L'hibiscus comme peinture

Chapitre 73

Seeing Ao Jun looking at him with curious eyes, Jin Xuan subconsciously swallowed before gently smiling and saying, "This jade flute was a gift from my elder brother when I returned to the capital. It's made of ancient divine jade. Besides its smooth tone, its most important feature is its special function: it changes temperature with the seasons. In other words, in winter, as long as you have it, you won't feel cold at all—it's more effective than a heater... I know you're most afraid of the cold, so it's perfect for you." Actually, he had wanted to give it to her for a long time, but he hadn't found the right time.

"Really, isn't that even better than an air conditioner? Jinxuan, thank you." Aojun held the jade flute, looking at it from left to right, and happily said to Jinxuan. She was never interested in rare treasures, but she absolutely loved this jade flute that was even more magical than an air conditioner. For her, who was most afraid of the cold, it was more precious than any other treasure.

"Hehe... I'm glad you like it." Jin Xuan chuckled foolishly when he saw Ao Jun making this childish gesture towards him.

Zhu Bo waited outside for a long time. Seeing that the prince hadn't come out yet, and that the atmosphere inside seemed quite harmonious, he felt a surge of excitement: Young Master Mo Jun had finally been moved by the prince's devotion! The prince had finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel! How wonderful! For the past two weeks, everyone in the prince's mansion had gone from disbelief and difficulty in accepting the prince's love for another man to acceptance. Now, everyone was cheering for the prince. His devotion had deeply moved everyone in the mansion. Although the other party was a man, they all hoped that the prince would soon win the heart of his 'beauty,' especially Zhu Bo. Every day, he had witnessed firsthand how tender and affectionate the prince was towards Young Master Mo Jun. Every morning, he would get up early to prepare her favorite food and wake her up. However, Young Master Mo Jun was ungrateful and always chased the prince away. Watching the prince's disappointed figure leave each time, Zhu Bo truly felt sorry for the prince. Young Master Mo Jun was too hard-hearted. But the prince never gave up and did the same thing the next day. Well, now it's all good. Young Master Mo has finally been moved by the Prince (quite a vivid imagination).

Because of the cold weather, Ao Jun had been in the capital for half a month and hadn't even stepped out of Prince Cheng Jin's residence. When she told Jin Xuan about wanting to go to the palace, he always told her that without the Emperor's summons, she couldn't enter the palace freely. She seriously doubted the credibility of Jin Xuan's words. She couldn't believe that Prince Cheng Jin, second only to the Emperor, would have such difficulty getting someone into the palace, especially since she was supposed to be a major contributor. It seemed as if the Emperor had forgotten about her, not even letting her into the palace. But Jin Xuan would only say, "I'm doing this for your own good." What could she say? She was afraid he would give her another grand, dramatic confession, and in the end, she could only admit defeat. Sigh, since she was already in the capital, she refused to believe she wouldn't have a chance to see Xue.

Now that she has a heater—no, a warm jade flute—she can go outside for a walk without feeling cold anymore. To be honest, she's been in ancient times for half a year and hasn't seen what ancient times are like, let alone bustling streets. Now she can finally take a good stroll and see for herself.

It's really boring to stay in Prince Jin's mansion all day. Apart from the basketball court, there's almost nothing to pass the time. As for Ziqi and the others, I heard they've been busy with a lot of things, so we haven't seen each other much.

If Jinxuan wasn't in the manor, she had no one to talk to. Although everyone in the manor treated her very well, it was as if they had all conspired to persuade her to agree to Jinxuan's proposal after only a few words, telling her how good the prince was, how devoted he was... She was about to faint; if this continued, she would collapse sooner or later. Moreover, Jinxuan's deep affection was truly putting her in a difficult position; she hadn't thought it through yet! She didn't want to hurt Yelü Ying's heart again, but she couldn't bear to part with Jinxuan either. Sigh, the word "love" was indeed troublesome.

But apart from Prince Jin's residence, she had nowhere else to go. Alas! In fact, she still didn't know that she was already the Crown Prince's tutor and had her own Crown Prince's tutor's residence. It was just that Jin Xuan hadn't told her, so the Crown Prince's tutor's residence was still empty! No one had ever seen the new Crown Prince's tutor, so the outside world made the mysterious Young Master Mo even more amazing.

On the bustling streets of Kyoto, a young man wearing a white straw hat and a pure white robe appeared. Although no one could see his face, the elegant and noble aura he exuded made everyone turn around and stare intently, constantly guessing what kind of face was under the hat.

Indeed, the young man in white was Ao Jun. She hadn't originally intended to wear a bamboo hat, but Uncle Zhu insisted that she should wear it if she wanted to leave the manor, otherwise she wouldn't be able to walk more than a few steps. This reminded her of her triumphant return to the capital. Having no other choice, she put on the hat. The effect was quite good; she could now wander around freely. The ancient market was quite fun, with many interesting things to see and do.

"Are you looking for death?! How dare you bump into my young master!" Ao Jun, who was watching a sugar figurine maker at a stall, suddenly heard a rough shout, and then an old woman who looked like a beggar fell down at her feet.

Almost instinctively, Ao Jun helped the old woman up and bent down to brush the dust off her clothes. This action undoubtedly caused everyone present to gasp: this young man in white was clearly from a noble family, yet he condescended to bend down and brush dust off a beggar, and it all seemed so perfectly natural to him. From the second floor not far away, a pair of beautiful, almond-shaped eyes watched the young man's every move with deep interest: Interesting!

"Young master, no, no, I'm fine, I'm fine..." The old woman was terrified when she saw such a noble young man brushing the dust off her. She immediately took a few steps back and waved her hands repeatedly.

Seeing everyone's expressions and the old woman's reaction, Ao Jun frowned but said nothing.

"Hey, you think you can just walk away after hitting my young master?" Seeing the old woman about to leave, the same harsh shouting voice rang out again.

The old woman was so startled by the shout that she almost fell over. Seeing that she had bumped into someone, she was even more frightened and immediately knelt before the man who was presumably the young master, repeatedly apologizing, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Young Master Zhang, I didn't mean to, I'm so sorry..."

"You dare bump into me, you filthy beggar, get out of my way!" The man called Young Master Zhang kicked the old woman without mercy, shouting with disgust.

The old woman, being of advanced age, could not withstand the kick from the young Zhang, who was in the prime of his life. She immediately fell to the ground, unable to get up. Among the people around, some remained expressionless, some felt pity, and some were angry, but no one dared to intervene or help the old woman up.

"Pretend to be dead! Get out of my way." The young master Zhang seemed unwilling to give up. He walked over and was about to stomp on the old woman lying on the ground again. If he did, the old woman would definitely die. Everyone present turned their faces away, unable to bear to watch. Judging from this reaction, this kind of thing happened often.

Just as Young Master Zhang was about to step on the old woman, Ao Jun, who hadn't wanted to meddle, finally couldn't hold back and kicked Young Master Zhang's foot away.

Ignoring Young Master Zhang, who was jumping up and down while clutching his foot, she bent down again to help Grandma Di up. The old woman was panting heavily, so it seemed that the kick had really hit her hard.

"Young Master, Young Master, are you alright?" Several lackeys rushed over to support their master as he jumped up and down, asking, "Young Master Zhang is alright?"

"Damn it, you try and see if you're alright." Young Master Zhang kicked one of his henchmen who came to help him in the foot. The henchman cried out "Ah!" and stumbled back a few steps, clutching his foot.

"Hmph, damn it, who are you to dare kick me, young master? Don't you want to live?" Young Master Zhang snorted at his subordinate, then turned around and glared fiercely at Ao Jun.

Ao Jun didn't take his words seriously at all. She helped the old woman up and turned to leave. She hated these idle, good-for-nothing playboys the most.

"How dare you disregard me? Surround them!" Ao Jun's action only added fuel to the fire. Young Master Zhang's face turned a deep shade of purplish-red with rage. He roared loudly, "No one has ever dared to ignore me like this before. These two are doomed today!"

At Young Master Zhang's command, more than a dozen men rushed forward and surrounded Ao Jun, who was about to leave. The old woman's face, hidden under her bamboo hat, was expressionless, but she was clearly terrified and could barely stand. Did these people even know how to respect the elderly?

"Hehe... Kid, you dare to interfere in my business? You've got some nerve! Do you know what the price is for kicking me? Hehe... Since I'm in a good mood today, you'd better leave me with my hands and feet! Haha..." Zhang Guanli crossed his arms, strolled up to Ao Jun, and said with a smug smile. Seeing that Ao Jun still didn't speak, his expression changed again, and he laughed somewhat eerily, "So you're a mute? Haha... Wearing a straw hat, looks like you're too ugly, haha..." He then burst into laughter, and his henchmen joined in the laughter. The onlookers felt immense sympathy for Ao Jun: this young man was doomed today!

Ao Jun continued to support the old woman, ignoring the man in front of her and automatically treating his words as the raving of a mad dog.

"Damn it, she's not only mute but also deaf. There's no point in her living. Cripple her! Get her..." Zhang Guanli saw that he had been laughing to himself for so long, but the person in front of him had no reaction and did not kneel down to beg for mercy as he had expected. He lost face and shouted angrily.

Seeing their master beckon, a dozen or so henchmen swung their fists and punched Ao Jun. Ao Jun didn't take these guys seriously at all! After all, she was a mafia boss in modern times. Even without martial arts, using only modern Taekwondo would be more than enough to deal with them.

Ao Jun dodged the first person's attack with a quick movement, then kicked the person, who immediately fell to the ground groaning. As soon as the first person fell, more people attacked. Ao Jun helped the old woman while easily dealing with the attacks, dodging to the left and kicking to the right, and no one could even touch a corner of her clothes.

Soon, Zhang Guanli's dozen or so men were lying on the ground groaning, while Ao Jun remained standing, supporting the old woman, as if she hadn't beaten these people at all.

"Useless trash." Zhang Guanli cursed when he saw how useless his subordinate was, and then said hatefully to Ao Jun, "Kid, I didn't expect you to have some skills. Humph, die!" As he spoke, he threw a punch.

Ao Jun reached out and pulled Zhang Guanli, who lost his balance and stumbled forward a few steps. However, he quickly regained his footing and attacked Ao Jun again. It was clear that Zhang Guanli had some martial arts skills, unlike his useless subordinates. He could barely block a few of Ao Jun's moves, but he soon lay on the ground groaning.

"Young Master, Young Master..." When the subordinates saw that their master had also fallen down, they quickly struggled to crawl over and help their young master up.

"Ouch..." Zhang Guanli cried out in pain as his men helped him up, clutching his hand. He could no longer stand on the foot he had used to kick the old woman. It seemed that his hand and foot were broken.

Seeing Zhang Guanli, who usually bullies men and women, with his arms and legs broken and looking so pathetic, the onlookers wanted to burst out laughing, but they were all too frightened to do so. They could only silently cheer for the young man in white and worry about him. This Zhang Guanli was a notorious bully in the capital, who, relying on his family's power, didn't care about human life at all.

Ao Jun was too lazy to deal with these people; her good mood had been ruined. She decided to take the old woman to get medical treatment first, and then go back. She figured Jin Xuan would be back from the palace soon!

"Stop right there, you little bastard!" Zhang Guanli shouted at Ao Jun, who was about to leave, despite the pain.

Ao Jun initially didn't want to pay him any attention, but the word "little bastard" made her stop abruptly. She put down the old woman, turned around, and slowly walked towards Zhang Guanli. Her sharp eyes pierced through her bamboo hat, radiating a powerful aura that forced Zhang Guanli to retreat. One of her henchmen, seemingly unafraid of death, stepped forward and threatened, "You... what are you doing? I'm warning you, my master is the Vice Minister of Rites. Don't mess around, or your whole family will be killed..."

"Is that so?" A calm voice slowly came from under the bamboo hat, immediately silencing the servant who had spoken threateningly. His hands and feet trembled uncontrollably, and everyone present was chilled by the pleasant but cold voice.

Ao Jun suddenly grabbed Guan Li's collar and threw him over the shoulder. With a 'bang,' a heavy object crashed to the ground, probably breaking several bones. But Ao Jun ignored the man's groans, turned around, and stepped on the man's chest.

"Hero, hero, spare...spare my life!" Zhang Guanli, believing that a wise man doesn't fight a losing battle, endured the pain and kept begging for mercy, secretly thinking: If I ever fall into your hands, I'll make you wish you were dead. But he forgot that he didn't even know what the other person looked like.

"Apologize to the old woman," Ao Jun said coldly again, kicking her as he did so.

"Ah! Yes...yes..." Zhang Guanli cried out in pain, scrambling to the old woman's side and repeatedly saying, "You...no...old woman, I'm sorry."

The old woman was so frightened she almost fainted and couldn't react at all. Ao Jun went over and helped her up, calmly saying, "Get out."

Zhang Guanli's dozen or so men quickly came over to help him leave. Before leaving, they gave Ao Jun a hateful look, but Ao Jun did not notice.

The chaos finally ended. Only after Zhang Guanli left did the onlookers dare to clap and cheer, praising Ao Jun as a young hero. After a while of noise, they all dispersed.