During these past couple of days, who knew what got into Princess Han Yu to incite her into buying this item and that item all day long. On the other hand, Situ Xin, who was currently only a servant girl, could only helplessly run the errands that were forcefully instructed upon her.
On the street, Situ Xin used her sleeve to cover her face to try to block some of the rays of sunshine that were shinning upon her, as she muddleheadedly walked upon the main street. "That wretched Princess! Eat what Jellied Tofu?!?! Just one look and you can tell she has no brain." In comparison, Yan'er, who has never eaten any of those brain products in his entire life, is even more clever and craftier than demons [1].
Holding the nice and warm Jellied Tofu, Situ Xin entered a restaurant. "I guess, it'd be better if I rest for a moment." Since she was already late to return and could not change Princess Han Yu's glares and rain of curses that she would get upon arrival, taking a break would make no difference.
"Waiter, bring me a pot of your best Nuer Wine and also some of the restaurant's signature dishes." Situ Xin said lavishly as she waved her small hand.
The restaurant's waiter narrowed his eyes as he sized up this ordinary looking woman, who was wearing silk clothing. "Young Miss, this store's food and drinks are the most expensive in this entire capital. It'd be better if you ordered a bowl of noodles to fill your belly instead." The waiter kindly tried to remind Situ Xin.
Situ Xin unhappily pursed her lips as she took out a white jade hairpin from her bosom and placed it on the table. "This should be more than enough to pay for the meal, right?" Humph, you lowly dog eyed man.
"It's enough, it's enough. Young Miss, please wait a moment. The wine will immediately be served." The store's waiter flatteringly complimented her, and then, like a wisp of smoke, ran away quickly.
"Oh! Xin'er, you have such a refined and elegant state of mind!" Huo Yan suddenly appeared with a smile and then sat down, across from Situ Xin.
Situ Xin lazily raised the corner of her eyes as she asked, "How'd you know it was me?" She was sure that her disguising technique had no issues, so there should have been no flaws anywhere.
Huo Yan rolled his eyes as he responded, "The Hundred Flower fragrance on you will not deceive anyone."
"Dog nose." So it turned out to be like this, but there was no possible way for her to always be stinky all the time, right?
"Why did you appear here? Aren't you supposed to be in closed-door seclusion?"
Huo Yan's handsome face instantly fell when he heard Situ Xin. He could only helplessly say, "The whole day, my mother would bring young ladies into the seclusion room. How could I possibly be in the right state of mind to cultivate?"
"Hahahaha…" As soon as Situ Xin imagined the scene of Huo Yan's shriveled appearance being surrounded by numerous woman, she couldn't help, but laugh out loud.
"You dare to laugh? During that year, when you were arranged to marry me, you said that you would rather die than agree. Now, you actually mock me." Appearing to seethe with anger, Huo Yan crossed his hands in front of chest.
Situ Xin hastily tried to calm down the fretful Huo Yan. "Come on, don't be so angry. I will treat you to some wine." At that time, before she had even given birth to Yan'er, she was Huo Yan's fiancée. After she discovered that she was pregnant, Situ Zhentian canceled the marriage, causing him to get an earful of Huo furen's tongue-lashing before he was driven out. Even now, Huo furen's 18 way martial arts lead her to be so fearful that she dared not to take even half a step into the seclusion room.
"*Groan.*" With both hands, the big bowls of wine were raised, pouring it straight into their stomachs. "That's right! Why are you dressed like this? It's really ugly." Huo Yan's mouth curled in dislike as he spoke.
"I'm treating you to wine and yet you still have so much nonsense to say?" Situ Xin stretched out her foot and heavily kicked Huo Yan's lower leg as her eyebrows straighten up.
"Is this Jellied Tofu?!?! It's been quite a while since I last eaten it." As he spoke, he scooped a spoon full into his mouth.
"Don't eat it!" However, by the time Situ Xin tried to stop him, it was already too late. He had already eaten half of it.
This? How can she go back to face that Turkic Princess and report what happened?
"You really aren't scared of being poisoned to death, aren't you?"
Seeing Huo Yan's indifferent and small shrug, she heard him say, "There is nothing you cannot do about it. No matter what you say, I was once your fiancée. That's right! Isn't the reason why you came out because Yan'er tore apart your Hundred Flower Sect?" Last year, Yan'er had also ran into his seclusion room to take refuge, but he had caused so much destruction inside that the sky and the earth was turned upside down, which greatly angered Huo furen into immediately sweeping him out the door.
"He's currently with his dad. With him, there is no way he can raise any wind and waves." Propping her chin up, she began to ponder. She realized that she had no other choice but to admit that Xiao Yixuan truly had quite a few tricks. As soon as Yan'er was with him, he would immediately become a meek and docile lamb. It truly was as they said, the devil is ten foot tall, and virtue is one foot [2].
His dad? Huo Yan nearly fell off of his chair when he heard that. "Are you and your son currently living at Xiao wangfu?"
When she heard this, Situ Xin angrily held the wine with both of her hands. With a single gulp, the wine directly entered her throat. "Don't remind me of the surname Xiao. Come, drink some more wine." Grabbing the earthen jar full of wine, she once again poured another bowl of wine.
Foot Notes: [1] There is a word play going on that cannot be directly translated so I shall explain it here. The whole sentence in Chinese is "該死的公主，吃什麼豆腐腦，一看就知道是個沒腦子的." 晏兒從小到大就沒吃過那些什麼腦，腦袋比鬼都精。The Chinese for Jellied Tofu is 豆腐腦, and the Chinese for brain is 腦子. Notice how both words have the word 腦 in there. That word 腦 can also mean brain, it's just shorter. Situ Xin is using a play on words on the Jellied Tofu that the Princess asked her to get, to the Princess's brain. She is saying that why would she eat the Jellied Tofu that has a "brain" when she herself has no brain. Then in the next sentence, she is saying how Yan'er has never eaten anything that had the word 腦 in the name, like the Jellied Tofu(豆腐腦). Therefore, she is trying to say what is the point of eating anything with a 腦 in the name, when those who do have a brain (腦子) don't need to, and is then essentially saying that the Princess is just naturally stupid and there is nothing that can help her. There's my explanation on the word play going on. Hopefully you understand it. If not just message me on discord. By the way, the photo below is a photo of the Jellied Tofu (豆腐腦). [2] Idiom that means that it takes constant vigilance to stave off evil.
Chapter 18: The Scarlet Shrine Sect Master's Murder Case (Part 1)
TL: Entropy, Rabbit TLC: ED: Adversary
Situ Xin, who spent her the night on the roof, could feel the early threads of sunlight hit her body, causing her to open her eyes uncomfortably. She felt a sudden chill behind her back couldn't help but pull her clothes closer together as she cursed, "Damn it!"
Rubbing her drowsy eyes, she walked into the wangfu. That cursed Huo Yan actually threw her onto the roof and let her drunken self sleep there for the night. She recalled that they had been drinking wine in the restaurant. She got up and ran up to the roof. By the time she woke up Huo Yan was already nowhere in sight.
"Where did you go last night?" A cold voice suddenly broke the silence. Xiao Yixuan stood stoically by the entrance, wearing an ice cold expression on his face. Beside him, Xiao Yan looked like he was taking joy in the misfortunes of others.
She could see faint black lines beneath Xiao Yixuan's eyes. It couldn't be that he stayed up all night waiting for her, that couldn't possibly be so, right?
Situ Xin was openly avoiding the two, she wanted to return to her room and get a good sleep. But all of a sudden, she was grabbed by a hand, followed by a cold voice in her ear, "I am asking you where you went last night."
"Why are you bothering with me? We're not close, you aren't anyone to me."
What a strange person, was it any of his business on where she goes?
He really liked meddling in affairs that had no need for his meddling.
Xiao Yan raised his head and leaned closer to Situ Xin's face, "Xin'er, he's my dad." He tried to remind her with good intentions, and immediately afterwards he took to his heels. Afraid that Situ Xin would be furious with him.
Xiao Yixuan's face got more hazy, this nitwit of a girl…… didn't she know that he had been looking for her the entire night? And then she actually went up and said that he was a nobody to her.
Faced with Xiao Yixuan's question, had caused a black line to appear on her face, "I went out to drink wine, and then slept on the roof." To be honest, after spending a night on the roof has made her waist feel like it was about to break apart.
"With who?" She had actually spent her whole night getting drunk and didn't return. What if something had happened to her?
Situ Xin helplessly spoke in a mild tone, "Huo Yan." Speaking of Huo Yan, a bunch of nameless fires instantly lit up, she was actually cast away, abandoned, just like that. Was that supposed to be revenge for that time she tuihun'ed him?
"The seclusion room Huo Yan? What is he to you?" Xiao Yixuan's face remained stiff as he continued his interrogation. She actually drank with a man, even sleeping together with him on a roof, does she even have any brains?
Situ Xin pursed her lips and then spoke honestly, "He used to be my fiancee, but when I found out I had Yan'er, I broke off our engagement." That didn't even seem to be a question, so why is his face so dark?"
It was like she had spilled a bucket of millennium old vinegar(jealousy), a sour smell had suddenly was filtering the atmosphere. Xiao Yixuan's face was dark and he didn't speak for a long time, and this caused Situ Xin endless embarrassment.
And then she saw Ye Ying walk in with a dignified expression, sweeping his eyes over the exhausted Situ Xin.
"Wangye, the Scarlet Shrine Sect Master has died under the Hundred Flower Needle last night. Rumors say that it has something to do with the Hundred Flower Sect. reportedly, a masked woman had entered the Scarlet Shrine Sect and killed the sleeping Sect Master." Ye Ying spoke frankly as he reported last night's occurrences.
Hundred Flower Needles? Wasn't that the sole secret weapon of the Hundred Flower Sect? At that moment Situ Xin's drowsiness instantly disappeared. Seeing that, Xiao Yixuan had a doubtful expression, "You're not suspecting me, right? I didn't kill anyone." Hurriedly shaking her head, she tried to clarify. Huo Yan must've also gotten the information, which must be why he was in such a hurry to leave. Who was the one that used the Hundred Flower Sect as a cover to kill people?
"I'm not suspecting you, I will go to the Scarlet Shrine Sect." Xiao Yixuan maintained a dignified face as he pondered, Xin'er probably wasn't lying. She really had a thick smell of liquor on her. And from these past couple of days of getting to know each other, he knew that Xin'er wasn't one of those vicious and heartless people."
"I'll go with you." Situ Xin ran to catch up with Xiao Yixuan. She wanted to see the identity of this person who had the guts to push the blame on the Hundred FLower Sect.
Chapter 19: The Scarlet Shrine Sect Master's Murder Case (Part 2)
TL: Entropy TLC: Yummypudding ED: Yummypudding
The sound of wailing could be heard from the inside of the Scarlet Shrine Sect, which was decorated with strips of hanging white cloth. In the mourning hall, Luo Feng's corpse was covered with a white cloth and placed at the center. From time to time, the body would produced a distinctly unpleasant smell, which diffused into the air.
Situ Xin kept her head lowered as she stood behind Xiao Yixuan. From the corner of her eyes, she swept over the people who were coming to offer condolences. In Jianghu, the Scarlet Shrine Sect gained some fame from developing the Scarlet Sand Palm technique. Then, a few years ago, the Scarlet Shrine's sect master, Luo Feng's, wife passed away due to an illness and in just the last year, he took in another wife to fill in that position. This new wife was currently the married woman wearing white, who was grievously wiping away the tears on her face. Situ Xin creased her eyebrow. Isn't the sound of her weeping a bit too frightful?
Xiao Yixuan approached the altar and lit an incense. He then nodded his head to each and every sect member as he walked towards Luo furen, and said, "Furen, please restrain your grief [1]." Even though his voice was cold and clear, it was still pleasing to hear.
"Wangye, please help this woman find justice! My late husband died unjustly!" As soon as Luo furen finished speaking, she kneeled before Xiao Yixuan with a 'boom' and continuously covered her face and wept.
Ah, hearing this will truly make you feel heart-broken and start to weep tears!
Xiao Yixuan supported Madam Luo up from the ground. Just as he was about to say something, he heard someone from the crowd shout, "Let's all kill everyone in the Hundred Flower Sect to avenge Master Lu!" This subsequently gave rise to an uproar.
Situ Xin's heart 'thumped' for a second. She wanted to rush out and argue, but Xiao Yixuan tightly held onto her small hand. He meaningfully looked at her with an expression saying, "Don't act blindly without thinking."
Angrily stamping her feet, she returned the wretched man's look with a glare. They want to kill their way into her home. It wasn't like they were going to go and encircle and annihilate his wangfu. You definitely do not have to worry, but the flowers in the Hundred Flower Forest were only just planted.
Xiao Yixuan released Situ Xin's hand, and walked forward to lift up the white cloth that was covering Luo Feng's body. He could only see that the skin on Luo Feng's body had already turned black and that his eyes were still open in terror, as if the last thing he saw was something to be alarmed about. He then moved his gaze to the few needles that were still placed by the corpse's side, which were originally taken from the body. These must have been the rumored Hundred Flower Needles, whose needles were as thin as silk, and tips that were dipped in a Fire Salamander's bodily fluid, which was considered incomparably toxic.
Taking a glimpse at Situ Xin, who was standing to the side, he wondered how it was possible that she was able to manufacture these vicious concealed weapons.
Couldn't she develop a few devices for self-protection? [2]
"It certainly has to be that demoness, Situ Xin, who killed Sect Master Luo. To be able to manufacture such vicious concealed weapons, her heart must definitely be black." The person who just spoke was the Tang Sect Master, Tang Jin.
"According to the rumors, Tang Sect's concealed weapon are also very famous. There has also been an innumerable amount of people who have died under the Tang Sect's concealed weapons. Don't tell me that the Tang Sect Master is also a vicious person with a black heart?" As she spoke, Situ Xin firmly clenched her fist, and could sense her face under the fake skin due to her anger.
They dared to say that she had a black heart. They must be tired of living.
Tang Jin was dumbstruck after being questioned by a small servant girl. His face turned red as he flushed with embarrassment. Angrily, he scolded, "Where did this servant girl come from?!?! She has absolutely no manners at all!"
"Tang Sect Master, benwang's servant girl has a temperament. Her words may have offended Sect Master, but please don't take any offense. However, the word's benwang's servant girl just said also has some reasoning to it." The tone in his voice did not contain a trace of blame towards Situ Xin's opinion. He then saw Situ Xin lightly scatter some transparently fine powder on top of Tang Jin's clothing and watched as the corner of her savory lips lifted up, exposing a victory smile.
At that moment, a Buddhist monk emerged from the middle of the crowd. This monk was known as the Grandmaster Nian Ci from Fang Zhang Island's Shaolin monastery. "Xiao Wangye's status and prestige both play a critical role in the imperial courts and in Jianghu. We must trust that Xiao Wangye's verdict will hold the opinion of the public." As expected of a grandmaster, the moment he appeared, he held an out of the ordinary imposing manner, causing many people in the crowd to nod their heads in agreement.
With a stern appearance, Xiao Yixuan walked in-between the crowds, and in a cold, but distinct tone, he said, "Everyone, please rest assured. Just give benwang a few days, and benwang will surely give Luo furen and all the other Sects here, a satisfying report." As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and said to Luo furen, "For the next few days, benwang will have to trouble you."
With a grievous appearance, Luo furen nodded her head and said, "Qie, will immediately arrange for a guest room." She then walked towards the rear courtyard.
"Everyone should return home and wait for the news." After Grandmaster Nian Ci spoke, he faced Xiao Yixuan and nodded, and then left.
Inside the main hall, all of the figures of the martial arts circle gradually dispersed. Xiao Yixuan then went towards Situ Xin, who was scowling behind Tan Jin's back. "What did you do to the Tang Sect Master?" He then softly knocked against Situ Xin's forehead.
"I only scattered some colorless and odorless itching poison that will make you itch for three days and nights. Don't stare at me! There is no antidote for it." Helplessly she shrugged her shoulders. Who told him to say that she was a black hearted woman?
"Let's go."
Pulling Situ Xin's hand, he walked towards the rear courtyard. He now understood that Xin'er likes to hold grudges. Seamlessly, the corner of his mouth faintly pulled up.
Foot Notes: [1] The polite way of offering condolences. [2] LOL self-protection reminded me of this BUT rated M due to course language (It's comedy btw.) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rR9IaXH1M0