Chapter 65 Getting Frustrated: Has Anyone Ever Tried to Tempt Your Sword?
Stepping onto Rongdu West Street, the daytime market was gradually quieting down. Stall owners were tidying up their goods to make room for the night market, while impatient peddlers were already squatting nearby, hoping to find a spot to set up their stalls. Guan Ye had been in Rongdu for over a month and had become familiar with the vendors in the neighborhood. Seeing Guan Ye return, the owner of the steamed bun shop waved enthusiastically to her, lifted the steaming lid, and invited her to have a freshly steamed meat bun.
Guan Ye sniffed hard, and only when she smelled the meat did she realize that she hadn't eaten for most of the day. She swallowed and walked closer, but before she could reach for the copper coins, the stall owner had already wrapped a piece in a lotus leaf and stuffed it into her hand, shaking his finger and saying that it was a gift for her to try.
"If you like it, young lady, then bring your people from your neighborhood here often." The stall owner waited expectantly for Guan Ye to take a bite.
Guan Ye ignored the fact that the steamed buns were still hot from being taken out of the steamer, and quickly took a bite. The meat juices overflowed, making her wince from the heat. She dipped her fingertips in the meat juices and sucked them into her lips, feeling so good that she couldn't even speak. They were so delicious!
The creaking sound of wheels rolling over came from the street. Guan Ye turned around and saw two yellow horses pulling a carriage with a blue roof and tassels coming towards her. The steamed buns smelled so good that she had to eat them while they were hot, so she quickly took another bite. When she looked up again, the yellow horses had stopped beside her with a low growl.
"You really do come as soon as you say you'll come, without wasting a single day." Guan Ye said to the car window, "It's getting late, the shopkeeper probably won't have time to entertain you, come another day, another day."
The carriage curtain was lifted, revealing a face wearing a half-gilded mask. Guan Ye rubbed her eyes; the mask concealed the deep scar on the person's brow bone, but those deep, mysterious eyes could only belong to A Jiu.
"Ah Jiu?" Guan Ye swallowed the meat bun in her mouth. "Why is it you?"
Ajiu removed her gilded mask, her deep eyes softening once more. She rested one hand on the window frame, pointing at the meat bun Guan Ye had half-eaten, and asked, "Is it good?"
On the day of the sword-testing ceremony in the inner workshop, the emperor rode in a carriage drawn by a yellow horse. What kind of luck did A-Jiu win to have a yellow horse? Xingguo Ward doesn't even have one. Guan Ye sucked her fingers again, "Delicious."
"You didn't even leave me a bite of what's delicious." Ajiu pointed to her open mouth.
Guan Ye smelled the sweetness in his mouth and guessed that he must have eaten a lot of fruit and snacks. Without saying a word to him, she stuffed the rest of the food into her mouth and swallowed it whole. A Jiu found it amusing, lifted the carriage curtain, jumped out, stretched out his hand to Guan Ye, and nodded, saying, "Get in."
Guan Ye didn't move her head. "Xingguo Ward is just ahead. I'm nimble on my feet, so I don't need to take a carriage. Besides, last time I rode in a big cart all the way, and my butt hurt from all the bumps."
Ah Jiu laughed heartily, lifting the carriage curtain even higher. "Look, there are soft cushions inside the carriage, you won't bump into them."
Guan Ye glanced sideways at the carriage and saw that it was exquisitely crafted with delicate and luxurious cushions, definitely not something from Xingguofang. "I don't want benefits of dubious origin."
“I went to see the Emperor again today.” Ajiu stopped teasing her. “The Emperor saw that it was getting late and had someone send me back to my neighborhood by carriage. It wasn’t some illegitimate favor, but a reward from the Emperor.”
Guan Ye felt a mix of emotions, and replied irritably, "The Emperor's reward to you is not a reward to me."
"Stubborn fool." A-Jiu jumped off the carriage, put her hands behind her back, and leaned down to look at Guan Ye's face. "Are you angry? Are you upset that I left so early without telling you? I went to your room and heard you snoring soundly." Seeing Guan Ye's stiff expression, A-Jiu took her wrist, gently shook it, and coaxed her softly, "Didn't you sneak out to eat steamed buns too? And who did you tell to come another day?"
Guan Ye couldn't pull her hand away from his tight grip, so she simply rubbed the oily liquid from her hands onto his palm. A Jiu noticed something was wrong and loosened his grip, but Guan Ye had already shaken him off, pinched his nose and made a face at him, and quickly ran towards Xingguo Lane.
Ah Jiu sniffed her hands, and an enticing aroma of meat wafted up, making her realize that she was also very hungry.
East Wing of Xingguofang
Guan Ye pushed open the door, and what came into view was Lou Cangyu's strong and muscular back. A damp towel was draped over his shoulder, and round water droplets dripped down the lines of his muscles. Lou Cangyu had been bedridden for several days, but today he had a good sparring match with Feng Shisan and took a refreshing bath. He had just put on his underpants and hadn't even dried himself when someone barged in. Lou Cangyu's face showed displeasure. He turned around naked, and when he saw that it was Guan Ye, both of them took a few steps back in fright. Guan Ye covered her eyes with her hands, but couldn't help peeking through her fingers. Lou Cangyu, with his sharp eyes, saw that she was staring intently at him through her fingers. He pulled off the towel and pointed it at Guan Ye, "Are you still looking?"
Guan Ye simply lowered her hand, glaring at Lou Cangyu as she approached step by step. Lou Cangyu felt flustered under her gaze, clutching his handkerchief, unsure where to cover himself. He retreated until he had nowhere left to go, his handsome face turning redder than the ripe fruit on his own tree on Canglang Island.
Ajiu leaned against the doorframe, sword in hand, finding it amusing. Lou Cangyu, seeing everyone watching the spectacle, jumped aside and pulled Ajiu in front of him to shield her. "Aren't you going to do anything about this?"
"Who can control her?" Ajiu pulled the handkerchief from Lou Cangyu's hand and gently wiped the grease off his hands. "You're a grown man, Guan Ye isn't afraid of you, so why are you afraid of her?"
"Cang Yu is afraid that Guan Ye will take advantage of him and no girl will want to marry him in the future," Ji Fang chuckled. "Last night he was betting to call her grandpa and grandma, but today he's trying to avoid her like the plague."
Lou Cangyu's head spun, his abs bulged, and Guan Ye's aggressive approach made him wonder if she really wanted to call him "Grandma Guan." They say even if you lose, you shouldn't lose face. In front of everyone, he couldn't let a woman dominate him. Lou Cangyu shook his half-dry black hair, revealing his lean yet strong chest, pulled out a stool, and sat down confidently. His honey-colored abs were firm and defined. He glanced at Guan Ye, who was staring at him without blinking, and knew he had regained some of the upper hand.
Guan Ye dared not look any longer. The young man was full of vigor, and if she looked too much, she was afraid she would get a fever and have an uncontrollable nosebleed in this den of men. That would be something to be laughed at for ten years.
Guan Ye took off her old clothes and spread them on the square table. Seeing that the old clothes were wrapped around a broken sword that was almost identical to the one before, Lou Cangyu picked up a piece and rubbed the broken edge. "Is there something wrong with the sword?"
Guan Ye shook her head and slowly explained the reason. Feng Shisan and the others gathered around, their faces gloomy, and the room fell into a chilling silence.
"Damn it!" Feng Shisanhu shouted like a thunderclap, "Someone is trying to harm us!"
“Fame and fortune can be alluring, so it’s not surprising that they would harm Xingguofang.” Xiao Ma showed no surprise, as if he had already seen all the deceit and treachery in the world. “Making weapons for the imperial court can generate over a million in revenue every year, with astonishing profits. Let alone using a trick, it’s not impossible for me to take the lives of your entire family.”
Lou Cangyu's face turned from red to white. He tried his best to suppress his emotions, but his uncontrollable trembling still betrayed him. The swords from Xingguo Workshop had never passed through the hands of outsiders from the time they were forged until they left the workshop. The only time was when Wushuang reached out to him on the Lingbo Platform in the inner workshop.
Wushuang said, "The stones from other mountains can be used to polish jade. Your name is quite nice. May I take a look at your sword?"
Her face was like a deep pool, her eyes swirling with countless emotions, making it impossible for anyone to say a word against her.
“Cangyu?” Ji Fang thought of something. “Has someone tricked you out of your sword? Judging from what Guan Ye said, someone must have tampered with the sword.”
—A trap!? Lou Cangyu chuckled inwardly. Wushuang… was indeed deceiving him. She was rubbing the blade with her fingertips, and he had even reminded her not to hurt her hand…
"Could it be..." Feng Shisan slapped his thigh hard, "Woman, that female swordsman! Lou Cangyu, did she touch our swords?"
Guan Ye is right. When Wushuang was wielding the sword, she must have been holding Kunwu stone between her fingers. The blade of the sword would become thin and brittle after being polished by Kunwu stone. It was with this trick that Wushuang broke Xingguofang's sword at Lingbo Terrace, causing her to lose face in front of the emperor.
"It was her." Lou Cangyu bit her lip until it bled, but she didn't notice. "She touched my sword."
"Hey!" Feng Shisan roared again, "You're a vicious snake! You're trying to kill us! If you let this go like this, I'll... I'll... I'll change my surname from Feng!"
Lou Cangyu's face was as white as paper. "Pei Chong's sword was also broken. That was the Flowing Gold Sword, how could it be like this! Guan Ye, according to your reasoning, Pei Chong's sword was also tampered with?"
Guan Ye agreed softly, then shook her head. "That's true, but to use today's test to assume events from a hundred years ago would be too arbitrary... It can only be used as a reference, not as a conclusion. The entire Tianhufang family perished; we can't tarnish their reputation with hypothetical scenarios."
Lou Cangyu's throat was filled with resentment, and his eyes were bloodshot, overflowing with murderous intent. "If Tianhufang really cheated back then, the Lu family deserved to be wiped out!"
“That’s a bit too harsh.” Xiao Ma frowned. “More than a hundred lives, how could they deserve it? Speak kindly and help others.”
"This matter..." Ji Fang, fearing that the group would start arguing again, quickly changed the subject, "Guan Ye...should we tell the brothel owner about this?"
"You don't need to ask!" Feng Shisan interrupted. "Of course I'll talk to the shopkeeper." After this, no one answered for a long while. Feng Shisan didn't know what he had said wrong. His round eyes searched for Ajiu, who hadn't spoken for a while. "Ajiu? Why aren't you saying anything?"
Ajiu looked at Guan Ye, "Tell the brothel owner? What can the brothel owner do?"
Seeing that Feng Shisan still didn't quite understand, Xiao Ma sighed softly, "Most importantly, according to the Emperor's decree, Xingguo Ward is already a candidate for imperial summons and can remain in Rongdu without worry. Since that's the case, why put the ward master in a difficult position and embarrass the court..."
“That’s not all,” Ajiu continued. “I was in such a hurry to come back that I didn’t have time to tell you all. Today, the Emperor said that he will send someone to deliver iron ore in the next few days. Once the furnace is completed, the Emperor will also personally visit… Xingguo Ward.”
Lou Cangyu looked at Ajiu in disbelief, her eyes filled with mixed emotions, and she choked back tears as she was about to speak.
"It seems the court really wants to keep us here." Xiao Ma forced a lighthearted tone. "Xingguofang was tricked. Although Cangyu lost, he still reaped the same consequences." Seeing the awkward atmosphere and the different expressions on everyone's faces, Xiao Ma forced a smile and said, "Cangyu is not inferior in skill, and Guan Ye's sword is also fine. If we are more careful in the future and support each other, we will surely be able to walk the path of greatness."
"Little Ma, you..." Feng Shisan opened his mouth to curse, but didn't know what to curse. Little Ma's words were irrefutable. He couldn't very well draw his sword and go to the inner chamber to shout and yell, demanding another fight with that Wushuang.
"So... that's it?" Ji Fang glanced cautiously at Lou Cangyu, then stole a look at Guan Ye's expression, his eyes still filled with resentment, but he dared not speak.
Seeing that Lou Cangyu seemed to be in a daze again, Guan Ye softened her tone and gently comforted him, "Lou Cangyu, losing to someone else's schemes doesn't mean you've really lost. In my heart, you're still a hero."
“Losing is losing. In other people’s eyes, I am utterly defeated.” Lou Cangyu suddenly stood up, hurriedly changed his clothes, picked up his sword, and pushed open the door to go out. “I will get my own justice.”
"Lou Cangyu, Lou Cangyu!" Xiao Ma called out to his back a few times, but no one knew where he had gone. "I already said that everyone can stay. There's plenty of time in the future, so why fight over a moment of anger?"
Only after Lou Cangyu disappeared from sight did Ji dare to continue, "Cangyu... Lou Cangyu's great-grandfather was the blacksmith of the Flowing Gold Sword. The broken sword was a great disgrace, and the Lou family stopped forging swords after that. His grandfather and father spent their lives burning materials, and if they hadn't been chosen by the workshop master to practice swordsmanship, Cangyu... would never have touched a sword in his life. Today, with everything happening, and the broken sword falling on his head again, if I were him, I'm afraid I would have slit my own throat too..."
—The swordsmith who died by striking his sword was Lou Cangyu's great-grandfather? Guan Ye was stunned for a long time. No wonder she felt that Lou Cangyu was a bit strange when she first met him. The little stone of the Lou family always avoided using his surname in front of others. He was willing to pay with his life after losing a sword test. Only the little stone of the Lou family would dare to make such a vow. If it weren't for Ji Fang disarming Bai Jia with his bare hands... Guan Ye felt a chill on her neck. In that case, she had misunderstood Lou Cangyu. Not only herself, but everyone who did not know his past had misjudged him.
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