Chapter 213

Chu Qiao, obviously unaware of his intentions, sat up, rubbed her eyes, and swept the loose strands of hair by her ear to the side. Although she felt a little embarrassed, she said in a firm voice, “What are you doing here?” As she spoke, the house fell into a short silence. Chu Qiao knew that she had said something wrong, and did not say another word. Both of them seemed to not know how to adapt to the shift in their relationship. They did not know how to talk to each other.

The moonlight was bright outside the window as it shone onto the ground, appearing like a layer of frost.

“What are you doing in Xianyang?” Zhuge Yue asked the question suddenly. Chu Qiao was stunned as she felt a sense of panic surge from within. She had rarely felt anything that made her panic all these years. Even when faced with the terrifying Xia army, she was able to remain calm. Only towards him did her sense of calmness seem to evaporate; her heart constantly felt uneasy.

“I…” Chu Qiao coughed and pretended to remain calm. “I’m here to run some errands.”

“Is it done yet?”

“Al-almost.”

“When are you leaving?”

Chu Qiao had no choice but to continue the conversation, “In one or two days.”

“In one or two days? Is it tomorrow or the day after?”

Chu Qiao felt slightly angered and replied in a cross voice, “Tomorrow.”

“Oh,” Zhuge Yue nodded as he sat by the table, pouring a cup of tea for himself. He did not drink it, as he shook the cup lightly in his hand.

Chu Qiao raised her eyebrows and questioned him, “What about you?”

“Me? What about me?”

“What are you doing here in Xianyang? When are you leaving?”

Zhuge Yue smiled plainly. In the two years that they had not met, he felt that she had become more eloquent and cunning. He remained emotionless and nodded as he said, “I’m here for a vacation. I’m staying here for a while more.”

As he finished his words, he stood up to leave. As he walked out, he added, “Since you’re leaving tomorrow, I won’t disturb you anymore. Have a good rest.”

“Hey!” Chu Qiao stood up and shouted after him, subconsciously uttering, “Stop there.”

Zhuge Yue turned around and replied calmly, “Anything else’s the matter?”

He must be doing this on purpose! Chu Qiao stared at him as she thought. After a long while, she lowered her head and whispered, “Actually, I’m not in a rush to leave too.”

Seemingly afraid that Zhuge Yue would get the wrong idea, she added hurriedly, “I have nothing to do when I get back anyway.”

“Oh,” Zhuge Yue nodded. He handed a bag by his side to her. With a smile on his face, he remarked, “Wash up quickly. It’s the Ghost Festival today. It’s even more crowded than yesterday.”

Not knowing if that was really the case, or that her mental state had changed, she really felt the difference in excitement as compared to yesterday.

The petals of different flowers fluttered in the air, along with the wind. The plants and trees thrived in the environment; the cool winds on both sides of the lake brought with it a refreshing aroma, causing one to feel rejuvenated. The acrobats on the street seemed to perform better as compared to yesterday. As they walked along the streets, they saw a small child begging for food. Chu Qiao, out of benevolence, gave the child ten taels of gold. As the child held the money in his hand, he was flabbergasted. This amount of money would be enough to provide for a normal household for ten years.

Zhuge Yue stood the side and casually remarked, “How generous.”

Chu Qiao turned back and stared him in the eye as she mocked, “The richer a person is, the stingier he is. I’m in a good mood today.”

Although he knew that she was mocking him, he felt good upon hearing those words. A good mood? Why did she feel this way? He joyfully walked up and fished for a banknote in his pocket, which had the words printed in black and white, “200 taels of gold.”

“Don’t be a beggar anymore. Get a manor and be a ministry councilor.” As he finished his words, he walked away to the shocked looks on Chu Qiao’s and the child’s face.

Chu Qiao chased after him from behind as she looked at him with suspicion.

Zhuge Yue looked at her and said, “What are you looking at?”

“I didn’t know you had a conscience. What’s the matter, are you too rich?”

Zhuge Yue sneered as he retorted, “There are many other things which you did not expect.”

As they took a few steps forward, Chu Qiao’s tummy started to rumble, as she had not eaten for an entire day. Zhuge Yue was seemingly familiar with this city as he recited the names of a few food places effortlessly. However, Chu Qiao stood rooted to the spot as the fragrant food aromas from the roadside stalls sapped all the strength out of her body.

Zhuge Yue was naturally unwilling to comply with her actions, but before he could object, Chu Qiao had sat down. The waiter ran towards her with zest, as she ordered two bowls of scallion noodles, half a catty of beef, a saucer of peanuts, and a bottle of wine as recommended by the waiter. The bottle of wine even had a fancy, cultured name: “The Western Frost of the Sixth Month.”

Zhuge Yue looked at her with a queer expression as he questioned, “I thought you didn’t drink wine?”

The hand which Chu Qiao used to hold her chopsticks jerked slightly as she replied with a calm smile, “I didn’t drink last time because I thought it would get in the way of matters. Now that I’m an idle person, I don’t really care anymore.”

Zhuge Yue frowned as he reached out his hand to snatch her cup away. With a heavy tone, he said, “Don’t drink anymore.”

Chu Qiao did not object any further as she shrugged. Softly, she chided, “Stop pretending to be decent.”

The waiter swiftly came back with their food. As expected, the wine was nothing fancy—it was just yellow wine that had been mixed with water. This was but a ploy to trick those gullible foreigners. The food was ordinary, but the portions of the noodles were big. Despite Chu Qiao’s hunger, she could only eat about half a bowl of noodles before she felt full.

As they stood up to leave, they saw a group of small child beggars salivating as they coveted their leftovers, which included that half-eaten bowl of noodles. Zhuge Yue tossed a tael of silver over to the shopkeeper as he remarked, “Give them a bowl of noodles each.”

The shopkeeper obliged joyfully. Chu Qiao stared at him suspiciously and remarked, “Are you addicted to pretending to be benevolent?”

A small child, of about 12 to 13-years-old, seeing that they were generous and nice to talk to, walked over to them and said to Zhuge Yue, “Old Master, please grant me some wine.”

Zhuge Yue looked at the child, intrigued. He turned around to hand the shopkeeper some more money as he said, “Give him a jar of wine, without mixing any water. If he can’t finish it, they have to pay for the meal themselves. You can beat him up before handing him over to the authorities.”

The child broke out in a joyful grin as he proceeded to enjoy his meal.

Chu Qiao probed, “How can such a small kid down an entire jar of wine?”

“If he doesn’t try, he will never know what that is,” Zhuge Yue said and continued, “only when he suffers once, will he remember this lesson.”

Chu Qiao was stunned as she slowed down, falling behind him. Zhuge Yue took a few steps forward before he realized that Chu Qiao was not following behind him. Frowning, he called after her, “Let’s go. What are you thinking about?”

Chu Qiao snapped out of her trance and walked over to catch up with him.

Only after suffering would one remember a lesson. Zhuge Yue, how many times have you suffered then? Why have you still not learned your lesson? She thought to herself.

As she wandered in her thoughts, she suddenly felt an acute pain in her face. After which, the sounds of firecrackers begin to echo out right above Chu Qiao’s head. Chu Qiao was shocked as she turned around, but she suddenly felt a large burst of strength pulling her away. Zhuge Yue pulled her hand, causing her to fall back into his embrace. He took a few steps back as he raised his eyebrows, illustrating the anger on his face.

“Are you alright? Are you injured?”

Chu Qiao looked up to see someone standing on the second floor of a restaurant. The person had just released some firecrackers without paying attention to whether anyone was walking below. Besides herself, a few others had suffered due to his carelessness. At this moment, quite a number of people cursed and swore on the ground below, but their insults were drowned out by the firecrackers.

Zhuge Yue pulled Chu Qiao’s hand which was covering her face away. Her face had turned slightly red, with two spots noticeably redder.

“It’s nothing. It doesn’t hurt,” Chu Qiao replied. She was not used to his attentiveness as she tried to push his hand away to no avail. His hand was warm to the touch; she could feel its ruggedness and the calluses on it. “I’m really alright,” she said, a little embarrassed. “I’m not disfigured either.”

“A woman’s face is very important. Why don’t you care?” Zhuge Yue chided emotionlessly with good intentions. Chu Qiao did not hold it to heart, but it all changed when he added the following sentence, “However, with your looks, it doesn’t matter whether you are disfigured or not.”

Chu Qiao was stunned; he had reverted back to his old ways in less than three sentences. She retorted, “You watch out.”

Zhuge Yue’s expression was defiant as he turned to walk towards that restaurant. Chu Qiao was afraid that he would pick a fight with someone else over such a trivial matter. As she worried about this, he turned back and walked towards her. She met him halfway and asked, “Why are you going over there?”

“Remembering the restaurant’s name.”

Chu Qiao pouted. “You’re so resentful!”

Zhuge Yue raised his eyebrows as he replied, “What are you thinking? I smelt the fragrance of the wine there. I’m intending to dine there tomorrow.”

Chu Qiao felt slightly depressed. It was not like this before. Why was she at a disadvantage whenever she talked to him now? She frowned and followed behind him, as the man carried a proud look on his face which she had never seen before.

The night winds were cooling. The merchants at both sides of the road came up to them occasionally to advertise their products. Some flower girls came up to Chu Qiao, ravishing about her beauty, and asked Zhuge Yue to buy some flowers for his wife. Zhuge Yue accepted and welcomed the idea that the crowd misunderstood him, buying three flower baskets and making Chu Qiao carry all of them while he walked in front in a relaxed manner. Chu Qiao appeared like a maidservant as she followed behind, carrying all his stuff. This captivated the attention of many passers-by; slowly, the flower girls no longer approached them, having thought that her status was not as high up as they expected. Sounds of discussion floated around Chu Qiao’s ears:

“Look at that handsome young master! Even his maidservant is so beautiful!”

Chu Qiao frowned, feeling a little depressed. Did she look like a maidservant? Over ten years had passed. Why was she still his maidservant?

The winds by the side of the lake were strong. They walked along the shore of the lake, which was quiet and deserted. Their footsteps slowed down; none of them opened their mouths to speak, not wanting to break the rare moment of tranquility between them. From last night up till now, neither of them spoke about how they had lived their lives the past two years. Destiny had allowed their paths to cross at this place, far away from Xia, far away from Yan Bei, far away from all the power struggles and scheming. Life was calm here. With the beautiful sceneries and refreshing air, their moods had visibly lightened. Naturally, they were not willing to discuss anything that would ruin the moment they were currently in.

The winds swayed across the surface of the lake. The soothing moonlight shone onto the ground, making it appear like the time of dawn. Subconsciously, they had walked over to the big elm tree again. Zhuge Yue stopped in his tracks as he looked up towards the tree which towered above the ground. The memories of the past few years flashed across his mind again. He had finally arrived back at this place.

Chu Qiao looked at the man standing upright. He was still handsome, but he no longer had that cold look in his eyes. Instead, it had been replaced by a look of calmness and a gentlemanly gaze. The look in his eyes was evident that he had experienced the vicissitudes of life, evoking sad emotions in those who stared into his gaze. He had clung on to life despite all that had happened. He had been despised and abandoned by his family and country, but he had managed to get back to his feet in these two years. How could it be as relaxed as a simple sentence which he had described his predicament—”I’m not dead yet”?

These days, she had slowly heard about what happened back then.

After she followed Li Ce back to Tang, Xia wrote seven letters to Tang, requesting that Li Ce handed Chu Qiao over to them. Yan Xun mobilized troops towards Tang, engaging in a few battles with them at the western borders. Thereafter, Wei Guang, the head of the Wei family, intervened personally and led the newly-established Southwestern Army towards Tang, in order to apply extra pressure on Li Ce. Although the entire world knew that Xia did not dare to engage in full-on conflict with Tang at this time, some people within Tang were hugely dissatisfied with Li Ce’s actions, even going as far as to barge into the palace to turn Chu Qiao, which they considered to be a jinx, in.