:
"I know that ever since I didn't save you after you were kidnapped by Lan Wuxie, you haven't really trusted me. You're probably wondering whether I'm doing this for myself or for you."
Hua Chongyang remained silent. Ye Qinghua continued to smile bitterly, then sighed softly:
"Then, do it for my sake, okay? For the sake of all these years we've known each other and I've helped you a lot, listen to me and stay away from him. As for why you should do this, you'll find out in the future."
Hua Chongyang remained silent, her eyes lowered. During the day, the brothel was exceptionally quiet; only the faint sounds of the street's clamor could be heard from the outer window facing the street. She stood up and slowly walked to the window, staring blankly at the flow of people on the street for a moment, then returned to the table and looked at Ye Qinghua:
Have you ever liked someone?
Ye Qinghua was taken aback, her gaze momentarily drifting and distant, before she regained her composure and gave a bitter smile:
"...I used to like him."
How much do you like it?
"I like it so much... I'm almost willing to do anything for it."
"Then you should know that I won't leave him easily. He once risked his life for me; he's so good to me, he loves me to the core. In this world, besides my mother, I can't find another person who treats me as well as you—Qinghua, you can't compare."
After saying that, Hua Chongyang stared intently at Ye Qinghua, the unspoken message being that she would not leave Lan Wuxie.
Ye Qinghua sighed again, stood up and walked to the wall, staring at a sword hanging there for a long time, then turned back with a bitter smile on her face:
"I've never told you about my past, have I? I'll tell you about it today."
She looked away from the window, her gaze suddenly becoming distant and unfocused. The room's decor was as opulent and festive as ever: crimson bed curtains and draperies, a richly decorated peacock feather on a mahogany table, a Persian carpet woven with gold and silver threads, and a bright yellow brocade cushion embroidered with gold thread, adorned with snow-white fox fur—but all of this seemed insignificant under that gaze, even the bright sunlight in the room appearing pale in an instant. Seeing such a heart-wrenching yet indifferent look, Hua Chongyang couldn't help but wonder how bleak and tragic Ye Qinghua's past must have been.
But when Ye Qinghua turned around, her face still held a calm and serene smile:
"Back then, I fell for a man—actually, he confessed his love to me first; anyway, it seemed like we were mutually attracted. He was incredibly good to me, so good that I felt I'd give my life for him. In the end, I gave him almost everything I could, and he ran away."
As Ye Qinghua spoke, she poured herself a cup of tea, sipped it slowly, and continued to smile:
"Later I found out what happened to him. It turned out he was seeking revenge—nothing more than grudges and feuds within his sect. Unfortunately, I was just as foolish as you were back then. When I heard he was injured, I immediately went to help him—and then—"
She put down her teacup, her smile desolate, her voice utterly indifferent:
"So, he only liked me for the secret manual I possessed. It was then that I realized in this world, in this martial arts world, love and affection are utter nonsense."
Hua Chongyang was at a loss for words.
"These things are probably pointless to explain to you," Ye Qinghua said, strolling leisurely through the room, her expression returning to its usual languid and alluring manner. "A seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl who's never seen a man or experienced love is likely to be deceived once or twice. Asking you to agree to leave him seems impossible—"
Seeing her expression, Hua Chongyang suddenly sensed something was amiss:
"I won't agree, what can you do about it?"
"I knew begging you wouldn't work, so," Ye Qinghua waved her hand, snapping out of her daze, "I had no choice but to refuse and suffer the consequences."
As soon as she finished speaking, Hua Chongyang felt a wave of dizziness. She saw Ye Qinghua walk over with a half-smile and wave at her:
"You're still too green. There's sleeping pills in your tea; you can't even handle the simplest tricks of the underworld. What are you doing in this world?"
In broad daylight, Hua Chongyang was kidnapped. When she woke up, she found herself in a tiny, dark room. Her first thought was: Had Ye Qinghua thrown her into a coffin and buried her in the ground?
But as she calmed down a bit, she realized that this place was far too big for a coffin. Gradually, her mind became clearer, and she could move her hands and feet again. She struggled to sit up and carefully reached out, only to find that she was on a bed. The only thing hanging around her was a bed curtain, which looked dark because there was no light.
She raised her hand and slowly lifted the curtain.
There were no lights outside, not even through the cracks in the windows or doorways, only a faint, almost imperceptible moonlight. She shook her still somewhat dizzy head, slowly stood up, and walked towards the door.
As expected, the door was locked from the outside.
I tried to open the window again, but it wouldn't budge.
I felt completely drained of energy, as if all my muscles and bones had been removed.
Hua Chongyang tried to circulate her qi, but several major acupoints on her body were sealed—meaning her martial arts were completely useless. She panicked for a moment, then calmed down a bit after checking that her clothes were intact and she had no injuries. She then dragged her feet to the tea table in the middle of the room and sat down. There was a teapot on the tea table, and when she reached out to touch it, the water was still hot.
Ye Qinghua neither killed nor harmed her, but instead drugged her and locked her in this dark, unseen room. What was her intention?
Stealing the Azure Heaven Heart Sutra—she should have hung her up and tortured her to death until she revealed the whereabouts of the Azure Heaven Heart Sutra. Why did she knock her unconscious and bring her here?
To blackmail Lan Wuxie—why would she go to such lengths to tell her about her past experiences of being deceived by men, and then try to get her to leave Lan Wuxie? Could it be that Ye Qinghua's brothel is actually a place that shelters abandoned women seeking revenge on their husbands, and she wants to recruit her? Ridiculous, Ye Qinghua doesn't seem like an abandoned woman. Besides, Ye Qinghua seems to genuinely believe that Lan Wuxie is a bad person who was only trying to deceive her—so why would she use her to blackmail Lan Wuxie?
No matter how Hua Chongyang thought about it, she couldn't understand Ye Qinghua's purpose; and what was even more frustrating was that, for some reason, even though she had been drugged and thrown here, she still couldn't bring herself to resent Ye Qinghua—she didn't know where the confidence came from, but she just felt that Ye Qinghua had no ill intentions towards her.
She was only worried about Lan Wuxie, worried that the Martial Alliance or Ye Qinghua might harm Lan Wuxie. Only today had she gotten used to and fully accepted the fact that Zu Xian was Lan Wuxie—if Lan Wuxie were injured or had an accident because of her, it would be even more painful than if she were injured herself.
...Could it really be just to make her leave Lan Wuxie? Could it be because... Ye Qinghua herself or one of her friends has taken a liking to Lan Wuxie?
She spent the night lost in thought, and as dawn approached the next day, she became even more certain of her belief. Someone brought her a lunchbox containing rice, vegetables, and a plate of her favorite spiced fried chicken wings.
She was only strong enough to hold chopsticks; she couldn't run away. Unable to think of a solution, Hua Chongyang happily devoured chicken wings, one after another, until she was full and went back to sleep. When she woke up again, she saw Ye Laoqi sitting by her bedside, looking worried, shaking his head at her.
"A day in the mountains is like a thousand years in the world. You're sleeping so comfortably here."
"Are you here to rescue me, or to keep watch and prevent me from escaping?"
"……the latter."
Hua Chongyang rubbed his eyes, sat up, and patted his belly:
"Why am I hungry again?"
Ye Laoqi looked utterly defeated.
"All you ever think about is eating."
"What can I do if I don't eat? You're not going to let me out anyway." Hua Chongyang cleared his throat, threw off the covers, and got up. "Qinghua really trusts you, actually sending you to watch over me. Aren't you afraid I'll turn you against me?"
"The original poster doesn't trust me, she trusts you. She believes you'll be a good leader who cares for your subordinates."
Hua Chongyang was standing by the table pouring water when he heard this and was taken aback:
"……What's the meaning?"