ALL NOVEL Speaking of its special points, the most important was its location.
The capital had a lake in the center of the city. This was something idlers found most interesting. Every night, even more people would be boating on the lake, accompanied by the sounds of music and a cup of tea. With a fan in hand, guys would pretend be far more than they actually were to pick up girls. Not a thing was missing.
And at the very middle of this lake, was a restaurant that boasted the capital’s most expensive and most delicious foods. It was the single hardest place to get a reservation for. It was Refined Deity Building.
All the diners who went to dine at Refined Deity Building first had to pay for a small rowboat at the side of the lake. They would then need to be taken to the restaurant by a boatman. After they finished dining, they would need to rent a new boat to return.
Feng Yu Heng and company arrived in such a manner.
Huang Quan was evidently very familiar with this Refined Deity Building. She even began introducing it to Feng Yu Heng while in the boat: “His Highness at the age of nine opened it for fun. Who knew that while messing around with it, it had become famous. In the capital, it does not matter whether it is a rich prince or young miss, all consider eating at Refined Deity Building to be a luxury. Previously, it was only private rooms and booths that were hard to reserve. Now, it’s difficult to reserve a table even in the common area.”
Hearing this, Qing Yu became speechless: “Who exactly was it that invited our young miss to such a place?” She had arrived in Feng manor after Prince Yu’s contingent had come. Her understanding of the Highness Huang Quan was talking about was very vague.
Huang Quan giggled as she spoke: “Naturally it’s the master of this building.”
As she spoke, the boat arrived at the dock.
The restaurant immediately had people come to welcome them. They saw that the ones that came were three girls and a helper that asked: “Do the three have a reservation?”
Huang Quan sent her fist as a greeting: “Even if I come, I need a reservation?”
The helper was stunned but very quickly recognized Huang Quan “Oh! It’s Huang Quan girl.”
Not waiting for him to say any more, a man that appeared to be over forty years old came out of Refined Deity Building. He nodded first towards Huang Quan then saluted toward Feng Yu Heng: “Princess.” Then bowing slightly, he gestured: “Please come in. His Highness is on the third floor.”
Feng Yu Heng originally was not very accustomed to this title, but sometimes Wang Chuan and Huang Quan would call her as such. She would thus not feel it was too sudden. But hearing that that person was on the third floor, being called princess caused her to blush slightly.
On one side, Huang Quan was giggling. After ascending the stairs, she became serious once more, causing Qing Yu to become nervous.
Only after the shopkeeper personally escort the three to the door of a private booth on the third floor, did Feng Yu Heng see Bai Ze.
She raised her eyebrow and thought of they met deep in the mountains. That purple lotus flower always remained in her mind became just a little bit clearer.
After the shopkeeper handed the three over to Bai Ze, he returned downstairs. Bai Ze’s lips parted in a smile as he looked at Feng Yu Heng. His silence annoyed Feng Yu Heng, as she glared daggers at him.
In the end, Bai Ze could still remember the important matters. After a while, he stop smiling and turned around to push open the door. Facing inside, he said: “Master, the people you have been waiting for have arrived.” Then facing Huang Quan, he made a gesture. Huang Quan pulled Qing Yu and left with Bai Ze.
Qing Yu still was not at ease. It was Feng Yu Heng slightly nodding to her that allowed her to stop worrying and leave with Huang Quan.
As for Feng Yu Heng, she stood in the doorway for a long time, not daring to take a step inside.
There were two people, one was inside and the other outside. It was as though they had been in an argument. Neither spoke. The one inside did not come outside, and the one outside did not go in. This continued for the duration of a stick of incense.
In the end, it was the person inside that sighed: “My legs are not well. You can’t hope for me to come welcome you in.”
Only then did she recover her wits. That bit about “legs not well” actually tugged at her heart a little.
Feng Yu Heng had imagined the two of them meeting once again and she had thought that she would first inquire about who exactly harmed his legs and face. After taking down the enemy’s name, she would definitely help him take revenge in the future.
Presently, she had truly prepared to say it, but something that were clearly thought through in her heart, would have a different flavor when said aloud.
Like now, Feng Yu Heng entered the private room and closed the door behind her. She then walked before Xuan Tian Ming. The first words she actually said to him were: “You’ve crippled your legs and ruined your face. Why don’t you go ahead and lose your life as well?”
She really wanted to slap herself in the mouth!
Xuan Tian Ming, however, did not find it strange. This girl had not once said a good word to him. Thinking back to her treatment of him in the mountains, he felt that the current treatment was alright.
Thus he spread out his arms and leaned back against his wheelchair, saying: “If I lost my life, who would give you their support in the capital?”
She reflexively replied: “Without you, I’d still properly get rid of them!”
Xuan Tian Ming chuckled.
Faced with this person, the corner of her lip slightly curled upward. That smile perfectly touched her heart, in a coaxing way. If they were to continue a battle of words, she would not be able to continue.
Blankly looking at the person before her, the golden mask appeared very delicate. At the top, there was even an exquisitely cut and polished gem. That purple lotus flower appeared distinctly in the small hole in the area between the eyebrows. The unusual appearance made this man appear slightly bewitching.
She did not think this way. Unexpectedly there was no sign of hands being raised. She directly reached for the mask.
But right before her fingertips touched the metal, she was lightly grabbed.
“What are you doing?” He said helplessly, “Very unsightly.”
She suddenly turned her head and turned her back to him. Her lips tightly pressed closed, she stared fixedly at an empty corner.
A hint of liquid was repressed from flowing out of her eyes. Repressing it was truly uncomfortable.
Xuan Tian Ming was also stunned. Looking at that awkward back, he felt that this girl seemed even thinner than when they met in the mountains.
“Feng family even now dares not to feed you properly?” A thought came to his mind and it directly came out of his mouth as though he were a worker, he reached out his arm and pulled her sleeve, “I thought that after lady Zhou made a trip, they would know some restraint. Why are you still so thin?”
She had no temper after being pulled at by him. She turned around and brushed his hand away, “After that, I’ve eaten well. I am setting a good foundation. It better eating myself in to a fatty then needing to lose weight.”
Xuan Tian Ming had never heard of the phrase losing weight. Pondering it alone for a while, he concluded that it might be girls not wanting to be fat. He angrily shook his head: “How old are you? You are currently in your growth phase. Where is there a need to worry about that.”
“Hey!” Speaking about this, Feng Yu Heng once again found her strength. Turning her body, she jumped and sat on the table, both her legs dangling, “You also know I’m small huh? I’m so small, so why are you in such a rush to provide a betrothal gift? Then you say something about rushing to have me marry over at fifteen. I’ve never seen someone so hasty. Also” She raised an eyebrow, “Have you ever asked if I want to?”
“When I was little and the marriage was decided, there also wasn’t anyone that asked if I want to.” He spoke the truth, “The matter of this marriage, what either of us thinks does not matter.”
Feng Yu Heng furrowed her brows tightly. The legs that had been swaying about suddenly stopped, as she blankly stared at him.
“If you’re saying this, then you don’t want to?”
Xuan Tian Ming shook his head, “What logic is that?”
“Why give that sort of betrothal gift?” She asked a question she had always wanted to ask, “At what time did you know I was the Feng family’s second young miss?”
He replied frankly: “The day outside the capital’s gates, I saw you. I had Bai Ze investigate. The betrothal gifts… were payment for my treatment.”
She shook her head and stared at his eyes: “The payment for treatment was already paid.”
“Twenty taels is too little.”
“Not too little. If I didn’t have those twenty taels, I couldn’t return to the capital.”
The two fell silent.
He thought of how she had fought off enemies with stones. He thought about how she had dragged and pulled him from that mountain crevice. He thought about how she had helped mend his bones. When he remembered her setting out, he thought of her lonely and solitary thin figure.
And she thought of her journey from the northwest to the capital. The entire journey fleeing as a fugitive relied on the twenty taels that he had given her to support their daily needs.
Feng Yu Heng’s stubborn personality flared up again. She actually dove straight towards Xuan Tian Ming’s body from the table. She reached directly for the mask.
“Let me take a look.”
Xuan Tian Ming was shocked by her and quickly caught her. While avoiding her hands, he called: “Heng Heng, stop causing a fuss.”
She reached out and missed a few times before settling down and retreating her arm. She actually stayed lying on his body, a hand firmly grasping the front part of his robe. Two tears slowly rolled down.
Completely without warning, Feng Yu Heng cried.
Her cries were very sorrowful but were without sound. Her throat was sore from repressing it. Her jaw was clenched so tightly that her teeth made a creaking sound, as snot flowed freely.
In the years before Xuan Tian Ming went to the Northwest, he had seen the faces of many girls crying, including the daughter of the one whose palace he had burnt down.
But none of the girls had cried so sincerely and… without care for image.
Suddenly feeling a pang of heartache, this new and strange feeling filled his heart. Xuan Tian Ming subconsciously reached out his hand and brushed her soft hair. As though he were coaxing a child, he said to her: “Good girl, do not cry.”
She cried even more fiercely.
He had no alternatives. He could only bear with the painful pressure of her weight on his legs. Pulling the child in to his waist, he lightly patted her on the back.
That’s right! This was just a child. She had just turned twelve. She was born a full eight years after him.
“Could it be regret? The one you are to marry is a cripple with a ruined face. You’re disappointed, right?”
He had deliberately teased her, but who knew that the one crying in to his waist, Feng Yu Heng, would suddenly raise her head. Although tears were stuck to her face, she no longer sobbed. She merely stared at him for a long while then faintly opened her mouth to say: “The legs that the doctor and I worked so hard to fix, how did they break again?”
He pulled out a handkerchief from his waist and wiped her tears and snot, “After you left, Bai Ze and I could not safely leave the mountain. We were ambushed at the entrance to the mountain.”
He easily said it, as though it were merely a small battle.
In truth, that ambush nearly took his and Bai Ze’s life.
“Who was it that set up the ambush?” She pondered, “Enemy country?”
He shook his head, “Doesn’t seem like it. The matter is being investigated. Don’t worry too much about it.”
Feng Yu Heng got angry, “Your legs are crippled. The face I like to see the most has been ruined. Xuan Tian Ming, who gave you the courage to destroy my stuff?”