6 Ye Cheng Fu

 FlamingoBees 

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Ye Cheng Fu

 Chapter 6: 

 

As Yan Zhuang's carriage approached the city gate, the crowd suddenly became agitated. I was jostled around, barely able to see, when a familiar voice rang out: “Stop talking nonsense! Let’s settle accounts with these Xunfang Lou ruffians today. Grab your weapons and beat them up!”

The crowd surged forward, shouting and clamoring. My guards and I were desperately trying to push towards Yan Zhuang’s direction, but his carriage was clearly startled and began to veer wildly amidst the chaos.

© translations belonging to  flamingobeestranslations.blogspot.com. If you read this somewhere else instead of flamingobeestranslations.blogspot.com then the translations has been posted WITHOUT permission of translator.

Amid the shouting and clattering of wooden sticks and metal pans, a clear and authoritative voice cut through the noise: “Put down your weapons! Public brawls are disgraceful!”

The entire scene fell silent. I looked up to see Yan Zhuang standing atop his carriage, sword in hand, radiating righteousness. The sunlight cast a glow around him, making my heart melt.

What a noble and just young man! 

Yes, I want to marry him! He is the one!

However, at that moment, a gourd ladle suddenly flew from the crowd and struck Yan Zhuang on the head. Yan Zhuang fell from the carriage.

Standing on another carriage, Shen Ye waved his fan and scolded, “What’s with the fighting? Haven’t you seen a fight before? Push that carriage aside!”

Immediately, the crowd erupted again. I watched as several burly men from Phoenix Tower pushed Yan Zhuang’s carriage aside, causing it to roll away. Yan Zhuang’s bodyguards, holding the unconscious Yan Zhuang, looked terrified.

I could no longer tolerate this. I ordered my guards and shouted, “Protect Young Master Yan! Separate these two factions immediately!”

I rushed towards Yan Zhuang, sword in hand. Just as I reached him, my guards were thrown back beside me. I turned around and saw the man with the spiked club glaring at me with fury. He shouted, “What’s with all the fuss? Can’t you see you’re just a nuisance?”

My guards, though highly skilled, were being tossed around like ragdolls by the brawlers from the other brothel. I ignored Yan Zhuang for the moment and went to support my injured guards. “Are you alright?”

“Miss… don’t worry about us… there are experts among them…”

“Who are these experts?” 

I looked around in alarm as my guards struggled to point out the skilled fighters among the crowd. 

“Alright, I understand,” I said, pressing down their hand. “I’ll go and call for reinforcements. Stay strong…”

Before I could finish, I suddenly felt dizzy. The sun had fully risen, and its glaring light made me momentarily disoriented. When I regained my senses, I found a sword at my neck.

“Miss Shu,” Yan Zhuang said from behind me, his tone a mix of resignation and forced politeness, “although I didn’t expect to meet you like this, we have indeed met. Please come with me.”

“Miss…” My guards’ faces turned pale. Yan Zhuang’s guards drew their swords, and one of them struck my guard in the heart, blood splattering out. At that moment, a metal pot crashed onto Yan Zhuang’s head with a loud clang, causing blood to flow from his scalp. The commotion was accompanied by Shen Ye’s furious shout, “I told you to fight somewhere else! Can’t you move away?”

Hearing Shen Ye’s voice, I took a deep breath.

From Shen Ye’s recklessness, it was clear that he wasn't just ignorant of the law but also a few fries short of a happy meal.

© translations belonging to  flamingobeestranslations.blogspot.com. If you read this somewhere else instead of flamingobeestranslations.blogspot.com then the translations has been posted WITHOUT permission of translator.

Even though Shen Ye was clearly not all there, he eventually realized what had happened when he saw my guard bleeding. After his shout, the entire scene froze, and soon after, the courtesans screamed, “There’s been a murder! Call the Magistrate! Murder!” 

As they shouted, they hurried back towards the city. Judging by their speed, their skills were quite impressive.

Before long, the area was empty except for Shen Ye, who was left standing dazed with his fan in hand. I couldn’t help but feel anxious and shouted, “Run!”

He still didn’t move, staring blankly at the blood flowing from my guard with a look of terror. Yan Zhuang, with a cold snort, pointed out Shen Ye and, with a swift motion, landed right in front of him, sword in hand. “You hit me twice with objects just now.”

“No…,” Shen Ye finally reacted, looking up at the towering Yan Zhuang, shaking his head desperately, “Sir, this is a misunderstanding…”

“Do you know Shu Cheng?”

“No, I don’t! I definitely don’t!” Shen Ye denied vehemently. Yan Zhuang sneered and grabbed Shen Ye by his clothes, lifting him up. He then mounted a horse, leading us out of the city along with his own servant.

Shen Ye, on his horse, began to sob uncontrollably. “Sir, I really don’t know Shu Cheng! I’m just a lowly courtesan… Wuwu, sir… Please spare me, sir…”

"Shut up already!" The guard, holding Shen Ye, shoved a pill into his mouth. Shen Ye, startled, began to cry out, but the guard coldly snorted and threatened, "Keep making noise, and I'll make sure there's nothing left of you! Do you know what you just ingested?"

"What is it?" Shen Ye asked, his face full of terror. The guard sneered and explained the pill's effects.

The pill was named "Doomsday Pill."

"Doomsday Pill?" Shen Ye was taken aback and then asked, "Isn't that very expensive?"

"We have plenty of money in the Yan family," the guard replied disdainfully, glaring at Shen Ye. "If it weren't for our master wanting to keep you alive, we wouldn't waste such a valuable item on you."

"Why... why aren't you going to kill me?" Shen Ye asked cautiously. Before the guard could respond, Yan Zhuang coldly interrupted, "Be quiet."

The guard immediately fell silent, his face showing remorse. Shen Ye looked at the two men, his expression one of victimized innocence, as if he were enduring the suffering for my sake.

Of course... I also felt that this ordeal was somewhat connected to me.

The two men rode horses with us for a while, then brought us to a farmhouse. They changed our clothes, forced us to take two strange pills, and covered our eyes with cloth.

After doing all this, Shen Ye, perhaps out of fear, suddenly threw himself onto me and held me tightly.

He was trembling slightly, and I could feel his fear, so I gently patted his hand to comfort him, saying, "It's okay. If they're not killing us now, they won't kill us."

After that, I felt someone begin to pull at us.

Shen Ye cried out loudly, refusing to let go, and despite his unexpected burst of strength, the people around couldn't separate us. Yan Zhuang grew impatient and said angrily, "The people from the transport are arriving soon. Stop making a fuss with this scoundrel; let's just get into the coffin together!"

As soon as he finished speaking, someone lifted me up, and Shen Ye clung tightly to me, also being lifted. We were then placed into a very small space, and soon, I heard the heavy sound of the coffin being sealed.

I guessed that we were being put into a coffin. The space was extremely tight, and we had to lie side by side. I couldn't move, and since Shen Ye had no martial arts skills, and we didn't know what kind of drug we'd been given, I soon started to feel drowsy.

Just before I fell asleep, I felt Shen Ye gently holding me and saying softly, "Shu Cheng, are you scared?"

© translations belonging to  flamingobeestranslations.blogspot.com. If you read this somewhere else instead of flamingobeestranslations.blogspot.com then the translations has been posted WITHOUT permission of translator.

I didn't answer, and he continued, "Don't be afraid, I'm here."

I couldn't help but find his words a bit amusing. If anyone should be scared here, it should be him.

I slept for a long time. When I woke up, it seemed that we had passed the borders of Huazhou, based on the accents of the people outside the coffin.

As we had crossed Huazhou, it would only be a couple more days before we left Da Chu, and I couldn't help but feel anxious. I tried to speak, but I found that I couldn't make any sound.

"You're awake?" Strangely enough, Shen Ye seemed unaffected. He was lying next to me in the coffin, trying to give me more space to make me more comfortable. This small gesture made me realize that he wasn't such a bad person after all.

"We've reached Huazhou now, and it's been nine days."

"This drug is quite strange; once taken, it keeps us unconscious. They've been feeding us once a day, and I'm really hungry now. How about you?"

"Well, I guess you can't speak either." He seemed a bit regretful. "I've been awake all this time and it feels quite lonely!"

His constant muttering puzzled me. Despite being able to move and speak, why wasn’t he trying to shout for help or alert the authorities?

However, without martial arts skills, if he spoke out and didn’t manage to draw the attention of officials, it could end badly for him.

Using the faint light filtering in, I looked at him. After days of travel, he looked much more haggard, and the thick makeup he wore was long gone, revealing his natural beauty, which made him look pitiable.

Perhaps his touching appearance made me feel a bit sympathetic. I felt guilty that this predicament was caused by me, and he had to suffer along with me, which seemed unfair. As if sensing my gaze, he smiled and shook his head. "This is our issue. After all, it was I who hit him on the head. I'm just not sure what he's planning by keeping me here with you."

I was curious about that too. But since I couldn’t speak, he just lay next to me, occasionally talking to me.

For the next two days, I remained conscious but unable to speak or move, and the torment of being fed only once a day was excruciating.

He understood my suffering and often tried to relieve it by moving my limbs a bit during their breaks at night.

After two days, we finally left the borders of the Great Chu. Once we were out, they removed us from the coffin. They unsealed my acupoints, but I was still very weak, barely able to stand due to the lack of food. They looked at our exhausted states and handed us two steamed buns. Yan Zhuang tied us to the side of the horses with ropes and then explained, "We don’t have enough horses, so you'll have to walk the rest of the way."

“Typical of people from poor backgrounds,” Shen Ye sneered, full of sarcasm. “Even when they come to bind people, they don’t bring enough horses.”

“Yes,” Yan Zhuang also sneered. “We are from a poor background. Please make do with it, young master.”

© translations belonging to  flamingobeestranslations.blogspot.com. If you read this somewhere else instead of flamingobeestranslations.blogspot.com then the translations has been posted WITHOUT permission of translator.

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