CH 7

The end of You Shi [1].

A carriage approached the General's Mansion's west gate, stopped for a little period of time, and then proceeded along the main road.

Qin Sheng sat in the carriage, staring out the window surveying the surroundings and then back at the guy seated next to him.

Li Jingyun was born with a very attractive face; if he does not smile, he will appear to be a well-known genius [2] who just emerged from a painting.

But at this moment...

The young master laughed heartily the entire time in the carriage, the corners of his lips rose, and his inky eyes shone.

"Young Master." Qin Sheng couldn't take it anymore, "Is there a joyful celebration taking place in the Mansion?"

"This young master is locked up till moldy, how can there be a pleasant celebration," Li Jingyun said with a sidelong glance.

"Then what are you happy about?"

Li Jingyun wiped his face and asked incredulously, "Who is happy? I'm annoying, I can only go outside for an hour, and I'll hurry back later."

The curvature of his lips is flat, straight eyes, and ends that resemble tall pine trees, and there is no smile at all.

Qin Sheng looked left and right, struggling harder to convince himself that he had hazy vision just now, and then asked, “The General has been busying with the arsenal recently, does he still have time to monitor you personally?”

“It’s not him.” Li Jingyun pursed his lips, "There's a dog tied up in the yard, and is much more powerful than my father."

The dog's keen jaws, claws, and nose almost caused him to miss his event.

But.

Just now, she seemed so furious that her cheeks went green.

Li Jingyun couldn't help but laugh out loud after recalling Yin Huayue's look at the time.

Qin Sheng, “???”

With a green face, Huayue was manning the Eastern Courtyard.

She was aware that Li Jingyun had an eccentric nature. He would undoubtedly act badly if he had to leave the house, but he was rarely willing to make the first move to see Madam. Her decision to assume the role of a tiger felt justified.

After finishing all the tasks in the Eastern Courtyard, Huayue entered the Main Courtyard and had her head lowered when passing a servant girl.

When the two passed by, Huayue heard her mutter gently, "That one has left the palace today."

The steps stopped, and Huayue's expression grew dark.

"Where to?"

"Only heard whispers, not enough manpower to keep up."

Huayue sighed and kept moving forward.

"Housekeeper?" When the small maid turned around to look at her, the thin shadow had already made it to the end of the hallway.

The bamboo is blown by the wind, and the courtyard feels chilly.

Huayue changed back into the kind and thoughtful servant she had been as she left the corridor and brought the freshly made soup to the General's study with respect.

Despite his busy schedule, Li Shoutian paused to glance at her and inquire, "Did Jingyun make any trouble?"

"Replying General, everything is good, Young Master is resting in the courtyard."

"That's good." Li Shoutian laid his pen and ink down, sat back in his chair, and sighed "There have been several events recently in Beijing. This old man's life will be extended if he can cause less problems."

With a pang of shame, Huayue saluted the commander and hastily left the room to see the hue of the sky.

Ink slowly began to color the sky, and the mansion's lighting started to come on one by one.

At Hai Shi moment.

The designated hour has passed and there isn't even a shadow at the eastern side gate.

Huayue's expression looked grim.

She was aware that she couldn't believe Li Jingyun's slanderous words. An elderly horse that stumbled. [3] The elderly fisherman overturned his boat in the gutter. [4] After experiencing so many losses, how could she be duped again?

Gritting her teeth, she tore off a piece of steamed bun and gave it to Wang Fu, who was sitting by the door, saying, "When you see someone later, don't worry about the consequences [5], bite him down first!" Huayue also stated this sideways.

In the entire mansion, Wang Fu is the most ruthless watchdog. The criminals attempted to cross the courtyard by jumping over the wall many times, but they were all caught by it. On weekdays, it is not particularly close to the staff in the home, and it will only eat what Huayue feeds it, so when Huayue gave it instructions, it instantly barked, stood up, and wagged its tail.

Noticing those brilliant small eyes, Huayue couldn't help but pick up its two front paws, "Dogs are aware of human nature, but not all people act morally. If he is half as obedient as you, I can live for another two years."

A stone was abruptly flung from outside the wall just as she was about to finish speaking.

Huayue responded swiftly, standing up and taking two steps back as the stone hit with a "pop" in front of her and rolled away.

She sighed in relief as she stroked her chest. Carelessly raising her eyes, her pupils abruptly shrunk.

The moon tonight is big and round, and it looks like a shadow puppet curtain on the top of the wall. The branches that grow from the side cut some cracks in the curtain, and someone suddenly jumped over the top of it with the support of the wall.

A blue carp snow brocade robe was being violently blown by the wind, the koi on the robe appear to jump as though alive, and some strands of ink hair on the sleeves curl up where they brush against the robe. Li Jingyun looked down at her, seemingly mocking her.

Huayue was stunned for a moment, just as she was about to step aside, but this person jumped on her as if without thinking.

“…”

She would have broken two bones if she hadn't planned ahead of time.

She lifted him up while gritting her teeth, took a deep breath, and forced a smile before saying, "Young Master."

The broad sleeve robe flowed down from both sides of her shoulders. Li Jingyun sighed gently as he slowly placed his chin on her shoulders , "You have a lot of opinions about this Young Master."

"Young Master is kidding." Hua Yue begrudgingly makes amends, saying, "It is a blessing for a slave to serve the Young Master, how could I be rebellious."

He snorted and reached out to touch her heated earlobe, calling her a "liar."

Huayue cursed in silence without daring to speak.

Wang Fu, who was standing next to them, was so startled by the stranger who appeared out of nowhere that his hair stood on end. He had his teeth bared and was going to bite him, so the two were bundled together.

Wang Fu was perplexed, and a suspicious "Ow?" escaped his throat.

A dagger "swiped" across the front of it, glistening in the moonlight. Li Jingyun turned his head to gaze at it, and then licked his lips, “This Young Master is just nice hungry, and there is meat here to eat?"

Wang Fu, “…”

The protruding fangs were submissively withdrawn, and Wang Fu silently sat in the corner.

Li Jingyun burst into laughter, "Only display strength but weak within, your relative?"

"..."

Huayue truly wants to dismember him and serve the parts to her relatives.

"Trouble Young Master to stand up right," She pushed him, “It's becoming late; it's time to return to the Eastern Courtyard.”

Li Jingyun sneered, his voice thick and nasal, "This Young Master can't walk.”

As the warm breath sprayed on her ear, which was a little itchy, Huayue tilts her head away and said, "Young Master, according to the agreement, if someone finds out, the slave will be the first to take someone to catch Young Master."

He pouted, "You are so ruthless."

She removed his hand off her shoulders with force since she was too tired to converse to him any longer and wanted him to return to the Eastern Courtyard on his own.

But something sticky and fishy immediately coated her palms when she grabbed his cuff.

Huayue was startled, and she bent her head to borrow the moonlight to see what it was, but before she could see properly, someone in the distance cried loudly, "Who's there!"

The eastern side door was quickly approached by a few torches, and the light was so intense that it hurts the eyes. In the corner, Wang Fu sprang out once more and growled at Li Jingyun.

Li Jingyun, "..."

This dog that sails with the wind, is indeed a relative of Yin Huayue.

Notes:

[1] 6.20–7 pm

[2] 谪仙 was used here and it means a genius (literally, an immortal who has been banished from heaven to live on earth), an epithet for exceptional individuals such as the Tang poet Li Bai

[3]老马失前蹄: idiom. the horse trips (and falls on its knees), (fig.) to fail

[4] 老渔夫阴沟里翻船: idiom. to meet with unexpected failure/ to fail miserably (where failure was not expected)

[5] 甭管三七二十一: regardless of the consequences / recklessly relying on a hopelessly optimistic forecast