chapter 78

At this time, Murong Yunshu had already put on a snowy white fox fur cloak. She walked slowly towards the pavilion, and inquired as she walked, “Is the cold wind that comfortable?”

The nine concubines just laughed and smiled without saying a word.

“Sister-in-law Ah Chang, do you still remember me? We met at the Li Clan.” Chu Xiyue greeted Murong Yunshu with a smile.

Murong Yunshu frowned. “Sister-in-law Ah Chang?” What kind of name was this…

Chu Xiyue nodded her head heavily as she said, “Yes. I can’t call you Eldest Sister-in-law because me and Ah Chang still don’t know who is the youngest or the eldest between us. After thinking about it, I still think it’s appropriate to call you Sister-in-law Ah Chang after all.”

Murong Yunshu frowned even more, “Sister-in-law Ah Chang is what people called the wife of Ah Chang who sells pork at the south city market.”

Chu Changge’s face was full of black lines while the corners of his mouth were violently twitching. Murong Yunshu even continued to bring up this ‘pork seller Ah Chang’ guy when Xi-er called him ‘Ah Chang’. Was she deliberately trying to embarrass him…

“They have the same name?” Chu Xiyue tilted her head for a moment, and finally stated, “It’s okay even if they have the same name, right? It’s not like I’m going to buy pork from him anyway.” After she had done speaking, she turned her head and looked at Feng Cheng. Then she asked, “Big Brother Feng, you also think it is most suitable to call her Sister-in-law Ah Chang, right?”

“Uh…” Feng Cheng was very happy that she finally remembered his existence, but at this time, it was better that he not nod his head. It was not because he was afraid of a certain Chu person’s revenge, but, in the long run, if the title ‘Sister-in-law Ah Chang’ was truly crowned on Murong Yunshu’s head today, wouldn’t he be unable to escape the fate of being called ‘Younger Brother-in-law Xi-er’?

Only she could think of such a bad way to call a person. Feng Cheng shook his head, “You are older than her. So you can just call her Murong, like how Ling-er calls her.”

Chu Changge cast a touching glance at Feng Cheng, After knowing each other for so long, you finally spoke sensible words.

Feng Cheng also gave him a polite look back. Much better than you who do not speak a single sensible word.[T/N]Hey hey hey, are you two speaking telepathically? 🤔

However, Chu Xiyue furrowed her willow brows and stated, “I still think Sister-in-law Ah Chang sounds much better.”

The crowd was absolutely overwhelmed.

Only Murong Yunshu’s eyes moved slightly as they looked at Chu Changge. Then, she spoke with a slight smile on her face, “You can choose to change your name or change your future wife.” In short, she never wanted to be ‘sister-in-law Ah Chang’ even if she was beaten to death.

Chu Changge suggested, “Can I change my younger sister?”

“Hey! Ah Chang, what do you mean by that?!” Chu Xiyue was not happy with his words.

“Call me big brother.” Chu Changge then unexpectedly thrusted her with the mace[+]use one’s trump card, “If you dare to call me Ah Chang again, I’ll slap Feng Cheng to death.”

Sure enough, Chu Xiyue hurriedly covered her mouth, not daring to say a word.

Although Feng Cheng despised a certain person’s shameless act of threatening Xiyue with his life, but, seeing that Xiyue cared so much about it, he decided not to bother with that villain――in fact, the main thing was, even if he wanted to make a fuss over it, he didn’t have the ability to do so. “Xiyue, let me accompany you for a stroll on the street.” Feng Cheng dragged Chu Xiyue away while giving Chu Changge a ‘do not disturb’ look as he took a few steps away from the pavilion.

Chu Changge raised his dashing eyebrows slightly, which could be considered as an agreement.

The nine concubines also smiled ambiguously and walked away, not wanting to disturb the great tenderness between the young couple――actually, they didn’t want to wait for a certain Guye[+]son-in-law [used by wife’s family], who obviously had the intention to expel them, to open his mouth. They were all going to be a family anyway. Thus, it was not good for them to be driven away by a family member. Therefore, they had to have a little bit of consciousness so as not to hurt their family harmony.

After waiting for all the unimportant people to walk away, Chu Changge cheerfully got up and wrapped Murong Yunshu’s hand in his palm, while secretly warming her hand with his internal force. “Don’t come out if you are afraid of the cold.” He softly said.

Murong Yunshu hung her head slightly. The constant source of heat warmed not only her hands, but also her heart. “If I don’t come out, how will I know that someone is talking badly about me behind my back.”

Chu Changge laughed, “The nine concubines didn’t say anything. With me around, how would they dare to speak ill of you.”

Murong Yunshu said, “I’m talking about you.”

Chu Changge sweated profusely and was taken aback for a moment before he laughed, “I’m even less likely to speak ill of you.”

“Really?” Murong Yun raised her eyebrows slightly and commented, “I seem to have heard that someone said that I have a twisted personality.”

In an instant, the smile on Chu Changge’s face froze. Only after a moment did his mouth start to speak again. As if nothing had happened, he solemnly proposed, “It’s cold. I’ll send you back to your room.”

Murong Yunshu pursed her lips and smiled. While walking back, she offered, “Want to know why my father has so many concubines?”

“I’ll listen if you want to talk about it, but if you don’t want to, then just forget about it.”

Murong Yunshu hesitated for a long time before saying, “Then I’d better not talk about it.”

“Don’t!” Chu Changge conceded with a look of defeat, “You’d better tell me.” God knew how curious he was about everything regarding her. In this way, he would be able to learn about her past that he hadn’t been a part of.

She knew that his mouth would say yes, but his heart was actually saying no[+]Chinese idiom : say one thing but mean another. Murong Yunshu proudly hooked her mouth as she leisurely walked before slowly opening her mouth, “When I was eight years old, my mother was seriously ill. She knew that she was going to die soon, so she told my father that if he dared to marry another woman after her death, she would haunt him as a ghost.” Speaking of which, Murong Yunshu was smiling with tears shining in her eyes. In Chu Changge’s eyes, it looked like she was having happy tears.

Although Chu Changge couldn’t understand why she would be smiling happily when mentioning her mother’s death, he believed that she would explain the reason behind her smiling expression after this. So he just listened quietly for her to continue.

“After my father heard my mother’s words, not only did he not nod his head, he even sang a different tune[+]act contrary to at her, by saying that if she dared to abandon him, he would marry a houseful of concubines.” At this point, Murong Yunshu’s eyebrows crept up with a little bit of sadness that was not too thick, not too light. She pursed her lips and then continued, “In the end, my mother didn’t make it through. After my mother’s death, my father not only did not immediately bury my mother’s coffin despite the family opposition and the scorn of the world, he even hung up red lanterns and married nine concubines. A concubine each day. For nine whole days, he took concubines during the day and sat vigil by my mother’s coffin at night…”

Knowing that she was crying, Chu Changge took over by continuing her story for her, “He is waiting for your mother’s soul to come back and find him.”

Murong Yun nodded heavily, with tears streaming down her face.

Chu Changge only felt a pain in his heart as he tenderly swept her into his arms and hugged her tightly.

No matter how strong a woman was, she would become vulnerable when she had support around her. Murong Yunshu was no exception. In Chu Changge’s arms, the more she cried, the more sad she became. It was as if she wanted to make up for the tears she should have not shed over the years.

After a long time, Murong Yunshu was finally able to speak normally. She continued, “Later, my father told me that he had actually long known about it. My mother said it that way was because she was afraid that he would be alone for a lifetime once she left. She was fully aware that he loved her terribly that he would never marry another person after she died, so she came up with this way to trick him into taking a concubine. She knew that in order to see her soul, my father would definitely marry another woman.”

Chu Changge sighed and gently stroked her hair while saying, “Father-in-law knew that no matter how many concubines he married, mother-in-law would never return. Yet he married anyway. It was because, when a person was desperate, he needed something to continue his will to live.”

Murong Yunshu bit her lip tightly, for fear that if she relaxed, her tears would burst out again.

At that moment, Chu Changge added, “If, I said if, we also have that day, you must never follow your mother’s example, for I would rather be lonely for a lifetime than put my surname before other women’s names.”

In an instant, Murong Yunshu’s eyes heated up, and her tears ditch collapsed, as her eyes burst with a torrent of tears. The difference was that this time, the tears that flowed were tears of emotion.

Chu Changge embraced Murong Yunshu tighter, lowered his head and gently kissed between her hair, while softly calling out, “Yunshu.”

“Hmm?” This ‘hmm’ from Murong Yunshu carried a thick nasal sound.

“Having you alone is already enough for me.”

Murong Yunshu did not say a word, but her tears flowed even more fiercely. Her heart was full of emotion and happiness that they turned into tears which overflowed all over the ground.

*

At the same time, Feng Cheng and Chu Xiyue were wandering on the street. As the New Year approached, there was a jubilant crowd in Jinling, with street vendors hawking their wares of red flowers, red candles, red headband and all kinds of red things.

“Big Brother Feng, I’ll buy you a red headband,” Chu Xiyue said with a smile.

The corners of Feng Cheng’s mouth trembled, but he still softly said, “I don’t lack this kind of thing, so you should not spend your money on it.”

Chu Xiyue laughed, “It’s okay. Ah Chang has gotten close to Sister-in-law Ah Chang, the gold master. Thus, there will be plenty of silver in the future.” After saying that, she picked a red hair cloth rope that was not too thick, not too thin, not too long and not too short and handed it to Feng Cheng. “Here, tie this up.”

Feng Cheng had a look of hatred to death on his face, but his mouth gave out a kind response, “I’ll tie it when we go back.”

“No. Ah Chang said that you have too much bad luck on you, and it’s New Year. You must tie a red headband so that the happy spirit can overpower the bad luck and win you a year of good fortune.”

Feng Cheng squeezed out two words from between his teeth, “Is, it?”

“It is!” Chu Xiyue nodded heavily, indicating that he really had to wear it.

Feng Cheng gritted his teeth, tied the red headband to his head with a feeling like he was going to meet death, and bitterly said in his heart : Chu Changge, you’re really the soul of a deceased evil spirit who has not yet dispersed[+]Chinese idiom : the influence still lingers on!

It was already embarrassing enough to tie the red headband, and of course, Feng Cheng would not continue to swagger through the market with it on. Without saying anything, he pulled Chu Xiyue to return to Murong Mansion.

“Why are we going back? I’ve just come out. I haven’t had enough shopping yet.” Chu Xiyue did not comply with his sudden act.

Feng Cheng sighed helplessly. He then deliberately put on a serious face and whispered, “I found a few suspicious characters. You don’t know martial arts now, and my martial arts are not good either. Hence, it would be a disaster if those people aimed at us.”

“I’m not afraid. Jinling is Sister-in-law Ah Chang’s territory. No one will dare to bully us.”

Feng Cheng became very powerless. Who had fed all this misinformation in her! Humph, after all was said and done, it was all that devil Chu Changge guy’s fault for hitching a ride with the landlady, Murong Yunshu!

Feng Cheng’s heart was full of resentment, when suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he saw a bright light flashed. He followed the light and saw a sharp dagger went straight to strike Chu Xiyue from the side. He couldn’t believe what he just said to actually happened!

“Xiyue!” Feng Cheng yelled, and quickly pushed Chu Xiyue away. Since he couldn’t avoid the dagger, it pierced through his clothes, and made a cut on his shoulder. However, the wound was not deep, so he was not seriously hurt. On the other hand, the assassin escaped without getting a fight from him.

“Big Brother Feng, you’re injured!” Chu Xiyue said heartily. Then she took out a handkerchief to bandage up his wound for him.

“It’s okay. Let’s go back.” Feng Cheng looked solemn. Although Xiyue used to be the same as Chu Changge, offending people on sight, she had now changed her face and not many people knew that she was Chu Xiyue. So how could anyone come to her to seek revenge?

Moreover, the assassin came no sooner or later after Chu Changge and Murong Yunshu returned to Jinling…

The more he thought about it, the more gloomy Feng Cheng’s expression became, and the pace of his feet became even much faster. He must tell Chu Changge about this matter as soon as possible.