La vie parfaite sous la dynastie Song

Chapitre 33

Before she could finish speaking, Zi Mo whispered in my ear, "It's better to avoid trouble." His voice was calm and gentle, but my heart skipped a beat. I had repeatedly ignored Zi Mo's warnings today, and I was afraid I had angered him. Thinking this, I quickly stepped forward and interrupted Chen Sheng, saying, "Let's eat."

The woman was not disappointed, and simply smiled lightly, saying, "There are still elegant seats on the second floor. Please come this way, gentlemen. My name is Su Mei, but you may call me Mei Niang. If the waiter has failed to provide any proper service, you may speak to Mei Niang."

I was immediately impressed with her and nodded repeatedly. Chen Sheng, however, was very interested in the poetry recitation and literary exchange on the first floor, and despite my objections, he squeezed in by himself.

I shook my head with amusement, ignoring him, and went upstairs with Yihan. We casually ordered a few ordinary dishes, but when they arrived, I found they were exceptionally well-cooked, with excellent color, aroma, and taste. Some of them were even fried foods commonly found in modern times, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Yi Han didn't eat much either, taking a bite of each dish before I did, making me feel like an emperor—extremely awkward, yet also touching. When the last dish arrived, Chen Sheng still hadn't come. I asked the waiter, who said he had already passed the fourth level, to which the whole room cheered. Remembering that he was Lin Yu's disciple, I couldn't help but feel proud.

As I ate, something suddenly occurred to me, and I couldn't help but ask, "Yihan, don't you think I've changed a lot since I lost my memory?"

Yi Han was slightly taken aback, then lowered his eyes and said calmly, "No matter how you change, you are still me."

"But don't you think I've become stupid and clumsy, and I'm always causing you trouble?" I blurted out in my anxiety. I could only ignore the slight shock and displeasure on Zi Mo's face.

Yi Han looked at me intently, a faint smile playing on his lips, and said in a low voice, "I only know that your smile remains unchanged." He paused, then added, "You may not know, but neither Madam, Uncle Li, nor I care whether you are the son of a goddess or a young prime minister. If you wish, we would accompany you to live in seclusion in the mountains, even for a moment."

I stared blankly at the seemingly aloof and taciturn man in blue before me, a wave of emotion rising and falling, finally turning into tears welling in my eyes. Yi Han simply added, "Young master, the food is getting cold."

I was startled and quickly grabbed my chopsticks, lowering my head to hide my burning eyes. My loved ones... Lin Yu, with such loved ones always by your side, you truly... could die without regrets.

The last dish had a very unique name: "A Thousand Miles in a Line." The main ingredients were tofu skin, lotus root, and shrimp, accompanied by various condiments I didn't recognize. After Yihan finished eating, he gestured for me to start eating. I happily took a bite, but then my brow furrowed slightly.

"It's a bit strange..." I mumbled. "It's not that it tastes bad, it's just that the tofu skin has a weird smell..."

Yi Han was taken aback at first, then his expression changed drastically, and he almost shouted, "Young Master, don't swallow it!"

I was startled, and the food that was already in my throat gurgled down my throat. I looked at Yihan's ashen face in surprise and murmured, "Yihan, what's wrong?"

Yi Han's face was somewhat pale, and all the muscles in his body seemed to be tense and clenched together. He quickly took out a bright green pill from his pocket and fed it to me, then swallowed one himself.

Just as I was about to ask again, I suddenly felt a churning in my stomach, a pain that felt like it was being twisted by metal rods, or like it was on fire. I screamed and collapsed into Yi Han's arms. As I groaned, I felt a pair of hands on my back, and a cold breath seeped into my body from behind. Instantly, the burning sensation in my stomach was pushed up from bottom to top. I vomited with a loud "whoosh," vomiting the food I had just eaten, along with bluish-purple blood, onto the ground.

I was still in shock, and my stomach felt hollowed out. Suddenly, I felt an overwhelming pressure around me, as if it were swallowing me whole. When I looked up, I realized that Yihan and I were already surrounded by a group of people wielding knives and weapons.

Yi Han held a sword in one hand and supported me with the other. His face was a little pale, but he showed no fear or panic. Instead, his cold gaze swept over the crowd. The dozens of people who should have been fierce and composed all showed expressions of horror and involuntarily took a few steps back.

Yi Han's gaze finally landed on Mei Niang, and he said coldly, "Who are you people?"

Mei Niang smiled gently, and instead of answering, asked, "Are you two the young Prime Minister Qin Luo and Qing Shuang Jian Feng Yi Han?"

My stomach felt empty and uncomfortable, but I felt that most of the poison had been expelled. Hearing this, I looked up in astonishment at the woman in red with green eyes, gentle and kind as water. I couldn't understand how such a delicate and virtuous woman could have deliberately tried to kill us.

“If you two don’t answer, then Mei Niang is presumptuous.” Mei Niang reached into her chest with her slender hand and pulled out two long, flexible silver hooks. She said in a crisp voice, “My master hopes that you two can stay for a while. However, since you two are too powerful, you may not want to meet with my master. Therefore, Mei Niang has no choice but to resort to this tactic.”

I leaned against Yihan, my voice weak, and asked, "Who is your master?"

Mei Niang chuckled, unsure of what to say, when Zi Mo's indifferent and cold voice suddenly rang in her ears: "Liu Cenfeng."

"Liu Cenfeng?!" I exclaimed in surprise, "Liu Cenfeng, the white-robed Grand Tutor of the Fire Feather Kingdom, whose fiery maple leaves have faded and whose snowy shadows have appeared?!"

Mei Niang's composed smile vanished in an instant, replaced by a solemn expression. "The young prime minister truly lives up to his reputation. Young Master Qin, Mei Niang would like to ask, how did you guess the emperor's name?"

Zi Mo sighed and slowly floated down beside me, saying, "I should have noticed it earlier. Galan, look closely at the twelve pearls on this woman's head. They are all the same size and perfectly round, and at first glance, they seem like ordinary ornaments. But upon closer inspection, you'll find that some of these twelve pearls shimmer with a fiery light under the lamp. These are the Crimson Spirit Pearls unique to the Fire Feather Kingdom. For ordinary people, finding just one would ensure a year's livelihood. But for nobles, especially royalty, they are merely ordinary ornaments, and they don't bother to distinguish them from ordinary pearls. I found it strange when I first saw this woman. Born in the arid lands of Binsheng, how could her skin be so smooth and supple? Now I realize that she deliberately lay in ambush here to catch you. The only thing I can't understand is the matter of today's outing..."

"Crimson Spirit Pearls?" Mei Niang's eyes flashed with a sharp light. She reached out and tore off two pearls from the clasp, her tone of inquiry certain, "Young Master must have discerned something from these pearls?"

As Zimo spoke, my gaze followed his narration, reading each detail. Mei Niang, quick-witted as she was, guessed the reason. I felt there was no point in hiding anything now, so following Zimo's instructions, I nodded with a smile and said, "Grand Tutor Liu's men are indeed extraordinary. I am utterly convinced of my defeat today." I stole a glance at Zimo, noticing that he spoke the words "utterly convinced" through gritted teeth. Upon closer examination, I realized he was probably still blaming me for being so stubborn in insisting on coming to this inn, leaving him in such a sorry state.

Zi Mo glanced at me and gave a helpless smile: "This was a carefully planned scheme of theirs. Even if you hadn't stepped into this inn, they would have still found a way to lure you here. So, you don't need to be upset. That's not what I'm angry about."

Before I could even ask what it was, Mei Niang's eyes suddenly flashed with a cold light, and she waved her hand, saying, "Capture him alive if you can, otherwise, I want to see him alive or dead."

The crowd surged forward in a whoosh. Yi Han wrapped his arms around my waist, wielding his sword in one hand, shifting left and right, the longsword flashing so fast I couldn't even see it. Despite having just been poisoned, and with me, a burden, by his side, dozens of people wielding all sorts of weapons couldn't even get close to him.

With a sharp "whoosh," the Azure Frost Sword in Yi Han's hand flashed, tearing a half-person-high gap in the tarpaulin covering the entire inn. Yi Han held me tightly with one arm, and the sword slipped from his grasp with the other. The Azure Frost Sword, gleaming brilliantly, hurtled towards Mei Niang. Mei Niang cried out, raising her silver hook to try and block the sword's momentum, but the sword suddenly sank before her, as if a hidden thread had pulled it down, grazing her chest as it plummeted downwards.

Chapter 23 So Childish

Chapter 23 So Childish

Mei Niang let out a delicate cry and raised her silver hook to try to block the sword's momentum. However, the sword suddenly sank in front of her, as if a hidden thread was pulling it down, close to Mei Niang's chest.

Mei Niang's soft cry turned into a scream, and my face flushed red as I watched her clothes tear open inch by inch, revealing her pale yellow bodice and snow-white skin. The burly men around me, seeing the sudden burst of spring light, either turned their heads away in embarrassment or stared intently, forgetting all about making a move.

In that instant, Yi Han released his grip on me, his figure flashed, and he had already picked up the long sword. With a few leaps, he was beside me, and without hesitation, he grabbed me and jumped out of the crevice.

The fierce wind, mixed with yellow sand, mercilessly whipped at my delicate facial skin, causing me so much pain that I could only close my eyes and grit my teeth as Yihan carried me away. I deeply regretted not bringing that scarf with me.

Suddenly remembering what Zimo had just said, she quickly thought to herself, 'Zimo, you said it wasn't this you were angry about, then what were you angry about?'

After waiting for a while, I found there was no response. I opened my eyes with difficulty and looked around, but all I saw was a dim yellow sky and empty, deserted streets. Where were the ghosts? Where was the long-haired scholar?

"Stop—! Stop—!" I screamed in panic. Yihan was startled by my shout and slammed on the brakes. I jumped out of his arms, ignoring the swirling sand and dust, shielding my eyes with my hands as I looked around frantically, silently calling out, "Zimo! Zimo! Where are you? Come out quickly! Zimo, don't scare me! Zimo…"

"I'm here!" Zi Mo's slightly weary, warm voice suddenly rang in my ears. I turned abruptly, looking at the figure floating in the air before me, approaching from afar. My eyes instantly welled up with tears; the fear and hesitation I had just felt seemed to linger in my heart. I stared into his brown eyes, sometimes deep, sometimes brimming with a smile that couldn't reach their depths: 'Where did you go? Didn't you say you couldn't leave me?'

Zi Mo smiled nonchalantly: "Not being able to leave doesn't mean being inseparable. We can stay within a certain distance. I was just concerned about the person who hadn't come out from the inner room, so I wanted to wait and see what he really looked like."

I was startled. Was someone just standing there? I looked at him, thinking, 'Did they see that?'

Zi Mo shook his head, his face showing obvious weariness: "It seems I can't stray too far from the water chain. I couldn't take it anymore in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. I didn't see that person, but I saw Chen Sheng being captured by them..."

"Chen Sheng?!" My expression changed drastically as I looked at the person beside me. "Yi Han, we actually forgot about Chen Sheng!"

Yi Han nodded, showing no surprise whatsoever, and said calmly, "I haven't forgotten, but in that situation, I wasn't entirely confident that I could rescue both him and the young master."

Just as I was about to speak, I saw Zi Mo suddenly plummet from the sky. I screamed in fright and frantically tried to catch him, but his body passed right through my fingers like air. I stared blankly at my hand, a wave of indescribable sadness washing over me. Then I heard Zi Mo's weak voice say, "Galan, turn the water chain and seal me inside. I must... recover my true energy... When I'm not around, don't act rashly, try to listen to Feng Yihan."