"Shall we get married tonight?"
"Didn't they say... the auspicious day is in three days?"
"An auspicious day?" Situ Yebai retorted, then laughed. "What constitutes an auspicious day? I think any day I can see you is an auspicious day. Tonight, I'll have them deliver the wedding dress. I want you to marry me tonight."
"……good."
Situ Yebai immediately stood up, took Hua Chongyang's hand, and then reluctantly let go:
"I'll go tell them to prepare right away."
He immediately went out.
Ye Laoqi stared at the doorway for a long time, then let out a long sigh and looked at Hua Chongyang:
"...OP."
"how?"
"You...you really want to marry Situ Yebai? He seems a bit strange to me. Is he drunk, or is he really just acting like this?"
81. Demeanor
"I don't care about all that," Hua Chongyang hurriedly stood up and removed the hairpin from his head. "As long as we're married and he's willing to give Fushun back to me, I don't care if he's crazy or drunk."
Ye Laoqi hesitated for a long time:
"OP, how good is Situ Yebai's martial arts?"
What do you think?
"It doesn't look low."
"I don't know exactly how tall," Hua Chongyang raised an eyebrow, "but a long time ago, after learning about Situ Qingliu's martial arts, he once said that his martial arts were far inferior to his father's."
Ye Laoqi gasped:
"That would be outrageous!"
She didn't know about others, but when Yan Bailu first came to the brothel, she looked down on Situ Qingliu, so she once ambushed him. In the end, she was completely subdued by Situ Qingliu and never dared to make a move again.
What does it mean to be unassuming and secretive? This is what it means to be unassuming and secretive.
"Seventh Brother, go and call Liu Dalai."
After her conversation with Liu Da, she sat in her room until almost dusk. Situ Yebai had already sent her wedding dress, which was tossed onto the bed. She had no interest in trying it on, pacing back and forth in the room, but the person she was supposed to see never arrived. Finally, she stood by the window, staring at the wedding dress, then suddenly bent down and, like a madwoman, swept the bright red gown off the bed:
"Get out! All of you, get out!"
The hairpins and ornaments on her wedding dress jingled to the ground, and at the same time, the door was pushed open. Lancao, dressed in women's clothing, stood in the doorway, looked at the mess on the ground, and finally fixed her gaze on Hua Chongyang's face:
"Are you crazy? You actually want to get married?"
Hua Chongyang turned around, his expression suddenly calming down:
"I'm insane."
Lan Cao sighed deeply:
"What about the Pavilion Master? Luckily, he's not in Hangzhou—are you trying to drive him to his death?"
"He's not in Hangzhou? You're not with him?"
"He decided to go back to Sichuan last night, and set off at top speed early this morning. He's probably arrived by now. But judging from the situation," Lan Cao said, looking at the wedding dress on the ground, "he'll probably be back tomorrow."
"I will give him an explanation."
"How do you explain this?" Lan Cao sneered. "Besides, do you think he'll listen to your explanation?"
"I'm getting married tonight. We'll see about tomorrow; I can't worry about that now."
"You may not care, but I have to. Otherwise, how am I supposed to explain this to the Pavilion Master when he returns?" Lan Cao acted faster than she spoke, approaching him and raising her sleeve with a flick of her wrist. "If we let you have your way, something terrible will happen."
He stood in front of Hua Chongyang and waited for her to fall to the ground.
To everyone's surprise, Hua Chongyang was still perfectly fine after three rounds of movements. She moved even faster than Lan Cao, raising her hand to apply pressure to Lan Cao's acupoints.
"Don't waste your time. I've drunk Lan Wuxie's blood."
A quarter of an hour later, Lan Cao was bound hand and foot, gagged, and carried out of the room. Hua Chongyang clapped his hands and called over Ye Laoqi:
"Seventh brother, come help me get dressed."
Wearing her bright red wedding dress, Hua Chongyang looked calm and smiled slightly at herself in the mirror.
"It's not bad-looking."
Ye Laoqi had no idea how to respond.
Ever since Hua Chongyang met Situ Yebai, he's started acting strangely; if this continues, something terrible will happen sooner or later. Holding the phoenix-wing hairpin, she spoke cautiously:
"OP, it seems Prince Ningjing intends for the wedding ceremony to take place that very night."
Hua Chongyang stood in front of the mirror, fiddling with a hairpin in his hand, somewhat absentmindedly:
Did he say where it was?
"It's at the brothel." Old Master Ye paused, "Guests for the ceremony are starting to arrive. They're busy moving the betrothal gifts to make room."
Hua Chongyang nodded:
"Alright. Everything needs to be moved out so we can have a proper celebration. Seventh brother."
"Um?"
"You and Bailu, take Lancao outside the city immediately, to prevent any accidents or trouble he might cause."
"Lan Cao's martial arts are nothing special; Bai Lu can go alone. I'll stay here and serve you—"
Hua Chongyang raised the corners of his eyes:
"Since when have you stopped taking my words seriously?"
"No, no, it's not you, OP," Ye Laoqi shook his head, his eyes suddenly welling up with tears, "I'm afraid tonight...it might—"
What will happen?
"Something bad will happen—" With a blink of an eye, Ye Laoqi burst into tears. "You were keeping it from me, but I'm not stupid. How could I not see through anything?"
Hua Chongyang was taken aback, then laughed:
"Silly girl! What could possibly happen? Besides, if I were going to cause trouble, I wouldn't have chosen tonight. What would happen to Fu Shun then?"
Old Master Ye sobbed, tears streaming down his face, and after a long while, he nodded:
"Say whatever you want, I'll listen to whatever you say. You always have your reasons."
"That's right, that's a good girl, why are you crying?" Hua Chongyang patted her cheek with a smile. "If you're obedient, Bailu will be obedient to you too. It's strange, I don't know why, but Bailu is always so obedient to you, even more so to me."
"She's stubborn," Old Seven Ye said, wiping away his tears. "I'm going to find her right now."
The door closed.
Hua Chongyang's smile faded, and he began to stare blankly. A moment later, Liu Da pushed open the door and entered:
"Master, as soon as the word got out, people from Goose Foot Valley showed up."
Earlier, Hua Chongyang had Liu Da spread the word that Hua Chongyang had broken ties with Lan Wuxie and was going to marry Situ Yebai. Her dowry would be the "Azure Heart Sutra," which everyone in the world coveted. Hua Chongyang would personally hand the item to Situ Yebai and swear allegiance to the Martial Alliance.
If their previous speculations were correct, from the appearance of Yanzu Valley and the murder of Ye Qinghua to the repeated attacks on brothels by the people of Yanzu Valley over the past year, all of them had only one purpose: the Azure Heaven Heart Sutra.
Yanzu Valley has no connection with either the brothel or Situ Yebai's side. The fact that they came running as soon as the news spread further proves that their guess was correct.
Hua Chongyang immediately perked up:
Who is coming?
"Qing Ling, Cheng Sheng, Xing Yanshui."
"No Bo Jiang?"
"No."
Hua Chongyang slumped back a few steps and sat down on the couch:
"Could it really not be her? It makes no sense that after waiting for so many years, she would still be so calm at this moment."
"Then let's wait and see. If it's Bo Jiang, we must remain calm; we can't afford to be inferior to her." Liu Da frowned. "A fox will always show its tail eventually."
The time for the wedding ceremony was fast approaching.
The room was empty, and Hua Chongyang sat waiting alone.
In the early summer twilight, the colors outside the window are somber, the sunlight sparse, and the pale moon is just beginning to appear on the horizon. At such times, even the quietest place can feel like a silent clamor, as if everything is hazy, chaotic, and utterly disorganized.
Hua Chongyang felt an unprecedented loneliness. It wasn't that others had abandoned her; it was that she herself had chosen to abandon the whole world and face the future alone.
In the silence, a knock on the door broke her solitary sitting.
The voice was steady yet slightly hurried, unlike the barbaric style of someone from a brothel; Hua Chongyang stood up alertly:
"who?"
The door was suddenly pushed open, and entered someone Hua Chongyang never expected: Cheng Sheng.
She immediately retreated to the corner and drew the sword from the wall with her backhand:
"Cheng Sheng."
His ability to evade the guards arranged by Situ Yebai suggests that his martial arts skills are higher than Hua Chongyang had imagined.
"I meant no harm, Master Hua." Cheng Sheng glanced at her red dress, his expression urgent. "Are you really going to marry Situ Yebai?"
"That's my business," Hua Chongyang said, still holding his sword, "and has nothing to do with Yanzu Valley."
"Don't marry him, Master Hua!" Cheng Sheng lowered his voice and sighed deeply. "I can't worry about that now. I came to tell you, whatever you do, don't go downstairs tonight to have your wedding ceremony with Situ Yebai."
"Why?"
"You're so smart, you couldn't possibly not have guessed. Lan Wuxie isn't here, and if Yanzu Valley makes a move tonight, it will definitely be detrimental to you."
"For the Azure Sky Heart Sutra?"
"First, obtain the secret manual; second, eliminate the person involved. In other words, you must be killed. This is an order personally given by the Red Wing Envoy."
"I anticipated that. The spies from Yanzu Valley are everywhere lately, and a few have even infiltrated the brothels. Their motives for wanting the secret manual are all too obvious. As for whether they want to kill me, that's secondary." Hua Chongyang put down his sword and looked at Cheng Sheng. "What I want to know is, who exactly is the Red Wing Envoy?"
"It's good that you're prepared." Cheng Sheng breathed a sigh of relief. "I don't know about that. The only one who might know is Qing Ling, because the Red Wing Envoy sometimes conveys messages to her privately. But she won't say anything. There are far more people in Goose Foot Valley than you imagine, and they're very strong; the three of us are just the ones on the surface."