CH 30

Chapter Thirty:

The Yin Family Banquet (Part 2)

Madam Yin was completely different from her sister. She was young, articulate, and treated people well. She was very friendly to the group of young ladies, not only including the plants in the garden with witty words, but also asking the servants to set up soft tents and tables for refreshments. After a while, the girls began to talk and laugh, and even Cheng Yang, after being constantly comforted by Madam Yin, gradually relaxed.

Only Shaoshang, who was still depressed, grew even more disgusted with the excitement and anger, and quietly slipped away while Madam Yin was preoccupied.

In fact, she envied Cheng Yang’s personality of being able to easily forgive. Perhaps the elders in the world would like children like Cheng Yang. Unlike herself, she would always remember the grievances she suffered and never lightly forgive those who had hurt her.

To be honest, compared to before, she was already much more lenient, okay? When she was a child, even if someone threw a wad of paper at her head, she would peel off their collar and throw a spider in as a reward. But now she no longer easily wanted revenge, because she learned to ignore and ridicule.

Shaoshang sighed. She didn’t recognize the Yin family, so to avoid getting lost and not coming back, she had to walk along a small stream with her head down, trampling down dead grass, flattening soil, blocks, and drooping her head for an unknown amount of time. Suddenly, she saw a piece of rock, carved into a barrier like flowing water.

In front of the mountains and rocks, facing the creek, there stood a young man in splendid attire on the back. The man was looking down at the thawing water of the creek and was lost in thought. He heard a sound behind him and turned his head.

The two looked at each other. Shaoshang was stunned; it was that Debt Collector again!

Yuan Shen wore a white jade crown today, wearing a light blue brocade with a snow-white fur border and a deep robe with a curved train, which further showed his long body standing in jade. He was humble and elegant. As soon as he saw Shaoshang, he laughed, his eyebrows and eyes were as carved, and his white teeth were as chiseled.

Shaoshang was calm, thinking that the message had also been passed on, and Madam Sang also wrote back. There should be no reason for them to cross paths. This time, they should speak well and never make any more grudges. So, they raised their arms and bowed, smiled, and said “There’s really no place…”

“Why are you dressed like an old lady today?” Yuan Shen frowned.

She wanted to be kind. Shaoshang stared and her throat constricted, forcing herself to say, “–What’s your concern…?”

Yuan Shen saw that the girl was dressed in a deep ochre colored train dress today, with a dark red silk thread woven into a curved neck Xuanniao pattern. However, even if she wore such an old and dark color, her skin was like snow and jade, her eyebrows were lush, and her eyes were sparkling.

He deliberately frowned and said, “My nanny doesn’t even wear this color anymore.”

“What’s the matter with your nanny?” Shaoshang asked angrily.

Yuan Shen ignored her anger. “My mentor received a letter from Madam Sang.”

Shaoshang couldn’t think of what to say, so she continued to scold. “What’s the matter with your mentor! …eh?”

Yuan Shen shrugged with a smile.

“Just say thank you,” Shaoshang said unhappily. She blushed. “Why do you have to come up and say that annoying thing?”

Yuan Shen stopped his smile and made a solemn bow. “My mentor was already feeling depressed and unhappy, but he has been much better recently. Today, I would like to express my gratitude to you.”

“I don’t like your way of thanking me,” Shaoshang sneered.

“Saying thank you is nothing,” Yuan Shen said, smiling. “I will do what I say. If you have any difficulties in the future, I will not refuse.”

Shaoshang was pragmatic. A hundred good words were no match for a check that could be withdrawn at any time. She then showed her face and smiled, “Okay, I can write it down. Don’t worry, I won’t call on you to rebel, be treasonous, and I won’t ask you to marry me! But…” she paused. “My aunt only wrote six words; your mentor is good with that?” Even she thought that answer was too hasty.

At first, Yuan Shen’s expression stagnated, and then he returned to his usual state. “You are young,” he said with a smile, “and you know nothing about your elders. I’m afraid you can’t even understand them. My mentor said, those six words reminded him of the fun things he had with Madam Sang when he was young.”

Shaoshang secretly cursed; what was wrong with this was that the reality was too sad, and brainpower should be used as comfort.

“By the way, did you specifically wait here? How did you know I would come?” She was too lazy to care about Yuan Shen, but thought it was strange.

Yuan Shen laughed. He also received the invitation, but when he came to the door early that morning, everyone in the Yin family was taken aback. He pressed these buttons, saying, “I didn’t mean to wait. But I heard that the Cheng family was also here, so I came to try my luck.”

Shaoshang became even more confused.

Yuan Shen looked at her delicate eyebrows that were furrowed slightly. He said softly, “In fact, everyone has their own habits. Last time I was at your house, I saw you wandering all over the slope and finally landing by the pond by the rock. So, I thought, if you weren’t feeling well again, you might come here.” He brushed back his sleeve and pointed around. Sure enough, there was water by the rock.

This psychological analysis was very accurate. Shaoshang nodded to herself, but unexpectedly, he deviated from the last sentence. “What does ‘not feeling well again’ mean?” she asked. “Are you implying that I have a bad temper?”

Yuan Shen raised his eyebrows. “Do you think you are kind and amiable?”

Shaoshang sputtered. This… she had just offended a whole roomful of girls. Not a single host or guest was left behind.

She breathed a sigh and decided not to worry too much. “I have fulfilled my promise,” she said. “I hope that the Young Master will keep his promise and remember that a word spoken is unforgettable.”

“It’s natural to keep promises. But…” Yuan Shen heard her farewell message. “What if I want to find you again in the future? Did Madam Sang tell you not to spread any more messages?”

Unexpectedly, Shaoshang shook her head slowly. “Young Master, you are knowledgeable and intelligent. Why say that? As long as you pass on the previous sentence, no matter what happens later, I won’t be able to intervene in it again.”

“How can you say that?”  Yuan Shen said.

Shaoshang chuckled lightly. “If my aunt doesn’t want to hear from your Master again in the future, I won’t disobey the wishes of the elders. But if my aunt is willing, I will also be generous in the future. Would she still want me, a younger generation, to continue secretly passing messages for her? So, no matter what the outcome, it will no longer be my business.”

The girl’s eyes were clear, almost different from her age, and Yuan Shen was speechless for a moment.

Shaoshang continued, “The messenger was sent by my uncle. What did the messenger say?”

Shen Yuan remained silent for a moment. “I have instructed my mentor to attach a letter stating that Madam Sang’s words were a negative one back then, and the grudges have dissipated. If my mentor has anything to say in the future, just send the letter directly.”

Shaoshang spoke with a hint of sarcasm, “The grudges and grievances have dissipated, I’m afraid the relationship has also dissipated.” Even the discerning eye could see that Madam Sang had already let go.

Yuan Shen remained silent. He actually didn’t agree with his mentor’s actions. Since it was irreparable, why dwell on them? He was hurting himself and feeling sad. It was better to keep looking forward than always feeling down.

Shaoshang became curious again and couldn’t help but ask, “By the way, who is your mentor?”

“Didn’t Madam Sang tell you?” Yuan Shen chuckled.

Shaoshang sighed helplessly. “My aunt is playing tricks,” she said. “I asked Eldest Brother but he said… ‘I have been studying for many years and have learned from many different families. Therefore, I have learned from many mentors.’” These days, she didn’t even pay attention to learning from one subject!

“I probably don’t read as many books as Young Master’s mentor, but I don’t know if I can read more characters than Young Master’s mentor,” she joked to herself.

Yuan Shen laughed so hard at her words he almost burst into tears. His gaze at her was as bright as a star, and his heart was inexplicably happy.

Shaoshang raised her eyes and saw that the long eyelashes of the Debt Collector were a bit wet, which was indescribably handsome. She paused in her heart and said sternly, “This matter is over. Don’t come to me again in the future, Young Master. I will come to you if there is something wrong.” When someone saw them together later, they really didn’t want to cause trouble.

“Has this matter already happened?” Yuan Shen paused with a smile, feeling unhappy in his heart. After just a few words, she changed her mind twice.

He was about to speak, but to his surprise, there was a rapid sound of footsteps from the stone barrier, interspersed with the sound of a fierce dispute between a young man and woman.

“Lou Yao, stop! Stop! I haven’t finished speaking yet!” the arrogant female’s voice was clear.

“I already know, you don’t have to say it!” a restless young man’s voice said.

“What do you know? The Xiao family meant this, but my father hasn’t agreed yet…” The girl’s voice was full of pride. “If you treat me better, I’ll tell my father to refuse this matter! After all, you and I have been engaged since childhood, and I can’t bear to treat you like this!”

“You don’t have to bear it! Go and marry that person!” The young man’s voice was extremely angry. “I didn’t want to keep this engagement with you, but our Lou family keeps our promises, and I have endured it until today! Now that your family is willing to find another high place, I really can’t ask for it!”

“Bullshit! Don’t be so sweet! What’s the point of keeping promises? Isn’t it because my father is kind to your family?” The girl also became angry. “Since you know this kindness, why have you been unwilling to follow me and treat me better since you were young? Either you scold me for being arrogant or you despise me everywhere! To be honest, if it weren’t for my father’s pressure, I wouldn’t want to marry you!”

“Don’t pretend!” the young man roared fiercely. “You think I don’t know? You’ve already met that Xiao Shizi a while ago, and his predecessors praised him for his handsome, brave, understanding, and surpasses me a hundred times and a thousand times! Alright, now I won’t stop you from pursuing a great future. You hurry to get married…”

The sound of speaking gradually drew closer, and as the young couple approached, they were about to cross the barrier of mountains and rocks.

Yuan Shen remained motionless and said to himself, ‘It’s them.’ Shaoshang searched around, although she was not afraid of anything, it would be better to do more than to do less. She caught a glimpse of a sunken area in the stone barrier that could accommodate just one person.

She was about to go and hide, but to her surprise, Yuan Shen had been staring at her and, following her gaze, also found the concave spot. He had a sudden thought and a bad heart. Relying on his height and leg length, he stepped over in two or three steps to sneak in first. Shaoshang was left standing alone in plain view.

That son of a bitch!

Shaoshang watched as the hiding place she had found was taken over by another, her hair almost standing on end. She wished she could tear Yuan Shen alive, sprinkle nitric acid, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid on him, and then chop him into human meat buns and throw them on the roadside to feed dogs!

At that moment, the young couple had already bypassed the rocky barrier.

At first, it was the young man, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, an angry expression on his face, seemingly sixteen or seventeen years old, and already quite tall in stature. The young man was foolish when he saw a beautiful and delicate young girl standing there.

Shaoshang was also very embarrassed and giggled twice.

The young man thought to himself, ‘I don’t know how much this girl heard of the argument just now.’ His face quickly turned the color of pig liver and he didn’t say a word, turned around, and left.

Then the young girl came, who was pure and beautiful, with a fierce and angry expression that completely destroyed her original good appearance. When she saw Shaoshang standing there, she immediately said, “What are you looking at?! If you look at me again, I will dig your eyes out!” Then, without waiting for a reply, she quickly pursued the young man.

Shaoshang stomped her foot.

After the two of them left, Yuan Shen leisurely emerged from the cave.

“You bastard!” Shaoshang’s eyes were red with anger and she couldn’t care about any nonsense etiquette anymore.

“Didn’t you just say ‘this matter is over?’” Yuan Shen was calm as he spoke. “I will teach you today, but it won’t be over.”

He took a step forward as he spoke, his tall figure enveloping her head. As an adult man who had been standing in the court for many years, his aura was not comparable to those of Shaoshang’s older brothers. Shaoshang suddenly felt a sense of oppression and a deep hatred in her heart. She knew that this guy’s usual easygoing and elegant appearance was just a front.

Since she couldn’t compete with others, it was best to get out early. Shaoshang thought very quickly, immediately bowed and bid farewell, turned and walked away. Yuan Shen, however, refused to let her go. With a long leg, he continued to follow behind her without saying a word.

“Do you know who those two people were?”

“I don’t want to know!” Shaoshang increased her speed.

“One of them is Lou Yao, the youngest son of the Lou family leader in Hedong, and the other is He Zhaojun, the only daughter of the brave cavalry general He Yong of the dynasty. They have been engaged since childhood and have been noisy since childhood.”

Shaoshang spun around. “You aren’t finished? Do I owe you money or eat your corn? You are a respectable person, Young Master Yuan. I hope you take it seriously.”

Yuan Shen was not angry at all, and he secretly found it interesting after listening to her ‘corn talk.’ “You are getting older, not only do you need to learn to read and write, but you should also learn as soon as possible, such as family genealogy, sacrificial etiquette, dyeing incense, cooking and weaving. I see you can do nothing but throw temper tantrums and bicker.”

He turned around suddenly as if remembering something. “What are your plans? Have you just returned to the capital and couldn’t find a good female teacher for a while? I can recommend one or two…”

“What does this matter to you?” Shaoshang shouted vigorously, trembling with anger. She staggered forward two steps, then turned around and exclaimed, “Don’t follow me anymore!”

Yuan Shen was slightly surprised and didn’t know how his words touched the girl’s displeasure. He was young and mature, and it was better not to speak up when there was something he hadn’t figured out. Currently, he only silently followed her.

Shaoshang knew that Yuan Shen had been following her all the time, but she didn’t pay any attention to him. She walked angrily and quickly, seeing the garden just left in front of her. She turned around and sneered, “There’s a gathering place for young ladies ahead. Do you also want to come?”

Before she could finish speaking, she heard a girl’s voice whispering from the other side of the fence.

“Are you serious? That Cheng Shaoshang is really so crude and cowardly!” a timid girl’s voice said.

“That’s natural. Unfortunately, I came late with the Wang family’s sister today, otherwise I would expose her in front of all the others! Pretend to be serious and pretend that others don’t know her past behavior! It’s not just because General Cheng and his wife have returned, she even pretended not to know the girl she played with before!” The girl’s voice was sharp.

“That’s it! I see her acting all high and mighty while persecuting Sister Xu’e with every sentence. She thinks she is so amazing…”

“Don’t worry. As soon as I heard about it, I immediately told Sister Xu’e.”

…Four or five girls, with every word they said, they criticized Shaoshang’s misdeeds.

Shaoshang was not angry, she only felt that the sharp voice sounded familiar to her. Upon recalling it, she immediately remembered – that was the girl with the diamond shaped face at the Cheng family banquet. She was about to come forward and take a look, intending to clean up those shameless little brats and let them know why the national flag was so red.

Unexpectedly, Yuan Shen stepped forward, grabbed her by her collar, neatly pushed her behind a tree, pressed her head like a ground mouse, and then strode forward on his own. Shaoshang was surprised and quickly poked her head out from behind the tree to look.

Yuan Shen remained calm and walked straight to the fence.

Those girls were both surprised and delighted when they saw him and they let out a gentle cry of varying lengths. This one was shy, that one was gentle, and there was also one who was very twisted and looked like Mickey Mouse. Without waiting for them to express their admiration, in a cold voice, Yuan Shen asked, “What were you just saying?”

The girls were momentarily speechless. Being seen by a male god while saying bad things about someone was never beautiful and romantic.

“Rude? Cowardly?” Yuan Shen’s expression was cold and disdainful. “In my opinion, defaming people’s reputation and slandering them recklessly is the greatest vulgarity in the world! I dare not come forward and stir up discord behind my back, afraid that the world will not be chaotic, and that is the greatest cowardice!”

As soon as those words were spoken, all the girls changed their faces, either pale or red. Especially the girl with a diamond shaped face noticed Yuan Shen’s sharp sword-like gaze directed at her, and she wished she could crawl into the ground.

“Behind the scenes, criticizing and sneaking around, can others give you high regard? What kind of person is Young Mistress Cheng? Whether her character is good or bad, others don’t know how to judge. I want you to be smart!” Yuan Shen’s contemptuous eyes scanned the girls. “I hope everyone will take care of themselves and be cautious!”

The girls who were scolded dare not lift their heads, and two of them were about to cry. With Yuan Shen’s last scolding, they immediately dispersed as birds and beasts.

Yuan Shen’s anger did not subside. He stood in place for a while before returning to the tree to find Shaoshang. Unexpectedly, he saw that the tree was empty, with the wind blowing and the leaves moving, and the plants and trees slowly moving. He no longer knew where he was going.

Shaoshang’s head drooped, and she walked weakly along the stream again.

She hated being pitied more than she hated being mocked and ridiculed. She would rather argue and scold herself openly.

As she walked away, she saw the embroidered patterns on her lapel – today’s outfit was one of the few exceptions to her approval of Madam Xiao’s behavior. Beauty was a double-edged sword that could help you climb to the summit of the Nine Clouds, like the sisters of Feiyan Hede, and also lead you to the Abyssal Hell. There were countless examples. What if someone with power and influence saw her beauty but refuses to marry according to etiquette, only wanting to be included in private? Cheng Yang had no such trouble.

Upon careful consideration, everything from her appearance to personality was troublesome, which was probably one of the reasons why Madam Xiao didn’t like her.

Just as she was feeling depressed, she saw Yin Xu’e walking towards her, followed by two maidservants.

As soon as she saw Shaoshang, her face lit up and she couldn’t stop herself. “Wow, I was just about to find you! I’ve heard all about it. When your parents left you, your Second Aunt didn’t teach you anything. You don’t even know how to read a few words…”

Shaoshang narrowed her eyes.

There was no end to it! She needed to find up a way to clean up this little girl’s skin without causing trouble for Father Cheng.

“Sister Xu’e, why don’t you hold your breath first, I have something to say to you alone,” Shaoshang said in a low voice.

Yin Xu’e thought she was trying to soften up and apologize, so she generously dismissed her maids. Shaoshang asked them to go further so as not to hear. Yin Xu’e thought she needed to save some face for General Cheng, so she instructed the two maidservants to walk a hundred feet away and stand with their backs to them, not to look at them.

“I already know who you are. You lied, fought, and bullied. You were too embarrassed to come and scold me just now?! Alright, I won’t argue with you at your young age, and I won’t ask you to apologize in front of everyone – ah!” Yin Xu’e’s proud tone immediately turned into a cry of pain.

Shaoshang didn’t wait for her to finish speaking, she turned around silently, and hit Yin Xu’e with her fist in the abdomen, then twisted her arms and hands, grabbed her hair and gave her a good hit!

Yin Xu’e was dumbfounded and afraid. She couldn’t believe that Shaoshang was doing this!

Shaoshang punched a few times, causing pain in Yin Xu’e’s chest, back, ribs, and abdomen. Shaoshang exerted more force on her fingers and vigorously pinched, causing Yin Xu’e to scream like a plucked hen, thinking that under her clothes, there had to be a blue and purple hue.

Shaoshang sneered inwardly. In terms of her proficiency in fighting, eighteen Yin Xu’e’s combined would not be as good as her alone. Unfortunately, her physique was not impressive enough, and her combat effectiveness was compromised. Yin Xu’e was half a head taller than her, and occasionally did archery and rode horses in her daily life. She did have some strength to her. After obtaining the initial advantage, Shaoshang was immediately counterattacked.

However, Yin Xu’e was obviously not good at fighting, and had no other skills except for a disorganized set of punches. She could only rely on her high strength and wield her arms recklessly. In a moment, the two girls had twisted into a ball and rolled down on the dry grass. It wasn’t until then that Yin Xu’e remembered to shout loudly and call for her maids to come back.

The two maidservants turned around and were shocked with what they saw. They quickly ran over to help their mistress.

On the other hand, Yuan Shen, who had been looking for Shaoshang, also just arrived. Seeing the two girls scuffling around in a ball, he quickly rushed over, thinking that at least he could secure Shaoshang, who was weak in strength.

On the other side of the forest, Lou Yao, who had just escaped from the entanglement of He Zhaojun, heard the commotion and ran out. Seeing the situation, the young man stared and hesitated. He thought he couldn’t bear the responsibility of the Lou family’s children, so he quickly ran over to try and stop them.

Although it was winter, the sun was bright and clear, making it a great day. A very, very good day.