CH 12

Everything in the room was smashed to pieces. Zhao Yelan couldn’t beat him, so he had to smash things to discourage him, and greeted him with all kinds of pillows and bedding, whatever he had at hand.

“I was wrong, I was wrong, I won’t tease you next time.” Yan Mingting dodged a few times while shielding his head, then held the blanket and returned to his original position. Zhao Yelan smashed around for a while, utterly vexed, but he was so tired that he stopped to catch his breath and couldn’t help coughing again.

“Why don’t you take a break first.” Yan Mingting became considerate.

Zhao Yelan also threw the sword he had put on the table. Yan Mingting caught it with one hand, but this time he did not draw the sword to threaten him. He placed it on the cabinet and then went to appease his mood: “All right, all right, I was wrong this time, okay?”

“What could you be wrong about?” Zhao Yelan said mystifyingly.

“Okay, then I was right.”

“……” Zhao Yelan regretted for the first time that he hadn’t learned martial arts.

There were more footsteps outside the door, and Yan Mingting made a gesture for silence: “Look, there are really people.” Then he opened the door and saw several servants in the courtyard carrying hot water and asked, “What are you all doing?”

“Housekeeper Qin asked us to prepare some hot water, does the General want it now?” asked a servant.

Yan Mingting looked back at the messy room and then at the overcome Zhao Yelan. Guessing that he could probably use it later, he said: “Come in and leave it.”

The servants carried the water in, and Xiao Gao was among them. He saw Zhao Yelan’s angry face as soon as he entered the room, and just as he was about to ask, the group of people were sent out by Yan Mingting.

“My lord seems to be angry,” Xiao Gao said worriedly.

The servant next to him smiled and said: “How could he not be angry? The General played too hard, and the draperies were all torn.”

Xiao Gao was curious: “What were they playing?”

“Of course it’s……a game for adults!” The servant patted him on the shoulder and went back with a serious face to explain to Housekeeper Qin.

That night, Yan Mingting finally slept on the floor.

Zhao Yelan originally wanted to drive him to the study, but he had thick skin and insisted on staying in the room.

At night, Yan Mingting tugged the mattress on the bed and said aggrievedly: “Zhao-daren, give me a blanket, ba.”

Zhao Yelan tugged hard and pulled the blanket back on the bed.

The moonlight outside the window entered the room and fell on Zhao Yelan’s silent back, thin and stubborn. If it wasn’t because he couldn’t defeat him, he might have already killed him.

Yan Mingting smiled silently and fell asleep holding the sword in his arms.

The next morning when Zhao Yelan woke up, Yan Mingting was nowhere to be seen. There was only a blanket and a pillow on the floor, placed neatly beside the bed. It seemed to be an expression of grievances, but also a gesture of goodwill.

Zhao Yelan stepped on the pillow and kicked it farther away. Then he opened the door and ordered people to come in and clean up the room.

Not long after, Yan Mingting returned from the training grounds and bumped into Xiao Gao, who had come back from outside, and said casually: “Are you going to buy fruit for your master again?”

Xiao Gao nodded.

“You wait on him every day, isn’t it better to have someone else handle such a trivial matter?” Yan Mingting asked.

“No good, other people don’t know my lord’s tastes.” Xiao Gao walked ahead with a little pride.

Yan Mingting stared at the basket for a moment. It was still a basket of cherries. He had tried them yesterday, and they were sweet and sour, nothing special.

After arriving at the great hall, he saw that Zhao Yelan was already eating breakfast. He strode to the side and was about to sit down, when Zhao Yelan glanced at him. He stood back up straight again, sniffed the smell on his body, went back to the room and changed his clothes, washed his hands again, and then sat down at the table.

Housekeeper Qin watched this series of actions which were skillful enough to make people feel distressed, and mentioned another important thing: “General, Furen, today I must go back home.”

Yan Mingting nodded, turned his head, and asked, “Then where are we going today?”

“Zhao Mansion.” Zhao Yelan took a bite with his chopsticks, put down the bowl and utensils, and went back to the room to pack his things.

Yan Mingting stared at the half bowl of food left in a daze.

He only knew that Zhao Yelan had no relatives nowadays, and he didn’t even know who his parents were. Returning home was just a custom. Yan Mingting still ordered someone to prepare a gift, and then went back to the Zhao residence together with him.

As soon as they reached the door, the servants of Zhao Mansion ran through it happily. It was unavoidable that they would be happy to return to a familiar place, and even the expression on Zhao Yelan’s face softened a little bit.

This was Yan Mingting’s first visit to Zhao Mansion, and he looked around. The scenery was fresh and elegant, but the furnishings in the room were extremely extravagant. It was contradictory, but not surprising.

Since returning to Zhao Mansion, Yan Mingting seemed to have been left out in the cold. Everyone was busy, and no one cared about his existence at all. There was only Housekeeper Qin who followed him around.

He unintentionally saw a door open, and went toward it to take a look. It was a study room, in which were many newly made landscape paintings dried by the wind.

“General, you should go and find your wife,” Housekeeper Qin reminded. “Even if Furen’s parents died, it would be good to pay respects.”

Yan Mingting tilted his head: “Do you think he will allow me to worship?”

“Why would he not allow it?”

Yan Mingting didn’t answer and took him directly to look for Zhao Yelan, but was kicked out mercilessly. “Look, ba.”

Housekeeper Qin: “……”

Zhao Yelan bolted the door and ordered Xiao Gao to wait there, then opened the hidden door next to him and walked into the tunnel. He lit the fire folder[1] and walked to the two memorial tablets. After staring at them quietly for a long time, he took out a brocade handkerchief and went forward to wipe the tablets clean.

“The old emperor is gone. Not long ago, Yu Junliang also came to accompany you in death. Those who mistreated you are almost all dead.” He spoke softly, as if telling a story, “Who is still left……oh, I haven’t found the head of the prison from back then, and I don’t know where he’s hiding. Don’t worry, none of them will get away.”

There was dead silence all around, and not even a single ray of light. No one responded to him.

After staying for a while, the scarce, humid air was a bit uncomfortable. He put the tablets back, bowed, and then slowly left.

As soon as he walked out of the secret door, he suddenly felt weak and fainted to the ground, hearing Xiao Gao cry out to him in horror. Before losing consciousness, he saw a figure rushing in and was embraced. The warm chest made him unconsciously lean against it, and he closed his eyes drowsily.

In a half asleep, half awake state, a bitter and numbing concoction was poured into his mouth, but he didn’t swallow it, turning his head away with resistance and spitting it out.

“My lord, don’t move around.” Xiao Gao anxiously straightened his head.

“Let me do it.” Yan Mingting wiped the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief, and then pinched his nose.

After a while, Zhao Yelan opened his mouth to breathe and felt the medicine being poured into his mouth again. He resisted very much and choked, sitting up wide awake as he coughed all the while.

Yan Mingting patted him on the back and said: “If you don’t drink any more, I can only feed you mouth to mouth.”

Zhao Yelan coughed for a long while, looked sideways at him, and pursed his lips. He mumbled a sentence, then grabbed the medicine bowl with a frown and drank it all in one go before throwing the bowl away: “Everyone get out!”

The servants immediately cleaned up the debris and left. Xiao Gao followed Yan Mingting, and after walking outside, he asked in a low voice, “General, what did my lord tell you just now?”

Yan Mingting: “Shameless.”

Xiao Gao: “Why are you scolding me?”

“He scolded me,” Yan Mingting said with a smile.

Zhao Yelan had been lying in the room, and after dark, he was reluctantly served a meal before he lay back down listlessly.

In the evening, Yan Mingting softly and quietly returned to the room. He picked up a pillow, spread out a blanket, and soon fell asleep on the floor.

A sudden scream shattered his dreams.

“I don’t want – !”

Yan Mingting nimbly grabbed the sword and sat up, looking to the side to see a figure sitting up on the bed. Violent panting sounded heavily in the night. He lit a candle and walked to the bed for a closer look. Zhao Yelan was sitting in bed, covering his chest with one hand. His eyes were empty, the strands of hair on the sides of his face were slightly moist, and his face was too pale.

“What’s wrong? Had a nightmare?” Yan Mingting patted his back, only to find that his whole back was soaked in sweat.

Zhao Yelan’s breathing gradually calmed down with the frequency of his patting, and his eyes refocused. Glancing at him indifferently, he turned over and lay down again.

After a while, his wrist was grasped. He looked up and to the side, and saw Yan Mingting taking a soft red rope out of nowhere, wrapping it around his wrist.

“What are you doing?” His voice was a little hoarse.

“Don’t worry, it’s still a slipknot this time. If it feels uncomfortable on your wrist, you can untie it any time.” Yan Mingting showed him the knot, then wrapped the other end around his own wrist and lay down on the ground again. “If you have nightmares again, or can’t fall asleep, just pull the rope and I will wake up.”

Zhao Yelan looked at him silently.

The room returned to silent darkness again. Perhaps because he slept too much during the day, Zhao Yelan not could not fall asleep no matter what. He looked at the ceiling for a long time in the dark, and then pulled the rope.

“A nightmare again so soon?”

Yan Mingting’s voice sounded immediately, but if he listened carefully, he could tell that there was a softness in that voice, as if he had just woken up from sleep.

“I can’t sleep.”

“What should I do, then?”

“You can knock me out.”

“I’ve never heard such a request.”

“Hurry up, we have to go to court tomorrow.” Zhao Yelan said, “I won’t take revenge on you this time.”

“That’s impossible, your body may not be able to withstand a blow from me. If something goes wrong, wouldn’t I become a murderer?” Yan Mingting smiled. “Why don’t I tell you a story? When I was a child and couldn’t fall asleep, my mother would tell me stories.”

“Childish.” Zhao Yelan gave a snort of contempt.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhao Yelan pulled Yan Mingting’s rope again and coldly: “What about the story?”

Yan Mingting had no choice but to open his eyes and clear his throat: “There was a family surnamed Wang south of the Yangtze River whose wealth could rival a country’s, but their only son still hadn’t gotten married after a long time. It gave the old lady a headache, so she deliberately picked out a few suitable women. There was the daughter of the magistrate, who was knowledgeable and reasonable, and there was also a green plum girl who had practiced martial arts since she was a child, but contrary to what was expected, Wang-gonzi fell in love with a fire-burning maid.”[2]

“Why did he fall in love with her?” Zhao Yelan was puzzled.

“Because the girl was not afraid of power. Although she came from a poor and humble background, she was as beautiful as a flower and also the only one who dared to set fire to him. The fire burned in his body and also in his heart.”

“……” Zhao Yelan picked up a pillow and threw it over. “You still didn’t forget to carry some storybooks to read while marching and fighting?”

Yan Mingting laughed out loud. “Don’t you want to know the ending?”

“It is nothing more than disregarding the family members’ obstruction and worldly views, and insisting on marrying the fire-burning girl.”

“Wrong. Wang-gonzi, he……burned to death. Rather, that magistrate’s daughter and the green plum girl cherished each other, had mutual love and affection, and toured the jianghu together,” Yan Mingting said cheerfully.

“……”

Zhao Yelan rolled over to sleep. There was a little tension on his wrist, and he touched the rope but didn’t untie it, and when he closed his eyes, he didn’t see that scene again.

But in the second half of the night he still had a nightmare, dreaming about that gongzi being burned to death.

[1] A fire folder is a tight papyrus roll that can be easily ignited. Basically a precursor to matches. ⮐

[2] A maid who would kindle the fires in large households. ⮐