CLX Book 5 Chapter 8

Chapter 8 – Grown-up Beauty

Holding on to his neck, Shi Xiuyun rode on Chu Liuxiang’s back, feeling as if she was riding on the soaring clouds. Layer upon layer of roof ridges and trees flew head on towards her, and then flew past under her feet. _{Translated by foxs}

This was the first time that she experienced this kind of novel stimulation. She felt that as long as she was with Chu Liuxiang, novel things could happen anytime and anywhere.

At this time they had reached a large garden, they walked quietly through many small bamboo groves, before coming to a small courtyard. The bamboo leaves in the courtyard created rustling noise, the lantern inside the house was like a bean.

There was no one in the room, there was only a coffin. The melted wax on the candlestick was already dry, the barely remaining lantern was flickering. Plain curtain and yellow coffin, they appeared even more unspeakably bleak.

The altar had a memorial tablet on it, the name written on it was ‘Shi Yin’.

Shi Xiuyun [note: different ‘Shi’ characters] spoke in trembling voice, “Could this be Shi Jia Zhuang?”

“Mm hmm,” Chu Liuxiang replied.

Shi Xiuyun said, “You … you brought me here, what for?”

Chu Liuxiang did not speak, he simply pushed the door open and pulled her in.

Shi Xiuyun felt chills all over her body, she said, “You, this person, are really strange, why did you bring me here?”

Chu Liuxiang chuckled, his smile was even more mysterious, he said, “I am taking you here precisely to see this Shi Guniang.” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Shi Xiuyun shuddered, she spoke hoarsely, “I don’t want to look, we … we’d better leave quickly!”

Not only Chu Liuxiang did not let her go, he even dragged her to the coffin.

Shi Xiuyun almost could not help screaming in horror, but she was so scared that she could not even make a sound. She really could not think of why Chu Liuxiang treated her like this.

Chu Liuxiang unexpectedly already took out the lid of the coffin.

He had his attention completely concentrated in the coffin that unexpectedly he was unaware of someone holding his breath outside the window, secretly watching him closely, with eyes brimming with hatred.

Chu Liuxiang suddenly reached into the coffin to grope the dead person’s face.

Shi Xiuyun’s teeth chattered, she nearly collapsed on the floor.

It was only this moment that she found out that Chu Liuxiang was really crazy, dreadfully crazy. _{Translated by foxs}

Chu Liuxiang seemed to peel off a layer of skin on the dead person’s face, he suddenly turned around and said, “Come and see, do you recognize her?”

Shi Xiuyun desperately shook her head, she said, “No … no …”

Chu Liuxiang spoke softly, “As soon as you take a look, you will know why I asked you to come here.”

Shi Xiuyun could only take one look.

As soon as she cast this glance, she suddenly also seemed to go crazy; she opened up her mouth to scream.

The dead person in the coffin was unexpectedly her sister!

But before she could scream, Chu Liuxiang covered her mouth. He supported her back gently, waited for her panic to calm down, and then spoke softly, “Don’t speak too loud, we must not disturb other people, do you understand?”

Shi Xiuyun nodded. When Chu Liuxiang let go of her hand, she could not stop the tears from flowing down her eyes. Sobbing, she spoke with trembling voice, “How could my Jiejie’s body come here?”

Chu Liuxiang’s eyes were shining, he spoke slowly, “Only because there must be a dead body to replace Shi Yin. Your Jiejie happened to be dying, so he chose your Jiejie.”

Shi Xiuyun said, “This … this person, could he be the person colluded with my Er Shu?” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Chu Liuxiang heaved a sigh, he said, “Money moves people’s hearts, we can’t blame your Er Shu.”

Shi Xiuyun’s mouth was opened wide, even her breathing was nearly stopping. She never imagined that there was unexpectedly this kind of inconceivable thing in the world.

Half a day later, she could not help asking, “Since inside the coffin is my Jiejie, where did Shi Yin go?”

Chu Liuxiang spoke word by word, “If my guess is correct, you will see her very soon!”

When Chu Liuxiang and the other walked out, the person hiding outside the window also immediately turned around and ran fast. The stars were shining on the white hair on her head, this person was unexpectedly Liang Ma.

Could it be that she already knew that the dead body inside the coffin was not her Yin’er? If that was the case, why did she still pretend to be sorrowful? Could it be that this kind, old woman also had some secret plots?

Chu Liuxiang hurriedly dragged Shi Xiuyun out, hoping to leave this place quicker.

But right this moment, someone suddenly said, “Da Shu, you lied to me, how could a grownup lie to a kid?” _{Translated by foxs}

Before those words were finished, someone already blocked his way.

Only to this person’s face was ruddy, but the hair on his head was gray, his body was wearing crimson embroidered children’s clothes, who else but that Xue Baobao?

Chu Liuxiang heaved a sigh inwardly. Pushing away Shi Xiuyun, he spoke quietly, “There is a door on that corner over there, leave quickly, go home and wait for me.”

Shi Xiuyun was already so scared that she was staring blankly, that she was unable to even move to run.

Xue Baobao practically did not pay her any attention, he just stared at Chu Liuxiang and said, “You lied to me, there were not 28,437 stars in the sky.”

Only after seeing that Shi Xiuyun had gone far away that Chu Liuxiang chuckled and said, “There weren’t? I’m afraid I counted it wrong.”

Xue Baobao said, “Grownups shouldn’t lie to kids, but you lied to me, I … I …”

His mouth curled down, suddenly he dropped on his butts on the ground and wailed loudly.

This move was beyond Chu Liuxiang’s expectation, he could only smile apologetically and said, “I’ll count it for you tonight and let you know tomorrow, all right?”

Xue Baobao said, “No, can’t do. You have to count with me tonight. Unless you let me touch your nose, I will definitely not let you go.” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Chu Liuxiang was stunned, he asked, “Why do you want to touch my nose?”

Xue Baobao said, “Because your nose is very fun to play with.”

Blurted out laughing, Chu Liuxiang said, “My nose is very fun to play with? What’s so fun about it?”

Xue Baobao said, “If your nose is not fun to play with, why do you always touch it?”

He jumped around, making a scene, he said, “I want to touch your nose too, I want to touch it too … quickly let me touch it … If you don’t let me touch it, I want you to compensate with counting the stars.”

Although having someone else touched his nose was not a very pleasant thing, but it would be much better than counting stars.

Chu Liuxiang really did not wish to be entangled by this idiot much longer. Smiling wryly, he said, “If I let you touch my nose, will you stop pestering me?”

Xue Baobao immediately turned tears into laughter [idiom], he said, “I just want to touch it, and then I will let you go.”

Chu Liuxiang heaved a sigh, he said, “All right, you can touch it!” _{Translated by foxs}

Xue Baobao’s delight was three zhang long, he slowly stretched out his hand to touch Chu Liuxiang’s nose.

On his face, he was grinning all the time, but his movement was very fast, suddenly, fast as lightning, his hand pinched the ‘ying xiang’ [lit. welcoming fragrance] acupoint next to depression of Chu Liuxiang’s nose —

Chu Liuxiang only felt his body went numb, his person was already lifted up.

Only to hear he giggled and said, “You messed up my stars, I will smash your head!”

He unexpectedly swung Chu Liuxiang’s body to throw it toward the rock garden. Chu Liuxiang was about to be smashed to pieces.

By the time Shi Xiuyun reached the corner gate, she was already out of breath. Although the door was not locked, it was fastened with iron bolt.

Gasping for breath, Shi Xiuyun tried to pull the iron bolt, who could have thought that the iron bolt was already rusted, the more anxious she was, the more she could not pull, the more she could not pull, the more anxious she became.

She simply was about to go crazy from anxiety, not knowing whether Chu Liuxiang would rush over or not.

Right this moment, suddenly she heard someone chuckling and said, “Since you are already here, you can play here for a few days! Why leave in such a hurry?”

Shi Xiuyun was so frightened that her soul flew away, without even daring to look back, she simply lifted her legs to run away. But she only run for two steps before a thin and withered hand stretched out like a ghost’s claw, strangling her snow-white neck. Without even uttering a single cry of alarm, she passed out. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Not even in his dream Chu Liuxiang ever thought that unexpectedly he would die at the hands of an ‘idiot’. As soon as Xue Baobao let go, his body flew towards the rock garden. Although by this time he could already move, but whatever the case, it was already too late to change his posture.

He could only use his hands to shield his head, hoping that it would be enough to cushion the blow, but he himself knew that even if he did not die from the collision, at least half of his life would be lost.

That ‘lunatic’ would naturally still not let him off. Only to hear ‘boom!’, it was as if heaven fell and earth rent [idiom], rocks flew from the explosion, his scalp was not broken, but a big hole was opened in the rockery instead. Could it be that his skull was harder than the rock?

Originally Xue Baobao was clapping his hands and laughing aloud, but suddenly he was stunned. He shouted, “Terrible, terrible, this man’s skull is made of iron.”

While shouting loudly, he turned around and ran out. Chu Liuxiang only felt pain all over his body and his head was dizzy. He had no idea what was going on. He seemed to hear people crying out in alarm from the rock garden, but his eyes were seeing stars, he could not see clearly whether there were people inside. _{Translated by foxs}

Only to hear someone cried out in surprise, “Isn’t this Chu Liuxiang …?”

The voice was shrill and loud, as soon as he heard it, he knew it was Hua JinGong. Chu Liuxiang struggled, rubbed his eyes, and realized that he had unexpectedly fallen onto a bed. On one side of the bed there was someone using her hands to cover her breasts, it was precisely Hua JinGong. There was also a man curling up into a ball, trembling nonstop.

Turned out this rock garden was hollow.  Although from the outside it looked very solid, it was actually very thin. Moreover, it was not made of rock, it was only made of cement formed to look like a rockery, there was even some grass spread on top of it. This turned out to be the place where Hua JinGong had a tryst with men.

Chu Liuxiang could not help laughing, he felt that his luck was really not bad. Only to see the man ran away like a wisp of smoke.

Chu Liuxiang also stood up, he cupped his fist and said with a laugh, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, next time I bump into a rock again, I must knock on the door first.”

But Hua JinGong grabbed him, with a smile that was not exactly like a smile, she cast him a glance, and said, “Why do you want to leave now? Could it be that you did not come here to look for me?”

Chu Liuxiang really did not dare to look at her august countenance, he did not dare to look at her naked body even more. He really could not stand it, and he did not know where his eyes had to look, he could only smile wryly and said, “Although I came to look for you …” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Before he could finish, Hua JinGong already pounced over. She giggled and said, “Xiao Xiongdi [little (younger) brother], I knew that sooner or later you would come to look for me, I knew you are not a good thing. Looking at your pair of shifty eyes, let me, your Jiejie agree this time!”

Her body was glistening with sweat, it was sticky and wet. Although she put on perfume oil and face powder everywhere, it still could not cover that kind of fox’s [fig. sly and treacherous person] stench.

For the first time in his life, Chu Liuxiang felt that there was a benefit for a bad nose, he hurriedly stretched out his hands to push, but in a little bit of carelessness, he actually pushed on a soft mass.

Hua JinGong giggled and said, “This pair of hands of yours is really not well-behaved either …”

Chu Liuxiang did not even dare to move, he said with a bitter face, “Although I originally came to look for you, but now, even if I don’t want to leave, I can’t.”

Hua JinGong asked, “Why?”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Could it be that you did not see that I was thrown in by Xue Baobao? Now he already knows that I am here, plus there is another big hole in this place, if someone else saw it, if Shi Juren saw it …” _{Translated by foxs}

Hua JinGong said, “I am not scared.”

Chu Liuxiang said, “But what if Xue Baobao comes back again to stir up trouble? Wouldn’t it be a blot on the landscape [idiom: big spoiler]? You should know that a person like him can do anything.”

It was only then that Hua JinGong let go of her hand, she spoke hatefully, “That lunatic, idiot … it would be strange indeed if I spare him.”

It was only then that Chu Liuxiang breathed a sigh of relief, but he still asked, “Is he really an idiot? How could a real idiot have of such good skills?”

Hua JinGong said, “From a young age, he has been the recipient of his Gege’s [older brother] anger, his Gege always scolded him for being worthless. Other people said that he went crazy due to martial arts training, I’ll say he went mad simply because of anger.”

Chu Liuxiang was silent for a long time before sighing and said, “If Gege is famous, the one becoming the Didi [younger brother] always suffer a bit of loss.”

Hua JinGong suddenly grabbed his hand again, Chu Liuxiang was so frightened that he almost broke out in cold sweat, but fortunately Hua JinGong did not make any movement, she was just using her eyes to glance at him and said, “Are you still going to come again?”

Chu Liuxiang coughed twice and said, “Of course I’m going to come again.”

Hua JinGong asked, “When?” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Chu Liuxiang said, “To … the day after tomorrow, I definitely … definitely …”

He suddenly jumped up and said, “Someone is coming, I must leave quickly …”

He had not finished speaking, his person already slipped out, and he ran away really fast. Luckily he left quickly, otherwise his trouble would be even bigger.

As soon as he left, he saw dozens of people rushing over like the wind, some carried lanterns, some carried sabers. The one at the front was a tall, big, and fat old man. His body was only wearing short pants and a robe, his hand was also holding a single-blade saber. His face was flushed with anger, he brandished the saber furiously and said, “Whoever kills that picking-flower thief [rapist] will get a hundred taels of gold, we must not let him escape!”

Although Chu Liuxiang was called a picking-flower thief by him, he did not seem to blame him.

Because this person was indeed very pitiful. Not only did he pick the wrong daughter-in-law, he also married the wrong wife. With such two women in his home, surprisingly he had not been angered to his death, it was already very not easy. But how did he know that there was a ‘picking-flower thief’ here? Could it be that ‘idiot’ who told him? Chu Liuxiang felt more and more that that ‘idiot’ was dangerous, he also felt more and more that he had special interest in him … _{Translated by foxs}

Although Chu Liuxiang had been to Songjiang Fu many times, he was still not familiar with the streets, only after going around in circles that he finally found the ‘Qing Yi’ Alley.

Only to see Xiao Tuzi was squatting by a stone that was used to tie a horse, nibbling on a baked sesame seed-coated cake, his pair of big eyes was darting around in the darkness.

In just one glance Chu Liuxiang was able to see him, but he did not see Chu Liuxiang until Chu Liuxiang was right next to him. He jumped in fright so that even the half-eaten baked sesame seed-coated cake in his hand flew away.

Chu Liuxiang stretched out his hand and caught Xiao Tuzi’s baked sesame seed-coated cake. With a smile on his face, he returned it to him, saying, “Today you must not even have the time to eat, the day after tomorrow I will definitely treat you to a big meal, what do you want to eat?”

Xiao Tuzi looked at him with admiration all over his face, he said, “I don’t want to eat anything, I just want to learn your, Da Shu’s skills, then I will be perfectly contented.”

Chu Liuxiang patted him on the shoulder, he laughed and said, “Skills have to be learned, but rice has to be eaten as well. No matter how great one’s skills are, one still has to eat.”

Rolling his eyes, he then asked, “Did you find it?” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Xiao Tuzi patted his chest, he said, “Of course I did. It’s the door with a small lantern hanging in front of it.”

After swallowing the baked sesame seed-coated cake, he spoke a bit more clearly. He continued, “In this alley, they are the only family who have just moved here, moreover there are only young husband and wife, two persons, they don’t even have a servant girl. The wife seems to be a local, but the man speaks with a northern accent.”

Chu Liuxiang asked, “Are they at home?”

Xiao Tuzi said, “I hear that these husband and wife, two people also locked themselves at home all day long, they don’t even go out to buy food, they don’t have any dealings with other people even more, but just now there was someone looking for them.”

“Oh?” Chu Liuxiang said, “What kind of person?”

Xiao Tuzi said, “It’s an old woman, even her hair is white, but she is in good spirits, only she looks very agitated, all the way here, she kept looking back, as if she was afraid that there might be a ghost behind her.”

Chu Liuxiang’s eyes lit up, he said, “The old woman … when did she come?”

Xiao Tuzi said, “When she came, I was just starting to eat the baked sesame seed-coated cake. Until now, I have not finished all eight baked sesame seed-coated cakes yet.” _{Translated by foxs}

Wiping his mouth, he muttered to himself, “And I eat baked sesame seed-coated cakes just like eating fava beans, very fast.”

Chu Liuxiang asked, “Is she still inside?”

Xiao Tuzi said, “She has not come out yet.”

He had just finished speaking, Chu Liuxiang already flew into that house.

Xiao Tuzi stuck out his tongue, he muttered, “If I hadn’t seen clearly that he is a human being, I’m afraid I really thought he was a bird …”

It was a very ordinary house. Inside the tiny courtyard, there were two osmanthus trees planted on the ground. The autumn was already deep, so the osmanthus flowers were in full bloom, exuding burst after burst of sweet scent.

Inside the house, the lantern was still lit, but the doors and windows were closed.

There was a shadow of a woman on the window, her hair was combed in a very old-fashioned bun, she was sitting at the table, her head was hung low, as if she was writing or perhaps embroidering.

By this time, Chu Liuxiang no longer cared whether he was being rude or not, he pushed hard on the door. Turned out the person in the house was eating porridge. Startled, the bowl fell down and shattered. This person was dressed in dark-green cloth skirt, she was old and gray-haired, unexpectedly she was Liang Ma.

Chu Liuxiang laughed, he said, “It really is you.” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Liang Ma patted her chest, panting for breath, she said, “You scared me to death, I thought it was a robber, I never thought it would be Gongzi. Gongzi, how did you find the time to come here today?”

Chu Liuxiang said, “I was going to ask you the same, how did you find the time to come here?”

His gaze swept around, he saw three sets of bowls and chopsticks on the table.

Smiling apologetically, Liang Ma said, “Originally I did not have the time, but I haven’t seen them for several days, so I could not help wanting to visit them.”

Chu Liuxiang’s eyes were burning, he stared at her and said, “They are …”

Liang Ma said, “My daughter, and my son-in-law …”

Laughing coldly, Chu Liuxiang said, “Really? I want to meet them too.”

Surprisingly, Liang Ma did not refuse, she immediately shouted, “Da Niu [big ox], Xiao Zhu [little pearl], come out quickly, we have a guest.” _{Translated by foxs}

Sure enough, two persons, a man and a woman, came out of the room. The two persons had displeasure plastered across their whole faces, while their mouths were grumbling, “It’s the middle of the night, don’t you even let people sleep?”

Chu Liuxiang was stunned. Although these two persons were very young, the girl was tall and fat, just like a cow, while the boy looked simple-minded, not like a Huadan singer, but a Heitou singer. [Note: Huadan (lit. flower dawn), female role in Chinese opera (traditionally played by specialized male actors); Heitou, lit. black head, I have no idea what it is.]

Liang Ma laughed and said, “This Gongzi wants to meet you, I am afraid he knew your family is poor, he wanted to come to help you [orig. juji, help the needy with cash or goods, or emergency relief, charity], why haven’t you quickly kowtowed?”

Sure enough, those two husband and wife, ‘Bong!’ dropped on their knees, they even went so far as to stretch out their hands.

Chu Liuxiang did not know whether to laugh or cry, he could only fish out some money from his pocket, while his mouth mumbled something that even he himself did not know what he was talking about.

After having a hard time finding an opportunity, he finally escaped. He rushed out the door in three legs and two steps. Liang Ma closed the door slowly. As soon as she got back into the room, she giggled and said, “This time Chu Liuxiang finally stumbled head first.”

While counting the money, the woman laughed and said, “One tael, one qian silver ingots, altogether there are twelve [apologies, I am not familiar with ancient Chinese denominations]. Who could have thought that there are times when this Qiang Dao Yuan Shuai [Bandit Marshal] could also fail to steal the chicken, but loses a lot of [grain of] rice.” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Liang Ma was already climbing onto the table, knocked on the ceiling, and said, “Shaoye, Xiaojie, come down, he has already gone.”

Half a day later, the wooden boards of the ceiling were suddenly lifted, two persons jumped down one after the other. The woman was very beautiful, as well as very graceful, one look and anybody could tell that she was a young lady who lived like a princess [idiom: pampered], but the man was even more beautiful, even more graceful, he simply looked more like a woman than a man.

His laughter was also very gentle and soft. As soon as he jumped down, he laughed and said, “I really have to thank Liang Ma today, we really don’t know how to thank you, the Senior.”

His capital [of the country] accent was sweet and crisp, just like the singing of a Huang Ying Er [black-naped oriole (Oriolus Chinensis)].

Liang Ma laughed so hard that her eyes disappeared altogether, she said, “As long as Shaoye treats our Xiaojie well in the future, I, this Laopozi [old woman, often derogatory, counterpart of laotouzi, old man] will feel more comfortable than anything else.” _{Translated by foxs}

The young man glanced tenderly at the young woman beside him, he spoke softly, “Even if you, the Senior, told me to treat her badly, I can’t do it.”

The young woman blushed, she laughed while feigning anger, “Look at how sweet his mouth is.”

That simple-minded silly kid suddenly also laughed and said, “If Shaoye’s mouth is not sweet, I am afraid Xiaojie would not have wanted to marry him.”

Liang Ma glowered at him, but she herself could not help laughing.

The young man cleared his throat twice, and said, “Although we have passed through the difficulties this time, this place is no longer suitable to stay for a long time.”

The young woman said, “That’s right, that Dao Shuai [Bandit Chief/Commander] Chu Liuxiang is indeed not a small matter, no wonder Jianghu people said that nothing can be hidden from him.”

Suddenly they heard someone laughed and said, “Thank you Guniang for your compliment, Zaixia somewhat don’t dare to accept …”

Inside the room, everybody’s expressions changed.

Liang Ma groaned and said, “Wh … who is it?”

Actually, she practically did not need to ask, she already knew who the newcomer was. Only to see the door was pushed open again, and someone was standing at the door, grinning. If it was not Chu Liuxiang, who would it be? _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

The young man stomped his feet, his body flew up and somersaulted in the air, he launched chain kicks toward Chu Liuxiang’s chest. Surprisingly, it was the orthodox northern sects’ Tan Tui (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tan_Tui) martial art.

Chu Liuxiang said, “Nan Quan Bei Tui [Southern Fists, Northern Kicks]. Northern sects’ martial art practitioners, mostly their legs’ kung fu is not weak, but those who are able to launch Tan Tui chain kicks in the air are not many.”

Simply because legs martial art put emphasis on the stability of the lower body, abundance in steadiness, not enough in agility, therefore, among the kicking technique, this kind of Yuanyang Jiao [mandarin duck kicks] was precisely the most difficult to train.

Looking at this young man’s martial art, it was obvious that he was a strong practitioner of the northern sects Wulin. Too bad that the one he encountered was Chu Liuxiang.

He had just sent out two kicks, already the ‘du bi’ [calf nose] acupoint on his knee went numb, his body fell straight down, unexpectedly he did not see even clearly how Liu Xiang made the move.

The young woman rushed forward in a sudden big stride, she pounced up to catch him, she spoke in a trembling voice, “He … did he hurt you?” _{Translated by foxs}

The young man gritted his teeth, he shook his head and spoke sternly, “Since he has come here, we must never let him go.”

Chu Liuxiang chuckled, he said, “Zaixia have been looking for the two of you for a long time, even if you want me to leave, I will not leave.”

The young woman said, “We practically don’t know you, why are you looking for us?”

Chu Liuxiang laughed and said, “Although the two of you don’t know me, I have long admired your great name, especially this Ye Xianggong [master, young gentleman]. Among the wangsun gongzi [children of the nobility, sons of official (or simply ‘young master’)] in the Capital, who doesn’t know that Ye Shenglan Xianggong is versatile in both civil and military affairs [expert in pen and sword], excellent in both appearance and art.”

After the phrase ‘versatile in both civil and military affairs’ [wen wu quan cai], he unexpectedly added the four-character ‘excellent in both appearance and art’ [se yi shuang jue], moreover, he used it on a man, which was really a ridicule and tyrannical. [Note: the phrase ‘se yi shuang jue’ was usually used to describe a woman, especially beautiful female performers; remember Shang Xiufang of the Great Tang’s Twin Dragons.]

The young man’s face immediately turned red.

But the young woman laughed coldly and said, “That’s right, he is a Huadan singer, but a Huadan singer is also a human being. Besides, being a Huadan singer is at least better than being a robber.” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Chu Liuxiang heaved a sigh, he said, “If a person has a special liking, no one can interfere, it’s just that, Guniang, you don’t want to be a person, why do you want to be a ghost?”

The young woman’s countenance changed, she said, “What did you say? I don’t understand!”

Chu Liuxiang spoke indifferently, “Things have come to this, I’m afraid even if Shi Guniang does not want to understand, you have no choice but to understand.”

The young woman’s body shook, she involuntarily took two steps back. Her countenance changed, she said, “Shi Guniang? Who is Shi Guniang? I don’t know her.”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Shi Guniang is Shi Juren’s daughter, surnamed Shi, given name Yin, she fell in love with a young man surnamed Ye given name Shenglan. Only a pity that Shi Juren, husband and wife don’t understand the load in their daughter’s mind, so they decided to betroth her to the Er Gongzi of the Xue Jia Zhuang. This Shi Guniang’s love is deep-rooted, so she could only fake death to flee to avoid an arranged marriage, but when one is dead, there must be a dead body, therefore, she used one Shi Fengyun Guniang’s dead body to take her place.”

He smiled slightly, and continued leisurely, “Shi Guniang, am I talking clearly enough?” _{Translated by foxs}

All along Liang Ma was staring at him fiercely, this moment she suddenly said loudly, “That’s right, what you said is absolutely right, she is my Yin Guniang, what do you want?”

Shi Yin gripped Ye Shenglan’s hand tightly, she spoke sternly, “If you want me to go back, you must kill me first.”

Ye Shenglan said, “You’d better kill me first.”

Chu Liuxiang sighed and said, “I already told you, someone’s feeling, no one can force …”

Shi Yin said, “In that case, why do you want to meddle in our business?”

Liang Ma said, “She has been with me since before she was two years old, she is closer to me than my own daughter. I definitely cannot let her marry someone she doesn’t like. The pain throughout her life, I don’t care who’d want to make her suffer, I definitely will not spare him!”

She glowered at Chu Liuxiang, and spoke sternly, “Therefore, I advise you to stop meddling in this matter, otherwise …”

Chu Liuxiang cut her off, he said with a smile, “I did not want her to go back at all, let alone break them up. I wanted to find her, just to prove that she wasn’t dead.”

Liang Ma said, “You … you don’t have any other intentions?”

Chu Liuxiang laughed and said, “Other than that, I just want to ask them a cup of wedding wine.” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Liang Ma was stunned for half a day, she seemed to be having a bit of guilty feeling; several times she wanted to speak, but she could not speak up. It was unclear what exactly she wanted to say.

At this time, Ye Shenglan and Shi Yin had both knelt down side by side. By the time they looked up, Chu Liuxiang had already disappeared, only to hear his voice coming from a distance, saying, “Tomorrow night, the third watch of the night, I hope to see you here …”

By the time the last word was spoken, the voice had reached the end of the alley.

Only then did Liang Ma heave a sigh, she muttered, “If I had known that Chu Xiang Shuai was such a fair and reasonable [idiom: sensible] person, I wouldn’t have kept that Shi Guniang as a hostage to threaten him.” [Reminder: different ‘Shi’.]

Rolling his eyes, Ye Shenglan laughed and said, “Since we made a mistake, why not make the best after a mistake [orig. if it’s wrong, it’s wrong (idiom)]?”

Liang Ma asked, “How are we going to make the best after a mistake?”

Ye Shenglan laughed and said, “You, the Senior would be better to simply invite that Shi Guniang here to wait for Chu Xiang Shuai … Since he has helped us accomplish our desire, why don’t we help him accomplishing his too?”

Yet Shi Yin sighed and said, “He has helped us accomplish our desire, but I hope he can also help others accomplish their desire.”

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