Chapter 30

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“Aren’t you supposed to be a widow? You look pretty happy about it,” the young man carving the Kun-peng said. 

He had never seen a widow who was so open-minded. Usually, when women lost their husbands, they were gloomy and became increasingly depressed. 

“Of course I’m in a rather good mood. My husband died early, so he can be reincarnated earlier, so I’m relaxed as well. Of course I’m happy.” Chu Yue laughed. 

Prince Qin was trash. He was the type to vent his anger on an innocent and weak woman, so Chu Yue was always rude when she cursed him. 

“Looks like he offended you terribly when he was alive.” The young man carving the Kun-peng smiled. 

Chu Yue tossed a small piece of silver to him and said, “You carved the Kun-peng pretty well. Continue working hard. This is for you.”

“For… me?”

It was the first time the young man carving the Kun-peng encountered something like this. He stared at the woman in shock. 

He had always been the one giving rewards to others. He did not expect that there would be someone who would reward him, and the one who did it was even a woman?

Chu Yue ignored him and brought Hupo away to look at the other sculptures. 

The ice sculpture festival was truly Xiang City’s grand festival. Even if it started snowing during noon, the bad weather did not diminish the people’s passion for admiring the ice sculptures. Even if they had to open umbrellas for it, they insisted on staying outside. 

Chu Yue and Hupo watched the festival for an entire morning. They did not stay out in the afternoon, because it was too cold outside. They bought a box of snacks and went back to the restaurant. 

“This is a pretty good life,” Chu Yue said happily. 

Who said that people in ancient times lived a backward life? They could just eat, drink, and be merry. Their lives were incredibly free.

Just as she had this thought, she heard Hupo say, “Milady, we have to save up our money. We don’t have a lot left.” 

“Didn’t we bring eighty taels of silver? We haven’t used up a lot of it, right?” Chu Yue waved her hand. 

“We spent thirty taels of silver,” Hupo said. 

“Already?” Chu Yue was stunned. “What did we spend it on?

“We’re staying here for ten days, so we paid ten taels of silver for our room fees. We also paid them five taels of silver as deposit, so fifteen taels of silver are gone. 

“We spent three taels for steamboat yesterday, breakfast, and lunch. The carriage fees was half a taels’ worth of silver. You gave two taels of silver away as a reward, and this box of snacks is worth a tael of silver. 

“The hair stick I bought for you is worth three taels of silver. The two sets of clothes we bought are all made of high-grade brocade, and they’re worth five taels of silver…

Chu Yue could not wrap her head around this. She knew it, no matter where she was, if she wanted to have a good life, she had to have money. If anyone did not have money, even in paradise, they were only going to end up being able to beg for food. 

However, if she made calculations based on this, the remaining fifty taels of silver were not going to be enough to enjoy the festival to its fullest. 

“We’ll have to be a little frugal with our money.” 

While saying this, Chu Yue was actually thinking about places where she could get money. After all, since she was out after such a long time, she had to earn some money. 

Besides, no matter how she tried to save up, she would still end up using it. The key was how she was going to get more money. 

Hupo did not think much about it. She nodded to show that she put it to memory. At the end of the day, she was a maid born into a rich and influential family. Even if she was in a different situation compared to the past, she was still a little spendthrift. 

But Chu Yue did not scold her for it. Hupo did not buy anything for herself. She spent all the money on Chu Yue, because to her, Chu Yue was more important than herself.

“By the way, you can’t tell others that you’re a widow, Milady. No one would say that about themselves,” Hupo said. 

“Got it,” Chu Yue answered.

Hupo said nothing else. Since they were satisfied with the steamboat they ate last night, the master-servant duo ate it again today. 

After they finished eating, Hupo went to rest. They had been wandering around for an entire day, and she was tired. 

Chu Yue was still full of energy and did not wish to sleep so soon. While Hupo was asleep, she got herself a pot of peach blossom wine. It tasted like sugar water and in Chu Yue’s eyes did not have any sort of alcoholic content in it. 

“Huh? So she’s staying here?”

Two rich men’s sons came out of a private room on the other side of the restaurant. The person who spoke was the young man who had been carving the Kun-peng. He was also the person Chu Yue had rewarded with two taels of silver. 

“Do you know her?” The man beside him looked in Chu Yue’s direction. 

He quirked his eyebrow a little. He felt like he had seen her before. But if he had seen a woman with that sort of face before, he would not have forgotten her. 

“We got to know each other today. Brother, you should leave. I’ll go over later,” the young man who carved the Kun-peng said. 

The person referred to as the brother looked at Chu Yue. He just stood by and did not move. “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

“She’s a woman with a husband. Don’t bother her, Brother.” When the young man who carved the Kun-peng said this, his voice held slight annoyance. 

The man referred to as the young man’s brother smiled and said, “Then what are you doing, even though you know that she is already married?” 

He was someone with an imposing appearance. There was a waist plate with the word “Qin” carved into it hanging by his waist.

The young man waved his hand and said, “Brother, Xuemei is waiting for you. You should go.”

“Then, I’ll leave first. Be quick.”

The young man who carved the Kun-peng nodded. Then, the other man went into his carriage and left. 

Chu Yue saw the young man who carved the Kun-peng right away. He was with another man who had sized her up. She understood his gaze immediately. It was the gaze of someone who was out to look for someone to date. He was clearly a womanizer. 

Once he left, the young man who carved the Kun-peng came over. 

“We meet again. Do you remember me?” The young man who carved the Kun-peng greeted her. 

“I didn’t manage to tell that you’re someone who doesn’t lack money. You were dressed really shabbily when you were carving that Kun-peng. You even conned me out of two taels of silver,” Chu Yue said. 

The young man who carved the Kun-peng smiled. “You were the one who gave them to me yourself.”

“Who was that person just now? He looked a little familiar,” Chu Yue said. 

He did look a little familiar. She believed that she had seen him before, but she should not have. 

“You shouldn’t know him. He isn’t from Xiang City,” the young man who carved the Kun-peng said. 

‘And how are you certain that I’m from Xiang City?’ But Chu Yue did not say it. “You must have made a promise with him to woo girls. Go on.”

The young man who carved the Kun-peng did not expect that she would be so straightforward. He coughed dryly and said, “I did not. I’m just going over to drink. It’s fine even if I don’t go.”

Chu Yue laughed and said, “It’s peach blossom wine. Do you want to drink it?”

“No. It doesn’t feel like wine at all.” The young man who carved the Kun-peng shook his head and said, “Drunk for a Thousand Days is a good wine. Its aroma is what I call truly strong.”

“Drunk for a Thousand Days? I saw it on the menu. It’s worth one hundred taels of silver for a pot. Only the rich can afford it,” Chu Yue said. 

“You don’t seem like you don’t have money.” The young man who carved the Kun-peng smiled. 

“I don’t look like it, but I’m really poor. I decided to reward you because you were good-looking, but in the end, you did not lack money at all,” Chu Yue said as if she had been scammed of her money. 

The young man who carved the Kun-peng grinned. “If you were a man, I’d bring you out to earn money right now so that you wouldn’t have wasted those two taels of silver rewarding me.”

A thought appeared in Chu Yue’s mind. The good-for-nothing rich men’s sons were the ones who had the most tricks for earning money. She looked at him and asked, “You mean to a gambling house?”

“You know about them?” The young man who carved the Kun-peng quirked an eyebrow.