Two tall carriages drove one after another into Sifang Town. There was no shortage of people on East Street at any time, and pedestrians and roadside vendors alike watched curiously as the carriages slowly past them in the middle of the road, whispering and talking to each other.
Everyone recognized the carriage leading the way: it was the Wen family’s carriage. But the one behind it was the subject of speculation, especially the driver of the carriage who always had a fierce and sinister aura that made people tremble.
The kidnapping of Young Master Wen was the latest topic of conversation among the townspeople. After the officers and soldiers withdrew this morning, various versions of the rumors spread as fast as they could grow legs.
The conversation between Chu Xiangtian and Fu Youqin evolved into various versions: “Mr. Wen and I hit it off” had been twisted into “The bandit leader at West Mountain Fortress fell in love with Mr. Wen and wanted to keep him as his wife.”
The southern wind prevailed in Da Chu. Officials and nobles liked to keep male favorites, while commoners were more likely to become brothers and live together, so these rumors kept spreading.
The carriage passed through East Street and turned into Fuxi Street to the right. The people who heard the news followed the carriage with their eyes. Someone in the crowd suddenly said, “The one driving the carriage is the bandit leader from West Mountain Fortress!”
One stone stirred up thousands of waves, and the whispering of the crowd exploded with a “bang”.
“I told you that carriage driver doesn’t look like an ordinary person.”
“He’s actually a bandit leader, no wonder he looks so scary.”
“So the rumors are true? The bandit is really with Young Master Wen…?”
The people were all talking, chatting excitedly: “Of course it is true. I think the bandits will agree to release him. It is probably because the Wen family had no choice but to agree to their marriage. Otherwise, why would the West Mountain Fortress agree to release him, and even have the bandit leader come back with him?”
This deduction was reasonable and convincing, and the crowd quickly resounded with voices of approval.
But there were also some people lamenting: “I feel sorry for Young Master Wen, a good young man is going to be ruined by a bandit.”
The crowd was sighing. Wen Tian in the carriage vaguely heard the discussion and was both embarrassed and angry. When the carriage stopped at the door of Wen’s mansion, he refused to let Chu Xiangtian hug him, instead letting Dai Fu help him slowly get off.
Chu Xiangtian took back his hand. He didn’t know why he was angry, but the young master still looked good even when he was angry, so he didn’t feel annoyed.
A brazier was lit at the door of Wen’s mansion, and Wen Boli and Wen Shuyue were waiting with a group of servants.
Fu Youqin got off another carriage and saw that Wen Tian was still injured. Distressed, she called for her servants to come over and carry him in.
“I’ll do it.” Chu Xiangtian took the initiative to squat down to carry him.
But Wen Tian was still angry because of those unfounded rumors. In addition, he had returned home where there was safety in numbers, and his temper rose as he became bold. He pointed to a tall servant casually. “Laifu, you carry me.”
Then he said unceremoniously to Chu Xiangtian: “Thank you, Master Chu, for sending me back. I won’t see you off because I’m injured. Take care.”
His words were polite, but his demeanor said, Hurry up and get out of here, I don’t want to see you again.
Chu Xiangtian was amused at his vigorous manner and raised his eyebrows, deliberately teasing him. “This Chu has some things to do when he goes down the mountain this time. I wonder if I can rest my feet at your house?”
Wen Tian raised his eyebrows when he heard this and huffed. “No, Dai Fu, see the visitor off!”
After he finished speaking, he directed Laifu to carry him in, not paying the slightest attention to Chu Xiangtian at the side.
Chu Xiangtian stroked his chin and tsked. Unexpectedly, this petulant young master was quite good at pretending. He had behaved like a little rabbit on the mountain, and now that he was back in the rabbit nest, he immediately became intimidating.
Seeing him staring at Wen Tian with deep eyes, Fu Youqin asked her servants to go to the house and bring a foot-long wooden, which was handed to Chu Xiangtian, “Thank you very much for your profound understanding of righteousness at this time. Due to various family matters, it is not easy for us to give more gifts. This small gift is not sufficient for us to show our respect.”
Chu Xiangtian: “…”
Chu Xiangtian took the box and put it directly on the Wen family’s carriage. The box was not big but quite heavy. He figured that it must be filled with silver. “I am a friend of Young Master Wen. These are just simple things between friends. Madame Wen need not be so polite.”
The smile on Fu Youqin’s face froze. She probably didn’t expect this person to be so shameless. She suppressed the displeasure on her face and said coldly: “Youling is young, he is not deserving of the Master’s1 kind favor.”
“If the Master thinks that money is tacky, I have a manor near the top of West Mountain with excellent surroundings. It will be given it to the Master as a thank you gift.”
Chu Xiangtian, who couldn’t discern that she was trying to brush off the association with him, smiled, and still refused. He thought for a moment and bowed to Fu Youqin. “May I speak with you, Madame?”
“Madam, why bother talking to this bandit?”
Wen Boli listened to the two of them sparring for a while and felt impatient. A few days after Wen Tian’s accident, Fu Youqin got into an argument with him to launch a rescue. After that, she didn’t give him a good face anymore. Even his daughter followed suit and showed him a lot of coldness. He was so frustrated that he couldn’t even maintain his humble demeanor and directly spoke out to stop them.
A proper high-class family got involved with a bandit, and his own wife was still polite to the bandit leader. When he thought about the future gossip in town, and how his hard-earned reputation would be reduced to a laughing stock, he felt his face ache from being thrown to the ground and stepped on.
Chu Xiangtian lightly glanced at him. Wen Boli was startled by his cold, penetrating eyes and took a step back unconsciously.
Chu Xiangtian scoffed and said to Fu Youqin: “Madame is a woman who is not inferior to men.”
Fu Youqin’s expression remained unchanged, “If there is anything the Master wishes to say to me, you might as well just tell me.”
Chu Xiangtian smiled. “This place is inconvenient.”
Fu Youqin thought for a while and then dismissed the servants. The two of them moved behind the carriage. With the carriage blocking their view, Chu Xiangtian took out a token from his waist and showed it to Fu Youqin.
“This Chu has something important to do. I hope Madame will take me in for a few days.”
The token was rectangular in shape and made entirely of pure gold. Auspicious cloud pattern surrounded the large characters for “Ministry of War”. Turning it over showed that the back was engraved with “Order of the Minister of War of Pingchu” in a small inscription.
Fu Youqin looked shocked and confused, but forging a court token was a serious crime punishable by beheading. And there was no need for Chu Xiangtian to have handed over the token to her. There was no possibility of it being a counterfeit; it must be true, then.
Sighing slightly, Fu Youqin said, “Then Young Master Chu will stay in the guest house for now.”
The two of them went out from behind the carriage. Wen Boli had disappeared. Only Wen Shuyue and her servants were still waiting.
“Wen Ji, please arrange for Young Master Chu to stay in the guest house. Young Master Chu will be staying in the residence for a few days.”
Wen Ji was the steward’s name. The steward looked surprised. He froze for a moment before nodding his head and stepping forward. “Young Master Chu, please follow me.”
——————-
===Author’s Notes===
Tiantian: Who is your friend? Shameless!
Leader: Tsk, he’s cute even when he’s fierce.
===Translator’s Notes==
- 当家 “dangjia”, person in charge. In previous chapters, this was translated as “Boss”, but it feels awkward to use that word here. >.< ↩︎
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