chapter 27.1

The sky was clear, the sun was beating down high from the sky. It was already the beginning of fall but the weather was still hot, especially when you were sitting inside a horse-drawn carriage without much ventilation. It was stuffy. Murong Yun Shun pulled out her handkerchief to wipe the sweat off her forehand. Then lifted up her skirt, half crouching, she moved outside to sit next to the coachman.

“Eh, miss, how come you are out here?” The coachman had never sat next to the miss as though they were “equals” and were very flattered by this.

“It was hot inside. Need breather.”

“Mistress, when are we going to arrive at Shaping Town to meet up with Master?” asked the feeble Lu’er, with a straw dangling from her mouth. Her butt was stiff from riding in the carriage for the last ten days.

Murong Yun Shu looked down the seemingly endless road, and sighed helplessly, “I don’t know either.” It’d be so much nicer if they knew how to ride a horse. It’d be much faster, not to mention cooler and more comfortable.

“We are almost at the border of Xi Province. Once we crossed the border into Xi, gauging from our current speed, we’ll be arriving in another half a month or so, just in time for the Martial Arts Championship,” replied Feng Cheng from the back of a horse.

“Anoooooother half a month……..” said Lu’er with the deliberate “ooooooooo”.

Murong Yun Shu wasn’t all that happy about it either. Perhaps it was the scorching weather, or the overall weariness from the trip. This trip just felt more painful than all the other ones before. The road just seemed endless.

Feng Cheng found the two of them very amusing. With a smile on his face, he announced, “We are almost at Jingbian Town. We can rest there for the night and continue on tomorrow.”

As soon as she found out she could rest, Lu’er shouted in joy, “Oh my God! That’s so awesome! Master Feng is so thoughtful!”

With a hint of sadness, Feng Cheng cast a glance at Murong Yun Shu, then turned and smiled, “Not as thoughtful as your master.” His voice a mixture of bitterness and acidic.

Murong Yun Shu quietly appreciated the scenery on the road, but deep inside her heart there were ripples that wouldn’t go away.

She never thought about how thoughtful Chu Changge was, yet everything he did for her, every words that he said, they made her heart skip a beat. It was almost like he was doing it on purpose. But, no matter what he say or do, she couldn’t give in. There are principles that one must be firm about. Like how she was the Mistress of the Murong House; the owner of Huifeng Bank. She had to defend it at all cost. The same goes for her emotions.

From her point of view, each person can only love one individual their entire life. Not matter what the reasons are, they never should fall for another person. If one still has the person in your heart, there wouldn’t be room for any other else. If that person was not one’s true love, one wouldn’t have fallen so deeply. Or, if one has fallen so deeply yet the other person was still not their true love, then what kind of love would that be?

Perhaps that was just her biased because she had never been in love before. But her biases made up who she was today. She has mysophobia, she would never give her heart to a man who had been so profoundly in love with another woman, no matter how amazing he was.

At the end of the day, she wouldn’t let herself.

***

Jingbian Town was a town located at the border of Xi Province. Even though there hasn’t been any wars lately, but it’s geographical and political location decided the forlornness of this little town. There were no commoners shopping and enjoying themselves on the streets. Rather, there was rows and rows of strongly fortified soldiers. The red-tasselled spears in their hands pointed toward the sky, stately and dignified. Their steps sonorous and awe-inspiring. Each of their still slightly childish face beaming with pride and determination, it was as though the spears in their hands represented the meaning of their lives.

“Mistress, are we going to war?” asked Lu’er.

Murong Yun Shu did not respond right away, she followed the troop with her eyes for a long while before she stared into the distance and mildly said, “Perhaps.” The guarding of Jingbian Town was a bit over the top. If this was the country border, that’d make sense. After all, the border of a country should be heavily fortified to defend the country. But Jingbian Town bordered the emperor’s Shu Province, it did not make sense that it was so heavily guarded, unless there were battles.

Lu’er screamed when she heard that, “Mistress, let’s run back to Jingling! There’s no war going on in Jingling.”

“No, we are not leaving.”

“Why?”

“Where there are disasters, there are money to be made,” replied Murong Yun Shu casually.

Lu’er cried, “Mistress, I know banking is our family business, but you still can’t put money above your live.”

“I won’t.”

Lu’er let out a sigh of relief. She was glad to hear that, Murong House was not short money. There was no reason to try to get rich in some disaster area. Just when Lu’er was feeling relieved, she heard Murong Yun Shu continued, “I want both money and life.”

“…. Mistress…… one must know when to be contend.”

“That’s why I only want my own life.”

“……” She meant money, money!

This time Feng Cheng felt bad for Lu’er, he laughed at Lu’er, “Your mistress was only messing with you. Don’t take it seriously.”

Lu’er wiped away her sweat, that was not that funny.