Chapter 11
Thirty li south of the capital lies a small town called Zhaomingba. The town has only one inn, so merchants and travelers must stay there. One day, a handsome, otherworldly figure arrived at the inn. He was dressed in white, with a black brocade belt around his waist and black boots, carrying a folding fan. When he opened the fan, his elegant and dashing demeanor drew glances and whispers from those in the hall. The handsome man walked directly to the table of the person wearing a veiled hat on the right and sat down, smiling, "Xue Ran, a few days ago I went to your house to propose marriage, but you weren't there. So I took it upon myself to set the wedding date for the sixth day of the third month next spring. What do you think? If it's too long, we can go back and complete the wedding immediately." The person wearing the veiled hat angrily retorted, "Shameless!" He then went straight upstairs to his room. Just as she was about to close the door, the man slipped inside, then took the hand of the person closing the door and shut it. The posture was far too intimate; he had pulled the veiled Leng Xue Ran into his arms. Leng Xue Ran turned around and raised her hand to slap the man, but before it could land on his face, it was grabbed. Leng Xue Ran angrily said, "Let go! How can you, a woman, be so shameless? We're both women, how can we possibly get married!" The man laughed, "Why not? The engagement has been arranged and the wedding date set. I've come to find my runaway wife, Leng Xue Ran." Leng Xue Ran coldly retorted, "Young Master Xi, no, Miss Xi, are you joking?" "How could I be joking? Besides, I genuinely love Xue Ran. All the guest rooms are full tonight, so I'll stay with Xue Ran tonight!"
"Impossible! Get out!"
"I'm not leaving, I'm staying here!"
"This is utterly incomprehensible." Without another word, she angrily sat down in a chair by the window, staring at the shameless person before her. The person, however, pressed closer, emboldened. Suddenly, a commotion erupted downstairs, interrupting the approaching figure. Xi Yimin frowned, looked out the window, and leaped downstairs. Entering the inn through the main gate, she found herself amidst a group of noisy servants dressed as guards. There, she saw the person she least wanted to see. The person ran towards her excitedly, calling out, "Haoshan!" "Second Miss, are you traveling incognito?" the person lamented. "When I returned home the other day, Father said you came to propose marriage. Why did you refuse me then? Didn't you say you didn't like women?" "What? Then why do you want to marry my sister?" After saying this, noticing the strange looks around them, the woman pulled Xi Yimin upstairs to their reserved guest room. This woman was none other than Leng Ying, the second young lady of the Leng family. Looking at the silent man standing before her, Leng Ying angrily said, "Back then, for you, I argued fiercely with my father, even threatening suicide, yet you rejected me without hesitation. Why? And now, why are you asking to marry my sister!" Xi Yimin looked at the agitated woman before him and said, "How can I control my feelings? How can I control my love? Your sister is your sister, and you are you. Liking someone is truly not entirely up to me. If I could..." "I don't want to know anyone from the Leng family, so there won't be so much trouble. Leng Ying, stop making a fuss. You're already the Crown Princess now." The woman laughed loudly, "Crown Princess? How laughable! Do you know why I was willing to become the Crown Princess? It's all because of you, you know? The Emperor's order to hunt you down is also partly my doing! I instigated the Crown Prince to tell the Emperor that you colluded with foreign invaders to rebel and plot to usurp the throne. Do you know why I did that? It was also because of you. I thought you were desperate and came to me for help, but what I received was news of your death. I regretted it then and went to ask my father why he really killed you. My father secretly told me..." "Tell me you're not dead. If you really are gone, I won't live on alone." Xi Yimin never imagined that Leng Ying would do such a terrible thing for him, that she loved him to such an extent. She knew that Leng Shouqing was the instigator of the crime she bore, but she didn't know that Leng Ying had also laid the groundwork for it. Xi Yimin looked coldly at the woman before her and said, "Second Miss, why are you doing this? I won't pursue the past, and from now on, let's each go our own way..." Before she could finish speaking, Leng Ying cried out, "Impossible! I saved you back then, and this is how you repay me? I love you so much, how can you turn a blind eye?"
“It’s impossible for us now. You are now the Crown Princess, and I have changed my name! I am no longer Guan Haoshan. Now I am Xi Yimin, a merchant from Fengcheng! So, let’s not talk about the past anymore. Let’s start a new life together.”
"Why not? You take me away from here, we'll live under assumed names, we'll go to another country and never come back. That's the new life I want! As long as it's with you, anything is fine!"
"How could that be? I haven't avenged my great grudge yet!"
"What great grudge do you have? It's all my fault that you're being hunted down. Aren't I your enemy?"
"No, there are others. Your father was also instructed by someone else, namely Xue Ran's mother."
"What? Isn't she dead? How could she have done those things! What was her purpose?"
"Fake death! The purpose? Heh, I'd like to know too."
"So you married my sister to kill her mother? To get revenge?" Xi Yimin looked at the woman in front of him, did not answer, and turned to leave. Leng Ying asked anxiously, "Where are you going?" Xi Yimin smiled and said, "Naturally, I'm going to find my betrothed." Hearing this, Leng Ying said angrily, "Guan Haoshan, you are truly heartless. I am so devoted to you, yet you demean yourself for someone who doesn't love you."
How do you know she doesn't love me!
"Loving you means I'll run away from the wedding; loving you means I'll speak coldly and mock you because you're a woman!"
"She treated me the same way before she knew I was a woman. Love can be awakened, and maybe one day I will awaken her love for me."
"You! I won't let you have your way."
"So this is what you mean by loving me? By the way, don't call me Guan Haoshan anymore, I don't want to be hunted down!"
"you......"
He stopped listening to her and left Leng Ying's room. Turning right, he found Leng Xue Ran's room in another room. Leng Xue Ran hadn't come out, so she didn't know what was happening outside. When she saw Xi Yi Min enter through the open window, her face immediately turned cold. She sneered, "A woman, acting like a thief! She has no manners at all!" Xi Yi Min replied cheerfully, "Having a gentle and virtuous woman in the house is enough. I will be a warm and upright husband for Xue Ran."
"Shameless! Stop talking nonsense. It's getting late. You should leave now. I'm going to bed."
"Since it's getting late, I'll rest here!" Too lazy to pay attention to that shameless man, she turned and got into bed fully clothed. What could a woman possibly do to her anyway? Leng Xue Ran thought. Seeing that Leng Xue Ran didn't object, she mustered her courage, took off her outer clothes, and lay down next to Leng Xue Ran. She was overjoyed, but then she was kicked off the bed. The person on the floor sat up, looking at the person on the bed with a resentful expression. The person on the bed had their back to her. Helpless, she climbed back up, only to be kicked off again. She climbed back up again, this time directly onto the inside of the bed, facing Leng Xue Ran. She saw a smile still playing on her lips. Seeing this, Xi Yi Min's lips also curled up. He said, "Xue Ran, you've violated the ways of a wife."
"What wifely way? You and I are both women, how can we get married?"
"But our marriage is already arranged!"
"So you'd better cancel this ridiculous idea!"
"But I truly want to be with Xue Ran for the rest of my life." Hearing this, he ignored Xi Yimin and turned to sleep. Seeing that Xi Yimin was no longer paying attention to him, he wisely went to sleep as well.
The next day, at dawn, there was a knock on the door. Leng Xue Ran opened her eyes to find Xi Yi Min fast asleep. Helpless, she got up to open the door and was surprised to find it was Leng Ying. She said, "Why is my sister here?" Leng Ying sneered, "Naturally, I've come to see Guan Hao Shan. Is she with you?" Before Leng Xue Ran could answer, she pushed the door open and went in. Seeing Xi Yi Min asleep on the bed, her face was frosty. She turned to look at her sister and said angrily, "What have you done?" Leng Xue Ran looked at Leng Ying coldly and said, "What can two women do?" "Two women can do a lot!" Leng Ying realized she had misspoke. From Leng Xue Ran's words, it seemed she didn't know that women could have intimate relations. So her expression softened and she said, "Since my sister doesn't like her, can you give her to me?" Hearing this, Leng Xue Ran looked at her in surprise and said, "You like her? A woman?"
"No, I love her. What's wrong with a woman? Can't I love her? Since you don't love her, sister, stay as far away from her as possible!" Leng Xue Ran was actually a little angry. She said coldly, "She has legs. No matter how far I go, if she wants to follow, what can I do?" After saying that, she went to the bedside, picked up a pillow and hit the person who was sleeping soundly. She was furious and shouted, "Xi Yi Min, get out!" The person who had just woken up stared blankly at Leng Xue Ran and asked, "What's wrong, Xue Ran?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com