Вдовствующая императрица Сяосюань

Глава 11

Lin Yilan was furious. Looking at her son—no, her daughter—she thought, "This guy is really handsome. Although he's a bit effeminate at times, he's mostly heroic. He's truly as handsome as Pan An, and dashing and debonair. If I were fifteen years younger and he were a man, I would definitely pursue him relentlessly. I wouldn't have fallen for Yuchi Song then."

Unfortunately… Lin Yilan shook her head, thinking with regret.

"Mom, why are you shaking your head?" After finishing one apple, Ru Feng picked up another, wiped it with her sleeve, and started to bite into it.

"Hey, can you wash your food before you eat? And can you sit up straight?" Lin Yilan quickly stopped her.

"It's alright. I don't appear like this to outsiders. I'm only relaxed in front of you guys." Ru Feng said nonchalantly. Besides, ancient things are so sweet and unpolluted, what's there to be afraid of?

Seeing this, Lin Yilan had no choice but to get back to the point: "Your grandfather won't do anything to you now, but I'm afraid that if he gets angry again, he might want you to join the army or something. What would you do then? So you'd better leave home as soon as possible."

Lin Yilan was also somewhat helpless. Her daughter was really unlucky. Not only did she have to endure so much hardship by disguising herself as a man, but she also had to leave her hometown to learn martial arts. Now she wanted to send her away. Had she made a mistake in the first place?

Ru Feng could tell what her mother was thinking just by looking at her expression, so she sat up straight and said, "Mother, don't overthink it. I'm very grateful for your decision back then. Look, aren't I doing very well now? Being a man certainly makes things much easier in this world. I'm very free now. But if I were to live as a woman, wouldn't that be a waste of my intelligence and talent?" Ru Feng boasted to herself.

“That’s what you say, but you are a girl after all. If this continues, how will you get married and have children in the future?” Lin Yilan also had her own thoughts. Although Ru Feng was enjoying herself now, what if she regretted it someday?

"I don't care about that. Who says a woman has to get married? My sister isn't married either. Tell her not to rush things. Even if she doesn't get married, I have a way to support her until she's old." As soon as Ru Feng finished speaking seriously, she collapsed.

"Sigh, how come your sister's situation is the same as yours?" Lin Yilan sighed, quite troubled by her two daughters.

"Mother, children and grandchildren have their own blessings, so don't worry." After throwing away the fruit pit in her hand, Ru Feng got up, clapped her hands, and prepared to leave.

"I haven't finished speaking yet, you child!"

"Mother, please hurry up and say it. You've said these things many times already. I'm very busy and don't have time to keep hearing the same things." Ru Feng stood tall and proud, truly a handsome figure!

Despite her praise, Lin Yilan still said what needed to be said: "Your father suggested that you go to the academy to study, so that you can study for three to five years before coming back. By then, many things may have changed, and you may be able to escape joining the army."

Upon hearing this, Ru Feng nodded with interest and laughed, "Isn't this asking me to be Zhu Yingtai? I just wonder if there will be a dim-witted Liang Shanbo at the academy?"

As Ru Feng was lost in her fantasies, Lin Yilan interrupted her without any politeness: "You wish! Do you think you look like a woman right now?" Lin Yilan looked at Ru Feng's chest and buttocks with disdain.

Ru Feng jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on: "Mom, don't underestimate me. I actually have a great figure, but I have no choice but to hide it." She looked at her flat chest and thought of her pitiful breasts, and couldn't help but shed a tear of sympathy for them.

Lin Yilan gave a noncommittal snort.

"By the way, Mom, does Grandpa agree to let me go to the academy?" Ru Feng asked excitedly, thinking that she could finally relax for three to five years.

"Although your grandfather is a bit stubborn, it won't be difficult to persuade him if the three of us work together. Don't worry," Lin Yilan said confidently, patting her chest.

"That's great! Haha, I'm determined to go to the best academy in the country and become the best student there. Haha, then I, Yuchi Rufeng, will be the star of the show!" Rufeng thought to himself with pride.

Lin Yilan rolled her eyes at her without any politeness: "With your little bit of cleverness!"

So, after some effort, Ru Feng's future path was set again. Yu Chi Huaiyang listened to his son's advice and decided to send Ru Feng to the academy to temper his arrogance, where there were many people as intelligent as Ru Feng. Ru Feng was arrogant and conceited now, but when he went to the battlefield to fight, he would probably be no match for others.

Moreover, the best academies in the country teach both literature and martial arts, which is also beneficial to Rufeng's growth.

And so, Ru Feng embarked on her journey to study.

!

Chapter 22 Robbers

Ru Feng is feeling very depressed. Traveling alone is so boring. At first, she was interested in climbing off the horse to chase butterflies, pick flowers, or sing a little song, but after a while, she couldn't stand it anymore. Looking at the blue sky, white clouds, and green trees, she felt so bored.

Pedestrians hurried past her without lingering. Occasionally, one or two people would catch a glimpse of Ru Feng in her blue robe and glance at her a few more times, but no one said anything.

So Ru Feng could only talk to herself. Her horse would occasionally respond with a note or two. In just four days, the two developed a good relationship, and Ru Feng even named the horse "Jing Feng".

"So boring, so incredibly boring. We haven't encountered anything along the way. Even bandits would be better than this; at least they could talk to me." Ru Feng lay sprawled on his horse, pretending to be dead, muttering to himself.

Ru Feng was probably just too lucky; she took a shortcut, following her grandfather's map, which would shorten the journey by half a day. However, the path was flanked by woods, making it look a bit eerie.

But... but why didn't Grandpa say there were robbers here! If he had known, I should have walked faster.

Looking at the noisy crowd ahead, Ru Feng patted his own startled wind and eagerly flew forward, disappearing into the bushes.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a robber.

The bandits, masked, riding horses, dressed in black, and carrying gleaming broadswords, numbered about twenty and formed a semi-circle.

There were only two people robbed, plus a magnificent carriage.

One of them was a boy who looked like a pageboy, about fourteen or fifteen years old. He was looking at the robbers calmly, though his legs were trembling a little.

One was a young man around twenty years old, dressed in the most ordinary dark coarse linen clothes, with a sword at his waist, though it was wrapped in cloth. Ru Feng only saw his back and didn't know what he looked like.

The robbers were chuckling and laughing.

"This mountain is mine, these trees are mine, if you want to pass, leave your money! Boys, leave your money and I'll spare your lives!" one of the bandits, who looked like the leader, said in a loud voice.

The young man unfastened the sword from his waist and remained silent.

But once the cloth was untied, a sword gleaming with cold light was revealed. Its chilling aura was palpable even from a distance, enough to send shivers down one's spine.

The young man exuded a chilling aura as he raised his sword, one man and one sword, seemingly capable of piercing a hole in you in the blink of an eye.

So the bandits didn't move. The bandit leader, clearly experienced, showed no fear; he stood ready, awaiting his leader's orders. The two sides remained locked in a stalemate.

Ru Feng was very anxious; she was tired of waiting.

With a swift movement of his eyes, his face was veiled as he touched the ground with his toes, and like a wisp of smoke, he lightly landed in the center of the circle.

"Hurry up and fight! Honestly, you're driving me crazy. I need to get on my way. Once you're done fighting, get out of the way! Honestly, you have no morals, blocking the road. Don't you know people need to walk? This road isn't just for you guys. The world isn't just for a few of you. When will you ever stop? Ugh, honestly, you keep spouting those vulgar phrases, like 'I planted this tree.' You don't understand progress. You've been bandits for so long, and you still don't know how to innovate. As the saying goes, innovation is the source of progress. Without innovation, there is no development..." As soon as Ru Feng came out, it was as if he hadn't spoken for hundreds of years. He rattled off a bunch of words, leaving no room for anyone to interrupt.

The bandit leader's lips twitched and veins bulged, but he could tell that Ru Feng was quite skilled, so he still spoke in a relatively kind tone: "Young brother, why don't you stand aside? We'll be done soon."

"Almost done?!" Ru Feng's voice boomed. "I've been waiting so long I'm almost asleep, and you guys are still dawdling?"

"Then let's step aside now and please pass, young man," the leader said, still speaking politely.

“But now I don’t want to leave.” Ru Fenglu’s eyes darted around as she looked at the young man in black clothes.

He had the face of a cool guy, with thick, sword-like eyebrows, dark eyes, a straight nose, thin lips, and a strong, tall figure. His face was expressionless, but the fierce look in his eyes was chilling.

As Ru Feng approached him, she sniffed and smelled the blood on his body, knowing that he was injured.

The bandit leader probably wanted to say something, but Ru Feng chuckled, flashed his figure, and uprooted a tree as thick as a waist not far away. Ignoring the astonishment of others, he swung the tree around with great force.

While everyone was still stunned, they saw a wisp of green smoke, as swift as the wind, and in the blink of an eye, the bandit leader's neck was pressed against a blade as fast as the wind. That blade looked very familiar.

One of the robbers shouted, "That's my knife!"

The bandit leader remained relatively calm, and said, "Young brother, you're impressive. We were blind today. We'll leave right now."

"How do I know if you're lying to me?" Ru Feng, who was sitting on horseback with him, chuckled.

“None of us here are a match for you. Although I, Wang Erhu, am a bandit, I never intentionally kill anyone. I only rob people of their money. I keep my word.”

Ru Feng looked at the young man and saw him nod slightly, so he let go of the head.

Ru Feng stood aside watching the robbers leave and laughed, "What a bizarre robbery."

At that moment, a groan came from inside the magnificent carriage.

The pageboy's expression changed, and he quickly lifted the curtain and slipped inside.

A stunningly beautiful woman appeared before Ru Feng, shocking his heart.

!

Chapter 23 Beauty

This stunning beauty was probably seventeen or eighteen years old. She wore a moon-white brocade dress with gold trim, which made her skin appear even whiter than jade. Individually, her features weren't exceptionally beautiful, but together they formed a harmonious whole on her oval face, making the first thought in one's mind—she's beautiful! Absolutely gorgeous!

Every corner is so stunning, enough to attract many people's attention and make their hearts flutter.

Ru Feng's heart pounded wildly. She clutched her left chest and stared blankly into the distance.

"Young Master, how are you feeling now?" The pageboy's clear voice rang out, startling Ru Feng.

Wait, did she just hear something? Ru Feng's eyes widened.

"You heard me right, he is indeed a man." A deep voice came from behind, as pleasant as the voice of a male radio host, deep, resonant, and indescribably melodious.

Ru Feng turned his head and saw the young man from before. He was leaning against a tree, holding his sword, with a cold look in his eyes.

Ru Feng, defiant of evil, climbed into the carriage, pushed aside the pageboy beside him, ripped open the beauty's clothes, and touched her chest and throat.

The series of actions caught both the page and the victim of the assault completely off guard.

"Wow, it really is a man! He deceived my feelings!" Ru Feng exclaimed, but his eyes were fixed on the woman's white, jade-like chest without blinking, looking exactly like a little pervert.

Fortunately, the pageboy was quick; after shouting, he hurriedly tidied his young master's clothes.

The beauty was a beat slow to react, and her already red face turned even redder, her deep eyes staring blankly at Ru Feng.

"Are you sick?" Ru Feng suddenly asked blankly.

"You're the one who's sick! My young master just caught a cold." The pageboy shouted, glaring fiercely at Rufeng.

"Then why is he burning up all over?" Ru Feng asked, puzzled.

"You know how to heal?" the silent young man in black asked.

"I don't know how, but I have medicine to cure it." Ru Feng suddenly let out a hurried cry, and a moment later, her Jing Feng immediately ran back.

Ru Feng affectionately patted its big head before taking off the bundle hanging on the horse, taking out the bottles and jars that his junior sister Zui Yue had given him, and finding out the medicine for treating colds.

"Here, this is medicine developed by my junior sister. If you trust her, you can have your young master take it." Ru Feng handed it over.

The young man in black walked over, took the item, smelled it, and nodded.

So, after taking the medicine, the beauty soon fell into a deep sleep.

Finally, everyone set off together.