Chapter 18 Eighteen: Unlike a Young Man's Wanderings
Wang Yuying was fine at first, but then she felt the pain and refused to suffer any more. She pulled back her leg and kicked Jing Ye hard in the chest: "If all you can do is use brute force, then get down here!"
He kicked Jingye until he was frozen in place, and after a short while, he seemed to wake up from a dream.
"I'm sorry." He leaned down, not daring to kiss her lips, only carefully and repeatedly kissing her neck, begging for forgiveness.
Wang Yuying snorted coldly and turned her head away.
Jingye dared not act recklessly again, and quickly used the skills she had learned a few days ago to please her. She would take the initiative to serve her whatever she liked, regardless of her own feelings, as long as she was happy.
Wang Yuying then turned around, looked at Jing Ye, and smiled.
Jing Ye felt increasingly guilty. He was the one who was comparing himself to the emperor, the one who was jealous, and the one who was sour. How could he take it out on Wang Yuying?
He's really not human...
Jingye wished he could sit up and slap himself twice.
He served her with even greater effort, climbing down without minding the dirt. Wang Yuying was so satisfied that she wanted to stroke his face, but her hand hit him hard. Jing Ye didn't mind at all.
She repeatedly climbed the cloud ladder and reached the peak, but after enjoying herself, she would lie there and blame Jingye: "It's all your fault, I'm covered in sweat in this weather."
Jingye chuckled and stood up: "I'll go boil some water."
He stood at the foot of the bed and glanced down. The cool mat had been removed and replaced with a soft mattress on the day autumn arrived, and both were wet tonight. He would change her into a clean one later, and he would wash the dirty one.
"Bring that bathtub from the kitchen in later." Wang Yuying was too weak to even give the order.
Jingye nodded. Yes, he was sweating more than usual tonight, so he couldn't just wipe himself off; he needed to take a long bath.
He suddenly remembered that on the way up the mountain, there had been a misunderstanding about a pair of wild mandarin ducks.
A little bug began to wriggle in his heart. Jingye turned around, walked to the bedside, and said in a hoarse, seductive voice, "Yingniang, do you want to go to the hot springs?"
There are several springs in Fuyou Mountain, and it was there that he and Wang Yuying reunited.
But we haven't showered together yet...
Wang Yuying kept her lips closed, her tongue lightly touching her teeth, then glanced at the window with her eyelids raised. She couldn't hear any breathing, and wondered if the person was still lurking nearby.
Wang Yuying smiled and looked at Jing Ye: "You can bring the bath tub into the room; it's the same thing."
Jingye thought she was unwilling, her ears turned slightly red, and she lowered her head: "Okay, then I'll go boil some water."
He squatted down in the kitchen and diligently started a fire. While waiting for the water to boil, he picked up Wang Yuying, but chopped all the firewood that hadn't been chopped yet. Then he washed his hands, scrubbed the bucket first, and then pushed the bucket into the house.
Wang Yuying had already changed the mattress and sheets herself and was about to roll up the dirty ones and put them in the basket when Jing Ye quickly snatched them away: "I'll wash them, I'll wash them!"
He quickly gathered the dirty sheets and blankets into the basket, saying, "I've chopped all the firewood."
Just now, there was a clanging noise in the kitchen, and Wang Yuying was alert to something was wrong. She almost drew her sword, but after listening carefully for a while, she realized it was firewood being chopped and relaxed. Normally, she would have pretended not to know if Jing Ye hadn't mentioned it, but now that he had, she could only smile and reply, "Thank you very much."
"Don't thank me anymore, it hurts to hear it," Jing Ye said in a muffled voice.
He turned around and went back into the kitchen.
After a while, he first brought a kettle of boiling water to the table and left it uncovered to cool. Then he brought two buckets of boiling water into the house and made Wang Yuying stand far away from them so she wouldn't get burned.
Wang Yuying stepped back and sat back on the bed.
Jing Ye made four or five trips before finally filling the bathtub. He dipped his finger in the water first, then turned to Wang Yuying and asked, "Try it, is the water temperature okay?"
Wang Yuying then stood up, reached in, and nodded.
Jing Ye walked to the table, where a pot of water was half-cooled. He poured a cup and handed it to Wang Yuying: "Have a drink of water first."
Wang Yuying stared intently at the water, then waved her hand in a polite refusal: "It's too late, I won't drink."
Jing Ye lowered his head, thinking that the dew was getting heavier and the water he drank would cool down easily, so wouldn't she be more susceptible to catching a cold if she took a bath? He looked around and moved the clothes rack over. Wang Yuying didn't want the clothes rack to get wet, so she frowned and asked, "What are you doing?"
“Autumn is not like summer. I’ll shield you from the wind so you don’t catch a cold,” Jing Ye said earnestly.
Wang Yuying didn't take it seriously: "Did we ever surround this thing at Yumen Pass?"
She had never been this spoiled since she was a child. Only when Xu Heng bathed her in the Northern Frontier would he put a screen around her. Thinking of this, Wang Yuying's heart sank and her face fell.
Jing Ye thought to himself, how could he have known that he dared to enter the young lady's room at Yumen Pass?
Just imagining Wang Yuying's boudoir made me blush.
"Move it back." Seeing him standing there blankly, Wang Yuying had no choice but to give the order.
Jing Ye picked up the clothes rack again and placed it against the wall. When he turned around, Wang Yuying had already peeled herself clean and was standing in the bucket.
Jing Ye's shoulders trembled, and he tried to turn around but didn't, staring down at his boots. Wang Yuying stood in the steaming water, her face as white as jade, while Jing Ye, though so far away, had his face flushed red from the steam.
She found it somewhat amusing. Despite having been with him so many times, he always acted like an inexperienced young man, blushing easily and fidgeting from time to time. She didn't believe he was genuinely shy and thought Jing Ye was just pretending to be naive.
"Why are you just standing there motionless?" she bluntly asked, "Didn't you want to shower together?"
Jing Ye instinctively bowed, wishing he could disappear into the ground: "I, I—"
His hands and feet were completely out of his control.
"What? Come here right now!" Wang Yuying waved her hand. If she was going to have to deal with him like this in the future, and he couldn't teach her properly, she would just give up on him.
Jing Ye approached step by step with his head down, then unconsciously raised his head and met Wang Yuying's gaze. Her eyes were bright and sparkling, and her body was as smooth as cream in the steamy heat, while her lips were even redder.
Jing Ye slowly approached Wang Yuying step by step, like black iron approaching a magnet. He felt his left chest throbbing, as if his heart was about to jump out of his chest.
He didn't grow up in a soup kitchen. When he was a child, his parents were still alive. They told him stories about fox spirits, saying that if he encountered one, he must never look her in the eye, otherwise her eyes would be drawn in, slowly pulling him closer until she drained his marrow and turned him into bone.
Jingye didn't believe it when he was a child, but now he does: Wang Yuying is a fox demon, and he willingly lets himself be drained dry.
Jing Ye took off his clothes and slowly stepped into the bathtub. As soon as his feet were firmly planted, a large puddle of water overflowed. He felt ashamed and panicked, not knowing what to do. Wang Yuying raised a water-soaked bath towel and poured it over Jing Ye's neck.
The water gushed down his Adam's apple, then leaped over his chest muscles as if traversing mountains, only to be blocked by his abdominal muscles. After a long while, it continued to slide down.
Wang Yuying was satisfied and smiled, thinking to herself: "A feast for the eyes."
"What are you thinking about?" Jing Ye couldn't help but ask when he saw her looking him up and down.
"It's nothing," she smiled, "I just missed you."
It wasn't a lie; I genuinely missed his body.
Upon hearing this, Jing Ye felt both ashamed and delighted, having lost count of how many times Wang Yuying had stirred all his emotions within him.
The two embraced and sank into the hot spring water, becoming a pair of mandarin ducks.
...
Finally, Jing Ye lifted Wang Yuying out of the tub. He found a dry cloth and patiently patted her wet hair dry, strand by strand, before combing it down from the roots. He remembered when he was young, a neighbor's daughter got married. He had originally wanted to ask for candy, but he peeked through the crack in the door and saw the bride getting ready. The matchmaker had said, "One comb to the end, two combs to white hair reaching the eyebrows..."
The thorns parted their lips, their words indistinct and unclear.
"What are you muttering about?" Wang Yuying asked with her back to him.
"It's nothing." Jing Ye raised the corners of his lips, a smile spreading across his face. He wiped her body, back and front. When Wang Yuying turned over, Jing Ye slowly looked her over from top to bottom, examining her closely. He thought that he understood every detail of this fairy in heaven, inside and out, and had it etched into his heart.
"What are you looking at?" Wang Yuying teased him. "Do you scrutinize the enemy like this when you're on the battlefield?"
Jing Ye shook his head: "You have to observe everything carefully before the battle begins. Once you're in the thick of it, there's no time for you to look around. You just have to go up there and strike."
He couldn't help but raise his hand to gesture.
Wang Yuying smiled but remained silent.
With a hint of pride, Jing Ye continued, "One must be faster than an arrow, more ruthless and accurate than Lu Bu's 'Hawk.' They all say about me, they say I..." Jing Ye lowered his head slightly, "...that I 'wield a white blade to kill in the mortal world'..."
Wang Yuying listened quietly. Actually, the original poem was "Entrusting oneself to the white blade, killing people in the mortal world," but Jing Ye didn't remember it, and it wasn't that she hadn't fought on the battlefield.
She sighed softly to herself. In this world, if a woman wants to coax a man into becoming an obedient fool, she has to pretend that he is the god, know how to show weakness, and listen to his boasting.
This is the experience she gained through blood and tears, yet she disdains it.
She didn't want to fall out with Jing Ye right now, so she slightly raised her chin, making it look like she was looking up at him: "You're amazing!"
While offering compliments, I was secretly wondering what to do with the remaining meatballs tomorrow. Should I deep-fry them again, or stew them with vegetables?
"In the second year of the Yuanjia era, I was suppressing river pirates in Nan'an. I stood on the deck, ready to strike as soon as the enemy ships approached..."
"Hmm, impressive." Wang Yuying echoed, but she hadn't really listened to a word. Although she practiced swordsmanship every day, she hadn't reviewed the mental techniques for three or four days, and was silently reviewing them in her mind.
Jing Ye was unaware that Wang Yuying was being perfunctory; she had already been blown away by Wang Yuying's two light and flattering words, and her feet felt weak, as if she were walking on clouds in the heavens.
Tonight, he stayed at Wang Yuying's place for an unusually long time, only reluctantly leaving at cockcrow.
Wang Yuying deliberately tried to scare him: "It's already dawn, be careful someone sees you!"
Jing Ye was taken aback, then lowered his eyes: "Weren't you afraid of being seen...?"
"I'm not afraid," she replied softly.
A deep shadow fell beneath Jing Ye's eyelashes. After a long pause, he swallowed hard and said, "Don't worry, I'll be careful and won't let anyone know."
Wang Yuying neither confirmed nor denied it.
Jingye descended the mountain.
Wang Yuying had planned to go back to sleep, but a light rain started to fall shortly afterward. The sheets and blankets that Jingye had washed the night before were still hanging outside, so Wang Yuying had to get up and bring them all in.
After all that commotion, I was wide awake and no longer sleepy.
She simply tidied up the house, cooked noodle soup with the leftover meatballs from last night, kneading, rolling, and pinching the dough. By the time a warm, fragrant bowl of noodles was served, the rain outside was pouring down.
The courtyard gradually filled with water.
With such heavy rain, Wang Yuying was reluctant to go down the mountain to buy a gift for Jingye.
If it were her now receiving the gift, she would pretend not to notice if others complained about the heavy rain and didn't want to bother, and wouldn't feel sad about not receiving a gift. But Jing Ye is different; he's a blockhead, stubborn, and he'll definitely come to her for it that night.
After finishing her meal and washing the dishes, Wang Yuying waited for a while, but the rain showed no signs of letting up. She sighed, changed into a pair of oiled boots, and went out with an umbrella.
The sparrows had all taken refuge under the eaves, and the water in the courtyard was ankle-deep. The situation outside wasn't much better. She took the back door, going straight up the mountain and then around back down, avoiding the Taoist temples and halls. As she climbed the steps, although the terrain rose, water continued to flow down from above, causing the trees to sway and the leaves to shake.
It was more difficult than she had anticipated. One section of the downhill path was completely filled with puddles, and there were no stones to step on. Wang Yuying had to use her light-footed skills, but even with that light touch, the yellow mud in the puddles still splashed out and hit her back with a big splash.
Wang Yuying lost her patience and changed her original plan to carefully select the items. She went down the mountain and saw the first shop. Without even glancing at the signboard, she went inside—no matter what they sold, she would buy Jingye's gift from this shop!
Looking around after closing the umbrella, I realized it was a general store, selling everything from rice wine, tea cakes, incense, candles, and rouge to tiger skin blankets hunted by hunters and knee pads... Oh right, knee pads!
The general store sells two kinds of knee pads, both in an oily chestnut brown color with cotton lining; one is embroidered with scrolling grass patterns, and the other with cloud and thunder patterns.
In comparison, Wang Yuying felt that the cloud and thunder pattern was more heroic, so she bought a pair of cloud and thunder pattern knee pads. She didn't bring a bag, so she just held them in her hand.
The rain was still pouring down on the way back, and the fog was thick. She only saw the abbot of Yuqing Temple and his attendant Fu Yi when they were very close.
With no way to avoid it, Fu Yi shrank back as if a mouse were hiding from a cat. The abbot first glanced back at Fu Yi, then straightened his face and bowed to Wang Yuying.
Wang Yuying ignored it and walked past the abbot back to Yuqing Temple. After a while, she heard murmurs behind her, like the buzzing of mosquitoes, but she didn't turn around.
A gentle breeze and dense rain, and lush green moss.
*
Returning to the emperor's side, Yu Mingzhe realized he wasn't as foolish as Jing Ye. After leaving Linglong Pavilion, he continued to stroll with the emperor, walking to the end of Zhuque Street and then turning back, making a complete round trip.
Amidst the bustling crowd, Xu Heng spotted Wang Ji Fried Balls in the distance, pointed at them, and said with a smile, "General Jing said that fried balls there are delicious. Let's go buy some and try them, and see if it's really as General Jing said."
Yu Mingzhe felt something was amiss: Just now at Linglong Pavilion, the Emperor said that he also liked Wang Ji and was quite familiar with it, but now he acted as if he had never eaten there before.
He didn't expose her, and echoed Yu Shi in unison: "Great! We were also craving it when Commander Jing mentioned it!"
Xu Heng thought it was a coincidence and happily headed towards Wang Ji Fried Balls, weaving through the crowd with increasingly faster steps. Upon entering Wang Ji Fried Balls, he saw that the staff were either wiping the floor or washing the pots, and the counter was empty.
Xu Heng stood frozen by the door, stunned.
Hearing the noise, the shop assistants looked up at Xu Heng and said, "We're sold out for today. If you want to buy more, come back tomorrow morning!"
Xu Heng was still in a daze. The place was bustling with people and cars, and the business was going on all night long. Why was it that only Wang Ji's restaurant was closed?
He ultimately didn't get to eat the fried meatballs.
A note from the author:
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