Le voyage d'un mendiant à travers le monde

Chapitre 15

Tang Yanchu walked from the courtyard to the doorway, his gaze cold as he looked at Lian Junqiu. Lian Junqiu whispered a few words to him, patted his shoulder, and then went outside.

Tang Yanchu watched Lian Junqiu's figure disappear outside the courtyard, stood there for a while, and then slowly walked to the bedside.

Yue Ruzheng looked at him for a long time before whispering, "Are you really Lian Haichao's son?"

His face was cold, and he said in a very unnatural tone, "Why do you even ask that question?"

"I never knew you knew martial arts, let alone that you were the young master of Seven Star Island..." Yue Ruzheng stared helplessly ahead, her expression desolate.

"I'm not!" Tang Yanchu, who had been quiet for a long time, suddenly raised her voice, her shoulders trembling slightly and her body tense.

Yue Ruzheng retorted, "How could you not? You're Lian Haichao's son! Your surname isn't Tang at all; your name is Lian Junchu!"

"Stop talking, will you?!" he shouted, suddenly kicking the edge of the bed hard, his breathing becoming rapid.

Yue Ruzheng was startled by his sudden outburst of anger and stared blankly at his pale face.

"My surname isn't Lian! My name is Tang Yanchu! Tang Yanchu!" he gritted his teeth as he spoke to her, then turned and walked to the window, standing there angrily. Suddenly, he looked down and saw the letter she had left on the table. He was startled, glanced at its contents, and without turning back, stood by the window and coldly said, "Yue Ruzheng, are you leaving?"

Yue Ruzheng thought of the painful incident from before, and her eyes were still a little swollen. She grabbed the blanket, pulled it to her chin, and didn't want to say anything more.

Tang Yanchu bent down, biting the letter as she walked to the bedside. As soon as she let go, the plain white letter fell to the side of her pillow.

Yue Ruzheng glanced at the few words she had written, lowered her eyes, and listlessly pulled the blanket up further, hiding half of her face under it.

Tang Yanchu sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at the letter, and said, "'One day I will surely repay your kindness by carrying grass in my beak and making a ring with it.' Yue Ruzheng, how could you write such vulgar and laughable words?"

"I feel so guilty!" she cried, tears welling in her eyes, as she crawled out of bed. "You don't want to talk to me anymore, and it's so boring for me to stay here!"

"If you're leaving, don't leave me any letters!" he said, turning to the side, pressing the letter down with his right leg, and pulling it outward with his left knee, trying to tear it. Yue Ruzheng suddenly propped herself up and grabbed the edge of the letter.

Tang Yanchu pouted her lower lip, her eyes filled with stubbornness and pain, and raised her voice, saying, "Don't touch it! I bit it with my teeth, it's filthy!"

Yue Ruzheng refused to let go, and he refused to lift his leg. Both of them exerted their own strength, tearing the letter in half in one go. Looking at the half of the plain paper in her hand, Yue Ruzheng couldn't help but feel sorrow. Tears fell drop by drop onto the paper, staining the few lines of small characters with tears, gradually blurring them until they became indistinct ink marks.

Tang Yanchu sat down sideways in front of her, then suddenly lowered her voice and said, "You should leave."

Yue Ruzheng wiped away her tears and said, "Are you really going to send me away?"

"You stay here with me, always crying." He paused, then said, "Since you're unhappy, go back to Luzhou."

"I'm injured like this, and you still don't show me any feelings?!" Yue Ruzheng angrily pounded her leg, aggravating the wound on her ankle and causing her to bend over in pain.

Tang Yanchu frowned, used his knee to push her arm back, and made her lean against the headboard.

"Are you crazy?" His tone was still displeased, but his voice had become much softer.

Yue Ruzheng turned her back to the inside and wept silently.

After a while, Tang Yanchu said, "Yue Ruzheng, could you get me the letter you wrote?"

Yue Ruzheng turned around angrily and said, "What are you trying to do? I've already torn it to shreds!"

"Keep this in your bosom." He looked down at the half-written letter and said, "Keep it for now, you can use it when you leave again."

Yue Ruzheng snorted, stuffed the letter into his collar, and said, "There's only half left, it's useless."

"Then give me the half you have." Tang Yanchu lowered her eyes, her eyes veiled with a faint mist.

She paused, instinctively pulling her hand back to gather the half-written letter, already damp with tears, in her palm. "Why should I give it to you?" she said. "I'll never write to you again when I leave!"

Tang Yanchu looked up at her, her eyes quiet and deep, like a thousand mountains and bamboo forests, or the sound of drizzling rain at dusk.

Chapter Eleven: A Cool Night, Alone, Dewy Breeze

While Tang Yanchu was out, Yue Ruzheng hid the half-sheet of letter, stained with ink and tears, in her bosom.

After that, Tang Yanchu seemed to gradually calm down and stopped arguing with her, but she never mentioned Seven Star Island.

Yue Ruzheng thought to herself that she really didn't know Tang Yanchu very well. They had spent more than ten days together, from initially thinking that he had no emotions, to later exchanging angry words with him, and now knowing his identity. But despite all this, Yue Ruzheng couldn't figure out why he had such a cold relationship with the Lian family on Seven Star Island and preferred to live alone in this deep mountain. She didn't dare to ask him anything.

Subconsciously, Yue Ruzheng didn't want to delve into his background. Perhaps it was because she simply didn't like prying into other people's private affairs, or perhaps it was because she was afraid to see the hint of sadness hidden in his dark eyes.

However, because of this incident, she discovered that besides being quiet and kind, Tang Yanchu seemed to have another advantage: he could quickly recover from his anger. For example, this time, she didn't seem to offer many profound apologies, and he slowly calmed down again, like a still pond where a stone had been thrown, creating ripples that spread for a while before returning to calm. Yue Ruzheng wondered if she had cried so many tears for nothing, making her eyes hurt. If she had known this would happen, she should have held back and not embarrassed herself in front of Tang Yanchu, ruining her image.

But this quality of his seemed to be the same as hers. Thinking this, she became happy and even covered her mouth with the blanket and smiled secretly.

Tang Yanchu happened to walk in to bring her food. He was startled when he saw her large, open eyes. He placed the bamboo basket on the cabinet, sat down on the edge of the bed, and said, "What are you secretly laughing at by yourself for?"

Yue Ruzheng blushed slightly, pulled down the blanket, and said, "How did you know I was laughing?"

"Your eyes are all slanted," he said casually.

Yue Ruzheng glanced at him, stood up, picked up the bowl, and called out in a low voice, "Little Tang."

He slightly raised his handsome eyebrows, looking at her as if waiting for her to continue.

Yue Ruzheng smiled to herself and said to him, "I still prefer to call you that."

He gazed at her quietly, his eyes rippling slightly, like a pond reflecting countless starlight as the night breeze rippled across its surface.

"My surname is Tang, Tang Yanchu." His voice was soft, but his tone was extremely firm.

Aside from bringing Yue Ruzheng meals, Tang Yanchu rarely visited her room. That evening, Yue Ruzheng, supporting herself against the wall, slowly made her way to the door of his room. A faint light shone through the crack in the door. She gently knocked, and after a moment, the door opened halfway. Tang Yanchu stood behind the door, looking at her with questioning eyes. His dark blue short jacket was unbuttoned, the hem loose, revealing a plain white shirt underneath.

"I have something I'd like to ask you," Yue Ruzheng said somewhat awkwardly.

Tang Yanchu hesitated for a moment, then stepped back slightly. Yue Ruzheng walked in, her hands behind her back, leaning against the door, and said, "Su Muchen said during the day that their Bliss Valley couldn't handle my master and senior uncle, and has already contacted your father..."