Chapter 47

The valley is divided into two main sections. Further ahead, at the highest point, there are several pavilions, below which is a lush bamboo forest. Cui Wuyang and his group were trapped here last night.

From here onward, the terrain is flat, and all of it belongs to Zhu Yun's new house. Apart from the mute servant responsible for cleaning, no unauthorized personnel are allowed to approach.

During ordinary days, he would either practice his sword at Huachao Pavilion while handling affairs within the building, or venture out of the valley to cause trouble for Ye Ning. Now that he had a wife, absence made the heart grow fonder. A-Kong waited and waited at the border, burning incense again and again, but Zhu Yun did not appear.

It was Liu Changsheng and several patrolling disciples who passed by and took the initiative to greet them: "Guardian Akong, are you looking for your young master? He has already gone around to Huachao Pavilion from the south and is going to take my boss to tour the armory."

Akong nodded casually, then disappeared, clutching an embroidered handkerchief.

Although the remaining disciples had heard that their young master had brought back a beautiful young woman, they were not familiar with Luo Yan, so they surrounded Liu Changsheng and pressed him for answers.

Hearing the jeers of those around him, and seeing those mocking gazes sweep over Zhen Fei as if they were real, he gritted his teeth and turned pale.

His servant knelt at Luo Yan's feet, smiling obsequiously.

"Good girl, please give me a chance to go down and fish it out... I have elderly parents and young children to support, and my eighty-year-old mother is waiting for money to treat her illness."

She kicked him away.

"Get out of here, you bastard! You've gone all the way from the north to the south for just a couple of coins. You've really disgraced yourself!"

She stared at Zhen Fei like a predator.

"Did you hear that, Zhen Fei? I want you to go down and retrieve it!"

His head was buzzing, as if a thousand flies were shoving into it. He tried to open his eyes, but all he could see was a white blur.

By the way, all Yunhou needs to do is pretend to faint.

His eyes rolled back, and he fell straight backward, hitting the back of his head hard with a thud.

The servant also felt ashamed and quickly helped him away.

Jinzhan blended into the crowd, pretending not to know her, and silently watched the show.

She secretly rejoiced, thankful she had the foresight to know Luo Yan was bound to cause some trouble today. By pretending to lose Luo Yan, the prince would be less likely to blame her for her incompetence.

Luo Yan laughed maniacally twice, tightened the ribbon on her wrist, and easily retrieved the box of gold and silver from the water.

It turned out that she had tied one end of the ribbon to the hidden clasp on the box beforehand, and the other end to her wrist, partially concealing it in her sleeve.

"What are you all looking at? I'm not that crazy. Do you really think I'm going to throw money into the water?"

Luo Yan covered her face and laughed uncontrollably.

"Young lady, please stop ruining yourself like this."

A young man slowly walked out.

He was dressed in ordinary clothes, yet his demeanor was as pure as white jade. His eyebrows were as black as ink, and his eyelashes were long but not curled, resting on his eyes and blinking with each blink.

"I know you must be in a lot of pain right now... My name is Qin Sizhao. It may be a bit abrupt to say this, but I hope to get to know you."

Upon hearing this, Luo Yan couldn't help but tremble. Qin Sizhao's figure suddenly overlapped with the figure in her mother's memory.

A man scoffed.

"Who are you? Do you think you're good enough for the prince's sworn sister?"

Another young master whispered in his ear,

"Qin Sizhao has achieved the highest honors in all three levels of the imperial examinations, making him the new top scholar."

The man blushed.

"Ha, after becoming the top scholar, does he only marry a woman who is all looks and no substance, someone who shows her face in public?"

Yang Ruoyun suddenly spoke,

"What's wrong with a woman showing her face in public? You're being too narrow-minded."

She looked at Qin Sizhao and inexplicably felt that he was a rare and good man.

Yang Ruoyun was originally talking with Zhu Yun in the inner room. She just wanted to come out for some fresh air and then go back, but she stumbled upon such a good show, so she silently observed it.

The others didn't even notice she had arrived.

"You are the prince's sworn sister?"

Suddenly bumping into Yang Ruoyun, Luo Yan inexplicably felt inferior and ashamed of herself.

"Luo Yan! Haven't you made enough of a scene?!"

Zhu Yun, with a gloomy face, angrily dragged her away.

"I'm sorry, my sworn sister made a fool of herself."

Luo Yan felt as if she had lost her fighting spirit, letting him pull her away.

Jinzhan seized an opportunity and hurriedly ran out, kowtowing repeatedly.

"Your Highness, it's all my fault. I lost the young lady. She's young and fast, and I'm too old to keep up."

After the performance, she breathed a sigh of relief. Let the prince vent his anger on Luo Yan, as long as it doesn't affect her.

Jinzhan returned to the palace with trepidation. Sure enough, Luo Yan was confined to her quarters for causing a scene, and Jinzhan was also fined a month's wages, which really broke her heart.

Luo Yan's personality is unpredictable; one moment she's more adorable than anyone else, and the next she's more difficult to deal with. She's like a red rose with thorns, hard to pick; heaven knows how difficult she is to please.

Her own willfulness has resulted in her being fined a month's wages—a truly undeserved misfortune. Hmph, the Prince really should teach her a lesson.

Luo Yan has been confined to her quarters for three days now, but she has hardly touched the food sent to her. Jinzhan is a little worried, but she doesn't dare disobey the prince's orders to go in, so she can only stand at the door and try to persuade her.

"Girl, at least eat something."

There was no sound from inside, and fearing that Luo Yan might really have hanged herself inside, she opened the door a crack and peeked out.

"I'm not dead, stop looking."

Luo Yan responded listlessly.

Jinzhan was still uneasy. To be honest, she didn't really think the prince wanted to do anything to Luo Yan. She couldn't bear the responsibility if anything happened to her.

Three days have passed; the prince's anger must have subsided by now. Jinzhan ran all the way to the prince's study, her eyes darting around twice.

"Your Highness...the young lady...has not eaten for three days."

"Never mind her."

Zhu Yun didn't even look up.

Jinzhan was afraid that she would be held responsible if something happened to Luo Yan, so she made her story even more outlandish.

“Luo Yan hasn’t made a sound for the past three days, and I haven’t dared to look inside… The girl is always threatening to kill herself, and I’m scared.”

Zhu Yun sighed.

"Fine, I'll go check on her."

He pushed open the door, and Luo Yan lay on the bed, looking haggard, with traces of makeup still on her face, looking like a crumpled willow leaf.

"Luo Yan, you've ruined my wedding. Are you satisfied now?"

Seeing Luo Yan's vulnerable state, Zhu Yun's heart softened a little.

Although she was a bit crazy, it was out of her love for him and her possessiveness that she went crazy. Thinking of this, Zhu Yun forgave her in his heart.

He didn't know that Luo Yan hadn't eaten or drunk anything for three days because she couldn't forget Qin Sizhao's face.

His words, "Please stop ruining yourself like this," kept echoing in Luo Yan's mind, like a whip dipped in salt water, repeatedly lashing at her.

Isn't she just ruining herself all along? Besides herself, who else could Luo Yan possibly harm?

She stared at Zhu Yun, lost in thought.

If she insists on taking revenge on Zhu Yun, it will be like an egg hitting a rock.

Should I love myself first, or hate him first?

A few tears welled up in Luo Yan's eyes, but she couldn't cry. She felt inexplicably that she had lost all her fighting spirit and couldn't bring herself to hate Zhu Yun anymore.

Zhu Yun suddenly felt annoyed with Luo Yan. She was taking advantage of his indulgence and manipulating him. If this continued, she would only turn his indulgence into a whip to lash him.

Luo Yan clearly knew he would be reluctant to part with her, which is why she deliberately put on this frail and delicate appearance.

He intentionally used Zhen Fei's matter to put pressure on her.

“Zhen Fei hit the back of his head and became mentally impaired. I was afraid that if he recovered in a few days, he would talk nonsense everywhere, so I sent the Shadow Guard to deal with him.”

Luo Yan's face turned deathly pale.

She did hate Zhen Fei, but she never wanted him to die.

"Do you understand? If you don't obey, I'll get rid of you too."

Provoked by him, Luo Yan hurriedly got out of bed again.

"There's no need to dirty your hands, Your Highness. I'll hang myself right now, dressed in red, right in front of you!"

After making those harsh words, Luo Yan suddenly realized that she couldn't bring herself to hang herself. In the past, she would have risked her life to turn the Prince's mansion upside down, but now she had given up and didn't want to think about anything related to Zhu Yun.

Zhu Yun was tired of her constant threats of suicide, so he pinned her to the bed with one hand.

"Would you like to marry the current emperor? I'll take you to meet him."

Zhu Yun's question left Luo Yan completely bewildered. By the time she realized what was happening, Luo Yan had already dressed, washed her face, and was sitting in the carriage with Zhu Yun.

Since it was Zhu Yun who took the initiative to bring her to see the current emperor, it must not be a good thing.

Ke Luoyan's fighting spirit had completely vanished; she sat listlessly, without any intention of doing anything.

Zhu Yun entered the palace as easily as if it were his own backyard, and effortlessly led her inside.

She saw a monster with deformed legs and a short upper body, barely wearing a dragon robe, drooling and laughing as he watched the shadow puppet show.

Luo Yan was so frightened that she hid behind Zhu Yun, but he pulled her out.

"Luo Yan, quickly kowtow to the Emperor."

"Hehe...beauty..."

The deformed child grinned foolishly at Luo Yan, but when he saw Zhu Yun, he took a few steps back in fright and burst into tears.

Luo Yan was so frightened by the cries of the deformed child that her legs went weak and she knelt on the ground.

Zhu Yun gave a mocking bow.

"Greetings, Your Majesty."

Seeing that Luo Yan was quite frightened, he scooped her up with one hand.

"Once you've seen it all, come back to the Prince's Mansion with me. That way, you won't cause any more trouble."

Luo Yan said hesitantly,

"It won't happen again."

The two sat in a carriage. Luo Yan was lost in thought when Zhu Yun broke the silence.

“My father’s legs were like that. I have five brothers and sisters, all of whom inherited my father’s legs. Except for my mentally challenged elder brother, they all died young.”

He gave a mocking laugh.

“I am the only one in the entire royal family with both legs intact, which is why my father dislikes me very much.”

“My mother said that it was because she prayed day and night during her pregnancy that Buddha appeared to her and gave birth to me healthy and well-proportioned. My father obviously did not believe it. A few years later, my mother died unexpectedly.”

Luo Yan remained silent, but she understood the implication in his words.

If the entire family is deformed and ugly, and only one person is tall and handsome, there is only one possibility.

“Luo Yan, the entire royal family is full of short-lived people… In that case, my mother did a good thing.”

"Your Highness, I will make more plans for myself from now on and will not cause you any more trouble."

Luo Yan lowered her head and said hesitantly.

Zhu Yun nodded in satisfaction. He couldn't spoil Luo Yan too much, otherwise she would really take advantage of his favor and do whatever she wanted.

But he didn't know that Luo Yan had loved him for too long and hated him for too long, and now she was truly exhausted.

She thought that her hatred for Zhu Yun was simply due to her unfulfilled expectations.

Now she has no expectations of Zhu Yun, her heart is empty, and she can't even find a place for the hatred in her heart.

If she could really marry Qin Sizhao, it would be so wonderful, so wonderful that Luo Yan wouldn't even dare to dream of it.

A ray of dawn shone in, scratching at her heart like a weed, making Luo Yan restless and unable to ignore it no matter what.

That glimmer of hope expanded along with her greed, threatening to extinguish the resentment in her heart.

But does she really deserve it?

Luo Yan muttered, "It doesn't make sense."

In the original book, Leng Mingyue clearly liked Cui Wuyang, and the Gu worm was transferred into Cui Wuyang's body in a forbidden way, and then he used his pure internal energy to dissolve it.

Has the plot gone awry, and the characters gained autonomy?

Lost in thought, she suddenly felt a chill on her chest. Looking down, she saw Zhu Yun flicking open her clothes with his fingers.

Luo Yan blushed and shouted, "What are you doing?"

"you."