Volume 3 Chapter 50
Chapter 50: Yu Funing's appearance
"Ahem, Baili Haoran, you're way too careless. How can you lose such an important land deed?" Chu Moxin immediately caught Huangfu Junxiu's meaning and turned around while rebuking Baili Haoran with a serious expression.
"This humble servant… It was this humble servant's neglectance. Little Prince, please assign punishment…" Baili Haoran had no choice but to admit to it. If he didn't, this little prince would definitely come after him for it later.
"All of you, withdraw." A clear and melodious voice arose. When Baili Haoran saw Chu Mobei speak, he immediately fled from the room like he had been granted amnesty. Huangfu Junxiu turned and left as well. As he closed the door, he glanced at Chu Moxin meaningfully.
"Imperial Older Brother, when did you get here?" Chu Moxin took a deep breath, then turned around to look at Chu Mobei in surprise.
"Saying that you wanted to train was a lie, what you actually wanted was to see Yao Mowan, right?" Chu Mobei slowly walked to Chu Moxin's side and touched his shoulder lightly. Before he had even realized it, this younger brother of his had already grown this tall.
"Moxin's being wrongly accused! How could I have known that Yao Mowan would also come?" Chu Moxin was determined not to admit to it.
"I can let you see her, but on the condition that I choose the time. Well?" Faint gentleness flickered in his demonically charming eyes. The only time Chu Mobei expressed a rare moment of gentleness was in front of Chu Moxin.
"Who wants to see her…" Chu Moxin's voice was quiet like the sound of a mosquito, but his eyes were filled with anticipation.
Chu Mobei didn't bother to expose him and simply hooked his lips without a word. Yao Mowan, this time, there's no way this prince will allow you to get the upper hand again easily.
In order to ease Ye Junqing's gloomy mood, Yao Mowan arranged for Ben Lei to take Ye Junqing around the city. Meanwhile, in her moments of free time between checking the account books, she'd take a palanquin to Phoenix Mountain's Remote Springs. The so-called Remote Spring was simply a hot spring. It didn't have any miraculous life-saving properties.
The large street was filled with people. Ye Junqing was aimlessly walking along and would occasionally pause in front of some new and odd weapons. Meanwhile, Ben Lei kept boasting next to Ye Junqing and basically spilling everything that he knew about Mangyuan.
On the left side of the street, a peddler selling circular fans was looking at the woman in front of his stand and impatiently urging her on.
"This miss, are you going to buy it or not? If you're not going to buy it, don't stand here. You're blocking my business!" said the vendor angrily. He reached out to push away the woman, but was stopped by a chain of gold.
"This is enough to buy your stand. If you dare to say any more, I'll have your mouth ripped off!" Qian Xi tossed the vendor a chain of gold disdainfully, then turned to look towards her master.
"Miss, what are you looking at?" When Qian Xi saw that Yu Funing's eyes were misty and that her body was trembling slightly, she stepped forward to support her while asking this worriedly.
"It's him… Qian Xi, this day has finally arrived…" Yu Funing's tears fell silently, then she started running forward blankly, like she had lost her soul to something. Qian Xi hastily moved forward to push aside the people in front of Yu Funing.
"The esteemed prince? Why would he be here?" After about a dozen steps, Qian Xi finally saw the person that her miss had been captivated by.
"Miss, this isn't a good place to talk and there's even someone with the esteemed prince. It's possible that person had come from the imperial palace, so we need to be careful!" Qian Xi pulled Yu Funing to the side of the street as she said this carefully.
"Qian Xi, let go of me! I want to see him! I need to ask why he didn't come that night! He said that he wouldn't leave until he saw me!" Yu Funing sobbed as she spoke and her tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
Yu Funing's words attracted a lot of glances from the passersby. Qian Xi hastily pulled Yu Funing over to a quiet corner.
"Miss! Wait here, Qian Xi will definitely bring the esteemed prince over for you! So no matter what, don't go anywhere!" Qian Xi knew that her master's feelings for Ye Junqing was too deep. There was no way her master would rest without seeing him.
"Alright! Qian Xi, I'll have Fei Luan go with you. You have to bring him here, alright?" Yu Funing grabbed Qian Xi tightly, her eyes filled with beseeching.
"Miss, wait right here!" Qian Xi didn't dare to waste any time and immediately ran in the direction that Ye Junqing had gone. Qian Xi had Fei Luan lure Ben Lei away, then quickly went to block Ye Junqing's way.
"Prince, do you still remember this servant?" Qian Xi spoke solemnly but humbly.
"You're…" Ye Junqing found her face familiar, but he couldn't recall where he had seen her.
"Truly, eminent people have short memory. Wonder if Prince still remembers Fragrant Steps Pavilion's Consort Xian?" prompted Qian Xi.
"You're Qian Xi!" cried Ye Junqing in realization. However, when he heard the words Consort Xian, a bit of guilt surfaced in his heart. At that time, Yao Mowan had once told him about what happened with Yu Funing and how she had impersonated him in replying to Yu Funing's letter. Although this had nothing to do with him, Yu Funing didn't know that.
"Prince, please come this way. My miss is waiting for you." Qian Xi gestured politely, but Ye Junqing hesitated. What was he supposed to say when he saw her?
"Ahem… Just treat it as this prince never saw you. You should go." Ye Junqing's implicit words were that he'd let Qian Xi off this once. After all, they had fled from the Chu Palace and were criminals of this current dynasty.
"Qian Xi truly doesn't dare to accept Prince's great grace. Qian Xi had given up regard for life and death to take this risk to see you, Prince. If you still have any conscience at all, you should meet with my miss. If it weren't for you, my miss would still be a noble consort of great Chu, how could she have possibly fallen to the point of having to live in a foreign land? As of now, Miss… She isn't doing well." Qian Xi was determined to bring Ye Junqing to Yu Funing even if the price was her life.
Ye Junqing could see Qian Xi's determination. After considering things for a short moment, in the end, he still followed after Qian Xi and left the city.
If life was always like that which it had been during the first meeting, what would ever inspire the sorrowful autumn paintings? When Yu Funing saw Ye Junqing walk towards her in his azure garments, her tears started overflowing even harder. That night, she had escaped from the palace with a heart filled with joy, thinking that the possibilities were limitless. She could finally be with the man she loved, but unexpectedly, everything was simply the moon reflected in the lake, a simple dream.
"Miss…" Qian Xi brought Ye Junqing to Yu Funing, then tactfully withdrew. When Ye Junqing saw that Yu Funing was crying so hard, he choked. He didn't know what to say, but he had to say something, so he spoke first.
"Guan Osprey Palace's Fluffy still misses the food from Fragrant Steps Pavilion…" The moment Ye Junqing spoke, Yu Funing suddenly threw herself towards him and started hitting his chest with her soft fists. Ye Junqing was dumbfounded. He had never encountered a situation like this before and for a moment, he didn't even know what to do and could only allow Yu Funing to hit him.
"Yu Funing had waited for you, Prince… Yu Funing had suffered such a long wait…" Yu Funing hit him for a long time, then she finally couldn't bear it anymore and wrapped her arms around Ye Junqing's waist, pressing her delicate face against Ye Junqing's chest as her tears continued to stream down.
"Consort Xian… I'm afraid you're probably misunderstanding." Ye Junqing swallowed hard, then slowly pushed Yu Funing away. Even if this woman wasn't the emperor's woman, he really didn't feel comfortable being bear-hugged by a woman.
"A misunderstanding? Prince, do you recognize this letter?" Tears whirled in Yu Funing's eyes and she sobbed as she pulled out a letter from within her sleeve.
'Will be there, Junqing.'
Ye Junqing's face filled with sudden realization when he saw this letter. Yao Mowan had once shown him the letter where Yu Funing had arranged to meet with him at the west side of the imperial city, so this was definitely the reply Yao Mowan had written in his handwriting. Ye Junqing just never imagined that Yu Funing actually kept this letter.
It naturally didn't occur to him that to Yu Funing, this letter was now her everything. Every night before she went to sleep, she'd read it countless times.
"This prince did write this letter." Ye Junqing rashly decided to take all of this upon herself. He only knew that if he didn't admit to it, Yu Funing would definitely try to get to the very bottom of it and if she found out it had been Yao Mowan's doing, things would blow up. However, Ye Junqing never imagined that things would end up really blowing up because of his admission!
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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira
[Chiyomira's Corner]
Enjoy~