by Ning er
"Then won't Yeye say what I am thinking?" it was rare for Chu Fei Yang to actually call Chu wang “Yeye.”
Chu qang's ears certainly missed it, though it was still not as good as Yun Qian Meng's lovable and delicate voice softly calling him “Yeye” which came out very intimate and pleasant to hear.
Exerting all his strength, he shook his head, to rid Chu Fei Yang's voice from his ears, leaving only the sweet voice of Yun Qian Meng, but Chu Nan Shan's eyes had an extensive smile anyway.
"Wangye, xiangye, let's move to the living room." Jiao Da advised as grandfather and grandson continued to stand in the hot sun while assessing each other.
"Does yeye still have Hu Ge?" Chu Fei Yang had unexpectedly asked out loud.
"What?“ as if a man had stepped on his tail, the hair all over Chu Nan Shan body's immediately pricked up as he calculatingly stared at Chu Fei Yang.
"Today, Chief Magistrate Yin daren received a report about a robbery and someone was injured. The officials who had gone to survey the scene reported back that there was some Hu Ge residue found in the stove." Chu Fei Yang dark eyes sparked, looking at the busy Yun Qian Meng who was cutting the vegetable and kneading the dough, his heart was streaked with tender feelings.
"Are you saying...?" at this moment, Chu wang's expression was serious , eyes incomprehensibly looking at Yun Qian Meng's back. In his heart, he was very confused, this yatou unexpectedly kept this matter quiet without even mentioning it and only asked to borrow Jiao Da. Perhaps it was in order to protect the injured person.
"Yeye? I remember hearing yeye mention that back then when yeye, Hai wang and others faought at all four quarters, you guys got three boxes of Hu Ge. Now a box was destroyed, another was originally at the hands Jiu Xuan shitai, so where is the final box?" Chu Fei Yang said slowly, astute and circumspect not even the least bit rude to the Chu wang.
"It is in the hands of Hai wang." Chu Nan Shan, in his poor mood, snapped back these words.
"Is it? Then that would be a bit tricky." Nonetheless, Chu Fei Yang's face was full of expectation, which provoked a supercilious look from Chu wang.
"Wangye and xiangye, are you intending to eat while standing?" Yun Qian Meng and Mu Chun walked out. Seeing her unaware of the thin layer of sweat on her forehead, Chu Fei Yang lightly stepped forward, to block her with his shadow.
"Come, come , come. Let's go to the pavilion to eat our meal, where it is cool, refreshing, and comfortable!" Seeing two people in love, in his heart Chu Nan Shan felt great exultation. He had the servants carry the readied meals as he walked towards the pavilion.
Chu Nan Shan and Chu Fei Yang took their seats, even Jiao Da was excused by Chu Nan Shan's broad heart and let him sit down.
Yun Qian Meng stood off in a side, watching Mu Chun serve the three dishes one by one as she explained them herself. "Wangye, for you, cold noodle soup. It's made with buckwheat, eggs, beef, apples, and spicy cabbage. It has a spicy, sweet and sour taste, most suitable to eat in this extremely hot weather. In addition to your noodles, there is sesame chili oil with zucchini, crispy and delicious, you try it for yourself."
With that said, let Mu Chun served the second dish to Jiao Da. A king size bowl with cool rice. The top was covered with more than 10 kinds of vegetables and meat so colorful that it could dazzle the eyes, especially at the very top, there was a tender and slippery fried egg that was very mouth-watering.
Yun Qian Meng saw Jiao Da's puzzled eyes. She picked up the silver spoon, scooping up a tablespoon of the chili sauce she made onto the rice and evenly mixed everything in half a cup of tea's time. Only then did she hand the silver spoon to Jiao Da, with her eyes motioning for him to try tasting it.
"Benwang will help you taste it!" Chu wang himself still had not even started eating, but he was envious of Jiao Da's unique dish. A big spoon immediately scooped into the bowl, quickly digging out a fifth of Jiao Da's rice bowl. He brought the food to him, careful in holding it together as he firmly put it in his mouth.
"Then where is benxiang's lunch?" seeing Chu wang eating without restraint as well as Jiao Da's peculiar dish, Chu Fei Yang's mind was suddenly somewhat curious. His eyes flashed a smile to Yun Qian Meng as he waiting for her to give him the best dish.
Yun Qian Meng cracked a smile and let Mu Chun carry out the largest and most heavy dish to put in front of Chu Fei Yang. The distinct aroma suddenly rushed into Chu Fei Yang's eyes, watching the red boiling soup, Chu Fei Yang's face momentarily darkened.
"Xiangye, this is a spicy cabbage tofu soup, try it. Eating this in summertime it is a good way to break out sweat." Yun Qian Meng's smiling face bloomed like flower. A delicate hand helding the boiling hot soup of the spicy tofu in front of Chu Fei Yang and pushing it towards him a bit.
Chapter 92: Part 2: No Other Choice but to Marry Off the Daughter to Save the Father | Chu Wang Fei
"Oh… Is that so? Then say that benwang has a severe illness and is unable to entertain visitors. Tell Hai Tian to go back. Set the carriage in front of the side door. Benwang will leave from there." While speaking, Chu wang stood up, yawned, and thought of the taste of the cold noodles a while ago as he walked towards the side door.
While the housekeeper called the servants over and told them to clean up the utensils on the table, then he immediately went to the carriage of Hai wangfu and replied to Hai Tian inside the carriage, "Junzhu, wangye is not feeling well today. He might be unable to see you. Please go back and come another day."
Inside the carriage, Hai Tian coldly laughed, her hands suddenly twisted her handkerchief tightly, but her voice was still unexpectedly kind and polite, "Then I will not bother wangye today. Many thanks to housekeeper. I hope you can express Hai Tian's concern to wangye."
"Naturally. Goodbye, junzhu." He then moved three steps backward, giving way for the carriage to turn around and went back inside once the carriage had left.
"Junzhu, that Chu wang isn't even injured before like our wangye, how come he's sick all the time?" Yuan Zhu, Hai Tian's personal yatou, asked. And then, she complained to Hai Tian, "It's such a loss for junzhu to leave Hai wangfu so early and even bring delicate food and snacks from Hai wangfu. This Chu wangye is really unreasonable. Even if he's sick, there's still no reason for him to not even let us go in the gate. If his wife knew about this, she would surely feel sorry for junzhu."
Hai Tian coldly laughed, and said with cold voice, "Chu wang's position in Western Chu is specially high, even higher than my father's. Even though he didn't let me enter wangfu today, I still cannot complain about it. Next time, do not ever mention these kind of words in front of others; otherwise, if you offend Chu wang because of that, I will be the one to punish you first!"
Yuan Zhu originally meant to curry favor with Hai Tian, but she actually did the wrong move. Instead of getting commended, she was scolded.
Thinking of the methods Hai Tian used to manage Hai wangfu, Yuan Zhu could not help but feel scared. She immediately lowered her head and replied, "Yes, nubi understands."
But Hai Tian did consider Yuan Zhu's words. A while ago, as they were nearing Chu wangfu, she had not been able to see the outside clearly from the carriage, but Hai Tian was sure that the person who went past their carriage was Jiao Da, who was always beside Chu wang. But at that time, Jiao Da was escorting another carriage and because Jiao Da's body cover the carriage, Hai Tian was not able to see the symbol on the carriage clearly.
"Junzhu, are we going back to Hai wangfu?" Yuan Zhu looked at Hai Tian's dark expression and asked carefully.
"Proceed to Jing Zhao Fu!" Hai Tian was thinking seriously in her heart.
[Note: we aren't sure about this. it might mean the capital or a specific place in the capital. we wiki-ed it and its also an actual place in the Tang dynasty]
Yun Qian Meng thought that what she did was flawless, but how could there be something totally unnoticeable? People only needed to inquire with those taiyi who did check-ups for Qu Ling Ao in Fu Guo Gong Fu to know that Qu Ling Ao was wa
iting for hu ge to save his life.
Jiu Xuan's hu ge was stolen, Chu wangfu's hu ge was burnt, and now, the only box left was in Hai wangfu. If Yun Qian Meng was sensible, then she should stay away from Chu Fei Yang. Otherwise, if Yun Qian Meng really caused her jiujiu's death, how could she be happy to live the rest of her remaining life?
Yun Qian Meng brought Jiao Da and Mu Chun to the third floor. She whispered to Jiao Da some important points then turned around and left with Mu Chun.
They did not expect to see Rong Yun He going up while they descended the stairs. Seeing the shopkeeper of Tian Fu Lou behind him, Yun Qian Meng understood the reason and bowed to Rong Yun He while smiling, "Rong gongzi."
Rong Yun He also did not expect to meet Yun Qian Meng again so quickly. Seeing that she was still rather lively, he felt somewhat relieved that the incident during the Qi Qiao Festival had not left her with any trauma. He turned his head and spoke a few words to the shopkeeper who politely left soon after.
"I didn't expect you to be the owner of Tian Fu Lou." Seeing the manner of the shopkeeper towards Rong Yun He, Yun Qian Meng realized that Rong Yun He was surely the owner of Tian Fu Lou. Remembering the time when Mu Chun and Si'er fought over of a box of Jade Mung Bean cakes, she felt rather amused right now. Why had Rong Yun He even had his servant come and line up to buy a dessert when in fact the whole restaurant was his.
"This is not a serious business. Only a few people know that this Tian Fu Lou is mine." In the family, only his grandmother and sister did, not even his parents knew about it. Today, if it was not because the shopkeeper had reported to him that someone similar to Yun fu's da xiaojie had appeared in the restaurant, Yun Qian Meng would not have even realized the truth.
Looking at Tian Fu Lou, which was full of customers but was only regarded by Rong Yun He as something that was not a serious business, Yun Qian Meng felt that Rong Yun He was indeed a gongzi from the wealthiest family. For ordinary people, they would not even have this kind of achievement even if they worked their whole lifetime, but he was able to achieve it at the age of less than twenty. He really should not be underestimated.
"Is there a problem?" noticing Yun Qian Meng staring at him, Rong Yun He shyly smiled while going down the stairs with her.
"Nothing. I was just shocked." But thinking alternatively, the Rong Family had already been the richest family for so long. They definitely had exceptional talents and methods in doing business. Rong Yun He grew up with Chen laotaijun and had surely learned a lot from her in that kind of environment. He surely would be able to not only compare to, but exceed the achievements of Chen laotaijun.
Remembering that day when Rong Yun He had tried to protect her with his life, Yun Qian Meng slightly frowned, "Thank you very much for last time. But if that kind of situation happens, don't you risk your life again."
All lives were equal. Yun Qian Meng did not want Rong Yun He to lose his life for hers.
Rong Yun He smiled then happily said, "If you are concerned about it, I naturally will be more careful next time."
But if something like that were to happen again, he would surely stay with her and protect her.
Yun Qian Men suddenly thought of what she had just heard a while ago at Chu wangfu; thus asked with concern, "I heard that laotaijun was not feeling well today. Is she alright?"
Rong Yun He did not expect Yun Qian Meng to have such quick access to new information to know about his grandmother's sickness so quickly. His calm face made a satisfactory smile, then he said, "It's just an old sickness. She just needs to rest more."
"I see. Then I will go visit her another day with wai zumu. I'm going to go back home now." Yun Qian Meng turned around and nodded towards Rong Yun He, then she went into the carriage and told the driver to drive back.
Rong Yun He stood beside the entrance of Tian Fu Lou until the xiangfu's carriage had disappeared from his sight before went back into the restaurant.
When the carriage was passing through the most narrow part of the long street, it encountered the carriage of Hai wangfu.
Mu Chun looked at Yun Qian Meng, asking whether they should give way to them or not.
Yun Qian Meng lifted the curtains and looked out the window. She saw that one carriage could successfully pass through the road only if the other one gave way by reversing. Seeing that the driver of Hai wangfu's carriage did not want to even yield an inch, Yun Qian Meng softly said, "Tell the driver to move and let the carriage of Hai wangfu pass first."
Although Mu Chun did not want to do so, but Yun Qian Meng already ordered it, she could only follow her orders and lift the curtain to tell the driver to give way.
But Hai wangfu's carriage did not immediately pass. Rather, they saw Yuan Zhu go down the dismount to approach xiangfu's carriage and make acid remarks, "Yun xiaojie, our junzhu says thank you for giving way."
Hearing Yuan Zhu's ridicule, Yun Qian Meng did not get angry at all. She calmly replied, "This is nothing. Junzhu doesn't need to take it seriously. Moreover, Western Chu has always been promoting courtesy. This is what one should do."
Yuan Zhu had not expected that Yun Qian Meng would not only stay calm, but even lightly criticized her. With the light and soft voice of Yun Qian Meng, the citizens around all felt that the daughter of xiangfu was rather educated and reasonable but that of Hai wangfu was unreasonable for being pretentious after gaining an advantage.
Thinking of junzhu's orders when she went out, Yuan Zhu kept her anger and continued speaking, "Yun xiaojie, junzhu said that in order to thank you for your yielding, junzhu asks you to go down the carriage to receive a gift from her."
This was really going too far!
Although Hai Tian was a junzhu, she had no blood relations with the royal family; although Yun Qian Meng was only a chennu, she was still the blood-related niece of Empress Dowager.
The identity of the two only varied because of Hai Tian's title as a junzhu, but if they were really compared with each other, Yun Qian Meng's status was not any lower than Hai Tian's.
Now, Hai Tian clearly wanted to lower Yun Qian Meng by ordering Yun Qian Meng to come down from her the carriage and receive a gift from her for a small thing such as giving way for her.
Hearing Yuan Zhu's taunt, Mu Chun's face has already flushed with anger. Mu Chun was almost about to lift the curtains but was stopped by Yun Qian Meng. Then Yun Qian Meng coldly smiled, "Many thanks to the kindness of your junzhu, but please ask junzhu to quickly pass through the road; otherwise, all the carriages behind will be stuck here. If this small incident causes traffic jam in the capital, then it would be the fault of junzhu."
At that moment, there were looks of reproach from all around. Yuan Zhi bit her lip, glared at the carriage, then ran back to her own carriage and exaggerated the story to Hai Tian.
But even without Yuan Zhu's report, Hai Tian had already heard the conversation. She relaxedly held a fan on one hand but her face was cold as ice. She then coldly said, "Let's go."
Getting the permission to leave, the driver immediately whipped the horse. When the two carriages met, Hai Tian suddenly ordered, "Stop!"
Hai Tian lifted the carriage curtain and looked at the carriage of xiangfu. Hearing the sound of Hai Tian's carriage stopping beside theirs, Yun Qian Meng also lifted the curtain. Seeing that Hai Tian was already looking at her, she gave Hai Tian a light smile and greeted her, "Junzhu, how are you?"
Seeing that Yun Qian Meng was still able to smile happily, Hai Tian's hand holding the fan suddenly tightened, but her face maintained a perfectly dignified expression. She lightly turned around and replied, "Yun Xiao Jie, how are you recently? Is everything well?"
Hearing that there seemed to be a deeper meaning in Hai Tian's words, and looking at the direction she came form, Yun Qian Meng thought of the map of the capital in her mind. Recalling a few directions, she replied, "Thanks for junzhu's concern. Everything's alright. It's just that recently, a lot of things are happening. Why didn't junzhu bring more bodyguards out?"
&nb
sp; Seeing that Yun Qian Meng also had meanings in between her words—pretending to show concern to her, but most probably doubted that the events were related to Hai wangfu, so she she would have no need to be scared of being harmed and thus did not need more bodyguards.
Hai Tian wanted to see Yun Qian Meng's smile disappear and her pride collapse, so she made an unnoticeable cold smile then asked with concern, "How's houye's condition now? It has been two months already. If this situation continues, I'm afraid that houye's life…"
How could Yun Qian Meng not know her intentions? She wanted to use this to threaten her. Just like Jiu Xuan shitai's reminder last time, Hai wangfu might be the only place now with hu ge. No wonder Hai Tian was so brazenly arrogant today. Hai Tian might have gotten the information already and was now waiting for her to beg for the hu ge.
"Jiiujiu is still recovering. Thanks for Junzhu's concern. But looking at the direction where junzhu came from, did you just visit Yuan de taifei? Then Chennu once again congratulates junzhu and wishes that junzhu can have your wish come true!" Yun Qian Meng had lowered her head and sincerely spoke, but her lips had a sneering smile.
Hai Tian did not even agree to visit when Yuan de taifei had personally sent someone to invite her. Why would she go there herself for others to make rumors about her?
But if Yun Qian Meng's words were spread by the citizens, Hai Tian and Hai wangfu might be troubled for quite a while. Maybe Yuan de taifei would even thank her for helping in advancing in her plan.
Swish!
The bamboo curtains were smashed down by Hai Tian. She coldly ordered the driver, "Back to wangfu!"
Yun Qian Meng, in the meanwhile, told the driver to go to Fu Guo Gong Fu. Seeing that the Fu Guo Gong Fu's housekeeper had already been changed, Yun Qian Meng could not help but admire Gu laotaijun's speed of action.
Yun Qian Meng went straight towards Gu laotaijun's Rui Lin Yuan. On the way, she encountered Qu Zhang Qing in the hallway. After a month of recovery, Qu Zhang Qing had already regained his vigor. Moreover, because of the advantage of young age, he seemed to be totally the same as before.
