Chongfei Manual - Chapter 45

T/N: Edited the preview to add two more paragraphs since several people forgot about Li Song. Lol, was he not memorable enough?

Thank you patrons for sponsored this extra chapter!

Title: ChongFei Manual

Chapter: 045 out of 171

Wei Luo didn’t recognize his face at first. But, underneath the corner of his eye, there was a small swallow-shaped birthmark. Even after many years, the birthmark hadn’t changed at all. Underneath the brightly colored lights, the sight of that birthmark crashed into her eyes and had her suddenly remembering his name.

Wei Luo’s lips curved slightly and she said with a bit of indifference in her voice, “Li Song?”

The handsome teenager’s face was gaping. Because he had been studying martial arts for many years, his facial features had become profound and determined. His skin was a healthy dark wheat color.

When that pair of bright as stars eyes looked at someone, there were also other new emotions in addition to the original rebelliousness. The line of people walking on stilts had walked away and the crowd of people gradually dispersed. But, he moved closer and closer to her. He stared at her eyes, “It’s me.”

These words were squeezed out through his teeth. He was the only one that knew the level of disgust and displeasure he felt towards her.

At that time, he had almost drowned in the Imperial Palace’s lake and had also been tied to the target and shot at by Zhao Jie because of her. These two things had left a big psychological shadow on him. Even now, he still couldn’t forget how he had struggled in the water and she had been on the shore with a sweetly provoking smile that couldn’t hide the mocking in her eyes. The others had been deceived by her cute outer appearance. He was the only one that knew her cunning shadowy side! That despicable girl had grown up into a refined, budding beauty.

Why was she so good-looking? Wasn’t the face a reflection of the heart? She should have an ugly appearance! This beautiful face didn’t match her inside at all.

Li Song pursed his lip. As he lifted his other hand to check if she was wearing a fake face, before his hand could touch her chin, he glimpsed a fist heading towards him from his peripheral vision!

He quickly ducked and looked at the side. With this movement, he stopped blocking Wei Luo.

Wei Chang Hong shielded Wei Luo, furrowed his eyebrows, and asked, “Ah Luo, did he bully you?”

He and Wei Luo looked similar. Li Song had mistaken them for each other when they were children. Now that they had grown up, one was so beautiful that her beauty was heart stopping and the other had a peerless elegance that couldn’t be compared.

Li Song couldn’t help but sigh with regret for a moment. The children born from the Wei family were truly attractive. There wasn’t anyone in the country, much less than the capital that had his and her level of appearance.

Wei Luo shook her head.

The two of them let out a sigh in relief and then they heard her say, “He acted improperly towards me.”

Li Song’s breath stopped in his throat and he almost choked himself to death. He acted improperly towards her? When did this happen?

Wei Chang Hong’s eyes were like knives when he looked at him. His posture seemed as if he was trying to make up for an extreme error and would immediately step forward to beat Li Song if he dared to admit it.

The capital’s influential officials' sons would sometimes assemble together to either drink wine with courtesans in attendance or listen to ballads. So, most of them knew each other. However, Chang Hong almost never went those places. Thus, Song Li wasn’t very familiar with Chang Hong and only knew about his identity. Song Li didn’t know whether or not Chang Hong had been dedicating himself to improving his martial arts skills these past several years. So, he wouldn’t rashly start fighting at the current moment.

To bring up the subject of groping, Li Song couldn’t resist think about the recent situation when the both of them had been pushed together by the crowd. The teenage girl’s body was soft and frail. With his head lowered, he had almost covered her entire body. Her body had a light fragrance. The pure and sweet fragrance smelled good. If he didn’t know her true nature, he would have really thought that she was an innocent and confused young girl and not a hateful little devil.

There had been so many people before. He had fit snugly next to her. Something soft had been pressed against him… exquisite and lovely…

Li Song finally realized what that was. He blushed. At least, the lighting was dusky and everyone couldn’t see anomaly on his face. He didn’t know where to start. He had to explain his actions for the first time ever, “There were too many people before. I didn’t do that on purpose. If I had offended you…” His voice became hoarse, “Please forgive me.”

Wei Luo didn’t overthink like him. She usually didn’t dare to touch that area herself because it was always sore. She ached dearly because his entire body had suddenly pressed down on her. In her heart, she hated him to death. Where would there be thoughts of a charming and gentle impure accident?! She burrowed herself in Chang Hong’s embrace to pretend to be shy, “I won’t forgive.”

Li Song’s thin lips were flattening into a line. He looked at the side of her face for a short period without saying anything.

Song Hui would normally step forward to help smooth things over. But this time, he had the same thoughts as Chang Hong. He couldn’t bear to see anyone pollute Wei Luo. And so, he also didn’t say anything.

The atmosphere was somewhat awkward. Luckily, everyone was busy watching the performances and sideshows. There weren’t many people paying attention to them, much less know their status and identity.

From behind Li Song, a clear and calm voice said, “How about I invite everyone to Emerald restaurant? As a way to apologize to everyone on behalf of Ah Song.”

——–

They followed the sound to see a person standing beneath the numerous colored lanterns. The person was wearing a sapphire blue robe with a stylized flower pattern with a purple cashmere overcoat decorated with golden serpents. With his cheerful disposition, he looked as beautiful as the setting sun. He always had a smile on his face. He was sixteen years old, the same age as Li Song. But, he had an aura of nobility from birth with a sincere expression showing in his eyes.

Li Song was fifth Prince Zhao Zhang’s study companion when they were children and the two of them had a good relationship. So, they didn’t have to keep thinking to correctly guess the identity of this new person.

Since they were currently on the streets, Zhao Zhang gestured for them to skip making the customary salutations to him because it would be too conspicuous. His gaze stopped a moment longer when he was looking at Wei Luo, “Will fourth miss favor me with your presence?”

Wei Luo looked down. Soon after, she smiled, “Your highness's words are too serious. Since House Li's heir didn't do that intentionally, I'll forgive him. I wouldn't dare to trouble you with personally stepping forward to resolve this."

He said it was fine and walked forward, “Ah Song is like my brother. His problems are my problems, so this can’t be counted as troublesome.” As he said this, he was smiling. He seemed very amicable and approachable, “By lucky coincidence, I had hurriedly come out here tonight and haven’t eaten dinner yet. I heard that Emerald restaurant’s mutton soup is unique. Have you tried it before?”

The Emerald restaurant mentioned by Zhao Zhang was located at the end of this street. A family that had a long-established reputation owned it. The storefront was decorated gorgeously elaborate and the inside was very clean and neat. It was famous for its mutton soup. This mutton soup was made by thinly slicing mutton into diaphanous pieces, then the slices would be put into an already boiling soup. After cooking it for five to seven seconds, the slices could be taken out to eat. In addition to mutton, other dishes such as honey fire (T/N: cooked ham with lotus, wine, and a ton of sugar), tofu skin, and other small dishes could also be order.

(T/N: From left to right, here’s a picture of steamed buns, rolls of fried tofu skin, cucumbers, and honey fire.)

Emerald restaurant's smooth and rich soup base differentiated it from other places. And its fresh and tasty side dishes weren't oily or greasy.

They went up the stairs and entered a private room. Zhao Zhang sat down at the head of the table. Li Song sat on his left and Song Hui and Chang Hong said on his right. Ah Luo and Wei Zheng sat across from Zhao Zhang.

Wei Zheng hadn’t said anything on the way here. As soon as she sat down, she couldn’t resist asking, “Fourth elder sister, how did you meet House Li’s heir? You’ve never mentioned him before. From what I see now, you seem quite familiar with him."

Her words implied various meanings. She intentional mentioned this in front of other people to deliberately put Wei Luo on the spot. If Wei Luo didn’t have a good reason, the other people would mistakenly think that she and Li Song had a hidden relationship. This would greatly damage an unmarried girl's reputation.

Wei Luo laughed and looked at Wei Zheng in askance. Her words had another meaning as she said, “Fifth younger sister usually isn't in your room and your whereabouts are usually unknown. Even if I want to tell you something, I wouldn’t have the chance.”

Wei Zheng’s face changed. She didn’t expect that Wei Luo would seized the opportunity to reverse the situation, “I…”

What did she mean that she usually wasn’t in her room? It was just that she frequently went to Gingko Courtyard. But the way that Wei Luo's phrased her words made Wei Zheng seem like a promiscuous girl! Wei Zheng wanted to refute. But, when she thought of her mother’s awkward position in Duke Ying’s residence, it wouldn’t be good of her to say anything related to her mother. So, she could only smile and say, “I went to third branch’s courtyard to look for third elder sister. We were learning how to embroider peonies. Because we were too focused, I didn’t go back to my room often."

Wei Luo smiled without saying anything. Unexpectedly, Wei Zheng didn't understand that by explaining her actions, it would make it seem like she was concealing something.

The origin of Ah Luo and Li Song’s relationship had been a sensational major event when it had occurred. It was only because Wei Zheng had a narrow scope of the world that she still didn’t know about this.

Zhao Zhang brightly laughed and agreeably said, “… Were you the one that pushed Ah Song into the water? I heard he was sick for several days after that.”

Wei Luo looked at Li Song. Her smile was sweet as she asked, “Didn’t House Li’s heir willingly go into the water?”

Li Song snorted and turned his head so he wasn’t looking at her.

By lucky coincidence, at this moment, the waiters came into the room with the food. In addition to the side dishes they had ordered, the restaurant had also provided two complimentary desserts, xuefuren and lotus cake. Xuefuren were round pastries that looked like little dumplings, made with glutinous rice flour, and filled with various jams, so they tasted chewy and sweet. They were very popular with girls. To make the glutinous rice balls look prettier, Emerald restaurant decorated each of them with a small red bean on the top.

That dark red bean against the white ball…. it looked like… The snack had just been placed in front of Song Hui and he could see it as soon as he lowered his head. His handsome face turned very red and he started coughing repeatedly.

Zhao Zhang asked in puzzlement, “Ah Song, are you not feeling well?”

He covered his mouth and waved his other hand. He succeeded in restraining himself with great difficulty from looking at Wei Luo. But, several charming and gentle pictures flashed through his mind. He continued to dully eat this meal with his thoughts preoccupied.

From time to time, he would see Wei Luo’s lovely pale face in his line of sight. Her smiling face was moving and disrupted his mood. In the end, he put down his chopsticks, stood up, and stiffly said, “I’m going outside to walk around.”

If he continued staying here, he would lose his self-control. It must be because the building was too hot, so he was feeling light-headed. He wouldn't be feeling so abnormal otherwise!

——–

Inside the private room, Zhao Zhang was very happily chatting with Song Hui.

Zhao Zhong was close to Count Zhongyi’s family and frequently interacted with Song Hui. Previously, Song Hui had been busy studying for his exam, so the two of them hadn’t seen each other in a long time. Since this meeting was a rare opportunity, they had many words to say to each other.

Zhao Zhang had wanted to talk with Chang Hong, but he didn’t succeed. Chang Hong had an antisocial personality and he wouldn’t even acknowledge an unfamiliar person. Today, because of Zhao Zhang’s status as the fifth prince, Chang Hong had politely said a few words, but he couldn’t say any more than that. Zhao Zhang was magnanimous and didn’t ask him to continue speaking. He even invited Chang Hong to hunt wild animals with him outside the capital at the beginning of spring.

The capital had a local tradition. The capital’s nobility all enjoyed going hunting near Xun Mountain at the beginning of the spring for two days and two nights. Whoever hunted the most animals by amount and weight would be this year’s most outstanding and valiant person. The teenage male nobility were young and vigorous, so they liked to use this type of method to demonstrate their abilities. This was why this activity was so popular for a time and had been handed down to this generation.

Chang Hong instinctively refused, “I don’t…”

Zhao Zhang stopped him, “Fifth sir, don’t rush in rejecting. Wait until that day comes. I’ll send someone to your house to ask you on that day. It won’t be too late for you to decide then."

Chang Hong thought about it and reluctantly nodded his agreement.

After they finished dinner, as they were leaving Emerald restaurant, the fireworks were set off at the south of the lake by lucky coincidence. Bundles of sparkles rocketed into the sky and were followed by loud booms. The sparkles blossomed into a gorgeous and dazzling display of fireworks that illuminated half of the night sky.

Wei Luo was standing downstairs. He carefully looked at her. The light shined on her face and alternatively fluctuated between brightening and darkening. The light was like her. It had a thousand different faces. In one moment, it was innocent and cute. In the next moment, it was deceitful and willful. In another moment, it was dark and vicious… Li Song frowned and looked away from her.

Song Hui brought Wei Luo, Wei Zheng, and Chang Hong back to the entrance of Duke Ying’s residence. After he watched them enter the residence, he turned around and left by riding on a horse.

Soon after he left, a person riding a horse came out of the shadows.

The person was dressed in black and had a muscular body. It was Yang Hao.

He looked at Duke Ying’s residence's entrance and then he looked at the direction that Song Hui had departed. He held onto the horse tighter, shouted for the horse to move, and disappeared into the darkness.

——-

At the same time, this was happening, Zhao Jie had just returned from Binzhou. He had been there for nearly two years.

Huang River had breached its dam on both sides and flooded eleven cities. This was a serious calamity that had caused people to be in dire poverty. When he had arrived there, the plague had just started spreading. Managing the plague had taken him half a year. After that event, he had to stay there to strengthen and secure the riverside and dam. While he was there, he was plagued with trivial matters every day.

Without knowing it, he had stayed in Binzhou for a long time. Now that he had finally resolved everything, he could go back the capital to report. Originally, he had thought he could hurry and come back before the Spring Lantern Festival. Unexpectedly, he wasn’t able to get back here in time. There was a heavy rainstorm that delayed the journey on the way here, so he had just come back to his residence today.

The inside of the capital was brightly lit with lanterns and exploding fireworks. The night was bustling with noise and excitement.

He had changed into a green brocade robe and also had a crane overcoat draped over his shoulders. He had walked to the main room’s doorway. After improving himself by practice in Binzhou, his eyes had become deeper from when he was a teenager. They were as deep as the sea and the depths couldn’t be seen. However, his temperament hadn’t changed. He remained noble and cold.

There was a person standing in front of him. It was the person that had appeared at Duke Ying's residence, Yang Hao.

Yang Hao cupped his hands in obeisance, then Yang Hong told him what he had just seen, “Fourth miss and Sir Song Hui had left the residence together. On the way to the festival, they accidentally met Prince Ruyang’s heir and the fifth prince. They were in Emerald restaurant for an hour. This subordinate followed them the entire way and personally saw fourth miss entering Duke Ying’s residence before coming back to report.”

Zhao Jie didn’t move. There was something hidden in his eyes.

He waved his hand and turned around. He thought of Wei Luo’s vividly expressive little face and his lips curved up slightly. When he had left, she was only eleven. Now, she was at the prime of her youth. What she did look like now that she was grown up?

Yang Hao paused. He started to speaking, and then stopped, “Your highness…”

Zhao Jie looked at him to indicate for him to speak.

Yang Hao summoned up the courage to say, “Prince Ruyang’s heir… he embraced fourth miss on the street…”

The smile on Zhao Jie’s lips disappeared. His eyes gradually became cold.

The author has something to say:

Zhao Jie is seeking help for the psychological shadow in his heart.

Haven’t seen wifey in over a year. Not only was she cornered into a wall, but her tofu was eaten.

Zhao Jie said, “I haven’t even touched it. And he dared?!

(T/N: Here's a cute pictures of tofu for Cheing's comment.

Also, Yang Hao is such a troublemaker. He should have said Ah Luo and Chang Hong went to the Spring Lantern Festival together with their ignored babysitter, Song Hui.)