Chapter 93: A Talented Man and a Beautiful Woman

She lay on the bed and cried from morning until almost noon.

As I was crying, my senior sister suddenly pushed the door open and came in, "You still have the nerve to cry."

Jiaoran raised his head and looked back, "What's wrong?"

"I heard Cheng Yuan say today that you beat Mu Jin. Is that true?"

Jiaoran hesitated and didn't dare to answer, leaving two clear tear marks on the pillow.

"He made me do this."

"Then go ahead and hit him. Aren't you afraid of hurting him?"

"Break him? Oh, I wish I could beat him to death."

Zhuxing was furious and pointed at her and said, "If you dare to hit anyone again, I don't want to see you again."

Seeing that she was also blaming her, Jiaoran cried even harder, "He was the one who changed his heart first, so can't I seek justice for myself?"

Seeing her crying so hard, Zhuxing felt sorry for her and said, "There are many good men in the world. Why do you have to choose Mu Jin?"

Jiaoran felt very upset. She thought her senior sister would definitely stand by her and help her, but she advised her to give up. "It's impossible for me to stop loving him, unless I die."

Zhuxing sat beside her and wiped her tears with a handkerchief. "You've been crying for several days. This won't do."

"Senior Sister, can you please go and call Mu Jin?"

Zhuxing knew that now that Jiaoran was gone, everyone in Yuyuan would try to stop her inside and outside, alas.

"He doesn't want to see you, why are you doing this to yourself?"

"I can feel that Mu Jin still loves me. I just want to know why he suddenly said such hurtful words. It's not like him at all."

Zhuxing was a little flustered and said hastily, "A man who has changed his heart is not worth your sadness."

"It's worth it, he's worth it!"

"Jiao Ran, listen to me. Not all lovers can end up together. There are more uncertainties than certainties in this world. If we can't continue with that person, we should say goodbye properly and don't dwell on it. Otherwise, it will make things difficult for both of us."

A hint of cruelty flashed in Jiaoran's eyes, "I won't allow him to not be with me until the end."

"So what if I don't allow you? Look at you being so arrogant. The whole Siyu Garden is facing a great enemy. The man no longer loves you. What can you do to save him?"

"I'm going to beat him until he changes his mind!"

Zhuxing sighed, "Oh, you were just angry. How can you really hit the one you love? You can't just hit a man and make him change his mind. You will only lose him if you act so willfully."

She lay down with her, looking at the bed curtains above her head, "To tell you the truth, when your brother and I separated, I also thought I might not be able to make it, but now look, aren't Archer and I doing well?"

Jiaoran asked, "Do you love Chai Che?"

She evaded the question, "Sometimes two people who are in love aren't necessarily the most compatible. If the timing isn't right or the choices are different, they can end up going their separate ways. Compatibility is more important than love. How can I live a happier life? That's what I'll consider carefully."

"If Chai Che hadn't been there, and Senior Brother had escaped from Xu Mengchou, would you still be with him?"

Zhuxing smiled bitterly, "I'm already his wife, how can I still be with him?"

"If, I mean if."

She said, "When we first got married, I would have said I would. But it's been so long now that I no longer want to look back. I've thought about it again and again, and I realize that whether Archer or not, I might not have been able to be married to him."

Jiaoran didn't expect her senior sister to say this. She thought that based on her personality, she would definitely pursue a lifelong partner.

"Why? Isn't Bu Yue good enough?"

"Sometimes it's not a good thing or a bad thing. He's addicted to gambling and casual about sex. I can feel that he loves me, and I used to love him too. But think about it, when we no longer rise and fall in the underworld, and retire and become ordinary people, like the two of us, can we still be a loving couple?"

"Why not? Isn't it good to be a thief?"

She laughed. "You, I think you're brave enough to be a mountain king, let alone a thief. Jiaoran, I'm not brave enough, nor persistent enough, so even if there were no A Che and Xu Meng grudges, Bu Yue and I might still argue over all these things in the future. He would blame me for controlling him and not letting him go to gambling houses, wine shops, and brothels, and I would also blame him for not giving me a stable life."

She had indeed never thought about this. Hearing her senior sister say this, she felt a little regretful. "Perhaps you should explain it clearly to your senior brother, so that you won't have any regrets about what happened back then."

"It doesn't matter. It's all in the past. He has found a loving partner who understands him deeply, and I'm married. Thinking about it this way, God has already made the choice for me. Although I was heartbroken at one point, I feel fine now." She patted Jiaoran's head. "So just let go. If Mu Jin feels that you two should no longer be together, then why not just say goodbye properly?"

Jiaoran said no, "I don't want to say goodbye to him. I want to be with him forever and never be separated."

She said helplessly, "Jiao Ran——"

"Sister, you don't have to persuade me. I understand the choice you made, but I can't let him go, and he can't let me go. I think he must have his own difficulties and wants to separate from me temporarily. I want to try my best to understand him and want to know what kind of difficulties he has encountered. He even wants to use such a trick to make me leave him."

Zhuxing's eyes widened, and he quickly turned his head back, not looking at her, "This... uh, the people from Jinlin Garden are coming at noon, I have to go see how the food is prepared."

"Chai Hui and Lu Xieying?"

"Yes, do you want to come with us?"

Jiaoran said his head hurt from crying, "I want to take a nap and go later."

"Okay, go to sleep. I'll call you later."

She closed her eyes and fell asleep in a daze. Before she had slept for a moment, a pair of hands covered her mouth and nose, almost suffocating her to death.

“Wuwuwu…”

She kicked over and saw a strange woman in her room. She was wearing a light yellow dress, a shiny black ebony hairpin in her hair, and her eyes were cold.

"Who are you?!"

Jiaoran shouted.

As she spoke, she raised her hand and found that the bracelet on her wrist was gone.

"Hey, where's my bracelet?" Jiaoran tossed and turned, turning over the bed and bedding. "Did you steal my bracelet?"

The woman turned her mouth downwards and rolled her eyes upwards, "Are you stupid?"

"ah?"

"Last time I transformed into a human and rowed a boat to pick you up."

Jiao Ran was reminded by her and then remembered, "It's you."

It took her a split second to realize, "You are... Hayate?"

"Yes." She looked indifferent. "Come with me and wash your face." "Where are you going?"

"You've been crying for several days. Are you annoying?"

Jiaoran turned over and lay down again, "Let me sleep for a while, I'm sleepy."

"Have you forgotten what you came back from Wonderland for this time?"

"Remember, 'Takayama Shou'."

"In that case, why don't you hurry up and find it."

"I don't have clairvoyance, so I can't tell where the secret manual is hidden in the mansion at once."

"Yes, you haven't grown it, but I have a sense of the "High Mountain Longevity" and can roughly sense where it is."

Jiao Ran nodded and said, "Okay, that's great. I'll go with you to find it after I get some sleep."

"No!" she said. "Get up this instant and follow me."

Jiao Ran said, "Please be considerate of me. My husband is about to run away with someone, and I'm crying like this, but you don't comfort me. You don't react at all, and you tell me to go carry out your mission as soon as you show up."

Hayate said, "I did react. I covered my ears when you cried."

Jiaoran was choked. "Have some conscience? Is this something a human being can say?"

Ji Feng spread his hands and said indifferently, "I am a dragon, not a human."

"No wonder you can't become a dragon. You don't know kindness at all."

Ji Feng felt pain when she poked him. "What did you say?! I didn't become a dragon because the time was not right, not because I wasn't focused enough. Oh, and you better make sure you kill Kuang Heng and get back Gao Shan Shou. That way, we can both—"

"What's the matter?" Jiaoran asked.

She said, "Be well, everyone."

"Oh, okay, I know. I will definitely help you find it. I promised him. Besides, Kuang Heng, I was going to kill him anyway. It's just a matter of time. Why are you so anxious? As long as Gao Shan Shou is in this mansion, I will be there. I will definitely find it and bring it back to you."

"No, you need to get up now and stop being so drowsy. It's embarrassing. I'm losing face crying here for a mortal man."

"I'm crying my own way, why are you so embarrassed?"

"I..." Jifeng stopped talking.

"Anyway, don't cry. I heard someone from Jinlin Garden is coming. Hurry up and get up. I'll sense their aura and maybe find the whereabouts of Gao Shan Shou."

Jiao Ran asked, "You are a dragon, not a dog. How can your sense of smell be so sensitive?"

When Ji Feng got angry, a huge snake tail followed the person and swung its tail to hit her to teach her a lesson.

"I'm wrong, I'm wrong. Come on, get on my wrist. Don't let anyone see us. Otherwise, we'll both be in trouble. We might even be caught as monsters!"

"You called me a dog!"

"I'm not saying you're a dog, I'm... Oh, Shenlong, Lord Shenlong, please? Please, come back."

Ji Feng snorted, "That's better." Then he turned into a golden light and wrapped around Jiaoran's hand.

While eating, it seemed that Chai Hui and Lu Xieying were getting along well, unlike what Senior Sister had said a few days ago when they had just gotten married and there was a lot of trouble.

One person sat at one end to eat, but refused to come closer.

Jiao Ran saw that Lu Xieying had brought a bottle of wine, and her senior sister also saw it, so she took the initiative to ask, "Is this the chrysanthemum wine you buried under the flower tree last year?"

Lu Xieying couldn't come empty-handed. Originally, she hated Qian Linyuan, her virtuous second sister-in-law, the most. The two of them had damaged her master's scapula, preventing her master from practicing martial arts for several years. However, as time went by, she felt lonely in the Governor's Mansion and relied entirely on her second sister-in-law for care. If it weren't for her, her life would have been even more difficult.

By the way, it would be a bad idea to get angry at Jiaoran, who Zhuxing keeps by his side every day.

She even felt sorry for Jiaoran in her heart, as she had not forgotten how they had cooperated well on the Cuju field and had defeated the opponent repeatedly.

"Yes. I buried several bottles. I warmed them up and drank them during the winter. I found them delicious, so I brought them to my second sister-in-law."

Chai Hui interrupted at an inopportune moment, "How boring! The experienced winemakers in the mansion brew wine a hundred times better than you. Why are you looking for trouble?"

Lu Xieying was a little annoyed, "It's not for you to drink."

Jiaoran had just eaten a piece of roasted venison when he heard the two men arguing with each other.

Lu Xieying suddenly raised her hand to stop him, only a fist away from his face, "You're arguing with me over such a trivial matter?"

He looked at her, his eyes filled with dissatisfaction and suppressed anger.

Jiaoran had never seen Chai Hui look so complicated.

Chai Che suddenly said, "Eat."

Both of them fell silent.

Like he was wrong, and like she was wrong.

Chai Hui took a few bites and said, "You should be a good wife, like my second sister-in-law."

Lu Xieying refused to give in, "Then you must first be a good husband."

"you--"

"What have I done wrong? Why am I not considered a good wife?"

Perhaps Chai Hui also realized that his unreasonable arguments had angered her, so he sat down next to Jiaoran in silence.

The angry woman was the most sensitive. "Oh, you came to Qianlin Garden to see her, right?"

The city gate was on fire, so Jiaoran, like a swimming fish, had to stay away. He took a few mouthfuls of rice and said, "Senior Sister, I'm done eating. I want to go back and get some sleep."

"Stop!" Lu Xieying called out to her, "I don't dare take this husband. If you want him, take him."

Jiao Ran was stunned after hearing this, "No, no, no, I don't want it either."

After saying that, he left.

Lu Xieying was still resentful and dissatisfied, so he sat down. Chai Hui also continued eating without saying a word.

The two of them sat face to face in silence, neither of them able to continue arguing, but neither of them could end this predicament.

He looked down on her and she looked down on him, and this marriage became a hemp rope that bound them both.

As soon as Jiao Ran returned to the room, he asked Ji Feng, "How is it? Do you feel if they have it?"

Ji Feng said, "No, it's definitely not on them, nor in Qianlin Garden."

"Please look for it quickly. I don't want to stay in this damn place anymore." Ji Feng said.

Jiaoran sat down and said slowly, "Is the Wonderland more fun than the outside world?"

"People are always arguing with each other. It's so annoying!"

"But this is the case for all mortals. Nine out of ten things don't go as planned, and once something doesn't go as planned, people get angry. Humans have seven emotions and six desires, joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, and you can't control them," Jiaoran said.

Hayate said, "Don't be like them, it's really annoying."

"I am also a mortal, so naturally I am not immune to worldly affairs."

"If they are both unhappy, why do they want to get married? I have never seen such a couple in Wonderland. They look like enemies."

Jiao Ran thought for a moment and said, "Mortals are much more complicated than you think. Everyone seems to be living in a web, unable to escape. They may not want to, but they have no choice."

Ji Feng's head hurt. "Don't talk to me anymore. I don't want to hear it. I need to sleep too."

The man and the dragon fell into a sound sleep. At night, someone came from outside to paste paper on the windows, adding several thick layers.

The sound woke Jiaoran up. She sat up and asked, "Why are you suddenly covering the windows?"

The maid bowed and said, "I am a maid in Shoulin Garden. Qianlin Garden is short-staffed, so I was transferred here to help. There will be a heavy snow in the mountains in a few days, the first snow of this winter. Madam asked us to reinforce the windows to prevent the cold wind from blowing in and catching a cold in the house."

Jiaoran couldn't help but sigh at how quickly time flies. "Is it going to snow again?"

The maid smiled and said yes, "What a coincidence! Perhaps the days when it snows will be the wedding day of Master Mu Jin and Madam Cheng from Siyu Garden. It would be so beautiful to have them get married in the snow. They are a perfect match, talented and beautiful."