chapter 76

Chu Changge pulled his horse in one hand, while leading Murong Yunshu in the other, as he walked slowly forward, while wondering if a more stylish wedding would be better or to do it in an unbridled manner…

Meanwhile, Murong Yunshu was thinking of something else. She tilted her head sideways to look at him and asked in confusion, “How on earth did you escape from that cave?”

Chu Changge grinned, “Do you want to know?”

Murong Yunshu looked at him speechlessly. Such a rubbish question. Would she still be asking if she really didn’t want to know?

“It’s a secret. If you truly want to know, you can trade it for something else.” Chu Changge smiled wickedly and extended his face down towards her a little, afraid she wouldn’t be able to reach it.

Murong Yunshu said nothing. She stared at him for three seconds, then turned her head and continued to walk forward.

Chu Changge resentfully withdrew his face and said as he walked to her side, “Forget it. I’ll tell you for free…”

Just as Chu Changge opened his mouth, Murong Yunshu interrupted him by saying, “Don’t say it.”

Chu Changge was puzzled, “Why?”

“I don’t like prying into other people’s secrets,” answered Murong Yunshu.

Chu Changge’s expression stiffened for a moment. “It’s not actually a very private secret…”

“It’s still a secret.” Murong Yunshu insisted on not listening to his explanation.

However, Chu Changge wanted to talk about it so much. Could he, a person who had done bad things till wind and rain swept through the town[+]Chinese idiom : big scandal/the talk of the town and was known to everyone for it, be asked to hold back when he had done something so gratifying? What was more, he really wanted to tell her so that she could praise him.

It was clear that Murong Yunshu was also well aware of a certain person’s nature, so she refused to listen, intentionally suffocating him to death.

Chu Changge didn’t care if she listened to his explanation or not, as he said to himself, “I used qigong[+]vital energy cultivation of ice. I cultivated qigong[+]vital energy cultivation of ice while I was inside the cave. After freezing the iron chains with it, the iron chains became easy to crack. With just a gentle knock on the stone, they immediately broke.” Although Chu Changge mentioned it casually, the corners of his mouth kept on rising from the beginning until the end. This showed how proud he was with himself.

Murong Yunshu’s heart was shocked after hearing his words. Ever since that day on Huatuo Mountain when Feng Ling asked her ‘You don’t know martial arts?’, she had been looking for books on the introduction of various martial arts to read after that. Although she didn’t learn any detailed moves, mind techniques or anything, after reading them, she also generally understood the concept of various martial arts, such as how fast one could kill, how many people one could kill and so on. Of course, her reading was limited to the upper tier martial arts skills. Those lower and ninth-rate martial arts skills were not up to her standard even when she did not know any martial arts. While for qigong[+]vital energy cultivation of ice, she just happened to read about it.

Obviously, qigong[+]vital energy cultivation of ice belonged to the upper tier martial arts skills…no…the upper upper tier martial arts skills.

According to the ancient texts, those who knew qigong[+]vital energy cultivation of ice were all in their late seventies and early eighties[+]Chinese idiom : very old person martial arts masters. Of course, this was not to say that only old men and old women could practise this skill. It was rather because this skill required extremely profound internal strength to back it up. Thus, it was difficult for an average person to accomplish it until his hair turned white and his teeth fell out. Not only that, those who were in their late seventies and early eighties[+]Chinese idiom : very old person who had learned this skill not only have deep internal strength, but also a long life span. It was because, to fully train oneself on qigong[+]vital energy cultivation of ice, one would need to learn it the fastest would be for three to five years[+]Chinese idiom : a few years the fastest, while the slowest period would be eight to ten years. If one did not live long enough, and unexpectedly flew on a crane to the Western Paradise[+]fig. pass away in the middle of training, wouldn’t it be uneconomical?

It was said that if one did not have enough internal strength, and still wanted to practice this technique in a hurry, one might walk through fire and become a demon[+]Chinese idiom : go overboard or face the heaviest outcome of drawing one’s last breath.

The person in front of her was very lively and in high spirits, showing no signs of him ever walked through fire and became a demon.

In an instant, the look Murong Yunshu gave him suddenly changed. It was a very obvious change…

“Why are you staring at me with ‘this person is a monster’ look on your face?” Chu Changge asked sullenly. What he was waiting for was clearly a compliment from her…could it be that she didn’t know qigong[+]vital energy cultivation of ice power? This must have been the case. Otherwise, in no way would she not give him even a half-hearted word of praise..

Murong Yunshu responded, “I’m observing, while trying to find the difference between a monster and you.”

“…” Chu Changge endured his dissatisfaction and ‘forced himself to smile’. “Do you see any difference?”

Murong Yunshu sighed with immense frustration, “No.”

“…try to look more carefully.”

Murong Yunshu looked at him seriously for a while, and finally threw out a word bluntly and firmly, “No.”

At that time, Chu Changge was in a mess. If other people knew that he had cultivated to the highest level of qigong[+]vital energy cultivation of ice in just a month, they would be jealous to death, even if they didn’t praise him. However, her judgement on it was actually just these words――a monster. It was really shocking!

Although he also disdained such skills like qigong[+]vital energy cultivation of ice that that attached importance to yin[+]the negative principle of Yin and Yang qi[+]vital energy, he had already memorised the technique by heart after being forced by an old eccentric person. With his hands and feet locked, he could not find any other way to break the chains except by using qigong[+]vital energy cultivation of ice. Therefore, he reluctantly called the old eccentric person as his master in his heart, and then began to practice. Nonetheless, no matter what, this was still the ultimate martial art skill that no one can break in today’s martial arts world. That old eccentric person was also a hardcore martial arts monster, but she took nothing seriously. What a shame for the old eccentric person who had spent a lifetime to create this technique!

Alright, it was mostly because he was too embarrassed to learn it..

Murong Yunshu completely ignored Chu Changge’s resentful eyes and asked, “Since you ran away long ago, why didn’t you go directly to the Wang[+]king Residence to find me?”

As soon as this matter was mentioned, Chu Changge immediately put away his ‘the disgruntled husband who had to stay alone’ look and laughed, “I want to see how you’re actually going to deal with Hua Yeli’s forced marriage.”

“Really just to see the play?”

“Not really.” Chu Changge said, “Think about it. If I take you away directly, then Hua Yeli will at most suffer a stifling loss when he finds out that his bride has escaped from the battlefield. But if I take you away right in the middle of the wedding, it would be like slapping Hua Yeli’s face in public. Wouldn’t that be much more pleasant!” After a pause, he added, “It’s a pity that someone has stolen my first prize.” As he said this, his face was more fierce than regretful.

The quadruplets were going to be unlucky again. Murong Yunshu secretly thought it was funny, while her mouth spoke in a strange voice, “Yes, it was to the satisfaction of everyone. Especially to the satisfaction of a certain person’s heart.”

Chu Changge asked strangely, “What do you mean by that?”

Instead of answering, Murong Yunshu asked instead, “Have you seen Yun Si Niang[+]niang=form of address for an elderly married woman today?”

“I did.”

“What do you think of her mood?”

“I didn’t pay attention.” He was in a hurry to find her at that time. Where he had the mind to pay attention to the other women’s expression…

“…” What a bummer. Murong Yunshu pursed her lips, then directly said, “After spending two hundred thousand to buy the entrance to the secret passage from her, we discovered that you had escaped on your own after we eventually found the cave.” Had she known that he had escaped, she would not have to spend the two hundred thousand. Although it felt good to squander money like dirt[+]Chinese idiom : wasteful, but, as a successful businessman, even squandering money like dirt[+]Chinese idiom : wasteful should be worth it.

Chu Changge was thinking about a different issue, “The Gossip House has never sold information for more than a single price. No matter what the information is, it will always be for five thousand. How dare she cheat you!” He spoke with righteous indignation.

Murong Yunshu nodded with deep approval as she said, “Yes, I also think you are not worth two hundred thousand. But at that time, I was in a hurry to save you, so I didn’t care if it was worth it. Besides, there are plenty of worthless things in Murong Mansion, which were bought by my dad when he was young and ignorant. I spent 200 thousand to buy you, and I didn’t lose as much as he did.”

Chu Changge couldn’t either laugh or cry[+]Chinese idiom : dumbfounded. It turned out he was just a worthless thing…

Murong Yunshu completely ignored a certain person’s stiff eyebrows and eyes, as the corner of her mouth was slightly raised. She looked sideways at the flowers and trees beside the road. The scenery here was really good.

In the eleventh lunar month, it was already winter in Shu Province. As Murong Yunshu walked on the road, when the wind blew on her face, it felt cold and painful. If it was not for saving Chu Changge, she would not have taken half a step out of her house in this season, let alone making a long distance journey. After another half a quarter of an hour of cold wind, Murong Yunshu stated, “It’s better to turn back and take the carriage. The wind is too cold.” Although it was romantic to walk slowly hand in hand with the one you loved, it was hard for it to compete with the cold. She was a businesswoman and always prized reality first.

Chu Changge was very upset when he heard this. He just wanted to chat and laugh with her, but he forgot that the weather and the wind currently were extremely cold. She would not be able to stand the coldness without having her own internal strength to protect her body.

Chu Changge hurriedly took off his own coat and draped it over her. Then he said, “Wait for me here. I will go and ask South, East, North and West to bring over the carriage.”

“Okay.” At first, Murong Yunshu was worried that she would not be able to stand the rustling cold wind when she rode back on the horse for a while. However, he was really thoughtful.

As she looked at the dashing figure on the horse’s back, Murong Yunshu could not help but giggle. This handsome, powerful and considerate man would be hers from now on. No one had ever laid their hands on him, and no one had even dared to lay their hands on him. He belonged to her completely.

It was such a good feeling.

After Chu Changge had already moved far away, Murong Yunshu clutched his coat around her shoulders and looked at the far-off official road, while smiling and laughing all the time.

*

With Chu Changge escorting them, the journey back from Shu Province to Jinling was extraordinarily peaceful, so the group moved particularly slow―mainly because Chu Changge and Murong Yunshu moved very slowly, hence the rest of them, in order to match their masters’ pace, also turned into tortoises and crawled along. When Murong Yunshu’s group arrived in Jinling, it was already the Spring Festival’s season, with all the doors of every house had bright red couplets on them. The couplets of ordinary people’s houses were simple red paper with black characters, while the couplets of rich and noble houses had lace borders and were more festive. Meanwhile the couplets of Murong Mansion had gold characters on a red background, with gold borders at the end. Truly brilliantly rich and powerful. Not only that, the two mighty stone lions at the entrance also had big red flowers hanging from their necks.

As soon as Murong Yunshu’s front foot stepped through the door, the heavy smell of rouge and powder hit her nose, followed closely by extremely rich looking nine Madams.

“Yunshu, you’re back! We thought you wouldn’t be back for the Spring Festival!” Ninth Madam whined.

Not to be outdone, the Eighth Madam hurriedly expressed her longing for the head of the family, “Oh Yunshu, it is fortunate that you have returned! I was so frightened that I almost fainted when I heard you were going to marry King Liang Jr.”

“Right. If my Yunshu really married King Liang Jr, what will we do with such a big family business?” Seventh Madam said.

Chu Changge, who stood beside Murong Yunshu, listened to all this with black lines on his face. These women were not even worried that Murong Yunshu was going to marry the wrong person, but they were rather afraid that there would be no one to manage the Murong Mansion? Where would there be a mother in this world who would act like this…truly fitting to its name, a stepmother.

When a familiar voice that he had heard ever since he was in his mother’s womb came from behind the group of his future mothers-in-law, Chu Changge was instantly petrified. Only one thought remained in his mind: sometimes, one’s real mother was even scarier than a stepmother…