On this side, the comprehensive pursuit had begun, whilst on the opposite side, where Wen Mingyu was.
After chatting with Sun-niang, he settled on renting a room. Sun-niang, feeling pity for him, charged him a lesser fee than the initial one, consoling him politely that he should remain in peace and not dwell on the past.
Sun-niang was quite kindhearted, and Wen Mingyu was glad to have met such a good and sincere person. However, one mouthful of “Yun-niang” nearly made his chicken skin bounce up and down, and he was embarrassed from head to toe.
But he couldn’t tell her, and had to look like a very normal and gentle girl, while feigning to be a wretched widow whose husband died of illness, who almost suffered from forcible extortion..
Such a backdrop was nonetheless inspired by a novel he had previously read. An unfortunate, despondent young girl was more likely to be taken in if she had had a similar experience to Sun-niang.
Sun-niang had prepared a room for him that was quickly tidied up so that he could stay right away.
That night, in this unfamiliar and outlandish room, Wen Mingyu lay in bed.
Ages, he still could not sleep. He could only stare at the darkness around him with dry eyes.
He saw himself as someone who didn’t know bed and was more adaptable to his surroundings, having arrived here from the Interstellar era alone. However, after spending most of his time here for the last half year, he appeared to have been spoiled and, shockingly, had difficulty sleeping.
The bed was too stiff, and the cotton-padded mattress was too light. He felt awkward everywhere, like the princess and the pea.
The most unpleasant aspect, though, was most likely because of someone’s absence.
Mu Zhan had a volatile temperament; his emotions shifted frequently, and his pheromones were constantly unpredictable and chaotic. It could only be alleviated if Wen Mingyu remained by his side. When the two sleep together, it has a relaxing effect and results in a comfortable night’s sleep.
But was it only Mu Zhan, after being accompanied by a specific person to his side, who had peacefully slept well?
Pheromones have a bidirectional function, especially because they are highly matched.
Mu Zhan’s pheromones coiled and looped around him, merging and having the same relaxing effect on him, providing him with a strong sense of security. That was why the phantoms he had generated as a result of the palace mutiny were able to dissipate rapidly in Mu Zhan’s company.
It had only been less than a day since he had escaped, and he was already thinking about Mu Zhan.
Wen Mingyu was taken aback. He was caught in contemplation for a long while before aggressively shaking his head, thinking that it wouldn’t work and that he shouldn’t worry about it.
Although after thinking of something else, it swiftly returned to Mu Zhan.
He couldn’t help but worry whether he’d been too rash in running out like that and shouldn’t have done so.
Would Mu Zhan be angry?
Mu Zhan’s original animal form was what? Is it true that it eats rabbits?
Couldn’t he have held back from eating?
Having asked that, they were most likely the sole Alpha and Omega at this era. In this scenario, wouldn’t it be wiser to collaborate and assist one another? It would be beneficial to both of them.
On second thought, he might feel this way, but Mu Zhan wouldn’t necessarily accept it.
Wen Mingyu had become acclimated to palace life and had met many individuals, including San Xi, Zhao Dequan, Wei Yingwu, Wen Changlan, and Huo Hongyu… Leaving in this manner undoubtedly made the heart reluctant to depart.
Will there be another chance to meet?
What was the next step for him, since it was impossible for him to remain hidden here for the rest of his life.
He didn’t notice it when they were together, but when Mu Zhan wasn’t there, he realized he had a tremendous influence on him. He couldn’t even sleep without him, and his heart wasn’t steady and smooth.
Wen Mingyu couldn’t help but wonder: Is Mu Zhan truly that obsessed with rabbits? So, as long as he didn’t actually eat me, it might be okay if I offered him a lick to fulfill his craving.
But if you imagine it, how could you only lick the palatable food before you. You must have burped after swallowing it into your belly.
Wen Mingyu flopped over in exasperation, unable to sleep any longer.
He hugged the quilt closely, as if it were a replacement for a certain person. He harped on the same string for a long time before ultimately falling asleep with discomfort.
After a night of brooding on disordered conjectures, he couldn’t sleep soundly. When he awoke the next day, his spirit was naturally low. Even though Wen Mingyu had put on makeup to conceal himself, Sun-niang could tell he was troubled over what she had said the day prior. A young girl’s household had been driven into such disarray that she couldn’t help but be distressed. In her head, she hurled abuses once more at the nameless, seizing, overbearing, and hegemonically wealthy merchant.
Wen Mingyu had no idea what was going on in Sun-niang’s head. His eyelids were puffy, and he ate breakfast in a haze, half-squinting from drowsiness.
Without saying anything, Sun-niang placed a large pork bun into his bowl, which was still steaming and hot. After one bite, the skin was thin and the filling was generous. The loose crust complemented the succulent sizzling meat sauce. It was as good as it could be.
For a brief second, Wen Mingyu’s eyes glowed, and he smiled at Sun-niang. “Thank you; this steamed bun is delicious.”
Sun-ning was caught off guard by her smile. Although the young girl’s appearance was unremarkable, upon closer inspection, she was very pleasing to the eyes, particularly her eyes that seemed to be able to speak, and her smile was sweeter than sugar. It was understandable how a wealthy merchant could have taken a shine to a young widow and not spared her—but, of course, such practices were still abhorrent and terrible.
Sun-niang was not too old; she was only about 30 years old. However, she was already the mother of two children in ancient times, so when she saw Wen Mingyu, it was like looking at a little girl, cute and pitiful, and she couldn’t help but be flooded with motherly love and offered her a bowl full of delicious food.
The attitude of a mother could readily influence a young child. The pair of little children sitting left and right with Sun-niang in between, who were approximately eight years old, were white and tender. They look to be well loved, pampered, and cared for at first glance. The new girl piqued their interest. After a time, the tiny girl chucked her vegetables over and gently remarked, “Eat it, Jiejie, it’s delicious~”
Wen Mingyu froze, but Sun-niang was the first to react. She softly tapped the back of the child’s hand. “Don’t think I’m stupid. Giving it to someone else because you don’t like it. Be a good girl and eat it for me. Don’t be choosy, or you’ll be spanked,” she scolded with a smile.
As she gazed down, the little girl puffed her cheeks and made a bun expression as she was forced to battle with the greens.
Wen Mingyu couldn’t help but giggle at this scene.
Sun-niang stepped out to take care of their shop after breakfast. Only Wen Mingyu, the servant girl with the children, was left in the house.
Sun-niang’s children were not intimidated by strangers, and based on their placid observations yesterday and at breakfast, they seemed to think that this jiejie had a good temper and could play with them. As a result, they urged Wen Mingyu to play games with them.
Wen Mingyu spent some time with the children, but he didn’t anticipate the kids being so vigorous; while he was already weary, the two kids were still like small calves, not tired at all.
With no choice, Wen Mingyu changed the game where there was no need for energetic movements. He asked if they wanted to hear a tale.
The two children immediately nodded vigorously and looked at him with eager eyes. .
Wen Mingyu then retold some classic fairy tales and well-known children’s films that he had seen during the Interstellar era.
A tale that had been passed down for generations had its charm, and two little kids were immediately enthralled. They pulled at Wen Mingyu’s arms animatedly and listened intently. Then, occasionally asking unexpected questions that could be regarded as a hundred thousand whys.
Sun-niang didn’t return to dine with the children until midday, and was astonished to see them clustered around Wen Mingyu. When she noticed the exhaustion on his face, she immediately summoned the children and said, “Don’t be so unreasonable. Can’t you see how weary your Jiejie is? Yu-niang, if you’re sleepy, go rest. Don’t push yourself.”
The two kids had not yet concluded the tale and were hesitant to do so, expressing, “Jiejie, will you continue to tell us more after you wake up?”
Wen Mingyu couldn’t endure the two coquettish children staring at him with shimmery eyes. Without even realizing it, he nodded his head in agreement. Immediately, the two children exclaimed with joy how sweet their Jiejie was.
“Don’t be too indulgent. When children are very mischievous, they can reach the sky.” Sun-niang hopelessly chuckled, “You’re very tolerant; when you have children, you’ll be a good mother.”
Have children?
Wen Mingyu hadn’t even considered that far ahead; he still felt like a child; how could he take on the obligation of becoming a parent. And, having grown up without parents, he didn’t know what to do.
When she observed Wen Mingyu’s bewildered look, Sun-niang thought she had poked at her heart’s sensitive point, and so she quickly dismissed the matter in two sentences and moved on to something else.
“Speaking of which, there were a good number of officers and soldiers out and about today. It’s rumored they are looking for someone. I’m not sure what’s going on, but it’s quite a big scene.”
This was something Sun-niang mentioned in passing. Admittedly, it wasn’t her problem. She was only a melon eater.
However, that was not the case when it landed on Wen Mingyu’s ears. He guessed Mu Zhan might send someone to search for him, but he didn’t anticipate it so soon; maybe they would show up this afternoon.
Wen Mingyu couldn’t help but tense up, his body becoming rigid.
When eating, he was a little distracted. Sun-niang glanced over twice at his empty chopsticks, picking nothing. Only then did Wen Mingyu come to his senses and maintain a positive spirit, pretending nothing was wrong.
Wen Mingyu was unable to resist asking Sun-niang about her thoughts on demons after lunch.
Unexpectedly, Sun-niang was someone who openly did not believe in demons and ghosts, and said so forthrightly, “I’ve never seen one before. Maybe there are no demons in this land at all.”
“And if there is?” Wen Mingyu said.
Sun-niang reflected on various legends she had heard. “I suppose that would be frightening. Because, after all, humans and demons are not the same. Demons are deviants who may cause us harm. The cuisine’s recipes differ, making it difficult to cohabit peacefully.”
Wen Mingyu felt a little despondent upon hearing this. He instinctively wanted to defend himself with a few words, but it would look unusual to add more, and it could already tell the state of others.
In the afternoon, the town had indeed been searched by public authorities and soldiers. They walked into the house and went around, their eyes darting back and forth in front of the people within. Because Wen Mingyu was a guy masquerading as a woman and also had satisfactory make-up skills, the officers and soldiers did not suspect anything, and soon left again.
Wen Mingyu exhaled a wave of relief and returned to his room.
On the table were writing brushes, ink sticks, paper, and inkstones that he had asked the servant girl to assist him in purchasing.
He didn’t have much money with him, so he couldn’t just sit around and eat while his money dwindled. He figured he’d find a way to generate money indoors as he couldn’t leave the house anymore.
In the forenoon, while tale-telling to Sun-niang’s children, he was inspired and planned to write a script.
For one thing, he was interested in this field, and for another, he had already written about it before and had some inspired concepts, so he was somewhat prepared.
Speaking of scripts, Wen Mingyu recalled the first story he wrote, in which the villain had always had bad days. He used Mu Zhan as a model and, in his upsetting days, put gunny-sacks on the villain in the script, which if Mu Zhan discovered…
Why hadn’t he brought the script with him to the hunt? That way, he might have taken it with him when he fled, chopping up the script and obliterating all traces.
Wen Mingyu couldn’t resist banging his head against the wall.
After a long time of chagrin, he realized it was pointless to worry about it any longer, so he had to do what he could at the time: write new stories and distract himself.
He now had two ideas. One was a story of love between arch-enemies, while the other was a sweet dog story. The former is an ambiguous-oriented pure love, while the latter is a man and a woman’s emotional stream, both of which are uncommon from the typical text style here. He is unsure, however, which will be more marketable, well received, and profitable.
After some consideration, Wen Mingyu opted to write both of them. He’d write a short story with fewer than 100,000 characters to test the waters and see which style people preferred. If neither works, he will hunt for another job.
Once set, he began writing furiously with his head in the sand, hardly leaving his chamber, and he was much more at ease.
After all, even if he may pretend to be a lady by means of make-up, he still has his own idiosyncrasies, and it wasn’t easy to play a fair maiden all the time, paying attention to every aspect.
In the Xing Palace, on the other side.
After searching for two days, no one was located.
Mu Zhan’s expression got more morose and nasty, and a terrible low pressure swept through the palace. For a while, everyone remained as quiet as a cicada in the cold season, wary and cautious, frightened of doing anything wrong and being the unfortunate ghost for the tyrant to vent his anger on. It was as if the situation had reverted to before Wen Mingyu appeared—or even worse.
Wei Yingwu had also participated in the search and, upon having borne no fruit, coupled with having his hands full, had a rather frustrating day
At that same time, a volley of thunderous barks from a dog came closer and closer.
A dog with its tongue out ran over, flawlessly completing a series of thrilling actions such as—sprinting, tumbling, ambling, and sliding while using his face as a brake. Finally, he magnificently pounced on Wei Yingwu.
The husky has a ridiculous “it’s time for you to feed this uncle” expression on its face, and all it sees is food.
Wei Yingwu, dumbfounded, wanted to laugh, thinking he had been duped by its grim and commanding image before. It was clearly a huge, stupid dog. Even when he made blunders and got himself muddy, he remained particularly bold and righteous.
But he had already kept it. It’s not like he can throw it away.
Wei Yingwu gave the silly husky a large bone and watched it slobber and munch on it with relish.
Wei Yingwu had the tendency to converse with his pets. Therefore, after petting the silly dog’s head, he chatted about how he had gone searching for someone with no luck. Unbeknownst to him, the biggest accomplice who helped Wen Mingyu escape was—right in front of him, grimacing and chewing on a bone with a look of sheer ignorance and innocence, as if every word the shit-shoveling officer shared had damn nothing to do with him.
Obviously, Wei Yingwu never expected a response from his pets. He just turned around, got a brilliantly colored strip of cloth, and tied a gorgeous bowknot over the foolish dog’s ears in a very girly manner. He also made various colorful adornments for his bunnies, enhancing their loveliness.
Wei Yingwu naturally didn’t forget his treasured rabbits after feeding the dog, bringing fresh and delicious grass to them all.
After a short while, the husky had just completed his large one when his mischief-making mind reared its gears, his line of sight straying towards the fluffle.
It took advantage of Wei Yingwu’s lack of attention to go over and open its mouth to one of the rabbits.
As soon as Wei Yingwu swung around, he saw the husky chomping down on a rabbit. Only the rabbit’s body was visible on the outside, while its legs thrashed in an odd distress fashion.
Wei Yingwu was so terrified that he rushed over, only to have the husky relax its mouth first, leaving the intact rabbit’s head unharmed but smeared with drool.
And then, with a look of triumph, the husky snatched the rabbit again, spat it out, and woofed, “wang wang.”
Wei Yingwu sort of understood that it was all a game. Even so, he was worried that the skittish rabbit might be scared out of its wits.
With an unimpressed look, the rabbit gazed at the dog in front of it.
You think you’re so humorous, huh?
The rabbit was annoyed after three times. It let out a sharp coo and charged at the husky in anger, springing up and biting him hard.
The husky whimpered, and its face twisted in horror. Such a large dog turned around and ran away because he was afraid of a rabbit.
The rabbit immediately gave chase, whisking the husky all the way around the corner and forcing it to stand on two legs. Its claws scratched at the wall, anxious to climb up and hide. It whined pitifully, as if pleading for forgiveness, goading the dog’s face into disgrace.
Wei Yingwu looked on, gobsmacked.
On one hand, the foolish dog amused him, and he couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry. On the other hand, he was both surprised and pleased that the soft and adorable plush bunny was so violent that even the dog was terrified.
ChiFu: *kid writing furiously meme* I can finally breathe a little. I only had 4-5 hours of sleep since last week XD Sorry everyone, the chapter was late TT thank you for waiting!