“Li Huaisu.”
Suzhen was just thinking of walking around to see the environment when that voice called from behind. She frowned and turned around.
He had always loved cleanliness, but today his white robes showed faint traces of dark red at the chest and abdomen, his hands were covered with white flour, and his hair was dusted with quite a bit as well. She spoke: “Is that on your body chicken blood, or your blood?”
Lian Yu’s eyes lit up, and he actually paused a moment before remembering to respond: “It’s not chicken blood.”
“Since you’re not killing chickens, go back and lie down. What’s the point of this?” Suzhen kicked at a pebble by her feet, her gaze somewhat absently lowering.
“You still care about me.” Lian Yu narrowed his eyes slightly, a smile blooming on his lips, his whole eyes bright.
Suzhen pulled at the corner of her mouth: “I just don’t want you swaying in front of my eyes. Lian Yu, I thought I made myself clear enough. If you continue like this, I can only leave on my own. Or do you want me to kill myself right in front of you? You have no leverage to threaten me now. Though I died once and absolutely don’t want to die again, a life without freedom has no meaning either.”
Lian Yu’s previously advancing steps gradually slowed.
“I have no intention of forcibly keeping you. It’s just that this place has clear mountains and beautiful waters, elegant scenery, suitable for both of us to recover from our injuries, so I brought you here too. You said you don’t want to owe me anything—I feel the same way. You don’t want to be with me, and I accept that. I only wish for your peace and health. I just hope to see your injuries completely heal. I feel this is my responsibility. During this time, I won’t do anything to you. As soon as your injury heals, you can leave whenever you want. I’ve already given orders that no one can stop you, though they understand how unwilling I am to let you go. But my orders are all they can obey.”
“Moreover, when you leave and return to Quan Feitong, you probably won’t have many chances to see Lian Xin again, right? She regards you as a sister and can’t bear to part with you. When I told her you weren’t dead, you should have seen how delighted and happy she was. Recovering from injuries is the same anywhere—don’t you want to spend a few more good days with her?”
Suzhen was quite cunning when she wanted to scheme, often making people unable to figure her out, quite wily. But she was also very straightforward by nature and usually didn’t like to speculate about others from bad angles. So for a moment she felt like throwing a punch that landed on cotton—soft and with nowhere to apply force. Moreover, she truly liked Lian Xin, and some of his words hit close to home.
Seeing her frown and eyes flicker, Lian Yu continued calmly: “Though I’ve separated from Aluo now and hope in my heart that you’ll forgive me and be with me, since you don’t like it, why should I force it? After all, I’m the master of this realm—if I want a woman, why worry about not having one? I could fill the harem with consorts who resemble you. It’s not like I absolutely must have you, right? You don’t need to avoid me either, unless you still have some feelings for me in your heart.”
“Afraid that staying with me will sooner or later lead to something inappropriate happening?” He clasped his hands behind his back and asked with a slight smile.
“I have nothing left in my heart for you!” Suzhen’s heart sank. Though she knew this was very likely a provocation, she was still greatly angered. She looked up coldly: “You don’t need to provoke me. I’ll stay, heal my injuries, then leave.”
“Very good. I’ll be good to you, and I hope I dare to give and you dare to receive. Just don’t soften or be moved.” He slowly walked forward, standing before her, his toe skillfully flicking the pebble at her feet toward himself.
His sudden advance made Suzhen even angrier. The phrase “I’ll screw your grandfather” almost burst from her lips, but she ultimately restrained herself. Getting serious meant losing—look how miserably she’d lost in their previous hundreds of rounds.
“Aren’t you supposed to be washing your hands to make soup? Get back there. You dare to make it, I dare to eat it. You dare to stir up emotions, I dare to be cold-blooded.” She pointed at the bloodstains on his clothes and spoke slowly.
Lian Yu wasn’t angry either, still smiling: “Good, then wait to eat.”
He walked a few steps, then suddenly turned back: “Oh yes, let me ask you something. Did you treat Li Zhaoting this way too in the past? Ordering him around and throwing tantrums?”
Suzhen didn’t know what he meant. After pausing: “I was charming and lovely to him—we got along very well.”
“No wonder you no longer love him.” His smile grew wider.
Suzhen was stunned. What did he mean by that? But she ignored him, letting him make a fool of himself, and glanced around. Wait…
What kind of godforsaken place was this?
Nearby were farmlands, but in the distance were endless dense mountain forests. Behind them was a row of buildings—it looked like a village. The houses were numerous, extending beyond sight, quite a large town actually. But most were simple thatched huts and stone houses. At best there might be a multi-building household. Among them were some with multiple courtyards that looked quite magnificent, but these were few in number. The small courtyard behind them could practically be considered one of the mansions, standing out like a crane among chickens.
Where were the clear mountains and beautiful waters? Where was the water? Where was the elegant scenery? Where was it suitable for recovery?
In this place, forget about proper rest and recuperation—Suzhen held her forehead—even safely getting out wouldn’t be easy. One careless step and she might become food for wild beasts.
“What is this place?” She was somewhat frantic.
“Sixth Brother said this place has jade mines and is very similar to where you two pledged your love back then. You must like it in your heart.” Suddenly a voice came from behind as someone rushed up and hugged her with a giggle.
Suzhen felt a headache coming on. This wasn’t the feeling of one punch landing in cotton—it was ten punches. Not caring about the injury being pressed by the carefree Lian Xin, after hissing in pain, she immediately turned around, grasped her shoulders, and said through gritted teeth: “Your Sixth Brother and I never pledged our love back then. Also, I don’t like this place at all—you can tell at a glance it’s barren, with no wine or meat.”
“Li Huaisu, back when Sixth Brother had leprosy, how did you take a fancy to him? You definitely truly loved him—you didn’t even mind the leprosy.”
Before Lian Xin could answer, another voice interrupted. It was Lian Qin, looking at her with a mischievous smile.
Not only him, but a whole group of people had come out from inside, all looking at her with teasing eyes. Had they finished cooking in the blink of an eye? Suzhen wanted to kill someone. She blocked it with one sentence: “I was still fantasizing about Li Zhaoting then and had no interest whatsoever in your leprous brother.”
“But supposedly you even did extra work for him. If that’s not liking someone, what is?” Lian Jie added with a grin.
What version had they twisted those events into? That was sympathy, alright?
Suzhen gritted her teeth, but angry as she was, she couldn’t possibly fall into their trap. She directly killed the topic: “Is your competition over? You lost, right?”
“Master came out just now, so we couldn’t take advantage in terms of time and make him lose too badly.” Xuan Wu spoke up, quite seriously for once, with an air of seeking defeat in loneliness.
As it turned out, there were emperors who could do carpentry, emperors who could write excellent calligraphy—though they ultimately lost their kingdoms—but there were also emperors who were master chefs.
Half an hour later, everyone was eating in the courtyard. Lian Jie and the others had nothing more to say. Lian Yu had made four dishes and one soup, with rice and noodles, plus dessert afterward. Everything looked fragrant and appetizing, while what the temporary alliance had produced was basically unrecognizable. Lian Jie and Lian Qin each lost a mansion in the capital, and most miserably, when mealtime arrived and they’d used up all the ingredients, they had to eat what they’d botched themselves.
Only Suzhen and Lian Xin were fortunate enough to eat the master chef’s food.
In the midst of their meal, someone came knocking. Everyone was slightly surprised—they’d just arrived at this place and didn’t know anyone. Who would come visiting? Ming Yanchu put down his bowl and chopsticks to open the door. From outside came an old man’s voice: “Young masters, you’ve just arrived at our humble place, so from now on you’re townspeople too. We’ve brought some food over. This mountain wilderness doesn’t have anything good to offer guests, but these are made by the old woman at home. Please don’t disdain this small token of our regard, gentlemen.”
“Yes, yes, that… are all the young masters Murong here? Could we come in and pay our respects?” Then came an old woman’s voice.
“Thank you, auntie. Please wait a moment.” Ming Yanchu seemed to accept the items and thank them politely, then quickly turned to ask Lian Yu for instructions.
Lian Yu was calmly watching Suzhen drink soup and eat, his eyes smiling. Seeing Ming Yanchu look over, he nodded in good spirits: “Please invite the two elders in.”
The old couple entered. Lian Qin’s eyes lit up as he immediately grabbed the food basket from the old woman’s hands. The old folks saw this and shook their heads secretly—they must have been from wealthy families in the capital who had fallen on hard times and come here to mine for stones, unable even to afford proper food. But these three young men were all handsome and appealing to look at. If they were unmarried, keeping good things in the family… She glanced at her husband, but the old man ignored her and only smiled: “There’s a new mine opening ceremony tonight. Please come join us, young masters. All the young men and women in town will be there—it’s a ritual, but there’s also singing, dancing, and entertainment.”
“Yes, if any of you young masters are unmarried, it would be even better to come play.” The old woman eagerly added.
Lian Yu stood up and replied with a light smile: “You’re too kind, elders. It so happens I’ll bring my wife along to see the excitement.”
Seeing the old woman’s disappointed glare at her again, Lian Qin quickly said: “My elder brother is unmarried, so I can’t marry before him.”
He pointed at Lian Jie as he spoke. Lian Jie hadn’t expected Lian Qin to suddenly act despicably and was momentarily stunned, not responding. The old woman was delighted when Xuan Wu said: “That’s good, but he doesn’t like girls.”